============================================================ _REACH_, Winter 1992 ------------------------------- Research & Educational Applications of Computers in the Humanities ----------------------------------- Newsletter of the Humanities Computing Facility of the University of California at Santa Barbara ------------------------------------------------ CONTENTS * IBM Multimedia Computer Being Tested in HCF * _REACH_ on FTP * _REACH_ Available Automatically on E-Mail * IBM Schedules Multimedia Workshop at UCSB * ALLC/ACH '92 * New Electronic Group on Buddhist Studies * Electronic Hermann Hesse Now on Hesse-L * UCSB Musicologist Develops Desktop Video * German History * New Modern British Literature E-Group * Electronic Text Project Underway at UCSB * Electronic Texts of Hermann Hesse at UCSB * Hypertext Tested * Warsaw Conference on African Studies * Balzac-L, A New Group for French Studies * Pharos, a New Program for Searching the TLG * Bulgaria Connected * Discussion Group on Arabization Formed * New European Network Discussion Group * DYABOLA Provides Catalogue of Classical Studies * German Studies * New E-Group on the European Community * Spanish History Electronic Group Formed * Moscow Conference on Computer Technologies * Chinese Poetry * E-Group for Owners of History E-Groups * UCSB Staff Visit SBCC to Explore E-Mail * Now's the Time for Multimedia ------------------------------------------------------------ IBM MULTIMEDIA COMPUTER BEING TESTED IN HCF The IBM Corporation has just loaned the UCSB Humanities Computing Facility an advanced computer configured for multimedia use. It is now available for demonstration and experimental purposes in the South Hall location of the HCF. The computer is a PS/2 Model 80 DX, a 386 machine running at 25 MHz, with 16MB of memory and 440MB of hard disk space on two SCSI drives. It's equipped with an internal CD-ROM player and is attached to an external Pioneer 8000 video laserdisc player capable of freezing frames on long-play video laserdiscs. Three specialized adapter cards have been installed in the computer: an M-Motion Video Overlay Adapter designed to display full-motion video laserdisc images on the computer screen, a high resolution VGA graphics adapter for the attached 14" color VGA monitor, and an M-Audio adapter to record and play back digitized sound. Microsoft Windows 3.0 provides the interface, and Microsoft's Multimedia Extensions (MME) have been included to enable Windows to communicate with multimedia hardware. Among the programs installed are Toolbook, Word for Windows, and Corel Draw. Toolbook is a program which allows the general user who does not have any programming experience to create new Windows applications. Asymetrix Corporation, the developers of Toolbook, also distribute the Multimedia Author's Resource Kit (MMRK), which provides templates to be used in Toolbook applications involving various kinds of multimedia equipment. IBM representatives will be demonstrating the capabilities of the multimedia computer to UCSB faculty and staff, as well as to representatives of Santa Barbara City College. The HCF staff will be using the computer to develop test models of applications which will illustrate the capability of the equipment for instructional purposes. ------------------------------------------------------------ _REACH_ ON FTP Although _REACH_ can now be sent automatically on e-mail to anyone who subscribes, it will continue to be available through anonymous FTP. The FTP addresses are: ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu 128.111.122.50 When you've reached the location, log on as "anonymous" and give your e-mail user id as the password. Enter the "cd hcf" command to change to the correct directory. Then use the "ls" command to see the names of the files and the "get filename" command to transfer the desired file. ------------------------------------------------------------ _REACH_ AVAILABLE AUTOMATICALLY ON E-MAIL _REACH_ can now be received automatically in electronic form free of charge by any e-mail user who wishes to subscribe. If you would like to be on the mailing list for the new electronic version of _REACH_, simply send an ordinary e-mail message to: listserv@ucsbvm.bitnet Don't put anything in the subject line. Just enter a single line in the body of the message saying: subscribe reach "your name" with your own name, not your e-mail address, in place of "your name," without the quotation marks. _REACH_ has been available for some time through anonymous FTP and will remain available in that form for those who need to use the method. FTP, however, is not as convenient as it might be. The user must check the location periodically to see if any new files have been posted. The new method will eliminate the need for such checking. Each new issue will be sent automatically to all subscribers as soon as it is published. The electronic version of _REACH_ is designed to supplement the paper edition, which will be continued for those who either need or prefer the print format. If you have any difficulty subscribing, please communicate with: Eric Dahlin reach@ucsbuxa.