---------------------- <> coordinated by Robert Kraft [24 February 1993 Draft, copyright Robert Kraft] [HUMANIST, IOUDAIOS, RELIGION, etc., 25 February 1993] [Religious Studies News 8.2 (May 1993)] [CSSR Bulletin 22.2 (April 1993)] [codes: ... titles, ... emphasis, /

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... levels of headings.] ---------------------- This installment of OFFLINE continues the message that if you are not yet on "the net," you are missing out on a great deal (of course, in return, you may be saving your sanity, not to mention a lot of time that might also be used to advantage elsewhere). The observation bears repeating: the long awaited "information explosion" associated with the "new technologies" is upon us with a vengeance. And the net is where it is at with special ferocity. Previous issues of OFFLINE have addressed such matters as finding affordable links to the Internet, getting to library resources remotely, electronic scholarly discussion groups, tools and archives available from the net, and some of the growing frustrations of trying to take advantage of this explosive technology. A recurring complaint, or plea, has been for tools and services that will help organize and facilitate access to the desired treasures. Much still needs to be done in this area, but among the bright lights now appearing on the horizon is a series of access assisting programs (awkwardly, it seems to me, called "clients," which operate as the relatively less active part of a "client-server" relationship on the network; my local "client" accesses the central "server"), one of which will be highlighted in this column. Appeasing the Non-Networked For those of you who, for whatever reason, have not chosen or have not been able to connect to the net, please do not feel abandoned by all this net-related hoopla. There are still lots of other things going on in the computing for humanists world. Indeed, a new publication has just crossed my desk that promises to take up some of the slack left by us net enthusiasts: it is called Computer-Assisted Research Forum: A Reader-friendly Bulletin for Academics and Educators in the Humanities, edited by Todd J. B. Blayone at McGill University (cxfw@musica.mcgill.ca). It plans to appear three times during each academic year at a cost of $10 Canadian ($8.50 US). The PO address is Birks Building, McGill University, 3520 University Street, Montreal PQ-H3A 2A7, Canada. The first issue appeared in Fall 1992 with articles on bibliographic programs (comparative review, part 1), graphics-mode and multilingual word processors for DOS, and (of course) something on e-mail. The current issue, which arrived as a complimentary copy, adds discussions on language learning, on text analysis software for the Mac, and (of course) on electronic discussion groups. Looks quite promising. Similarly, coverage in the more established newsletters that deal with humanities computing as mentioned in previous columns deserves to be kept in view. Indeed, Eric Dahlin has done such an impressive job with his REACH (Research & Educational Applications of Computers in the Humanities) Newsletter of the Humanities Computing Facility of the University of California at Santa Barbara CA 93106-3170 that he has also taken over as editor of the Newsletter of the ACH (Association for Computers and the Humanities), using the same address. Readers would do well to keep their eyes on these and similar hardcopy sources of information -- which also appear in electronic form on the networks (contact hcf1dahl@ucsbuxa.bitnet or @ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu), to which this discussion now turns. Introducing "Gopher" and Other Network Tools Can you say "gopher"? Not "gofer," which is something else (a program for searching electronic texts) in the current computer world, but "gopher" -- as in the "Golden Gophers" nickname used by the University of Minnesota, since that is where this current rage in networking facilitation began its development. Suddenly, without any warning, several sections in OFFLINE 40 made reference to materials accessible through network gophers. That was unfair, but perhaps it is not too late to make it up to you. Basically, "gopher" refers to network software that permits easy access to a wide variety of materials and types of materials (e.g. text