From: Willard McCarty Subject: Happy Birthday Humanist Date: 7 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1 (1) Humanist was created on this day in May 1987. In our Epimethean way of reckoning, that makes Humanist 2 years old, but the volume number is Promethean, and so says 3. I remember both my (human) children emerging from their terrible twos, but I also remember having some difficulty seeing how the turn of their personal calendars made any difference in their temperament. I think sometime in her third year my daughter, whom a mentor of mine had named Kuan Yin in honour of her remarkable serenity and radiant love for all the world, had to be renamed Boom Boom because she suddenly became the being she has been ever since. (She's now 15!) My son, somewhat younger, had no sudden change. Perhaps these anecdotes (upon which I could proudly enlarge, have no doubt) are just as good as to describe the horoscope, haruspicate or scry, observe disease in signatures, evoke biography from the wrinkles of the palm and tragedy from fingers; release omens by sortilege, or tea leaves, riddle the inevitable with playing cards, fiddle with pentagrams or barbituric acids, or dissect the recurrent image into pre-conscious terrors -- to explore the womb, or tomb, or dreams.... In any case, birthdays, like new years and hallowe'ens, are times when all sorts of strangeness is permitted and larger visions demanded. I am storing up my observations about Humanist for a paper at the MLA next December, so I will let everyone enjoy his or her own reflections about Humanist as it passes into its third year. Let me, in turn, recommend to you all T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets, from which I just quoted, and wish you all as Humanists a happy birthday. Willard McCarty From: Richard Goerwitz Subject: Tartars & Europe in general Date: Sat, 6 May 89 21:14:00 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2 (2) Kevin Berland just posted a query concerning Elizabethan knowledge of the Tartars. I don't know what his motive for asking was, but, for whatever reason, I've got a similar query. Lately I've been dabbling with 18th cent. mysticism. One writer makes several obscure references to Great Tartary and to the Tar- tars (not necessarily the same thing!). I've had lots of trouble just locating Great Tartary. Every early modern map I look at seems to have it in a different place. If anyone reading this could point me towards some relevant liter- ature I'd be very grateful. -Richard L. Goerwitz goer@sophist.uchicago.edu rutgers!oddjob!gide!sophist!goer From: Subject: Greek fonts Date: Sat, 6 May 89 15:06 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 3 (3) There is in the public domain a font-printer/formatter for Epson printers called BRADFORD which I know has both Greek and Hebrew fonts. I have used neither. You can pick up the program and the fonts from any bulletin board. I know there is a CP/M version, and there has to be a DOS version too. The program is shareware, so there won't be source code available. But the whole deal costs maybe $10. There is another NLQ font package for Epson printers in the public domain called EPSET. I know very little about it. For the DEC LA50 and compatibles there is a font-editor and formatter in the public domain. The editor is called FEDIT, and although I don't think the author, Chris Hall, has written Greek or Hebrew fonts, they would be trivial to create using FEDIT. FPRINT, the font printer and formatter which goes with FEDIT is excellent, and I use it for everything. Mr. Hall has written some 25 or 30 fonts for it, mostly similar to Mac fonts. The source code (in Aztec C) is in the public domain, and can be easily modified for other printers. (This would probably only involve entering the codes for setting your printer into graphics mode and for firing the individual print elements in the printer head.) I use the CP/M version. Obviously since the source code is available versions for DOS or any other operating system for which a C compiler is available would be easy to make. From: JACKA@PENNDRLS Subject: Date: Saturday, 6 May 1989 1353-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 4 (4) ONLINE NOTES FEBRUARY, 1989 I regret that the Online Notes this semester has not been sent out every month. In the coming weeks, I will be distributing the already written notes for March, April and May. Please accept my apologies. APPLE AND HP PERIPHERALS A weakiness of the Apple Macintosh from a bias perspective is printing. True, the Apple LaserWriter is an excellent 300 dpi. printer, but it's too costly even for a University when you consider that this printer can only functionally serve perhaps seven users at any one time without becoming overloaded with work to do. The IMAGEWRITER LQ does not produce good quality printing for the price of $1,000 for a single user. The standard IMAGEWRITE was o.k. four years ago, but not today. It makes YOU look bad on the page. Well, we have been investigating alternatives to this situation starting with Hewlett-Packard, a company which produce two good and less costly printers, the HPLaserJet Series II and DeskJet. DESKJET: In a recent Penn Printout from the University of Pennsylvania Computer Resource Center, Jeff Seaman, our local Tsar of microcomputer at Penn, praised the DESKJET as a good machine for the price. He feels, and I agree, that this printer threatens the hold of dot-matrix printers for most users. The DESKJET produces good quality printing (300 dpi) when hooked up to a DOS-based machine ($440. retail). The only disadvantage, I see, to the DeskJet is that the ink runs if wet. Jeff's article went on to caution against hooking a DESKJET to an APPLE MACINTOSH which if it worked well would be a really solid idea. The problem is that it works, albeit slowly according to HP (hotline No. 208-323-2551). Two companies produce a software and hardware link with the DESKJET. These links make the DESKJET appear to be an IMAGEWRITER LQ. The problem is the speed of printing: 5-10 minutes per page according to HP, or it is 3 minutes per page according to the Third Party vendors. The Third Party Vendors are: Orange Micro Company (800-223-8029) and Phoenix Technology (800-367-5600). Their software/hardware "solution" costs about $150. By the way, they make available a print spooler for "deep, deep background printing." I think they should at that speed, don't you? Well, it really isn't their fault though. HP should be blamed for their independent format! HP makes good and reliable printers which are generally incompatible for market reasons. The Computer Resource Center and SAS Computer Services tested WORK-AND-PRINT from Insight Development Corporation. The DESKJET's speed was just slower than the IMAGEWRITER, and certainly a lot quieter. It printed about a page every 40 seconds at about 120 cps of Courier typeface. Speed of printing dropped considerably if one chose to print unsupported fonts. The speed then was on the order of 8 cps. The quality was exceptionally good, but did smudge if wetted. The printer itself was silent. A new version of the DESKJET, the DESKJET PLUS, will increase the speed of printing mostly by improving the paper feed. In addition, this new version will support a wider variety of enhancement features (in particular, italics) than the current model. Supposedly the cost of the newer DESKJET PLUS will be identical with the older DESKJET, about $440. By the way, HP heard indirectly what we were up to here, and let us know that they plan to release a version of the DESKJET THAT RUNS EXCLUSIVELY ON THE MACINTOSH. The official announcement is planned for July, 1989. LASERJET : HP has tested hooking an HPLaserJet Series II to a Macintosh, and unlike the DESKJET they report that it does work for an individual machines. The HP hotline Rep. had no idea if it would work on the AppleTalk network. Three vendors can provide the necessary hardware cable and software: Insight Develop Corp (415-376-9500) Orange Micro Company (800-223-8029) Soft Style Inc (808 396-6368) The Computer Resource Center and SAS Computer Services tested the HPLaserJet with Work-and-Print. The LaserJet printed slowly off of a MAC PLUS Printer. Though we would expect better performance on a MAC SE/30 or MAC II (perhaps 40 percent), the HPLaserJet tied to a MAC is too slow to function as a network printer, let alone a printer for an individual user. It took a minute to print each page of a ten page document. Printing was just a little slower if the LaserJet had to shift into a fully graphics mode. We have investigated the other listed products though not tested them. The Grappler from Orange Micro Company cannot function on the AppleTalk network, and printing speed is three minutes per page. Other than that, it works according to the Sales Representation. Oh well, I guess, the LaserWriter remains the machine of choice for network users. From: Alan Rudrum Subject: CONCORDANCES Date: Fri, 5 May 89 20:31:20 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 5 (5) Not sure that I agree with Rosanne Potter on the general interest of this reply, but I did a moving little piece once: "Vaughan's *Each*: a review of Imilda Tuttle, *A Concordance to Vaughan's Silex Scintillans*, in Essays in Criticism, Vol.21, No.1 (1971), 86-91. If I recall it correctly, it included a plea to concordance-makers to bear in mind that words that might seem to them too neutral to include might well be of interest to critics with bees in their bonnets. Alan Rudrum, English, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C.,,Canada V5A 1S6; useranth@sfu.bitnet. From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: 18th cent. studies (68) Date: Fri, 5 May 89 23:33:23 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 6 (6) In regard to the recent inquiry concerning eighteenth-century French studies: an excellent source might be Michael Cartwright, of the French Deparment of McGill University, who is an avid eighteenth-century French scholar and an equally avid electronic mailer. Buzz him at CZC7@MCGILLA, or by mail in care of the French Department at McGill University in Montreal. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: Concordances Date: 8 May 1989, 10:25:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1 (7) I wrote a short review article, "Art, Artists, Galileo and Concordances," for the *Milton Quarterly*, 20.3 (October, 1986): 103-105, that dealt with the use of various kinds of concordances in hard-core scholarship. The article dealt with the use of the index to the Columbia edition of Milton, the Oxford concordance to Milton's poetry, and the MRTS concordance to Milton's English prose, specifically to see what the word "artist" meant to Milton; but I was also concerned with using concordances creatively (but also empirically) in scholarship in general. The computer of course makes generating indexes, alphabetized word-lists, concordances, hypertext strings, etc., much easier. In editing the manuscript of Book I of *Paradise Lost*, for instance, I kept a dictionary of words that deviated from modern spelling, and I was able to alphabetize and even categorize that list quickly, for critical analysis of spelling preferences. From: unh!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: CONCORDANCES Date: Mon, 8 May 89 11:06:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2 (8) I echo Alan Rudrum's plea to include everything possible in a concordance. Function words are, in certain studies, just as important as the "strong words." One might examine essays by Etienne Brunet, Pierre Guiraud, Robert F. Allen and Michael Riffaterre to bear this out. --Joel D. Goldfield J_GOLDFI@UNHH.BITNET From: Wilhelm Ott Subject: corrected version of women in medicine Date: Mon, 08 May 89 19:29:48 CET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 8 (9) [Here is a better version of the bibliography, with the truncated lines properly formatted. Thanks to Wilhelm Ott for taking care to contribute this a second time. -- W.M.] "Women in Medicine": I have forwarded the enquiries about women in medicine to the Director of the Institut fuer Geschichte der Medizin of our university, Prof. Dr. Gerhard Fichtner. Here is a bibliography he supplied. Wilhelm Ott ------------------------------------------------- Literature: "Women in Medicine": Alic, M.: Hypatia's heritage: a history of women in science from antiquity to the late nineteenth century. London: Women's Press 1985. - Pfund 5.95 Chaff, Sandra L.; Haimbach, Ruth; Fenichel, Carol; Woodside, Nina B.: Women in medicine. A bibliography of the literature on women physicians. Metuchen, N. J.: Scarecrow Press; (London: Bailey Bros. & Swinfen) 1977. XII, 1124 S. - Pfund 29.75 Review: Med. Hist. 22(1978), S. 461. Review: Isis 70(1979), S. 295f. (Mandelbaum, Dorothy Rosenthal) Review: Clio Med. 16(1981), S. 155. Davis, Audrey B.: Bibliography on Women: with special emphasis on their roles in science and society. New York: Science History Publications 1974. 50 S. Review: J. Hist. Med. 31(1976), S. 237 (Overmier, Judith). Davis, N. Z.; Conway, J. K.: Society and the sexes: a bibliography of women's history. New York: Garland Publishing 1978. - Doll. 35.00 Donegan, Jane B.: Women and Men Midwives. Medicine, Morality, and Misogyny in Early America. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press 1978. VIII, 316 S., Abb. (Contributions in Medical History, No. 2). - Pfund 12.75 Review: Med. Hist. 24(1980), S. 118. Review: Clio Med. 14(1980), S. 149f. (Morantz, Regina Markell). Review: Bull. Hist. Med. 55(1981), S. 297f. (Leavitt, Judith Walzer). Donnison, Jean: Midwives and medical men. A history of inter-professional rivalries and women's rights. London: Heinemann 1977. VI, 250 S., Abb. - Pfund 6.50 Review: Med. Hist. 22(1978), S. 98. Review: Clio Med. 16(1981), S. 162f. (Donegan, Jane B.). Ehrenreich, B.; English, D.: Witches, Midwives and Nurses. A History of Woman Healers. New York: The Feminist Press 1973. 47 S. - O. Pr. Ehrenreich, Barbara; English, Deirdre: Witches, Midwives and Nurses: A History of Women Healers. London: Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative 1977. - Pfund 0.65 Review: Med. Educ. 11(1977), S. 358-359 (Maclean, Una). Herzenberg, Caroline L.: Women Scientists from Antiquity to the Present: An Index. West Cornwall, Conn.: Locust Hill Press 1986. XXXIX, 200 S. - Doll. 30.00 Review: Isis 78(1987), S. 315f. (Koblitz, Ann Hibner). In Her Own Words: Oral Histories of Woman Physicians. Ed. by Regina Markell Morantz, Cynthia Stodola Pomerleau, Carol Hansen Fenichel. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press 1982 (Contributions in Medical History. Nr. 8.). XIV, 284 S., Abb. - Doll. 29.95 Review: J. Hist. Med. 38(1983), S. 472f. (Olch, Peter D.). Review: Bull. Hist. Med. 57(1983), S. 638f. (Cangi, Ellen C.). Morantz-Sanchez, Regina Markell: Sympathy and Science: Women Physicians in American Medicine. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press 1985. XII, 464 S., Abb. - Doll. 24.95 Review: Isis 77(1986), S. 175f. (Leavitt, Judith W.). Review: J. Hist. Med. 41(1986), S. 352-355 (Cayleff, Susan E.). Review: Bull. Hist. Med. 60(1986), S. 602f. (Reverby, Susan). Review: Hist. Philos. Life Sc. 10(1988), S. 401-403 (Duffin, Jacalyn). Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey: Women in Science, Antiquity Through the Nineteenth Century: A Biographical Dictionary with Annotated Bibliography. Cambridge, Mass., London: MIT Press 1986. XII, 254 S. - Doll. 25.00 Review: Isis 78(1987), S. 315f. (Koblitz, Ann Hibner). Walsh, Mary Roth: Doctors Wanted: No Women Need Apply: Sexual Barriers in the Medical Profession, 1835-1975. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press 1977. XXIII, 303 S. - Doll. 15.00 Review: J. Hist. Med. 33(1978), S. 104f. (Leavitt, Judith Walzer). Review: Med. Hist. 22(1978), S. 217. Review: Isis 69(1978), S. 105f. (Bullough, Vern L.). Review: Clio Med. 13(1978), S. 84 (Ackerknecht, Erwin H›einz!). Women and Health: The Politics of Sex in Medicine. Ed. by Elizabeth Fee. Farmingdale, New York: Baywood Publishing 1983 (Policy, Politics, Health and Medicine Series. 4.) 263 S. - Doll. 14.50 Review: Bull. Hist. Med. 58(1984), S. 613f. (Golden, Janet). Women and Health in America: Historical Readings. Ed. by Judith Walzer Leavitt. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1984. IX, 526 S., Abb. - Doll. 32.50 Review: Isis 76(1985), S. 112f. (Jones, Daniel P.). Review: Med. Hist. 29(1985), S. 113. Review: J. Hist. Med. 40(1985), S. 495f. (Dwork, Deborah). Women Physicians of the World. Autobiographies of Medical Pioneers. Ed. by Leone McGregor Hellstedt. Washington, London: Hemisphere Publishing Corp. 1978. XV, 420 S., Abb. - Doll. 24.50 Review: Bull. Hist. Med. 53(1979), S. 632 (Thibodeau, Doris). From: SUSAN@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: Machine-readable Solzhenitsyn Date: Mon, 8 MAY 89 11:52:21 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 3 (10) Does anybody have a machine-readable Solzhenitsyn? One of the Oxford Russian lecturers would like to use it in teaching using the Oxford Text Searching System. Susan Hockey From: Mark Olsen Subject: galician-portuguese Date: Mon, 8 May 89 10:19:19 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 4 (11) Does anybody know of the existence of the following in machine-readable form: Cantigas de Santa Maria, Cancioneiro da Vaticana, Cancioneiro da Ajuda, Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional, J. J. Nunes' edition of the cancioneiros. Thanks for the help. Mark From: Jim Cahalan Subject: Shakespeare Date: 08 May 89 09:39:52 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 10 (12) [The following has been forwarded from Jim Cahalan, Graduate Literature English Dept., 111 Leonard, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA 15705-1094 Phone: (412) 357-2264.] Dear Jim, I have read with great interest your item on the formation of an English Newsgroup. This appeared in the Humanities list and was shown to me last week by Susan Kruse, a colleague at King's College. May I suggest a sort of early test for its effectiveness? There is a crisis in London at the moment because only within the past few weeks archeological work at the site of the 402 year old Rose Theatre has revealed for the first time in modern history substantial foundations of one of London's great open wooden theatres. The Rose stood opposite Shakespeare's Globe and he likely acted on its stage. At the moment it is possible to see the inner yard surface of the playhouse. Two separate foundations for the stage (at different periods) have appeared, the older with a foundation of brick and timbers. The channel made in the yard from rain dripping from the thatched gallery roof is plainly visible. The yard slants downward toward the stage. Developers are scheduled to move onto the site to bury these remains and erect an office building on 15 May! Unfortunately I do not understand the British Law, but I believe that as it stands presently, if English Heritage, the official conservation body, tries to intervene to save the site, it risks legal action in the courts for damages running up to millions of pounds. Noises are beginning to be made in the British press over this potentially tragic loss. Also I understand there has been some coverage in the American press. Perhaps there may be some hope that the site developers who are paying for the Museum of London archeologists to work on the dig might try to incorporate the Rose foundations within the new building if they sensed any public concern. Some members of the House of Commons have begun at this late moment to try to arouse interest in preserving the Rose, but the effort obviously needs all the support it can gather. Any word from overseas might give this hope just the boost it needs. I believe that this unique theatre is a very special case. If any readers of this have an interest in Shakespeare, the English Theatre or English literature in general and think that they could get a letter or brief message of some sort to London before 14 May (the mail might just make it) could I ask them to try? It would be particularly helpful if they mentioned that there is interest in such a site on the part of people living outside Britain. If they could contact the media, either here or in North America (which might gain notice in London) that might help a lot. As few as three letters might make a big difference. The main Members of Parliament to write to sending support are -- (1) Simon Hughes (2) Harriet Harman (3) Gerald Bowden The House of Commons, Palace of Westminister LONDON S.W.1 England. (phone 01-270-3000). Thank you very much, Stephen Miller Postgraduate student, c/o Department of English, King's College London, The Strand, London WC2R 2LS England. E-MAIL: UDLE031@UK.AC.KCL.CC.OAK From: Subject: Tartary Date: Mon, 8 May 89 00:28 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 5 (13) Eighteenth Century Englishmen would certainly have known about Tartary from Marco Polo. For information about what Europe generally knew about the East, consult Mary Campbell, _The Witness and the Other World: Exotic European Travel Writing 600-1600_ (Cornell, 1988). (This is a terrific book, incidentally, and reads as well for pleasure as for study.) From: Don D. Roberts (Philosophy) Subject: Tartars Date: Mon, 8 May 89 01:29:17 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 6 (14) Richard Goerwitz's note aroused my curiosity, tho no doubt some "professionals" will do better. Webster's 9th Collegiate gives, under "Tatary...or Tartary": an indefinite historical region in Asia & Europe extending from Sea of Japan to the Dnieper. No wonder it is difficult to find on maps. Better was the Century Dictionary: Tatary...more frequently Tartary... A name formerly given to central Asia, on account of the inroads of Tatar [= Tartar] hordes in the middle ages. It was later sometimes divided in part into Chinese Tatary (East Turkestan) and Independent Tatary (Turkestan). The name has also often been extended to include Manchuria, Mongolia, and Europe westward to the Dnieper or Don. Hence the division into European and Asiatic Tatary. Tatary, Chinese. See Tatary. Tatary, Crim. See Crimea. [I didn't bother.] Tatary, Gulf or Sound of. An arm of the sea which separates Saghalin from the mainland of Siberia, north of the Sea of Japan. Tatary, High. A name sometimes given to East Turkestan. Tatary, Independent. See Tatary. Tatary, Little. A name formerly given to the regions in southern Russia occupied by Tatars (Crimea, Kiptchak, etc.). The entry preceding "Tatary" is: Tatars...or Tartars. Probably R.G. has all this and more already, but just in case.... I wonder if it snowed anywhere in Tatary today (yesterday--Sunday) as it did a bit in Waterloo. From: COM3RAE@CLUSTR.TRENT.AC.UK Subject: women in medicine, cont. Date: 8-MAY-1989 12:07:51 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 7 (15) "Ministering Angels", the first of three articles in HISTORY TODAY Vol 39 February 1989 (published by History Today Ltd., 83-84 Berwick Street, London W1V 3PJ ISSN 0018-2735), written by Anne Summers of the Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, looks at the tensions between spiritual and material motivations in Victorian nursing and social reform with particular reference to professional women at work and Florence Nightingale. (With photos and a six book bibliography.) From: "Guy L. Pace" Subject: Revolution Date: Mon, 08 May 89 09:42:02 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 8 (16) In support of Perry, I must point out that the intellectual American Revolution occurred on paper (Declaration of Independence, Federalist Papers). The war conducted by by the fledgling Congress and the Continental Army was more on the level of a civil war (since most of the military actions were fought by militia on both sides). When you get right down to it, it should have been called the First American Civil War resulting from a successful political and intellectual revolution. From a "long-view" perspective, the war was never finally decided one way or the other until the end of the Second American Civil War (1860-1865), which effectively removed British economic and political influence on the United States. As it is, Perry's asbestos skivvies shouldn't be in danger of being put to a test by fire. From: jonathan@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Jonathan Altman) Subject: American Revolution Date: Mon, 8 May 89 22:29:54 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 9 (17) Well, if Perry (sorry, missed the last name) has to worry about flame-proof underwear, I'm going to be in real trouble, but here goes....I will forewarn you that my educational background does not in itself make me qualified to enter this discussion-I've only just completed my Bachelor's degree(I am on this list for my work affiliation)-but I did major in history(concentrating on American, at that). What I've gleaned from my classwork covering Revolutionary American history does not make the American revolution, as Guy Pace, suggests, a civil war between Americans. Rather, it was a war over the issue of what was an appropriate basis for exercising governmental authority: the British system of constitutional government or the American system of contractual government. The conflict occurs in that the concept that the British constitution was made up of the totality of the British governmental system, while the American governmental system was defined for most colonies (the "charter" colonies, especially) on the basis of a contractual agreement between the residents of a particular colony (the charter) and the British government covering what each's responsibilities was supposed to be. The progression towards open conflict from 1763 onward was a result of the tension between the British notion that their actions in the colonies constituted (ignore the pun) reassertion of power granted by the constitution, while the Americans who became the "revolutionaries" were seeking to maintain what they thought a very practical status quo (interesting to find revolutionaries attempting to maintain a "status quo") in the colonies. Well, there it is, flame away on a poor undergraduate (as if the professors among you don't get enough opportunity to do that normally). Jonathan Altman jonathan@eleazar.Dartmouth.edu Database Administrator jonathan.altman@Dartmouth.edu Dartmouth Dante Project From: Subject: Re: 3.11 Tartars, women, and revolutions (104) Date: Mon, 8 May 89 23:26:55 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 10 (18) In re Pace's comments about the American Revolution,several thoughts come to mind immediately. How many revolutions have not been civil wars? That the American Revolution was also a civil war (but not on the scale as has been seen in some societies) does not lessen it as a revolution. As far as when the revolution took place, there is a convincing argument that the cultural revolution took place long before the political debate of the 1760s and 1770s. It took the Imperial Crises of 1763-65 to awaken many loyal Britishers in some of the colonies (after all, not all of the colonies revolted against the Crown) to realize that their idea of the rights of Englishmen was very different from that of the parent country. In time, many colonials decided that they were not English after all. The ideas reflected in the D of I, the state constitutions, the first constitution (otherwise known as the Articles of Confederation), and the second constitution (that of 1787 which will still use today) did not spring forth quickly but reflected, I think, a more subtle and evolutionary change in American thinking. ---------------------------------------------------------------- !Donald J. Mabry !DJMABRY@MSSTATE ! From: L.M.Richmond@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 2.929: Ph.D.s; revolution (65) Date: Tue, 9 May 89 06:59:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 11 (19) Revolutions What about the Reformation ? From: Itamar Even-Zohar Subject: conference on children's literature Date: 10 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 13 (20) 9TH CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SOCIETY FOR CHILDREN'S LITERATURE (IRSCL) 4-8 September, 1989 We are pleased to forward to you the preliminary program of the 9th Conference of the International Research Society for Children's Literature (IRSCL), which will be held in Salamanca from the 4th of September through the 8th, 1989. The subject of the conference will be: Aspects and Issues in the History of Children's Literature. -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. CHILDLIT CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Women/Medicine Archive Date: Monday, 8 May 1989 2358-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 12 (21) I am told by a colleague that the Medical College of Philadelphia, formerly named Women's Medical College, has an extensive archive on (the history of ?) women in medicine. If further information on this resource is of interest, please let me know and I will inquire further. Bob Kraft From: Wujastyk (on GEC 4190 Rim-D at UCL) Subject: Women in Medicine -- History Date: Tue, 9 May 89 13:48 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 13 (22) The Wellcome Institute, in London, recently held a three month exhibition on the subject of women in the history of medicine. It was called "Hygiea's Handmaids", and was accompanied by a printed catalogue which is still available. A conference was held to coincide with the exhibition. For further details, contact Leslie Hall at the Wellcome Institute (address below). Dominik From: David Megginson Subject: Re: 3.7 concordances, cont. (48) Date: Tue, 09 May 89 07:32:34 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 14 (23) The Dictionary of Old English had, perhaps, the best solution to publishing a concordance. They put out the regular microfiche concordance to Old English literature less stop-words, then released the high-frequency concordance which contains only the stop-words. The literary users are happy because they can get at the words they want without having to deal with thousands of 'ic', but the philologists and linguists (can _you_ see the difference?) can get their hands dirty with more 'ic' than they ever dreamed of. Of course, hard-copy (or microfiche) concordances should already be a thing of the past. Even interactive concording programs as simplistic as WordCruncher leave them out in the cold. David Megginson From: Willard McCarty Subject: used concordances, cheap! Date: 9 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 15 (24) I canna resist. Printed concordances are not entirely a thing of the past. Should they be? In theory, perhaps; as a mathematician would say, they've been trivialized. But are we sure we never will want them, even after the glorious day arrives when all is available online? Certainly for the poor slob who now merely hobbles along with his 12MHz AT, to whom multitasking is a distant dream, who simultaneously shudders to think of the work of marking-up the whole of Ovid for WordCruncher or TACT and observes that even on a NeXT (which can't run either) he'd be no better off even if he could afford the future, well..... All he has to do is lean backwards a foot or two and grab the old printed concordance and multitask multimediawise. It is possible to multitask on a large flat table with several good reference books, some of which may be concordances into which a great deal of good thinking has been put. Ok, ok (and what is the etymology of that word, eh?) I know about the virtues of interactive concordance programs and what is to be gained by having all the words available -- e.g., try "in" and variants in the 9th book of Paradise Lost -- but isn't there a serious question here, the answer to which is not obvious? Or am I just being thick? Willard McCarty From: Subject: Electronic Freud Date: Mon, 8 May 89 21:36 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 16 (25) For a project on the development of his clinical style I am interested in machine-readable material from Sigm. Freud's correspondence and clinical writing. Does anyone know of either a commercial or academic source for such virtual Freud material? Douglas Davis Department of Psychology Haverford College From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Clarification of Item in Cahalan Letter Date: Mon, 08 May 89 22:03:05 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 17 (26) Jim Cahalan's letter (under the "Shakespearians" heading) makes reference to an an "English Newslist" which is apparently an electonic grammo network. I inquired once before about this list but was only referred by a very helpful person to the list ENGLISH, which is primarily for Canadian teachers of English. This issue of a grammo network dedicated to professional activities and discoveries in English literature has come up before, but, apparently, no one remembers anything about it except me. Please prove this last proposition untrue! From: Martin Ryle Subject: RE: 3.1: Happy Birthday (42) Date: Sun, 7 May 89 23:29:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 17 (27) It seems to me appropriate on Birthdays to hoist one high to the parents, or at least to the mid-wife, who in this case must be Willard. Ryle From: HANLY@UOFMCC Subject: angels and pins Date: Wed, 10 May 89 13:49 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 18 (28) Does anyone know the origin of the idea that medieval philosophers discussed how many angels could dance on the head (or point?) of a pin? Ken Hanly Brandon UNiversity From: Martin Ryle Subject: RE: 3.12 revolutions, cont. (91) Date: Wed, 10 May 89 12:20:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 18 (29) T. Kuhn's _Structure of Scientific Revolution_ offers a good model for looking at all sorts of revs., and not merely scientific (he borrowed the concept from Lefebvre and others). The model suggests that the revolution, per se, is a change of paradigm or perception or ideology that gradually permeates the social group in question (whether physicists or citizen/subjects). Subsequently, the change in perception by a significant percentage of the group meets determined opposition from the unpersuaded, and civil war or its equivalent follows. In the scientific community, we may be witnessing such a paradigm shift in the heated controversy over cold fusion. In the political arena, the paradigm shift in the American revolution might be thought virtually complete by the appearance of the correspondence committees or the Boston Tea Party. In the French revolution, Sieyes' What is the Third Estate may have marked the coalescence of the new paradigm--or at least the Tennis Court Oath. In the Russian Rev. a handy point of reference for the shift could be Miliukov's "Is it stupidity or is it treason" speech in the Duma late in 1916. In all these events, the civil war that followed was more nearly a fight between competing ideologies than the revolution itself. Ryle@urvax.urich.edu From: "Guy L. Pace" Subject: Revolutions Date: Wed, 10 May 89 09:16:21 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 19 (30) The attempt of my last message (and I did oversimplify) was to separate the political, social and economic views of the American Revolution from the physical act of war. More often than not, the individual colonial militiaman sighted down the barrel of his squirrel gun and fired at a Tory militiaman. The major actions of the war, and those we read of most in history books, deal with the British military campaign to enforce British economic and political policy. However, little is discussed in standard history texts of the actions which did not directly involve British troops (those carried out by the respective militia). It is from these militia actions (colonial Ame rican against colonial American) that define the war as a civil war. However, this does not preclude the importance of the intellectual, political or economic issues (and I didn't mean to imply that it did). D. J. Mabry's note points out that the cultural revolution (evolution) took place before the actual political involvement. If other social and politial reforms are studied in detail (including the Reformation, Richmond!), I'm sure you will find that the foundations for the reform were established in the culture well before the political act. The Americans, as revolutionaries, as Altman points out, attempted to maintain a status quo--in other words they conducted a conservative revolution, if you will. From a strictly intellectual, political aspect, though, can there be such a thing as a conservative revolution? Where, if anywhere, *is* the revolution? Does the revolution reside, as Mabry suggests, in the cultural evolution? Or does it reside in Jefferson's D of I (which effectively provided official endorsement of a specific humanist philosophy)? Or, are we still struggling to bring the idealism of 1776 into reality? Guy L. Pace From: Wujastyk (on GEC 4190 Rim-D at UCL) Subject: Arabic for TeX Date: Wed, 10 May 89 13:59 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 20 (31) Jacques Goldberg has almost finished Arabic and Persian fonts, designed in METAFONT for use with TeX. He needs to do a little work on the preprocessor, and that's about all, to make the fonts distributable. He said it might take only a matter of hours. But it sounded from his letter as if he has rather lost heart with this project, and feels that no one is at all interested. So why should he make an effort? So, if you have any interest in seeing Arabic and Persian fonts made available for use with TeX, please send and encouraging note to Jacques, who is on Bitnet as GOLWS @ CERNVM . Dominik cc. TeXhax From: JLD1@PHOENIX.CAMBRIDGE.AC.UK Subject: Modern Greek texts Date: Wed, 10 May 89 16:12:46 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 21 (32) Dr Dia Philippides of Boston College, USA, is editing modern Greek texts herself, and would know of most other such work. Her e-mail address as far as I know is: PHILIPPD @ BCVMS John Dawson From: David Subject: Re: 3.15 concordances, cont. (65) Date: Wed, 10 May 89 07:41:44 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 22 (33) I agree with Willard McCarty in his love of printed texts, and like him, I too extend that love to printed concordances. Many of the concordances of the past are more useful than modern concording programs because of the careful research and the degree of lemmatisation which went into them. Nowadays, however, a printed concordance tends just to be a long dot-matrix print-out with truncated lines and illegible index numbers. If a scholar is not willing to put 20 years into making her/ his concordance a work of art, or at least of scholarship, I would far rather have an electronic copy of the text with a good concording program. Cruden's, however, will never be kicked off my shelf. David From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Concording Date: Wednesday, 10 May 1989 0908-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 23 (34) Willard is "thick" on concordances? Probably. Give me the world electronically and a searching package flexible enough to deal with it appropriately (including the things listed in earlier HUMANIST discussions by Hughes, Cover, etc.; IBYCUS is the best I have available right now), and he can have all the hardcopy concordances, indices, etc. Well, maybe I'd like this all in a multiple screen/processor environment. And of course, with excellent convenient print capabilities. And enough speed. And good screen generation of foreign fonts. And..., oh yes, the time to use it! But that is even more of a problem with Willard's thick concordances! Bob [This really was meant for you, Willard; but if you can't resist -- some people just can't seem to say no!] From: Ken Steele Subject: Obsolete Concordances Date: Wed, 10 May 89 11:32:37 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 24 (35) When David Megginson suggested that programs like WordCruncher have made printed concordances a thing of the past, I suspect he had in mind, at least in part, the Shakespeare archive I have demonstrated for him. (It currently contains 55 unedited quarto and folio texts of Shakespeare's plays, and requires about 18 megabytes of storage space with the WordCruncher indexes.) I feel obliged to defend his argument against Willard McCarty's objections. Admittedly the markup process for WordCruncher took several months of weekends (I doubt that Ovid would take much longer), but once completed the interactive concordance can do many things of which printed concordances are simply incapable. (For those who have not yet had the pleasure of its acquaintance, WordCruncher allows searches for lists of words in any combination, for lists of words within a set distance, for lists of words which do NOT occur together, etc etc.) It would doubtless take several shelves of prohibitively-expensive printed concordances to duplicate this resource (and what University library, much less what humble Shakespearean scholar, can afford to spend money needlessly these days?). I recognize the value of "multitasking mediawise" on a wooden desktop, and I admit that I still use the paper compact edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (but this is largely because I cannot afford a CD-ROM drive just now). Yet surely printed concordances, like the typewriter, have been rendered obsolescent by computer technology. I love the feeling of a well-bound book in my hands as much as anyone, and I keep my old IBM Selectric around for sentimental reasons, but "trivialization" cannot be ignored. And although I am one of those unfortunates saddled with a 12-MHz AT, multitasking is not a "distant dream" to me. Obviously, true multitasking is the province of OS/2, the 80386 chip, and their descendants, but programs such as Microsoft Windows or Softlogic Solutions' Software Carousel (my personal favourite) allow me to move between WordPerfect and WordCruncher with at least as much ease and speed as between a notepad and a printed concordance. (And neither program requires true multitasking, simultaneous operation, when immediate alternation is all that this human operator is capable of anyway.) As for the etymology of "OK," the tiny print of my OED's supplement blames it on the Americans: an abbreviation of a misspelling, "oll korrect" in the 15 April 1840 Boston Transcript. Perhaps someone with the CD-ROM edition can supply the most recent theory. From: "James H. Coombs" Subject: printed concordance obsolescent Date: Wed, 10 May 89 13:47:33 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 25 (36) Printed concordances might be obsolescent, but they are certainly not obsolete. Just last weekend I went to the library with a list of about 50 concordances to search---to see how English authors had been using certain words. I have electronic access to perhaps 1% of the works that are concorded in those books. I believe that Willard would argue that printed concordances are not even obsolescent. Publishers are already losing interest in concrdances, however, and we can expect scholars to lose interest as they come to expect electronic access. Side note. I ran across a set of concordances on diskettes in the library. The effort required to try them out on a PC was not justified for my extremely speculative task. I would have used them if they had been printed and, thus, had directly provided the information that I sought. All in all. Print medium has its advantages. Such advantages are probably not sufficient to keep them in production. Just for the record, I have concorded two versions of Wordsworth's *Prelude*. This is a comparative concordance, with cross references between the versions. I can't finish, however, until Cornell publishes the final volume, and that may be a couple of years from now. I doubt very much that Cornell will be interested in publishing this work. There is already an 1850 concordance; they are expensive to produce; the market is small; the comparative concordance is ideal for some people but does not do what others might like. Concording was big when computers first became available to support their development. The excitement was such that we now have multiple concordances for some authors, with no major advantages of one over the other (e.g., Milton). We may have similar activity when we can first make texts available widely with search capabilities. (Well, we can do it now, but I think we are still waiting for media prices to drop into scholarly budgets.) --Jim Dr. James H. Coombs Senior Software Engineer, Research Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship (IRIS) Brown University, Box 1946 Providence, RI 02912 jazbo@brownvm.bitnet From: stoy@prg.oxford.ac.uk Subject: Position Announcement Date: Wed, 10 May 89 09:18:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 22 (37) BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD FIXED-TERM TUTORIAL FELLOWSHIP IN PHILOSOPHY Applications are invited for a fixed-term tutorial Fellowship in Philosophy at Balliol. An ability to teach Greek philosophy is an advantage but not a requirement. The appointment is for three years from October 1989 or January 1990 or some mutually agreeable date. Applications and _curriculum_vitae_ by 31 May to the College Secretary, Balliol College, Oxford OX1 3BJ, England (JANet address: JULIA@UK.AC.OXFORD.BALLIOL ), from whom further details may be obtained. We are, of course, an equal-opportunity employer. From: Don D. Roberts (Philosophy) Subject: 3.19 revolutions, cont. (76) Date: Thu, 11 May 89 17:42:35 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 26 (38) Martin Ryle's idea that in the cold fusion fuss and in one or two other topics we may have examples of Kuhn's paradigm shift is certainly suggestive. I wonder if he could elaborate what two (or more) paradigms might be at issue in the fusion instance and in the others. From: Brian Whittaker Subject: Re: 3.19 revolutions, cont. (76) Date: Thu, 11 May 89 18:20:25 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 27 (39) The American Revolution might well be seen as a civil war between the Tories and the Whigs, with the victorious Whigs sending the Tories into exile in Canada. One consequence of this is that the American political spectrum tends to range from generous liberalism (the Kennedy brothers, for example) to stingy liberalism (Ronald Reagan, for example), with both extremes concerned above all with protecting the rights of the individual from the depredations of society and its institutions. In Canada, until the present decade, there was a dominant conservative tradition in the three major parties, focussing on protecting society from the depredations of the individual; the nationalization of key industries to protect the interests of society characterized federal politics in Canada from the creation of the Canadian National Railways by Borden's conservative government just after the First World War to the creation of Petro Canada by Trudeau's liberal government. As for the possibility of a conservative revolution, Lord Durham, the radical liberal who was sent over by the British government to investigate the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada saw in the Papineau rebellion in Lower Canada a conservative uprising against the Whig merchants of Montreal and Quebec cities. Brian Whittaker Atkinson College, York University From: Dr Abigail Ann Young Subject: Re: 3.18 angels dancing on pins? (18) Date: Thu, 11 May 89 07:54:45 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 28 (40) According to the learned father who taught the introduction to mediaeval philosophy at the Pontifical Institute in the mid- seventies, he and his colleagues had tried in vain to find such a text. He privately believed it to be a piece of hyperbole used to disparage late scholasticism by an humanistic scholar or one of the reformers, but had no proof. He used to offer a reward to any of his students who could find the text, but no one ever did! I'd be interested to know where the idea comes from myself, though I think it's too late for the reward! Yours faithfully, Abigail ******************************************************************** **Abigail Ann Young (Dr) ** **Research Associate, Records of Early English Drama ** **150 Charles Street W./ Victoria College / University of Toronto ** **Toronto, Ontario / M5S 1K9 / Canada ** **1-416-585-4504 ** **YOUNG@VM.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA or REED@VM.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA ** ******************************************************************** From: WIEBEM@QUCDN Subject: 3.18 angels dancing on pins? (18) Date: Thu, 11 May 89 16:03-0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 29 (41) I seem to recall, not having the text at hand, that it occurs in Martinus Scriblerus Ch 7, spoofing Aquinas's angels. Mel Wiebe, Queen's Univ. From: Don D. Roberts (Philosophy) Subject: 3.18 angels dancing on pins? (18) Date: Thu, 11 May 89 17:34:29 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 30 (42) Re: angels dancing on head of pin: Bergen Evans in _Dictionary of Quotations_ (Avenal, 1978) 23-24 quotes Ralph Cudworth's _The True Intellectual System of the Universe III_ (1678): "Some who are far from atheists, may make themselves merry with that conceit of thousands of spirits dancing at once upon a needle's point." Evans adds these remarks (among others): "Cudworth is plainly alluding to some assertion or passage in literature which he assumes is fairly well known. But no one has ever been able to find, in theological discussions, the question of how many angels can 'dance on the point of a pin' (the modern form)." --Don D. Roberts, UWaterloo. From: Oxford Text Archive Subject: electronic freud Date: Thu, 11 May 89 18:39 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 31 (43) John Ruffing at cornell (OMGY @ edu.cornell.ccs.vax5) has a substantial amount of the master's work in electronic form and has offered to deposit it with the oxford text archive when copyright release has been obtained. in haste The Archivist From: Hanna Kassis Subject: 3.20 Arabic for TeX; modern Greek texts Date: Thu, 11 May 89 06:27:48 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 32 (44) [deleted quotation]it became evident that the problem is not lack of interest on Goldberg's part but shortage of funds. Understably, his university cannot expend the funds needed to hire the necessary assistant (Goldberg is a physicist). In addition to encouragement, the project needs financial support. Any leads? The project is certainly worthy. From: Espen S. Ore + 47 5 21 29 59 FAFEO at NOBERGEN Subject: Thank you Date: 11 May 89, 11:45:42 EMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 33 (45) I would just like to thank all of you HUMANISTS who responded to my enquiry about modern Greek texts. All responses pointed to Dia Philippides at Boston College as the person most likely to know something about such texts. From: Robin Smith Subject: Printed concordances Date: Wed, 10 May 89 21:36 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 34 (46) I'll have to second Willard's view that the printed concordance, and its ilk, are not nearly dead yet. The TLG and an Ibycus machine are capable of wonders, but Bonitz had the advantage of actually understanding Greek: there's more in- telligence in many 19th-century indices than is likely to become automated for several decades, at the least. (Of course, I STILL want an Ibycus.) From: JACKA@PENNDRLS Subject: ON CONCORDING Date: Thursday, 11 May 1989 1442-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 35 (47) It is only human nature to duplicate on a new medium, in this case the computer, what one did on an older medium, in that case paper. For me, the real question in concording is whether that is the most efficient use of the new medium. Well, I don't think so, but that does not mean for others who work differently that my view is right for them. For me, the new medium gives me newer and more flexible ways to format a text instantly whether in a concordance or in some other format. My problems with this new medium is that the hardware isn't flexible enough to display exactly what needs to be done. From: unh!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: Date: Tue, 9 May 89 17:48:31 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 26 (48) Subject: Literary Computing Grants/Fellowships? Could any of you suggest from personal experience sources of funding for U.S. citizens conducting research & writing in the fields of 1) literary computing & literary criticism (esp. 19th-century French fiction) or; 2) computer-assisted language instruction/interactive video, both methodological research & curricular development (French)? I'm particularly interested in funding applicable to a sabbatical year project (1990-91). Which grant organizations do you think would be receptive to work on a content area like 19th-cen. French fiction where an equally important part of the text considers questions like: 1) How may one develop and investigate literary problems with the assistance of the computer? 2) What are the viable methodologies for stylo-statistical analysis? 3) How may one display the results convincingly to fellow humanists? 4) How may the results be smoothly integrated into the prose of literary interpretation and criticism? 5) What are the implications of "computer-assisted literary analysis" acquiring a critical mass of practitioners which would qualify the various applications as a new post-structuralist or a even "holistic" approach to literary criticism? Perhaps you could suggest additional burning questions.... Thanks. --Joel D. Goldfield J_GOLDFI@UNHH.BITNET From: "Joanne M. Badagliacco" Subject: Job Opening Date: Thu, 11 May 89 11:00:22 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 27 (49) The following position is open at Pomona College. Manager of Educational Services Description: Responsible for provision of support to students and faculty members for instructional and research computing, including: consultation, technical assistance in the development of instructional and research software and documentation, maintenance of courseware and research software library, supervision of faculty laboratory, supervision of computer support specialists and student assistants, development and offering of workshops. Requirements: Master's degree (doctorage preferred) in an appropriate discipline, or equivalent combination of education and experience. At least five years' experience with instructional and research computing in a higher education setting. At least three years expereience supervisiong academic computing support personnel. Demonstrated administrative skills, excellent verbal and written communication skills. Salary commensurate with qualifications. (Mid $30's) Setting: Seaver Academic Computing Services (SACS) provides support for instructional and reserach computing for the Pomona College community of approximately 1400 students and 140 faculty. SACS currently operates an IBM 4341 mainframe, but will be migrating to a DEC VAX 6310 system during the next academic year. In addition, SACS has numerous IBM and Apple Macintosh microcomputer laboratories and classrooms. The campus is in the process of being networked with fiber optic cabling thereby allowing Pomona to interface with the five other Claremont Colleges running clusters of VAX machines, and the main library. Deadline to apply: May 31, 1989 Send resume, writing sample, and names, addresses and telephone numbers of three reference to: Dr. J. M. Badagliacco Director of Academic Computing Pomona College 640 College Avenue Claremont, CA 91711 Humanists are encouraged to apply! From: D.Mealand@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: Greek Date: 12 May 89 12:07:44 bst X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 36 (50) We have been using Greek texts on cd-rom with an Ibycus here for over a year now and find this facility very useful. Does anyone on this bb have experience of using the Pandora with Mac equivalent or the Lbase with PC equivalent ? It is possible that Edinburgh might wish to get a second system being a split campus and rather than simply double up on Ibycus it might be worth considering having a mac or pc based access to the TLG texts. Please reply to me about this rather than the bb (D.Mealand @edinburgh.ac.uk) Also about discussion on Greek texts. There is an active group of Ibycus users who have a list-serv discussion group. Is there any other sub-group of Humanities people discussing ancient Greek texts on any of the many networks ? David M. [Note that the Ibycus, the program Offload (for getting texts from the CD-ROMs to a PC fixed disk), Pandora, Lbase, and Searcher will all be exhibited at our software and hardware fair here in June. What better way could there be than attending the fair for seeing many, if not most, of the options? --W.M.] From: "John E. Koontz, NIST 713, Boulder" Subject: Ideophone questionnaire Date: Wed, 10 May 89 17:28:59 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 37 (51) PLEASE COPY PLEASE POST AND DISTRIBUTE * * * IDEOPHONES * * * DO THEY OCCUR IN THE LANGUAGES OF WHICH YOU HAVE SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE? I would appreciate any information you care to provide. Use the following as a guide. If a language does not have them, please tell me that too. 1. Name of language 2. Some properties of the ideophones (e.g. from list below, or others) 3. Some examples of the ideophones 4. Is there morphology in the ideophones? 5. Do they show sound symbolism (e.g. vowel height correlating with size) 6. Relation with the rest of the vocabulary (e.g. can ordinary words be derived from ideophones, or vice-versa?) 7. Is usage correlated with age, sex, situation (story-telling, etc.) or other sociolinguistic variable? 8. Comparative information. E.g., It has often been noted that ideophones do not exhibit regular sound-correspondences. 9. Acquisition: any observations on how children learn and use them. 10. Descriptions or collections (published, unpublished, forthcoming)? Ideophones form a special class of words in some languages. (Diffloth uses "expressive", reserving "ideophone" for expressives with phonological symbolism.) The class is often hard to define, though the members are easy to spot. They may exhibit one or more of the following properties: 1. Phonologically somewhat aberrant, e.g. having segments, stress-patterns, or phonotatics not found in the general vocabulary. 2. Grammatically different from other words in the language, e.g. uninflectable when other words are typically inflected, restricted to special constructions, or able to function as complete utterance. 3. Typically having a "meaning" that is hard to pin down, often described as characterizing an entire situation, or describing (usually sense-based) properties in several modalities at once, e.g. color, size, and speed. 