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ IBM SCHEDULES MULTIMEDIA WORKSHOP AT UCSB An all-day workshop and demonstration of the uses of computers and multimedia in instruction will be presented by the IBM Corporation on Monday, March 2, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Rooms 1 and 2 of the UCEN. The event is designed to provide UCSB faculty members and graduate students with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the equipment and programs used in the latest multimedia instructional applications. Models of multimedia programs in actual use at other universities will be available throughout the day for examination and testing by visitors to the event. At 1 p.m. in Room 2, the featured speaker, Stephen Mamber of the Department of Film and Television at the University of California, Los Angeles, will discuss and demonstrate some of his projects in computer multimedia. Mamber, an IBM Consulting Scholar, is a specialist in connecting video laserdiscs to computer databases for research and instructional purposes. Working with film materials from the UCLA Film Archive, Mamber, who is well known for his work in film criticism, has developed a variety of computer techniques for film analysis and criticism. A special section of the workshop will be devoted to Toolbook, a program which allows those who have no experience in programming to create applications for the Windows graphic user interface. Mamber also designed the multimedia drivers and templates used in the Toolbook program to control multimedia devices. Additional information about the event will soon be distributed to campus departments. ------------------------------------------------------------ ALLC/ACH '92 ALLC/ACH '92, the annual joint conference of the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing and the Association for Computers and the Humanities, will be held on April 5-9, 1992, at Oxford University. The conference is the major annual forum for literary, linguistic, and humanities computing. Over sixty papers and panel sessions have been selected for presentation on all areas of literary, linguistic and humanities computing. For further information, please communicate with: ALLC-ACH92 Centre for Humanities Computing Oxford University Computing Service 13 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 6NN, England Telephone: 44-865-273200 or (from within UK) 0865-273200 Fax: 44-865-273275 or (from within UK) 0865-273275 allcach@vax.ox.ac.uk ------------------------------------------------------------ NEW ELECTRONIC GROUP ON BUDDHIST STUDIES A new electronic group, Buddha-L, has recently been formed for the discussion of topics in Buddhist Studies. The addresses of the group and its list server are: buddha-l@ulkyvm.bitnet listserv@ulkyvm.bitnet Buddha-L is designed to serve as a forum for the scholarly discussion of the history, literature, fine arts, philosophy, and institutions of all forms of Buddhism, as well as issues connected to the teaching of Buddhist studies at the university level. The group is moderated, and subscription is open to all through the usual method. Just send an ordinary e-mail message to the address of the list server containing the single line: subscribe buddha-l "your name" with your own name, not your e-mail address, in place of "your name," without the quotation marks. For further information on Buddha-L, please communicate with: James Cocks jacock01@ulkyvm.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ ELECTRONIC HERMANN HESSE NOW ON HESSE-L Gunther Gottschalk of the Department of Germanic, Oriental, and Slavic Languages and Literatures at UCSB has just announced the formation of Hesse-L, a new international electronic discussion group for scholars, researchers, and students interested in the life and literary works of Hermann Hesse, the Swiss-German winner of the 1946 Nobel Prize. The addresses of the new group and its list server are: hesse-l@ucsbvm.bitnet listserv@ucsbvm.bitnet Working languages of the group will be English and German. It is hoped that the group will encourage better communication among readers of Hesse and provide a lively forum for the discussion of his works. Materials circulated will include pertinent texts, interpretations, analyses, critiques, reviews, messages, announcements, and bibliographies on Hesse and his world. The group is moderated, but subscription is open to all. To subscribe to the group, send an e-mail message to the address of the list server containing the single line: subscribe hesse-l "your name" with your own name, not your e-mail address, in place of "your name," without the quotation marks. For further information, please communicate with the editor: Gunther Gottschalk hcf2hess@ucsbuxa.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ UCSB MUSICOLOGIST DEVELOPS DESKTOP VIDEO Lester Monts, a faculty member in the Department of Music at UCSB, has created a unique personal computer desktop video laboratory in which he takes raw video and audio field footage and edits it into polished and finished video documentaries. Monts, an ethnomusicologist and Dean of Undergraduate Affairs and Director of the Honors Program in the College of Letters and Science, uses an Amiga 2000 personal computer, equipped with a Video Toaster board by NewTek as the heart of an impressive array of monitors and video and audio playing and recording devices. With this equipment, Monts can take video and audio from up to six input devices, manipulate the material with a sophisticated set of editing tools, adding narration, titles, and credits, and then record the final output on a master videotape. He will soon be adding a slide digitizer and a video laserdisc player to his equipment for yet wider