files, library catalogues, graphic images) that are resident at a given network location or in a variety of network locations. The user, who normally would also have a gopher program ("client") on the local networked machine, calls up the desired remote gopher "server" (e.g. at the Georgetown Center, as described below, or at ccat.sas.upenn.edu, to view old OFFLINE columns) and browses its menu list for any items of interest. The gopher permits that user to look at the desired materials, and if appropriate, copy or print them, and then to browse further in the collected data. It performs any needed connections with other sites or programs (the user doesn't have to remember all those names and numbers; gopher is basically a friendly animal). Not every network address has a gopher, but many do, and many more plan to follow suit. This is an increasingly popular technology to facilitate access to the exploding body of electronic information that is "out there." And gopher is but one of several similar endeavors aimed at simplifying the life of the network exploiter. You have already heard of "FTP," and will hear more about "WAIS" (Wide Area Information Servers) and "WWW" (World-Wide Web) in this connection! If you are in need of more extensive orientation, the following items are but a few in the growing treasury (information repository): "Navigating the Internet: Tools for Discovery," by Judy Smith and Daniel Updegrove = PennPrintout 9.4 (Feb 1993); available from 3401 Walnut St, Suite 230A, Philadelphia PA 19104-6228 (Internet printout@a1.relay.upenn.edu); Brendan P. Kehoe, Zen and the Art of the Internet: A Beginner's Guide to the Internet (2nd ed., Prentice Hall, 1993) [1st ed is still available free by FTP at various sites; e.g. ftp.upenn.edu in the directory pub/DCCS]; Ed Krol, The Whole Internet: User's Guide and Catalog (O'Reilly & Assoc., 1992) [see D. Lester's review in OFFLINE 40]; Michael Strangelove, The Electric Mystic's Guide to the Internet... (Scholars Press, 1993) [also announced in OFFLINE 40, and avilable for free by FTP or gopher; see further below]. =====

Getting to Georgetown's Data about Text Projects (Contributed by Michael Neuman = neuman@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu as "CPET DIGESTS NOW AVAILABLE VIA GOPHER AND FTP.") Four years ago, drawing upon data supplied by Bob Kraft, Georgetown University's Center for Text & Technology (CTT) began compiling a directory of projects that create and analyze electronic text in the humanities. Today the Catalogue of Projects in Electronic Text (CPET) is a relational database accessible via the Internet, and it contains information on more than 350 projects throughout the world. Now digests of project information from CPET -- organized by humanities discipline and by language of the electronic text -- can be read, searched, and retrieved by means of the Internet's protocols for Gopher and anonymous FTP.

GOPHER -- INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCESS The CPET digests are organized into subdirectories on Georgetown University's Gopher server. If you have never used Gopher, you may wish to consult your local Internet expert to determine whether you have access to Gopher client software or to obtain instructions for using it. At many locations, one simply types the word GOPHER at the system prompt of the networked mainframe. Once inside the main Gopher directory, look for CPET files under: Other Gopher and Information Servers North America USA Washington, DC Georgetown University Please note that the menu item for Washington, DC, appears alphabetically after Washington state and not after Delaware. On the Georgetown server look into the directory CPET_PROJECTS_IN_ELECTRONIC_TEXT, where you will find the following files and subdirectories: 1. CPET-DIGESTS_INTRODUCTION.TXT (information on the digests) 2. CPET-INTRODUCTION.TXT (information on the CPET database) 3. CPET-USER_GUIDE.TXT (how to access the on-line database) 4. DIGESTS-DISCIPLINES.DIR (digests organized by discipline) 5. DIGESTS-LANGUAGES.DIR (digests organized by language) The filenames of the digests have as extensions the approximate size in kilobytes of each file; filesize will determine the length of time needed to acquire the file. Before retrieving any of the digests, please read the introductory file (CPET_DIGESTS_INTRODUCTION.TXT).

