Stemming from the precomputer era, respectable historical dictionaries like those originating from the 19th century, often need considerable adaptation to make their wealth of linguistic material as fully exploitable as digital dictionaries of modern design do. With a view to increasing retrieval possibilities, two combined improvements will be given particular attention here, viz. uniformization of both source references and dates, mainly accompanying the numerous quotations which serve as evidence in lexicographical articles, and the insertion of new dates, wherever still missing. In this article, we shall study the case of the Dutch Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, where strategies to cope with the problem may be illustrated well. The focus of the article is on how regular expressions, in the form of prefabricated templates and scripts, allow to bring about a gradual but effective transformation.