capability. According to Monts, "desktop video will soon become an indispensable research and instructional instrument for the ethnomusicologist." Monts also uses a fascinating piece of equipment called a "Voicetracker," attached to a Macintosh computer, which takes sound input from a microphone or a videotape and then produces a paper printout containing a graph of the pattern of sound. The graph can also be recorded on videotape. Monts, using the editing capabilities of his equipment, can then create a final split-screen videotape showing the performer on one part of the screen and the corresponding segment of the graph on the other part. The result is a powerful analytic and diagnostic tool of great value in a variety of circumstances. For further information, please communicate with: Lester Monts lsa1mont@ucsbvm.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ GERMAN HISTORY GrmnHist is a new electronic discussion group formed for those interested in German history from 800 to 1992. Subscriptions may be sent to either of two list servers: listserv@dgogwdg1.bitnet listserv@uscvm.bitnet To subscribe to GrmnHist, send an ordinary e-mail message to the address of either list server containing the single line: subscribe grmnhist "your name" with your own name, not your e-mail address, in place of "your name," without the quotation marks. For further information on the new group, please communicate with the owners: Thomas Zielke 113355@doluni1 Gary Lease rehbock@cats.uscs.edu ------------------------------------------------------------ NEW MODERN BRITISH LITERATURE E-GROUP ModBrits is a new electronic discussion group for those interested in modern British and Irish literature from 1895 to 1955. The addresses of the new group and its list server are: modbrits@kentvm.bitnet listserv@kentvm.bitnet ModBrits offers a medium for informal conversation as well as announcements, bulletins, notes, queries, reviews, and scholarly papers. Lengthier contributions by members, such as conference papers, articles, and theses, will be placed in the archive for individual retrieval. The founders of the group hope to be able to acquire and make available to the members electronic versions of texts by such authors as Conrad, Joyce, Lawrence, and Woolf. Anyone who wishes to subscribe to ModBrits should send a brief e-mail message to the editor at the address of the group given above. ------------------------------------------------------------ ELECTRONIC TEXT PROJECT UNDERWAY AT UCSB The Humanities Computing Facility at UCSB has initiated an Electronic Text Project designed to explore the potential of its Kurzweil 5200 scanner as an instrument in the creation of a significant body of electronic texts. The Kurzweil is the most sophisticated text scanner currently available, and the HCF is interested in testing its capabilities to scan a wide range of printed materials, and in examining the possibility of utilizing those capabilities to help develop an archive of electronic texts. Currently the HCF is engaged in the experimental scanning of certain of the texts of John Milton, working in collaboration with Roy Flannagan, a faculty member of the English Department of Ohio University and the editor of the _Milton Quarterly_, and in consultation with Mark Rooks of the InteLex Corporation, the developer of electronic versions of a variety of philosophical works. As it acquires further experience in the scanning of large amounts of various types of texts, the HCF will be considering areas in which it might be able to make a significant contribution to humanities computing through the creation of electronic versions of texts of particular interest to humanists in various disciplines. Comments, inquiries, and suggestions will be welcomed by the coordinator of the HCF: Eric Dahlin hcf1dahl@ucsbuxa.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ ELECTRONIC TEXTS OF HERMANN HESSE AT UCSB Gunther Gottschalk, a faculty member in the UCSB Department of Germanic, Oriental, and Slavic Languages and Literatures, is close to completing the assembly of an archive of the electronic texts of the prose works of the writer Hermann Hesse. He has recently finished the scanning and proofing of the eight major novels, and has prepared concordances of those novels using the Oxford Concordance Program. Currently, one of his graduate students, Patrick Burns, is completing the scanning of two minor novels. Gottschalk's German publisher has given approval for a large volume entitled _Hesse Prosa Konkordanz_ incorporating keywords from all of Hesse's novels. The work will parallel Gottschalk's _Hesse Lyrik Konkordanz_, which was published in 1987. He has recently received permission from the German publisher of Hesse, Suhrkamp Verlag, to publish the new volume. Gottschalk indicates that "to keep costs down, the concordance will be a very basic one, with no attempt at refinements such as lemmatization, word families, and thematic groupings." Since Gottschalk has already received permission to produce and use the electronic versions of Hesse's writings for academic purposes and for his own research, he hopes to be able to persuade Hesse's publishers to permit him to create a CD-ROM version of Hesse's works, unrestricted in its detail, indexed with the concordance program WordCruncher. Currently he is also experimenting with the German concordance program INTEXT, which combines some of the advantages of WordCruncher with those of the Oxford Concordance Program. In particular, it allows a very detailed linguistic analysis. As mentioned elsewhere in this issue, Gottschalk has also formed an electronic discussion group on Hermann Hesse to be based here at UCSB. For further information on the Hesse texts, please communicate with: Gunther Gottschalk gs01gott@ucsbuxa.