FTP -- INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCESS The digests are arranged in a similar structure in Georgetown's FTP server. To survey the digests, first enter the following command from your system prompt: ftp guvax.georgetown.edu (or ftp 141.161.1.2) When requested, login with the username ANONYMOUS and a password according to the formula YOURNAME@YOURSITE. Once within GUVAX, at the ftp prompt (often either ftp> or * ), change directories as follows: ftp> cd cpet_projects_in_electronic_text Then if you enter a directory command -- DIR -- you will find the same files and subdirectories that are described in the preceding section of these directions pertaining to gopher. To inspect the other directories in a subdirectory, change directories again. Do not enter the .DIR extension or the version number, and distinguish between hyphens and underscores when typing the filenames. For example, at the prompt enter a command such as the following: ftp>cd digests_disciplines To explore further the directory structure and the file contents, enter the commands to show the directory (DIR) or to change the directory (CD) as often as necessary. Note: some subdirectories contain more than one complete screen of filenames, so when you enter a "dir" command, the initial contents of the subdirectory may scroll off the screen. To stop the scrolling, use whatever procedure your system requires. For example, with VAX VMS one would use CTRL-S (that is, hold down the CTRL key and press the S key) to stop scrolling and CTRL-Q to continue scrolling. To retrieve a file, type at the ftp prompt the command GET followed by the name of the file (with the filename extension) that you wish to retrieve. For example, ftp> get finnish.17K A system message will confirm that the file has been transferred to your computer (more specifically, to the directory from which you invoked ftp). To leave FTP, enter at the prompt the command BYE. ftp> bye If you have any questions or comments on this service, or would like to learn more about CPET and Georgetown's Center for Text and Technology, please contact us at the address below. Georgetown Catalogue of Projects in Electronic Text (CPET) Center for Text & Technology Academic Computer Center, Reiss 238 Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057 USA tel: 202-687-6096 fax: 202-687-6003 Contacts: Paul Mangiafico, CPET Project Assistant pmangiafico@guvax.georgetown.edu Dr. Michael Neuman, Director, Center for Text & Technology neuman@guvax.georgetown.edu

Appended Note on Using "Archie" with FTP Sites (Contributed by John R. Abercrombie, CCAT [see next item]) If one wishes to discover what sorts of materials are available at the more than 1000 accessible ftp sites, "archie" is worth knowing. This program searches the directories of files at the various ftp sites and informs the user where various items are located. The user then can select desired materials and obtain them through the ftp procedure. Here are the steps for one simple way of using "archie": Send an electronic note to "archie" at the nearest server -- e.g. in the northeastern US write to archie@archie.rutgers.edu (for southeast, @archie.sura.net; western US, @archie.unl.edu; etc.) Leave the subject header line blank. The contents of the note should be simply "prog" followed by the pattern for which you are searching -- e.g. prog religion (if you would like detailed information about archie, write "help" as the complete message). The results of your request will be sent back to you by the server in due course. =====

The CCAT Gopher at University of Pennsylvania (CCAT faculty director James O'Donnell; managing director John R. Abercrombie; coordinator of external services Robert Kraft) More and more, gopher is becoming the distribution instrument of choice at the University of Pennsylvania's CCAT installation as well. The complete archives of OFFLINE reside there already, and we are gradually adding a variety of textual and other materials useful for research, teaching, and effective use of computers. In ideal situations (which, we realize, do not always exist!), one ought to be able to execute the following commands: telnet ccat.sas.upenn.edu login: gopher From there, follow the menus and prompts. Some of you might enjoy looking through the course materials, where a variety of useful items may be found for a variety of educational levels, from basic undergraduate to dissertation research. The entrance level menu at the ccat.sas gopher includes: 1. Welcome to CCAT's Gopher (digital sound segment) 2. About CCAT's Gopher (map of the various sub-directories) 3. Electronic Seminar on Using CCAT.SAS and the Internet 4. CCAT Text Archives and Related Materials from Elsewhere 5. CCAT Software Archives and Related Materials from Elsewhere 6. Course Materials from University of Pennsylvania Humanities 7. Library Resources (telnet connections) 8. Electronic Publications and Resources (OFFLINE, etc.) 9. Humanities Programs at Area Centers at Penn 10. Other Services and General Information (various sources) As with the Georgetown situation (above), it is also possible to use FTP to access ccat.sas.upenn.edu, and in that manner retrieve some of the materials encountered. For further assistance, contact OFFLINE's editor at the address appended to this column. =====

