Guwahati, Dec. 12: For people who prefer the printed word, here is good news: Oxford University Press is coming out with a new Anglo-Assamese dictionary as well as an Assamese atlas. All these after the word “Bihu” was included in the latest edition of the shorter Oxford English Dictionary.

“Oxford’s presence in the Northeast is very sacrosanct and we will lay emphasis on scholarly and well-researched writings on the region,” Manzar Khan, managing director of the Press in India said here today.

Khan said Oxford University Press is keen on expanding its presence in the region. “Oxford has the most vibrant lexicographic support globally and we are the most trusted name in dictionaries. We are already working on Anglo-Hindi, Anglo-Oriya and Anglo-Bengali dictionaries,” he added.

Khan is on his maiden visit to the Northeast after the publishing house was set up in 1912, to attend the function for the release of Identity and The Moral Life by Mrinal Miri, vice-chancellor, North Eastern Hill University (Nehu), at the Nehu campus on Friday. Meghalaya Governor M.M. Jacob will release the book on philosophy, published by OUP.

Oxford University Press, India, publishes close to 300 books every year — new books as well as a substantive reprints programme. Its academic list, especially in the social sciences, is widely acknowledged in the world, as one of the strongest on scholarship pertaining to South Asia.

“We will also have a translation programme of literature in regional languages and Assamese literature is very much on the agenda. We would also like to publish Assamese writings in English,” Khan said.

In keeping with its status as a university press and an international publisher, Oxford University Press, India has been publishing a range of schoolbooks for children from pre-primary to higher secondary levels. In school publishing, it is acknowledged as one of the foremost English language-teaching publishers in the country. “We will organise seminars for schoolteachers where experts would train them in how to teach the English language,” Khan said.

Oxford University Press also has an archive for its own publications, which is popular with research scholars. “We encourage researchers by publishing good quality research work,” said Khan.

Since the Northeast is an ecological hotspot, OUP intends to have a publishing programme on environment, ecology and wildlife. “We have already included the diverse facets of the ecology of the Northeast in several of our reference books. The latest book by Sunil Jana titled Tribals of India has a major portion dedicated to the Northeast,” Khan said.

“Since we contribute to scholarship and education, we do not accord priority to profit. We look at the quality and credibility of the work,” he added.