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ HYPERTEXT TESTED The Humanities Computing Facility at UCSB is experimenting with various hypertext programs in an attempt to determine their suitability for use by faculty members and graduate students in the humanities interested in manipulating and annotating text. Among the programs currently under examination are HyperCard on the Macintosh, and Guide III and Toolbook on the PC. Scheduled for later exploration are three other PC programs: AskSam, Black Magic, and HyperPad. Of particular interest are the amount of time and effort required to start making effective use of the program. The HCF staff member conducting the testing of the programs is: Franz Schubert 6500schu@ucsbuxa.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ WARSAW CONFERENCE ON AFRICAN STUDIES The Polish Association of African Studies and the Department of African Languages and Cultures of Warsaw University are planning an international conference on Computers in African Textology and Linguistics for Warsaw in June 1992. Organizers hope that the conference will encourage the collaboration of researchers in various fields of African studies in the humanities by exploring the use of computer- aided research methods and computerized communication networks. The conference will examine the use of computers in the study of African languages and the study and processing of African texts. Various types of software will be demonstrated, together with projects which illustrate their concrete application. For further information on the conference, please communicate with: Eugeniusz Rzewuski rzewuski@plearn.bitnet Janusz Krzywicki jkrzywic@plearn.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ BALZAC-L, A NEW GROUP FOR FRENCH STUDIES Michel Pierssens of the University of Montreal recently announced the establishment of a new electronic discussion group, Balzac-L, for students and scholars in the fields of French or francophone literatures. The group is designed to provide an electronic link between individuals active in these fields and to serve as a means of exchanging information on topics of interest, such as publications and colloquia. The working language of the group is French, although other languages, particularly English, can be used. Balzac-L is unique, Pierssens believes, in both being conducted in French and dedicated to literature. The new group originated as a local group in the Department of French Studies at the University of Montreal. It was established at the initiative of Pierssens to provide a means of communication among graduate students. To subscribe to the group, send a brief e-mail note to: balzac-l-request@cc.umontreal.ca The list is not moderated, and all messages submitted are circulated immediately to the subscribers. For further information on the group, please communicate with: Michel Pierssens piersens@ere.umontreal.ca ------------------------------------------------------------ PHAROS, A NEW PROGRAM FOR SEARCHING THE TLG Searcher, the MS-DOS program for searching the TLG, developed by Randall Smith of the UCSB Classics Department, has a worthy successor in Pharos, a program designed by Smith for Microsoft Windows and capable of working with the newest CD-ROMs (#5 and #6) from the Packard Humanities Institute. Although the new program is not yet ready for official release, Smith is making a "pre-release" version available through anonymous FTP. To obtain a copy of Pharos, FTP to the following address in either form: ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu 128.111.122.50 Log in as "anonymous" and give your e-mail address as the password. Change to the appropriate directory by entering the command: cd classics Enter the "ls" command to see the names of the files in the directory. The Pharos file will be named "pharosxx.exe," where "xx" represents the latest version number. The first version will be "pharos00.exe." The number will be changed each time a new version is posted, so you can easily determine if a new version is available. Since the Pharos file is a binary file, set the transfer type with the "binary" command before using the "get" command to transfer it to your machine. The Pharos file is a self-extracting archive, so once you have moved the file to your PC, you need to execute "pharosxx.exe" to extract the following files: "pharos.exe," "greek.fon," and "manual.txt." "Manual.txt" is a DOS text file which contains instructions for installing and using the Pharos program. Randall Smith rsmith1@cc.swarthmore.edu Dan Thibodeau 6500dan@ucsbuxa.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ BULGARIA CONNECTED Bulgaria is the latest of the Central and Eastern European countries to open a connection to the European and international electronic networks, joining such countries as Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland. Valentin Sabev, a member of the staff of the Center on Informatics and Computer Technology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, is the person responsible for overseeing the establishment of the connection. Sabev, a specialist in computerized communication systems, is also a member of the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics of Climent Ochridsky University of Sofia. He has presented papers on various aspects of electronic communication at a number of international conferences. Computing humanists interested in making electronic connections to Bulgaria should communicate with: Valentin Sabev vsabev@bgearn.