Use of the Networks by Text Oriented Historians (Excerpted from a paper by Wendy Plotkin [University of Illinois at Chicago, U15608@UICVM.UIC.EDU] on the use of electronic texts from the perspectives of historians, librarians, and publishers, presented to the American Historical Association on 29 Dec 1992.) Historians have relied on manuscripts and printed books, journals, newspapers and other documents at least since the time of Gutenberg. They have used these sources to obtain information, to analyze it, and to disseminate information to others. In the last forty years, the computer has increasingly integrated itself into the scholar's world in a number of ways. It has facilitated the preparation of printed articles and monographs through its word processing and typesetting capabilities. It has eased information-gathering through the establishment of computerized bibliographies, indexes and card catalogs. It has assisted quantitative analysis through its ability to handle large amounts of data with relative ease. In recent years, the computer has influenced the scholarly world in two additional ways -- as a means for informal scholarly communication and an aid to qualitative analysis. The advent of electronic (or E-) mail through national telecommunication networks such as the Internet and Bitnet has considerably speeded up and expanded communications among scholars. Considerably cheaper than long distant phone calls, and more convenient than the postal service, electronic mail has allowed scholars to exchange their thoughts in one-to-one messages, in discipline- defined discussion groups, and in electronic journals. Historians have begun actively to use the computer for communications, with an increasing number using the Internet. History discussion groups have flourished in the last two years, with groups now established in almost every area [the author has recently started a new H-Net list on Urban History (see OFFLINE 40 for details on H-Net) as noted in the listing appended below, item 40 (also accessible as H-Urban@uicvm.uic.edu)]. Meanwhile, informal newsletters about daily events in China and Poland (the latter in Polish) also have sprung up. More formal electronic periodicals have also been established. The Bryn Mawr Classical Review, moderated by Professor James O'Donnell of the University of Pennsylvania, includes reviews of literature on Greek and Latin classics, and is planning to expand to include commentary and articles. Erofile provides reviews of the latest books associated with French and Italian studies. While these may have a way to go before being accepted fully by academic tenure committees as acceptable places for publication, they are increasingly taking on a professionalism rivaling print publications, with respected editorial boards and peer review of articles. Historians at Mississippi State and the University of Kansas are making available articles, bibliographies, departmental newsletters, instructional material, faculty lists, and other information of interest through the networks. These files may be obtained through the anonymous File Transfer Protocol (FTP) process, in which a user at one site may transfer electronic files from another site to his/her own machine. Professor Donald Mabry at Mississippi State University maintains a history- related FTP archive; it's FTP address is ra.msstate.edu, with files in the directory "docs/history". MALIN is another history- related FTP site, maintained by Professor Lynn Nelson at the University of Kansas Department of History and the University's Computer Services. [Both of these collections will be made available through Gopher (see below) in the coming months.] The newest communication systems, named Gopher and WAIS, allow scholar and student to search and retrieve documents on a worldwide basis. Examples of documents available from these systems include online library catalogs, U.S. Census Data, U.S. Commerce Department Economic Bulletin Board data, and articles from various electronic journals. Gopher is a "software tool" developed by the University of Minnesota for "navigating and accessing information and systems available via electronic networks." WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers) is a "joint development effort by Thinking Machines, Apple Computer, Dow- Jones and Company, and KPMG Peat Marwick. It is a network-based, full-text retrieval system." Unlike Gopher, WAIS allows the user to retrieve files through search commands instead of by browsing their contents. [Recent developments with gopher now permit widescale searching of gopher menus, but not yet of the texts themselves, through the "Veronica" software ("Very Easy, Rodent- Oriented, Net-wide Index to Computerized Archives" !). -RK] The Johns Hopkins history of science department has established an intra-university network to disseminate faculty and student scholarship, syllabi and readings among faculty and students. It is also looking into using networks in its Continuing Studies and Evening College programs, to enable students to do the bulk