4. Rhetorically they provide additional color not available from the general vocabulary. Exx: Japanese "numenume," of a smooth glossy surface having a damp feel, either sticky or slippery. Lao "jojo," of a situation involving movement and something heavy and round, as in carrying a heavy beam on a shoulder. Zulu "chaphasha," of crossing over; "mikithi" of equality. There exist dictionaries of Japanese ideophones, and a collection of Lao ideophones forms part of an unpublished PhD dissertation. Ideophones traditionally have enjoyed great prominence in African linguistics, but tend to be slighted by linguists in other areas. So much so that it is hard to form an idea of how widespread the phenomenon is, let alone how it varies across the world's languages. The best survey still seems to be Samarin's (Word, Aug. 1970, revised in the A.A.Hill Festschrift, 1978), based mostly on published work. I suspect that a wealth of relevant information remains unpublished and inaccessible, or tucked away in works focussed on other subjects. Hence I have decided to canvass specialists directly, particularly non-Africanists. Thank you for your cooperation. I would be glad to send you a summary of the responses. Please indicate if you would like to receive it. Robert Hsu, Linguistics Department, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96822 (USA). BITNET: T119920@UHCCMVS From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Ain't No Horse Can't Be Rode Date: Fri, 12 May 1989 14:03:00 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 38 (52) I'd appreciate help in locating the author or origin of the following epigram. This item appeared on the illustration for a forthcoming conference on tombstones and grave markers (it is itself a tombstone inscription). The inscription, however, seems to go beyond the capacity of the persons who ordered its incsription, or, at least, it seems to me to have folkloric qualities to it. I have an ulterior motive--I'd like to share this saying with a certain operative in our basketball program. So, here is the epigram. Ain't no horse can't be rode, Ain't no man can't be throwed. The tombstone, incidentally, portrays a bucking bronco. Yours appreciateviely, Kevin L. Cope From: "Thomas W. Stuart" Subject: EIES and BLEND Date: Fri, 12 May 89 17:17:27 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 39 (53) Does anyone know if either of the big experiments in use of electronic publishing and communication to support scholarly communication -- EIES or BLEND -- has had any interface with the BITNET/NETNORTH/EARN/JANET networks? Any info (or leads) on similar projects in the humanities or social sciences -- current or completed/defunct -- would also be welcome. From: Niko Besnier Subject: ANTHRO-L Date: Sat, 13 May 89 11:04:15 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 40 (54) Does anyone have an address for ANTHRO-L, an anthropologists' electronic discussion group which someone mentioned to me recently? Thank you. Niko Besnier Department of Anthropology Yale University UTTANU@YALEVM From: Willard McCarty Subject: concording subsumed Date: 12 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 29 (55) Jack Abercrombie tantalizes us with a hint of a process liberated from the imitation of old models in the new technology. Now, I think, we may be getting somewhere. Concording is a primitive, to be subsumed and transformed as part of a more complex process that exploits the potential of the machine, right? Let us think about what that larger process is. Again, we ask, what do we want computers to do for us? An ordinary concordance, printed or otherwise, is not terribly good for finding all the inflected forms of a word when all you've got, or want to specify, is the lemma. So, the concording function needs a morphological component. Even then, such a tool is exceedingly clumsy when you want to find ideas, themes, and structures but have only got or can specify words. So, we need a component than can act on the basis of synonyms, antonyms, and conventional associations. What else? Willard McCarty From: Subject: revolutions &c. Date: Fri, 12 May 89 07:52:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 41 (56) Yesterday's account of Canadian revolutions omits one curious development during the last two decades -- the canonization of revolutionaries by an essentially conservative culture. Louis Riel, who (with Gabriel Dumont and a goodly portion of the population of Manitoba & Saskatchewan) rebelled & was hanged (the rope was on display at the RCMP museum in Regina as late as 1968, the last time I looked) -- is now a national treasure. There are plays acted every year, books, and all the paraphernalia in the U.S. usually reserved for inventors or presidents. The recognition is official: witness the Louis Riel postage stamp... Mackenzie & Papineau, also armed insurrectionists, are part of main-stream history, as is the Spanish Civil War Brigade that bore their name (The Mackenzie-Papineau Brigade --- also commemorated by a stamp!). And Norman Bethune (China's Canadian medical hero, dead of overwork & cellulitis on the Long March), a convinced communist, is also canonized (visit his shrine-home at Gravenhurst, a National Monument with trilingual literature in French, English, & Chinese)... What is one to make of this acceptance of revolutionaries? That they fit into a tradition which admires people who take action against "the deprada- tions" of mercenary individuals & groups? How does it compare with the treatment of that wonderful, scary man, John Brown, in the U.S. (he, too, was a revolutionary, and like Riel he heard voices...) From: Leslie Subject: Re: 3.23 revolutions; angels (126) Date: Fri, 12 May 89 07:42:54 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 42 (57) There was an article in the NY Times Sunday section about two months ago on a conference at Rome. The subject was angels and they ended (after may had left, evidently) with discussing how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. Perhaps some of our Italian colleagues could tell us the references made? Leslie Morgan Dept. of French and Italian SUNY, Stony Brook, NY 11794-3359 LZMORGAN@SBCCVM (bitnet) From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.23 revolutions; angels (126) Date: Fri, 12 May 89 11:01:07 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 43 (58) Somewhere in the back of my head there is dancing a reference to a 16th-c. humanistic work which does indeed attack scholasticism with a title something along the lines of De virorum obscurorum. It does attack the philosophical absurdities of the M.A., but whether it mentions angels and pins I do not know. From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.28 various queries (173) Date: Sun, 14 May 89 18:10:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 44 (59) In re ideophones, see the following work by David Pharies (Dept. of Spanish, U. of Florida): Pharies, David A. Structure and analogy in the playful lexicon of Spanish Tubingen : M. Niemeyer, 1986. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur romanische Philologie Bd. 210. From: THEALLDF@TrentU.CA Subject: angels Date: Sat, 13 May 89 20:25 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 45 (60) The book which Charles Faulhaber has in mind is the Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum. It is my recollection, though it could be wrong, that in this satire against the Scholastics composed by German humanists, angels dance on pinheads. Pope refers to the Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum in the prose sections of the Dunciad Variorum. It is mentioned in a prose satiric advertisement to the 1742 edition where he thinks of his critics as "obscure men". He associated it with satires of knowledge such as Erasmus' Encomium Moriae. It obviously inspired some of the satire in Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus where as a previous comment suggests there is a satiric use of angels dancing on the head of a pin. From: Oxford Text Archive Subject: snappeshotte Date: Sat, 13 May 89 16:11 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 46 (61) A new edition of the Oxford Text Archive snapshot is now available from the file server, s.v., OXARCHIV SHRTLIST ("Oxford Archive Shortlist"). This contains the same inadequate details of electronic texts stored at Oxford, Cambridge, Pisa, Philadelphia and Provo as the last one, but fewer (or at least different) errors. It has not (yet) been converted to SGML, but the Oxford holdings are comparatively up to date. All delegates to the DYNAMICK TEXT Conference at Toronto next month will be given a smart printed copy, Royal (and Canadian) mails permitting. Lou From: Douglas de Lacey Subject: HUMANIST (accents) Date: Mon, 15 May 89 08:39:02 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 47 (62) I have been asked to offer the following, for anyone interested: WordStar Professional Release 5 supports PostScript. I have written a program which makes it possible to print text including `unusual' accents (macron, breve, dropped and raised dots, double accents such as macron + acute, etc.) in the Times-Roman font -- also open and close quotation marks and the M-dash. If you are interested, mail me (JDS10@UK.AC.CAM.PHX). From: "Eric Johnson DSC, Madison, SD 57042" Subject: ENGLISH POSITION Date: Mon, 15 May 89 16:05:33 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 48 (63) ENGLISH FACULTY POSITION Full-time, Fall Semester, 1989 Dakota State College is seeking a full-time, one-semester leave replacement position teaching American Literature and Composition. - Familiarity with computer applications for writing and literature is important, - Ph.D. in English desired; Master's degree essential. - Rank based on qualifications. Dakota State College is located in Madison, South Dakota, approximately 45 miles northwest of Sioux Falls, in the southern lakes region of the state. Dakota State is dedicated to providing leadership in computer and information systems and the integration of this technology into other academic disciplines. Interested applicants should send a letter of application, vita, and complete dossier to: Eric Johnson Division Head, Liberal Arts Dakota State College Madison, SD 57042 Applications will be received until July 1, 1989, or until the position is filled. DSC is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer. From: RGLYNN@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: Date: Mon, 15 May 89 06:13:38 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 33 (64) To HUMANIST Discussion [deleted quotation] Subject Transporting computer h/w from USA to Canada Does anyone know of any customs restrictions on shipping computer hardware from the USA to Canada? A colleague at OUP New York wants to ship kit out to the Toronto Software fayre but cannot get any sensible information on how to do this. Can any of the other exhibitors going for the FAyre from the USA advise? Thanks for your help. Ruth From: JLD1@PHOENIX.CAMBRIDGE.AC.UK Subject: Arabic Seminar programme Date: Mon, 15 May 89 09:57:00 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 34 (65) Literary and Linguistic Computing Centre and Centre of Middle Eastern Studies Two-day Seminar on Bilingual Computing in Arabic and English Patron HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud Draft Programme (as at 5.5.89) Wednesday 6 September _____________________ 9.30 - 10.30 Registration and Coffee 10.30 - 11.00 Opening address 11.00 - 12.30 Session 1: COMPUTERS IN ARABIC-ENGLISH LEXICOGRAPHY 11.00 - 11.30 U. Ubaidli: `Construction of an Arabic-based, multilingual thesaurus for indexing' (Al-Fihrist, Academic Research Institute, Cyprus). 11.30 - 12.00 Dr M. Farahat: `Semantic features in a practical Arabic lexical database', (Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research). 12.00 - 12.30 S. Al-Kameshi: `OCR algorithm for printed Arabic text' (Arabic Industrial Development Organization, Iraq). 12.30 - 2.15 Lunch 2.15 - 3.45 Session 2: ARABIC-ENGLISH-ARABIC MACHINE TRANSLATION 2.15 - 2.45 P. Roochnik: `ARABAIN Arabic language parser', (Georgetown University, Washington, U.S.A.). 2.45 - 3.15 I. Osman: `An algorithm for retrieving Arabic names written in English', (University of Khartoum, Sudan). 3.15 - 3.45 Dr C.H. Hsu: `Arabic transliteration, a computer-based system', (National University, Taiwan). 3.45 - 4.15 Tea 4.15 - 6.00 SOFTWARE/HARDWARE MANUFACTURERS' DISPLAYS 6.30 - 7.30 Reception 7.30 Seminar Dinner Thursday 7 September ____________________ 9.15 - 10.45 Session 3: TEACHING ARABIC USING COMPUTERS 9.15 - 9.45 Dr M. Jiyad: `The Proficiency-based Arabic Computer Program on the IBM PC', (University of Massachusetts, U.S.A.). 9.45 - 10.15 Dr D.B. Parkinson: `Using Hypercard to teach Arabic', (Brigham Young University, U.S.A.). 10.15 - 10.45 Dr A. Brockett: `The Leeds/Cambridge Arabic-teaching by computer project', (Leeds University, U.K.). 10.45 - 11.15 Coffee 11.15 - 12.30 SOFTWARE PRODUCERS' PRESENTATIONS 12.30 - 2.15 Lunch 2.15 - 3.45 Session 4: SOFTWARE USERS' EXPERIENCES 2.15 - 2.45 R.A. Kimber: `al-Nashir al-Maktabi in a University Arabic department', (University of St.Andrews, Scotland). 2.45 - 3.15 A. Ubaydli: `Arabizing the Mac', (University of Cambridge). 3.15 - 3.45 Dr S. al-Yamani: `Software Evaluation Schedule', (Arabian Gulf University). 3.45 - 4.15 Tea 4.15 - 6.00 Session 5: TERMINOLOGICAL AND RELATED ISSUES 4.15 - 4.45 Dr D. Abdo: `A study of Arabic computer terms', (International Computer Systems (London) Ltd.). 4.45 - 5.15 Dr S. Abbas: `Arabization of programming languages and text editing systems', (University of Baghdad), (in Arabic). 5.15 - 5.45 M.A. Shallal: `A Small Personal and Educational Engineering Dictionary', (University of Technology, Baghdad). Seminar Convenor: Ahmad Ubaydli c/o Literary & Linguistic Computing Centre Sidgwick Avenue Cambridge CB3 9DA UK Telephone: (UK) 0223-335029 Fax: +44 223 334748 Telex: 81240 CAMSPLG EMail: AU100@UK.AC.CAM.PHX [JANET] AU100@PHX.CAM.AC.UK [EARN/BITNET etc.] From: Willard McCarty Subject: Manfred Thaller, wo sind Sie? Date: 16 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 49 (66) Would anyone who has recently communicated by e-mail with Manfred Thaller (Max Planck Institut fuer Geschichte, Goettingen) let me know if I have a current address for him? I have tried MTHALLE@DGOGWD01 just this evening and have been told that the node-name is incorrect. (This address he gave me last June, when it was very new.) If any Humanist in Germany who knows him would be so kind as to send him a message asking him to write to me, I would be exceedingly grateful. Thank you very much. Willard McCarty From: Steven J. DeRose Subject: Canada and hardware Date: Mon, 15 May 89 18:31:54 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 50 (67) Let me echo the request for info on how to take computer hardware to the Toronto conference -- I want to bring an external drive with lots of data (including the Humanist biographies in HyperCard, for those interested), but don't particularly want to pay duty or other fees on it.... Steve DeRose From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: address needed Date: 14 May 1989, 10:34:14 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 51 (68) I need an e-mail contact point in Botswana (don't remember seeing any central or south African mail on Humanist), and (this one is easy) for Department of Education at U. Manchester: going through my JANET addresses, all the Manchester addresses seem to be computer science or engineering, though I seem to remember some correspondents on Humanist from Manchester. Roy From: Ronen Shapira 03-443090 Subject: historical computing Date: Tue, 16 May 89 22:29:08 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 52 (69) Hello. I am rather a new client of Humanist, but I have a question, which may be silly. what is the best, and most economical way of combining a computerized analysis with historical reserach? I am asking because I am on the way to analyse several hundred french pamphlets from mid-19 century, and looking for new ideas. From: Oleske M.A. ; Subject: Concordance of Chinese Texts, Query Date: Tue, 16 May 89 13:37:53 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 53 (70) Humanists, Do any of you or your colleagues maintain a corpus of Chinese texts ? If so, what concordance methods/types of software do you use to manipulate the text ? Responses please to : Peter Nix MUS6PJN@LEEDS.UCS.CMS1 at UK.AC.EARN-RELAY Dept. of Chinese Studies University of LEEDS Leeds LS2 9JT England Thank you for the assistance. Bill Oleske From: Donald Spaeth (0532) 33 3573 Subject: Chinese Character output. Date: Tue, 16 May 89 17:15:35 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 54 (71) I am writing on behalf of a member of our Computing Service who, after an exchange visit to China has become interested in the problems of producing and working with Chinese characters on IBM compatibles. He asks: "We have a copy of CCDOS which outputs Chinese characters on CGA on IBM PCs and clones. What we are keen to get is output on EGA. We would prefer that we use the Chinese national standard 2-byte representation for Chinese characters." Given the recent discussion of the problems involved in producing Pali, I'm sure plenty of you out there have experience with Chinese. Any suggestions on how to solve the other problem (Chinese in EGA) and others would much appreciated. Thanks in advance, Donald Spaeth Arts Computing Development Officer University of Leeds Janet address: d.a.spaeth at cms1.leeds.ac.uk (from EARN/BITNET) d.a.spaeth at uk.ac.leeds.cms1 (from Janet sites) From: "Vicky A. Walsh" Subject: Re: 3.33 hardware from US into Canada? (28) Date: Tue, 16 May 89 13:20:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 55 (72) I don't have any recent experience, but this used to be a problem that could be solved with a deposit at customs to guarantee return, or a special license that businesses get all the time to take things for demos. Sorry I can't be more specific. Good Luck. Vicky Walsh From: David.A.Bantz@mac.Dartmouth.EDU Subject: Re: 3.33 hardware from US into Canada? (28) Date: Tue, 16 May 89 05:03:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 56 (73) Your colleague should register the equipment (have serial numbers available) with U.S. Customs on the way out of U.S. to avoid any hassle on returning. I don't know about the Canadian side of the equation. From: THARPOLD@PENNDRLS Subject: Concording... Date: Monday, 15 May 1989 1821-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 57 (74) --Just to add a thought to W. McCarty's addition to J. Abercrombie's message on new forms of the concording process in a computing environment. McCarty points to the need for a morphological component in the concording function, but notes, "even then, such a tool is exceedingly clumsy when you want to find ideas, themes and structures, but have only got or can specify words." This made me think of how nice it would be to have a process for the parsing of the semantic morphology of texts (fuzzy memories of Hjelmslev's Glossematics)--or (if we're now making wish-lists), a process for registering non-linear signifying aspects of text-material, a la Saussure's anagrammes. T. Harpold From: db Subject: Re: 3.29 concording, cont. (29) Date: Tue, 16 May 89 16:19:30 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 58 (75) I think that the model of the text retrieval system at Bar-Ilan is very relevant. It has both the kind of morphological analysis that you speak of and Boolean searches plus within searches etc. The result is a key-word in context search. Everything else sounds like hypertext to me, i.e. one person creates the links and then others can follow them. Boyarin. From: J. K. McDonald Subject: Your HUMANIST item 3.29 concording Date: Tue, 16 May 89 12:50 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 59 (76) Since 1980 at Queen's University we have been developing our VINCI, a CALL system for Italian which gets HAL to generate randomly certain syntactic structures, pre- and post-edited, but quick, flexible, etc. The machine finds appropriate morphological forms from the lemma provided (dictionary form) and avoids semantic bloopers because of the various metonymic fields we have built into the datafiles. Most recently I have sketched out a system of 'trailing filters' to capture about 70 semantic relationships (including your antonyms, hyperonyms, diminutives, register variants, archaisms, etc.) and gave a paper on the scheme last month to the American Association for Italian Studies at Lowell MA. I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT VINCI MIGHT REVERSE FROM BEING A CALL SYSTEM TO BEING A HALF INTELLIGENT CONCORDING SYSTEM. I am an older man; literary scholarship has been expected of me, not this kind of thing, whatever it is. So I have retired three years early, to get on with it (Queen's has good pensions). I deplore the litnik-langnik dichotomy (at Berkeley we had philology--Yakov Malkiel--along with our Romance literatures for the Ph.D.). We are spreading VINCI from the old mainframe Italian (with APL) to PC (with C) and my young colleague Greg Lessard of Queen's French will be giving a paper on our system in French at your DYNAMIC TEXT. (I'm working on Spanish and Italian.) I have always been confounded by talk of cleverly marking IN ADVANCE the lemmata of certain themes in concordance systems: how does one ever know in advance what the material will encourage one to winkle out? Surely we want a system that can take an OCR text and check everything in it for everything, as often as we ask it to do it. (E.g., the use in English of the conditional tense instead of the past subjunctive in contrary-to-fact conditions might emerge during our readings as a significant stylistic feature of a given author's 'rifacimento' of an earlier work.) Is it because English is so poor in morphological tags that we haven't taken the effort to get off our lemmata? Is it because we respect absolute logic that we overlook language-specific semantic relationships? Isn't the author's style an idiolect of a superior sort that we want to capture? If the VINCI code (or any other CALL system) can randomly fetch out "Il ragazzo ti ha dato il biglietto?/(Si', me lo ha dato.)" or any extension of plausible subjects, verbs, direct object, etc., and check students' answers one-on-one, why cannot the code be made to recognize 'ragazzaccio', 'glieli', 'daranno', 'le mele' for what they are and report back what it sees in an OCR text? Am I asking the computer to do something it cannot do, or something the computational linguists have not heretofore been asked to make it do, and therefore say it cannot do? (My perennial suspicion is that people like to be asked to do what they know they can do, and tend to go glassy-eyed or even hostile when asked to do something for which they do not see the purpose.) Can you cast around the much larger Toronto pond and find out whether I am asking the impossible? Can VINCI not be of service in the field of stylistic analysis? Jim McDonald MCDOJK@QUCDN.BITNET (613) 372-2071 "An Darach" RR1 Hartington, Ontario K0H 1W0 From: Wujastyk (on GEC 4190 Rim-C at UCL) Subject: Sanskrit character codes Date: Tue, 16 May 89 17:02 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 38 (77) Here is a message forwarded from Dr. Peter Schreiner, SOAS: Though not connected to any network and thus not officially a member of the Humanist group, I have through the kind services of friends and colleagues been able to listen in on the discussion about Sanskrit coding schemes. (I thank in particular Dr. W. Ott, Tubingen, and Dr. D. Wujastyk, London!) I have been encouraged to note down some of my experiences and opinions. It seems, the discussion concerns two different steps in the "processing" of transliteration: a) defining the internal codes for letters with diacritical marks (e.g. s with subscript dot = char(234), or whatever). Clearly, to have generally accepted standards would contribute greatly to the compatibility of software; and from the point of view of a user like myself who does not write his own programs this is of utmost importance. I am quite ready to help working towards an agreement about standards on the occasion of the Vienna World Sanskrit Conference (which might help to activate the ALLC specialist group). b) defining what one does on the keyboard in transliterating Sanskrit. As has been rightly said in the discussion, Sanskritists have agreed long ago on a standard transliteration (retroflex s is an s with subscript dot, "long a" is an a with macron, etc). The primary concern in defining "our" transliteration scheme was typing speed and typing errors. Since the transliteration scheme existed and one was really familiar enough not to have to think about it while typing, the obvious input convention was to type all diacritics in front of the letters. The period being used for subscript dot, the semicolon was an obvious choice for the superscript dot; and we chose the question mark for the tilda. (These conventions are fairly arbitrary, and when changing to U.K. keyboards I chose to replace "'s" by "/s"). The point is that the input code is clearly independent from what happens to the input later on. I change "-a" to "%-a" for printing the macron with TUSTEP (which is what I have been using almost exclusively), to "\=a" for printing it in TeX, to "aa" for printing it with Velthuis' Devanagari-TeX, to "circumflex [overwrite] a" for a word-processor which can do no better, to "02" for sorting purposes (since "long a" is the second character in the alphabet). At most of these transformations I do not ever have to look; and rather than WYTIWYG (T for type) I prefer to be able to control what I am doing (and thus also getting, hopefully). Ideally, points a) and b) will be compatible. My typed "-a" may register in the machine as "char(195)" (acc. to Emmerick) or "char(224)" (in Dominik's scheme); and ideally I shall be able to see the sub- and superscript diacritics on screen (if I choose so), but shall not have to type anything more complicated than an "o" if (e.g.) my "long i" ("-i") turns out to be a typing (or reading) mistake for "o" (which means that I want to be able to see the input coding). Lastly, talking about transliteration, it has been my ambition to collect information about who has been transliterating what and where. May I use this occasion to ask those who have created their own library of transliterated texts to drop me a line!? Peter Schreiner S.O.A.S., Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG, U.K. Replies via: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dominik Wujastyk, | Janet: wujastyk@uk.ac.ucl.euclid Wellcome Institute for | Bitnet/Earn/Ean/Uucp: wujastyk@euclid.ucl.ac.uk the History of Medicine, | Internet/Arpa/Csnet: dow@wjh12.harvard.edu 183 Euston Road, | or: wujastyk%euclid@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk London NW1 2BP, England. | Phone: London 387-4477 ext.3013 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Note that as of May 1989 the Janet-Internet gateway address has changed from "nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk" to "nsfnet-relay.ac.uk"] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lois atwood Subject: angels Date: Tue, 16 May 89 15:58:56 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 60 (78) Didn't St. Anselm talk about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin, in Cur Deus Homo? From: Brian Whittaker Subject: Re: 3.30 revolutions and angels, cont. (73) Date: Tue, 16 May 89 18:01:40 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 61 (79) Pursuing the topic of an essentially conservative Canada canonizing old revolutionaries: Some of the revolutionaries mentioned might be seen as operating within that conservative tradition of protecting society rather than the eccentric individual. Louis Riel was the democratically elected head of a provisional government in what is now Manitoba. This government was formed after the free-booting Hudson's Bay Company sold the Northwest Territory to the government of Canada; the Hudson's Bay Company pulled out its private law enforcement system and the federal government was not yet ready to supply a replacement. Thus Riel's goverment was not at all revolutionary, but simply an attempt to maintain order in the temporary lapse of authority. The action that prompted Ottawa to charge Riel with treason and to send in the troops, as well as prompting the Ontario government to put a bounty on his head, was the execution of a rowdy individual, a murderer with a record of drinking and brawling... in short, a kind of wild west figure. Thus Riel would fall into the category of the defenders of the security of society, and the convicted murderer whom he executed would be the individual run amok. The second "rebellion" with which Riel's name is associated was in part a separatist movement reacting against a distant federal government that was both unresponsive to and largely unaware of what was needed to maintain the security of the prairie society. The issue is complicated in this instance by Riel's own complex character. By this time his diaries indicate that not only was he hearing voices, but they were telling him that God had named him Pope of North America. I don't think the modern "canonization" of Riel has picked up on this issue... Winipeg: the new Avignon. I have already suggested that, in Durham's eyes at least, the Papineau uprising was a conservative rebellion against the anglo whig merchants of Montreal and Quebec City (a group that had moved in from New England). Norman Bethune's rebellious gestures of establishing mobile field hospitals, first for the socialists in Spain and later for Mao's Communists in China, like his criticism of poor health care in North America for the poor (death from tuberculosis as a poor person's death, for example) reflect a total rejection of liberalism's laissez faire combined with a feeling that conservatism and corporatism protected some sectors of society better than others. Socialism in Canada has generally been closer to conservatism than to liberalism, whether in the Regina Manifesto or more recently in the influence of the consrvative philosopher George Grant on the NDP. From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.35 queries (134) Date: Wed, 17 May 89 13:02:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 40 (80) In re Chinese on the PC: The Research Library Group has just announced a "multi-language workstation" specifically for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean which is compatible with Am. Library Association standards. It is essentially an AT with a special keyboard. They are marketing it as a turnkey system for $6066: system unit, ASCII keyboard, CJK keyboard, CJK rom board, software and Epson LQ850 printer. For more information: RLIN Information Center Research Libraries Group 1200 Villa Street Mountain View, CA. 94041-1100 (800)-537-7546 Connie Gould of RLG (bl.ccg@rlg.bitnet) can probably offer more information. [Watch out for Brushwriter (on Macs and PCs) at our software and hardware fair, Tools for Humanists, this June in Toronto. --W.M.] From: Connie Gould (BL.CCG@RLG.Bitnet) Subject: Internet access to RLIN Date: May 17, 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 62 (81) I thought Humanists would be interested in the following press release announcing internet access to RLIN for faculty, students, and researchers. Since it is rather long, I imagine you would want to put it on the file server. Let me know if you have any questions, and thanks in advance for your assistance. RLIN DATA BASES ACCESSIBLE ON THE NATIONAL INTERNET TO INDIVIDUAL SCHOLARS AND RESEARCHERS May 15, 1989 -- The Research Libraries Group is now able to offer university faculty, students, and researchers special search access to its Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) via the national "Internet" -- a network of computer networks that links research institutions throughout the United States. Professor Emeritus Georg N. Knauer, recently retired as head of the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, welcomed the news that RLIN would be more widely available, and he encourages faculty to consider it seriously as a first-line bibliographic research tool. "RLIN offers solutions to all sorts of research problems, particularly for those of us in the humanities. We're all heavy library users -- I rely on a marvelous reference department here at Penn -- but RLIN is the best kind of catalog you can imagine, and the freedom to use it at home as I do, at work, or on the road should make it indispensible." He added, "My colleagues need to find out more about this system, so that we can provide our own perspectives on what future changes will make it increasingly useful." The ease and speed of the Internet connection to RLIN are attested to by Catharine Murray-Rust and Lynne Personius, whose staff in Cornell University's Olin Library have already tested the Internet RLIN connection. "All we have to do is log on to Cornell's campus network, select RLG's address from the menu provided, and type 'connect,'" said Personius, Director of the Library Automation Project in Cornell Library's Systems Office. "Almost immediately we see the 'Welcome to RLG' message and the system prompts for using RLIN." Murray-Rust, Assistant University Librarian, added, "Everyone who has used the new connection has remarked on the quickness of system response to search requests once they're in RLIN; it's really a pleasure." The RLIN system is accessible via Stanford University's SUNet campus-wide network, which in turn is part of the Bay Area Regional Research Network (BARRNET), one of thirteen mid-level networks covering geographic areas within the U.S. that are linked by the NSFNET communications backbone. In addition to the NSFNET and its regional networks, the Internet includes such networks as Arpanet/MILNET. The total number of networks connected directly to NSFNET and thus able to reach RLIN is over 400. (The total aggregation of "reachable" networks for mail transfer or news, such as BITNET, is over 600 -- but these cannot interact with the RLIN system.) Who can reach RLIN this way, what does it cost, and what will they find? Individuals who are affiliated with a university, or who are members of a scholarly association, such as the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, are encouraged to consider adding RLIN data bases to their information resources. For $119, the user has ten hours of terminal connect time to search files of bibliographic citations and location information for the holdings of a wide range of university libraries, independent research institutions, art museum libraries, historical societies, state archives, the Library of Congress, the National Library of Medicine, and the British Library. RLIN's files for books, serials, archival materials, musical scores, sound recordings, maps and other visual materials, and computer files contain information about items from videotapes to photographs to oral histories. Subject-oriented RLIN files ("special data bases") contain entries for articles in art and architectural periodicals (the Avery Index); eighteenth-century English-language publications (the "ESTC" or Eighteenth Century Short Title Catalogue); art sales catalogs dating from the 1500s to the present, and articles in the humanities accepted for publication within the next two years (Research-in-Progress). At present, individuals connecting to RLIN via the Internet incur no communications charges. Individuals who do NOT have the option of using the Internet can still take advantage of RLG's "research access" offering by using the public packet network, GTE/Telenet. Their total cost for ten hours of searching is then $219.00. Martha Girard, RLG Manager of Library Services, whose staff will handle inquiries, account set-up, and user support, is pleased at the prospect. "This new connection brings an invaluable research tool to the scholar's desk top -- RLIN's on-line catalog of many of the nation's greatest libraries, archival repositories, and other unique information resources." For information about establishing an individual RLIN research access account, please contact the RLIN Information Center, 1200 Villa Street, Mountain View, California 94041-1100. Call 800-537-RLIN toll-free; or address BL.RIC@RLG.BITNET or BL.RIC@RLG.STANFORD.EDU for electronic mail correspondence. NOTE: The steps for connecting to the RLG computer over the Internet can vary depending on how each institution has set up its hardware and software to make this possible for campus network users. To find out about local access to the RLG-RLIN host, check with your university library systems office or the networking or data communications department of your computing center. * * * The Research Libraries Group (RLG) is a not-for-profit enterprise of major universities and research institutions in the United States. Its members collaborate in operating a set of ongoing programs and developing new initiatives to enhance access to research information. RLG's programs and technical resources focus on collecting, organizing, preserving, and providing information necessary to education and scholarship. The Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) is an international information management and retrieval system. It supports the program objectives of RLG; serves the materials processing and public services requirements of RLG's members and many non-member institutions; and offers new information resources to individual researchers and scholars. * * * The new NSFNET communications backbone that supports the Internet represents a cooperative effort between the federal government, industry, and universities. Merit, Inc., a computer network consortium of eight state-supported universities in Michigan, developed the backbone jointly with IBM Corporation and MCI Telecommunications Corporation, with funding from the National Science Foundation and the state of Michigan. Merit is the center for engineering, management and operations, and information services for the NSFNET backbone project. Further information can be obtained from: Merit Computer Network, 1075 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2112; call 800-66-MERIT toll-free, or address NSFNET-info@MERIT.EDU with electronic mail. To: HUMANIST@UTORONTO.BITNET From: Marion Gunn Subject: Gaelic Mailing List Date: Tue, 16 May 89 21:23 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 63 (82) MGUNN@IRLEARN Original Complete Announcement as Received at New-List: ************************************************************************* **************************** N E W ********************************* M U L T I - D I S C I P L I N A R Y B U L L E T I N B O A R D ************************************************************************* F O R I R I S H / S C O T S G A E L I C U S E R S ************************************************************************* ************************************************************************* A cha/irde in imige/in (agus i gco/ngar baile) : L/a Bealtaine, 1989 a tha/inig an LISTSERV nua GAELIC-L ar an saol. I dteanga[cha] na nGael a bhi/onn a/r gcomhra/ (cuma ce/n t-a/bhar). Fa/ilte roimh eolas i dtaobh altanna i dtre/imhseacha/in, scoileanna samhraidh, imeachtai/ eile. Fa/ilte is fiche roimh eolas a ghabhann le la/imhsea/il teanga (si/nte fada agus mar sin de) ar na co/rais e/agsu/la ri/omhaireachta ata/ ag imeacht anois. Mi/le fa/ilte roimh sce/ala uait, ach e/ a chur chuig an seoladh thi/os. Beannachtai/, Marion Gunn MGUNN@IRLEARN (no/ta pearsanta - fe/ach thi/os an fo/gra poibli/) ************************************************************************* GAELIC-L : An open, multi-disciplinary discussion list set up to facilitate exchange of news, views, information in Irish/Scots Gaelic. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fa/ilte go dti/ an liosta comhraidh GAELIC-L. Cuir do theachtaireachtai/ chuig GAELIC-L@IRLEARN o/ EARN no/ BITNET no/ GAELIC-L@EARN.IRLEARN o/ JANET no/ GAELIC-L@IRLEARN.UCD.IE o/ ghre/asa/n eile Ta/ se/ fosgailte do achan duine teachtaireacht a chur isteach chuig an liosta, ach i/ a bheith i nGaeilge na hE/ireann no/ i nGai\dhlig na hAlban. Ni/ ga/ imni/ a bheith ort ma/ ta/ do chuid Gaeilge lapach. Cuirfear fa/ilte roimh do theachtaireacht cibe/ ar bith. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fa\ilte dhan liost comhraidh GAELIC-L. Cuir do bhrathan gu GAELIC-L@IRLEARN bho EARN no BITNET no GAELIC-L@EARN.IRLEARN bho JANET no GAELIC-L@IRLEARN.UCD.IE bho li\on eile Tha e fosgailte dhan a huile duine brath a chur a-steach dhan a liost, fad's a bhios e sgriobhte an Gaeilge na h-E/ireann no Ga\idhlig na h-Alban. Chan eil feum a bhith iomaganach ma bhios do Gha\idhlig lapach. Bidh fa\ilte roimh do bhrath co-dhiu\. _________________________________________________________________________ ----- M O D H C L A/ R A I T H E ----- Cuirtear an teachtaireacht SUBSCRIBE GAELIC-L ainm an tsi/ntiu/so/ra chuig LISTSERV le TELL (VM) no/ le SEND (VAX/VMS) no/ fo/s le MAIL. Ma/ chuirtear tri/ MAIL e/, seoltar an MAIL chuig LISTSERV@IRLEARN (o/ EARN, BITNET, srl) chuig LISTSERV@EARN.IRLEARN ((?) o/ JANET) chuig LISTSERV@IRLEARN.UCD.IE (i ngach ca/s eile) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Willard McCarty Subject: Manfred Thaller found Date: 17 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 64 (83) Mea culpa. My colleague Ian Lancashire pointed out to me this morning that I had Thaller's address wrong by one character: the node is DGOGWDG1, not DGOGWD01. Please forgive me for any trouble you may already have taken. If Manfred is stirred as a result of your efforts, however, I will be most grateful for that trouble. Willard McCarty From: JACKA@PENNDRLS Subject: Date: Wednesday, 17 May 1989 1026-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 65 (84) Subject: ONLINE NOTES MARCH, 1989 VIDEO DISC PROJECT (UPDATE) THE MOVIEMAKERS Description of the CINEMA PROJECT University of Pennsylvania -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. ONLINE NOTE0389. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.37 concording, cont. (109) Date: Wed, 17 May 89 12:52:50 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 66 (85) Berkeley still has a Romance Lang & Lit. degree with a philology component. And Yakov Malkiel is going strong and about to go to Oxford for an honorary D.Litt. From: Subject: Re: 3.35 queries (134) Date: Tue, 16 May 89 21:42:40 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 67 (86) Don't have any userids but here are some non-science nodes at Manchester. One could always use postmast as a userid. MANCHESTER.ac.uk MANCHESTER-BUSINESS-SCHOOL.ac.uk MANCHESTER.PSYCHOLOGY-A.ac.uk !Donald J. Mabry !DJMABRY@MSSTATE ! From: Wujastyk (on GEC 4190 Rim-C at UCL) Subject: Ideophones Date: Wed, 17 May 89 09:16 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 68 (87) John Koontz's four-point definition of an ideophone pretty well describes the Indian concept of mantra. There is a large literature on mantra--mostly in Sanskrit and Hindi. I can supply some bibliographical and personal references if anyone wants to follow this up. Dominik From: Dr Abigail Ann Young Subject: hardware into Canada Date: Wed, 17 May 89 06:47:47 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 69 (88) Not meaning to be a wet blanket, but surely Canada Customs, and the US Customs office, would be the appropriate place to seek this information. The Canadian Consulate nearest you could probably either answer the question or direct you to the correct source of information.... From: Subject: Re: 3.35 queries (134) Date: Tue, 16 May 89 21:31:09 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 70 (89) In re analysis of historical data with computers, contact JHAUG@MSSTATE, who works both in French history and with computers. Also contact Richard Jensen (campbelld@IUBACS); Jensen is a leader in computer analysis of historical documents. In re Botswana, I hope whoever replies posts it on Humanist. !Donald J. Mabry !DJMABRY@MSSTATE ! From: Donald Spaeth (0532) 33 3573 Subject: Greek--Pandora and LBase Date: Wed, 17 May 89 09:47:55 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 44 (90) David Mealand asks for experience about using Pandora as an alternative to Ibycus, and suggests that replies be sent directly to him not Humanist. I hope that people will ignore this and send their replies to Humanist, as I'd like to see the answers as well. It is all too common to read interesting questions and never see any answers, because these are sent directly to the questioner, who has no time to lodge them with Humanist. Donald Spaeth Arts Computing Development Officer University of Leeds Email: d.a.spaeth at uk.ac.leeds.cms1 (JANET) d.a.spaeth at cms1.leeds.ac.uk (EARN/BITNET) From: Steve Dill Subject: A Pool of Experts Date: Thu, 18 May 89 09:23:03 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 71 (91) The Modern Language Association has issued the following request in the Summer, 1989, issue of MLA Newsletter, p. 2. MLA would like to expand its publications and other programs that deal with software and technology. It Will need to call on members with expertise in such areas is instructional research-oriented software, electronic networks, and bibliographic and informational data bases. The MLA staff would like to maintain a file of members qualified to evaluate software, prorposals for electronic data-base or informatin- sharing projects, and proposals for scholarly and instructional projects .... Members who would like to share their expertise with the association should... write to Carol Zuses, Office of the Executive Director, MLA, 10 AStor Pl. New York, NY 10003-6981, for information...and application forms. From: Steve Dill Subject: Text Encoding Initiative Date: Thu, 18 May 89 09:33:28 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 72 (92) The Modern Language Association has issued a call (in the Summer, 1989, Newsletter, p. 18) for members to serve on working committees of the international Text Encoding Initiative sponsored by the Assocaition for Computers and the Humanities, the Association for Computational Linguistics, and the Associatin for Literary and Linguistic Computing. Four central committees are described: on text documentation, text representation, text analysis and interpretation, and syntax and metalanguage issues. See the Newsletter for further information and then contact either Randall Jones (JONES@BYUADMIN.BITNET) or Nancy Ide (IDE@VASSAR.BITNET) From: walker@flash.bellcore.com (Donald E Walker) Subject: 15 June new deadline for IJCAI-89 Travel Grant applications Date: Thu, 18 May 89 13:03:11 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 73 (93) TRAVEL GRANTS FOR IJCAI-89 IJCAII has established a program to provide travel support for participants attending IJCAI-89 in Detroit, Michigan. The amounts awarded will vary depending on location and on the number of persons applying. Priority will be given to younger members of the AI community who are presenting papers or are on panels and who would not otherwise be able to attend because of limited travel funds. Applications should be received no later than 15 June 1989. They should briefly identify the expected form of conference participation; describe benefits that would result from attendance; specify current sources of research funding; and list travel support from other sources. A brief resume should be attached, and students should include a letter of recommendation from a faculty member. Five copies of the application should be sent to: Priscilla Rasmussen, IJCAI-89 Travel Grants Laboratory for Computer Science Research Hill Center, Busch Campus Rutgers, the State University New Brunswick, NJ 08903, USA (+1-201)932-2768 internet: rasmussen@aramis.rutgers.edu From: Peter D. Junger Subject: Hypertext on the IBM PC Date: Thu, 18 May 89 20:38 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 74 (94) In the issue of Computer Language for May, 1989, at page 97 there is a "Public Domain Software Review" of a program called Black Magic. The key passage in the review reads as follows: "Hypertext has slowly migrated to the DOS world, but a recent shareware release has made DOS versions as complete as those in other operating systems and hardware. Released by Ntergaid, Black Magic v. 1.3 provides hypertext capabilities in a good package at reasonable cost." The program can, according to the review, be obtained [in an unregistered evaluation copy without technical support) for $15.95 from Ntergaid Inc., 2490 Black Rock Turnpike, Fairfield, Conn. 06430. A registered copy costs $39.95 without printed documentation and $79.95 with it. The evaluation copy is supposedly also available from BBS's. I have never been very interested in Hypertext, but at those prices, especially if one can find a free source of the evaluation version, it might be worth the investment. Peter D. Junger--CWRU Law School--Cleveland, OH--bitnet: JUNGER@CWRu From: Peter D. Junger Subject: Problems with Software Patents Date: Thu, 18 May 89 20:17 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 46 (95) In the New York Times for Friday, May 12, 1989, there is a first page article by Lawrence M. Fisher entitled "Software Industry in Uproar Over Recent Rush of Patents" that may be of interest to many Humanists. I am, therefore, going to quote some of the 'juicier' passages. Suppose someone were granted a patent for the opening four notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Any composer who used that short sequence of notes would probably have to pay a royalty, and the music world would be in turmoil. But that is roughly what is going on in the world of computer software, and many people who write programs, or sequences of instructions that tell computers what to do, are in an uproar. They fear that their creative freedom is about to be stifled and that technological innovation using computers will suffer. The concern is over a recent rash of new patents and patent applications for some basic programs that are fixtures in the world of computers. These programs have been widely regarded as being in the public domain, just as a sequence of a few musical notes is public property. But fear is mounting among software companies and programmers that the patents are about to start a flood of lawsuits that will maintain that many current programs have violated patents held by others. .... The problem is best illustrated by a common feature found in many personal computer programs: the ability to display several documents at once, with each tucked into its own corner of the computer screen. In the lexicon of programmers, each document appears in a ''window'' on the screen, and the technique of creating them is known as ''windowing.'' Most programmers believe that writing a program so that it displays data in windows is so common a technique that it belongs to everyone. But last month Quarterdeck Office Systems, a tiny software company in Santa Monica, Calif., received a patent for its technology that allows a computer to run several programs so that they appear simultaneously on a computer screen using windows. While the extent of the patent's relevance to other windowing programs is unclear, one analyst said it had the potential to "shatter the industry." [Quarterdeck is the "publisher" of Desqview, which may well be the best windows program for the IBM PC and compatibles, including the newer 286 and 386 machines. Even if the patent does not apply to all windowing programs, it might still be infringed by Microsoft's Windows and perhaps all those word processors that we are so fond of, like Notabene, that have windowing systems. But this is pure speculation. PDJ] In another case, Paul Heckel, a software developer in Los Altos, Calif., received a patent last year that could have an impact on many of the people who use the popular computers manufactured by Apple Computer Inc. The company has a program called Hypercard that is used to store and manage data. The data are displayed on the screen as if they appeared on overlapping file cards. Mr. Heckel contends that anyone using Hypercard is infringing his patent. Rather than take on Apple in the courts, though, he has started advertising and sending press releases asking Hypercard developers and users to adopt his standards - and buy a copy of his program for $100. .... Software producers have traditionally depended on copyrights to protect their intellectual property, just as authors or composers do. But patents are a stronger, broader protection, which can apply to ideas rather than the specific expressions of those ideas covered by copyright. .... Although there has been little litigation of software patents yet, lawyers expect an onslaught of suits that could dwarf the copyright disputes now being heard between software companies.... .... Because patent applications are confidential, pending applications represent a hidden threat to software developers. No patents were issued on software before 1980, when the Supreme Court ruled that the use of a computer program did not prevent patenting a process. [Actually the date was 1981; the case was Diamond v. Diehr, 450 U.S. 175 (1981). PDJ] Since all software is part of a process run on a machine, nearly any program or some portion of it is patentable, lawyers say. .... It is as if ''you could patent four musical notes in a row,'' said Pete Petersen, executive vice president of the Wordperfect Corporation in Orem, Utah. ''You would then force every composer to look up every four-note combination to make sure the piece didn't infringe.'' Because the software industry builds on existing ideas, ''there is no way around certain things; you're stuck, forced to infringe,'' Mr. Petersen said. Wordperfect itself, meanwhile, is applying for patents on its software as a defensive move. The company gets one letter a month from patent holders who say they have been infringed, and it anticipates more. ''We're going to apply for patents; we're going to have our satchel full so we have something to bargain with when somebody gives us a hard time,'' Mr. Petersen said. ''We don't see any way around it.'' .... [L]awyers say it will be the patents that do not come up in searches that will cause problems. Obtaining a software patent typically takes nearly three years, during which time there is no published information. .... If this trend continues, there may be great difficulty in obtaining scholarly--that is, unprofitable--software. The larger companies will not be interested in producing it, but, if you write it yourself, you may be sued for patent violation. One would hope that the patent holders would simply ignore such minor patent violations, but the trouble is that many of these patents may be invalid. In such cases it is in the interest of the patent holders to go after the little guys, who cannot protect themselves, in order to build up their patents creditability. And lots of us will be unhappy if we can't use Windows on 80x86 machines or Hypercard [or its public domain variants on Macintoshes. I hope that Lawrence M. Fisher and I are overreacting to these developments. Peter D. Junger--CWRU Law School--Cleveland, OH--bitnet: JUNGER@CWRU From: "stephen r.l.clark" Subject: angels and Cudworth Date: Thu, 18 May 89 10:00:23 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 75 (96) I spent an hour yesterday skimming rapidly through Cudworth's True Intellectual System in search of spirits on pins. Understandably, I didn't locate them. But I came away with a suspicion that there is indeed such a reference, and that it is *not* a satire on scholastics (it would after all be a very bad satire), but part of an argument with Cudworth's contemporaries about whether spirits have a local habitation, an 'airy' body and so on. I'm not sure what conclusion Cudworth draws, though he does insist both that spirits are essentially incorporeal and that they do not exist except in conjunction with some sort of body. If there's a Cudworth expert on line, I'd be delighted to converse on the subject. Best wishes, Stephen From: Joseph Raben Subject: Re: 3.39 angels and revolutions, cont. (73) Date: Thu, 18 May 89 14:57:18 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 76 (97) As I understand "angels dancing on the point of a pin," the phrase was an attempt to concretize a major philosophic debate, namely whether immaterial objects existed. If so, they would not occupy space, i.e., more than one could occupy a single spot. Angels were the most obvious type of immateri- ality and the point of a pin the most obvious non-dimensional point. From: Maurizio Lana Subject: Guide's users anywhere? Date: Thu, 18 May 1989 10:19 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 77 (98) I'm searching, on behalf of my friend professor Guido Carboni, if the re are Guide's (formerly distributed by OWL International hypertext syst em) users in Berkeley, or any place near. Guido Carboni, in his next jou rney would like to meet some of them. Thank you. Any response could be a ddressed directly to me, U245@ITOCSIP. Maurizio Lana From: Maurizio Lana Subject: a print bug in WordCruncher**new version (4.3)** Date: Thu, 18 May 1989 10:24 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 78 (99) In WC,when I try to print concordance from option 3 of main menu, I get every headline (printed in bold, containing the headword) printed over b y the first next line of context. This happens, really, with any line co ntainig bold characters. I tried changing printer dip-switches setting, changing predefined printer commands for bold in s-F4 (print options), b ut none of these changed *anything*. Anyone could help me? You can address your replies directly to me, U245@ITOCSIP, if you like . Thank you. Maurizio From: Maurizio Lana Subject: electronic Walt Whitman Date: Thu, 18 May 1989 10:52 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 79 (100) Does anyone know of a machine-readable editions of the W. Whitman? You could address your messages directly to me, if you want. Thank you. Maurizio (u245@itocsip) From: RKennr@CONU1 Subject: Chinese in EGA,VGA Date: Thu, 18 May 89 08:39:03 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 49 (101) Donald Spaeth should contact a company called Asiacom (2761 McColl Place, Victoria, BC, CANADA V8N-5Y8) which markets a product called TianMa2, which purports to present Chinese characters in EGA or VGA display modes (and also supports LaserPrinter output at 300 dpi) Roger Kenner, Concordia Univ. Montreal From: "Patrick W. Conner" Subject: 3.48 Guide? bug in WC? e-Whitman? (57) Date: Thu, 18 May 89 22:20:11 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 80 (102) My department has just purchased GUIDE to help make courseware materials for literature courses. I, too, would like to know if there are any GUIDE experts out there, since I'm the fellow who will have to make the courseware, and I'd like to know where the bridges over these troubled waters may lay, just in case my arms get tired. Thanks. From: Subject: Query: Fractal generated Music ? Date: Fri, 19 May 89 07:42:34 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 81 (103) I would welcome any information concerning the generation of music from fractals or identification of any suitable person to contact to discuss same. Bill Oleske From: Robin Smith Subject: Address for C. W. Hieatt Date: Fri, 19 May 89 11:01 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 82 (104) A colleague of mine would like an e-mail address for C. W. Hieatt at Cambridge Polytechnic. (Please send replies directly to RSMITH@KSUVM.KSU.EDU). From: Willard McCarty Subject: Walking Tour, and other matters Date: 19 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 83 (105) Those of you who have registered for our conference, The Dynamic Text, will have been told about a trip on Saturday, 10 June, to Niagara Falls, where a great volume of water tumbles a considerable distance and makes much noise and mist. I am planning a counter-cultural event to complement this most excellent tour, and also to compete with it. It is designed for those of you with more humble, pedestrian desires. It is a Walking Tour of our city. The Walk will begin at the University reasonably early on Saturday morning. We will stroll south through some interesting neighborhoods, and after approximately an hour will arrive at St. Lawrence Market, where we will eat breakfast at one of the most entertaining places I know of. (St. Lawrence Market is, I am told, like what the Covered Market in Oxford used to be before it was boutique-ified and thus ruined.) After eating and watching people and listening to music, we'll walk over to the ferry docks and take one of the boats across to Toronto Island. We'll then make our way across the Island (about another hour's walk, or longer if we decide to rest) to the opposite end, where further refreshments can be obtained from a charming restaurant that will remind some of you of your foolish youth. Then we'll take another ferry back to the docks on the mainland, from which we can walk back to the university along another route. If you are interested, bring a good pair of walking shoes, a bit of money for the food and ferry passage, and whatever gear you are accustomed to have along on a jaunt. The Island is a wonderful place to take photos, as is the Market. Do not expect a terribly learned tour. I have a guidebook to our urban architecture but will not have memorized its contents in time. A sign-up sheet will be available at the registration desk. Toronto is now pleasantly warm, ca. 20-25 degrees C. By early June it should be quite warm and humid, perhaps even hot. If the weather turns suddenly, I will post a notice here. Willard McCarty From: "Nancy J. Frishberg" Subject: IBM Supercomputing Competition Date: 18 May 89 09:35:42 ET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 84 (106) CALL FOR PAPERS 1989 IBM 3090 SUPERCOMPUTING COMPETITION ________________________________________________________________________ Cash Awards for Outstanding Work in Large Scale Computer Analysis and Modeling ________________________________________________________________________ The IBM Corporation and IBM Canada Ltd. are sponsoring the 1989 IBM 3090 Supercomputing Competition IBM invites authors from industry, research and academia to submit papers in competition for major cash awards. The competition will be for First, Second and Third Prizes in each of four divisions: The divisions are: 1) Physical Science and Mathematics 2) Engineering 3) Life and Health Sciences 4) Social Sciences, Humanities and Fine Arts The prizes in each division are: First Prize - $25,000 US Second Prize - 15,000 US Third Prize - 10,000 US An additional $10,000 will be awarded to universities that provide substantial assistance to 1st Prize papers. All papers must describe analysis and modeling work done using an IBM 3090 Supercomputer as the primary computational system. Judging will be by panels of noted non-IBM experts in each division. Winning and other selected papers will be published in IBM's PROCEEDINGS: 1989 IBM 3090 Supercomputing Competition To enter the competition, authors must submit an abstract by October 2, 1989. All necessary information is provided in the General Information Brochure which may be obtained from your local IBM Branch Office or by contacting one of the Competition Administrators: In the United States: IBM Corporation Dept 72/BNG 44 S. Broadway White Plains, NY 10601-4495 (914) 686-6318 In Canada: IBM Canada Ltd. Dept 2/645 245 Consumers Road North York, Ontario M2J1S2 (416) 758-4136 A preliminary abstract and registration must be postmarked by October 2, 1989. Final papers must be received by January 15, 1990. Results of the competition will be announced by March 1, 1990. ________________________________________________________________________ 1989 IBM 3090 SUPERCOMPUTING COMPETITION -Please Post This Notice- From: db Subject: Re: 3.35 queries (134) Date: Fri, 19 May 89 02:27:04 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 85 (107) For Ronen Shapira, itamar even zohar can send you to a fellow named sandy whom i think will be able to help you alot. daniel boyarin From: Subject: Angels on pins Date: Fri, 19 May 89 17:40 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 86 (108) Poe's mad treatise _Eureka_ in addition to its strange pre-vision of the Big Bang, also has a lot of discussion about whether immaterial spirits can exist. Poe thinks not, but he also thinks that there are further phases of matter which are to gas what gas is to liquid, and that if you imagine an infinite sequence of such phases the vanishing point of them is what _he_ calls spirit, which he thinks of as material refined to the point of immateriality but not beyond. I've never made much sense of Poe's conception--Poe not only writes about gas but is sometimes full of gas--but I have sometimes wondered whether it might resemble Shroedinger's picture of elementary particles not as hard spheres but as probability distributions in space. From: Maurizio Lana Subject: possibly lost e-mail Date: Mon, 22 May 1989 11:28 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 87 (109) I sent some days ago three messages to Humanist. None of them I ever read between the mail received; still, I received direct, personal messages concerning one of my enquiries (about Guide users). So, if someone of you wrote something to me, could you re-write (I do not say re-send, but it would be the same, it seems...)