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ DISCUSSION GROUP ON ARABIZATION FORMED Computing humanists engaged in studies in Arabic language and literature will be interested to learn of the new electronic discussion group PCARAB-L, based at King Faisal University in Hofuf, Saudi Arabia. The e-mail addresses of the group and its list server are: pcarab-l@sakfu00.bitnet listserv@sakfu00.bitnet The group explores various aspects of arabization on the PC. Topics include the characteristics of Arabic software currently on the market, possibilities for standardization of the Arabic character set, and ideas about arabization techniques and fonts. To subscribe to the group, send an e-mail message to the address of the list server containing the single line: subscribe pcarab-l "your name" with your own name, not your e-mail address, in place of "your name," without the quotation marks. For further information on the new discussion group please communicate with the founder: Yasser A. Zaki devyaz69@sakfu00.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ NEW EUROPEAN NETWORK DISCUSSION GROUP EUEARN-L is a new electronic discussion group on computers, computer communications, and electronic developments in Eastern Europe. EARN is an acronym for the European Academic Research Network. The addresses of the group and the list server are: euearn-l@ubvm.bitnet listserv@ubvm.bitnet Jan George Frajkor, the founder of the group, hopes that "it will help to smooth the integration of computer networks in Eastern Europe into the world networking system." Frajkor adds that "the list is to be a mixture of technical and conversational. The principal language will be English but there will be no objection to the use of languages native to the countries concerned." He suggests that English summaries be attached if the messages are of general interest. To subscribe to the group, send an e-mail message to the address of the list server containing the single line: subscribe euearn-l "your name" with your own name, not your e-mail address, in place of "your name," without the quotation marks. At present, the list is unmoderated and all messages will be circulated immediately to the membership. Further information on the new group is available from: Jan George Frajkor gfrajkor@ccs.carleton.ca ------------------------------------------------------------ DYABOLA PROVIDES CATALOGUE OF CLASSICAL STUDIES DYABOLA, the electronic version of the subject catalogue (_Realkatalog_) of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome, is now available at UCSB. A copy has been installed on one of the computers in the South Hall location of the HCF. The Institute possesses one of the most comprehensive libraries devoted to classical studies. Founded in 1829, the library contains material on Classical Archaeology, Egyptian Archaeology, Oriental Archaeology, History of Byzantine Art, Epigraphy, Numismatics, Ancient History, Ancient Social History, History of Ancient Law, Pre-and Early History, and Philology. Since the beginning of this century, scholars have been working to establish a subject catalog and have now developed a system of some 10,000 subject headings and key words. At the end of 1989, work began on an electronic version of the catalogue. An entry system was developed, and as early as the beginning of 1990 a changeover to computerized data entry was made. At the same time, work was begun on the entry of the data of earlier years. The first installment of DYABOLA is currently available, containing all entries from the years 1986-1990. The second installment, due to appear in mid-1992, will contain all entries from the years 1970-1985. The third installment will appear in July 1993, and will contain all entries from the years 1956-1969. Supplements will be available to keep the database up to date. DYABOLA runs on an MS-DOS computer equipped with a hard disk and an EGA or VGA display. It can also be used on a Novell network. The primary requirement for using the database is a very large hard disk. The initial installment takes almost 40MB and the full catalogue will take up at least 150MB. For further information on the DYABOLA catalogue, please communicate with: Biering und Brinkmann GbR Gut Ahlhausen D-5828 Ennepetal Germany Phone: 02333/88582 Fax: 089/2725724 ------------------------------------------------------------ GERMAN STUDIES Scholars using computers for research in German language and literature, or in medieval Scandinavian language and literature, are encouraged to forward information about their completed, ongoing, or planned projects for inclusion in a listing now being assembled. The list of projects is being developed by Evelyn Firchow of the German Department of the University of Minnesota, who will be publishing the results in an annual newsletter. For further information, please communicate with: Evelyn Firchow Department of German 231 Folwell Hall 9 Pleasant Street S.E. University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN 55455, U.S.A. ------------------------------------------------------------ NEW E-GROUP ON THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY Computing humanists in search of a forum for conversations and exchange of information on the developing European Community will be interested to learn of an electronic discussion group, EC, just announced. The addresses of the group and its list server are: ec@indycms.bitnet listserv@indycms.bitnet To subscribe to the group, simply send an e-mail message to the address of the list server, with no subject, containing the single line: subscribe ec "your name" with your own name, not your e-mail address, in place of "your name," without the quotation marks. For further information on the new electronic group, please communicate with the founder: John Harlan ijbh200@indyvax.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ SPANISH HISTORY ELECTRONIC GROUP FORMED ESPORA-L is a new electronic discussion group for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies announced by Richard Clement and Lynn Nelson of the University of Kansas. Its founders state that it is "a forum for debate, discussion, and the exchange of information by students and scholars of the history of the Iberian Peninsula from the earliest times to the present." They continue, "Although the command language of ESPORA-L is English, postings in Portuguese, Spanish, and Catalan are welcome, and list members are encouraged to communicate in whichever language they are most comfortable." The addresses of the group and its list server are: espora-l@ukanvm.bitnet listserv@ukanvm.bitnet To subscribe, send an e-mail message to the address of the list server containing the single line: subscribe espora-l "your name" with your own name, not your e-mail address, in place of "your name," without the quotation marks. For further information, please communicate with: Lynn Nelson lhnelson@ukanvm.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ MOSCOW CONFERENCE ON COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES Moscow will be the site of an international East-West Conference on Emerging Computer Technologies in Education, scheduled to be held on April 6-9, 1992. According to the organizers, "The aims of the conference are to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas between Eastern and Western scientists and to present to the Soviet educational community the current state-of-the-art on the theory and practice of using emerging computer-based technology in education." The East-West Conference will include presentations of papers, invited talks, posters, tutorials and demonstrations. An exhibition of software products is also anticipated. The East-West Conference is being organized and sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), the International Centre for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI), and the Soviet Association for Artificial Intelligence (SAAI). The organizers of the conference add that "the conference is designed to cover the following subfields of advanced research in the field of computers and education: Artificial Intelligence and Education, Educational Multi-Media and Hyper-Media, Learning Environments, and Microworlds and Simulation." For further information on the East-West Conference, please communicate with the conference secretary: Peter Brusilovsky International Centre for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI) Kuusinen str. 21b Moscow 125252, Russia eastwest@plb.icsti.su, or eastwest%plb.icsti.su@ussr.eu.net Telex: 411925 MCNTI Fax: +7 095 943 0089 ------------------------------------------------------------ CHINESE POETRY Chpoem-L is a new electronic group devoted to the sharing and discussion of Chinese poems. The addresses of the group and its list server are: chpoem-l@ubvm.bitnet listserv@ubvm.bitnet You may subscribe to the group by sending the usual e-mail note to the address of the list server containing the single line: subscribe chpoem-l "your name" with your own name, not your e-mail address, in place of "your name," without the quotation marks. Detailed information on the coding conventions used in the discussion group and on other technical aspects of Chinese computing are available through anonymous FTP. FTP to the address ahkcus.org, 192.55.187.25, change to the directory ./gb/poem, and then transfer the file called Chpoem-l.info with the "get" command. Consult your local FTP expert if you have difficulty. ------------------------------------------------------------ E-GROUP FOR OWNERS OF HISTORY E-GROUPS Thomas Zielke has just announced the formation of HISTOWNR, a new electronic discussion group designed for the owners of e-groups dealing with history and related topics. Zielke says that HISTOWNR is "the first step toward a planned History Network, a loose co-operation between all lists discussing history, with a central list (HISTORY) to discuss history in general and all topics which are not yet covered by a specialized forum, HISTOWNR as news service for list owners, and a whole lot of lists discussing special topics." Although HISTOWNR is meant for list owners only, anyone who has an announcement or a call for papers to distribute may send it to this list to be passed on to all connected lists. To join HISTOWNR or to discuss participation in the History Network, please communicate with: Thomas Zielke 113355@doluni1.