of their work on computers from their home or their workplaces. The network is also available to the general public, and includes important papers in the history of science, including those of Darwin, Oppenheimer and Einstein. Further information on this project is available from Johns Hopkins University History of Science FTP server (fatman.hs.jhu.edu) [and now also on the JHU gopher]. [The remainder of the paper is highly condensed below, with attention to the following matters: -RK] [The creation of electronic texts] The establishment of the non-profit Center for Electronic Texts in the Humanities (CETH), funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, which is likely to increase the support and technical assistance for the creation of electronic texts. [The use of computers in analysis of such materials]. The computer is an organizing tool, whereby scholars are able to search in systematic or random fashion for words, phrases and concepts, or create hypertext linking of different texts and also hypermedia linking of non-textual materials such as photographs, paintings and even moving pictures in a textual work. Several social scientists have chosen to move beyond traditional textual analysis by using the computer to apply quantitative (statistical) analysis to textual information, including intellectual history. Although content analysis never achieved significant status as a methodology within the historical community, there was and is great validity in the aims of the content analysts. Their work complements that of traditional historians in its attempt to confirm the hypotheses included in the more traditional studies. At the outer edges of computer-assisted textual analysis is the application of artificial intelligence to interpretation of texts. The advantages of electronic texts for analysis thus range from making traditional methods easier and faster to potentially using the computer to count and conceptualize. For some historians, description is the primary aim. For many other historians, analysis of social and cultural stability and change in the past are equally important. Historians have raised various concerns as well, such as the accuracy of the textual data represented in electronic forms. Some scholars have responded to this concern by developing elaborate means of describing the physical appearance of the document within the text. Others have insisted that images of the physical text accompany its transcription. Another concern is the durability of electronic texts, and the stability of the hardware and software needed to read them. A third concern is the capacity of the computer to imporve upon unassisted textual analysis. A final concern is the accessibility of electronic texts. How many historians have access to a computer on which to read these? With certain exceptions, electronic dissemination is likely to increase access to many types of documents. Of equal importance regarding access is the attitude of libraries toward electronic texts. Several libraries have taken the lead in dissemination of electronic texts. Two deserve mention as examples of alternative approaches. Columbia University has established within its library an Electronic Text Service devoted solely to supplying and assisting humanist scholars with electronic texts on CD-ROMs. This service, used primarily by philosophers and literary scholars but frequented by Columbia's history faculty and graduate students as well, has been a great success, so much that it has had to stop advertising its services. In addition to making the texts available, the service offers classes in textual analysis to the Columbia academic community. The University of Michigan also makes electronic texts available to its faculty and students, but it has chosen to distribute them through the networks on campus. Although more expensive than purchasing a CD-ROM, it allows wider usage and access to the material. [Subsequent to the writing of this paper, several other libraries have established similar services, such as the University of Virginia, India University, and the University of Iowa.] Another portion of the academic community that has displayed an ambivalent response to electronic texts is the academic computing center. A last portion of the academic community affected by the potential expansion of electronic texts is the scholarly publisher. Many of them have been attracted to the possibilities afforded by electronic dissemination, but are struggling financially and cannot make a substantial commitment. The commercial scholarly publishers, with more capacity to take on the challenge, have tended to shy away from it due to copyright and other concerns. The conversion of most government offices and businesses to electronic communication among themselves and others means that much of the critical communication that will serve as the basis for future historical study is available only in electronic form. A Congressional study has estimated that seventy five percent of all Federal transactions will be handled electronically by the year 2000. Certainly, a large amount of the diplomatic and domestic policy-making that is going on today within and among nations is in the form of electronic communication. An increasing amount of commercial textual material is being disseminated electronically, also. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal are among many newspapers that are now available in electronic form via commercial database services [e.g. gopher and USENET access to UPI News is available, and gopher access to USA Today as well -RK]. What, if any, will be the effect of this proliferation of electronic texts on the conversion of existing manuscripts and printed publications, the main focus of this paper? I would venture a couple of optimistic possibilities. It is likely that the availability of this electronic material will increase the demand for computer-aided textual analysis tools. It may also result in technology that will reduce the cost of converting printed publications to electronic texts, allowing more conversions of existing documents of historic interest. Obviously, much remains to be seen. =====

Network Discussion Groups Relevant to History (Contributed by Richard Jensen = campbelld@apsu.bitnet as "H-Net Guide to History Conferences (Lists) on Bitnet: February 9, 1993.") Recipients may copy the list freely and circulate it, and send along any corrections to H-Net at u12923@uicvm.bitnet. --BITNET address theme of list ListName@Node (where node = name of computer host) (Internet sites appear in lower case letters) 01. AFAM-L@UMCVMB African-American Research 02. AFAS-L@KENTVM African American Studies and Librarianship 03. AHC-L@DGOGWDG1 Association for History & Computing 04. ALBION-L@UCSBVM British and Irish History [low activity] 05. AMLIT-L@MIZZOU1 American Literature [very active] 06. AMERCATH@UKCC History of American Catholicism. 07. AMERSTDY@MIAMIU American Studies [defunct; do not subscribe] 08. american-studies@mailbase.ac.uk American Studies (Britain) 09. AMWEST-L@DOSUNI1 American West 10. ANCIEN-L@ULKYVM History of the Ancient Mediterranean 11. ANSAX-L@WVNVM Anglo Saxon [very active, technical] 12. ARCH-L@TAMVM1 Archaeology 13. ARCHIVES@INDYCMS Archives & Archivists [active] 14. ASEH-L@TTUVM1 Am. Soc. of Environmental Historians 15. Caduceus Medical history; email to IBOWMAN@UTMBEACH 16. C18-L@PSUVM 18th century history & culture [active] 17. CHINA@PUCC Chinese Studies 18. CLASSICS@UWAVM Classical Greek and Latin [very active] 19. CLIO-L@MIAMIU Economic history [inactive; do not subscribe] 20. deutsche-liste@ccu.umanitoba.ca German lit & culture 21. EARAM-L@KENTVM Society of Early Americanists (inactive?) 22. EMEDCH-L@USCVM The Early Medieval China 23. EMHIST-L@USCVM early modern Europe [inactive?] 24. EPP-L@BUACCA Albert Einstein Papers and Discussion 25. Erasmus Renaissance & Reformation Studies send message to bowen@vm.epas.utoronto.ca 26. ESPORA-L@UKANVM Spain/Portugal 27. FICINO@UTORONTO FICINO Renaissance/Ref. 28. FOLKLORE@TAMVM1 Folklore 29. FRANCEHS@UWAVM French history [low activity] 30. GRMNHIST@USCVM German history 31. HABSBURG@PURCCVM Austrian History since 1500 32. HISLAW-L@ULKYVM History of Law (Feudal, Common, Canon) 33. HISTEC-L@UKANVM History of Evangelical Christianity 34. HISTORY@PSUVM Generic history [very active; semi-pop] 35. history-methods@mailbase.ac.uk Methods 36. HOPOS-L@UKCC History of Science 37. HPSST-L@QUCDN History and Philosophy of Science 38. HTECH-L@SIVM History of Technology [active] 39. HUMANIST@BROWNVM Humanists & Computing [active, announcements] 40. H-URBAN@UICVM Urban History 41. IBYCUS-L@USCVM Ibycus (Ancient Greek; TLG, PHI projects) 42. IOUDAIOS@YORKVM1 First Century Judaism [very active] 43. ISLAM-L@ULKYVM History of Islam 44. JUDAICA@TAUNIVM Judaic Studies [dormant] 45. L-CHA@UQAM Canadian Hist. Association 46. MAPS@UGA Maps 47. MEDFEM-L@INDYCMS Medievalist feminists 48. MEDIEV-L@UKANVM Medieval 49. MEDTEXTL@UIUCVMD Medieval Texts, Philology, Codicology [active] 50. MILHST-L@UKANVM Military History [active; semi-popular] 51. PSRT-L@MIZZOU1 Pol Science/ constl law book reviews [good] 52. POLI-SCI@RUTVM1 Political Science Digest 53. RENAIS-L@ULKYVM Renaissance 54. ROOTS-L@NDSUVM1 Genealogy [very active] 55. RUSHIST@DOSUNI1 Russian History 56. sedit-l@umdd.umd.edu Editors of scholarly editions 57. SEASIA-L@MSU Southeast Asian Studies 58. SHAKER@UKCC Shakers 59. SHARP-L@IUBVM History of Authorship, Reading 60. SOCHIST@USCVM New Social History 61. SOS-DATA@UNCVM1 Social Science Data 62. SHOTHC-L@SIVM History of Computing 63. SOVHIST@DOSUNI1 Soviet History 64. T-ASSIST@UNMVMA Teaching assistants (all departments) 65. VWAR-L@UBVM Vietnam War [history, pop culture very active] 66. WMST-L@UMDD Women's Studies. 67. WORLD-L@UBVM World History [active, non-eurocentric] 68. WWII-L@UBVM World War II As one of Wendy Plotkin's footnotes explains (see above): There are two ways of participating in these electronic discussion groups. One is to subscribe through a designated "Listserv" and have messages sent to one's own individual account. "Listserv" also allows one to obtain electronic documents archived by the discussion group: at a minimum, the transcripts of all messages previously published by the group, and often other documents (scholarly papers, letters, job advertisements), considered of interest to the discussion group's participants. An alternative means of participating in the discussion groups without subscribing is through "Netnews" -- a service to which many academic and government institutions subscribe -- which offers direct access to many of the "Listserv" discussion groups as well as many other discussion groups. =====