? I hope that in the meanwhile ICNUCEVM, the node sending Humanist mail to me, would be fully running without glitches. Thank you. Maurizio (u245@itocsip) From: Charles Ess Subject: theory/praxis Date: Mon, 22 May 89 12:33:16 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 88 (110) As part of a self-study project, I have been asked to convene a committee of faculty to address a stated goal of "integrating theoretical and practical knowledge." This goal is seen as one avenue for better integrating traditional liberal arts education with "professional" preparation education in such fields as business, communications, and architecture. More specifically, we are to develop "a theoretical foundation which recognizes the connectedness of all disciplines and achieves a more substantive integration of learning for our students" -- whether they are architecture or philosophy majors. Do HUMANIST readers have any suggestions along these lines -- especially regarding readings which might be helpful for starting our study and discussion? I've begun by pulling some passages from Aristotle on the nature of theoretical and practical knowledge which I find helpful starting points. Any additional suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Charles Ess Philosophy and Religion Drury College 900 N. Benton Ave. Springfield, MO 65802 (417) 865-8731 From: Willard McCarty Subject: more on the Walking Tour Date: 21 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 89 (111) A few of you have written asking if it would be possible to participate in the walking tour and make a 12 noon or 2 p.m. plane. The answer is no. My guess is that we will not return from the tour until mid to late afternoon, perhaps later, depending on the wishes of the group. My wife has suggested that we have a picnic on the Island. Indeed, the Market is a very good place to load up on supplies for a picnic. The counter-cultural cafe I mentioned on the Island can still be visited for a cup of espresso, but a picnic would be much better all around. There are very fine sites for such things on the Island. The success of this tour depends, of course, on the weather. Today I made an exploratory trip to the Island, just to refresh a memory dimmed by time. It was splendid, as always. I should say, for the benefit of those who know Toronto Island, that I am certainly not referring to the amusement park that occupies one portion of the place (this I avoid like the plague that it is), rather to the relatively deserted western portion (Hanlan's Point) and to the eastern portion (Ward's Island), where an interesting community of people have held out against developers and their political allies for several years. So, I urge those of you who are interested to arrange your schedules accordingly. All day Saturday should be allotted to the tour. The total cost should be no more than $10 to $15 (CAN) each, and that's mostly for the food. Willard McCarty From: N.J.Morgan@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.51 walking tour; supercomputing (133) Date: Mon, 22 May 89 10:37:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 90 (112) As a near native of Oxford I spring to the defence of Oxford market, where I have spent (and still occasionally spend) many a happy hour shopping. To be sure, the market is not as it was; however it still retains much of the atmosphere of a traditional indoor market hall, which it would take more than a few denim or designer boutiques to destroy. And after all such stalls only reflect a natural shift in retail habits - remember the process of the past is change. Oxford market is a fine place to purchase foodstuffs, particularly (for those with a carnivorous disposition) sausages from the many very traditional butchers' stalls. At a time when many town and city market halls dating from the nineteenth century are being destroyed throughout England by neglect, design, or act of God (and here I think all three apply to Lancaster's fire damaged and speculator-threatened hall, home of possibly the finest cheese in England) we should actually cherish what we have, whether it be at Oxford, Halifax, Stafford, Stoke or Bath (to name but a few that I am familiar with). Recant McCarty !!!!!!! Nicholas Morgan Department of Scottish History University of Glasgow [Perhaps a debate between N.M. and the person who filled my head with nostalgia for the Oxford Market That Once Was would solve the problem. If I have unjustly slandered Oxford's Market I do indeed readily recant! Perhaps local pride has influenced me. In any case, those of you who take the Tour will see for yourselves how fine a Market we have. Actually there are two on Saturdays, one for the farmers (where carnivores will delight in wonderful sausages and other meats with no preservatives, and everyone in the vegetables and breads), the other for those who have permanent food stalls. -- W.M.] From: Willard McCarty Subject: more topical collections Date: 22 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 91 (113) The following topical collections are now available on the file-server. As always, you are directed to the Guide to Humanist for instructions on how to fetch them. EMAIL TOPIC-1 on the nature of electronic mail E-TEXTS TOPIC-2 on electronic texts HUMCOMP TOPIC-2 on through humanities HUMCOMP TOPIC-3 computing MARKUP TOPIC-4 on textual markup, with through some concentration on MARKUP TOPIC-6 Sanskrit SCANNERS TOPIC-4 on optical character through recognition SCANNERS TOPIC-5 devices Willard McCarty From: Willard McCarty Subject: biographies Date: 22 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 92 (114) My computer is now safely holding a large backlog of biographies of recent Humanists. Unfortunately, preparations for the conference here in June have left me no time to edit these into shape. Please accept my apologies for not circulating them in a more timely fashion. If you are one of those being thus held in obscurity and wish to provoke a discussion, please feel free to restate your interests directly to the group. Willard McCarty From: "stephen r.l.clark" Subject: angels Date: Mon, 22 May 89 11:53:47 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 56 (115) G.M.Ross, 'Angels' (PHILOSOPHY 60.1985 P.495) reveals the following: 14th century Swester Katrei (cited by Philip Howard *Words fail me* 1983, 20-5) refers to a thousand souls in heaven sitting on the point of a pin. Angels dancing first appear in Isaac D'Israeli's Curiosities of Literature (1791), as a joke, and not (as is supposed) citing Martinus Scriblerus. Nothing about dancing or needles in Scriblerus (published 1742, written before 1714). Aquinas ST q52 art 3 asks if many angels can exist in same place. Anselm, Cur Deus Homo? does not seem to be concerned with this. I recommend G.M.Ross's article. Stephen. From: psl@yquem Subject: Re: 3.50 fractal music? Date: Sat, 20 May 89 02:49:31 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 93 (116) Although many different things may be meant by "fractal generated music", I know somehing about some of them... Peter Langston psl@bellcore.com From: unh!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: Guide hypertext Date: Sat, 20 May 89 16:56:38 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 94 (117) GUIDE hypertext In reply to Patrick Conner's recent query, the best users of Guide whom I've corresponded with or met in the past few months are either in the Education Dept. at Cornell University or in Romance Languages at the U. of Toledo. Although the names of the presenters at CALICO '89 are not available to me at the moment, they have used Guide either alone or in combination (!) with Hypercard to produce software for a German and a Spanish disc they produced. Perhaps one of our HUMANIST members at Cornell could help out here. The other person I can recommend is Joseph Feustle at the U. of Toledo (Ohio), who has just had published in _Hispania_ an article on hypertext. His wonderfully mnemonic BITNET address is: fac0395@uoft01.BITNET :-> I'm testing out version 2.0 for the PC and interactive video. Perhaps the 3.48 version Patrick mentions is the Mac version.... --Joel D. Goldfield J_GOLDFI@UNHH From: "Wayne Tosh / English--SCSU / St Cloud, MN 56301" Subject: Hypertext for IBM PC and Black Magic Date: Sat, 20 May 89 17:51:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 95 (118) There's another hypertext program available from PC-SIG. It's called Hytext and is their disk no. 1234. PC-SIG 1030D East Duane Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94086 1-800-245-6717 1-800-222-2996 (CA only) 1-408-730-2107 (FAX) From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Whew... reunification of everything Date: Mon, 22 May 89 23:33:33 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 96 (119) Quite an ambitious task. Let me see if I can even approach it. A problem I see in some liberal arts education is that it has allowed itself to identify the media of the past with the messages which were communicated in those media. Today I believe we are displacing media faster than ever before in history. This has placed great strain on everyone, professionals and liberal arts majors ALIKE. It isn't JUST that computers can generate graphical images of architecture so real you can walk around inside them before they are ever constructed, even as mere models, but that this capability has come upon us so suddenly that it becomes really hard to adjust one's views of what tools of the trade are needed to become an architect. While there have been revolutions in literary media in the past, such as paper replacing clay, or sheets of loose paper bound together replacing scrolls, these came relatively slowly. Becoming skilled in the creation of literary or artistic achievement has always depended in part on mastering the medium in which one works. If the medium changes, the skills needed to `speak' in that medium change as well. Thus, we are faced with new challenges in mass media, in electronic personal media, and in answering real questions as to what it is currently appropriate to teach students about the media of the past. I believe the answer will have to lie along two paths. One is that mastery of media MUST be an integral part of preparation for the future. Whether one wants to be a business major or a novelist, one may need to know how to edit writing with a word processor. Whether one wants to be a architect or a fashion designer, one may need to master color graphics on a computer. These are the skills of the trade of the future. Compromise on their mastery and one loses. But just as importantly, the past needs to be taught in the context of its media being the products of the engineering, science and technology of their times. The skill of the artists and writers in expressing universals of the human experience in those media MUST NOT blind one to the reasons they selected the media in which they worked. They selected them because they were at a given point in history when those media were technologically possible and perhaps even futuristic in their presentation potential. The future will be different because older media often lose their edge in competition with modern media. (Think about a trying to write a novel on scrolls or clay tablets!). Trying to teach students to revere an older medium because one knows the merit of the ideas that were presented in that medium may involve false transference. Business, just as literary development, changed in response to the media available to conduct business. The same media used to write great novels were used to generate ledgers and bookkeeping. The typewriter changed things for BOTH great writers and business correspondence. The electronic computer with word processing has done the same today. If your literature and journalism majors aren't using the same tools as their business student counterparts, they aren't acting as their contemporaries. If literature majors cannot perform the same access tasks as law students in their respective literatures, then this is symptomatic of an underappreciation of the merits of the ideas in literature to lawyers and an underappreciation of the needs of literature majors to be able to access their discipline's heritage. So... what are my unifying principles. (1) Master the media of the times in which you live. This should be done regardless of the your field of work. (2) Revere the accomplishments of the past, but do not confuse the media in which those accomplishments were made and the nature of the accomplishments themselves. (Likewise, from the `professional' side, do not see the progress made in the advancement of theory as having come along through sheer feats of mental brilliance. The people who made those theoretical advances struggled against the limitations of the media of communication, presentation and creation available to them in their times.) A successful education prepares one to use the media of one's time to say something worth saying. Lacking media skills, one must gain them before one can make a contribution; lacking a knowledge of the ideas known in the past, one is controlled by the medium rather than its controller. The shallow technologist who brilliantly manipulates the computer medium, but fails to understand why breaking into other people's computers and destroying data is wrong, is no less a problem than the liberal arts major who understands this but then directs tirades against an unjust society that excludes humanists because they are computer illiterate and takes refuge in the media of the past. Both are failures of education which we must revise the educational system to prevent. From: "Tom Benson 814-238-5277" Subject: Re: 3.53 theory/praxis Date: Tue, 23 May 89 08:52:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 97 (120) Charles Ess asks about materials to support an inquiry into theory/praxis in the liberal arts. I suggest contacting Bob Craig at Temple University; he has written an interesting and influential essay from the point of his discipline--communication/rhetoric--called "Communication as a Practical Discipline." In addition, Bob was co-chair of the 1989 Temple Conference on Discourse Analysis, this year devoted specifically to the issue of theory/praxis in communication studies. Though this work was grounded in the field of communication studies and rhetoric, it might well be useful as a model for liberal arts in general. The field of rhetorical studies has wrestled with this question for 2000 years. Bob is (BITNET). I hope you and your committee will report on your findings to HUMANIST. Tom Benson (T3B@PSUVM) Penn State University From: Anthony Aristar Subject: Inquiry Date: Tue 23 May 89 09:36:56-CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 59 (121) It looks like my wife and I may be going to the University of Western Australia next year. Does anyone have any contacts at Perth? My wife is in English/Text linguistics, and I'm in linguistics. From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Fractal Tunes Date: Tue, 23 May 89 08:30:40 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 60 (122) Could Mr. Langston (sic--sorry) be persuaded to disclose, publicly, the little bit he knows about fractal-generated music? Why the secrecy? Many of us humanist voyeurs like to hear these things, een when we don't have anything to add on the subject. From: Knut Hofland +47 5 212954/55/56 FAFKH at NOBERGEN Subject: Survey of Machine Readable Language Corpora Date: 20 May 89, 19:52:04 EMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 61 (123) Geoffrey Leech and Lita Taylor at the University of Lancaster have started a survey of machine readable language corpora. The preliminary report from this survey is available from the ICAME (International Computer Archive of Modern English) file server in Bergen. To get the report: send a note to FAFSRV@NOBERGEN.BITNET with Subject: SEND SURVEY CORPORA The report is also available in print from the address below. The file SURVEY CORPORA is also made available on Humanist's file-server, s.v. SURVEY CORPORA Knut Hofland The Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities Street adr: Harald Haarfagres gt. 31 Post adr: P.O. Box 53, University N-5027 Bergen Norway Tel: +47 5 212954/5/6 Fax: +47 5 322656 From: Oxford Text Archive Subject: RE: 3.54 more on the Tour (92) Date: Wed, 24 May 89 21:56 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 98 (124) ... actually willard, Oxford's market is a terrible mockery of what once it was, now that they've joined it to some awful piece of designer-mediaeval called the Golden Cross, and there's no sawdust on the floor any more, There's a real market in Newport (Gwent) though. And doubtless many other towns equally off the tourist track. Lou From: Willard McCarty Subject: schedule for the Walking Tour Date: 24 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 99 (125) The schedule for our Walking Tour on Saturday, 10 June, after the conclusion of The Dynamic Text conference is as follows: *** 8 a.m. leave from the steps of the Medical Sciences building, 1 King's College Circle. *** 9 to 9:30 a.m. arrive at St. Lawrence Market (be envious, Oxonians!) to eat breakfast and buy provisions for the picnic lunch. *** 10 to 10:30 a.m. depart from the Market to the ferry docks. *** 12 noon arrive at Hanlan's Point (Western extremity of Toronto Island). *** 12:30 to 1 p.m. hold glorious picnic somewhere near Hanlan's. *** 2 p.m. depart for Ward's Island. *** 2:30 p.m. arrive at Ward's Island (actually continuous with the rest of the Island) and drink coffee or other substance at the local cafe. *** 3 to 3:30 depart for the mainland. *** 4 p.m. arrive at the mainland ferry docks and (a) walk back to the university or (b) take the subway or bus, as the stamina of the individual dictates. The Tour should thus be over by 5 p.m. All times are grossly approximate. The route will be determined by the inspiration of the moment. The Conference will pay for the ferry ride but not all the other expenses (to a total of ca. $10 or less). Good walking shoes are a must. A light anorak (waterproof jacket) would be a good idea, as would a backpack. Willard McCarty Tour Guide From: Grace Logan Subject: Black Magic Date: Tue, 23 May 89 20:58:32 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 100 (126) I recently spent a part of two weeks evaluating Black Magic for our department. I know that its developers spent a lot of time and effort trying to make it perform as many hyptertext functions as possible and their enthusiasm and good will is everywhere evident. However, I was forced to conclude that the package provided too little too soon. I am very reluctant to use HUMANIST as a forum for fault-finding, especially since I felt that the originators were clever and eager to provide something useful and good. Still, if anyone is contemplating the purchase of the package, I'd be willing to send him/her a copy of my findings. From: "John K. Baima" Subject: Canadian Customs Date: Wed, 24 May 89 09:24 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 101 (127) The Canadian Consulate here in Dallas gave me the number of the Canadian Customs for Ontario [(416) 973-8350]. They said that there was a form to fill out (Form # E29B, I think) when temporarily importing goods like computer equipment for the Software Fair. There is the possibility that Canadian Customs will require a deposit of perhaps 10% of the market value of the equipment. This deposit would be returned when leaving the country with the equipment. Items can go in for free, but it is totally at the discretion of the customs agent when you enter Canada. Thus, anyone bringing computer equipment into Canada should be prepared to pay a 10% deposit. I am also planning on bringing proof of purchase. john baima d024jkb@utarlg From: Oxford Text Archive Subject: RE: 3.53 theory/praxis? (62) Date: Wed, 24 May 89 21:50 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 102 (128) Isn't "self-study" a little solipsistic? From: Subject: fractal music Date: Wed, 24 May 89 11:30 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 103 (129) There has been a good deal of discussion on this subject on the FRAC-L mailing list. You can subscribe at FRAC-L@GITVM1 From: N.J.Morgan@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.57 fractal music; PC hypertext (66) Date: Wed, 24 May 89 05:20:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 104 (130) Guide at Glasgow Guide is used by a number of Humanists at Glasgow for teaching. One colleague, Des O'Brien, has produced a hypertext version of Piers Ploughman and may demonstrate this at the Toronto s/w fair on the machine being used for DISH demonstrations. Nicholas Morgan Department of Scottish History University of Glasgow From: Willard McCarty Subject: marble and ivory Date: 23 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 105 (131) This is a request for help that may also be taken as an indirect comment on the continuing need for human filtering in a world increasingly rich in data. I am looking for places in Greek or Latin literature where the metaphorical qualities of marble and ivory are manifested. The specific problem I have is in the interpretation of a passage in Ovid's Metamorphoses (3.418ff), where Narcissus is compared to a statue of Parian marble and his reflection is said to have an ivory neck. Elsewhere in that work, marble is something cold, rigid, and colourless (e.g., those who see the Medusa's head turn into marble), ivory is comparatively soft and is frequently found in erotic contexts (Pygmalion) or is otherwise linked to flesh (Pelops). I would feel much more comfortable in drawing what seems to me the obvious conclusion if I had passages that support such a distinction. Does anyone know where to look? Yes, I have an Ibycus at my fingertips and the TLG and PHI disks, but as the amount of potential evidence is likely to be large and as this is a minor point in a large and long overdue project, some human guidance would be appreciated. Thanks very much. Willard McCarty From: Ellen Germain Subject: Micro applications for scholarly research Date: Wed, 24 May 89 10:43:02 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 106 (132) Someone in my department needs to come up with "computers in the humanities" demos for humanities professors in order to attract them to using computers. We're interested in getting them to use micros. I'd like to hear about applications that people have running (or simply ideas for applications) that are useful for scholars in the humanities. I know about projects such as Perseus and Stanford's Shakespeare/Theatre Project. Most of the micro projects seem to be instructional tools such as those, but I'd also be very interested in hearing about any micro projects or tools that people think would help scholars do their research. Are there such applications? Can micros really help humanities scholars with their research beyond the level of making the act of writing easier by providing word processing capabilities? I know of text analysis tools, but aside from those, what other micro applications exist that would lure scholars into using computers? One reason I'm interested in research tools somewhat more than instructional tools is that they seem rarer, and harder to come up with. Also, sad as it may be, I suspect that professors will be more inclined to use micros if we demonstrate that it can help them do their research, rather than simply presenting them as instructional tools to help with their teaching. Thanks! Ellen Germain Columbia University Bitnet: EJGCU@CUVMB Internet: ellen@cunixc.cc.columbia.edu From: Subject: Catholics and Fascism Date: Wed, 24 May 89 23:34:22 +0300 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 107 (133) Is anyone aware of social-historical research recently done on the relative success of the Nazi party in Catholic areas of Germany,such as Baden and the Black-Forest region? This area seems unique in this respect,due to major Nazi gains in the early 30's,without Hitler ever showing-up there, no effort by the NSDAP's central bodies,and much less success that the party was able to register in other Catholic parts of Germany. Will appreciate any further information beyond the usual treatment in the literature of "Who voted for Hitler",including specific elections analyis. Shlomo Aronson,ARONSA@HBUNOS MAny thanks and regards,Shlomo From: Geoff Rockwell Subject: Re: 3.64 queries (106) Date: Thu, 25 May 89 11:50:14 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 108 (134) I have been experimenting with HyperCard stacks for keeping track of references and research notes (it's a way of not writing my thesis.) These experiments, collectively called the BIB collection, will be shown at the software fair of the Dynamic Text conference for those attending. If you send an e-mail note to me I can try to send you a stuffed and hexed file. (You will need Stuffit and Bin Hex to use the stack.) I say try because this has yet to work. I can also send it by surface mail if you send me a disk and self addressed envelope. This collection is an experiment. I am not convinced that I want to trust my notes (which are now on paper) to a HyperCard stack. I have been impressed by ArchiText and Learning Tool enough to consider them but continue experimenting in HyperCard. I hope that anyone who uses or adapts them will share their thoughts with me. My only request is that those who use or adapt them send me tacky postcards. Surface address: Geoffrey Rockwell University of Toronto Computing Services 4 Bancroft Ave Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1 Canada E-mail (send mail directly to me, not to Willard) rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca Yours Geoffrey R From: Willard McCarty Subject: no SURVEY CORPORA Date: 25 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 109 (135) Apparently, contrary to what I announced, SURVEY CORPORA never reached the file-server, which probably means I forgot to put it there despite my statement that it was already there. Then, also apparently, in my pressing need to make space on my disk, I deleted it from my own account. I have requested another copy and will post it to the file-server as soon as I receive it. Many apologies. Willard McCarty From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: E-mail mysteries Date: Thursday, 25 May 1989 1017-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 110 (136) Ever since PENN changed its e-mail routing earlier this year we have experienced considerable difficulty contacting overseas addresses, especially on JANET. The people here are still "looking into it"! Meanwhile, I apologize for any apparent silence on my part -- things have been sent out! Meanwhile, I received a message from the following address which I reproduce exactly from two places on the header. Since there is no "at" sign, I have no idea how to respond. Any ideas from the experts out there? CLAUSS!zedat!#fu-berlin%dbp&de I don't recall ever having seen anything quite like it. I suspect that the recent PENN changes may have created the problem. Everything seemed to work so well "in the old days." Bob From: Oxford Text Archive Subject: electronic hardy Date: Thu, 25 May 89 19:12 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 111 (137) Anyone who knows of the whereabouts of a machine-readable version of the poetry and drama of Thomas Hardy, please report to the oxford text archive. Thanks Lou From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: Computers for Scholarship Date: 25 May 1989, 08:35:23 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 112 (138) It is difficult to convince a colleague who hates machines more complicated than a trowel to love computers, but since I was a convert to computers partly because they help free one to work at home and cultivate one's garden, I have no problems preaching. The global village argument may work, the work-at-home argument may work, the never-having-to-hit-the-typewriter-return-bar argument might work, but there will be a few who will never, never, give in to the new technology of writing because it is new and a technology. +Then+ you might try the automatic-paragraph-reformat argument, the push-the-footnotes-to-the-end-of-the-article argument, the block-move argument. You +might+ talk about the use of other gadgets that can make the scholar's or editor's life easier, such as the scanner, the laser printer, the CD-ROM access to enormous data-bases, the e-mail access to scholars all over the world in less than ten minutes, free. And then you threaten the stay-behinds that if they don't learn how to use computers they will be supplanted by people who do, including their students. Note: the threats don't work either, but if they can see what you can get done in scholarship, database organization, information-retrieval, communication, they may get envious and emulate you. Then they may thank you later, but I doubt it. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Scholarly Research on Micros Date: Thursday, 25 May 1989 1025-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 113 (139) It is difficult to know where to begin to address Ellen Germain's request concerning research use of microcomputers. The possibilities are so open ended, and the actualities so widespread, but how to demonstrate this (short of something like the Toronto Fair, which will at least scrape the surface) is a real problem. It occurs to me that a major aspect of the problem is that there is the idea that somehow there will or should be generic scholarly research software out there that can work miracles for the wordprocessing scholar who wants more. Some does exist or is being developed -- e.g. in the area of rapid search and retrieval of textual and related materials (IBYCUS, PERSEUS-PANDORA, WordCruncher, LBase, etc.). And the research potential of such tools is only beginning to be tested. A variety of other types of research software (and hardware) has appeared in various other scholarly contexts/fields, as can be seen from the articles published in the "Computers and ..." Journals (CHum, LLC, etc.), or in the section of the Chronicle of Higher Education that lists new software, or in displays at scholarly conferences. But in the long run, individual scholars will need to know how to tailor the software to their particular needs, either by learning more about how to manipulate computers than is necessary for running a wordprocessing package, or by having access to expert consultation (e.g. undergraduate and graduate students, for many of us). And persons developing foundational software for research applications need to consider how to accommodate the need for individual adaptations. I doubt that there can ever be a substitute for the research scholar becoming much more involved in the production and adjustment of the desired tools, any more than the same scholar could operate effectively without knowing how to use (directly or indirectly) the range of pre-computer tools of value (typewriters, photographic and xerographic techniques, chart formats, use of color, indexing and concording techniques, etc.). At very least, knowing the sorts of things a computer can do (theoretically) for a particular type of research is essential for making (or causing to be made) productive use of this vastly underutilized, extremely versitile and powerful, research technology. Every serious research curriculum (especially in "humanities") needs to insure that appropriate introductions to computers and computing are available for its students and staff, if we are to make effective progress in this new world. Don't just look for finished products to acquire. Look to educating the targeted "consumers" to be able to request/demand/produce appropriate products! Bob Kraft (without apology for "preaching") From: jonathan@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Jonathan Altman) Subject: Re: 3.64 {micro apps for research} Date: Thu, 25 May 89 11:05:53 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 114 (140) Because it might be of general interest to those who have not yet heard of what the Dante Project does, I figured I would answer this question directly on Humanist. Sorry to those of you who have seen announcements of our project before. Yes, there are such tools. Currently, the Dante Project has its VAX-based database of commentaries available for access from any computer which can make a phone call or can access the Internet. The Dante Project database is a collection of commentaries to Dante's _Divina Commedia_ which have been fed in to a text-retrieval program, allowing scholars to access the commentary text by searching for various criteria. Although not strictly a pc-based research tool because of this, you can use a PC to access it, and there are free terminal-emulator programs that you could use, kermit being a prime example. The Dante Project and Humanities Computing at Dartmouth College are also developing a Hypercard stack for the Macintosh that presents a slightly easier-to-use interface to the database. The Dante Project will be at the Tools for Humanists show being held at the Dynamic Text conference and we will have both the terminal and hypercard access methods demonstrated. If you want more information, please contact me. Jonathan Altman jonathan@eleazar.Dartmouth.edu Database Administrator jonathan.altman@Dartmouth.edu Dartmouth Dante Project voice: 603-646-2633 301 Bartlett Hall HB 6087 Hanover, NH 03755 PS There are several other intersting projects going on at Dartmouth. I suggest you contact david.bantz@dartmouth.edu for information. David is the Director of Humanities Computing. From: Wujastyk (on GEC 4190 Rim-D at UCL) Subject: Sanskrit coding Date: Thu, 25 May 89 12:23 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 68 (141) [This private contribution on the subject of Sanskrit coding is apparently meant to be overheard by us all. --W.M.] Dear Mathieu, Thank you for your recent message. I am somewhat perplexed that you have decided to adopt my coding scheme, because I can see very little merit in it! Surely a scheme where the characters are at least in Sanskrit alphabetical order would be better? The point that I *do* think is quite good about my scheme is that I only use character positions above 224. This keeps all the French and German characters intact, as well as all the graphics characters. I have no excuse for putting l underdot at position 157 and I can't remember why on earth I did so. what if a Japanese Sanskritist wanted to enquire about the cost of a book about the root k.lp? Perhaps it should be shifted, say to 252? You ask about M underdot and L underdot: the first is already at position 226, and the second could be put in one of the spare positions in the 224--255 sequence, say 250. What about other characters that we may want to add in future? The superscript circle (248) is quite good as a Sanskrit ellipsis sign. The raised large dot (249) could be available for redefinition. The raised small dot (250) could be the L underdot (see above). The square root (251) is quite useful for philologists. The raised n (252) could be the l underdot (see above). But positions 248 and 251 should be used for accented characters if they have to be. For example, although the vocalic l is never long in Sanskrit or Pali, one might want to say so, which would necessitate upper and lower case l underdot macron. I think one can argue that position 254 is a graphic character, like 219--223, and should be preserved too (I can imagine it being used, a bit like 16, as a pointer or marker in a screen menu system). After this, I think the next group of characters that should fall prey to our needs are the graphic characters that combine a single and a double stroke, i.e., 181--184, 189, 190, 198, 199, 207--214, and 216. It seems to me that these are not widely used in character-based graphic screen design. This gives another 17 positions to play with. These could be used for some signs for Hindi, accented Vedic long vowels, anunasika, or whatever. But please give serious thought to arranging the Sanskrit characters in 224-- 255 at least in alphabetical order. Finally, if you need a good screen font editor, I can let you have one. It comes as part of a package with a rather good editor called "E!", although it is a separate program. It allows for editing EGA and VGA fonts. Another program loads these fonts into the EGA or VGA memory. I can give you my actual screen font, if you like. Best wishes, Dominik cc HUMANIST, Bart van Nooten From: CATHERINE@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: Oxford Market Date: Thu, 25 MAY 89 10:14:26 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 115 (142) I, too, must spring to the defence of the Oxford Market. Although it is perhaps not what it was ( whatever is, alas) it is still a vital thriving everyday market with a large variety of traditional purveyors of the finest quality produce, both mundane and specialist (this last thanks to the high tables of the Oxford Colleges, where one don was recently heard to say, as he cast his eye over the menu, "oh no, grouse again"). And new shops aren't all bad shops -- there is, for example, a good new pasta shop. But the market is under threat. It is being prettied up -- a sure sign of incipient trendiness (the perfectly adequate floors are going to be tiled), there is already a completely useless "medieval" addition with expensive tourist shops, and several stalls are being taken over by fly-by-night tea-shirt and souvenir type stalls. Rents are being raised too high, and soon the tea shirts will drive out the butchers, etc. The greatest threat to most genuine living parts of old towns is prettification. A sign of our times? Sadly, Catherine Griffin From: Subject: solipsism Date: Thu, 25 May 89 10:21:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 116 (143) In a recent note, a Humanist suggested the substance of an earlier note was "a little solipsistic" -- Is not solipsism one of those entities that does not admit comparison? Either it's solipsistic or it isn't. From: Willard McCarty Subject: SURVEY CORPORA Date: 25 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 117 (144) The file SURVEY CORPORA is now available on the file-server, as promised. Many thanks for the vigilance of Humanists who do not allow me to forget what I have said I would do, and unaccountably don't. Willard McCarty From: IDE@VASSAR Subject: Date: Wed, 3 May 89 23:24 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 118 (145) THE TEXT ENCODING INITIATIVE History of the TEI In the fall of 1987, the Association for Computers and the Humanities (ACH), under the directorship of Nancy M. Ide, organized a conference at Vassar College from which emerged a set of resolutions upon the necessity and feasibility of defining a set of guidelines to facilitate both the interchange of existing encoded texts and the creation of newly encoded texts. The resolutions stated that the guidelines would specify both what features should be encoded and also how they should be encoded, as well as suggesting ways of describing the resulting encoding scheme and its relationship with pre-existing schemes. Compatibility with existing schemes would be sought where possible, and in particular, ISO standard 8879, Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), would provide the basic syntax for the guidelines if feasible. -------------------- [A complete version of this description is at last available on the file-server, s.v. TXT_ENCD INITIATV, as promised weeks ago. Apologies for the inexplicable delay! A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: MLAOD@CUVMB.bitnet Subject: Micro applications for scholarly research Date: Fri, 26 May 89 09:55:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 71 (146) Humanities scholars who make heavy use of printed indexes and annual bibliographies might be lured to the microcomputer (modem- equipped) by a demonstration of the various electronic databases available to them. These include the Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Historical Abstracts, Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts, Religion Index, Humanities Index, the MLA Biblio- graphy, and many others. You can get further information about the joys of online access to bibliographic data from your fellow node-mate and Humanist group member Anita Lowry at Columbia's Butler Library. Meanwhile, I wonder if you would be willing to articulate your reasons for wishing to attract humanities professors to com- puters. We all know that there are good reasons indeed, but what do you plan to do with these electronic innocents once you have enticed them to the micros? The answer to that question could help prompt additional suggestions to your request. Daniel Uchitelle Modern Language Association From: D.R.Thornton@DURHAM.AC.UK Subject: Communicating with Pennsylvania Date: Fri, 26 May 89 11:58:36 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 72 (147) Seeing Bob Kraft's message on his problems with communicating with JANET, made me wonder if he had tried to message me or indeed received a message from me. I've had tentative request from the coptic Nag Hammaddi library and was asking Bob for details on how much and how to aquire it. Sorry to use Humanist like this - but we would both see these messages - and we could find out if there is a problem. Dave Thornton University of Durham Computer Centre UK D.R.Thornton @ UK.AC.DURHAM ¤Janet‡ D.R.Thornton @ DURHAM.AC.UK ¤Bitnet‡ From: Willard McCarty Subject: sporadic Humanist Date: 27 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 73 (148) During the summer school and conference (29 May to 16 June), Humanist may not appear as regularly as it normally does. I will try my best -- so please keep the contributions coming -- but I cannot predict how much time or energy I will have for the usual things during this unusual time. For those of you coming to Toronto, a weather report. The sun is shining, the temperature is about 22 degrees C. or so, and there's a gusty wind blowing. It could rain, and in fact rain has been predicted. Sudden changes are possible this time of year. By the time you arrive it could be much warmer, and if so the humidity would be high as well. Other handy information for those coming from a distance. This is an expensive city, so be prepared. At the airport you can take a taxi ($25-30 at least), but the bus to the Chelsea Inn is much cheaper (ca. $8). From the Chelsea to the university residences and the hotels is a short distance by taxi and will likely cost about $4-5. Cheapest of all is the bus to the Islington subway station ($4.50?), then the subway ($1.10) to the St. George or Bay Street stop, both of which are near the residences and hotels. The university's Conference Centre will be open on Sunday, 4 June, and we are arranging to have a person there to help direct those who do not know the city. I will post a notice here giving the exact street address and hours of the Centre. Willard McCarty From: "Michael E. Walsh" Subject: Re: 3.66 e-mysteries? Date: Mon, 29 May 89 07:41:56 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 119 (149) Robert Kraft says: Any ideas from the experts out there? CLAUSS!zedat!#fu-berlin%dbp&de I don't recall ever having seen anything quite like it. This originates from the Federal Republic of Germany. I think the best people to provide an explanation for the form are at DFN in Berlin. I have copied this to them and will post any replies. regards.. Michael. From: Subject: Re: 3.64 queries (106) Date: Tue, 30 May 89 07:51:07 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 120 (150) Aronson has asked for info on research on the Nazi party in Catholic areas of Germany. Since others might be interested in the subject, I'll reply to the list in general. Johnpeter Grill published a book with the University of North Carolina Press in 1982 (more or less) on the Nazi party in Baden. It included an analysis of the socio-economic origins of the party's membership. **************************************************************************** *Donald J. Mabry, Professor, History, Mississippi State University DJMABRY@MSSTATE Mississippi State, MS 39762 (601) 325-7084 Research: Mexico Latin America Origins of Rock'n'Roll *"There is no present, only a past and a future"...Xicholco (7AD) From: bobh@phoenix (Robert Hollander) Subject: Re: 3.59 contacts in Perth, Australia? (16) Date: Mon, 29 May 89 19:07:16 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 121 (151) John Scott, chmn. Italian. He has an e-mail address, but I've not it handy. RH From: David Megginson Subject: Re: 3.64 queries (106) Date: Fri, 26 May 89 19:29:10 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 122 (152) Perhaps the extreme conservatism in Bavaria today should give us a clue to attitudes in the 1930's. How long a sentence did that doctor receive for performing abortions? From: db Subject: Re: 3.54 more on the Tour (92) Date: Tue, 30 May 89 00:47:54 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 123 (153) I love the Oxford Market. For those of a kosher disposition who happen to be spending time in Oxford, it is also a great place to buy fresh fish. From: "Eric Johnson DSC, Madison, SD 57042" Subject: Conference Date: Tue, 30 May 89 10:14:34 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 124 (154) Fourth International Conference on Symbolic and Logical Computing October 5-6, 1989 Madison, SD 57042 U.S.A. The Fourth International Conference on Symbolic and Logical Computing is designed for teachers, scholars, and programmers who want to meet to exchange ideas about non-numeric computing. In addition to a focus on SNOBOL4, SPITBOL, and Icon, the Conference will feature presentations on other dangerously powerful computer languages such as Prolog, LISP, and C. KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Gene Amdahl, principal architect of the IBM 360, founder of Amdahl Corporation, Trilogy, Ltd, and Andor Systems. FEATURED SPEAKERS: Ralph Griswold, one of the creators of SNOBOL4 and the Icon Programming language. James Noblitt, linguist and creator of award- winning software. SCHEDULED TOPICS: Machine Translation, Object Oriented Programming, Expert Systems, Text Generation, Natural Language Processing, Instructional Games, Indexing, Computer-Generated Documents, Computer Code Generators, Processing Texts, Multilingual Word Processing, Text Search Strategies, Plagiarism Detection in Computer Programs, Programming in SNOBOL4, SPITBOL, Icon, Prolog, and C. For more information and registration forms, contact Eric Johnson, 114 Beadle Hall, Dakota State College, Madison, SD 57042 U.S.A. Phone: (605) 256-5270 BITNET address: ERIC@SDNET From: Willard McCarty Subject: update on conference services Date: 30 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 125 (155) For those arriving for The Dynamic Text conference next week: help can be obtained from Conference Services, Sidney Smith Hall Lobby, 100 St. George Street, from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., 7 days/week, (416) 978-8735. They are very well equipped and quite easy to find. I recommend that you pick up a copy of the Toronto Transit Commission's "Ride Guide", which is a useful street-map of the city as well as a guide to the transit system. See you soon. Willard McCarty From: Ellen Germain Subject: micro applications for scholarly research Date: Tue, 30 May 89 16:32:02 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 126 (156) First, my thanks to everyone who has responded to my request for micro applications for scholarly research. I'm also passing the responses on to the person in my dept. who originally asked me about this. [deleted quotation] I think part of the problem (and the reason my question was rather broad and vague) is that no one here really knows what to do with humanities professors once they've been persuaded to use micros. There's a feeling that they *should* be lured towards computers, but there's no direction about what to do next. There's a general feeling that email will be a big attraction once people get started with it; also being able to exchange documents is a big draw. Beyond that, there is general blankness. Bibliographic databases are already available here, and undoubtedly need to be advertised and touted more. Databases of information such as the Medieval and Early Modern DB are very useful, but not enough exist, and professors don't know about them. In the course of trying to figure out what to do with humanities profs and computers, the question "What do humanities scholars do?" was posed to me by a colleague here at the Computer Center. I'm both a systems programmer and a graduate student in the English Department (medieval literature, esp. Arthurian romance), and I sat down and thought about it. I read a lot. I read primary texts, then I read secondary texts, and then I think about the subject, trying to come up with new insights/interpretations/whatever. I do a lot of research. Unlike a scientist, I don't need a computer on which to model things, to analyze large amounts of data, or to control my experiments. (I know, some literary scholars do more quantitative work using programs such as WordCruncher). But I basically use a computer for word-processing and communicating with colleagues. I use online bibliographies, and would love to use other DBs, but it seems that there aren't many. It almost seems that until a critical mass of information has been put online in a format that everyone can access and use, computers can't help me do my research except insofar as word-processing programs help me organize and revise my writing more easily. (And I'm not putting down WP at all -- I can't imagine using a typewriter any more!) I try to push humanities computing in the computer center, and computers in the English Dept., but most of the applications are instructional, not research oriented. There are many opportunites for computers on the instructional side, but I feel there's a certain dearth as far as helping with scholarly research; and that that may be because there really isn't much more computers *can* do to help at this point. What does anyone else think? Ellen J. Germain Columbia University Bitnet: EJGCU@CUVMB Internet: ejgcu@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu ellen@cunixc.cc.columbia.edu From: elli@harvunxw.BITNET (Elli Mylonas) Subject: What is Perseus Date: Tue, 30 May 89 10:37:37 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 127 (157) This is a *very* short note to correct a misunderstanding that was expressed in Ellen Germain's note of Wed, May 24. As one of those who are intimately involved in the design, care and nurturance of the Perseus Project, I would like to say that Perseus is not just an instructional program, but rather is modeled on the library. It will contain primarily well structured data, and also ways to navigate throught it intelligently. It is *not* instructional software that is predestined for any one particular use. Our goal is to create an environment for studying Classical Greek Civilization that will be useful not only to the student but to the scholar, and in which readers, instructors and researchers can make create their own trails and annotations. So, Perseus is not only a research tool, but one that may be used to show students what research is all about. Another goal of Perseus is to bring closer together the software that is used for teaching and research, since those two activities are often two sides of the same coin. --Elli Mylonas, Managing Editor, Perseus Project From: db Subject: Re: 3.63 various answers and comments (95) Date: Tue, 30 May 89 00:53:24 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 128 (158) I would like more info on hypertext version of Piers Plowman. Does it work on a PC? From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: The Final Inch Date: Tue, 30 May 89 10:50:56 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 129 (159) I'd appreciate help in identifying the origin of the following passage, provisionally identified under either the title "The Final Inch" or "The Rule of the Final Inch." I thank you, as does our athletic department, which is seeking to attribute this item to its proper author. THE FINAL INCH And now listen: The Rule of the Final Inch. The work has been almost completed, the goal almost attained--but the quality of the thing is not quite right. In that moment of fatigue and self-satisfaction it is especially tempting to leave the work without having attained the apex of quality. In fact, the Rule of the Final Inch consists in this: not to shirk this critical work, not to postpone it, and not to mind the time spent on it, knowing that one's purpose lies not in completing things faster but in the attainment of perfection. Major achievement in any field cannot be acocmplished without discipline, without pain, without self-denial. having the courage to make choices and abide by them, not to allow them to reign over us. The ability to say NO to ourselves today for the sake of a better tomorrow, the capacity to postpone present gratification for future fulfillment. From: Don Fowler Subject: RE: 3.64 queries (106) Date: Mon, 29 May 89 17:28 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 130 (160) I'm not sure if Willard wanted replies on marble etc to be public or private, but he can always intercept this: on marble at any rate see Nisbet - Hubbard on Horace Odes 1.19.6 and McKeown on Ovid Amores 1.7.51-2. Nothing so good on ivory, but Vergil Aeneid 12.68 with Satius Achilleid 1. 308 and Lyne `Lavinia's Blush' in Further Voices in Vergil's Aeneid is instructive. One of the email oddities for me is that I often get the reply to a question before the query itself. But don't change this even if you can: it's the cheapest hypertext system going! Don Fowler (DPF@uk.ac.ox.vax) From: O MH KATA MHXANHN Subject: marble and ivory Date: Thu, 25 May 89 09:53 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 131 (161) Apart from the obvious sources -- commentaries on the poetry of Ovid and Pease's commentary on book 4 of the Aeneid --, which I will assume you have already pilfered, I would suggest, if you do not know of it already, Viktor Poschl, Bibliographie zur antiken Bildersprache. Al- though it was published in 1964, there are some "leads" in there. I note sets of references under both "Elfenbein" and "Marmor". As I contemplate this further, I find it easy to anger over the fact that L'annee philologique is not yet available in a digitized form. How much that would help you in this instance, and me in so many others! W. McCarthy, in virtuality From: "Patrick W. Conner" Subject: Ivory cheekpiece Date: Thu, 25 May 89 12:48:56 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 132 (162) My favorite extended simile in the Iliad is at the moment which Pandareus ends the single combat between Menelaos & Paris by wounding the former. The blood against the skin is described as purple against a carved ivory cheekpiece in a horse's bridle. If I look it up, I'll have to give you a reference from Lattimore, because I don't read Greek, but I suspect that you'll remember it and have no trouble finding it in your edition, if it's a useful point of comparison for you. --Pat From: Gunhild Viden Subject: Re marble and ivory (3.64) Date: 26 May 89 15:01:32 EDT (Fri) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 133 (163) I am not sure that you are not overinterpreting the passage in Ovid. To me it seems to be a matter of variatio sermonis: Pario marmore - eburnea - niveo candore. Or why should Narcissus' neck be more sexy than the rest of his body? However, if you do not believe me I suggest that you check with the instances given in Thesaurus Linguae Latinae -- I guess you have not thrown out your paper editions as yet! Gunhild From: Willard McCarty Subject: Dynamic Text conference bulletin Date: 31 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 134 (164) Current registration stands at about 360 people from 16 countries. About 145 are from the United States, 130 from Canada, about 75 from Europe, and the rest from Israel, Japan, China, and Australia. For those unable to attend the conference for more than a day, a one-day registration fee of $85 has been set. This includes all conference books and materials. It is also possible to acquire a pass only to the sessions and to the software and hardware fair, Tools for Humanists, at a still lower cost. Tools for Humanists now has a total of 77 scheduled demonstrations by 61 people on 39 workstations. Since the resulting schedule is wonderfully complex, attendees should take the opportunity to study it as early as possible so that they can plan their movements accordingly. Final schedules for both the conference and the fair will be included in the registration packets. The weather has turned warm and muggy with occasional rain. Anything could happen, although snow is unlikely and a continuation of the present conditions very likely. Ian Lancashire Willard McCarty From: "DAVID CHISHOLM, GERMAN DEPT., (602) Subject: Share taxi from airport June 5 Date: Sun, 28 May 89 23:55 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 135 (165) I will arrive at the Toronto airport on June 5 at 19:45 (United Airlines from Chicago). If at least two arrivees wish to share a taxi to the university residences, it would presumably cost us no more than $10. each, instead of $30. Anyone interested? Cordially, David Chisholm From: Lloyd Gerson 926-1300 ex. 3374 GERSON at UTOREPAS Subject: Date: 31 May 1989, 15:14:37 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 136 (166) subject: Antoine Arnauld A colleague asks if anyone knows of the existence of the works of the philosopher Antoine Arnauld in electronically readable form. From: Lloyd Gerson 926-1300 ex. 3374 GERSON at UTOREPAS Subject: Date: 31 May 1989, 15:24:23 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 137 (167) subject: Benedict Spinoza A colleague asks if anyone knows of the existence of all or parts of the works of Benedict Spinoza in electronically readable form. Many thanks. From: Peter D. Junger Subject: Kitty O'Shea and all that Date: Wed, 31 May 89 16:32 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 138 (168) Cheryl Lewis, a librarian here who is working on an advanced degree in history, is writing a paper on Charles Stewart Parnell and the Irish Home Rule movement. I am cross-posting (to HUMANIST and to HISTORY) this message at her request. On December 24, 1899, Parnell was named as a correspondent in a divorce case. The petition for divorce was filed by a Captain William O'Shea against his estranged wife Katherine O'Shea, who had been Parnell's lover for many years. The court returned a verdict against Parnell on November 17, 1890. As a result, he had to resign as leader of the Home Rule Party. If it is possible, I would appreciate any pointers to reports of the divorce and of Parnell's subsequent downfall that may have appeared in any Irish domestic publications (e.g., newspapers) around that time. I understand that Ms. Lewis would be especially interested in locating any transcripts (or less formal reports) of the testimony given at the trial. Peter D. Junger--CWRU Law School--Cleveland, OH--bitnet: JUNGER@CWRU From: "M. R. Sperberg-McQueen " Subject: Style checkers for German Date: 31 May 1989 17:50:35 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 139 (169) I've read with interest the reports on style checkers for English. Does anyone know about ones that have been developed for German? (It occurs to me that, in general, style checkers developed by Germans, the French, Spaniards, etc. for their own languages might be useful tools in advanced foreign language composition classes.) From: "M. R. Sperberg-McQueen " Subject: How long a sentence...for performing abortions Date: 31 May 1989 17:27:47 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 140 (170) I'm coming in late on this discussion; I think the question as to "how long a sentence did that doctor receive for performing abortions" was a rhetorical one, and simply intended as a comment on the continuing conservatism of Bavaria. But, for the record, Horst Theissen was sentenced by a court in Memmingen (Bavaria) to 2 and 1/2 years imprisonment; his license to practice medicine has been suspended for 3 years. Additionally, the women who obtained abortions from him were fined up to DM 3000--and were publicly identified when called as witnesses at his trial. (Ironically, one of the judges of the court had to be disqualified, as he'd helped a woman friend obtain an abortion.) There's a very critical, front page article on the sentence in the Die Zeit of May 19--where, it should perhaps be noted for the context of this discussion, the author sees the division of liberal vs. conservative on this particular issue as a north German vs. south German one, rather than one that splits Bavaria from all the rest of Germany. Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg are both predominately Catholic, whereas much of the north of Germany, with notable exceptions such as Cologne, are Protestant. From: "M. R. Sperberg-McQueen " Subject: "The final inch"--source Date: 31 May 1989 16:32:28 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 141 (171) The passage is from chapter 24 of Solzhenitsyn's The First Circle. From: David Megginson Subject: Re: 3.76 scholarly microcomputing (110) Date: Wed, 31 May 89 07:03:09 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 142 (172) In response to Ellen Germain's discussion on professors and micro- computers, I would like to make a caution. The folk wisdom which goes 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' applies especially to moving tasks over onto a computer. Many businesses buy computers just for the sake of buying them, then spend thousands or tens of thousands more trying to figure out what to do with them. Personally, I love word-processors, but I nearly always write my first draft by hand, even when I am writing a computer program! Small databases like book indexes or recipe files may fit more naturally in a card file than in a complex computer database -- despite over 10 years of computer experience, I am keeping the bibliography for my Ph.D. on index cards. The basic rule is as follows: If you will spend more time figuring out how to use computer programs than you save using them, go back to your old habits. David Megginson From: Willard McCarty Subject: professors and computers Date: 31 May 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 143 (173) There are, I suppose, several possible reasons for the pushing of professors into using computers, and for the sluggishness of their response. Those of us with experience know that some tasks are better done with a machine than without, but perhaps we also know that the real issue isn't "productivity", because the computer does not so much save labour as transform it. Those of us who are pleased with this transformation want to share our enthusiasms, being culturally evangelical as well as tending to be reassured by the similar actions of others. Joy, as well as misery, loves company, and certain anxieties are soothed by it. We are frustrated by the sluggishness I mentioned also because our common concerns will be furthered by greater numbers of participants, the money they bring, and so forth. Perhaps the sluggish responders may be excused not because they are technophobes or are possessed by tenured somnolence but because they are not getting answers from us to important questions. Are we capable of presenting the case for the scholarly use of computers to those who are utterly uncommitted? Preaching to the converted is enjoyable, but it doesn't require as much of many things as being an apostle to the heathen. One essential function of services such as Humanist, it seems to me, is to provide the forum where all us doctors of the church can debate amongst ourselves about fundamental matters, so that when we are asked the what-is-the-meaning-of-life questions we will have some convincing answers. On the other hand, an interesting cause of sluggishness may also be the challenge that computers give us to understand in a precise way what it is that we do, or more accurately, to see what happens when the algorithmic mind attempts to analyze our methodologies. There are many reasons why someone would not want to face such a challenge. So, perhaps the best way to get professors to use computers is to understand much better what it is that we are professing, or want to profess. Willard McCarty From: Donald Spaeth (0532) 33 3573 Subject: Micro applications for scholars Date: Wed, 31 May 89 10:04:08 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 144 (174) I read Ellen Germain's query with interest since I'm paid to attempt to answer it! It is no longer difficult to convince lecturers of the benefits of word-processing. More problematic is answering the question, "where do I go next?". As other respondents have suggested, there is no one answer to this question. But the application likely to be of benefit to most humanists is the textbase, of which Wordcruncher is perhaps the best known, because it comes closest to the "tool" which we all use already, namely the cardbox/file. One further advantage of a textbase is that it requires very little advance preparation to be useful and is easy to use. Texts can be indexed with no markup at all if all that is required is quick direct access to voluminous material. For demonstration purposes, this means that you can quickly demonstrate the benefits of a textbase with the user's own word-processed document. The textbase is not a revolutionary application, in that enables researchers simply to replicate their current research techniques on computer. But that makes it especially likely to be attractive to humanists looking for applications beyond the word-processor. Nor does it exhaust the range of applications of use. But, as with the textbase, lecturers are most likely to benefit from the imaginative use as research tools of applications written for other markets. Donald Spaeth Arts Computing Development Officer University of Leeds email: from Bitnet: d.a.spaeth at cms1.leeds.ac.uk from Janet: d.a.spaeth at uk.ac.leeds.cms1 From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.76 scholarly microcomputing (110) Date: Wed, 31 May 89 12:41:43 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 145 (175) We are on the very edge of the massive use of computers in humanities scholarship. For people interested primarily in texts the big stumbling block right now is the lack of primary materials in machine-readable form. Where such materials have become available, they have caused a revolution in the way scholars work in the discipline. The primary example is the TLG. Having these materials available does not change the sorts of things scholars want to do. It will not convert everyone into stylometricians (stylomeretricians?), but it will allow them to explore hunches, to follow up leads that would have been literally impossible before. Take Willard's question about ivory and marble in classical Latin poetry. If we had a machine-readable corpus of Latin texts that question could be solved in an hour. Without such a corpus it becomes an enormously tedious and time-consuming exercise with, ultimately, less than satisfactory results. Besides the texts we also need suitable tools for text analysis. These include not only the standard sorts of searching tools (boolean and contextual) but also thesauri. To take up Willard's problem again, one would like to be able to search on a semantic field which includes the concepts of ivory and marble, regardless of the specific words used to convey those concepts. That is why the text-encoding initiative is so important, so that search software can be standardized in terms of the SGML tags. In this sense I disagree with Bob Kraft. I don't think that the humanities scholar should have to become a computing specialist to do this kind of work, any more than he has had one in order to use a computer for word processing. Charles Faulhaber From: Joe Giampapa Subject: protest against "look and feel" copyright Date: Tue, 30 May 89 20:41 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 83 (176) [excerpted from the CPSR/Boston June '89 newsletter] Programmers and Users Picket Lotus CAMBRIDGE, MA, May 24, 1989 # Chanting anti-litigation slogans, a group of almost 200 computer-science professors and students, software developers, and users, under the League for Programming Freedom banner, picketed Lotus Development Corporation headquarters here today. The demonstration was called to protest lawsuits by Lotus, Apple, and Ashton-Tate, which "threaten to kill the growth of the software industry by trying to create a new kind of legal monopoly: copyright on the `look and feel' of user interfaces," said protest organizer Richard Stallman, a legendary computer hacker and developer of EMACS, a widely used and imitated programming editor. Marching from MIT to Lotus, the group chanted, "Put your lawyers in their place; no one owns the interface;" "Hey, hey, ho, ho, software tyranny has got to go;" and "1-2-3-4, toss the lawyers out the door; 5-6-7-8, innovate don't litigate; 9-A-B-C, 1-2-3 is not for me; D-E-F-O, look and feel have got to go" " the first hexadecimal protest chant " and carried protest signs: "Don't make me wear your suit!" (showing a person in a straightjacket), "Drop the suit, we've got you surrounded," "Creative companies don't need to sue," and #Oh no! Look and feel copyright!" accompanied by a reproduction of the painting, "The Scream," by Muench). The group also distributed leaflets to Lotus employees and others, urging them to boycott products from Lotus, Apple, and Ashton-Tate and refuse to work for these companies. The demonstration was backed by three prominent MIT computer scientists: AI Lab founder Marvin Minsky, AI Lab head Patrick Winston, and professor of electrical engineering Gerald J. Sussman; Stallman, and Guy Steele, author of the book Common Lisp, the standard for the Lisp language, and co-author of C, A Reference Manual. Also present at the demonstration was Bryan Kocher, President of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), a professional organization of computer scientists and programmers. The protests were directed against Lotus, which has sued Paperback Software and Mosiac [sic - does anyone know for sure whether it's really Mosaic?]; Apple Computer, which has sued Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard; and Ashton-Tate, which has sued Fox Software and is extending its claims to a computer programming language, Dbase. According to Stallman, "If these companies are permitted to make law through the courts, the precedent will hobble the software industry. Software will become more expensive. Users will be `locked in' to proprietary interfaces for which there is no real competition, or be encumbered with incompatible new interfaces." Stallman said the League for Programming Freedom is developing a national organization and is looking for volunteer officers. It also plans future protests and lobbying efforts. For further information, write: Richard Stallman, League for Programming Freedom, 545 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA 02139. From: Chanie Luz Subject: LaTeX Fonts Date: Thu, 1 Jun 89 16:00:36 +0200 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 146 (177) If anyone can help me with the following, I would be very grateful. I have LaTeX ruuning on the VAX (UNIX), an ln03 Lazer printer (Postscript). The printer has lots of fonts, and i want to print a paper using one of them - Times-Roman. How can i access the fonts using LaTeX ? for replies - chanie@bimacs.bitnet From: "Wayne Tosh / English--SCSU / St Cloud, MN 56301" Subject: E-mail address query Date: Thu, 1 Jun 89 14:30:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 147 (178) Does anyone have any e-mail addresses for anyone at Jackson State University (Mississippi), preferably in the Department of English and Foreign Languages? Thanks. Wayne Tosh St. Cloud State Universiy WAYNE@MSUS1.bitnet From: Leslie Burkholder Subject: Re: Arnauld, Spinoza Date: Thu, 1 Jun 89 13:29:27 -0400 (EDT) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 85 (179) I am replying on behalf of the American Philosophical Association's subcommittee on electronic texts. Is Arnauld available in machine-readable form? The following items are available from ARTFL Project, Dept Romance Langs and Lits, Univ Chicago Chicago IL 60637. ARNAULD, A. 1643. De la Frequente Communion. Paris, A. Vi- tre, 1643. [FrCom] ARNAULD, A. et C. LANCELOT. 1660. Grammaire Gen. et Raison- nee. Paris, P. le Petit, 1660. [GraGR] ARNAULD, A. et P. NICOLE. 1662. La Logique ou L'Art de Penser. Paris, Ch. Savreux, 1662. [LogAP] Is Spinoza available in machine-readable form? 1 Philosopher: Baruch Spinoza 2 Work: Tractatus de intellectus emendatione, in Latin 3 Format: ? 4 From whom to obtain on line text: Ist di Linguistica Computazionale, U of Pisa, via della faggiola, Pisa I-56100 Italy 5 LB's contact: Leslie Burkholder From: Johnfox@RCN Subject: RESEARCH - THE WORKPLACE Date: Thu, 1 Jun 89 09:41:47 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 86 (180) My present research interest is the work-place or place of employment as a social and fraternal institution as well as an economic resource. All of my research has been limited to occupations and crafts which were prevalent in New England through the late 1960s. Much of my research has been conducted through oral interviews. In a period of 10 years I have acquired a collection of about 100 interviews with workers and management personnel in the following occupations: railroads (some interviews are with men who were involved with the establishment of an airline by a railroad company), shoe manufacturing, game publishing, fishing, and leather manufacturing. In looking at these interviews as a unit, I have come to be aware that most of the retired and displaced workers tend to look to their past work experience as having been fulfilling. In interviews they stress how happy they were at their job, how rewarding it was, and how well the owners/management treated them. When they touched on times or events that seem to bring the perception into question, they usually found an explanation which did not modify or destroy their images. Most of the workers recognized that their job had had some undesirable elements about it. Yet, as they surveyed their working life, they came to the conclusion that the good outweighed the bad. If these perceptions were limited to one company or one occupation it might be easy to dismiss. But my interviews leads me to conclude that the perception is not unique nor an aberration. This view is strengthened by the fact that Tamara K. Hareven, in her work on the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, uncovered similar perceptions (Family Time and Industrial Time). What may really be unique about this perception, is that it seems at variance with the way workers today view their work experience. My research is not complete enough for me to draw more than tentative conclusions. On the surface, the dichotomy between my interviewees and current workers might be partly explained by the growth since the end of World War II of the impersonal corporation. Most of the interviewees worked in small factories or in occupations which put them in daily contact with the owner. Few changed places of employment or occupations unless forced to by factors outside of their control. For many, the workplace provided not only economic support, but fraternal and social relationships which gave substance and meaning to their lives. I would appreciate others who have or are conducting research in the work-place share their findings or suggestions regarding my research interest and hypothesis. Hopefully, my work will lead to a paper being presented at a professional conference. I will be glad to forward a copy of any papers I deliver to all who would like to receive one. Please send all replies to my e-mail address. JohnFox@taylor.Rcc.Rcn.edu From: Subject: 3.76,3.82 scholarly computing... Date: Thu, 1 Jun 89 09:44 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 148 (181) One major initiative in scholarly computing that HUMANISTs may not be familiar with is the very far reaching long range plan by the National Library of Medicine, a branch of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, Dept of Health & Human Services, Bethesda Maryland. There is a 7 volume description of the plan available for asking, which summarizes in very readable text thousands of expert-hours in laying out what access to the total global medical literature should look like over the next 25 years. Much of this is applicable to other areas, including long descriptions of Scholar's Workstations, AI, networking, knowledge representation for instant retrieval, even by the generic vs vendor name of drug (say, rock instead of marble), etc. I highly recommend this for reading. Associated with that is the IAIMS project, "Integrated Academic Information Management Systems", attempting to seed via grant money projects in actually using technology to bring data to decision-makers at all levels. Several sets of proceedings of this work are available: the program officer is Richard T. West. General inquiries can go to (301) 496-6308. The proceedings, as well as proceedings of American Association for Medical Systems & Informatics have hundreds of pages of reasoned discussion about technology transfer barriers to use of computing in academia/medicine, etc. Incidentally, I find almost exactly the same debate going on in CompuServe in the Medical Forum -- what does it take to get people to use computing, how do we teach students/faculty, what really works, etc? As a personal opinion addendum, I think the next big area for "computing" will be groupware that actually makes it easy for multiple authors, distributed geographically, to work on the same research/manuscript, including good ways to redline, annotate, include voice-mail messages (click here for comments) that convey the tones and emotions so relevant to achieve concensus on sensitive issues, etc. For those who want the info, the address and phone numbers are as follows: National Library of Medicine 8600 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20894 United States (301) 496-6308 General inquiries/publications (301) 496-6095 Reference Services From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Scholarly Research and Computers Again Date: Thursday, 1 June 1989 1005-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 149 (182) Charles Faulhaber thinks he disagrees with my argument that for the most effective use of computer capabilities in scholarly research, the scholar should have a general knowledge of how computers work and should have, or have access to, expertise that combines knowledge of what the humanities researcher needs with knowledge of what computers can do -- if I ever claimed that "the humanities scholar should have to become a computing specialist" in this context, that is not what I meant to say. I wanted to address the issue of appropriate "computer literacy" and appropriate resources for consulting. I will be surprised if Charles and I really disagree on these matters. His analogy of the use of word-processing is, for me, a case in point. Many scholars use "wordprocessing," but I have met very few who have any real idea of the power and capabilities available in the programs they use, much less of why one program might be better for them than another! Why? Partly because they can't be bothered to master the documentation, but that may be to a large extent because the documentation itself often assumes a level of "computer literacy" that is beyond the present experience of the user. Users who have some idea of what the computer is capable of doing usually can find a way to coerce their wordprocessors into doing much more (including "research" tasks) than other, less "literate" users can/do. And if the researcher knows how (or sits next to someone who knows how) to do even minor modification of source code, there are myriads of programs "out there" that can be tailored to specific research needs very easily, with amazingly effective results. Complaints about lack of appropriate software are sometimes more a problem of the potential user's ability to understand and adjust than of unavailability -- other times, admittedly, the software doesn't exist yet in appropriate forms (I doubt that Willard's question about ivory and marble in classical Latin poetry could be solved "in an hour" even if we had a complete Thesaurus Linguae Latinae CD-ROM and an IBYCUS Scholarly Computer running it; maybe in 3 or 4 hours, with luck; unless, of course, Charles meant an INDEXED TLL, with the right sorts of indices -- more than incidentally, even attempting to discuss this side issue intelligently requires knowledge about the technology [why IBYCUS at this point would be a better choice than IBM] and the software [how to work around the lack of an "and not" choice in IBYCUS searching; or why PANDORA on the Mac might have special advantages for this task], as well as the specific research needs [what sorts of indexing might be most useful for the task at hand]). As for David Megginson's plea not to fix what ain't broke, I don't disagree at one level, but in order to know what that level is, I would need to know how much time it would take to figure out how to do a task on a computer, and how many more times in my life I would want to do the same task. Since usually neither David nor I can answer that one without first trying, I would vote to put in the time moving to the computer approach, since in the long run it will almost certainly pay dividends -- especially when the potential user learns about the potential (and actual) usefulness of the technology. Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: Gerd Willee 0228 - 73 5620 UPK000 at DBNRHRZ1 Subject: Date: 1 June 89, 15:16:25 MEZ X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 88 (183) I've a similar problem as David Chisholm, as it has been distributed today in HUMANIST: How to come from the airport to the conference buildings for a modest fee. Therefore my similar call: Who will arrive on Sunday afternoon(July 4th) in Toronto airport, wishing to share a taxi to the conference buildings? I'll arrive at 16.40 (Lufthansa from Duesseldorf). Interested taxi sharers can address directly to UPK000 at DBNRHRZ1.Bitnet, I'll look in my mailbox on Saturday afternoon (local time) last try. Yours Gerd Willee. From: Willard McCarty Subject: Dynamic Text conference bulletin Date: 3 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 150 (184) For all of you who are planning to stay in the university residences, I recommend that you go first to Conference Services, 100 St. George Street, telephone: 978-8735. The staff there is well equipped to direct you to the right place, which may be difficult to find otherwise. Those who are demonstrating software will want to check in with me on Monday. The room is unlikely to be ready for you until the afternoon, however. The first half of Tuesday can also be used for setting up, but the conference begins on Tuesday morning with two very interesting addresses that you will not want to miss. During the conference I can always be summoned by a request made at the information desk. Again let me remind you that the airport buses (to the Royal York and to the Chelsea Inn) are an excellent means of getting from the airport to downtown Toronto. The Toronto Transit Commission's "Ride Guide", available at the hotels and likely in the airport, provides a serviceable map of the city, and it is free. One is included in each registration packet. The weather continues to be warm and slightly muggy. Rain is likely. Willard McCarty From: Subject: Transportation suggestion Date: Fri, 2 Jun 89 18:43 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 151 (185) How about carrying the Dynamic Text Conference booklet in hand, logo side out, at the airport to identify ourselves to one another as conference attendees who would like to share a taxi? Is anyone taking Air Canada's flight 709 out of NY at 13:03 on Monday the 5th? Estelle Irizarry (Irizarry@GUVAX) From: jonathan@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Jonathan Altman) Subject: Re: 3.86 research on the workplace (66) Date: Fri, 2 Jun 89 11:13:49 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 90 (186) [This direct reply to Fox's note is republished with permission, at least of the sender. --W.M.] In response to: [deleted quotation] How about the dichotomy between people still working and people who no longer work at a job anymore? Your two samples are not well correlated to each other. This would be furthered by your assertion that the difference could result in the change from small, personal companies to impersonal after World War II. I will cite one of your own sources: _Amoskeag_, by Tammy Hareven. Amoskeag was NOT a small mill, although I will allow that the control of the mill by one family (were they overseers? Unfortunately, my copy of Amoskeag was just moved home, and I'm at work) added a personal touch to a very large organization. Nonetheless, Amoskeag was not an intimate setting. I will also point out the film _Rosie the Riveter_ about women's work experience during World War II. Many of the women interviewed worked in very large installations (shipworks, for example) and nonetheless remembered their work experience very favorably. I think you need to examine the subject groups more closely. What is probably more important in the post-World War II era is unionization. It is doubtful that a US Steel worker has much affection for USS, but probably finds the United Steelworkers to have been a rewarding experience. I would look at the replacement of the corporate identification with union identification more closely. The only source I can cite in this is my own evaluation of the work I have done, although I draw the US Steel example from a videotape done by PBS in the early 1980's on the crisis in the Monongahela River area brought on by the collapse of many of the steel companies. What are the socio-economic constraints of your study, by the way? In looking after the World War II period, I would think you'd need to study the effect of rising expectations in terms of education that the G.I. bill brought about. The concept of "commuter colleges" and the increase in people obtaining post-secondary degrees probably has some effect. [deleted quotation] I hope my suggestions help. I always feel a little uncomfortable jumping into scholarly questions on Humanist, because that's not strictly my area of expertise. Your question, however, falls squarely into my area of greatest research and interest. I think that what you are proposing to study is more suited to spending a career evaluating (and I have thought of doing so myself, if I could convince myself to commit to academia). I think a book could be written on each of the issues I have brought up. [deleted quotation] I'd like to hear back from you on my suggestions. Jonathan Altman jonathan@eleazar.Dartmouth.edu Database Consultant jonathan.altman@Dartmouth.edu Dartmouth Dante Project From: D.Mealand@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: Textbase Searches Date: 02 Jun 89 10:55:00 bst X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 152 (187) Finding words or combinations of words in texts is something quite a lot of us do. We use different systems to do it, Ibycus for Greek, Wordcruncher, OCP, AskSam, Xyindex, FY whatever it is, Grep, or just a powerful editor like ECCE. Some of these are concordance programmes, some are classsified as text retrieval packages, others just simple search programmes or editors. We used some years ago to have here a document showing comparative search times for ECCE, Grep, Concord and OCP but these are now well out of date. It might be both interesting and useful to get some kind of bench mark for finding a pair of words in a one megabyte text using various of these software systems on different hardware. I have seen some reviews of some of these items (esp. in Bits and Bytes) but don't recollect ever seeing an attempt at a bench mark. The results might be revealing. I am most interested not in how efficiently the machine is being used, but how much of my or your precious time it takes. So how about some of us trying a simple test for the collocation within one line of two words of about 7 characters each in a text of about one megabyte on different machines with different software ? David Mealand (D.Mealand@uk.ac.Edinburgh) From: HUMM@PENNDRLS Subject: looking for the Quran Date: Friday, 2 June 1989 0941-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 153 (188) Does anyone know where I can obtain an electronic copy of the Quram (in Arabic)? I would also be interested to know if any has or is working on an electronic Arabic Bible. Alan Humm Religious Studies University of Pennsylvania From: hans@leif.mun.ca Subject: TRANSLATION/HYPERTEXT (for distribution) Date: 02 Jun 89 08:01 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 92 (189) I'm interested in Hypertext applications and am working on some Hypertext systems in the History of Biblical Interpretation. In my wider searches I corresponded with Alex Gross, who is interested in Hypertext for professional translators. He consented to have the following piece re-distributed on the HUMANIST. Maybe some people are interested in the same topic. He does not have a BITNET address but can be reached on CompuServe (71071,1520). His mailing address is: Cross-Cultural Research Projects, P.O. Box 660, Cooper Station, New York, NY 10276. Regards, HANS ROLLMANN (hans@mun.bitnet) -------------------------------------------------------- HYPERTEXT FOR TRANSLATORS: Overhype or Underhype? Now at last there may be a solution for all those translators concerned about being engulfed, devoured, and ultimately replaced by the computer. That solution involves a phenomenon loosely known as "HyperText." Instead of letting them lead you off to a workstation or terminal, you can use HyperText methods to build your own translator's workstation at home and learn more about how it works than your prospective bosses are likely to know. Anyone can do this who can run a word processor and has some notion of what a data base is. The cloud of hype and poor documentation surrounding HyperText is so thick that some are sure to be skeptical. So I intend to take three off-the-shelf HyperText systems without any further ado and show how to start using them to build useful and intriguing tools for translators. The three systems I will be describing are the much advertised IZE and Agenda and the less touted but equally capable HOUDINI and its cousin PC-Hypertext, though as we will see only the last is an example of true "HyperText.". [much deleted] -------------------- [A complete version of this description is now available on the file-server, s.v. HYPRTEXT TRANSLTR. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: stephen clark Subject: Cudworth on angels Date: Fri, 02 Jun 89 10:57:10 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 93 (190) Courtesy of Nicholas Coleman of Emmanuel, Cambridge: Cudworth True Intellectual History (1678) pp.777f: says that is a misconception to suppose that "thousands of .. incorporeal substances or spirits might dance together at once upon a needles point". He refutes by reference to Plotinus VI 9.6. And goes on: "And to conclude, though some who are far from Atheists, may make themselves merry with that conceit of thousands of spirits dancing at once upon a needles point and though the atheists may endeavour to rogue and ridicule all incorporeal substances in that manner; yet does this run upon a clear mistake of the hypothesis, and make nothing at all against it; for as much as and unextended substance is neither any parvitude as is here supposed (because it hath no magnitude at all) nor hath it any place or site or local mo tion, properly belonging to it; and therefore can neither dance upon a needles point nor any where else". So Cudworth's answer is not, as I had suggested, "infinitely many", but "none". From: walker@flash.bellcore.com (Donald E Walker) Subject: Conference on Dictionaries in the Electronic Age Date: Thu, 1 Jun 89 23:36:13 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 94 (191) DICTIONARIES IN THE ELECTRONIC AGE Fifth Annual Conference of the University of Waterloo Centre for the New OED Jointly presented by Oxford University Press Oxford University Computing Service University of Waterloo St. Catherine's College, Oxford, England -- 18-19 September 1989 (For associated workshops on Dictionary Assessment and Criticism and on Developing Lexical Resources, see below.) "The complete Oxford English Dictionary ... likely to be very manageable indeed when compressed into the electronic microstructure of a chip." - Christopher Evans, "The Mighty Micro", 1979 Once it had become clear that computers could be used in the composition, analysis, and transmission of written texts, it was a natural step to try to yoke them together with dictionaries, the most complex of texts both to compile and to analyse. Pioneering early efforts were made during the 1950s and 1960s, when storage was limited and data entry was by punched card. The first dictionaries actually compiled in the form of a computer database appeared in the late 1970s. By this time professional analysts of language such as linguists and computer scientists had begun to realize that the dictionary was a ready-made mine of language. If it could be electronically analysed they would be freed from much of the labour of collecting or introspecting linguistic patterns. During the 1980s a fruitful symbiosis has grown up between lexicography, computing, and linguistics. Increasingly, dictionaries are designed as computer databases and compiled with the assistance of textual corpora. The lexicographer's desk has been reinterpreted as a multi- functional workstation. Linguists are exploiting the full resources of machine-readable dictionaries in order to build comprehensive models of linguistic data. Computer scientists are able to take over the information network built into the dictionary as a kind of ready-made expert system. In 1984 the "Oxford English Dictionary" became the first large dictionary to be converted from printed format into a machine-readable database. In March this year the second edition of the OED was published, the offspring of a successful marriage of lexicography and computer technology. To mark this achievement this Fifth Annual Conference is being held at Oxford rather than at Waterloo. The publication of the new edition of the OED, together with the development, at the University of Waterloo Centre for the New OED, of programs for the rapid searching of large textual databases like the OED, and the appearance of a CD-ROM version of the first edition of the OED, are pointers towards the fulfilment of Evans's prediction. [Conference programme, fee schedule, etc. deleted] -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. NEW_OED CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Ian Lancashire Subject: Travel from Toronto airport downtown Date: Sat, 03 Jun 89 08:56:51 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 95 (192) If you aren't burdened by more luggage than you can carry, the best way to get into Toronto from the airport is by bus to the subway system, and then by subway downtown. Buses leave both terminals 1 and 2 to the ISLINGTON subway stop (on the Bloor street line) every 40 minutes. You buy a ticket ($4.50 Canadian) on the arrivals level before getting on. Terminal 1 is quite overcrowded. That is the reason we have not recommended it to you. But as long as you brave the surging crowds and know what you want to do, getting out of Terminal 1 isn't hard. Terminal 2 (Air Canada, Lufthansa, and other airlines) is more spacious and less congested. Once you arrive by bus at the ISLINGTON subway station (Bay no. 5), you proceed to the eastbound train. A ticket or token costs $1.10 Canadian (exact change NOT needed, but Canadian funds ARE needed). Travellers heading to the Park Plaza Hotel, the university residences, and the Westbury Hotel should do as follows: PARK PLAZA: get off at St. George Station (east door, Bedford Road) and walk one block east on Bloor St. to Avenue Road and Bloor St., where the hotel stands. UNIVERSITY RESIDENCES: get off at St. George Station (WEST door, St. George St., and walk about two and a half blocks south to 100 St. George St. (the conference centre, Sidney Smith Hall). Southwards, by the way, is towards the large CN Tower in the distance (left as you exit the Station). WESTBURY: get off at Yonge St. Station and transfer (no additional cost) to Yonge St. train going SOUTH. Proceed several stops to COLLEGE St. Station and exit on the east side of Yonge St., where the hotel stands. Total cost: $5.60. Total time (from departure from airport): 30 minutes to ISLINGTON Station, and another 35-50 minutes to your subway stop. Two kinds of taxis are available from the airport: limousines and ordinary cabs. I would take a cab and expect a fare of about $30-$35. There is also a bus to the Royal York Hotel (opposite the downtown central railway station). From here you would take a cab to your hotel or take the subway north to COLLEGE St. Station or to St. GEORGE St. Station (you have to transfer to the Bloor St. line to get to St. GEORGE). Have a speedy, comfortable, and safe trip. Bon voyage. From: unh!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: Date: Sun, 4 Jun 89 17:15:58 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 96 (193) Subject: Scholarly microcomputing Adding to Donald Spaeth's comments about word-processing, I'd like to point out some useful research just published in _CHum_ (23:2, April 1989) entitled: "Initial Effects of Word Processing on Writing Quality and Writing Anxiety of Freshman Writers" (Milton Teichman & Marilyn Poris). The experimental design looks solid. While T & P found that writing quality did not significantly improve, it was certainly not harmed by use of wp. Furthermore, students' attitude toward writing significantly improved, which may, according to the researchers, significantly improve their writing abilities over time. From my experience in teaching a translation course every other year, I concur. Regarding Charles Faulhaber's comment in the same "edition" of HUMANIST, I agree that we sorely need more machine-readable texts for the same reasons. In addition, we need more and better querying tools and literary computing strategies. And the more these become known to our as-yet-non-computing colleagues, the more likely it will be that they will try them out. I just returned from a worthwhile conference organized at the U. of Massachusetts/Amherst by Five Colleges, Inc., and found a general consensus from other CALL R & D colleagues that non-threatening forums (conferences, looking over a colleague's shoulder in an office, departmental meetings, faculty computing centers, etc.) need to be provided for said "ASNC" humanists to judge for themselves. But one of the primary motivations must be that they have a problem to solve that is best facilitated by some form of computing. --Joel D. Goldfield J_GOLDFI@UNHH.bitnet From: unh!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: Date: Sun, 4 Jun 89 16:38:18 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 97 (194) Subject: SHARE A TAXI ON JUNE 7th Following David Chisholm's example, I am inquiring if any late-arriving Humanists would like to share a taxi from the Toronto airport on June 7th after 12:30 p.m. (Air Canada from Boston). Please send a message directly to me at J_GOLDFI@UNHH.bitnet before the evening of June 6th. Cordially, Joel D. Goldfield From: jonathan@eleazar.Dartmouth.EDU (Jonathan Altman) Subject: Re: 3.91 textbase searches? Date: Sat, 3 Jun 89 11:46:10 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 98 (195) [In response to David Mealand's query about benchmarks for textbase searches] I just did a very quick benchmark on the Dante Project database. For details, here's the stats on our system. Computer is a VAX 11/785 running 4.3 Berkeley Unix with 16 MB of memory (before complaining that I'm using a minicomputer and you want workstation/PC comparisons, note that a VAXStation 3100 has more crunching power than our Vax, as might my mac SE/30 if it had enough memory). CPU load was low. Our software is BRS/Search. The files associated with the Dante Project database total 123 MB approx. The search was for "agostino" in the same sentence as "volonta." Search time was under 2 seconds (I couldn't stop my watch fast enough to get a better reading than that. Sorry.). Note that BRS/Search is a) a very large, expensive text-retrieval system (although it is available in a PC version which I have not seen) and b) designed to keep information in index and dictionary files, so that my search did not actually check the actual texts, but instead the dictionary files. Nonetheless, not bad. I should also note that I could also search for those two words next to each other, close (I can define "close") to each other, and in specific order, should I choose. Jonathan Altman jonathan@eleazar.Dartmouth.edu Database Consultant jonathan.altman@Dartmouth.edu Dartmouth Dante Project From: db Subject: Re: 3.93 Cudworth on dancing angels (31) Date: Sat, 3 Jun 89 15:10:20 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 154 (196) What is "parvitude"? From: Michel Pierssens Subject: dancing tables, raps, mediums etc. in British literature 1848-1920 Date: Sat, 03 Jun 89 15:38:31 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 155 (197) I'm preparing a book on deviant science and literature in England and France 18 48-1920. I'm looking for literary renditions of mediumnistic "seances" and the like in British literature. I'd welcome (and acknowledge) references -- especia lly in machine-readable corpora. Thanks! From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Lapping it Up Date: Sat, 03 Jun 89 21:13:57 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 156 (198) Here's an inquiry that's sure to generate many responses, so I invite HUMANISTS to write to me directly (if they prefer) rather than clog up the network (unless, of course, your reply is of general interest). I'm wondering whether anyone had experience with DOS-compatible laptop computers. I'd like to know which is most useful for a person working in the humanities. If it's not too much to ask, I'd like to know the reason for your preferences--ease of transport, keyboard, screen quality, suitability to use in a library, etcetera. I'm planning to use this primarily as a notetaking device but also, perhaps, in tandem with a scanner, as a word-processor, and for telecommunications. Thank you for your help! ENCOPE@LSUVM -- Kevin L. Cope. From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: E-mail to Oxford Date: Sat, 03 Jun 89 21:17:53 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 157 (199) I'm planning on a sabbatical stay in Oxford for a good part of the calendar year 1990 and am wondering whether it's possible for a non-Oxford associated scholar to get an account with an appropriate Oxford mainframe device. My purpose is to make use of e-mail. What is the application procedure? Are there any charges? Thank you. From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Abbreviating the Interaction Date: Sat, 03 Jun 89 21:20:30 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 158 (200) Do any of you telecomputing humanists know a way to shorten the interactive BITNET procedure? Is there any kind of zippy program to bypass typing TELL + ADDRESS before every single line? Thank you. From: NZ101@PHOENIX.CAMBRIDGE.AC.UK Subject: littleness Date: Mon, 5 Jun 89 16:39:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 159 (201) Parvitude is what magnitude isn't. From: unh!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: Date: Mon, 5 Jun 89 11:04:25 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 160 (202) Subject: Laptop experience & deserted airwaves In response to Kevin Cope's recent query, I've seen a number of laptops and own a Zenith 181. While these laptops easily become "lug-tops" when one adds the transformer, carrying case, diskettes, mouse, etc., they're quite handy for working in libraries and other locations where a "portable" just won't do. I usually do not use just the battery pack: it doesn't last long enough. However, it is important to keep it installed in case the AC power fails: they batteries take over automatically. Laptops are extremely annoying if you like to add all sorts of useful cards (interactive video, another video standard, overlay, etc.), and a hard disk weighs them down, but the latter is almost indispensable when dealing with long manuscripts and machine-readable texts. I will wait at least another year before trading mine in because of recent innovations in LCD color screen and disk drive technology: the prices will fall quickly. At present, it seems that a color screen with a 9" diagonal will set you back at least $1,500 over the monochrome one. Has anyone noticed that many people seem to have disappeared from Humanist to some distant location? I guess the interaction time is much shorter somewhere in Toronto.... See you all Wednesday! --Joel D. Goldfield From: "Robin C. Cover" Subject: RE: HUMM'S QUERY ARABIC BIBLE Date: Sun, 04 Jun 89 18:53:28 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 161 (203) The 1981 publication of the Centre: Informatique et Bible (PIB) lists a machine-readable version of the four Gospels, digitized from a manuscript dating to 897 C.E (Manuscript Sinai Arabe 72). This may be the same text referred to in the Oxford snapshot. The Arabic text is said be be dependent upon "Greek," but no further details about textual (af)filiation are given. Maredsous can no doubt supply more information Robin C. Cover zrcc1001@smuvm1.BITNET 3909 Swiss Avenue convex!txsil!robin.UUCP Dallas, TX 75204 killer!dtseap!robin.UUCP 214/296-1783(h), 824-3094(w) killer!utafll!robin.UUCP ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- From: daniel boyarin Subject: dislexic theologian Date: Mon, 05 Jun 89 08:18:31 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 162 (204) I want to know if humanists have heard of the <{dislexic theologian who spent his life looking for the meaning of dog? From: Ruth Bamberger Subject: Norway & environmental studies Date: Tue, 06 Jun 89 14:48:58 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 163 (205) I will be traveling to Norway on June 11, staying in Oslo June 12-14, and then traveling through Norway until June 23. I am interested in meeting with social scientists with research interests in environmental issues (solid waste management, acid rain/deforestation, water quality control, etc.) If Humanist readers can suggest contacts in Norway -- or wish to volunteer to meet with me there -- please contact me as soon as possible. Thanks in advance, Dr. Ruth Bamberger Professor of Political Science Drury College Springfield, MO 65802 USA (417) 865-8731 From: Ronen Shapira Subject: Date: Wed, 07 Jun 89 00:54:39 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 164 (206) I know this is not the right forum, but i'll appreciate if the chinese members of "humanist" will conact me and send me information about what is going on there. thanks. From: Michel Pierssens Subject: Repression in China Date: Mon, 05 Jun 89 18:20:29 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 165 (207) A petition initiated in the Department of Literary Studies at Universite du Que bec a Montreal is presently being circulated for signature by all those interes ted in showing some solidarity to fellow students and professors in Beijing. He re is how it reads: "Le gouvernement chinois vient de declarer la guerre a ses intellectuels, a ses etudiants et a leurs professeurs. Pour que cesse le massac re, nous, professeurs et etudiants de l'Universite du Quebec a Montreal, nous v oulons aujourd'hui manifester notre solidarite avec tous ceux que frappe la rep ression. Nous exigeons egalement du gouvernement canadien des actes immediats p our faire pression sur le gouvernement chinois de la maniere la plus energique. " It is addressed to the Right Honourable Joe Clark, Secretary of State for Ext ernal Affairs, Commons, East Building, room 165, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6. Sign atures are welcome and dissemination of translations and adaptations of the pet ition is encouraged. From: Alan Bundy Subject: Postdoc Position in Theorem Proving at Edinburgh Date: Tue, 6 Jun 89 16:27:37 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 166 (208) Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Edinburgh RESEARCH FELLOW (Mathematical Reasoning) Applications are invited for an SERC supported post, tenable from 1st November 1989, or on a mutually agreed date. Appointment will be to September 30th 1991, initially, but with a possibility of renewal. The research is to develop proof plans, a technique for guiding the search for a proof in automatic theorem proving. The main application is to the automatic synthesis, verification and transformation of logic programs using constructive logic. The project is led by Professor Alan Bundy and Dr Alan Smaill. Candidates should possess a PhD or have equivalent research or industrial experience. Knowledge of logic is essential and knowledge of artificial intelligence, formal methods in software engineering or logic programming would be an advantage. Salary is on the AR1A scale in the range 9,865-15,720 pounds p.a., according to age, qualifications and experience. Applicants should send a CV and the names of two referees to: Prof. Alan Bundy. Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh, 80 South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1HN. as soon as possible. The closing date for applications is 17th July 1989. Further details may be obtained from Prof. Bundy (at the above address or email to bundy@uk.ac.edinburgh or bundy@rutgers.edu) quoting reference number 5678/E. From: Subject: Urdu Scribes Strike... Date: Mon, 5 Jun 89 09:08:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 103 (209) *Urdu Scribes Strike at India Newspapers* (By Barbara Crossette, NY Times, Sunday, June 4, 1989) NEW DELHI, June 3 -- Several dozen calligraphers went on strike last week along India's newspaper row, reminding the Asian publishing world that there is still one language that has eluded the typesetter: Urdu. Although experimental computer typesetting is being studied here and in Pakistan, where Urdu is the national language, newspapers in both countries still rely on accomplished scribes called katibs to handwrite the news with artists' pens. Urdu, similar to spoken Hindi but written in an Arabic-based Persian script, is considered the literary language of the continent's Muslims, many of whom migrated from India to Pakistan at the partition of British India in 1947. Urdu remains a minority language in both countries, how- ever, passionately defended by poets and storytellers. Newspapers, magazines and books in Urdu, an Indo-Aryan tongue that did not take on distinct written form until as late as the 17th century, are read from back to front and right to left, unlike the Sanskrit-based languages of the region, which also belong to a larger Indo-European family. In Delhi, no more than a handful of Urdu newspapers survive. The katibs at the Daily Pratap could count only eight today. Many of the capital's Muslims are concentrated in the old city nearby, a Mogul town before the British came. Perched on wooden platforms in dingy back rooms, the katibs -- some of them trained in the purest Urdu in schools named for the traditional in- tellectual centers of Lahore or Lucknow -- turn out their handwritten news columns at the rate of about 10 inches an hour. The "type" then goes straight to photocomposition. Mohammed Ikram, a 51-year-old katib at the Daily Pratap, said the calligraphers earn only $30 to $50 a month for long days in uncomfortable surroundings. He is among those who took part in a protest march on May 26 to demand a journalist's basic wage of $35 to $70. "Since 1968, when the court classified us as journalists, we have been cheated by the proprietors," Mr. Ikram said. From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Appreciations/Laptops/Speedmail Date: Wed, 07 Jun 89 10:09:06 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 167 (210) Owing to the large number of kindresponses that I received, I'd like to extend a general appreciation to all those HUMANISTS who offered suggestions concerning interactive BITNET and laptops computers. One HUMANIST asked me to summarize the results of my laptops inquiry. The most strongly recommended model was the evidently underappreciated DATAVUE SPARK (available from DATAVUE at 405-564-555 owing to its excellent screen, abundant standard features, economy, and a host of other virtues. The next most highly praised device was the TOSHIBA T3100, second only owing to its lack of battery support. Other models drawing praise were the Tandy 100 (good, but short on memory) and the Zenith 181. Again, thanks for all your help. And special thanks to Natalie Maynor for her kind words concerning my style as a grammoteer. From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Re: [3.100 parvitude; laptops; Koran (74)] Date: Wed, 7 Jun 89 10:22:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 168 (211) If the laptop is only or primarily for data capture, why insist on DOS? I use a Z88, very cheap and *quiet enough to use in a library*, then download to another machine. In its pricerange, I do think it very impressive machine. Douglas de Lacey From: John Lavagnino Subject: Electronic publishing in the TLS Date: Wed, 7 Jun 89 12:40 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 105 (212) Our area of interest is mentioned briefly in a recent article about the state of academic publishing: John Sutherland, ``The making of codices and careers,'' *Times Literary Supplement*, number 4495, May 26--June 1, 1989, pages 580 and 585. I quote from page 585: The computerization of the academic profession has happened remarkably quickly (particularly if one recalls the same profession's almost century-long resistance to the typewriter). And since the early 1980s, there have been public-domain or low-cost typesetting programs available---notably Donald Knuth's TEX [sic]---which are wholly adaptable to the desk-top computer. Via what are called Device Independent Output Files (DVIs) and laser printers (or phototypesetters if there is one handy), it is now feasible for authors to set their own books and send proofs for examination to the publisher. In this way the academic author can reappropriate many primary editorial and design functions and still have the coveted press imprint on the finished work. In my subject (English literature) I like to think that the scholars who are doing most to unsettle things are not Yale's or Duke's theorists but relatively unknown pioneers of photocomposition like Thomas C. Faulkner, whose *Anatomy of Melancholy* will be published by OUP; Peter Shillingsburg, whose collected works of Thackeray will come from Garland Press; or G. W. Pigman III, who is editing the collected poetry of George Gascoyne for OUP. [Sutherland argues that this is not an innovation but a return to tradition: that nineteenth-century authors were usually involved in those ``primary editorial and design functions,'' and that OUP didn't stop authors from ``going into OUP's printing shop to collaborate daily with `their' compositor'' until the 1940s.] From: UDAA270@ELM.CC.KCL.AC.UK Subject: Rose Theatre update Date: 7-JUN-1989 16:09:12 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 106 (213) Steve Miller, a postgraduate student at King's College London, has been involved from early days in the campaign to save the Elizabethan Rose theatre. An earlier message of his was sent to Humanist, and he asked me to post the following update. Susan Kruse King's College London ************************************************************* 7 June 1989 First let me thank all of those from Canada, the USA, Britain and Sweden who troubled to reply to my first notice about the danger to the Rose Theatre excavation site in early May. The site was not covered, but the grace period ends on Sunday 11 June, so those still concerned may be interested in the following update: Despite press reports that it has been rescued, NO SAFE PLAN TO PRESERVE THE SITE OF THE RECENTLY DISCOVERED ROSE THEATRE IN LONDON HAS YET BEEN GUARANTEED. Imry Merchant Developers who paid for the archaeological dig which discovered the site have submitted a plan to erect their proposed office building on stilts over the theatre, but to do this they need to sink huge shafts about 170 feet deep near or possibly through the structural remains of the Rose itself on its partially excavated site. The urgent need is for the British Government to list the site as a National Monument to protect it before the site has been built upon -- despite possible compensation costs. On Monday, 5 June, Nicholas Ridley, Secretary for the Environment, promised to decide within a week whether to list the site. Anyone wishing to encourage him to list the Rose will need to act soon. His address is -- Nicholas Ridley, MP Secretary of State Department of the Environment Lambeth Bridge House LONDON SE1 7SB England telephone: 01-211-3000 TELEX: 886 598 Alternatively, a direct appeal to the Prime Minister could be addressed to -- The Rt Hon Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister, 10 Downing Street, London SW 1 England telephone: 270-3000. If anyone wishes to send an electronic mail message via me, I will forward it with an explanation that it could not be signed because of its method of transmission. GENTLE READER, may I apologise again for the lateness of these appeals, but as you may imagine this is a very active issue with new announcements almost daily. For academics I realise that early June may not be the best time for answering E-Mail. Could I ask those who notice this message to notify others whom they think might be interested? While I feel certain that those of us in London who claim that there is great international concern for the fate of this first discovery of an Elizabethan playhouse are right, every proof we get of that is essential. Sincerely Stephen Miller, c/o Dept of English, King's College London, The Strand London WC2R 2LS England. E-Mail: UDLE031@ UK.AC.KCL.CC.OAK From: David Megginson Subject: For Humanist: Electronic Orm Date: Wed, 07 Jun 89 08:37:24 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 107 (214) Does anyone out there have or know of an electronic Ormulum? If not, I may work on it myself, but it would be nice if it already exists. From: "DAVID CHISHOLM, GERMAN DEPT., (602) 621-5924/621-7385" Subject: ALLC Report on German Texts Date: Sat, 3 Jun 89 15:00 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 108 (215) THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA Tucson, Arizona 85721 College of Arts and Sciences Department of German (602) 621-5924 or 621-7385 Bitnet: chisholm@arizrvax May 19, 1989 Dear ALLC member: As chairman of the ALLC Specialist Group for Post-Renaissance German texts, I am in the process of gathering information about German texts since 1700 in machine-readable form and about computer-assisted projects on post-Renaissance German (including Language, Literature, and Language Pedagogy) initiated or under way since January 1985. Please send me information about the status of your projects if you wish to have them mentioned in the ALLC Journal. It will be helpful if the following information is included: 1) Title and brief description of your project. 