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ UCSB STAFF VISIT SBCC TO EXPLORE E-MAIL David Alix of the UCSB Computer Center and Eric Dahlin, Coordinator of the Humanities Computing Facility, were recently invited to visit Santa Barbara City College to discuss the uses of electronic communication with SBCC faculty and staff. Chaired by George Gregg, Director of Educational Technology and Microcomputer Support at SBCC, the meeting attracted some thirty SBCC faculty and staff members. SBCC is in the process of applying for an NSF grant to connect the campus to the Internet, and there is much interest on campus in the possible instructional benefits of the connection. Alix demonstrated the characteristics of UCSB's mailing system, utilizing a computer connected via modem to the UCSB network for the purposes of the demonstration, and Dahlin discussed the ways in which computing humanists at UCSB and elsewhere are using electronic communication. Among the uses mentioned were participation in electronic discussion groups, access to distant library catalogues and archives of instructional materials, and the sharing of various computerized instructional resources. Gregg has offered to fund accounts at UCSB for any interested members of the SBCC faculty and staff. In the meantime, UCSB humanists wishing to communicate with colleagues at SBCC may forward e-mail to them through the special account: 3009sbcc@ucsbuxa.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ NOW'S THE TIME FOR MULTIMEDIA Multimedia is very much with us in the HCF these days, as stories in this and earlier issues of _REACH_ indicate. IBM has just loaned us a computer especially configured for multimedia applications which we'll be busy demonstrating and testing. In early March, IBM will be putting on a workshop in multimedia, featuring Stephen Mamber of the UCLA faculty. I was fortunate enough to see his demonstration on an earlier occasion. It's a spectacular connection of computer with film. Our Phelps Hall Macintosh multimedia configuration, described in an earlier edition of _REACH_, continues to serve as a home for several projects. Meredith McMinn is using it to continue development of her film analysis tutorial, mentioned in the last issue of _REACH_, and David Alexander, a graduate student in Religious Studies who has just returned from a trip to China, is moving forward with William Powell's Silk Road Project, which was described in the same issue. Allan Langdale, a graduate student in Art History, is also using the multimedia equipment. He's designing a model of an interactive laserdisc tutorial on 15th century Italian painters, sculptors, and architects, using the video laserdisc _de Italia_, a collection of Italian images and cultural information covering the entire range of the history of the country. The machine loaned to us by IBM will give us an excellent opportunity to experiment with an alternative set of equipment and software. It came fully configured, so we were able to get off to a quick start. Demonstration versions of various instructional applications came installed on the machine, using images drawn from an accompanying specially prepared video laserdisc. Three of these applications give a good illustration of the possibilities of multimedia. One is a tutorial of a Shakespeare sonnet which lets the user view the text annotated in a variety of ways, read notes by the instructor, and listen to two readings of the sonnet by professional actors. Another is a tutorial of a Mozart piano concerto, with full motion video of the performing ensemble shown on screen. The user reviews a set of notes containing key words and a graphic chart of the piece, and then plays the related portion of the performance by selecting a particular key word or chart segment. The third is a French language tutorial which presents the user with video clips of native French speakers from different areas discussing a variety of everyday topics in a realistic fashion, and then tests the user's comprehension of the material. --Eric Dahlin ------------------------------------------------------------ _REACH_ is published four times a year by the Humanities Computing Facility of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Advisory Committee: Edward Branigan Film Studies Yolanda Broyles-Gonzalez Chicano Studies Patricia Cohen Women's Studies John DuBois Linguistics Gunther Gottschalk, Vice Chair Germanic, Oriental & Slavic Barbara Harthorn Interdisciplinary Humanities Center JoAnn Kuchera-Morin Music Albert Lindemann History Claudine Michel Black Studies Jack Murray French & Italian Michael O'Connell English Giorgio Perissinotto, Chair Spanish & Portuguese W. Clark Roof Religious Studies Nathan Salmon Philosophy Leland Strasburg Dramatic Art Peter Sturman Art History John Sullivan Classics ------------------------------------------------------------ HCF Coordinator & Editor of _REACH_: Eric Dahlin Phone: 805/893-2208 HCF1DAHL@ucsbuxa.bitnet HCF1DAHL@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu ------------------------------------------------------------ The electronic version of _REACH_ is prepared from the files used to produce the paper edition. A few formatting changes have been made to adapt the text to electronic transmission, but the content of the two versions is identical. A table of contents has been added to this version for the convenience of e-mail readers. ======================= end of file ========================