Searching Logs/Archives of Some Discussion Groups (Contributed by David Reimer, IOUDAIOS Coordinator = dreimer4@mach1.wlu.ca [preferred] or DREIMER@YORKVM1.bitnet) Since I have just had a private inquiry along these lines, perhaps the time is opportune to remind our ever growing membership of how to search the logs. There is a small routine which can be modified and sent to listserv to retrieve past discussion. Here's the routine, then some notes about how it works. ----snip here---- //SRCH JOB DATABASE SEARCH DD=COMMANDS //COMMANDS DD * SELECT keyword IN ioudaios SINCE date INDEX PRINT all /* ----snip here---- Save out the lines between the "snip" marks, as a separate file. Then you can modify three items in line 4 to instruct LISTSERV on how to conduct your search: 1) keyword: stick in any word (or words) here that you want to search on. The search is case INsenstitive. 2) listname: here given as IOUDAIOS. You can use the same routine for other lists that maintain logs (e.g. HUMANIST). 3) date: can be given in several ways: SINCE date FROM date1 TO date2 UNTIL date The date specification itself can appear in the forms: dd mm yy-mm-dd and several other forms. The month names may be either numeric or alphabetic; if the latter, they must be long enough to avoid ambiguity (j=jan, jun, jul; ju=jun, jul). BE SURE TO SEND THIS TO LISTSERV@YORKVM1 (internet listserv@vm1.yorku.ca) and NOT TO THE GROUP! LISTSERV has limits on how much material it will send you in response to a single request. If your output exceeds the limit, you will have to limit your dates more narrowly and try again. Do not include any "signatures" or other lines with your search instructions as this may confuse LISTSERV. This routine was cooked up for IOUDAIOS some time ago by our erstwhile York listserv guru, and has proved invaluable to me. If you have any problems with it, feel free to get in touch. Happy hunting! ===== Armenian Biblical Texts and Electronic Text Editing Michael Stone describes his article entitled "The Use of Computers in the Edition of Armenian Biblical Texts" as follows: The article deals predominantly with the use of computers in the edition of texts. It was read at a Workshop on the Armenian New Testament held in Detroit in May 1992. In order to clarify the discussion I have defined many of the terms, such as "text," "variant," "collation," etc. I have also discussed various computer applications that may serve editors of texts, with special emphasis on the COLLATE program by Peter Robinson. The paper will be published in a reworked form in the proceedings of that meeting. Any comments would, therefore, be very welcome. To obtain your free copy of this article send the command: GET MSEDIT ARTICLE IOUDAIOS as the single line of a message to listserv@vm1.yorku.ca (or BITNET style, LISTSERV@YORKVM1). ===== Update on Pharos Search Program (Contributed by Randall M. Smith = rsmith1@cc.swarthmore.edu, regarding software for TLL/PHI CD-ROM #5.3) As co-author of Pharos, a Windows based program for working with the TLG and PHI CD-ROM discs, I would like to answer the network request for a status report. The current version of Pharos, version 0.2, which works with the TLG CD-ROM #C and the PHI CD-ROM disc #5.3 (which contains the classical Latin authors) is currently available via anonymous FTP from ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu. My co-author, Darl Dumont, is currently working on a new version to be called SCRIPTORIUM which will also work with the new TLG CD-ROM #D as well as with TLG #C and PHI disks #5.3 and #6 (Papyri and Inscriptions). Scriptorium will make full use of the word index on the TLG discs, including the ability to view directly all citations for each word from within the index, and the ability to export text to other Windows applications. This program is expected in April. Hardware requirements are basically a multimedia PC (MPC) minus the audio card. Distribution and price are still under negotiation. For more information or to be added to our electronic mailing list, please contact: Randall M. Smith rsmith1@cc.swarthmore.edu or Darl J. Dumont wk00634@worldlink.com <-----> Please send information, suggestions or queries concerning OFFLINE to Robert A. Kraft, Box 36 College Hall, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA 19104-6303. Telephone (215) 898- 5827. Internet address: KRAFT@CCAT.SAS.UPENN.EDU (please note that the previous electronic address is no longer preferred). To request printed information or materials from OFFLINE, please supply an appropriately sized, self-addressed envelope or an address label. A complete electronic file of OFFLINE columns is available upon request (for IBM/DOS, Mac, or IBYCUS), or from the CCAT.SAS.UPENN.EDU Gopher (see above), or in part from the HUMANIST (BROWNVM.bitnet) or IOUDAIOS (YORKVM1.bitnet) ListServ facilities. //end #41//