2) List of the texts used (include authors, titles, publisher and date of publication), plus any coding information you consider relevant. 3) When was the project started and when do you expect it to be completed? 4) List of publications based on your project. 5) Planned or forthcoming publications based on your project. 6) Information on programs and computers used for your project. If you know of any other projects on post-Renaissance German texts and computer-assisted instruction in German, I would appreciate hearing about them. Please see the questionnaire on the next page. Your prompt reply will be very much appreciated. David Chisholm Professor of German QUESTIONNAIRE 1. A number of institutions now maintain archives of German texts in machine-readable form: the Institut fr deutsche Sprache in Mannheim, the Institut fr Kommunikationsforschung und Phonetik in Bonn, the Oxford University Computing Service, the Humanities Research Center at Brigham Young University in Utah, and the Language Research Center at the University of Arizona. Do you know of any other institutions maintaining computer archives of post-Renaissance German texts? (Please use an extra sheet if necessary.) Institution and address: Type and approximate number of texts: 2. Have you personally prepared German texts in machine-readable form? If so, are you willing to put them at the disposal of other researchers (e.g., by submitting a copy to one of the existing computer archives)? Under what conditions, if any? Texts (specify titles, format, non-textual coding features such as syntax, and other information which you consider relevant): 3. Indicate the type of connection you would like to have with the ALLC specialist group: I am willing to take an active part in the work within the group. I wish to receive information on the work carried out in the group. 4. Comments on how the work in the specialist group should be conducted: 5. Other comments and suggestions: Name: Address: From: Willard McCarty Subject: return to the world Date: 11 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 109 (216) Since I have more or less returned to ordinary time and space, Humanist will now resume its regular schedule of daily publication. Humanists who attended The Dynamic Text conference and the Tools for Humanists software fair are welcome to submit reports, although perhaps only one detailed summary of events is sufficient. What might require discussion and several points of view, however, are comments on the quality of work and the state of the discipline reflected by it. A friend and fellow Humanist remarked to me that the discipline as a whole seems to have taken a decisive turn for the better -- quite independently of how the conference and fair were organized and run. I would like to know, if you agree, what sort of a change has occurred. The coming together of the two major organizations in humanities computing is, I think, significant in this regard. Willard McCarty From: Tom Walker Subject: Kurzweil report Date: Fri, 9 Jun 89 14:28:39 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 169 (217) RECURRING ERRORS IN ICR SCANNING Dott. Cesare Brizio, Galileo Centro Studi, Cento (FE) ABSTRACT : Galileo Centro Studi, an italian Software and Informatics Service House, is involved in a textual data bank project with the Istituto di Studi Rinascimentali (ISR) of Ferrara (Italy): herein the text processing phases (including ICR scanning) are described, along with the problems encountered in scanning and editing. This note will hopefully start an info exchange between all those who are interested in Kurzweil ICR applied to the field of Italian Renaissance literature. -------------------- [A complete version of this report is now available on the file-server, s.v. KURZWEIL REPORT. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Gideon Toury Subject: Translation Studies Newsletter, vol. 6 Date: 9 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 170 (218) AN INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER OF TRANSLATION STUDIES NEW SERIES NUMBER SIX / MAY 1989 ISSN 0792-058X _______________________________________________ TRANSST, an international newsletter of translation studies, is published by the M. Bernstein Chair of Translation Theory and the Porter Institute for Poetics and Semiotics, Tel Aviv University (Israel). It is edited by Gideon Toury, with the help of Jose Lambert (University of Leuven, Belgium). Editorial and administrative address: TRANSST, The M. Bernstein Chair of Translation Theory, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39085, Tel Aviv, Israel. Bitnet: TOURY at TAUNIVM; tel. 03- 5459502. -------------------- [A complete version of this newsletter is now available on the file-server, s.v. TRANSST6 NEWSLETR. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Ronit Subject: Middle Iranian Date: Thu, 8 Jun 89 04:49:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 171 (219) If anyone wants to share information about middle persian literature in out and around computers I will be happy to share back. I have some of the manichaean middle-iranian (MPersian, Parthian and some Sogdian) on the computer. Ronit From: GW2@VAXA.YORK.AC.UK Subject: HYPERTEXT Date: 9-JUN-1989 11:25:00 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 172 (220) Re-reading the theoretical discussions of Hypertext from last summer, I'd be very interested to hear what people are actually doing with the system. Could we have brief accounts from the practitioners? From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: The development of conventions in the use of paper Date: Fri, 9 Jun 89 11:03:49 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 173 (221) I wonder if humanist's could help me find the best place to track down the introduction of various conventional uses of paper for writing? I am thinking of things such as the first use of books to record plays and their special notational conventions, and similar `innovations' in publishing which have led to our contemporary publishing practices in which many `devices' for communicating information to readers are in use such as indexes, tables of contents, lists of illustrations, page numbering, guide-words for reference works that tell the beginning and last entries on each page of an alphabetically arranged work, etc. I want to document the long historical development of print products with something like a time-line of events and am hoping this theme has been taken up by someone already such that there is a good reference work available? From: Amedeo Quondam / Thomas Walker Subject: Kurzweil scanning of Italian Renaissance texts Date: Thu, 08 Jun 89 22:13:23 ITA X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 112 (222) [The following briefly describes the report on the scanning of Italian Renaissance texts by Kurzweil. As announced in a previous message on Humanist, this report is available from the file-server, s.v. KURZWEIL REPORT. My thanks to Cesare Brizio, Amedeo Quondam, Tom Walker, and their colleagues at the ISR. --W.M.] The Istituto di Studi Rinascimentali (ISR) of Ferrara (Italy) has embarked on a project of creating text data bases using various forms of input including ICR scanning. This has involved an intensive collaboration with Galileo Centro Studi, an Italian software and computer services house located in Cento (province of Ferrara). Dr. Cesare Brizio of Galileo has prepared a fairly extensive report on the subject of "Recurring errors in ICR scanning", which describes the text processing phases, along with the problems encountered in scanning and editing. Among the questions which Dr. Brizio's report considers are the following: the consequences of using personnel not specialized in literature or history; the choice of a final text format; problems intrinsic to ICR technology (contrast, connected characters, thin paper); disturbing factors linked to page structure; the characteristics of a "perfect" page; problems caused by the specific nature of texts of interest to the ISR (unreadable accents; characters not available as keyboard keys; characters not available in the ASCII set such as most Greek letters, subscripts and superscripts; elimination of line numbers and note numbers; elimination of non-textual scanned material); factors of human error (cultural level of the operators; similarities in character shapes); the scanning/editing procedure used to process the text, including prior examination of the material and evaluation techniques; typology and quantification of errors. The work done so far has produced encouraging results and built confidence even in such a problematic environment as Renaissance Italian poses. Both Galileo and the ISR would welcome observations, advice and information from anyone interested in or involved with this field. We would, in particular, be pleased to launch an exchange of information and experiences between those concerned with Kurzweil ICR as applied to the field of Italian Renaissance literature, although certainly many of the questions raised here are of more general applicability. From: "Tom Benson 814-238-5277" Subject: Re: 3.105 electronic publication (43) Date: Thu, 8 Jun 89 08:35:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 113 (223) Thanks for John Lavagnino's comments (forwarded from TLS) on electronic typesetting. I've spent the past month or so, with heroic help from our computer center, typesetting a book that was written in SCRIPT on our IBM mainframe (and in collaboration across bitnet). The process is fascinating, and it provides two big advantages: (1) it's cheaper for the press, which is saving thousands of dollars--this makes the book feasible, and it reduces its selling price; (2) I'm writing about a subjet-in-progress, and so it is possible to change the text up until almost the last minute, when we are ready to prepare camera ready pages at Penn State's printing services department. (Page proofs are made by downloading postscript files to my Mac, and running them through my laser printer). But the disadvantages still remain: I am putting a typographer out of work; I am spending weeks doing keyboard work when I could be more usefully employed writing another book. This may all be a false economy, exciting though it may be to do . . . once. Tom Benson Penn State From: QGHU21@UJVAX.ULSTER.AC.UK Subject: PC-TRANSLATOR Date: 12-JUN-1989 16:57:04 GMT +01:00 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 114 (224) [deleted quotation] University of Ulster, Northern Ireland JANET%UK.AC.ULSTER.UJVAX::QGHU21 Re: Reports on PC-TRANSLATOR from Linguistic Products Texas -------------------------------------------------------------- I've been asked to comment on the above product but the only details i've got are from the suppliers. I would therefore be grateful if fellow HUMANISTS could either direct me to evaluation reports on the product or relay their experiences from using the software. Our Modern Languages Department wish to purchase a translation package to use with 'final year' language students who study a unit on 'machine translation'. All contributions will be most welcome. Thanking you in advance Noel Wilson From: "Patrick W. Conner" Subject: Historial development of print Date: Sun, 11 Jun 89 21:19:25 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 174 (225) Re Robert Amsler on documenting historical development of print products: Many of the conventions you mention were in use in manuscripts long before printed books came on the scene. Before there were modern tables of contents some manuscripts contained an elenchus, or list of works contained in the codex. Other books, e.g., collections of saints' lives, were arranged according to the Church kalendar, which must have aided a reader in finding a desired text. Gospel Books contained canon tables, which concorded the events in Christ's life as presented in the four gospels, so that you could easly examine the same event from the point of view of each writer who included it. Display scripts and various sorts of headlines helped separate, define, and mark the status of segments of many manuscripts. Most of the techniques in use in early printed books were imitated from manuscripts, for the reason that moveable type was not thought to produce a *new* product, but merely to provide a new technology for producing an old product. Some of the Gutenberg Bibles and other early books were printed on parchment, and Leon Gilissen has shown that the process of folding sheets into gatherings after they are printed was adapted from a similar process already in use (but not exclusively in use) for manuscript production. I would suggest that you get Laurel Nicholas Braswell's *Western Manuscripts from Classical Antiquity to the Renaissance: A Handbook* (Garland, 1981) for a bibliography on the conventions you're interested in within their manuscript context, and from there go to Fredson Bowers' *Principles of Bibliographic Description* to begin to assemble a list of your conventions which seem to show up first in printed contexts. A decent thumbnail sketch of the discipline is to be found in William Proctor Williams & Craig S. Abbott's *An Introduction to Bibliographical and Textual Studies* (MLA 1985) There may be a better source for what you're looking for in printed books than Bowers, but I don't do enough work with early printed books to know what it would be. If you ever find yourself in the Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress, compare the Gutenberg Bible on display with the manuscript Bible of Mainz. It is a most dramatic demonstration of the unbroken lineage from manuscript design to book design. Caxton's works similarly imitate, to the degree he could do so, 15th century English manuscripts. --Pat Conner From: Niko Subject: History of the use of paper & print Date: Mon, 12 Jun 89 10:19:24 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 175 (226) In answer to Robert Amsler's request for information on the history of the use of paper: If I understand the request, your interest concerns the use of paper in *print* literacy, as opposed to other types of literacies (about which there is a large body of literature in several disciplines). While browsing in a Paris bookstore last week, I came across a very recent volume which addresses your interests. I like what I have read in it so far, and the reference might be of interest to several Humanists: Henri-Jean Martin. 1989. _Histoire et pouvoirs de l'ecrit_. (Collection Histoire et Decadence.) Paris: Librairie Academique Perrin. Niko Besnier Department of Anthropology Yale University From: munnari!csv.viccol.edu.au!TRELOARAC@uunet.UU.NET Subject: HUMANIST de-registration Date: Mon, 12 Jun 89 23:59:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 176 (227) Willard, It is with *great* regret that I must ask you to remove my name from the HUMANIST list. I have encountered the same barriers that your former New Zealand correspondents found - namely, the high cost of e-mail to this far-flung corner of the world. The computer centre has just advised me that the communications bill for May has come to A$ 155 - an unsustainable amount for my college. I am sorry about this - perhaps I will be able to resume my membership at a later stage. Yours, Andrew Treloar. PS. Do you know of any conferences on USENET that would be of interest to someone involved in the humanities? (We get USENET for free...) From: MLAOD@CUVMB.bitnet Subject: use of the MLA Bibliography? Date: Tue, 13 Jun 89 15:00:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 177 (228) Author's Query We are beginning the process of compiling a guide to the use of the MLA Bibliography in all its formats (print, online, CD-ROM), and all its historical incarnations (1921 to the present). The guide is designed to acquaint humanities scholars and students with techniques that will allow the most effective and complete use of this rather complex reference tool. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who would like to con- tribute examples of searches - successful or otherwise - in the MLA Bibliography, as well as anyone who has used the bibliography extensively who would like to suggest topics for coverage in this guide. Daniel Uchitelle Modern Language Association 10 Astor Place New York, NY 10003 From: David Sitman Subject: Listserv and lists, part 2 Date: Tue, 13 Jun 89 09:37:24 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 117 (229) Communicating with Listserv --------------------------- You can send commands to Listserv to join and leave lists, get files, get information on lists and files, and query and change personal options. You can communicate with Listserv by sending mail, a file, or an interactive message. Any user on any electronic mail network anywhere in the world which has access to Bitnet/NetNorth/EARN can send mail to Listserv. You can send more than one command to Listserv in a single mail message; each command must be on a separate line, with no blank lines between commands, starting on the first line of the mail body. Listserv will ignore the "Subject: " line of the header if it exists. Listserv determines your address from your mail. In some cases, e.g., when the mail passes throught several networks, the address that Listserv uses to reply is not successful. Listserv expects that the header lines of your mail ("Date: ", "From: ", etc.) will follow the standard RFC822. If your local mailer does not obey this standard, then Listserv will not process your commands. [deleted quotation]in a plain file. As with mail, you must start on the first line and not skip lines between commands. If you are on Bitnet/NetNorth/EARN and can send interactive messages, then this is the fastest and most efficient way to send commands to Listserv. As always with interactive messages, this will work only when there is an open line between you and the Listserv machine. E.g., if you are on an IBM computer running VM/CMS, and you want to get a list of the HUMANIST files, you can enter: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO INDEX HUMANIST If you are on a Vax VMS system, you may be able to use the following interactive procedure. Enter: SEND/REMOTE UTORONTO LISTSERV you should get the prompt: (UTORVM)LISTSERV: then type the Listserv command, e.g.: INDEX HUMANIST or the following: SEND MESSAGE UTORONTO LISTSERV INDEX HUMANIST Note: there seems to be some difficulty with the name conversion of HUMANIST's host computer from UTORONTO to UTORVM. The two are NOT identical. Interactive messages sent to LISTSERV AT UTORVM don't work for me. ------------------------- Note that David Sitman's articles on ListServ are available on the file-server, s.v. LISTSERV DESCR-1 and LISTSERV DESCR-2. They may be downloaded in the usual manner, for which consult your Guide to Humanist. From: Willard McCarty Subject: education and the universities Date: 13 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 118 (230) In the Times Literary Supplement for 26 May -- 1 June, John Passmore reviews a book of essays by Michael Oakeshott, The Voice of Liberal Learning (Yale U.P.), and in so doing clarifies the threat that our universities now face. He considers in particular British and Australian institutions, but what he says, and what Oakeshott says through him, is nonetheless relevant to those in North America and perhaps elsewhere. In the eyes of government, Passmore declares, "the situation is perfectly plain. Schools, universities, are enterprises designed to turn out a particular kind of product. They should be thought of, in other words, as being of the same order as a driving school. We judge such a school in terms of its capacity to teach us a desirable skill at a level adequate to gain us a licence, at the lowest possible cost. On the now fashionable view, whenever schools or universities seek subsidies their requests should be judged in similar terms, except that the benefits can be of a broader kind. As is particularly insisted upon in England, there is such a thing as being a `good citizen'. It consists in being law abiding, amenable, no kind of troublemaker, never asking inopportune questions, accepting such of the `traditional values' as are not inconsistent with the maximization of wealth. Governments will find it profitable to subsidize teaching institutions which turn out such products." In contrast, Oakeshott talks about "schooling", "a serious and orderly initiation into an intellectual, imaginative, and moral inheritance." Thus, Passmore notes, "a driving school, a riding school, a business school, far from being paradigm cases, do not count as such. They are places for training, for what Oakeshott calls `socialization', not for education." He argues that over the last 50 years educational institutions, Oakeshott's "schools", have allowed themselves to be converted into training institutions. Government subsidization has been accepted by grateful academics without careful inspection of the terms in which it has been offered. "Most academics so welcomed having more money to appoint more staff that they did not realize that they had entered into a Faustian contract. They saw the government as an ever-loving Marguerite rather than as Mephistopheles." Interesting, provocative reading. Comments? Willard McCarty From: Charles Ess Subject: women fliers/publisher Date: Wed, 14 Jun 89 14:08:09 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 178 (231) A colleague is collecting in something of an oral history format recollections of women pilots from WW II. She will be seeking grant funding for editing these materials into publishable form and for publishing the book itself. Can HUMANIST readers suggest: A: additional sources for such recollections? B: possible granting agencies interested in such a project? C: possible publishers interested in the resulting book? As always, thanks in advance. Charles Ess Drury College 900 N. Benton Ave. Springfield, MO 65802 (417) 865-8731 From: Steve Dill Subject: 18C,Bitnet Demonstration Date: Wed, 14 Jun 89 15:07:38 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 179 (232) Anyone who wishes to assist in a demonstration of Bitnet to members of the American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies at the annual convention in Minneapolis in April, 1990, should reply to this message before the end of July. A seminar called "The Bitnet Experience" has been organized specifically to demonstrate Bitnet and to give hands-on experience to those who attend. Whoever participates in a seminar must be a member of ASECS or an official guest of the Society and must register for the convention. Recognition for assisting comes by being listed in the official convention program. Scholars knowledgeable in applications of Bitnet and who are patient with novices are urged to assist. Regards, Steve Dill, Department of English, Univesity of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, 57069 (UGA108 @ SDNET.BITNET) From: Tom Thomson Subject: Laptops Date: Fri, 9 Jun 89 15:03:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 120 (233) I find the Amstrad PPC640 nice; it's a lot cheaper than all those Japanese machines; the Sprint hard disc makes it a lot faster than them too for most purposes (ok, it doubles the price from 18% to 36% of the nearest Toshiba if you take the hard disc); it's a bit clumsy on the lap. From: (Terrence Erdt) Subject: Scanning, OCR, New Products Date: Wed, 14 Jun 89 12:53 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 121 (234) More on the Kurzweil 5100, and the Emerging Scenario for Document Representation and OCR Conversion The new model 5100 should be arriving at U.S. dealers in two to three weeks. It will cost $17,950, and as reported previously on Humanist, it will offer the Kurzweil "Verifier," which allows for trainability. Unlike the model 5000, the new model will also have the capacity to read image files. As I noted in the panel discussion on OCR and scanning at the Dynamic Text conference, the power to read "tif" and other image file formats such as "pcx" constitutes a significant difference between earlier OCR efforts with Kurzweil machines such as the 4000, and newer approaches that incorporate the peripherals associated with desktop publishing. Earlier efforts resulted in a final, or "finished," product, a machine readable, often frustratingly inaccurate version of a book; now, by applying an OCR application to an image file, it is possible to scan the book and in time apply newer and presumably improved OCR programs to the same file, producing better and more accurate machine readable versions. The 5100, like the Calera Truescan, will support this approach. One of the programs that I mentioned at the session on OCR was Ibase's "Irecognize," essentially an enhanced editor for Truescan, that allows for comparing the bitmapped image of the original scanned document with the version resulting from OCR. It seems to me that such a program may signify the direction that OCR and scanning documents will take. As the capacity for inexpensive data storage increases, as through optical disks, and as data compression techniques improve, it is probable, it seems to me, that we will be able to compare a very detailed image of original documents with the machine readable counterpart. Currently, there is already a sizeable industry devoted to scanning (without OCR) documents for companies wanting "paperless" offices; they generally link image files to conventional database programs that contain index terms and so forth; the next step, of linking the machine readable version of a document to the image of the original document, appears not to be, technically, a great one--given sufficient storage. Given such a scenario, the tedious and herculean efforts now being planned by the Text Encoding Initiative may be misplaced or missdirected. With that shot fired, let me just add, returning to the ever changing area of product information, that Kurzweil has just introduced Accutext, a program intended for Macintoshes with 5 mgs. of memory. I hope soon to have more information on the 5100, Accutext, and another new product, Innovative Software from Inovatic, which I shall bring to the attention of Humanists. --Terry Erdt From: grgo@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Greg Goode) Subject: Humanities group on UseNet Date: Wed, 14 Jun 89 12:16:58 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 180 (235) Willard writes, [deleted quotation] I don't know any way to have Humanist mailings automatically go over Usenet, but am looking into it. There is the possibility, however, of *starting* a Humanities group on Usenet. Basically, you propose the formation of a group, discuss it on the newsgroup called news.group for 30 days, and if there are the right number of votes, I think 100, then it's approved. Part of the discussion should be whether the group should be moderated. For further info, look at news.group, and see the articles numbered 9959, 10483, and 10484. Right now, the closest things on Usenet to Humanist are groups about philosophy, books, and culture. There's a definite gap to be filled... --Greg Goode From: Willard McCarty Subject: usenet Humanist Date: 14 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 181 (236) Perhaps some Humanist who knows the ins and outs of usenet would be interested in managing a usenet branch of this group. The only thing about usenet exposure that worries me is the volume of potential inquiries that would, I suspect, come from that very large readership. An intermediary, who would be welcome to pass on Humanist's mail, would solve the problem nicely. Please let me know. Willard McCarty From: "Robin C. Cover" Subject: WRITING ON PAPER IS LATE Date: Wed, 14 Jun 89 03:43:04 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 123 (237) Apropos of Robert Amsler's query on "uses of paper for writing," I feel obligated to remind us that writing on paper is quite a late innovation. The cuneiform and hieroglyphic traditions of the third and second millennia (B.C.E.) already employed a wide range of these "devices" in other written media (clay, stone, wax, metal; later on parchment, papyrus, leather and so forth). Most canonical texts had colophons, for example, containing incipits and catch-lines, dates, names of owner(s) and scribe(s), number-of-lines and other cataloging devices. There were conventions for glosses and annotations in bi-lingual texts; several commentary genres; acrostic literature with hidden meanings; inscribed liver models for extispicy; mystical, magical and ceremonial texts with specified layout; annalistic writing on monumental inscriptions where two-dimensional representational art was to be "read" along with cuneiform text; elaborate permutations for syllabaries and (multi-lingual) lexical lists. In short, the genres and writing conventions of high antiquity are as varied and complex as the are in modern times. From: jonathan@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Jonathan Altman) Subject: Re: 3.121 Kurzweil 5100 scanner (70) Date: Thu, 15 Jun 89 12:19:39 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 124 (238) [This is a very long article. If you are not interested in scanning, you may want to skip this as it deals to some extent with the technical side of scanning.] I would like to point out one flaw in Terry Erdt's logic that the ability of new OCR software to save the IMAGE of the page and work on these saved images will allow people to save the images and re-interpret them later with newer, better OCR software when it becomes available. I do NOT wish to state that the ability to save images is useless. It is not. There is some benefit to Terry's scheme. But it is NOT a universal panacea. It addresses the first advancement which OCR has made, in the quality of the software written to interpret scanned images into text. But, it does not address the second advancement in OCR, which is the increasing level of quality of scanned images and the resolution (number of dots-per-inch) which new scanners can produce. By increasing the resolution which scanners can work at, we provide more detailed information about the images on a page. So, Calera Truescan, which is designed to deal with 300 dpi (dot-per-inch) input is feasible only because scanning technology allows an image with the detail of 300 dpi to be produced and interpreted by Truescan. Let's take a state-of-the-art image scanned, say, ten years ago. Considering the first scanners I know of for PC's (the Thunderscan for a Macintosh) worked at 72dpi in 1986, I'd be willing to say that in 1979 scanners offered something less than 300 dpi resolution. The images I might have saved with that scanner in 1979 do not have the level of detail needed to re-interpret with OCR software to any much greater degree of accuracy, because the newer OCR software probably depends on the greater information which 300 dpi offers. Will this be an issue? Isn't 300 dpi certainly high enough resolution? Well, for those who heard Ted Brunner speak at the Dynamic Text conference, 300 dpi is 1989 technology. And 1989 technology will be obsolete and archaic in the future just as teletype machines were outdated once Ted got his Tektronix terminal that could display Greek characters if one wrote the vectors for it. And that Tektronix is certainly out of date now. As an example, let's take a 300 dpi image scanned with Calera Truescan now, and save it to a file. What happens when 400 dpi scanning becomes de-facto standard as 300 dpi is now(and this day is NOT far off. 400 dpi will be it in about 2 years I estimate, since scanners capable of 400 dpi are already relatively common)? What happens is that OCR software will work with 400 dpi images instead of 300 dpi. Since scanned images are two dimensional, meaning that they have height and width, that means that each square inch of page scanned has a 400x400 dot image per square inch because scanner resolution is measured in dots per linear inch. A 1 inch square of text scanned at 400 dpi has 400X400 dots of information, or 160,000 dots of information. At 300 dpi, there are only 90,000 dots of information. So, scanning software that works at 400 dpi will have over 43% (43.75%) MORE information on which to attempt to recognize characters. And without those extra 70,000 dots of information, the new scanning software may have trouble with what is now very granular 300 dpi images. Further, the concept of bitmaps themselves may be archaic soon. Postscript and Bezier curves may be generatable from a scanner in the near future. The fact that these images are represented as numerical functions means that we could have OCR software that could do more advanced numerical modelling of images based on more advanced statistical and mathematical calculations than how well a particular bitmap matches another bitmap in memory. So, keeping images around, even to retouch them later, may not be as big a win in the future as Terry feels it is. This is not to say that it is no win at all. Keeping old scanned images of pages around for later manipulation will have some benefit. I just do not see the benefit being very large, without having to do a great deal of later image-enhancement. Jonathan Altman jonathan@eleazar.Dartmouth.edu Database Consultant jonathan.altman@Dartmouth.edu Dartmouth Dante Project From: "Rodrigo Checa J{dar" Subject: Music and Semantics Date: Thu, 15 Jun 89 13:24:05 HOE X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 182 (239) I am very interested in contact with all the people working on Music and Semantics with the purpose of exchanging opinions, bibliography, studies or research works. My objectives are, at first, the following ones: - Music analysis - Musicology and ethnomusicology - Information retrieval systems for musical scores - Music and Semantics - Western music as universal language Thanking in advance your cooperation Best wishes From: lang@PRC.Unisys.COM Subject: Chaos (a poem) Date: Thu, 15 Jun 89 08:15:05 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 183 (240) A friend of mine in France recently sent me a longish (~250 lines) poem entitled "Chaos", which is a wonderful parody of English pronunciation. It begins like this: Dearest creature in creation, Studying English pronunciation, I will teach you in my verse Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse. It will keep you, Susy, busy, Make your head with heat grow dizzy; Tear in eye your dress you'll tear, Queer, fair seer, hear, my prayer. and it goes on like that for about 4 pages, filled with all sorts of words that either look like they should rhyme, but don't, or look nothing like each other, but *do* rhyme. Does anyone know of this masterpiece? If someone has it online, I'd appreciate a copy. Otherwise, sometime, I'll eventually type it in and post it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Francois-Michel Lang Paoli Research Center, Unisys Corporation lang@prc.unisys.com (215) 648-7256 Dept of Comp & Info Science, U of PA lang@cis.upenn.edu (215) 898-9511 From: Rebecca More Subject: Bibliography managers Date: Thu, 15 Jun 89 11:30:44 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 184 (241) Seek evaluation of End-Note v. Pro-cite programs for use in history research.Pl ease send all replies to ST902633@brownvm. I will summarise for the list. If this has been debated before, I would be most grateful if the appropriate listing numbers can be sent to me. Thank you. From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: MLA bibliography Date: Thu, 15 Jun 89 09:24:16 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 126 (242) I originally sent this directly to MLA, with a copy to Randy Jones in his capacity as a member of MLA's hi-tech advisory committee, but it occurred to me that it might be interesting for Humanist as a whole: Let us suppose that an MLA member who has been subscribing religiously to MLA since the middle 60's and has bought the complete bibliography all of those years now wishes to begin work on an article on the devil in medieval Spanish literature. He is in for a rather tedious bit of spadework, regardless of what format he chooses to use. If he turns to his own collection of the bibliography, it will take him several days--at a minimum--to go through the medieval Spanish section on the offchance of finding a relevant title. The only way he'll know if it is relevant is if the word "devil" or something similar is mentioned in the title, at least until he gets to the volumes which have the subject index. He will also want to go through the general literature/thematic section, the medieval Latin section, as well. In order to note the references for retrieval from his library, he will have to (1) write them down or (2) xerox the relevant pages. If he chooses to abandon his 25-years' worth of printed bibliographies, he can have an on-line search conducted by his librarian. Since he's a faculty member, he can probably afford it or find a way for his university to pay for it. If he were a graduate student, he probably couldn't afford it. If he wants to have the search downloaded to a diskette to save re-keying, it will cost more because it will probably take more time. Even if it is downloaded to a diskette, it will have to be re-formatted manually because the format supplied by MLA DOES NOT CONFORM to that required by the MLA Style Manual. He wishes, wistfully, for a program that would download the citations into a bibliographical data base manager for incorporation into his own local bibliographical data base. (He is aware of Pro-Cite, but he needs a UNIX-based version.) If his university should have subscribed to the CD-ROM version, he would go to the main library (since it is highly unlikely that there is more than 1 copy of the disk available) where he would be able to tailor a search strategy to find relevant citations as well as take advantage of serendipity. The problem of downloading into a suitable data base manager would still remain, however. So much for my scenario. That's pretty well the way things stand at present; and to my mind it's a very unsatisfactory state of affairs. I can suggest two proposals that might help: 1. MLA should offer site licenses for the CD-ROM disk at a reasonable price. Any large university would like to be able to make it available in a variety of sites, typically in the various literature departments as well as in the library. At $1495 a site, that isn't going to happen. 2. MLA should offer its members the choice of the complete printed bibliography--which contains only the information for that year--or the CD-ROM disk, with all of the information in the data base, FOR THE SAME PRICE. The only way to build up a market for this product is to make it possible for individuals to buy it. They are not going to do so until it's financially feasible. MLA might also consider cutting a deal with one of the CD-ROM player manufacturers for a reasonably priced CD-ROM drive to make it easier for non- technically-experienced users. In terms of bibliographical data base software--any software--, when MLA adopts a package for a specific task it should ensure that it is the best available one by issuing a "request for quotation" and negotiating a price such that any member can get it more cheaply via MLA than from his own institution. I do not believe that that is currently the case. When issuing an RFQ, the MLA should take advantage of the expertise available in sister organizations (e.g., the Assoc. for Computing in the Humanities) or even work together with such organizations to develop specifications jointly. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: David Megginson Subject: Faust and higher learning Date: Wed, 14 Jun 89 17:38:16 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 185 (243) As graduate students, we sell our souls daily to pay the rent. The universities may have made a deal with the horned guy in the red satin suit, but those who signed are not necessarily those who will pay. From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.118 education and universities (56) Date: Thu, 15 Jun 89 08:40:39 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 186 (244) If Michael Oakeshott is of any more than a passing acquaitance of Yale, who published his book, it should be relatively easy to provide a method for him to join in this discussion. My first contrubution to such a discussion is to relate that the deans at my academic institutions were open enough to tell me that their MAIN PURPOSE IS SOCIALIZATION and even today, I am sure I have not perceived the full impact of that statement. I may also add, however, that this goal is also that of the major portion of the students. From: Brian Whittaker Subject: Re: 3.118 education and universities (56) Date: Thu, 15 Jun 89 09:57:20 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 187 (245) The perception of a new Faustian contract between universities and government may be appropriate in the context of the ancient and heavily endowed institutions like Oxford and Cambridge, which until recently seem to have enjoyed virtual independence from governmental interference and are now experiencing a level of interest that appears quite Californian. In places like Ontario, on the other hand, the less ancient tradition has been for universities to maintain their independence within the context of government funding and chartering, and to experience interference most accutely as a direct consequence of other sources of funding, whether from churches or industry. One thinks of professors at church- affiliated units within a public university being cashiered for heresy (perhaps an anachronistic term, perhaps not) or research grants from industries with Pentagon contracts having either explicit or implicit conditions regarding the nationality of graduate students allowed to work on the project. Less colourfully, one might also worry about university-based research in computer-related areas where the provision of hardware, software or grants by a major software or hardware company may be contingent on guarding the resulting program codes as industrial secrets, a clear contradiction of the academic principle that research is validated by a process that begins by publishing the details of data, methodology and results so that other researchers can repeat the experiment or the analysis. The importance of this principle has been reinforced with the recent fusion experiments in the United States and by the publication here in Canada of a study arguing for a genetic basis for racial superiority. The fusion results have been questioned on the grounds that a detailed repetition of the experiments does not consistently yield the same observations. The paper on racial superiority has been questioned on the grounds that the data is of questionable reliability. One might wonder what the scholarly reaction might have been if the researchers in question had withheld details of their data and methodology on the grounds of industrial secrecy. In our own area of the humanities, I wonder how many humanists would accept a new reading of the Aeneid based on a secret manuscript available only to the author of the article, or a stylistic analysis of Paradise Lost using a grammatical model that could not be disclosed to the public. On the question of the product put out by the universities, the idea that reading the right kind of books and associating with the right kind of people will produce the right kind of citizen may be more firmly entrenched in England than elsewhere... even in the never-ending wake of the Burgess/ Maclean/Philby/ and so on ... saga. This tradition has put its own skew on scholarship. A few years ago I stumbled on the Penguin translation of Plato's -Protagoras_, in which "politike arete", the prowess appropriate to a member of the polis (in contrast to the older "arete" or prowess of the warrior), was translated as "excellence", with a consequent shift of focus from skills to character. Where Plato's _Protagoas_ is an urban epic, with Socrates as an Achilles of debate, the Penguin _Protagoras_ lies somewhere between _Culture and Anarchy_ and _Tom Brown's Schooldays_, with the debate centring on how to produce the right sort of person. I have also encountered an American translation of Machiavelli's _The Prince- which was similarly doctored to turn the original "mirror" of the fall of disastrous princes, including Cesare Borgia as the most disastrous of them all, into a study of realpolitik.(One might have thought that_Le Machiavel_ had been enough of that.) Perhaps as a result of the tradition of pragmatism (both small and capital p) in North America, perhaps as a result of an explicit German influence in the early formation of curriculum, education in Ontario has a history of being explicitly oriented towards skills at the lower levels and methodology at the higher levels. One might speculate on whether the fashion for "general education" courses such as Humanities, Social Science, Natural Science, or simply Great Books, that swept Universities in the late sixties and early seventies, was a move towards the model of producing the "right sort" of citizen, with the emphasis in many of these courses on teaching "values" as content. This is the Jiminy Cricket model of higher education in which the good citizen, in a moment of ethical crisis,asks "What did that Greek guy who got poisoned in the third week of my humanities course say about this sort of thing?" The current move away from this model is interesting, not so much for the dropping of General Education requirements in some universities and faculties, as for justifying their retention in others on the grounds that they teach basic writing skills (better than English courses, presumably), basic reasoning skills (better than logic or philosophy courses, presumably) and basic research skills (better than discipline-oriented courses, presumably). This shift in the stated function of General Education courses, where they have survived, would seem to support my hypothesis that the dominant strain in university education in Ontario has been and still is oriented toward method rather than character. It would be interesting to hear how these issues are perceived elsewhere. I would be particularly interested in hearing from France, Germany, and other non-English speaking countries. The debate over educational theory and prcatice moves quite freely around the English-speaking world, but we have little dialoge with other cultures in these matters. Brian Whittaker Atkinson College, York University Downsview, Ontario From: David Sitman Subject: Listserv and lists, part 3 Date: Thu, 15 Jun 89 15:04:48 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 128 (246) Files and filelists In addition to managing discussion lists, Listserv also has fileserver capabilities, i.e., it can send files to users upon request. Willard makes wide use of this capability, and a large number of files of interest to Humanists is available from Toronto's Listserv. To get the listing of the files connected to HUMANIST which are available, send the following command to LISTSERV@UTORONTO (see my previous posting on sending commands to Listserv): INDEX HUMANIST Here are the first few lines of the 'meaty' part of the listing: * rec last - change * filename filetype GET PUT -fm lrecl nrecs date time File description * -------- -------- --- --- --- ----- ----- -------- -------- ---------------- ACH_ALLC MESSAGE ALL OWN V 71 234 87/10/15 15:01:49 ACL CONFRNCE ALL OWN V 80 579 89/04/03 00:04:07 June 1989 ADVANCES JOURNAL ALL OWN V 73 191 88/10/06 07:24:15 E. Nissan AI SYMPOSUM ALL OWN V 80 94 89/01/05 19:05:58 June 1989 The names of the files follow the IBM CMS file naming convention. They consist of two parts (filename and filetype) each of which is from one to eight characters long. The 'GET' column indicates who can request the file from Listserv. ALL means that anyone, Humanists and non-Humanists alike, can get the file. Willard could mark a file as PRV (for private) instead of ALL, and then only HUMANIST list members would be able to get that file. That might be a good idea for the biography files. The 'PUT' column determines who can send a new copy of a file to the filelist. At present only the list owners are able to do this. The next several columns give information on the file. This information is updated automatically by Listserv when it associates the file with the filelist. The length of the file's records (basically, records=lines) can be fixed or variable, lrecl is the length of the records and nrecs is the number of records. Listserv updates the time and date; the owner supplies the file description. Note that the file description goes past column 80. That means that on some systems the description will be cut. The command for requesting that Listserv send you a file is: GET filename filetype name_of_filelist In our case the name_of_filelist is, of course, HUMANIST. The 'filelist' name for a file need not be the 'real' name of the file on the computer. Listserv has a method for associating a name from a filelist with a real name in the computer. When the filelist name and real name are the same, Listserv will be able to find the file even if you do not give the name_of_filelist. E.g., both: GET AI SYMPOSIUM HUMANIST and: GET AI SYMPOSIUM should work. As far as I know, in the Humanist filelist, the filelist name is always the real name. By the way, SEND and SENDME are synonyms of GET. If you send your GET commands as mail, then Listserv will send you the file as mail. If you send commands as a file or interactive message, the file will be sent as a file, using the default format (NETDATA, PUNCH, etc.) for your node. David Sitman Computation Center Tel Aviv University From: Subject: Journal of Unconventional History Date: Tue, 13 Jun 89 22:23:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 188 (247) Read this in American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Newsletter: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unconventional historical papers: have you written or are you now considering a historical essay that is so original in concept or treatment that it cannot find publication in mainstream journals? If so, the editors (both historians) of a proposed new _Journal of Unconventional History_ would like to hear from you. Please send one-page abstracts only, with a cover letter explaining why you feel your work is too unusual to get a hearing elsewhere to Editors, Journal of Uncnventional History, 2442 Mont- gomery Avenue, Cardiff, CA 92007. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [sorry -- no e-mail address or names provided... From: J.G.Anderson@VME.GLASGOW.AC.UK Subject: STELLA NEWSLETTER 1 Date: Thu,15 Jun 89 16:48:12 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 189 (248) ------------------------------------------------------------------- GLASGOW UNIVERSITY COMPUTING IN ENGLISH STUDIES NEWSLETTER 1 S T E L L A Software for Teaching English Language and Literature and its Assessment 6 University Gardens, Glasgow University, Glasgow G12 8QQ. Tele: 041 339 8855 ext 4980 * Email: STELLA@UK.AC.GLASGOW.VME Telex: 777070 UNIGLA * FAX: 041 330 4804 Director: D.M.O'Brien BA, BPhil. * Programmer: J.G.Anderson MA. --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE STELLA PROJECT Our aim at STELLA is to examine the applications of computers in tertiary-level English teaching and to develop software in the broad area of English Studies. Start-up funding for the project was an award in December 1986 of f90,000 from the Computers in Teaching Initiative (sponsored by the Computer Board and the University Grants Committee), supplemented by funds from the Glasgow University. Three departments are involved in STELLA : English Language, English Literature and Scottish Literature. In the first stage of the project, we have explored the use of computers in the multiplicity of skills involved in these disciplines, seeking to enhance existing courses rather than to start completely new ones. Emphasis has been placed on attractive presentation and on a high level of student-machine interaction, especially in self-instructional packages. THE SUBJECT BASE English Studies encompasses a wide range of types of subjects, demanding different inputs and different skills. The interests of teaching staff involved in the project range from language teaching and linguistics to the formal and conceptual properties of texts in English and Scots, with a special focus on the language and literature of the Renaissance. Hard choices have had to be made between packages which can be produced relatively quickly and transferred to different datasets, and more pioneering work in uncharted areas. For the first two teaching years we have concentrated on the former, while at the same time bringing into use in teaching already existing research databases. TEACHING PACKAGES Language : Not surprisingly, language-based studies have proved most amenable to computer applications. The style of packages used in the teaching of modern languages has been adapted to produce an Old English course which supplements traditional teaching and develops both analytical and creative language skills. Parts of this package are adaptable to the teaching of modern English grammar to both native and foreign students, and courses in Middle English, Older Scots and Old Icelandic are also being developed. The Renaissance : The technicalities of verse-writing have proved equally suitable for computer analysis. The Basics of English Metre introduces students to traditional metrical forms, while Renaissance Sonnets enables them to explore in greater depth the rhyme schemes and imagery of a particularly cohesive group of texts. The relatively long tradition of computer-generated concordances in English Studies has meant that a body of machine-readable texts is available, but for more specialized work datasets have to be created, as in the case of Scots Renaissance Sonnets and 17th Century English Stanza Forms. The language of the Renaissance is examined using resources from the Historical Thesaurus of English database, which records vocabulary innovation at all periods of English. Through the Windows environment, this database is linked to the text of King Lear so that students can examine neologisms and key-words in context. Links can also be made with the Analytical Index to the Short Title Catalogues. Literature and style : Literary texts often require a considerable input of explanatory information, culled by the student from a variety of sources. Our hypertext edition of the medieval poem Piers Plowman embeds the text in a multi-dimensional learning environment, providing contextualisation through a series of inter-related files. Connexions between elements allow freedom of movement for browsing or locating specific references. In other classes, students are introduced to the stylistic analysis of short texts, using the resources of Word and Quest and moving from the established databank to texts of their own choice. Bibliographical skills are developed as students assist in the creation of a bibliography of Scots periodicals. In the longer term, staff research on literary applications is expected to add further dimensions to undergraduate courses. THE WAY AHEAD Our continuing aim is to make the benefits of computer-assisted learning available to increasing numbers of students. In addition to offering new ways of approaching the subject matter, the computing environment enables students to work at their own pace and to develop creativity and independence through project-type assignments. They (and their teachers) gain intrinsically useful skills through familiarity with the machines. Existing packages will therefore be adapted for use in further courses, at the same time as new materials are developed, in, for example, narrative analysis, corpus-based studies, and language teaching. THE COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT Student access is through a laboratory containing a networked cluster of 12 Research Machines Nimbus microcomputers linked to the University mainframe. Further PC's for development work are situated in departments and in the programmer's office. Members of the Computing Service and Computing Science are involved in advising and monitoring the project. As much of the system as possible is menu-driven, and particular attention has been paid to creating user-friendly front-ends for the research-generated materials. Our intention is to transfer all the portable software into an MS Windows environment, thus giving the user immediate and flexible access to the data. From: "Nancy J. Frishberg" Subject: Invitation forwarded from Texas Tech Date: 16 Jun 89 10:14:12 ET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 130 (249) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [deleted quotation]Subject RE: YKLNK A few of us who are actively engaged in sharing student text between campuses using wide-area networks such as bitnet or internet (or by other means) are joining in what I call a "discussion loop," or an ongoing polylogue about our difficulties and triumphs (few though they may be). The process is simple. Any comments to be made are sent on bitnet to YKLNK@TTACS or on internet to YKLNK@TTACS1.TTU.EDU. That's to one of my accounts here at Texas Tech University. I chop out some unnecessary header information and forward the comment to a multiple address list. By handling things this way the everyday user doesn't have to worry with subconferences or command structures or anything, just a message to the above address (or a REPLY will work). As the address list expands, I simply add more addresses to the address file. Some of the people currently sharing information and making knowledge this way are Trent Batson, Geoff Sirc, Dawn Rodrigues, Wayne Butler, Larry Hunt, Michael Marx, Joel Nydahl, Mark Seiden, Diane Thompson, Janet Eldred, and others, and the schools involved are the University of Texas, Colorado State University, Skidmore, Gallaudet, Texas Tech, Minnesota, Babson, U of Kentucky, etc. We call the discussion loop "CampusLink" and would prefer to keep the guest list down to those who actively are or are planning to work up some kind of intercampus text and syllabus sharing. The ideas shared are potent and occasionally radical. If you are teaching on-line with students either piped into a mainframe or with a local-area network with some kind of connectivity to a mainframe and bitnet or internet, OR planning to do some of this, then give me a call at the above addresses. Fred Kemp Texas Tech University From: Willard McCarty Subject: uses of Humanist Date: 16 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 190 (250) I am very interested in collecting brief stories about how Humanist is used. I am particularly interested in (a) its value for individuals' teaching and research, (b) its use as a resource for advising and other support of humanities computing, (c) the extent to which it leads to fruitful collaboration between people with similar interests, and (d) how it is locally redistributed, either informally or by means of some software. Have I forgotten anything? Just a few lines will do, but longer responses are welcome. I suspect that at many universities Humanist could be used to get information pertaining to research problems of those who do not yet use electronic mail. Is any Humanist thus serving as an intermediary between colleagues without e-mail and our group? If so, please describe how well your service works and whether it has led to any of those colleagues learning how to use e-mail. Demonstrable benefit is a powerful persuader. Thanks very much. Willard McCarty From: GUEDON@CC.UMONTREAL.CA Subject: RE: 3.129 Unconventional History; STELLA (161) Date: Fri, 16 Jun 89 14:06 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 191 (251) First of all, a hearty word of congratulations for the organizers of the Dynamic Text Conference: superbly organized and magnificent content for what I was able to catch within two days and a half. One point seemed to recur from lecture to lecture: we must build large bases of machine-readable texts. Obviously, this is expensive and time consuming. Now a question: would it not be a lot easier to scan braille texts than regularly printed texts. I am speaking from ignorance but if my hypothesis is correct, then the blind associations that have built large collection of braille texts over the last century or so could be tapped for mutual profit: easy (perhaps) scanning for the general public with vision; revenue and texts that can be interpreted through speech synthesis for our blind friends. All this is probably naive, but I am posting it on the off chance that I might have hit an interesting avenue and someone might be able to follow up on it. Jean-Claude Guedon From: Ellen Germain Subject: Mac and IBM freshman composition programs Date: Fri, 16 Jun 1989 17:57:16 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 192 (252) Can anyone send me recommendations for software to be used for freshman composition classes? I'm interested in programs for both Macs and IBM PS/2s. I'd also be interested in people's reviews of/experiences with various programs. If there's interest, I will be happy to post a summary of the responses. Thanks very much. Ellen Germain Columbia University Bitnet: EJGCU@CUVMB Internet: ellen@cunixc.cc.columbia.edu From: NMILLER@TRINCC.BITNET Subject: Date: Fri, 16 Jun 89 18:00:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 132 (253) I enjoyed Brian Whittaker's witty remarks in the matter of general education, but I wonder if he's got it quite right. As one who taught "great books" to undergraduates for many years (including a stint at Chicago in the 1960's), I don't recognize my former colleagues or myself in his description. We/I taught neither "skills" nor-- God forbid--"values". The main goal was never to teach students *how* to think, but simply to ask questions, to wonder. Take the case of the young man in Frost's poem, who "studied Latin like the violin because he liked it". Was he acquiring a skill? The Cunning Artificer seems to imply that even an instrument can be approached non-instrumentally. So too with the Jewish tradition of "torah l'shma", (the study of) Torah for it's own sake. What skills does a Torah scholar seek: do I hear an ability to think clearly? Not in my experience. Is it for that matter different for any of us? Are we not all committed to learning for its own sake, because it's holy? Why then can this not be a teacher's principal, even exclusive, goal? As to values, well. I suppose I would listen more attentively than I do to those who play that tune if they were not all too often the very people whose behavior as colleagues and faculty politicians we find despicable. From: Walter Piovesan Subject: MLA bibliography con't Date: Fri, 16 Jun 89 10:14:04 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 133 (254) Re: Charles Faulhaber's comments on the MLA Bibliography. There is a another solution, which I think, would go a long way in addressing the various needs of researchers. And that is for the MLA to provide the product on tape for loading into local database services. This would allow for local distributed access whether by a cash poor student or grant rich researcher. Furthermore having the the product provided on tape would allow installation on a various DBMS, allow for easy access without leaving one's office to trudge to the library to use its CD-ROM versiuon etc. It also offers greater flexibilty over CD-ROM, and does not tie people into expensive specialized hardware. Distributing the MLA in a tape format is something the members may wish to pursue. I have had a number of requests from professors and others to have the MLA available on a local database as the the library has done for ERIC, PyscInfo, Grolier Ency, etc. I would like to see the product so distributed. The MLA has never really offered an explaination as to why it is not made available to universities in such a format. After all it is sold to database vendors such as DIALOG and BRS in such a format. From: D.Mealand@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: Laptop Date: 15 Jun 89 10:33:50 bst X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 193 (255) I find the kaypro 2000+ a good machine because of its ega display. Some laptops are cheap and fuzzy (CGA), others are faster but much more expensive. This kaypro is a good compromise if you want clear display of accents etc but don't need a fast processor. David M. From: N.J.Morgan@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.104 laptops (45) Date: Thu, 15 Jun 89 09:22:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 194 (256) Douglas de Lacey's reference to Sinclair's Z88 "*quiet enough to use in a library*" prompts me to write and ask fellow humanists about problems with access to reading rooms and search rooms for scholars using laptops. In Scotland we have had many problems; the concensus seems to be that "old noise [coughs, sneezes, chatter, sweet/candy wrappings, scratching pencils, distant typewriters] is good noise", whereas "new noise [computer keyboards] is bad noise". So we still have problems with access to the search room of the Scottish Record Office (although the curatorial staff are trying very hard to find a solution to quell the new noise (but not the old)), and have had it indicated that access to other repositories is not guarenteed. Someone did suggest that we could silence the keyboard of our Toshiba (does anyone know how ?); we looked at the Z88 but it was, to quote one colleague, "like typing in wellington boots". Our SRO friends are looking to design a perspex cover to sit over the keyboard and operator's hands. What, if anything, happens elsewhere ? I would be delighted to hear. Nicholas Morgan (Janet) N.J.Morgan@Glasgow.vme (Bitnet)N.J.Morgan@vme.Glasgow.ac.uk And can anyone explain why my Humanist mail arrives in a totally random order, like a Xanaduu [TM] system gone [more] crazy ? From: krovetz@UMass Subject: "Chaos" poem Date: Fri, 16 Jun 89 01:33 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 135 (257) The poem Dr. Lang refers to was apparently written at NATO (or so my copy of it states). The title I have for it is "English is Tough Stuff". Here it is: [the poem is rather long, so it would probably be best to place it on LISTSERV]. ENGLISH IS TOUGH STUFF (Multi-national personnel at North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters near Paris found English to be an easy language ... until they tried to pronounce it. To help them discard an array of accents, the verses below were devised. After trying them, a Frenchman said he'd prefer six months at hard labor to reading six lines aloud. Try them yourself.) Dearest creature in creation, Study English pronunciation. I will teach you in my verse Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse. I will keep you, Suzy, busy, Make your head with heat grow dizzy. Tear in eye, your dress will tear. So shall I! Oh hear my prayer. Just compare heart, beard, and heard, Dies and diet, lord and word, Sword and sward, retain and Britain. (Mind the latter, how it's written.) Now I surely will not plague you With such words as plaque and ague. But be careful how you speak: Say break and steak, but bleak and streak; Cloven, oven, how and low, Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe. Hear me say, devoid of trickery, Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore, Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles, Exiles, similes, and reviles; Scholar, vicar, and cigar, Solar, mica, war and far; One, anemone, Balmoral, Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel; Gertrude, German, wind and mind, Scene, Melpomene, mankind. Billet does not rhyme with ballet, Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet. Blood and flood are not like food, Nor is mould like should and would. Viscous, viscount, load and broad, Toward, to forward, to reward. And your pronunciation's OK When you correctly say croquet, Rounded, wounded, grieve and sleeve, Friend and fiend, alive and live. Ivy, privy, famous; clamour And enamour rhyme with hammer. River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb, Doll and roll and some and home. Stranger does not rhyme with anger, Neither does devour with clangour. Souls but foul, haunt but aunt, Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant, Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger, And then singer, ginger, linger, Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge, Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age. Query does not rhyme with very, Nor does fury sound like bury. Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth. Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath. Though the differences seem little, We say actual but victual. Refer does not rhyme with deafer. Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer. *** Mint, pint, senate and sedate; Dull, bull, and George ate late. Scenic, Arabic, Pacific, Science, conscience, scientific. Liberty, library, heave and heaven, Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven. We say hallowed, but allowed, People, leopard, towed, but vowed. Mark the differences, moreover, Between mover, cover, clover; Leeches, breeches, wise, precise, Chalice, but police and lice; Camel, constable, unstable, Principle, disciple, label. Petal, panel, and canal, Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal. Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair, Senator, spectator, mayor. Tour, but our and succour, four. Gas, alas, and Arkansas. Sea, idea, Korea, area, Psalm, Maria, but malaria. Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean. Doctrine, turpentine, marine. Compare alien with Italian, Dandelion and battalion. Sally with ally, yea, ye, Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key. Say aver, but ever, fever, Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver. Heron, granary, canary. Crevice and device and aerie. Face, but preface, not efface. Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass. Large, but target, gin, give, verging, Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging. Ear, but earn and wear and tear Do not rhyme with here but ere. Seven is right, but so is even, Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen, Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk, Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work. Pronunciation -- think of Psyche! Is a paling stout and spikey? Won't it make you lose your wits, Writing groats and saying grits? It's a dark abyss or tunnel: Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale, Islington and Isle of Wight, Housewife, verdict and indict. Finally, which rhymes with enough -- Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough? Hiccough has the sound of cup. My advice is to give up!!! From: Daniel Boyarin Subject: great book Date: Sun, 18 Jun 89 16:57:59 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 136 (258) I wish to highly recommend the following book for humanists, The Politics and Poetics of Transgression, by Peter Stallybrass and Allon White (Methuen 1986) The following quote is an appetizer: Sharing a house together led us, first, to fierce and deeply felt intellectual disagreement about domestic filth (about which we still hold principled and completeley incompatible views) and thence to a wider discussion of the variety and origins of bourgeois disgust. As each of us attempted to legitimate his own spehere of domestic negligence in definace of the bourgeois purity rituals so dear to the other, the net was case wide for supporting argument and evidence. Mikhail Bakhtin's wonderful book on Rabelais and Carnival,...with its wealth of information on the `lower bodily strata' threatened, at one moment, to end the competition unfairly in favour of the first of us to read it. But then the other, countering smartly with Norbert Elias's...was able to demonstrate indisputable cultural precedence for his curious indifference to the abhorrence in which the middling sort seem to hold aspects of their own bodies. From there it was but a small step to Mary Doublas's...and by this time intellecutal curiousity about the production of identity and status through a repudiation of the `low' had roused us to joint authorship." Sorry for the typos. It's one of the great works of cultural history I've read in a long time. It is very sad that Allon White died last year at quite a young age I understand and at the height of his powers. From: Subject: Re: 3.134 laptops, cont. (59) Date: Sat, 17 Jun 89 23:08:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 137 (259) The Folger Shakespeare Library has 2 large reading halls, connected but remote. Those using typewriters (very few now) and computers occupy the new wing; those writing with pencils use the 1920s Elizabethan hall. The rattle of keyboards seems distant. Some libraries have cubicles. I worked last week at the Houghton Library at Harvard, where 2 big projects of some sort were being carried out -- not only was the rattle obtrusive, but one fellow couldn't (wouldn't?) keep his computer from beeping. At the Newberry, the glass wall dividing the special collections hall is moderately successful in muting keyboard sounds. I can testify that the "new noise" is noisier to those not producing it, and hope that three things will develop: quieter keyboards (and user-friendly beep suppressors), a more widely observed decorum among computer users in quiet places, and more separate but equal spaces for new noise. --- Kevin Berland (BCJ@PSUVM) From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 195 (260) DATE: Friday, June 16, 1989, 15:26:02 MST FROM: John J. Hughes SUBJECT: Spell Checking Transliterated Texts Dear HUMANISTs, HELP! I am looking for a spell checker to spell check transliterated words that contain nonalpha characters that represent accents, breathing, and other diacritical marks. Here are some examples of such words: E)STI\N and PRW/TH and *)IHSOU=J. The spell checkers I have tested (MicroSpell, The Word Plus, Word Proof II) only count alpha strings as whole words. They treat contiguous strings that contain nonalpha characters (such as PRW/TH) as two or more words, because they treat the nonalpha characters (e.g., "/") as word delimiters. Although JET:SPELL is supposed to accept nonalpha characters as valid components of words, (1) I cannot get the program to work properly, and (2) the version I have has a 160-character line limit. The files I need to check have 225-character lines. A spell checker that would accept nonalpha characters as valid components of words would allow users to spell check transliterated texts that contain diacritical marks. I assume that such a spell checker would be useful to many HUMANISTs. Does any HUMANIST know of such a spell checker for MS-DOS machines? The files I need to check have 225-character lines, and these lines may not be wrapped. HELP! John J. Hughes From: Willard McCarty Subject: syllabus project Date: 19 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 196 (261) Morgan Tamplin of Trent University has begun a project on behalf of the (Canadian) Consortium for Computers in the Humanities to collect and publish syllabi of courses in humanities computing. It has occurred to me that we might also collect such syllabi through Humanist and keep them for reference purposes on the file-server. A detailed record of what teaching is going on internationally might help us to strengthen our work locally and could furnish precedents for local initiatives. It would be useful to know, for example, what role humanities computing is being given in the curricula of various institutions and what the instructors consider its content to be. The usual things should be indicated (including whether the course is offered for credit and at what level), though no standardized format could be expected or would even be desirable. If you think such a collection is called for and have a syllabus on hand, then please send it to me. If a collection is already available, let us know. If for some reason an exact copy of the syllabus is not available for publication, a summary would suffice, but the more detail that can be provided the better. Willard McCarty From: janus@thor.acc.stolaf.edu (Louis E. Janus) Subject: Date: Sat, 17 Jun 89 23:06:02 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 197 (262) [Please send responses to the author of this query, who by circumstances has been forced to resign from Humanist and so will not see what is sent here. Thanks. --W.M.] Has anyone used PC-Translator, a translation aide piece of software from Linguistics Products, The Woodlands, Texas? A neighbor is interested in ordering it if it indeed would help with technical material from English into Spanish. Any advice? Do you know of any other similar products? Thanks. Louis Janus janus@stolaf.edu From: bobh@phoenix (Robert Hollander) Subject: Re: 3.126 MLA bibliography (101) Date: Sat, 17 Jun 89 16:05:59 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 139 (263) Charles Faulhaber is to be commended for reminding us of the dreadful state of affairs MLA has foisted on us all. Has any other organization been much worse about making valuable data more difficult to come by now that it is (or could be) available online? I confess that I am not surprised. When I gave up my membership a few years ago one reason that I did so was that the majority of material I received from this scholarly association consisted in advertisements for insurance. The day MLA is more interested in scholarship than money may dawn when the computerized data in its possession is made easily available to scholars. I know that's a radical idea, but I can dream, may i not? From: "Vicky A. Walsh" Subject: scrach? Date: Mon, 19 Jun 89 15:31 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 198 (264) A new regional ACH group is forming in Southern California with a focus on computing support issues. (Tentative names are SCRACH or SCREACH.) Please contact me if you are in this area and interested in participating. We are looking for corporate support, a central meeting place or alternating campus locations, ideas/volunteers for meeting topics, demos etc. Vicky A. Walsh (bitnet: IMD7VAW@UCLAMVS) From: "Vicky A. Walsh" Subject: ach taskforce Date: Mon, 19 Jun 89 15:30 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 199 (265) ACH Taskforce on Computing Support One of the results of the recent conference in Toronto was a new taskforce on humanities computing support. The major purpose of this group is to create a position paper on the essential computing support needs of Humanists. As chair of this group, I am looking for input and taskforce members. I will be calling on many of you over the next months, but volunteers are always welcome. The only criterion for membership on the taskforce is that you have an e-mail address. Please contact me via BITNET at IMD7VAW@UCLAMVS. Even if you do not care to be on the taskforce, you can contact me about what you think are the crucial computing services for humanists. Thanks in advance for your help. Vicky A. Walsh From: Subject: grammar and spelling checkers? Date: 19 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 141 (266) My English Department here at the University of Guelph wants to examine major grammar and punctuation teaching programmes and checkers (preferably checkers which offer students rules for correction) with an eye to putting one or several to use in teaching (site licenses, probably). I would very much appreciate recommendations (with addresses where possible) so we can write for demonstration copies. We have plenty of IBM PCXT hardware and will have a clump of 3 MAC SE's on a LAN by the time we go to choose. From: "A. Ralph Papakhian" Subject: Re: 3.139 MLA bibliography, cont. (24) Date: Sun, 18 Jun 89 22:51:54 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 200 (267) In reply to Hollander's comments on the MLA bibliography: Indeed there is another organization further behind MLA. The Music Index, behind several years in its printed version (though computer produced), provides no access online in any form. It is not available through any of the traditional sources such as Dialog or BRS, nor is it available for local purchase and access. So, you see, it could be worse. N.B. Music Index is not affiliated in any way with the Music Library Association. It is a private concern. Cordially, ***** **** *** **** MUSIC ** *** ** A. Ralph Papakhian, Music Library ** ******* ** LIBRARY Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 *** (812) 855-2970 ***** From: MLAOD@CUVMB.bitnet Subject: MLA Bibliography Date: Mon, 19 Jun 89 13:50:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 201 (268) I had hoped that mention of the MLA Bibliography on Bitnet might instigate considered criticism of this complex and useful bibliographic tool, and you have not disappointed me. In Charles Faulhaber's communique, he made a number of interesting observations, one of which is that the electronic versions of the MLA Bibliography do not follow the bibliographic style recommended in the MLA Handbook. This is correct. The electronic Bibliography conforms to the data display structures of whichever host system it is residing on: DIALOG, Wilsonline, or Wilsondisc. All three systems permit downloading (technically permit it, that is; there are certain legal limits to downloading which I'd be happy to discuss at another time), and I'm sorry if anyone has experience difficulty in doing so. Please call me if this is the case, and I'll try to help you resolve whatever technical problems you are experiencing. Faulhaber and Walter Piovesan further suggested that the MLA should offer site licenses for the electronic Bibliography. I agree, and I hope that we will soon have a tape version available for use by universities. The question of pricing is a difficult one to address. The Bibliography is expensive to produce, and while it is produced as a service to MLA members and to the scholarly community at large, the MLA must try to recover its costs as best it can. Because we currently distribute the electronic versions of the Bibliography through Dialog Information Systems and the H. W. Wilson Company, rather than distributing it our- selves directly to purchasers, the Association receives only a small per- centage of the total revenue generated by such sales. One way to lower costs might be to distribute the electronic Bibliography directly, as we hope to do with the tape version. As for the suggestion that we "cut a deal" with CD-ROM drive manufac- turers to produce a cheaper, more user-friendly machine, I'm afraid that you overestimate our influence on this industry. Cheaper they are certain to become, in time; user-friendliness is a function of the soft- ware, not the drive itself. I'm sorry that Bob Hollander cannot think of another organization which has been worse about making valuable data available online. The MLA was one of the first humanities databases available online; hence our low DIALOG file number (71) which marks us as pioneers of a sort, and hence some of our current problems which derive from being pioneers in a field which has evolved and improved faster than our ability to conform to the latest improvements. I am always happy to try to address questions con- cerning use of the MLA Bibliography. Believing, as Mae West said, that it is better to be looked over than overlooked, I welcome further Bitnet constructive criticism on this topic. Daniel Uchitelle Modern Language Association (212)475-9500 From: Don Fowler Subject: Spellcheckers for non-alpha words Date: Mon, 19 Jun 89 11:11 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 202 (269) A quick check suggests that the Wordperfect 5.00 spellchecker is happy to add words like est/in* to its supplementart dictionary (which is incidentally very easy to use - its easy to set up e.g. a latin spellchecker with it). Don Fowler, Jesus College, Oxford. From: "M. R. Sperberg-McQueen " Subject: German style ckers; syllabi; computer noise in libraries Date: 19 June 1989 10:50:51 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 203 (270) A while back I inquired whether anyone knew of style checkers for German. There's been no response, so this probably means that they don't exist or aren't well known. But on the off chance that someone's holding back because they think "Oh, probably millions of others have already responded to that query," I'd like to post it once again. (Also: I made the inquiry not long before the Dynamic Text Conference, and I know many of the best minds in the business were preoccupied with that and perhaps not finding time to go through their humanist mail....) I think the idea of syllabi available through humanist is terrific. I gather that the idea initially is to use it for humanities courses with a computing component (or vice versa). It would also be nice simply to have a data base of courses on humanities topics so one could see, for example, how other people teach the seventeenth century (in various national literatures, comparatively, or in history....) Might cover too much material to be feasible, but it sure would be nice. I'm amused by the discussion of the "noise" made by computer keyboards in libraries as a source of irritation. It seems to me that whether or not a particular noise is irritating is as much a function of how one is feeling, whether one's work is going well, and one's attitude to particular human habits and technology as it is something that can be measured objectively. My personal pet peeve is loud phones--you would think that libraries, for crying out loud, would want phones with a soft ring, but such is not the case in a surprising number of libraries. In any case, I hope the librarians and computer users can come to an agreement--not being able to use one's laptop while doing research somewhere where the material cannot be borrowed represents a real obstacle. Half--but not completely--in jest, may I propose that libraries consider simply keeping a large supply of Flent's ear stopples on hand for people with sensitive hearing? From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.137 laptops, cont. (29) Date: Mon, 19 Jun 89 08:55:51 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 204 (271) Noise is noise is noise, and those of us who want to study would do so in a battleship at war if that were the available environment. In fact, I have noted in my travels that more studying seemed to occur in campi under construction than those completed and covered with a layer of acoustic moss. I find that one gets used to whatever environment one is exposed to, and any changes, including increased quietude require some time for adjustment. The only constant in life is change. No change = death (mental, physical, etc) From: PACE@WSUVM1 Subject: Date: Mon, 19 Jun 89 10:00:47 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 205 (272) re: Jean-Claude Guedon's note on braille texts There are articles in the July-August 1989 issue of -Micro Cornucopia- magazine dealing with computers for the physically impaired. One by a gentlebeing who types with a mouth stick, and two by Debee Norling, a blind programmer. Debee discusses generally setting up the computer and software for the blind in one article, and programming for the blind in the other. Dallas Vordahl, the gentlebeing with the mouthstick, writes of his exploration of the computer (quite a feat for him) and the specific problems and solutions he discovered. This is excellent reading and highly recommended for HUMANISTS interested in democratic access to computers. The magazine should be available on newsstands, if not in your local library. From: Martin Ryle Subject: RE: 3.132 education and universities, cont. (35) Date: Mon, 19 Jun 89 02:40:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 144 (273) Perhaps some of my colleagues who profess to teach values are none too ethical themselves, but the observation seems beside the point. We all teach values, willy-nilly, for none of our disciplines exist in a value-free vacuum. The particular values that I would hope my students would absorb include such things as intellectual honesty, curiosity, an eye for detail, a respect for theory, and delight at discovery. Martin Ryle Ryle@urvax.urich.edu From: "Matthew Gilmore, Special Collections GW" Subject: Defining the Humanities Date: Mon, 19 Jun 89 22:18:17 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 206 (274) Recently I have been working on an article with a colleague of mine about scholars in the humanities and their use of electronic technology (which I why I joined HUMANIST with alacrity when I ran across it). My colleague was stressing *resistance* to adopting technology. I may try to shift the focus just a little. Anyway, one of the first stumbling block we had was defining *the humanities*. A number of definitions exist, but chiefly in negative form = not science, not social science. Would anyone care to offer suggestions on what makes an academic discipline *humane*? Are there commonalities between anthropologists, philosophers, art historians, etc.? And while I am at it, does computer technology change what goes on in the humanities? (One thing I might wonder about is concordances-- now no one need devote a lifetime to concording. What does this free them to do?) Has anybody published *the answer* already? Thanks for any suggestions you might be able to offer. Matthew Gilmore LIBRSPE@GWUVM 207 Gelman Library 2130 H St., NW The George Washington University Washington, DC 20052 From: CSMIKE@vax.swansea.ac.uk Subject: HUMANIST: Query from a member to members Date: Tue, 20 Jun 89 10:38:26 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 207 (275) A colleague is looking for (public domain?) driver for HP Laserjet series printers for Digital Research GSX graphics. Anyone know where such a driver is obtainable? Mike Farringdon Computer Science University College of Swansea Swansea SA2 8PP U.K. JANET: CSMIKE@UK.AC.SWAN.VAX BITNET: CSMIKE@VAX.SWAN.AC.UK with luck... From: HEBERLEIN@URZ.KU-EICHSTAETT.DBP.DE Subject: machine readable dictionaries italian/frech Date: Thu, 89 0 06:20 CET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 208 (276) Does anyone know of a machine readable dictionary or lemma-list either of French or Italian like the Latin one of Roberto Busa? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Fritz Heberlein From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.142 MLA bibliography, cont. (97) Date: Tue, 20 Jun 89 15:45:20 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 209 (277) Since the subject has expanded to include other electronic texts, I would like to ask for reports, opinions, etc. concerning the Oxford Text Archive, which sells Alice in Wonderland for $30 - $60 and the BYU/WordCruncher library which sells the Riverside Shakespeare with commentaries removed in a format which can only be read by WordCruncher for a total of $600, with a substantial academic discount. I also understand that purchasers of the Oxford Archive files must sign agreements not to pass on any data, even to the point of including works in the public domain (which is true of the WordCruncher library, too, I believe). Alice in Wonderland has been available around here for quite some time for $1 if you provide the disk, $2 if you want one made and shipped. What happened to the stories about the Library of Congress putting all its books on CD-ROM? That way anyone could build a huge library in a single room! From: NMILLER@TRINCC.BITNET Subject: Date: Tue, 20 Jun 89 14:44:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 210 (278) 3.144 education and universities (18) Martin Ryle points out that we all teach values willy-nilly and that the ones he hopes to impart to his students are "intellectual honesty, curiosity, an eye for detail, a respect for theory, and delight at discovery". Well said. But off the mark. The values under discussion, I thought, had less to do with personal qualities (virtue) and more to do with social relations (justice). Mr. Ryle's list, with the possible exception of intellectual honesty, is entirely inner-directed. It is also about as controversial as the Boy Scout Oath. If as he says we live in a value-laden world, he has never- less managed to come up with a list of values that would probably be endorsed from Paris to Karachi, y compris la Russie. Norman Miller Trinity College From: Ouden Eimi Subject: teaching values Date: 20 June 1989 13:59:19 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 211 (279) The values mentioned won't cause any debate. The real fight is between the few who still value a liberal education and those who are united by their illiberal ends. Illiberality makes strange and secret bedfellows -- between the remnant of the radical left, which wants to polarize everything into political camps and orthodox "positions", and the ascendant right, which wants to sell the universities to the highest bidder. The situation reminds me of some businesses, which preach competition while doing everything to avoid it. Real discussion about what is involved gets harder and harder. Those on the left have their most rigid orthodoxies, which present a very narrow plan for thinking and value conformity above everything else. Those on the right prejudice the case by taking on a High Moral Tone and say they're working for the common good. After all, we can no longer afford to sit behind ivy-covered walls and sip sherry, can we? Time to get rid of the deadwood and start serving society by training workers, isn't it? Toss out those tenured narcissists and introduce competition! When the ideals can no longer be understood, how can their value be discussed? How can real values be discussed? OE From: PACE@WSUVM1 Subject: grammar and spelling checkers Date: Tue, 20 Jun 89 11:42:07 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 212 (280) Re: The request for information on spelling and grammar checkers I use RightWriter exclusively as a grammar checker, in combo with WordPerfect's speller and thesaurus. RightWriter (RW) reads the word processor file, examines the document based on rules of grammar which the user can turn on or off, and writes a marked-up copy of the document to a separate file. Much of the work is performed by AI routines in the program. In a recent magazine review, the writer liked Grammatik III better, but I find RW's flexibility and compatibility with WP more to my taste. I think you will find this type of grammar checker both instructive and useful in the classroom situation. I used almost all the grammar and style rules at first, to identify weak points. Then I turned off rules as the correct form became habit. I leave rules for passive voice and split infinitives on, just to keep me on my toes. I turn off the cliche finder. RW also works well in pointing out punctuation problems, unbalanced parens and things like that. Good Luck, Guy. From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 213 (281) DATE: Tuesday, June 20, 1989, 11:46:30 MST FROM: John J. Hughes SUBJECT: Spell Checkers Dear HUMANISTs, Thank you Don Fowler (DPF@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK--Jesus College, Oxford) for providing an answer to my request for a spell checker that will accept nonalpha symbols as valid word constituents. WordPerfect 5.0's spell checker is the solution. To get this spell checker to accept nonalpha symbols as valid word constituents, you must do one of two things: (1) create a Supplemental Dictionary of such words and load it when you use the spell checker or (2) create a file of such words and use the WP 5.0 SPELL utility to add your file to the main WordPerfect dictionary file WP{WP}US.LEX. Although a WordPerfect technical support person told me that a Supplemental Dictionary should not contain more than 300 words, I used one that contained 860 words. To speed up the spell checking process, I created a test file of 860 words and used the WP 5.0 SPELL utility to add this file to the WP{WP}US.LEX file. Then I spell checked a test file that consisted of transliterated Greek, and the spell checking went without a hitch. I found that the program spell checked faster after I had added the file that contained my words to the Main Dictionary than when I used a Supplemental Dictionary than contained these words. Here is a representative list of the type of "words" I added successfully to WP 5.0's Main Dictionary. *(HMEI=J *(HMERW=N *)/AREION *)/EFESON *)=ASSON *)ADA\M *)EGE/NETO *)ELOGI/SQH *)IA/SONA : : :, :: : : KATAGA/GH!J KATAPI/PTEIN KATA\ KATEFI/LOUN KATENEXQEI\J KATERGAZOME/NOU I have spoken on the phone several times with the personnel at POLYGLOT, a firm in Boulder, Colorado, that markets JET:SPELL, a multilingual spell checker. They have promised to let me know what it would cost to do a custom version of their program, one that would accept any printing character as a valid word constituent. I'll pass this information along when I receive it. Thanks, again, Don! Sincerely, John John J. Hughes From: Ivy Anderson Subject: MLA Bibliography, cont. Date: Tue, 20 Jun 89 12:09 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 214 (282) I have followed the discussion of the use of the MLA Bibliography with interest. Those of us in libraries are quite concerned with finding solutions to the issues surrounding access to electronic databases. I agree with the responses to Charles Faulhaber's original statement which suggest an institutional rather than individual solution in the form of networking. It is good to know that MLA is considering direct distribution of the tapes. Presumably, one would still need to supply the search engine (which is what Dialog and Wilson do), and the standard ones such as BRS On Site can still be quite costly, especially for a smaller institution. Some folks are attempting to integrate this type of access with their electronic library catalogs, using the same interface for both -- Arizona State University is doing this with a wide variety of databases, including several Wilson indexes (I don't know if the MLA Bibliography is among them) using software from the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries. As far as CD-ROM goes, this is no longer simply a standalone application. There are at least two networking products which allow you to distribute CD-ROM databases over a PC-based local area network; we have installed one of these at Brandeis. But getting this from the PC LAN to the campus LAN hasn't happened yet, and the database vendors are just starting to develop site licensing fees. Any help that we can get from MLA and other quarters in convincing vendors to keep these prices low would be very beneficial, as many of us are stretching already strapped budgets and resorting to outside funding to support CD-ROM purchases. Institutional solutions can also address the problem of downloading. A number of libraries have fairly well-developed programs to assist users with downloading techniques, and there is some standard software to "massage" citations. At Brandeis we have talked about offering this kind of service, but the demand hasn't been forcefully demostrated. However, it may be a chicken-and-egg type of problem; people don't turn to you for solutions they don't think you can provide. Charles Faulhaber's comments certainly suggest that the need is there: do others agree? The premise here is that the need for access and data manipulation that has been expressed is a very general one, and institutional solutions are an appropriate response. The burgeoning collaborations between libraries and computing centers on academic campuses should bear fruit in this area. From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.142 MLA bibliography, cont. (97) Date: Tue, 20 Jun 89 13:23:09 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 215 (283) I wasn't suggesting that MLA try to get CD-ROM manufacturers to make a cheaper (or more user-friendly) machine, but rather that some sort of agreement be reached to offer CD-ROM players to MLA members at a discount, i.e., make it a package such that technically naive users can get the whole thing from one source at a reasonably price. From: JACKA@PENNDRLS Subject: The Cinema Project Date: Monday, 19 June 1989 2037-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 216 (284) We invite anyone who is interested in collaborating with us in the CINEMA PROJECT to consider the following proposal. Version 3.0 of CINEMA will be completed by the end of the summer along with video scorings for about 50 hours of films and documentaries. We are willing to share this work with the first ten institutions which are willing to invest time and resources in preparing additional scorings for other movies. Such an investment would include: 1. purchase of a video disc station identical with our configuration (est. list cost $10,000). 2. preparing of five video disc scorings (est. cost $5000 for purchasing discs and student assistants to prepare scorings). We will share with those institution all our work as well as coordinate that institution's work on their own video disc project. In addition, we will share the work of the other nine institutions with that institution. In this way, all institutions will benefit from this collaborative effort that should result in a substantial corpus of video material for use in language and literature. If you are interested in this proposal, please let me know as soon as possible. I plan to announce it later this week at an IBM conference in California. I hope to select the ten institutions by August 1st after reviewing formal proposals for collaboration from all institution which may apply. Thank you. Jack Abercrombie Assistant Dean Computing, University of Pennsylvania JACK @ PENNDRLS From: Willard McCarty Subject: Call for papers Date: 20 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 217 (285) Call for Papers P O E T I C S T O D A Y special issue on the application of computers to cultural studies Abstracts or unpublished manuscripts are solicited for a special issue of the journal _Poetics Today_ to be concerned with the computational study of human culture and its artifacts. Papers on the intellectual or scholarly aspects of such studies rather than their technical means are especially welcome. The subject matter is unrestricted. No particular critical perspective will be favoured, but papers should address an audience of non- specialists. Book reviews as well as essays, poetry, and short fiction may be submitted. In all cases the language should be English. Initial submissions are due by 31 December 1989. They may be sent to the guest editor, Willard McCarty, by the following means: e-mail: MCCARTY@UTOREPAS surface mail: Centre for Computing in the Humanities, University of Toronto, Robarts Library, 130 St. George Street, Toronto, Ont. M5A 4A7 Canada. Please circulate this announcement to anyone who might be interested. Willard McCarty 20 June 1989 From: Terrence Erdt Subject: working abstract: CHum issue on telecommunications Date: Tue, 20 Jun 89 12:24 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 218 (286) Special Issue: Telecommunications and the Humanities Editor: T. Erdt The issue will contain articles that introduce the networks and diverse lists available internationally to scholars. It will contain practical information about using Listserv, for example,, as well as about operating lists such as HUMANIST, HUMBUL, PHILOSOP, NOTABENE, and so forth. Additionally, it will contain information about the different online catalogs of research libraries that are available for remote access, and about databases available through remote access to scholars and students around the world. From: Oxford Text Archive Subject: al qur'an database Date: Tue, 20 Jun 89 12:53 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 150 (287) [I am catching up with 3 weeks of unwatched Humanist, so apologies for the delay...] Those interested in machine readable Islamic texts might like to get in touch with A.Barkatulla, Islamic Computing Centre, 72 St Thomas's Road, London N4 2QJ (tel. 01-359 6233), who, according to the glossy at my elbow, distributes two databases for IBM pcs, one based on al-Hadith, and the other on Al-Qur'an. They use a fairly well known British text-retrieval package called STATUS, but it doesn't say you need to buy that as well. I quote: AL HADITH DATABASES For the first time full texts of Al-Hadith from SAHIH-al-BUKHARI, MUSLIM, AL-MUWATT, ABU DAWUD, TIRMIZY and NASAI have been made available on computer PC Micros... in the English language... Al Qur'an Database is intended to supplement the abiove by supplying references and full text. [it's not clear whether the Qur'an text is in English or not] They are also working on a thesaurus of Islamic terms. Lou Burnard Oxford Text Archive From: Subject: Re: 3.146 education and universities, cont. (68) Date: Tue, 20 Jun 89 19:48:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 219 (288) Perhaps I'm naive in this regard, but, _pace_ N. Miller, the notion of making what appears to be a mutually exclusive division between virtue (as a scheme of personal values) and justice (a scheme of social values) makes me very uncomfortable. Perhaps what I'm trying to say is that my ideal university seeks to combine the two enquiries. -K. Berland From: Geoff Rockwell Subject: Re: 3.146 education and universities, cont. (68) Date: Wed, 21 Jun 89 12:49:36 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 220 (289) It seems to me that teaching virtue is unlike other subjects. The problem of what virtue is, and hence the problem of whether it can be taught haunt any teaching of virtue. If Socrates can be said to have taught virtue, something he would have contested, it is by making the teaching of virtue an issue. This is unlike the teaching of WordPerfect, in that no one discusses the possibility that WordPerfect cannot be taught in a WordPerfect course. (Except the poor soul that has to teach it.) While the teachability of WordPerfect is not an issue when WordPerfect is being taught, it is when virtue is being taught. In fact, the Socratic dialogues and our discussion on Humanist suggest that, only by making the nature of virtue and the possibility of its instruction an issue, can it be taught, if at all. (In the "Meno" Socrates ends up by ironically suggesting that virtue can only be aquired by divine inspiration.) Aristotle and the Athenian Stranger in Plato's "Laws" offer a more satisfying answer. Both argue that virtue is a combination of disposition (being disposed to be virtuous if you can understand what it is) and education. The disposition to virtue is trained while the understanding of the virtue is taught. Training takes place at home and in primary schools, when the student is young. A student that is not disposed to be virtuous will not profit from any education later on. Such a student, if ill disposed, may abuse the education (become a sophist or an purveyor of virtue.) I suspect that Aristotle is right, that no amount of education at the college level will teach virtue to someone who is not so disposed. Few students who get to that level, however, will be viciously disposed, so there is hope. (High school teachers have a tendency to flunk students with "bad attitudes.") Is it then possible to teach those who are not vicious? I think Socrates would argue that we have to reverse the question. We have to ask of ourselves, "is it possible to learn to be virtuous?" Taking this question seriously and sharing our concern with our students is the closest we can get. Who wants to claim they know what virtue is, such that they can say whether it can be taught? Yours Geoffrey Rockwell rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca From: unh!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Learned journals" Date: Wed, 21 Jun 89 10:15:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 221 (290) At the same time that I relish our discussion of values and of how ostensibly extremist positions begin to resemble each other, I'd like not to lose the thread of an intriguing subject: the intellectual (if not ideolo- gical) value/s of our learned journals. Perhaps someone can suggest a publication along the lines of a university's apparently, but not always, superfluous "Committee on Committees." That is to say, is there a forum where we may all discuss the relative and absolute value/s of our journals by discipline? If the subject interests you, I'd relish a comparison of the MLJ, FLAnnals, PMLA, MLN, CALICO Journal, System, and other notable acronyms. --Joel D. Goldfield J_GOLDFI@UNHH.BITNET From: unh!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "MLA Bibliography" Date: Wed, 21 Jun 89 10:26:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 152 (291) Looking at the recent comments by Ivy Anderson, Charles Faulhaber and others, the resonant chord seems to indicate that we need as many cost= effective forms of access to CD-ROM and other database media as possible. While I find the CD-ROM, Dialog and other databases or query systems in our library appropriate, especially when I actually have the time to examine the texts or periodicals discovered, being able to conduct similar research from my office would often be just as useful, especially when there are time constraints. Admittedly, this type of networked access would be even more effective if I could also call up the pages, audio or video information of the text, tape, CD-ROM or videodisc on my monitor. Perhaps in the not-so-distant future. How do all are library science experts feel about these possibilities? --Joel D. Goldfield J_GOLDFI@UNHH.BITNET From: David Megginson Subject: Is there anyone out there? Date: Wed, 21 Jun 89 08:40:05 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 222 (292) Is there anyone out there who... Uses an Atari ST or Mega computer? Uses it for text analysis? Writes text analysis or concording programs in "C"? LISP? Prolog? (for any machine) Works with early Middle English and computers? I would love to get in touch with other programmers and other Atari users. Reply either through Humanist or directly to me at David Megginson From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 223 (293) DATE: 06/21/89 FROM: Hans Rollmann (hans@mun); Memorial Univ. of Nfld SUBJECT: HyperLink from Neil Larson SUBJECT: HyperLink from Neil Larson ----------------------------------------------------------- I'm in the beginning stages of constructing some Hypertext systems in the areas of Religious and Intellectual History with Neil Larson's HyperLink and Hyperrez software tools. I'd appreciate exchange with anyone who has used this software for developing hypertext applications in the humanities. Please reply to the BITNET address above. Thanks. HANS ROLLMANN. From: Charles Ess Subject: 3rd party hard drives Date: Wed, 21 Jun 89 09:07:39 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 224 (294) At the risk of wearing out my welcome among HUMANIST readers -- yet another plea for help and advice. Our Public Relations Department is shifting over to a Macintosh DTP system, and I have been asked for an opinion on third-party hard drives. Because our academic Macintosh installation runs A/UX, we have stayed with Apple drives -- and so I have no opinion to offer. Do HUMANIST readers familiar with the Macintosh world have any recommendations for third-party hard drives? Tales of both positive and negative experiences would be welcome. Proleptic thanks, Charles Ess From: Malcolm Hayward Subject: Machine-readable Texts Date: 21 Jun 89 16:02:03 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 225 (295) Anyone know of machine-readable texts for Coleridge, GM Hopkins, Hart Crane, or Dylan Thomas? Any help would be appreciated. Also, is there anyone doing computer analysis of metrics? It would seem a natural, but I do not remember seeing mention of that on humanist. Thanks. From: John McDaid Subject: checkers Date: Tue, 20 Jun 89 20:38 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 154 (296) Re: request for info on spelling and grammar checkers While the advances in AI routines for these packages are quite substantial over their crude ancestors, it should still be an open question -- especially in writing classes -- if we want to submit developing writers to such frankly rule-oriented review. It is not so much *that* there are errors in a student text as the *logic* of these errors, and while this is old news, it is something that no AI routine is yet capable of penetrating. For this reason, I recommend programs like PROSE, rather than any spelling or grammar "checker." PROSE (available in both Macintosh and IBM versions from McGraw-Hill) allows readers to embed comments and flag "errors" in a text PROSE (which stands for Prompted Revision Of Student Essays) was developed at the Cornell writing program. It allows either the instructor or other students to focus on meaning problems (which can arise from grammatical or conceptual bases) rather than on surface features. Reviewers embed markers in the text which open into hypertext-like "windows" in which they can pose questions or insert commentary. PROSE does have a selection of standard "grammatical" markers which come with pre-written descriptions of the error. I feel that focussing on errors in this way, with understanding being the determinant rather than algorithm, is ultimately more respectful of the complexity of a student's (or anyone's, for that matter) text. -John McDaid New York University From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Mail to USCVM Date: Wednesday, 21 June 1989 2359-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 226 (297) To: KRAFT@PENNDRLS USCVM has a service virtual machine called a mailer. They expect incoming electronic mail to be sent to that machine, which forwards it to the user. We have sent mail to the mailer in the past. Every so often a site that runs a mailer switches to an "improved" version of the mailer software that rejects mail from sites which do not have mailers. I have changed our table of mailers so that BITMAIL will send mail directly to individual users at USCVM rather than to the mailer. I think this will fix the problem. Let me know if you have any further trouble. From: R22750@UQAM Subject: Date: 21 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 227 (298) SUBJECT: Montaigne A three-page article in the French newspaper LIBERATION of june 15 about the sensational discovery of what can be construed as the first draft of Montaigne's Essays prompted me to ask Toulouse Humanist R. Gauthier to summarize the find. He himself went directly to his colleague Ithurria and sent me the following, which I believe will be of interest to all Humanists. M. Pierssens ---------------------------------------------------- On May the 20th Mr Ithurria wrote the following announcement for the benefit of his colleagues at Toulouse-le Mirail : A few months ago, I informed you of the discovery of a collection of Apophthegms, dating back to 1560, the margins of which were crammed with handwritten annotations in french, about 5000 notes and citations. I have now completely decyphered it and feel confident that : - The writer's annotations are without doubt from the same period as the edition of the book itself (1560-1580). The book is by Lycosthenes and was recorded by VILLEY, an expert on the sources and evolution of Montaigne's ESSAYS (thesis written in 1908) who has been regrettably forgotten since. Lycosthenes is mentionned in the 1908 Index. - There are many affinities with "Montaigne's Library" such as we know it from the work of specialists, especially concerning his being strongly influenced by Plutarch (Moralia, The Lives , Amyot) and by the italian "Historians", Guicciardini, Machiavelli. -Most of the anecdotes or statements about ancient characters that Montaigne reproduced in his works are pinpointed by the writer with a set of cross-references to the book itself and to other works. Let us be reminded that the LYCOSTHENES contains 6000 apophthegms with more than 800 thematic entries. - The nature of the writer's work closely resembles that of Montaigne as we know it, owing to Andre Tournon's thesis "La Glose et l'Essai" : Montaigne himself tells us that he has no "gardoire" (a note-book in which he could keep all his citations) ; precisely the handwritten annotations are "centrifugal" , they explode into many contradictory points of view on various themes and are full of legal references, the importance of which has been highlighted by Andre Tournon. The latter who is informed of my work, considers that there are already "strong points" which should enable me to identify this writer as Montaigne's spiritual brother, if not as Montaigne himself. - Last, the writer's choice of words is very similar to that of Montaigne, since almost all rare words used by the writer are the same rare words used once or twice in the ESSAYS as they have been listed with the help of a program called LEAKE. There are enough serious arguments to scientifically support what remains an hypothesis and, at least, to prepare the edition of a book which should be fundamental as far as "Cultural practices of the stopeenth century" are concerned. Etienne Ithurria. Toulouse le -Mirail (translated by R. Gauthier@FRCICT81. BITNET) From: Willard McCarty Subject: items from the Times Literary Supplement Date: 21 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 228 (299) Three interesting things from the TLS, no. 655, 16-22 June. 1. A review by Oswyn Murray of books by Eric Havelock, Jack Goody, Ruth Finnegan, Bruno Gentili, and Jasper Svenbro, on orality and literacy. Murray speculates about the crucial role of the pioneers in communications theory. "The communications theorists were prophets before their time, preparing the way of the Computer.... Without their theories, the computer might have developed peacefully as a tool for scientists; it was their claims for the importance of communications technology which made IT the name of the game, and eased the path to money and power for the new computer barons. We are perhaps indeed undergoing another `literate revolution', which has been called into existence by the prophets of the 1960s; but if so we should note the signs that indicate how man in fact remains in control of his destiny, and moulds technology to his own ends. For it was not to be (as they predicted) an age of television: the new technology has in fact been directed away from the image, and back towards the (processed) word. It is the Message that has made the Medium." 2. A tribute to Bruce Chatwin by Hans Magnus Enzensberger. "For the unwillingness -- or incapacity -- to perform according to the invisible rules of the game has by now become a necessary condition for meaningful writing. In a culture where everybody is talented, you need a peculiar sort of immunity to survive. Chatwin never delivered the goods that critics or publishers or the reading public expected. Not fearing to disappoint, he surprised us at every turn of the page. He ignored the mainstream, but neither did he settle for the niche of the anti- novel or bury himself in the chic dead-end of some self- proclaimed avant-garde." 