_REACH_, January & February 1991 ------------------------------- Research & Educational Applications of Computers in the Humanities ----------------------------------- Newsletter of the Humanities Computing Facility of the University of California at Santa Barbara ------------------------------------------------ UCSB HUNGARIAN DISCUSSION GROUP NOW ACTIVE The electronic discussion group on Hungarian issues at the University of California at Santa Barbara is now in operation and open to subscription. Scholars and students from all disciplines are welcome to participate in the group. The group and list server addresses of the UCSB Hungarian discussion group are: hungary@ucsbvm.bitnet listserv@ucsbvm.bitnet To subscribe to the discussion group, send an e-mail message, without any subject, to the list server address, "listserv@ucsbvm.bitnet," containing the single line: subscribe hungary your name with your own name inserted in place of the phrase "your name." Once you have subscribed, any messages which you want to send to the group should be sent to the group address, "hungary@ucsbvm.bitnet." The discussion group is designed to provide a means of rapid communication between all those with interests in Hungarian issues. Electronic mail connections have already been established with three Hungarian universities: Budapest Technical University, Budapest University of Economic Sciences, and Eotvos Lorand University. If you have any problems subscribing to the group, please send an e-mail note to: Eric Dahlin E-mail: hcf1dahl@ucsbuxa.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ ACH/ALLC '91 Registration packets have now been mailed out for ACH/ALLC '91, the joint conference of the Association for Computers and the Humanities and the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing, to be held at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona on March 17-21, 1991. If you have not yet received a registration packet and would like to attend, please communicate with: Daniel Brink Humanities Computing Facility Arizona State University Tempe, AZ 85287-0302 Phone: 602/965-2679 Fax: 602/965-1093 E-mail: atdxb@asuacad.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ _REACH_ NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH FTP Electronic versions of all issues of _REACH_ are now available through anonymous FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, a UNIX process used on the Internet to transfer files from distant computers to your own system. FTP is a reduced version of the UNIX Telnet process, well- known to humanists as a method of gaining access to library catalogue systems at many distant universities. The wizards of your local computer system will be able to tell you if FTP is available at your location, and, if so, how to use it from your own computer account. When FTP is ready on your system, begin the process by entering one of two equivalent commands: ftp ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu ftp 128.111.122.50 The command will give you access to the UCSB computer storing the files. Try the first version, and, if that doesn't work, then try the second. Log on with the name "anonymous," and use your e-mail address as a password. At this point, you need to move to the directory containing the files. Do this by entering the command: cd hcf Now that you're in the correct directory, you can get a list of all the file names by entering the command: ls Then, to transfer any of the files to your own system, enter the command: get filename First try transferring the file called "readme." It shows the contents of each of the files in the directory, and gives detailed instructions for the FTP process, including the complete log of an actual FTP session. End your session with the "quit" command. ------------------------------------------------------------ THE ELECTRONIC MAGIC OF THE DISCUSSION GROUP Electronic mail is fascinating enough to computing humanists, but beyond electronic mail lies an even more intriguing world, the exotic realm of the electronic discussion group, or list server. A list server can be viewed simply as a process of rapid automatic electronic mail circulation controlled by a computer program called Revised LISTSERV installed on a mainframe computer. The program maintains a list of the e-mail addresses of all the subscribers to a particular discussion group. It receives electronic mail messages from any of those subscribers, and then automatically forwards those messages to all other subscribers in the group. Some lists are unmoderated, and any and all messages submitted to the list server are immediately sent out to all the subscribers in the group. Others are moderated. A human editor receives all the messages, groups them by topic, weeds out any unusual communication considered completely beyond the pale, and then sends the grouped messages on to the list server program, which in turn sends them out to all the subscribers. Each type of list has its supporters. Some subscribers prefer the orderly and organized atmosphere of the moderated list. Others enjoy the more improvisational air of the unmoderated list. List servers cover a very wide range of topics. Recent issues of _REACH_ have contained announcements of a number of new ones. The list server process is not particularly complicated. Here are the basic principles. Each list server has two e-mail addresses, the group address