This CD-ROM contains:
- The Oxford Learner's Thesaurus
- printable Topic Maps and Topic Map exercises
- printable Study Pages
- printable Thesaurus Trainer
2. Settings and tools
Settings
To change the size of text that the Thesaurus displays, click on the settings button
in the toolbar. In the pop-up window, choose from small, medium (default setting), large or very large.Copy
To copy an entry from the main window to your computer's clipboard, click on the copy button
in the toolbar. You can then paste the entry from the clipboard into a document in another program.If you only want to copy part of an entry, select the text you want to copy by dragging your mouse over the text while holding down the right mouse button. Then click on the copy button to copy the selected text to your computer's clipboard.
in the toolbar.Back and forwards buttons
The back
and forwards 
buttons are on the left of the toolbar. Click on the back button to move back to the last entry that you looked up. Click on the forward button to move to the next entry.Split screen button
Clicking on the split screen button
divides the main window into two parts. This lets you look at different parts of the same entry (or two different entries) at the same time. To remove the split screen, click on the split screen button again, or drag the split to the top or the bottom of the main window.Add Note button
You can add your own note to the entry that is being shown in the 'Synonyms A-Z' tab. Click on the Add Note button
on the toolbar. The 'My Notes' window will pop up. To add a note to the entry that is being displayed in the main window, type into the 'Write note' box and click the 'Add note' button.Clicking on the 'View Notes' tab in the 'My Notes' window displays a list of entries that have a note attached to them. Clicking on one of them displays that entry in the main window.
Add to My Topics button
You can add the entry that is being shown to your own list of entries. Click on the Add to My Topics button
on the toolbar. This will open a new window where you can create your own topics and add entries to them.To create a new topic, click on the Create topic button on the left of the window. Give your topic a name and click 'OK'. The new topic name should appear in the 'My Topics' list on the left of the window.
To add the currently displayed entry to a topic, make sure that the correct topic is selected in the 'My Topics' list on the left of the window. Click on the Add entry button on the right of the pop-up window to add the current Thesaurus entry to the topic.
Click 'OK' to close the pop-up window and return to the main window.
To remove an entry from a topic, make sure the entry is selected in the 'Topic contents' list on the right, then click on the Remove entry button. To remove an entire topic, use the Remove topic button on the left. This will remove the topic folder and all the entries in it.
You can share your topic lists with other users of the Oxford Learner's Thesaurus CD-ROM. First, save your topic list as a file by using the Export topic list button. This will create a file (topic.tsv) in your default directory. The file can then be opened by anybody using the Oxford Learner's Thesaurus CD-ROM.
Import other users' topic lists by using the Import topic list button, and selecting the .tsv file that you want to add. The new topics will be listed alongside your existing topics.
For more information see the section on 'My Topics'.
3. The Synonyms A-Z tab
In the Synonyms A-Z tab you can look up words or browse different entries in the Thesaurus. To see the Synonyms A-Z tab, click on the coloured tab at the top of the window marked 'Synonyms A-Z'.Looking up a word
Type the word that you want into the search box in the top left corner of the window. Then click the go button or hit the 'enter' key on your keyboard. If the word that you typed is in a Thesaurus entry, that entry is displayed in the main window on the right.If the word that you typed is in more than one entry, you can choose the entry that you want by clicking in the index window or the 'See this word in…' window.
Using the index window
As you type a word in the search box, the list of words in the index window below it will move to show the matching part of the index. Clicking on a word in the index will show the entry containing that word in the main window.When the word can be found in more than one place, the index window lists all the entries that contain that word. For example, if you look up the word 'arrange', the index shows two different meanings: 'arrange flowers/your books/your affairs', and 'arrange a meeting'. Click on the one that you want and look at the entry in the main window.
The 'Did you mean…?' window
If the word that you have entered is not in the Thesaurus, the 'Did you mean…?' window will open with a list of possible alternative spellings. Click on a word in the list to look up that word, or click 'Close' if you still cannot find the word that you want.The 'See this word in…' window
The 'See this word in…' window is below the index window. When you search for a word, it displays a list of entries in the Thesaurus that contain the word.For example, searching for 'art' finds the entry art noun in the index window. In addition to this, the 'See this word in…' window shows entries containing 'state of the art' (modern adj.) and 'work of art' (work 4 noun).
Clicking on the name of an entry in the 'See this word in…' window will display that entry in the main window.
Inside a Thesaurus entry
Thesaurus entries are displayed on the right side of the main window. Use the scrollbar (or the arrow keys on your keyboard, or a wheel mouse) to move down the entry. To move directly to a word that you want to look at, click on that word where it is listed at the top of the entry (just below the main headword).Cross references to other entries are shown in red. Click on the link to move to the entry. Click on the back arrow to return to the original entry.
Some hidden parts of the entry, such as irregular forms, patterns and collocations, and extra example sentences, can be opened by clicking on the show button
. They can be hidden again by clicking on the hide button 
.Clicking on a speaker button
will play a sound file for a word. Blue buttons are for British English; red buttons are for American English.Using compact mode
To change to compact mode, click the compact mode button
in the bottom right corner of the main window.Using compact mode changes the main window into a smaller window, so that you can use the Thesaurus while you are working with another program such as a word processor or an Internet browser. In compact mode, the window is always on top.
You can search the A-Z index by typing a word or the first part of a word into the search box. The window will show the closest entries in the index. Click on the entry that you want to see. The Show entry/Show index button changes the display between showing Thesaurus entries and the A-Z index.
To copy an entry (or part of an entry) to your computer's clipboard, use the copy button at the bottom of the window. This works in the same way as the copy button in the main window.
To return to the normal main window, click the Return to the main window button in the bottom right corner of the compact window.
4. Topics
In the 'Topics' tab you can see Thesaurus entries that have been organized into topics. To see 'Topics', click on the coloured tab at the top of the window marked 'Topics'. To see an entry that is not in any topic, return to the 'Synonyms A-Z' tab.Selecting a topic
Click on the topic selection box in the top left corner of the window. A list of topics will drop down below the selection box. Click on one of the topics to view the entries in that topic. The list of entries in the topic is displayed in a list below the selection box. Clicking on an entry in the list will open the entry in the main window.5. The My Topics tab
The 'My Topics' tab shows you the entries that you have added to your own topic lists using the Add to My Topics button. It works in the same way as the 'Topics' tab. To add more topics and entries to 'My Topics', return to the 'Synonyms A-Z' tab and use the Add to My Topics button.6. Topic Maps
Some entries, such as education, contain a Topic Map button
at the top. Clicking on this button opens a window showing the relevant Topic Map. Clicking on a picture in the Topic Map will display a list of entries for that section in a new pop-up window. Clicking on an item in this list will display the full entry in the main window.You can use Topic Maps to explore entries and important areas of meaning within a topic.
7. Illustrations
Some entries, such as boat, contain a small picture at the top of the entry. Clicking on this picture will open a new window containing a larger picture that illustrates different words from the entry.8. Exercises
To see a list of all exercises, and information about how to use them, click on the Exercises button at the bottom of the main window.Some Thesaurus entries also contain an Exercise button
at the top. Clicking on this button will open an exercise that is relevant for that particular entry.9. Games
To access the games on the Oxford Learner's Thesaurus CD-ROM, click on the Games button at the bottom of the main window.10. Extras button
To access printable material on the CD-ROM, click on the Extras button at the bottom of the main window. Here you can find files that you can print out and use. This includes Topic Maps, Topic Map exercises, Study Pages and the Thesaurus Trainer.PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4