3. A note by Stuart Klawans on the phenomenal success in the U.S. of a book first privately printed by the author and distributed from his home, _Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun_, with endorsements from the executives of half a dozen powerful corporations. "Robert Schuller, pastor to the corporate elite, calls the text `inspiring'. John C. Bahnsen, a bridigier-general in the US Army, testifies that the book's advice has led him to `inward reflection'." Willard McCarty From: Subject: Third-party hard drive for Macintosh Date: Thu, 22 Jun 89 14:05 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 229 (300) In reply to Charles Ess, I used a DataFrame XP20 with my MacPlus for two years. I went at it pretty heavily. It was fast and did not crash even once. The software that came with it was incompatible with my new SE/30, though, so I surrendered it. ---Joel Farber From: Subject: Metrical analysis Date: Thu, 22 Jun 89 14:15 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 230 (301) We have developed a Macintosh program that analyzes the meter of the Iliad and the Odyssey pretty well for the Macintosh. We have two applications that employ it to different ends: one, a tutorial to lead students through the scansion, and the other a research tool that provides for the collection of statistics on several aspects, such as caesura. It runs fast. Of course, Greek meter, being based on a quantitative system, is very different from the stress-based system found in English (and in other aspects of academic life), so I doubt that the principles would carry over. ---Joel Farber From: "Matthew Gilmore, Special Collections GW" Subject: MLA/ remote access Date: Wed, 21 Jun 89 22:07:54 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 157 (302) Dr. Goldfield: The technology for what you would find desirable is coalescing, what is lacking is $$$$$$$$$. Right now plans are underway to mount the Wilson indexes onto the NOTIS online library catalog at some locations. Medline already can be loaded onto NOTIS and at UCLA is available through one of the online catalogs there. Dial-up access to the online library catalog is reality at UCLA and other places too. You need a PC, modem and account. So loading tapes for bibliographic databases into online catalogs is just about here. The problem is computer memory/$$. It takes a big computer to support a big bibliographic system. Tapes cost money, programmers cost money. CD-ROMs can be accessed via LANs too--same thing, dial up from your PC. What needs to happen is faculty need to get the university to invest in the equipment and data. Computer centers and libraries tend to be rather underfunded for what they would like to do. Matthew Gilmore From: Norman Hinton Subject: quoting HUMANIST Date: Thu, 22 Jun 89 09:37:26 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 158 (303) That subject should be "citing HUMANIST". A fellow medievalist and I have completed a concordance to the wroks of Robert Henryson. We used Word Cruncher. A publisher is almost certainly going to bring it out, but he/they want a rather extended discussion of computers and concordances in our Introduction. Of course the job of writing about computers falls to me. The discussion in HUMANIST about concordances---whether they should be published (obviously I agree with you about this), lemmatization, etc, And since we used a Kurzweil to get the Henryson on disc, the Intro should also have discussion of OCR readers. Now, HUMANIST has had interesting discussions of all this material, but in- formally, of course. Can that material be cited ? SHOULD that material be cited ? If so, do you know any established format for citations from electronic conferences/notesfiles/whatever ? From: Subject: education & universities Date: Tue, 20 Jun 89 23:12 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 159 (304) So, let me play devil's advocate for a minute. What exactly is it that would be lost if we were to, oh, say, close all the universities? (besides your jobs, of course, but, hey, I didn't see YOU out protesting when 500,000 blue-collar workers were laid off last year, so why should they give a hoot about you?) With life-long learning, on-job-training, "business" spending more dollars on education and training within house than the country spends on higher-education (since, from its view, Higher education doesn't seem to be working), and research for dollars certainly as do-able in a research plant as a "university" -- what's the point? Why keep them around at all eating up dollars that could be spent on social problems that all these university trained PhD's seem to have gotten us into and/or be unable to solve for us anyway? If the university cannot (a) instill values that matter and (b) demonstrate that they matter, then what exactly IS their reason for existence any longer? At some point, some catastrophe event will occur and "people", faced with ever INcreasing social problems on the one hand, and "scientists" on the other who want billions for subnuclear or exo- galactic studies, will simply say "enough -- I don't understand what you're working on, but I'm pretty sure it's not MY problems so why the *&()*& am I paying for it?" [ there, that should stir the waters ] From: Jim McSwain Subject: Gulf Coast Historical Review Date: THU 22 JUN 1989 16:55:00 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 231 (305) As book rev. editor for the GCHR, I wish to invite HUMANIST members to notify me if they would like to be placed on a list of potential book reviewers for the journal; it appears twice each year and contains reviews of history books, and books from other fields, by Gulf Coast authors or about the history, geography, etc. of the coast. Further, article submissions are welcomed; they should normally include illustrative material from an archive, etc., to enliven you submission. Send your name if interested by E-mail to me at f0a8@usouthal, or an article on standard paper to GCHR, editor, History Department, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL., 36688; 205-460-6210 M-F 8- 5pm CST (daylight). Regards,... James B. McSwain, f0a8@usouthal From: Willard McCarty Subject: biographical supplements 19 and 20; ListServ, part 3 Date: 23 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 232 (306) I have finally been able to edit the accumulated biographies of new, and not so new, Humanists. These have been placed on the file-server as BIOGRAFY 20 and BIOGRAFY 21 and will be sent out on Humanist sometime this weekend. If on looking through these files you discover that your recent biography is not there, and you think it should be, please just send it to me again. During editing I may have inadvertently lost a few (because of the end-of-file characters that tend to get hidden in mainframe files). I say it every time, so I must say it again: we are a very motley crew of the most interesting kind. Welcome to all you new ones, and not so new ones! The third part of David Sitman's description of ListServ and its ways, known as LISTSERV DESCR-3 on the file-server, has just been updated. I will soon be incorporating all three parts into the Guide to Humanist, which will be sent you when it is done. For this reason I am not circulating part 3, revised, on Humanist immediately. My thanks to David for his work, very necessary and very well done. Willard McCarty From: db Subject: Re: 3.151 education and universities, cont.; journals (94) Date: Thu, 22 Jun 89 22:20:51 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 233 (307) It seems to me that one significant way that we can legitimately teach values (which for me includes a significant commitment to the full humanization of all reified people--women, Orientals etc.) is by demonstrating the constructedness of social practices that appear to be natural entities, thus opening them up to critique from a value point of view. Thus teaching the constructedness of the gender relations in our society and thereby showing students that it does not have to be that way is a significant political move that does not violate the spirit of liberal inquiry and freedom on which the idea of a university is based. Daniel Boyarin From: "Ouden Eimi " Subject: teaching values, discovering them Date: 23 June 1989 06:35:20 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 234 (308) Teaching values makes me nervous. I think what we need to do instead is to preserve the practice of disinterested inquiry and let the values come of themselves. The illiberality I spoke of has taken aim from both sides (in many ways one side) against such inquiry, which threatens the tight band of commitment to a limited program. And not always an openly published program either. How many of us still understand what the word "disinterested" means? How many of us understand the serious problem that historical provincialism makes for opening the mind? Especially when we are so ready to take peculiarly modern ideas, march back a few centuries, and stomp all over a culture with very different notions than our own -- and without a second's hesitation? Those who stomp tend not to hesitate, I think, because they don't even notice the differences in ideas, or will not allow themselves to notice. Those with a commitment to a limited program, right or left, cannot afford to let themselves notice such things. Doing so would threaten their identity, which is a pretty anxious thing anyhow. Disinterested inquiry can only be managed by a confident people, and I think we are not so confident anymore. OE From: John McDaid Subject: RE: 3.159 education and universities, cont. (35) Date: Fri, 23 Jun 89 10:13 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 235 (309) [deleted quotation] Neil Postman has suggested, in "Teaching as a Conserving Activity," that the real function of universities is to preserve alternative visions. Especially in the scenario of private-sector "life long learning" and "on the job training" which will always be motivated, at bottom, by economics. We have given television over to this force; do we want education to follow? You don't need quantum mechanics to flip burgers. On the other hand, it seems likely that universities, as presently constituted, cannot survive the digital revolution. Life-long learning, and delivery of education to publics not now served become possible when the installed base of PC's and ISDN create a true "network nation." The university, then, will no longer be in the business of selling seats in a classroom, but rather of facilitating dialogue; helping people make connections, problematizing discussions. The "universities" may well close. Their offspring, however, if alternative visions are to be preserved, must be able to walk a fine line between integrating technology (and market forces) and retaining critical perspective. The people most ready for this challenge are reading this right now. -John McDaid From: David Megginson Subject: Re: 3.159 education and universities, cont. (35) Date: Fri, 23 Jun 89 14:04:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 236 (310) In response to the letter from the semi-anonymous devil's advocate (that's a semi-anonymous advocate for the devil, not an advocate for a semi-anonymous devil), professors are people who like to make a lot of speeches and have power over others. If they did not have universities to play in they would probably move into P O L I T I C S Politicians are already bad enough. Remember, it only costs a little more to keep a professor in a university than it does to keep a felon in the pen, and yields even greater benefits to society. David Megginson From: FLANNAGA@OUACCVMB.BITNET Subject: report on the conference (and on Humanist's effect) Date: Fri, 23 Jun 89 11:01:55 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 162 (311) To My Colleagues [distributed 22 June 1989] [deleted quotation]Subject New Worlds in Scholarship Over 450 scholars who connect computer technology with humanism met in Toronto last week. They were comprised of government representatives from the nations of France, Canada, the U.K., France, West Germany, Italy and the U.S., representatives from the think-tanks of IBM, Bell Laboratories, and the Max Planck Institute, and academic representatives from everywhere from Teneriffe to Osaka and Beijing. In their papers they discussed computational linguistics, translation and the teaching of language, lexicography, archaeology, anthropology, history and literature, among many other topics. What the scholars are doing is exciting for all their disciplines. They are using the speed, the accuracy, the memory-storage, and the counting ability of the computer to help them create enormous databases, to encode those databases using artificial intelligence techniques so that their information can be synthesized and retrieved quickly. The software and hardware they are using is already able to relate the different media of words and pictures quite easily, in combinations only limited by the imagination of the user. A graduate student in English at the University of Toronto has entered every valuable original text of the Shakespeare plays in primary versions into one large textbase, and he can quickly search for clusters of images, compositorial habits, structural coherence, or synonyms. Archeologists at the University of Southampton are teaching students how to discover, chart and describe artefacts using computer simulations before they go on-site, and archeologists at the University of Toronto have entered the identifying marks from all known Greek amphoras as one database that can can be used to chart Greek history and migratory patterns quite easily for the entire classical period. Historians and literary critics of the classics can begin now to use the products of the Perseus Project at Harvard, whose aim is to collect all classical drama (among many other databases) together with translations, together with photographs of archeological sites and statuary; the project is also designed to be easily accessible to students in any university in the world. The French Ministry of Culture is developing a similar program for French culture. I saw the prototype of IBM's mainframe program Critique, which may help a great deal toward what Northrop Frye in his keynote address to the conference called one of the highest of academic goals of the computer: grading student essays. Critique uses the memory storage of the mainframe to help analyse any body of writing for grammatical errors, Malapropisms or any misuse of words or phrases. Critique can distinguish easily among *they're*, *their*, and *there*. Other multi-media language programs will allow students to watch a movie like the German *Three-Penny Opera* and touch various parts of the screen to stop action or view the lyrics of a song Lotte Lenya is singing. At Oxford University, specially designed user-friendly software will allow any student to enter the Oxford Text Archives to search any of the texts stored there in their original languages. Professors can assign tutorial students a text-search and turn them loose to find things on their own. History professors at Southampton can ask students to the same thing with primary historical documents stored in interactive programs for students to play with off-hours. Lexicographers from all over the world are looking at enormous national dictionaries such as the *OED* as repositories of all knowledge, not just of definitions. Shakespeare is the most-often-quoted author in the *OED*, and Milton is the third, so both those authors can be re-constituted according to various formulas or clusters of words using the entire corpus of the *OED* in all its gigabytes, using software specially designed to manipulate all the knowledge stored in the dictionary for quick retrieval. Lexicographers from Italy and Holland are following suit. The scholars who met under the aegis of the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing and the Association for Computers in the Humanities in Toronto truly see all knowledge as their province. They also see their community as a global village connected for the very rapid transfer of data through electronic mail. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: MicroForm Scanning Date: Friday, 23 June 1989 1002-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 163 (312) I received a call from someone in NY who claimed to be able to deliver a "black box" for converting 16mm microfilm into digitized electronic form, at a cost of roughly $40,000. "Probably" this could be adjusted to do 35mm fairly easily, although microFiche would be more difficult. He is supposed to be sending more details. At present, I do not know whether he is himself the developer, or is fronting for someone else; whether the price that was mentioned (sort of in passing) is firm and predictable; whether other special hardware would be needed (the box apparently runs with IBM-DOS machinery); etc. It is clear that once the digitized material is in hand, software for analyzing it (character recognition, etc.) would be necessary, so what is offered is simply the ability to scan directly from the microform images to graphics form, and does not address the question of OCR software (Optopus, TextPert, TrueScan, Kurzweil, etc., as discussed on HUMANIST and at the Toronto conference recently). Nevertheless, I have been looking for a long time and this is the first actual claim that such a device could be purchased by a user (there is a company in England that will do the job for you). Hopefully, the claim is true and at least one of our centers or libraries will be able to take advantage of the situation and set up a self-supporting service for such scanning (the issue of analyzing the digitized output could be separated, and distributed; that is, if conversion from microform to digitized form were centralized -- at least until the price of the equipment became more reasonable -- there could be a variety of locations at which the decipherment and verification of the results could be accomplished). Anyhow, I plan to follow up on this and to urge others who might be in a better position to obtain the necessary funding to do so as well. The contact person is Irving Green Skan Teknologies Inc [not "Ink" !] 555 Chestnut Street Cedarhurst NY 11516 tel 516-295-2237 Its a dim light in a long tunnel.... Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: MORGAN@LOYVAX.BITNET Subject: RE: 3.143 divers comments (109) Date: Fri, 23 Jun 89 10:05:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 164 (313) I am responding to the discussion about spell-checking. Word-Perfect in fact not only accepts foreign words, but also HAS foreign language spell-checkers. The WP 4.2 did also, but for Italian, at least, is quite poor; the person setting up the dictionary wrote in all accents, which is only done on the final tonic syllable in Italian. I have not had a chance to check the 5.0 version for Italian, or any other language. Perhaps someone who has can respond. For style, I have heard that a parser for German is nearing completion. My source for this is JRUSSELL@SBCCMAIL (John Russell at Stony Brook). I don't know how it will be used, or if it is available (or will be available) to the public. There are rave reviews about Syste'me-D for writing in French; again, our French colleagues would be better equipped to respond. I hope this is of interest. I will follow further postings carefully as I too am interested in style-checking, particularly as a possible tool for undergraduate writing. Leslie Morgan (MORGAN@LOYVAX) Asst. Prof. of Italian Loyola College, Baltimore MD From: EIHE4874@VAX1.CENTRE.QUEENS-BELFAST.AC.UK Subject: Urdu Date: Fri, 23 JUN 89 09:03:46 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 237 (314) Barbara Crossette's article in the NY Times (June 4, 1989) circulated on HUMANIST recently was interesting. As an Urdu speaker, as well as one who dabbles in Urdu calligraphy, I would very much like to know what has been done to bring the Nastaliq script to our screens (and printers). Any information would be most welcome. Yet the article also left me a little puzzled. If Urdu is one language that has "still eluded the typesetters", (and therefore presumably the computer-wallahs), then this implies that the problem of Persian has been solved. And if the problem of Persian has been solved, then Urdu presents no difficulty, as all that needs to be added is one little diacritical to modify certain dentals making them retroflex. Furthermore, if Persian has been set, this would obviate the need for an adapted Arabic type for Urdu (which is used quite widely) which looks most ugly (see Platts dictionary of classical Hindi and Urdu, for example). Urdu may be a minority language, but we ought to remember that "minority" in the Indian/Pakistani context can still mean many tens (scores even) of millions of people. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Swedish E-mail Address Request Date: Friday, 23 June 1989 0918-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 238 (315) A letter from someone at Lund SWEDEN suggested that I could "send the material electronically c/o Peter Bryder at: Weng@GEMINI.LDC.SE" but I am getting rejected using that address. Can anyone help me? Thanks! Bob Kraft From: daniel boyarin Subject: medieval romance word Date: Fri, 23 Jun 89 16:39:07 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 239 (316) In the fourteenth century in Germany, there appears a new literary genre in talmudic commentary called glosses of "gornisch". Since these same texts are referred to in Hebrew by a word that means margins, I suspect this of being a medieval french word that has some such meaning. does anyone know of a usage of "garniture" or something like that to mean the margins of books where one would write glosses. it could be somewhat earlier than the fourteenth century as judaeo romance tends to be quite conservative. Any help will be much appreciated. From: UDAA270@ELM.CC.KCL.AC.UK Subject: AIE 89-45 update on the Rose theatre campaign Date: Tue, 20 Jun 89 18:40 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 166 (317) ROSE THEATRE UPDATE 16TH JUNE After Ridley's announcement on 15th that the Rose would not be scheduled "at this time", the Rose Campaign phoned supporters to come to the site to show interest and watch the doings of English Heritage. Quite a few people were there at 6.30, some of whom had spent the night. Lorries were due at 7.30 (it was 9.00 in the event) bringing sand to cover the Rose and protect it, as it is rapidly drying out in the hot weather. The Campaign did not intend to obstruct these, as the protection is necessary. Several radio and television teams were there, and more protesters arrived during the early morning until there were about 40. Ian McKellen gave a television interview in which he criticized Simon Jenkins (Deputy Head of English Heritage) for guaranteeing that there will be no damage to any part of the Rose from Imry's latest building plans (earlier Jenkins had said there would be some damage. An archaeologist and a conservator working for English Heritage arrived, and answered questions from the protesters about their measures to cover and protect the Rose, refusing to be drawn on whether the site should be scheduled or fully excavated, or other wider implications. "I'm only a hireling," said one. Everyone agrees that the site must be covered, but the method is contro- versial. The English Heritage people explained that no site of this size had ever had to be treated before. They will cover the site with a layer of polymer (already in place), then with two metres of a special fine sand, as used on the Huggin Hill Roman Baths site, because it is inert, can be wetted, and will exclude oxygen. On top of this will be an impermeable membrane to stop air getting in, and a thin layer of lean-mix concrete. People could walk on this without cracking it, and Imry have agreed that no vehicle shall go on it. The covering will stay in place for about 15 months. The Museum of London archaeological team, the original excavators sacked last week by EH, do not agree with this method. The unions of the two sets of archaeolo- gists are still discussing the irregular situation caused by the sacking and substitution. The pilings are now to be TEN feet across (six feet was last week's rumour), and will pass within inches of the exposed walls of the Rose. Pilings will also be driven into the unexcavated part, after very local digging by the EH archaeologists, which the Museum of London team fear will damage the remains. It is ludicrous for English Heritage to "guarantee" that no damage will occur from the massive earth-disturbance and vibrations, or from building on unexplored areas. The viewing area for the Rose when the car park and office block are on top of it, between the huge "stilts", is now to be 17 feet high instead of the up to 22 feet promised earlier. This sounds like a mean and unworthy way to display these unparalleled remains (or what is by then left undamaged of them), and the whole scheme, far from "protecting" or "saving" the Rose as reiterated by Jenkins and Ridley, looks like a shabby little compromise aimed at saving only government cash. No building can start until the revised plans are passed by Southwark Borough Council on 3rd July. Meanwhile the Campaign will ask for a judicial review. Further information and petitions from: The Rose Theatre Campaign, c/o Shakespeare Globe Centre, Bear Gardens, Bankside, Southwark, London SE1 9EB, telephone 01-928 4555. Deirdre Kincaid. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 21 June 1989 Dr. Susan Brock, librarian to the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham is keeping a cuttings file on the discovery of the remains of the Rose theatre to date and its reporting in the press. I have noticed that several correspondants who have responded to my previous messages about the Rose have connections with the press or have managed to contact the press elsewhere. Could I pass on a message from Susan - I've been saving cuttings on the Rose developments from the Times, Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, Sunday Times, Observer and Sunday Telegraph but would be grateful for anything else especially from papers in the States and elsewhere. If you can send out a request for information on our behalf that would be a great help. Please address any cuttings or copies you might wish to send (annotated with journal, date and page) to: Dr. Susan Brock - (Rose cuttings) The Shakespeare Institute Church Street, Stratford-upon-Avon Warwickshire CV37 6HP England. Sincerely, Stephen Miller c/o Dept of English, King's College London, The Strand, LONDON WC2R 2LS England E-Mail JANET: UDLE031@UK.AC.KCL.CC.OAK From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Universities Date: Fri, 23 Jun 89 21:42:32 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 240 (318) Wade's message was of course intended to be provocative. However, I think the position of industry is misrepresented. While industry does engage in considerable education, it is largely education at the high-school and undergraduate level, and largely directed at making employees competent in fields they did not choose to, had no opportunity to, or failed to succeed at studying while at a university or in high school. The situation at the graduate level is far more grim. We graduate fewer and fewer Ph.D.s in vital areas of technology (e.g. Computer Science) and industry doesn't seem to know much about creating Ph.D.s (they send their people back to universities to get advanced degrees). I've been told by representatives of one of the telephone operating companies that they have pretty well decided that there simply will not be enough technically trained people available in a decade to fill the jobs they will have. The existing staff are becoming obsolete as newer and newer technologies replace the basis for how the telephone system operates. However, they have also concluded that re-training won't keep up with the demand either---so they are going to try to change the jobs such that computers can do a lot of the work, advising the available human beings. Some of what this seems to imply to me is that: (1) Universities in order to survive are increasing enrollments by propagating (or at least not denying) myths that the real world wants to hire people with expertise in fields which the real world really doesn't need. People will go to universities and enjoy themselves entertaining their brains and pay for this. Society will try to accomodate the graduates by settling on degree categories which are prerequisites for jobs; but then have to re-train the people anyway. Graduates in many areas find employment in completely different areas (e.g., humanists with computer skills working in computing jobs). and either, (2a) We haven't properly motivated enough people to go into the fields which a technological society needs (e.g. children not liking math finding encouragement or tolerance from their parents that math is unlikable); or, (2b) we are actually at some edge of human mental abilities beyond which one cannot attract more people to studying the prerequisite technical fields needed to operate a society based on advanced technology. That somehow we have found a limiting factor in the use of technology by creatures genetically evolved from a natural environment. If (2a) we need to rethink the educational system. If (2b) we've got a much bigger problem. Technology isn't the only way to run a civilization, however up until now it may have been most effective way to allow small numbers of people (1st world nations) to compete with larger numbers of people (3rd world nations) on an equal or superior basis. Anything they can do, our machines can do better and faster. However now that our machines are computers, we are being asked to think with them at their speed of work and at their level of competence. We're pretty poor at that. We're good at interacting with the natural environment, but relatively poor at symbolic mental reasoning. We have invented a whole slew of things to help us think, such as mathematics, but even with mathematics we are in need of crutches to juggle the digits accurately. It just isn't the sort of game we can win--but the computers can win at that. So... where might we be heading? Of what use is a human being to a civilization sustained by technologies so advanced that human beings can't understand them, operate them, or design them. Certainly we have ample evidence that we're making mistakes in introducing technologies that are destroying the natural environment--a symptom, if you will of our inability to comprehend the technologies since they aren't like our natural ecosystem in their behavior. Virtually every technology we create gives us a short-term advantage over the natural environment, but at a longer-term disadvantage because the technology either consumes the natural enviroment in order to operate or destroys it as a by-product of its operation. Many times it does both at the same time. So... it may be that the university needs to be the meeting ground between these two forces of our destiny, the human being really only capable of living in a natural environment and the computer capable of directing our technologies. Without the university where would this meeting take place? Industry won't train people for non-industrial tasks. A worldwide network alone would reduce humanity to attempting to establish an equivalence between the bits of information we have codified about the world and the world itself. The world is infinite, the bits finite. From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.159 education and universities, cont. (35) Date: Sat, 24 Jun 89 07:29:00 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 241 (319) re: Wade's comments on the University role of instilling values Should the University instill values or expose students to them? I would suggest a parallel to free-will versus determinism. From: "Matthew Gilmore, Special Collections GW" Subject: education and the university Date: Sun, 25 Jun 89 17:25:52 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 242 (320) Willard and other contributors to the education and the University discussion: A contribution, borrowed from the most recent CHE (Chronicle of Higher Ed.) p.B3 "At times in our past, the call for a shoring up of or a return to a canonical curriculum was explicitly elitist, was driven by a fear that the education of the select was being compromised. Today, though, the majority of calls are provocatively framed in the language of democracy. They assail the mediocre and grinding curriculum frequently found in remedial and vocational education. They are disdainful of the patronizing perceptions of student ability that further restrict the already restricted academic life of disadvantaged youngsters. They point out that the canon-- its language, conventions and allusions--is central to the discourse of power, and to keep it from poor kids is to assure their disenfranchisement all the more. The books of the canon, the Great Books, claim the proposals, are a window onto a common core of experience and civic ideals. "There is, then, a spiritual, civic, and cognitive heritage here, and ALL our children should receive it.... This is a forceful call. It promises a still center in a turning world. "I see great value in being challenged to think of the curriculum of the many in the terms we have traditionally reserved for the few; it is refreshing to have common assumptions sbout the capabilities of the underprepared so boldly challenged." [deleted quotation]achievements of America's underprespared* (1988:The Free Press) by Mike Rose, associate director of writing programs, UCLA. This may be straying a little away from the central arguments under discussion, but Rose's comment about the canon being, in his terms, the discourse of power, is illuminating. A previous contributor suggested an emphasis on *constructedness*, so that students could deconstruct discourse and relations. Not a particularly helpful suggestion, I think, if it leads to a simply relativistic anything-is-ok-because-they-have- constructed-it-that-way attitude. There are values upon which our educational/social system are founded. If students haven't gotten that by the time they hit the University, then its the University's job to inculcate those values. That is the irony of this. Those who would have the University teach values would probably be horrified at the values of the "teachers", truth to tell. Comments? From: daniel boyarin Subject: medieval romance word Date: Sun, 25 Jun 89 13:05:33-020 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 243 (321) [deleted quotation] MY COMMENT: In Romance languages, e.g. Italian "cornice" = "frame" (= Modern Hebrew "misgeret"), such use looks quite possible, as glosses are written on the "frame", the margins that enclose the text. This should be the case also for the medieval French (or Jewish Rhenisch Romance?) "gornisch". By the way, I once happened to browse a Jewish toponomastic lexicon from the 19th century, but is there any (possibly recent) material specifically devoted to the German Judeo-Romance toponomastics (and/or women names) of places especially in Germany? Ephraim Nissan onomata@bengus.bitnet From: Ephraim Nissan Subject: How to cite Humanist Date: Sun, 25 Jun 89 13:25:45-020 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 244 (322) I thought that the discussion on citing was already settled. Personally, I advocate citing mandatorily, though with no copyright, which was -- if I recall properly -- the original suggestion by Willard. The format of citations from Humanist that I have already employed in a paper (meanwhile, published), is: (Ryle 1989) in the text (but this depends on style) and, for the bibliographic entry: LEGEND: ******* in a smaller point; ======= italicized Rile, M. 11 February 1989 Historical Simulations. *********** Humanist Mailing List , ===================== ************************** In Troff (the text-formatter I use, under Unix), I would write the above lines as a comment (after ' \" at the beginning of each line). The source code processed, instead, is as follows: Ryle, M. \c \s-1\c 11\c \&\ February\c \s+1 1989 \c Historical Simulations. \c .I Humanist Mailing List .R \s-3\c \c \s+3\c , Vol.\c \&\ 2, No.\c \&\ 592. \s-1\c (Author's address: History Dept., University of Richmond, Virginia).\c \s+1 ' \" What is not clear, to me, is whether we should provide the author's affiliation, as usual for technical reports, or, instead, stress the location of Humanist in Toronto (in more detail than by just stating the e-mail site is UTORONTO). Regards, Ephraim Nissan onomata@bengus.bitnet From: Daniel Boyarin Subject: Re: 3.164 spell-checking (35) Date: Sat, 24 Jun 89 22:26:57 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 245 (323) Nota-Bene has a provision that essentially allows any word list to become a spell checker. At present I know of someone who is preparing a Russian spell checker to work with NB. It will contain only about 20,000 words initially. If you are interested in info on this please write to me on surface mail: c/o Department of Talmud Bar-Ilan University Ramat Gan Israel I will answer in the fall (I am traveling all summer). From: Jim McSwain Subject: re: comment on Kraft/microform scanning Date: SAT 24 JUN 1989 13:28:00 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 169 (324) Very interesting hardware note; I could use it to convert material from the Pollard & Redgrave, Wing or 18th C. STC projects to digital form, except all represent major capital investments by corporations and or alleged non-profit or inefficiently run gov. archives, libraries etc. who seek to recoup their investments. Won't this conversion invite copyright lawsuits or infringement problems, etc.? If your conscience allowed you could do it privately, but surely a center at one's university would gain legal attention quickly?? Hope it will be otherwise....JMcSwain From: (Terrence Erdt) Subject: call clarified, re-edited Date: Sat, 24 Jun 89 08:36 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 246 (325) More on the issue of Computers and the Humanities to be devoted to the subject of Telecommunications and the Humanities I recently sent Willard a message about the plan for a special issue of CHum to be devoted to the subject of telecommunications. My intention was not, at that point in time, to send it to all Humanists, but to elicit suggestions from Willard for the success of the enterprise. Accompanying the message was a brief and bare note about the possible scope of the issue, hardly dressed for public view. My intentions unfortunately were unclear, and the elliptical little piece appeared abortively before Humanists's eyes. Several queries about the blurb have reached me, so let me say more: The special issue will appear next year (vol. 24, no. 6). Suggestions to help define its scope are welcome, and proposals for articles are invited. The deadline date for proposal abstracts is July 15, 1989. The deadline for the completed manuscripts abstracts will be February 1, 1990. I would appreciate suggestions as to what sort of materials ought to go into the issue. The tentative plan goes as follows: The issue will contain articles that introduce the networks and diverse lists available internationally to scholars. It will contain practical information about using Listserv, for example, as well as about operating lists such as HUMANIST, HUMBUL, PHILOSOP, NOTABENE, and so forth. Additionally, it will contain information about the different online catalogs of research libraries that are available for remote access, and about the databases available through remote access to scholars and students around the world. I hope the above information resolves the earlier confusion. Do make suggestions and proposals. Terrence Erdt erdt@vuvaxcom (215) 645-4670 Associate Editor Computers and the Humanities Graduate Department of Library Science Villanova University Villanova, PA 19085 U.S.A. From: Willard McCarty Subject: private or public mail? Date: 25 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 247 (326) Those of you who have been on Humanist some time will have seen a note to this effect before. Please forgive the repetition. Because every message you receive from Humanist is first filtered through me as editor, ListServ puts my name and e-mail address in the "From:" line of everything it sends out to Humanists. For this reason, those who use the "reply" function in their mailers to respond to Humanist in fact send their contributions to me rather than to Humanist. ("Reply" is so handy a way to respond that it would be utterly futile for me to protest, so I don't.) The result, however, is that public as well as private messages arrive in my account, and I have no way to distinguish them other than by content. Sometimes this is very difficult to do, so I rely on my own judgment, and sometimes (mirabile dictu!) my judgment fails me. So, if you send me private mail that on no account should be published, please label it as such, unless you can be absolutely certain that I will understand your intentions. A story is told about an office worker in one of the departments of the U.N. in New York, who when a new wordprocessing and communications system was installed, decided to write a personal note to a friend in another, physically distant office. The note, when finished, contained much gossip of the most personal and embarrassing kind about some prominent co-workers. The hapless victim of high-tech then pushed a button to send the message, but got the wrong button, with the result that the signed message was immediately distributed to all news desks in the U.N. Most of the time I can support the claim to being more intelligent than a button, but not always, so beware! Willard McCarty From: Willard McCarty Subject: killing in Tien-an-men Square Date: 24 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 248 (327) An eye-witness report to the killing of students and others in Tien-an-men Square, Beijing, PRC, can be obtained from Martin Ryle, ryle@urvax.urich.edu, by request. He asks in return that you forward to him any other such reports that you may have. Please do not send requests to Humanist but directly to Martin Ryle. Willard McCarty (with permission, on behalf of Martin Ryle) From: Jude Wang Subject: British Museum library policy regarding portable computers Date: Fri, 23 Jun 89 16:25:01 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 249 (328) One of the English Department faculty is planning on doing some research at the British Museum library. She has a small portable computer which she would like to be able to use for notetaking, etc. Does anyone happen to know what the library's policy is? Thanks in advance. Jude Wang Humanities Computing Facility Arizona State University From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.162 Dynamic Text conference report (91) Date: Sat, 24 Jun 89 05:55:18 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 250 (329) I was very interested in Flannagan's report on the Dynamic Text Conference, and would like to encourage more. My particular interests are the references to the OED (is it really gigabytes or is that only if you include associated materials?) and the other files referred to as in use at Oxford. My thanks to Flannagan for getting this started here. From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.156 Mac hard drive; metrics (41) Date: Sat, 24 Jun 89 08:36:35 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 251 (330) re: Joel Farber's Mac scansion program for Greek meter Would you be so kind as to post the particulars for obtaining a copy? From: Willard McCarty Subject: biographical supplement 19 Date: 23 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 172 (331) Autobiographies of Humanists Nineteenth Supplement Following are 37 additional entries to the collection of autobiographical statements by members of the Humanist discussion group. Humanists on IBM VM/CMS systems will want a copy of Jim Coombs' exec for searching and retrieving biographical entries. It is kept on Humanist's file-server; for more information, see the Guide to Humanist. Further additions, corrections, and updates are welcome. Willard McCarty Centre for Computing in the Humanities, Univ. of Toronto mccarty@utorepas 23 June 1989 ================================================================= *Algazi, Gadi Researcher, Max Planck Institut fuer Geschichte, Hermann Foege Weg 11, Goettingen, D-3400, German Federal Republic, (551) 49560 I am an Israely historian, currently working on a dissertation in medieval history. I was born in Israel, 1961, studied European history, Arabic studies, and literature at the University of Tel Aviv, Israel. Since 1986 I have been working on my doctoral dissertation at the Max Planck Institut fuer Geschichte, Goettingen, and in October 1989 I am about to begin to work here as a research fellow. I am equally interested in history, sociology, anthropology and cultural studies. My current research project addresses a series of questions related to the growing use of written documents in Germany in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. Examining the codification of peasant oral normative traditions, I try to trace the changing configurations of orality and writing in late medieval society in the context of peasant-lords relations, state formation and the development of learned law. I am interested in medieval culture, classical arabic history, art history, cognitive anthropology, the sociology of communication, cultural studies, oral tradition, popular culture, marxism, peasant studies, sociology of the intellectuals, Jewish history, the sociology and anthropology of israely society, the rituals of the academy, and, unavoidably, politics. I use NotaBene extensively, and employ its TextBase to keep track of all my notes, bibliographies, comments and drafts. I find it the best wordprocessor I have had. As a student I worked as a typesetter on a variety of front-end systems using CORA-V for Linotype systems. I then switched to the Macintosh world and worked for two years as a programmer for a small israely software house especialized in desktop publishing systems. I am especially interested in exchanging views with young people in the social/human/cultural sciences, not necessarily on computers and the like. From my experience with medievalists, few of them are likely to be subscribers of Humanist. But I`ll be happy to find out I`m wrong. English, French, German, Arabic, and of course, Hebrew, could be used. ================================================================= *Anderson, Clifford Wilfred or (to July 31,1989): Psychology Department, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester U.K. M20 9PL (after September 1,1989): Psychology Department, Brandon University, 270 18th Street, Brandon, Manitoba CANADA R7A 6A9; (204) 728-9303 I teach undergraduate psychology courses for which I am fitted by training in Industrial and Counselling Psychology and my research interests in the role of affect in human motivation and the objective measurement of the expression of emotion in poems, short stories, advertising copy, stories written for and by children, political speeches, and other narratives. The computer system I use for this, LOGOS, was developed in collaboration with Dr. George McMaster (Mathematics and Computer Science). This system depends upon universal qualities of English, so that it can be used across authors and materials, and, potentially, languages. ================================================================= *Aronson, Shlomo Professor, Poli. Sci. Dept., HBU, Mount-Scopus, Jerusalem 972-2- 8883278 Born Tel-Aviv 1936. Served in IDF 1954-6. Studied at HBU, U. of Munich, Germany, Free U. of Berlin History and Poli. sci. 1956- 1966 (Dr. Phil 1966). Since than at HBU - except for wars (1967, 1973, Lebanon) as War correspondent, and for a short period as Director of News and Current Affairs, Israel TV. Areas of research: the Holocaust, Arab-Israeli Conflict, Israeli Politics, Nuclear Proliferation in Mid-East. Also columnist and comentator on political affairs at various Israeli and foreign media.. Served as visiting Prof. at UCLA (holder of Holocaust Chair, and as visiting scholar at Brookings Institution, in Wash. D.C.) ================================================================= *Baier, Randal Emerson (Randy) As of June 12, 1989 my position will be Cataloger, Southeast Asian Materials, Olin Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Current phone in Ann Arbor is 313-996-8570. I am an ethnomusicologist by training, specializing in the music of Southeast Asia, especially that of West Java in Indonesia. I am coordinator of Southeast Asian music reviews for the journal Asian Music, have published two articles on Sundanese (West Java) music, and have given several conference papers concerning various aspects of Sundanese music and culture. Interests include Popular music and culture ; History of travel and photography in Southeast Asia ; Agricultural ritual and music ; Voices of popular resistance within musical performance. I have just recently become a librarian/info specialist with a degree from the library school here at the University of Michigan. Currently I'm working as a reference librarian for Oakland Community College in Farmington Hills, Michigan. ================================================================= *Baima, John K. D024JKB@UTARLG Dept. of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, Summer Institute of Linguistics, Univ. of Texas, Arlington; 7246 Cloverglen Dr., Dallas, TX, 75249, USA; (o) (817) 273-3695 (h) (214) 709-8987 I am the author of Lbase a database program with works with grammatically tagged texts. I am currently continuing to develop Lbase and am working on another software project for linguists. ================================================================= *Berghof, Oliver G. University College, Oxford OX1 4BH England; messages left for me under GB/865/276602 will be handed on to me through the University College Lodge. Having read English and German Literature and Philosophy at Oxford and the University of Konstanz, West Germany, I shall embark on a Ph.D. at the University of California at Irvine from August onwards. My subject will be Comparative Literature but my interests stretch beyond what is usually understood to fall within its scope, including AI, aesthetics (computer graphics...), astronomy and windsurfing (the latter two being mainly connected through the tide ...). For purposes of computing I am at present stirred by the first notions of analysing texts beyond one - to - one pattern matching which cluster around words like 'hypertext' and 'concept encyclopedia. ================================================================= *Berland, Kevin H. Department of English, Penn State - Shenango, Sharon, PA 16146 USA. (PhD McMaster 1983: Indirect Ethical Discourse in the Novel: Fielding, Dialogue, and Dialectic). Teaching English at Penn State since 1982. Research interests: 18th-Century British Literature (Fielding, Henry Jones the Bricklayer, Frances Brooke, Johnson, Beckford, history of poetry); emblem studies; historiography; long-term project on the reputation of Socrates in English letters before 1800. Published essays on Bacon, Dryden, Johnson, Br ooke, Fielding, and Socrates & the New Science. Welcome references to Socrates and Xanthippe in writings before 1800. I mainly do wordprocessing, but I'm al so interested in database work for bibliographies (I've been working on a listing of William Beckford's library on Q&A). Also online ESTC searches. I do some composition instruction work, but that's my bread & butter & I do it well but do not love it & do not wish to boast of it in public. Other research interests: physiognomy, historiography of philosophy... ================================================================= *Borowiec, Edward J. Professor of English and Linguistics and Assistant Dept. Chair, Dept. of English, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA 90840 Tel - (213) 985-4223 or 985-4212 (985-4212) Professional interests: Applied linguistics, psychlinguistics, kinesics, semantics and semantic theory, rhetorical/discourse theory, the teaching of writing, computer composition, technology in the English classroom, baccalaureate level writing proficiency testing. I am currently involved in preparing materials (possibly in text form) geared to credentials candidates (prospective teachers of secondary language arts) who, under CA law, must be computer literate. What little time remains is given to research in semantics and pragmatics (my doctoral dissertation, U. So. Calif., 1971 was in semantic theory). ================================================================= *Boyarin Daniel Department of Talmud, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel 972- 2715612 (home) My current research interests are primarily in literary theory and the study of Talmud and midrash. I have just completed a book to be published at Indiana called Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash and am currently working on a project on the Discourse of Sexuality in Talmudic Judaism. I have been very involved in the development of the Hebrew version of Nota-Bene and am interested in any font support in Semitic languages and Greek for dot matrix and laser printers. I am using a database system to prepare a critical edition of a midrash with not yet entirely satisfactory results and would like to confer with others using such systems and methods. ================================================================= *Braam, Hansje Dep. of Comparative Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, State University at Leyden, P.O. BOX 9515, 2300 RA LEIDEN, Netherlands; 071-272628 I am working on theory, design and usage of databases giving special attention to applications in the field of (non-western) languages and cultures. I am developing a multifunctional database management system that can handle the problems that evolve here. Special interest: advanced programming languages and techniques, automatic morphology recognition, logic, semantics and philosophy of language, and last but not least history of philosophy. ================================================================= *Brians, Paul Professor of English, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-5020 (509) 332-4645, (509) 335-5689 Macintosh user and teacher. Posters for classes, handouts, filing, page layout. Edit departmental and scholarly newsletters using PageMaker. Involved in project to create a World Civilizations survey course for all WSU freshmen. Author of NUCLEAR HOLOCAUSTS: ATOMICWAR IN FICTION 1895-1984 (Kent State University Press, 1987) and many articles on nuclear war in fiction. ================================================================= *Bridges, Karl Department of History, 309 Gregory Hall, University of Illinois, Champaign IL 62801217-333-1155 Ph.D student under Vernon Burton. Primary interest is slavery and southern family life before 1850. Secondary interests include 19th century Latin America and colonial United States. I am also interested in the use of computers for research and computer assisted instruction. M.A. from Miami of Ohio under Jack Temple Kirby. Thesis on slaveholding in southern Pittsylvania County, Virginia, 1850. ================================================================= *Bzdyl, Donald G. (BZDY609@CLEMSON.BITNET) Associate Professor of English, Department of English, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634 803-656-4031 After getting my Ph.D. in English from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in 1977, I've been employed at Clemson where I teach a wide variety of courses (18 different ones over the years) ranging from graduate seminars in Chaucer and Old English to sophomore courses in British, American, and World Literature to remedial Freshman English. I have published on a variety of subjects in Old English, and this summer my translation of Layamon's Early Middle English _Brut_ will be published by Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies. My interest in computers dates from 1985 when I began putting my translation on Clemson's IBM mainframe using Waterloo Script. Currently I direct the Writing Lab and also serve on the College of Liberal Arts Computer Committee where we are wrestling with how best to utilize limited funds to enhance our computer facilities. ================================================================= *Carroll, Joseph F. Director, Academic Services Computer Center, Univ. of Puerto Rico, PO BOX 23352, Univ. Station, Rio Piedras PR 00931; (809)764-2258 By training I am an Experimental Psychologist. At the present time I am the Director of Academic Services in the computer center. I am involved in training students and faculty from different disciplines in the use of the computers. Major area of interest is in the application of technology for the disabled ================================================================= *Chesnutt, David R. David Chesnutt, editor of the Papers of Henry Laurens, has been actively involved in developing computer applications for scholarly editors since 1975. He has served as a consultant for a number of projects in the U. S. and Canada in all fields of the humanities. His current interests are in the adaptation of "desktop publishing" tools for scholarly publications and the development of standards for the interchange of humanities' texts. Fellow HUMANISTs may be interested to know that the mainframe computer-assited indexing program developed for the Laurens Papers (CINDEX) is now available from the Newberry Library at Chicago in a MS-DOS version which is infinitely easier to use. Data files for the micro version are completely compatible with the mainframe version. (It's much easier to do large cumulative indexes on the mainframe.) ================================================================= *Chou , Hung-Ming F4 No18 Ln261 Techang St. Taipei Taiwan ROC , (02)3071736 This is Atonis. Atonis is my English name, and it's also a Greek name. I am 24 years old now , and am a male. I graduated from Soochow University last year, and received a Bachelor degree in Computer Science Department. I am familiar with micro-computer ( pc/xt , pc/at ). Because I work for Computing Center in this school, there are many opportunities to learn about the IBM mainfraim. I heard this list-serve from mail via Bitnet. Because there is one report named 'Database advice' that attract my attention very much, I think it is better for me to join with you. I am going to America in August this year to continue my study career. So I have to learn a lot of informations and study many report as I can. It is appreciated that you could give me your fruitful experiences. ================================================================= *Cotton, Joseph Computer Analyst, 3710 Kingwood Sq. Baltimore MD 21215 USA (301) 358-6162 As a computer professional, I have used many of the popular computer systems and I am familiar with the business. As a Rabbi, with about eight years of rabbinic studies at Yeshivot in Israel, I still have an open mind and an interest in the Humanities. I am curious about this list and would like to contribute where I can. I belive the humanist outlook runs deep within Talmudic thinking, and would like to put this to the test. ================================================================= *Cziffra, Lisa . Data Librarian, Princeton University. CIT Research Services, Princeton University, 87 Prospect Ave., Room 310, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA; (609) 452-6249. ================================================================= *Damerau, Fred J.; , CSNET: Research Staff, IBM Corp., Thomas J. Watson Research Center, P.O. Box 218, Yorktown Heights, NY, 10598 (914-945-2214) Education: B.A. Cornell University, 1953, Mathematics; M.A. Yale University, 1957, Linguistics; Ph.D. Yale University, 1966, Lingusitics Employment: IBM Corporation, 1957 to present. Research into the application of linguistic theory to processing of natural language data, since 1968. The major application area for this work has been question answering systems for relational data bases. As a consequence, I have considerable experience in relational data base design, the SQL language, and IBM data base products. Previously worked on information retrieval systems. Other employment: Pace University, 1981 to present. Adjunct Lecturer in Computer Science Have taught undergraduate courses in Artificial Intelligence and Data Base Design and supervised independent study students. Professional activity: ACL Journal Co-editor, 1982; Computers and the Humanities, Editorial Board 1980-; Information Processing and Management, Editorial Board 1985- Memberships: Linguistic Society of America, Association for Computing Machinery, Association for Computational Linguistics, American Association for Artificial Intelligence. ================================================================= *Del Vecchio, Tommaso Assistant in Latin Language and Litterature, University of Bologna, Italy; Dipartimento di Filologia Classica e Medioevale, Via Zamboni 32-34, 40126 Bologna (Italy), Tel. (051) 258515/258506. Interests: Latin Metre, exspecially Plautine Metre. Classical Philology, automatic systems for manuscripts analysis. Automatic systems for classical text analysis. My interest is concerned with the utilisation of automatic systems for classical texts analysis on the one hand, and with the systems themselves on the other. I have in mind to make a critical survey on these systems, so I'm asking around to let me know who has got such an automatic system, whether this system is on sale, and at what price. My interest is naturally concerned with classical texts on tape too. Also in this case I would like to know whether these texts are on sale, and at what price. ================================================================= *Dickson, William R. 261 New Road, Box 729, Avon, CT 06001 -or- University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Ave. West Hartford, CT 06117 (203) 693- 1525 FAVORITE QUOTES: "I had no shoes, and I pitied myself. Then I met a man had no feet, so I took his shoes." -Dave Barry; "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here, this is a war room!" -The President in Dr. Strangelove; "I drank what?" -Socrates FAVORITE BOOKS: The Hitchhiker's Trilogy by Douglas Adams; The Pyrates by George MacDonald Fraser; The Star-Bearer trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip; Illuminatus! by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson; I Gotta Go by Ian Shoales. In addition, newspaper columns by Dave Barry. FAVORITE MUSIC: Talking Heads; dIRE sTRAITS; REM; Peter Gabriel; Kate Bush; Dead Can Dance; Sinead O'Connor; Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel. FAVORITE MOVIES: Casablanca; Brazil. ACTIVITIES: Whitewater canoeing (solo, in