and the list server address, and each serves a different purpose. You send commands to the list server address and messages to the group address. The group address begins with a set of characters indicative of the focus of the group. The list server address begins with the expression "listserv." When you first subscribe to a list server, you send an e-mail message to the list server address. You also send commands to that address to download files from the group archive. However, when, as an active subscriber, you want to send a note to the group, you send your e-mail message to the group address. To get a file which lists all discussion groups, send the command: list global as a one-line e-mail message to the address of your nearest list server. Your local e-mail experts will be able to help you find the address of the list server computer closest to you. ------------------------------------------------------------ A NEW DISCUSSION GROUP ON INDIAN ISSUES A new discussion group has been created to provide an electronic forum for those scholars and students interested in exchanging views and information in the field of Indology. Dominik Wujastyk, founder of the new Indology discussion group, remarks that it is aimed at "people with an interest in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali, Apabhramsa and the other languages of classical and later India," and "historians of the art, literature, music, and culture of India." Subscribers to the group will also be able to exchange information about machine readable texts in Indic languages, and the use of computers in research and instruction in the field. In fact, any topic under the general heading of "Indology" will be considered appropriate. The address of the Indology group and its list server are: indology@liverpool.ac.uk listserv@liverpool.ac.uk To subscribe to the group, send an e-mail message to the list server address containing the single line: subscribe indology your name and enter your own name in place of the phrase "your name." You'll then receive additional information. ------------------------------------------------------------ NEWSLETTER ON ARCHAEOLOGICAL COMPUTING The _Archaeological Computing Newsletter_, _ACN_, is a quarterly publication on all aspects of computer applications in archaeology. Published by the Institute of Archaeology at the University of Oxford, it provides computer-using archaeologists with an opportunity to discuss their work and to keep up with developments in the field. _ACN_ welcomes submission of articles, technical notes, letters, comments, reviews, and notices of forthcoming events related to computer-based archaeology. The editors are Jeremy Huggett, Department of Archaeology, Glasgow University; Gary Lock, Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford; Paul Reilly, IBM U.K. Scientific Centre; and Dick Spicer, School of Computing, Staffordshire Polytechnic. For further information on subscriptions to the publication, please communicate with: Archaeological Computing Newsletter The Institute of Archaeology University of Oxford 36 Beaumont Street Oxford OX1 2PG, U.K. Phone: (0865) 278252 Fax: (0865) 278254 E-mail: glock@vax.oxford.ac.uk ------------------------------------------------------------ CERTIFICATE IN COMPUTING AT UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO Willard McCarty of the Centre for Computing in the Humanities at the University of Toronto recently announced a new certificate program in computing for graduate students. According to McCarty, "Beginning this academic year, the Centre for Computing in the Humanities is offering within the School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto, a programme of study and training in instructional and research computing for the humanities." McCarty went on to say, "Students who successfully complete this programme receive a Certificate of Proficiency in Humanities Computing on their graduate transcripts." Lecturers for the courses have come from "a wide variety of departments and disciplines, including pharmacology, industrial engineering, management studies, and library science, as well as the expected--English, history, Slavic studies, philosophy, linguistics." The two courses in the program are described as follows: I. Instructional Methods by Computer Introduces students to computerized educational methods and tools as they apply to the humanities and the social sciences. The aim of the course is to equip university teachers to apply computers intelligently and effectively in undergraduate courses and to plan facilities and programmes employing computerized tools. Topics include software evaluation and `usability testing,' interfaces, simulation, language instruction, writing assistance, numerical thinking, textual analysis, programming, communications, and online resources. II. Basic Research Methods by Computer Introduces students to the ways in which the computer may be applied to fundamental problems in academic research. Its aim is to show how research can be conducted more efficiently and accurately, and how the researcher can take advantage of resources and techniques formerly unavailable or forbiddingly difficult to access. Students will learn how material from printed and online sources can be electronically extracted, stored, classified, arranged, and retrieved; how texts can be analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively; and how both common and usefully idiosyncratic methods of research can be modelled on the computer without complex programming. Those interested in learning more about this innovative graduate certificate program in humanities computing should communicate with: Willard McCarty E-mail: mccarty@vm.epas.utoronto.ca ------------------------------------------------------------ MACHINE TRANSLATION CONFERENCE IN JULY MT Summit III, the third in a series of international conferences on machine translation technology, will be held on July 2-4, 1991 at the Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C. The first two of the series of MT Summits, held in Hakone, Japan in 1987, and in Munich, Germany in 1989 were very successful. MT Summit III will bring together numerous representatives from academia, industry, and government who are interested in promoting research, development and deployment of machine translation and machine-aided translation technology. The conference will feature policy debates, scholarly presentations and demonstrations of machine translation- related software. For more information about MT Summit III, please communicate with the organizers: MT Summit III Organizing Committee Center for Machine Translation Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890, U.S.A. Phone: 412/268-6591 Fax: 412/268-6298 E-mail: mtsummit@cs.cmu.edu ------------------------------------------------------------ DISCUSSION GROUP FOR REFERENCE LIBRARIANS Libref-L is a new Bitnet electronic discussion group for reference librarians just announced by Diane Kovacs of the Kent State University Libraries. The Bitnet addresses of the discussion group and its list server are: libref-l@kentvm.bitnet listserv@kentvm.bitnet On the Internet, the addresses of the group and the list server are: libref-l@kentvm.kent.edu listserv@kentvm.kent.edu To subscribe to the new discussion group, simply send an e- mail message to the list server address containing the single line: subscribe libref-l your name inserting your own name in place of the phrase "your name." The new group is designed to provide reference librarians with a forum for the discussion of the changing environment of library reference services and activities. Topics for discussion on Libref-L will include such issues as traditional reference services, patron expectations, and staff training, as well as the impact of CD-ROMs and the online searching of reference services. ------------------------------------------------------------ GROUPS AND MORE GROUPS A few weeks ago during the vacation lull I thought I'd review developments in the new world of electronic discussion groups, and sent the message "list global" to a nearby list server in order to obtain a complete roster. There are certainly many groups, and they cover quite a range. When I printed the list, it ran to some 50 single- spaced pages, one group to a line. Here are a few intriguing examples which haven't as yet been mentioned in _REACH_. Anglo-Saxon Studies ansax-l@wvnvm.bitnet Anthropology anthro-l@ubvm.bitnet Indian & Buddhist Studies buddhist@jpntohok.bitnet 18th Century Interdisciplinary List c18-l@psuvm.bitnet Educational Technology edtech@ohstvma.bitnet Department of English Discussion english@utarlvm1.bitnet Educational Research List erl-l@tcsvm.bitnet Film Studies cinema-l@auvm.bitnet James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake fwake-l@irlearn.bitnet Hegel Society hegel@villvm.bitnet History history@finhutc.bitnet Judaism in the Greco-Roman World ioudaios@yorkvm1.bitnet Jewish Studies judaica@uminn1.bitnet Psychology psych@tcsvm.bitnet Records of Early English Drama reed-l@utoronto.bitnet Second Language Acquisition slart-l@psuvm.bitnet If one of these discussion groups looks promising, why not give it a try? Send the subscribe command to the list server address of the group, and see what happens. You'll quickly get the flavor of the conversation. If it doesn't meet your expectations, just remember that the unsubscribe command, sent to the same list server address, will remove you from the list of subscribers. --Eric Dahlin ------------------------------------------------------------ _REACH_ is published six times a year by the Humanities Computing Facility of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Advisory Committee: Edward Branigan Film Studies Carol Genetti Linguistics Gunther Gottschalk Germanic, Oriental & Slavic Allan Grapard Religious Studies Barbara Harthorn Interdisciplinary Humanities Center Gerald Horne Black Studies JoAnn Kuchera-Morin Music Albert Lindemann History Francisco Lomeli Chicano Studies Ursula Mahlendorf Women's Studies Jack Murray French & Italian Michael O'Connell, Vice Chair English Giorgio Perissinotto, Chair Spanish & Portuguese Nathan Salmon Philosophy Leland Strasburg Dramatic Art John Sullivan Classics Burr Wallen Art History ------------------------------------------------------------ HCF Coordinator & Editor of _REACH_: Eric Dahlin Phone: 805/893-2208 HCF1DAHL@ucsbuxa.bitnet HCF1DAHL@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu ------------------------------------------------------------ _REACH_ is produced on an Everex 386, using Microsoft Word, Version 5.0, and Xerox Ventura Publisher, Version 3.0, with camera ready copy printed on an HP LaserJet III. Printing is by UCSB Printing & Reprographic Services. ------------------------------------------------------------