an open slalom boat); theatre; playing with my computer; roleplaying and semi- roleplaying games; models; flying kites; reading. LONG-TERM AMBITION: To get out of this country and make a living in a bookstore. SHORT-TERM AMBITION: To survive long enough to graduate. ================================================================= *Engel, David Senior Lecturer in Jewish History, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv Israel, (03) 545-9277; Meyerhoff Professor of Modern Jewish History, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, (215) 898-2184 (Visiting until July 1989) Specialist in modern Jewish history, especially in political history of Jews in Poland and Russia in 19th and 20th centuries and in history of Jews under Nazi occupation. Interested in general history of Central and Eastern Europe as well. Editor of Gal-Ed, a bilingual (Hebrew/English) scholarly annual devoted to the study of the history of the Jews of Poland. Have published extensively on Jewish question in Polish politics, especially during and immediately after World War II. ================================================================= *Farber, J. Joel (Note underline between "J" and "F".) Steinman Professor of Classics, Department of Classics, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17604-3003; (717) 291-4128; FAX: (717) 291-4158 My research interests are now primarily in papyrology, specifically centering on Elephantine and Syene (Aswan). I have been working most with the Patermouthis archive, which stretches from the late fifth to the early seventh centuries, C.E ., but I have also got to deal with a few Hellenistic documents. Legal and social issues are my primary concern. I collaborate with Bezalel Porten of the Hebrew University (Bitnet address: HNUBP@HUJIVM1), an Aramaicist, who has published extensively on the Jewish documents from Elephantine. Our aim is to put together a picture of the social, legal, religious, and economic continuities of life in those twin communities (Elephantine/Seyene) over the span of 1200 years. Our latest publication: BASP 23.3-4 (1986) 81-98. Greek political theory has been--and continues to be--another interest. I wrote on the propaganda of Hellenistic kingship and its debt to Xenophon in AJP 100 (1979 ) 497-514. I teach Greek, emphasizing the epics and tragedies, so I keep current in those fields as well as I can. With regard to the epics, I am a unitarian, uninterested in orality, full of admiration for the work of Norman Austin, Daniel Levine, Seth Schein, James Redfield. In connection with the tragedies I like to study the films of Ingmar Bergman for thematic parallels. I teach my elementary courses from the JACT texts, with fair satisfaction. I am 56. My children and grandchildren live in Chapel Hill and Raleigh (North Carolina), where I frequently spend weekends. ================================================================= *Feddersen, Mark Senior Analyst, Library Automation project, Information Services, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, (812)-866-2222. I am a computer systems analyst by profession, but with a great interest in events in the world of teaching and literature. I took a B.A. at University of California, Berkeley, in Humanities (under Alain Renoir). Since then, I have been a travelling musician, a house-builder and cabinet-maker. I am an avid reader of European and South-American modern fiction. Professionally, I am very inter- ested in projects involving "computing for the humanities." My work involves providing tools to scholars who need to gain access to the resources of major research libraries, commercial databases, and administrative/managerial information. ================================================================= *Fried, Morris L. Asst. Dean & Director, Off. of Public Service & Applied Research, Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, Box U-13 Professional activities presently include directing & teaching in the University's Labor Education Center, as well as an Int'l. Institute of Public Service (for public adminstrators from developing nations), and three other institutes. Joint appointment in Sociology, in which I received my doctorate years ago from the New School for Social Research, where I was impressed by a philosophical/historical/qualititative approach to the social sciences, and which were reflected in both my MA thesis and dissertation, as well as other work done since. Present interests include a broad range of historical sociology, politics, and attempting to understand the social world. I 've learned that the owl of Minerva only takes wing at dusk. ================================================================= *Gerson, Lloyd P. OR Associate Professor, Dept. of Philosophy, U. of Toronto St. Michael's College, 81 St. Mary's St., Toronto, Ontario M5S 1J4 Canada; (416) 926-1300 Ex.3374 Member of Graduate School of U. of Toronto; Member of St. Michael's College. Main interests: Ancient Greek Philosophy; Metaphysics; Philosophical Theology; Epistemology. Main publications: Articles on Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, and Augustine; Translations and Commentaries on Aristotle; Translations of Hellensitic Philosophy; a monograph "God and Greek Philosophy" forthcoming from Routledge. Current project: A monograph on Plotinus. ================================================================= *Gilmore, Matthew or Public Services and Manuscripts Librarian, Special Collections, 207 Gelman Library, 2130 H St., NW, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 20052; (202) 994-7549 (202) 994-7548 FAX I am an information scientist and a historian (MLS from UCLA). What I have looked at and continue to research is scholarly communication and research methods in history and how computer technology can (and cannot) be used. This includes interests in Human-Computer Interaction, user interfaces and graphics, and hypermedia. And subject analysis and category theory and database design. And necessitates belonging to: AHA, ALA, ASIS, ACM, OAH, etc. I worked with Dr. Donald Case at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at UCLA--who shares many of these same interests. The article which forms my starting point in this is due out in The Indexer presently. ================================================================= *Hakeem, Farrukh P.O. Box 2055, LIC, NY 11102; (718) 721 2572. I am a student in the Ph.D. program in Criminal Justice at John Jay College. I have just begun to explore this marvellous world of computers. I use it mostly for statistical programs: spss and sas.I would like to learn more. ================================================================= *Halporn, James W. Chairman, Department of Classical Studies, Professor of Classical Studies and Comparative Literature, 547 Ballantine Hall, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 812-855-6651; 702 Ballantine Road, Bloomington, IN 47401; 812-332-6868 (I prefer receiving mail at home). Research interests: Latin palaeography and text-criticism; Greek and Latin metrics; Christian Latin (Patristics); Ancient Drama (Greek tragedy and Roman comedy); history of classical scholarship, especially nineteenth and twentieth century; women in classical studies (19th / 20th century); literary theory and criticism. Editor: Cassiodorus, De anima; Co-author, The Metres of Greek and Latin Poetry; Contributor, Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (Greek/Latin metrics). Articles and papers on the subjects mentioned above. I have been involved in work with computers since the 1961 IBM conference on computers in the humanities. Currently the Department is in the process of developing, with University support, a program for the use of computers in classical studies. All members of the department are now supplied with PCs or the equivalent. The equipment is mainly DOS oriented, but there is a Macintosh SE and an IBYCUS computer (the latter with the relevant TLG and PHI CD-ROMs). We hope to be in contact with users of the UCLA Classicist's Workbench and of the Perseus Project. I would also be interested in hearing from classicists using NotaBene, WordPerfect, DukeFonts, MacLink, HP scanners, etc. about their experiences in handling multiple fonts for video and printer drivers. ================================================================= *Hart, Michael S. Systems Analyst, 405 W. Elm, Urbana, IL 61801 Current projects include putting the Great Books into machine readable form, plus an unabridged dictionary. Plans are to charge a truly minimal fee such as $1 for materials up to 150Kb, for larger files add $1 per 100Kb. Fifteen years have gone into this project, which I will view as personally completed when we have released 10,000 $1 volumes of the highest quality complete with indices, concordances, as well as introductions and commentaries. Hardware/ software development to assist in this project also consumes my professional interest and has led to speaking engagements on this and related topics. I am very interested in conversing with others who may be interested in this or similar projects for use on systems from micros to mainframes. ================================================================= *Hasbrouck, Mary Academic Computing Coordinator, Computing Center, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA 19081; (215) 328-8528 I have worked in the Swarthmore College Computing Center for the past 5 years, providing software support to students and faculty, writing documentation, testing new applications, supervising the student consulting staff, and doing some programming. This year I am the computing coordinator for the humanities. I have been offering workshops to get beginners started with computing (introductions to the Macintosh and the Vax, to our new campus network, to word processing applications, and to using electronic mail locally and over Bitnet), and looking for programs that would be useful for humanities professors here. ================================================================= *Haupt, Edward J Associate Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Montclair State College, Upper Montclair NJ 07043 usa 20 yrs ago I finally finished a PhD in social psychology. Like my aero engineering degree from 10 years earlier, it's something I don't do. I have had an interest in linguistics, particularly semantics, so I am now interested in changes in terms from the Germans who started experimental and the Americans who continued it. To do this I do data bases, tree structures, etc. I would like to talk to anybody who is interested in terminology tree structures and nets and use of data bases for collecting such data. I guess this means I want to be part of Humanist. ================================================================= *Hawley, Michael Software engineer, NeXT, Inc; Doctoral candidate, MIT Media Lab My research interests are in multimedia information retrieval, though practical interests have more to do with textual data. I implemented many of the text-oriented applications introduced with the NeXT machine (e.g., Webster's Ninth, etc). ================================================================= *Jappy, Anthony G. Institution: Faculte' des Sciences humaines, Universite' de Perpignan, 36, Chemin de la passio vella, 66025 PERPIGNAN CEDEX, France. Telephone (+33 68 51 00 51) Research area: Linguistics (semiotics, computational ling.) Experience of computing in the Humanities: Since 1984, LISP (on the old Apple II), PROLOG (1985-88) Wordprocessing and databases (graffiti, proverbs etc) Since 1988, Micro-OCP, and now mainframe OCP for Degree-level text analysis. Present position: Matre de confrences (a sort of Senior Lecturer) in English linguistics at the University of Perpignan, with computing courses for EFL students at two levels: 1) DEUG (2 Year):word processing, use of databases, elementary text analysis; 2) Degree: Second level text analysis ================================================================= *Jensen, Richard 1109 Longwood, Bloomington IN 47401 U.S.A. (812) 334-2330 As a professor of history at the University of Illinois, Chicago, I specialize in American political and social history, and in quantitative methods. I have taught computers/statistics/quantitative research design to historians since 1968--at the undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral levels. The Newberry Library summer institutes (1972-83) introduced hundreds of historians to computers. In 1986 I led a faculty workshop on micros at Moscow State University; this summer I will be giving a short course in micros at Scuola Superiore di Studi Storici, a new graduate school of history in San Marino (Italy). Originally my main interest was in statistics and mainframes. Since 1980 I have concentrated on micros. The statistical interest continues (e.g. patterns of unemployment in the 1930s, voting behavior in the 1890s), but now I use 1-2-3 more than SPSS. The new programs for word processing and text manipulation interest me. I am currently writing a review essay on Personal Information Managers (Agenda, AskSam, Ize, Gofer), asking how they can help scholars deal with notes, texts, bibliographies, abstracts and electronic mail. Publications include Historian's Guide to Statistics (textbook, 1971), "The Microcomputer Revolution for Historians" (general article, 1983), "The Hand Writing on the Screen" (article on word processing, 1987), and "Scrivere col Personal Computer" (the first Italian article on micros for humanists, 1988). ================================================================= *Kassis, Hanna Professor of Religious Studies (Islamic Studies), Department of Religious Studies, University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada V6T 1W5; (604)-228-6523 I study and teach Islamic Studies with special emphasis on Muslim Spain and the encounter between Islam and Christianity in the Middle Ages. Within this scope, I have so far focussed my attention on the eleventh and twelfth centuries -- the period leading up to the First Crusade and immediately following it. My interests dwell on the process of image-making: what the Muslims thought and said about themselves and the Christians in Spain (and North Africa) during this period. The Arabic texts which I am currently working are being prepared in machine- readable form (Arabic text and English translation). Similarly, a text of the canon of the Arabic-speaking Spanish Christian Church (eleventh century) is similarly being edited in machine-readable form. I have also completed a Concordance of the Qur'an, in two versions: English (1983) and Spanish (with K.I. Kobbervig, 1987). As a result, the text of an English translation of the Qur'an is now available in machine-readable form (subject to copyright clarification). Finally, ancillary to my current research focus, I have done an extensive numismatic study of Muslim Spain and North Africa during the period extending from the middle of the eleventh to the middle of the twelfth centuries. This is partly published and the rest will appear within this or next year. ================================================================= *Lauzzana, Ray or Editor, FAST and the FINEART Forum, Professor of Computer Graphics, Univ. of Massachusetts. Prof. Lauzzana has been a consultant within the computer graphics industry for over 15 years, is the author of over 20 published articles on computer graphics. His clients have included Universal Studios, Technicolor, and American Zoetrope. He was part of the start-up teams for several computer graphics companies, including CALMA Corp., Image Graphix, and Network Research Corp. From 1979 to 1984, he was an editor for Computer Graphics World magazine. He also organized several significant exhibitions of computer graphics including, High Technology Art at the US Library of Congress. Examples of his art work are in several reknown museums including the Museum of Modern Art, New York. *****END***** From: Willard McCarty Subject: biographical supplement 20 Date: 23 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 173 (332) Autobiographies of Humanists Twentieth Supplement Following are 35 additional entries to the collection of autobiographical statements by members of the Humanist discussion group. Humanists on IBM VM/CMS systems will want a copy of Jim Coombs' exec for searching and retrieving biographical entries. It is kept on Humanist's file-server; for more information, see the Guide to Humanist. Further additions, corrections, and updates are welcome. Willard McCarty Centre for Computing in the Humanities, Univ. of Toronto mccarty@utorepas 23 June 1989 ================================================================= *Lavagnino, John I'm a graduate student in English at Brandeis University; my fields of interest are twentieth-century literature, textual criticism, and the theory of narrative. But to date what I've actually done has mostly been computerized typesetting; I designed, typeset, and indexed *Shakespeare's Othello: A Bibliography* by John Hazel Smith (AMS Press, 1988). Before entering this field, I was the systems programmer in the computer center here, from 1985 through 1987; I kept in touch with the humanities by teaching people to use our Kurzweil scanner and by starting the Bialik poetry server, which I still run. B.A., Physics, Harvard, 1981; M.A., English, Brandeis, 1989 ================================================================= *Lavagnino, Merri Beth SML Systems, Room 512, P.O. Box 1603A, Yale Station, New Haven, CT 06520 (203) 432-1850 I am the Assistant to the Head of Systems at Yale University Libraries. I am most interested in learning how scholars presently use library systems, and how to plan for their use in the future. I have a B.S. in Education from Temple University, and a Masters in Library and Information Science from Indiana University. ================================================================= *Logan, Tracy User-services, Academic Computing Services, Lafayette College Easton, PA 18042. 215/250-5502 I've taught physics, math, astronomy at college-level, and was a househusband for a decade. Currently I work for Academic Computing Services at Lafayette, a "small, independent college." One of my roles, and one I enjoy greatly, is to provide support for fledgling and experienced computer-users in the Humanities Division. Particular interests: Printing (hot and cold type), Logo, Uwe Johnson's work, Rudolf Bahro's work. ================================================================= *McSwain, James B. History Department, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, 36688; 205-460-6210 My interest is religious history, broadly conceived, particularly early modern Europe. I am concerned with infant baptism, for example, as a ritual and rite of passage in the context of puritan covenant theology. I have taught courses here on the history of Christianity and religion in Europe also. Currently, I am using the RLIN facilities at Stanford to compile a bibliography of 18th c. imprints on infant baptism which is done via moden/PROCOMM arrangements. ================================================================= *Megginson, David Paul c/o Centre for Medieval Studies University of Toronto Toronto, Canada M5S 1A1; (416) 969-8512 I have just finished my two years' residency towards a Ph.D. at the Centre for Medieval studies. I have declared a major field of early Middle English philology, and am deeply involved in humanities computing, both as a programmer for two research projects and as a user. I believe that with our concording and word-counting programs we are scarcely scratching the surface of our computers' abilities to help us analyze text, and I am working on my own to develop a simple free-form database built around grammatical parsing rather than keys and fields. I am interested in obtaining as many early Middle English texts as possible in electronic form, and would appreciate any help other subscribers can give me. ================================================================= *Merrilees, Brian French Department, Victoria College, University of Toronto (416) 585-4481. Trained in medieval French and the editing of texts, especially Anglo-Norman, I have a general interest in the history of the French language. I have edited three Anglo-Norman texts and written on Anglo-Norman language. My interest in Anglo-Norman led to a study of the teaching of French as a second language in England, other grammars written in French in the Middle Ages, esp. translations of Donatus, and more recently to work on a large (467 folios) manuscript dictionary (Latin-French) compiled in the 15th cty. Text entered in WordPerfect on an XT and submitted to WordCruncher. ================================================================= *Mielniczuk, Simon Manager, Information and Computer Resources, Faculty of Social Work, Univ. of Toronto 246 Bloor St. W., Toronto, Ont. M5S 1A1 416-978-3266 I am responsible for developing a social information resource centre for the Faculty. The centre combines the print resources of the reading room, the video materials of our in-house A-V department, and the electronic resources of our computer lab. The model guiding our technical development is the Integrated Work Station (c) developed by Donald Forgie at the Advanced Communicating Lab in 1984. Using it, we developed computer work stations in support of centre management and student use. Currently, we are working on one for social policy researchers. Befor becoming consumed by information technology and its implications, my career started in 196 as a community organizer working in various disadvantaged neighbourhoods in both Canada and the U.S. ================================================================= *Nimick, Thomas Griggs (prefer Tom) <0632281@PUCC.BITNET> Graduate Student, Department of East Asian Studies, Princeton University, 211 Jones Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544; (609) 466-0542 (home); (609) 452-4276 (daytime message) I am a user with curiosity who is willing to try most any new tool that looks promising. I am also a graduate student in Chinese history, specializing in the institutional and social history of the middle and late Ming dynasty (1550-1620). I study the county magistracy, for which I have found a number of unusual sources. The county magistrate was the lowest centrally appointed official, so local interests met central interests within his administration. His underlings, the clerks, were reputed to be one of the most corrupt groups in China and it is interesting to see how the magistrate deals with them. I majored in French as an undergraduate at Princeton University after deciding against Chemistry and Mathematics. I got interested in China through teaching English there. I spent a year and a half after graduation learning Chinese at the summer school at Middlebury College and at Princeton. I then taught English in Shanghai at Fudan University for one year. I married one of my students and we came to the States. After a brief experience in the travel industry, I returned to Princeton to work in the Chinese Linguistics Project, helping to prepare a new Chinese textbook called Chinese Primer. I continued my study of Chinese language and became so interested in the history that now I am studying it full time. All students of Chinese history must learn Japanese, so now I have that under my belt as well. Though I was exposed to computers in an early project by Carnegie-Mellon University, in which high schools could sign on to CMU's mainframe, it was only when I became a statistical programmer to support myself while learning Chinese that I became a regular user. Since then I have used a number of packages in various lines of work. I used SAS as a programmer, WATERLOO SCRIPT and GML to prepare the romanized text for the Chinese textbook, and SPIRES for my own historical and bibliographic research. I am very interested in seeing Chinese characters available on mainframe computers. I would like to use them when I build databases, keep bibliographic records, and when I send electronic mail or read bulletin boards. A number of systems have been developed for PCs and Macs, but I am looking forward to the day when mainframes will have Chinese characters as part of their regular character set. I have also been watching developments in computing carefully to see in what ways computers can benefit the study of East Asia. I am interested in historical geography and the possibilities of graphics packages. Bibliographic databases are also an obvious application. Though I encourage other scholars of East Asia to use computers, to date (6/89), interest has been slight because it is not clear that computers are that useful for our field. When Chinese characters become available, things will probably change rather quickly. I have many other interests too numerous to mention, but Chinese current events, theology, railroads, and Chinese chess top the list. I continue to use computers for my own work and encourage others, particularly my colleagues in East Asian Studies and History, to do the same. ================================================================= *O'Neill, Ynez Viole Professor of Medical History, Medical History Division, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, UCLA School of Medicine, Center for the Health Sciences, Los Angeles, California 90024- 1763 USA; office (213) 825-4933, dept. (213) 825-9555 After degrees from Stanford University and the University of Paris, I received my Ph.D. at UCLA in 1964 in history, working under C.D. O'Malley, the biographer of Vesalius. My early work centered on the conceptualization of speech and speech disorders in ancient and medieval times. Acting on a suggestion from my mentor, Professor O'Malley, I began some twenty years ago to gather materials for a history of early anatomy, and have heavily focussed my history, which will be published in the near future, will describe the medieval development of the discipline of anatomy, which in turn produced a metamorphosis of medical theory and practice in the later Middle Ages. Meanwhile, I have published on the the transfer of anatomical knowledge through the Islamic world to the Latin Middle Ages; on the relationship between canon law, autopsy, and dissection; on the link between the earliest anatomical manual and the concept of the microcosm, a dominant philosophical idea of the twelfth century; on the school of surgery at Bologna where systematic human dissection was first accepted; on the "new surgery" in Chaucer's Knight's Tale; and numerous other medieval medical topics. At present, I am overseeing the creation of the Index of Medieval Medical Images (IMMI), the compilation of all medical illustrations in North American collections before 1500. ================================================================= *Pace, Guy L. Consultant, Computer Services Information Center Washington State University Pullman, WA 99163-2088 (509)335-0411 Born July 3, 1951, Great Falls, Mont. Served in the U.S. Navy from 1970 to 1974, with combat service in Vietnam. Commissioned in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1976. Retired in 1987 as Captain. Earned a BA degree in Communication at Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA., 1985. Worked as reporter, sports and news editor and managing editor at four community newspapers, published a computer users newsletter, edited a National Guard bi-monthly information newsletter. Currently providing information and help to IBM 3090 and micro users. ================================================================= *Parsons, Mikeal Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, BU Box 7294, Baylor University Waco, TX 76798-7294; 817-755-3735 ext 6332 wk; 817- 666-4683 hm I am an assistant professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Baylor University. I am most interested in literary theory and its application to biblical texts. Below are representative publications and professional involvement. Publications: The Departure of Jesus in Luke-Acts: The Ascension Narratives in Context (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1987); with Richard I. Pervo, The Unity of the Lukan Writings Reconsidered (Philadelphia: Fortress, forthcoming); "'Allegorizing Allegory': Narrative Analysis and Parable Interpretation," Perspectives in Religious Studies, 15 (1988) 147-164; "A Christological Tendency in P75," Journal of Biblical Literature, 105 (1988): 463-479. Professional Involvement: Charter Member, Literary Facets Seminar, Westar Institute Member, Literary Aspects of the Gospels and Acts Group, Society of Biblical Literature Member, Acts Group, Society of Biblical Literature Member, Editorial Board, Perspectives in Religious Studies I spent last summer as a Visiting Scholar studying literary theory at Duke University in the English Department, headed by Stanley Fish. Jeanne and I have one daughter, Lauren, and are expecting a second child on May 28, 1989! ================================================================= *Perry, Richard Todd 110 Morris Hall Wabash College Crawfordsville, IN 47933 (317) 362-9965 I am a student at Wabash College, a liberal arts instiution in Indiana. Although I am a double major in History and Theatre, I have always had a passionate interest in anything technical. I am interested in computers, in radio ( both professional and amateur ), and engineering. I would love to be able to relate one side of my brain to the other, and membership in groups like Humanist are a way to do that. I prefer to be called Todd. I enjoy reading anything that comes within reach, and play the recorder. I also fiddle with circuts. The rest is subject to change without notice. ================================================================= *Pierssens, Michel , Full Prof., Dept of Literary Studies, UQAM (Montreal). 514-342- 2297. Field: lit. and science. European lits. 19th and 20th c. Books: La tour de babil, Paris, Minuit (The Power of Babel, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul); Lautreamont, Presses Univ. de Lille; Maurice Roche, Amsterdam, Rodopi; in press: Epistemocritique, Presses univ. de Lille; in progress: Literature and the Psychical Sciences Movement in England and France, 1848-1924. Career: lecturer, Aix-en-Provence; U of Wisconsin-Madison; Associate prof., U of Michigan-Ann Arbor; visiting various places. Founder and editor, SubStance, U of Wisconsin Press (1970-pres). Editorial boards: Etudes francaises (Montreal), Litterature (Paris), Transatlantique (Paris-Montreal), Surfaces (electronic journal starting september, Montreal), etc. ================================================================= *Pival, Paul J., Jr., Associate Professor of English, University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, Bradford, PA 16701 (Office) (814) 362-3801; 573 West Washington, Bradford, PA; (Home) (814) 362-1757 after 5 pm ET Once upon a time active in English literature of the middle ages (Ph.D. 1973, University of Wisconsin-Madison), but the vagaries and vicissitudes of employment have allowed me to forget most of what I once professed to have known about the Chester Cycle. Married, two children away at college. For the past thirteen years I have taught courses in literature and composition to undergraduates at a small (enrollment 1000) rural branch campus. I am keenly interested in innovative applications of computers in the classroom, so interested, in fact, that I am presently pursuing an undergraduate degree in computer science. ================================================================= *Public Access Humanist Bulletin Board Richard Likwartz, Systems Programmer II, University of Wyoming. This account represents humanist pieces being posted to a university wide bulletin board. They will be read by many people with varying backrounds. The people responding to the posted pieces will have to give there biographies, if they wish. The account INFOVAX is synonomous with the University of Wyoming HUMANIST bulletin board. ================================================================= *Rakestraw, John A. Jr. "[DCGQAL]WESLEYAN.GA" (this entire address, incl. the quotation marks, must be used from any Bitnet/NetNorth/EARN site) Philosophy and Religious Studies, Wesleyan College, Macon, Georgia 31297 912/474-7057, ext. 231 AppleLink address: WESLEYAN.GA I am an Assistant Professor of philosophy and religious studies at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. In addition, I chair Wesleyan's Computer Focus committee. The Computer Focus program, which the committee developed and maneuvered through the faculty and board of trustees last year, has several components, the most visible being the plan to provide a Macintosh computer to each full-time faculty member and each full-time student. (Faculty computers are owned by the College; each student will take her computer with her when she graduates.) I first became interested in using the computer while writing my dissertation. In the past year I have become more and more excited about the possibilities of using the computer in support of our educational program. I am currently focussing on the use of hypermedia, using, on one level, Brown University's Intermedia and, on another level, Apple's HyperCard, as a software platform. ================================================================= *Rollmann, Hans , CIS:75040,21, GEnie: ROLLMANN Assoc. Prof., Department of Religious Studies, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NF, A1C 5S7; Voice: 726- 2559 (home), 737-8171.8166 (university). EDUCATION: B.A. Religious Studies/Greek (Pepperdine University); M.A. World Religions (Vanderbilt University); Ph.D. New Testament (McMaster University). EMPLOYMENT: Post-doctoral Research Associate, McMaster Project on Normative Self-Definition in Judaism and Christianity (1979/80); Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, University of Toronto (1980/81); Assist. Prof. Christian Thought and History, Memorial University of Newfoundland (1981/83); Assoc. Prof. Christian Thought and History, Memorial University (1984-present); Coordinator Newfoundland Studies Minor Programme (1987-present). RESEARCH INTERESTS: Historical Critical Method in Biblical Studies during the 19th Century; History of Religions Methodology; Religion in Newfoundland and Labrador; Religious and Intellectual History of Germany, England, and North America during the 19th and 20th Centuries. COMPUTER: IBM/286 with 40 MB harddisk at home and at work (peripherals: 2400 Baud Modem, DFI HS3000 Hand scanner, Mouse, Hercules Plus Graphics Card, 24-pin printer (home) and LJ II (at work). COMPUTER APPLICATIONS: Text; Database; Graphics; Communications; PIMs; Project Management. ================================================================= *Ronit, Shamgar (Miss) 48c Tshernichovski str. Jerusalem, Israel Tel. 630784 I am a student of comparative religion in the Hebrew University, I read the letter you sent to Galen Marquis (with his permission) and I am interested in joining the HUMANIST. I am in the last stages of writing my post graduate paper (my M.A. thesis) on manichaean liturgy in the middle Iranian texts found in Tun- Huang; it sound pompous but what it actually is trying to find out what was the ritual of the manichaeans (a 4th cent. dualistic heresy), a goal that cannot be reached really (though it is nice to try) but one finds nice things on the way. For a living I work now in DTP (Dest Top Publishing), I worked a few years as a computer programmer but I needed a change from that. ================================================================= *Shapira, Ronen 03-443090 8a Miriam Hahashmonait, Tel-Aviv 62665 Israel; tel 972-3-443090 I am gradute student in history at the Tel-Aviv university with a specific intrest in French history. I am even thinking to go for a Ph.D thesis. History is my obsession, but translating is my profession. Just lately I prepared a new translation of "Gone With the Wind" to Hebrew and I am working as a translator for Israel bigest daily: "Yediot Aharonot". At the moment my main scholarly intrest is Alexis De Tocqueville, the greatest French of them all. (To my opinion, at least). ================================================================= *Short, Dennis Ray Associate Professor, Purdue University, School of Technology, 363 Knoy Hall W. Lafayette, IN 47907 (317) 494-6457 Purdue, (317) 497-3135 Home I currently teach CAD and CIM courses in the School of Technology at Purdue Uinversity. Promoted to Assoc. Prof. and Tenured in July 88. Currently member of World Future Society and have presented papers in the area of the Impact of Computers on Education and the application of Futures Research to Curriculum planning. More recent activity involved a pilot futures course at the U. of Arizona at Tuscon. This was a distance learning exercise involoving the ICOSY c conferncing systems. Functioned as guest lecturer remotely from Indiana. Currently working with two colleagues on computer applications to History and Archaeology. One involves the modeling of potery into a CAD system to make structural classification to aide in classification and the other involves imaging cuneiform tablets, producing "cleaned up" images, and attempting automatic partial translation using a field portable system. The potery project is with a Professor in PRC. ================================================================= *Smith, Scott Lecturer, Dept. of Computer Science, SUNY Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, N.Y. 12901 (518) 564-2781 My interests include the development of hypertext courseware environments, philosophy of mind and language, the German language, cognitive science, etc. I hold the B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Computing and Information Science from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Subsequently, I worked as a guest researcher in Bonn, West Germany, at the Gesellschaft fuer Informatik und Datenverarbeitung, on the topic of designing better computer interfaces for people. For the last three years, I have been teaching in the Department of Computer Science at SUNY Plattsburgh, where my teaching and research interests have included teaching programming (to majors and non-majors), computers in society, artificial intelligence and philosophy of mind, and the development of hypertext courseware environments. Beginning in September, I will be on leave of absence from SUNY Plattsburgh while commuting to McGill University in Montreal, where I will be working on a Ph.D. in Philosophy, with an orientation towards cognitive science, emphasizing comparisons between philosophy of mind and artificial intelligence. I would be pleased to hear from like-minded individuals on any overlapping interests. ================================================================= *Smurthwaite, John S. Dept. of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Hillyer 326, University of Hartford, W. Hartford, CT 06117; (203) 243-4317; 119 Hollywood Ave., W. Hartford, CT 06110; (203) 953-3474 I was born in La Grande, Oregon. I left my mountain home to gain both an education and experience of something (not necessarily better) than logging and farming. I received my Ph.D. in Romance Studies from Cornell University in 1986. My dissertation investigated how time functions in the narrative of Augustine's Confessions, Dante's Divine Comedy and Petrarch's "Triumph of Eternity." And while I remain primarily interested in literary and philosophical topics which focus of medieval and renaissance Italian literature, I am also involved in studying and writing on how feminist theory can help gain more under- standing of the literature and society of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Current research projects: I am editing the important Renaissance commentaries on Dante's Divine Comedy by Landino and Vellutello for the Dartmouth Dante Project. I am also preparing a book on Petrarch's Triumphs. I have nearly completed articles on Primo Levi's "Il canto of Ulisse," and feminist readings of Dante's Francesca and Petrarch. Other fields of interest: Interdisciplinary studies and education (I teach an undergraduate interdisciplinary course on the Italian Renaissance each semester.); the evolution of humanistic education during the 14th and 15th centuries; Renaissance treatises on aesthetics before Tasso; Primo Levi, and on and on. ================================================================= *Sperberg-McQueen, Marian R. Associate Professor, Dept. of German, M/C 189, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago, P.O. Box 4348, Chicago, IL 60680; (312) 996-3205 I teach German language and literature to undergraduate and graduate students; my main research interest is seventeenth- century German literature, especially poetry. I developed a computer-dependency in about 1983; my spouse had been trying valiantly to get me hooked since 1978. My earliest computer memories are not happy ones, as they generally seemed to involve overcooked dinners resulting from said spouse's own habit -- "I just need to make one little change and then I can print it out and come home." Ha. My first computer high -- and the beginning of my addiction -- came when I was preparing to publish some 17th-century German and Latin poems by Paul Fleming that I'd recently discovered: getting an initial, accurate transcription of the poems, with their idiosyncratic orthography was a pain; the thought that I'd probably introduce errors every time I edited and cleaned up and re-typed the article was pretty irritating. The solution was to put the things into the computer once, accurately, and-- voila.... I seem to use the computer (IBM mainframe and PC with WP) mainly for word processing, data base (SSI-Data), and mail. I'm also slowly building up a collection of texts of German prose and verse for use in teaching -- this decreases my dependency on published editions and anthologies, which, with a few notable exceptions, assume that no undergraduate student could ever possibly be interested in, much less capable of, reading anything written in German before 1750, and that students just beginning their study of German literature should not be exposed to anything earlier than Kafka. I frequently find myself wishing that more of my colleagues -- ones at my own university and elsewhere -- were less mainframe phobic. I can't think of anyone who doesn't have a pc, but as a mainframe user, I feel pretty lonely. What does it take to get people convert from the stone age to e-mail? So I guess I'm sort of banking on Humanist to supply me with the support group I need for my habit. ================================================================= *Steele, Kenneth Bruce. Ph.D. Thesis Student, Graduate Department of English, University of Toronto. 1101-30 Charles Street West, Toronto, Ontario M4Y 1R5; (416) 920-4543 My current thesis research involves evidence for "poetic revision" in the early plays of Shakespeare. My professional interests are therefore Renaissance drama and literature, textual studies, editorial theory, and holograph manuscripts. My literary affections also tend toward the Romantic poets, major novelists (Walter Scott, Charles Dickens), and popular romance. For the past 18 months, I have devoted much energy to the consolidation of electronic texts in the Centre for Computing in the Humanities' Shakespeare Text Archive project. I have been adapting the electronic texts of the Howard-Hill Concordances, kindly supplied by Oxford University Computing Services, for use with Brigham Young University's WordCruncher text retrieval software. ================================================================= *Stevens, Wesley M. Professor of Medieval History, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9; 204/786-9203 leave message for return call. Stevens is interested in early medieval schools and early Latin manuscripts, especially in evidence of scientific writing and activites. Among his publications are the Computus of Hrabanus Maurus of Fulda, A.D.820; "Fulda scribes at work, the paleographical analysis and dating of an early Carolingian manuscript" (1972), and the Jarrow Lecture for l985: "Bede's scientific achievement." He has lectured at several universities in several countries, served six years on the Board of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities, and now is a member of the Canadian National Committee for the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science. He organised a Symposium on "Computer Programmes for Medieval and Renaissance Manuscript Sources" at the International Congress of History of Science, Hamburg/Munich, 1-9 August l989. He is co- director of the Benjamin Catalogue for History of Science and co- author of "The Benjamin Data Bank and BAG/2: a case history" (l980). The focus of his research is the medieval computus, and he is preparing a "Catalogue of computistical tracts in medieval Latin manuscripts, A.D.200-1600," with current attention on the years 200-1200 for the first volume. Stevens has also given some years of public service on boards of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, The Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Winnipeg Bach Festival, and the Manitoba Arts Council. He and his wife, Virginia, belong to an amateur recorder quartet and would enjoy playing with others who love music, whether early or modern. ================================================================= *Strudwick, Nigel Lecturer in Egyptology, Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA My interests lie in both the Ancient Egyptian Old and new Kingdoms. I am currently involved in fieldwork in Luxor in Egypt, publishing some of the "Tombs of the Nobles". This work has been going on since 1984, and is a sort of rescue project, since all antiquities there are in danger of destruction from a variety of sources. Computer interests vary widely. I use micros for a gret deal of my work, and am particularly interested in databases, especially encouraging the making available of them to the wider academic community. I am presently a member of the international committee for computers in Egyptology. ================================================================= *Stuart, Ralph Chemical Safety Coordinator, 109 S. Prospect St., Burlington, VT 05405 (802) 656-3068 I am an Industrial Hygienist in Training at the University of Vermont. My primary responsibilties are running the Chemical Right to Know Office, which involves providing information to laboratory workers about the hazards of the chemicals they are using. I also get involved in various environmental health and safety issues around campus, such as indoor air quality problems, concerns about video display terminals, and other assorted stuff. I use micro computers to produce a newsletter for the campus on chemical safety topics, and for general office work. I have used both mainframes and microcomputers at various times since 1970, when I was in high school. My primary interest in them beyond using them as a tool is how they might be used to provide access to information, particularly scientific information, to lay people. It seems to me that this involves communication theory, the sociology of science, and the influence of the speed of information on culture as much as the constraints of the technology. ================================================================= *Stuehler, David M. Assoc. Prof., English Department, Special Assistant to the Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences; English Department, Montclair State College, Upper Montclair, New Jersey 07043 Phone: (201) 893-7305, 4314 My present job duties include maintaining and managing a computer lab of 20 networked PC's running Novell Netware and coordinating all computer purchases for our school. In addition, I am planning a larger network to encompass five other labs and all the individual computers in the school. This will also be a Novell network but be connected through TCP/IP to the college's VAX's, a mainframe, and Internet. I also teach technical writing in the lab and am planning a graduate course in computing in the Humanities for next Spring. All this leaves little time for my real interests--hypertext teaching applications and computer assisted literary analysis. A colleague and I are seeking support for a hypertext, hypermedia project on a gender related issue, and I am just beginning to explore the possibility of using QUALOG, a qualitative data analysis program that runs on the VAX for a study of Conrad's novels. I have been fooling around with Word Cruncher and Heart of Darkness to little effect as yet. My schedule has left little time for the necessary research so I am not current in this area. Perhaps in the Summer. ================================================================= *Taylor, James Stewart. 348 Palmerston Blvd. Toronto, Ontario, M6G 2N6. (416) 972-6852. Of myself, I may say the following: I am currently enrolled in a Master's programme at the University of Toronto. The subject of my thesis is Sanskrit grammar. Linguistics and Indian culture are closely related fields in which I have done work. Formerly, I taught Music and occasionally played professionally. I am particularly interested in spoken Sanskrit and exploring applications of this most unusual language in the modern context. ================================================================= *Tingsell, Jan-Gunnar Computer Service Center, Faculty of Arts, University of Gothenburg, S-412 98 Gothenburg, Sweden Telephone: +46 (0)31 634553 I am working as the administrator for the Computer Service Center at the Faculty of Arts, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Our center is intended to be a support organisation for all research in the humanities. We try to encourage the teachers and researchers to use this technology, to collect information about programs and ideas about computing in the humanities from other research instituitons. It embraces disciplines for instance such as languages, linguistics, philosophy, history, archeology, ethnology and musical research. We are running a mini computer, terminal network and peripherials. We are also supporting micro computers, IBM (clones) and Macintosh, and are working to connect them all to an Ethernet based computer network. We are also running courses for the most commonly used computer programs. I belong to the anonymous group "Humanists in Gothenburg". We have a local distribution list here to save the network capacity. The following persons are at time being members of our local list: Daniel Ridings, Gunhild Viden, Jan-Gunnar Tingsell, Yvonne Cederholm, Karin Wagner, Gerhard Bauhr, Tore Jansson. ================================================================= *Treloar, Andrew Edward (TRELOARAC@CSV.VICCOL.EDU.AU) Lecturer in Information Management, Victoria College, Rusden Campus 662 Blackburn Road, Clayton Victoria, Australia, 3168. Ph. (03) 542-7338 Fax (03) 544 7413 B.A. (hons.), University of Melbourne, 1980; Majors in Germanic Languages and Linguistics; Grad. Dip. in Computer Science, University of Melboune, 1983; M.A., University of Melbourne, Submitted, awaiting (anxiously) examiner's report. My interests are currently in the areas of computational stylistics (and its relationship to literary criticism), expert systems and artificial intelligence, and human-computer interface design. My undergraduate thesis involved the analysis of some aspects of a Dutch novel 'Boeren Psalm' by Felix Timmermans using my own computer programs. For my Master's thesis I built on the programs I had already written and extended them to analyse 'Characterization in Virginia Woolf's The Waves'. The results of this work provided strong support for one of the main schools of thought regarding this work. Until recently I have been lecturing in the areas of Database Design and Microcomputer Hardware and Software. I am presently on secondment as the National Co-ordinator of the Health Education and Promotion System (HEAPS), an on-line database of programs and resources in the field of health education and promotion. I am a member of the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing (ALLC), and the Australian Computer Society (ACS). I would love to join the ACM as well, but I can't afford it! ================================================================= *Unger, Richard W. Professor, Department of History, University of British Columbia 1297-1873, East Mall, Vancouver, B. C. Canada V6T 1W5 604-228- 5110 Areas of interest: History of the medieval economy and especially the development of technology and its relationship to that economy. The work has concentrated on four principal topics which range through the Middle Ages and down into the 19th century. The first is the history of Dutch shipbuilding up to 1800. The second is more general and includes the development of European ship design and shipping in its economic context from 600 to 1600. The third is illustrations of shipbuilders in medieval art which means principally pictures of Noah buiding the ark. The fourth is the economic and technical history of Dutch brewing from the early Middle Ages through the 19th century. There are publications on the first and second and publications beginning to appear on the third and fourth. There is a fifth area on the horizon where some work has already been done and that is the international trade in grain, its origins and effects, in Europe from the 14th century through the 19th. ================================================================= *Verboom, A.W.C. Drs. (= M.A.), Kern Institute, P.O.Box 9515, NL 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands. Aad Verboom is currently doing a doctorate research at Kern Institute, University of Leiden, the Netherlands. The research is largely in the field of indology (i.e. Languages and Cultures of South and South-East Asia) but it also comprises computer- linguistics in sofar as Sanskrit, the most important classical language of India, is concerned. The indological research is focused on a buddhist Sanskrit text, the first two chapters of the Astasahasrika-prajnaparamita- sutra, i.e. the teaching on the perfection of discriminating insight in eight-thousand lines. While the extant Sanskrit text of the 11th Century A.D. is often quite unreliable and hard to understand, there are some Chinese translations from the 2nd Century A.D. onwards which are shorter, more concise and especially more clear. The research aims at the reconstruction of a relatively old (5th Century A.D.) and more reliable/understandable version by comparison of the extant Sanskrit versions and their correspon- ding Chinese translations, mainly those of Kumarajiva. The subject-matter of the texts is mysticism, they deal with a method of gaining the full enlightenment of a buddha in contrast to methods of reaching lower levels of enlightenment as in other schools of buddhism. The computer linguistic research aims at the development of forma- lisms and computerprograms to deal with Sanskrit, a classical Indo-European language with a very complex morphology. In order to lay a good foundation for an intelligent system the initial efforts of the last few years have gone into the development of a quite sophisticated Sanskrit wordparser, which will be finished April 1989. Prototypes for the reconstruction of Sandhi as well as for the creation of computer-generated lexica have already been created. For the next few years attention will be focused mainly on the development of a syntax-parser and a formalism to split up the very frequent composites. The last few years the use of OCP has provided support for the comparison of the Sanskrit texts in the above-mentioned indologi- cal research. At the present stage the facilities have improved considerably in sofar as an Online-Database system is now available at Leiden University. ================================================================= *Wupper, Axel Department of Historical Geography, University of Bonn, Konviktstrasse 11, D-5300 Bonn 1 (Fed.Rep. of Germany); +49 (228) 733690. PRIVATE: Am Botanischen Garten 16, D-5300 Bonn 1 (Fed.Rep. of Germany), +49 (228) 636972. Born 1954, working on a doctor's thesis on "Changes in the Agricultural Landscape in the Rhineprovinz between the World Wars". The department is collecting data for a bibliography on "Settlement Research in Central Europe" which is intended to develope into a databank ... ================================================================= *Zielke, Thomas <113355@DOLUNI1> Universitaet Oldenburg, FB 3/Historisches Seminar, Postfach 2503, 2900 Oldenburg, Federal Republic of Germany 0441/798-3109 Since about 1984, I've been exploring what computers can do for me to make my work as a historian more interesting, faster and easier. I have started from to very beginnings of computering and now work mainly on analysing tax (and related) registers from the 17th to the 19th century. My interests led me soon to the problem where to find people with same or similar interests (especially of course the use of computer technology), people I could ask for a solution of a current problem, people I could tell about my ideas for processing of data and, which I would call my very strongest interest, people I could talk to without being regarded as being a half-god, a computer-idiot, a betrayer of the historians' race and so on. (You wouldn't believe it, but actually some of my colleagues believe me to at least one of the mentioned things...) So my hope is that finally in this list I should find someone whose interests lie in the same area and with whom I could start an interesting conversation, which I would assume to go beyond being asked how to solve this and that problem with what program..... *****END***** From: MLAOD@CUVMB.bitnet Subject: MLA citation format Date: Mon, 26 Jun 89 15:46:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 174 (333) A number of weeks ago I asked Joseph Gibaldi, editor of the *MLA Hand- book*, to recommend a citation format for electronic correspondence that conforms to MLA style. At that time I thought that innovations or exten- sions of MLA style were simply the product of deep thought and spiritual contemplation by him; but I was informed that all changes and additions to the Handbook are actually the result of an elaborate committee evalua- tion process, and, the latest edition of the Handbook having only recent- ly been published, the Committee would not reconvene for many months. Dr. Gibaldi did, however, agree to offer a provisional recommendation regarding electronic correspondence citations. Based on examples from Humanist and other sources, he suggested a format such as this: Germain, Ellen. "Micro Applications for Scholarly Research." Electronic correspondence. Humanist Discussion Group. U of Toronto. Bitnet Network. 30 May 1989. Note that the title is taken from the "Subject" line of the correspon- dence as provided by the author, rather than the subject as defined by the editor (such as Willard provides for us on Humanist). Note also that there is no reference to HUMANIST@UTORONTO. Dr. Gibaldi felt that such information would be analogous to providing a library call number for a book, which is not done in MLA style. I do see his point in this, but there seem to be two problems with the use of the library call number analogy: first, there can be many call numbers for a particular book, but there is only one "address" for Humanist; second, some universities have more than one node (Columbia has CUVMA and CUVMB), and this may make it difficult for someone to locate the proper listserver to retrieve appropriate files. I must admit that I find the above citation to be satisfying from a strictly aesthetic viewpoint. Unencumbered with "@" signs and other arcane codes, it resembles the sort of citation of printed matter with which scholars are familiar and comfortable. It does, however, raise some interesting questions. A scholar, knowing nothing of how his or her local library is organized, can bring in an MLA-style citation, hand it to the librarian, and be reasonably assured that the librarian will be able to recognize the format of the citation and locate the work it refers to. But how many of us access Bitnet through librarians, and how many librarians would be able to retrieve a Humanist correspondence given the above information? I realize that some Humanist participants are hungry for any recommenda- tion, even a provisional one, that will allow them to incorporate cita- tions for electronic correspondence into their research publications. Rather than simply beginning to use the format I have depicted here, I would prefer that those interested in the subject send me (through Humanist or directly) their comments and criticisms of this proposed style. Daniel Uchitelle Modern Language Association From: Malcolm Hayward Subject: The Dangers of CRTs Date: 25 Jun 89 23:20:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 252 (334) I just finished Paul Brodeur's last installment of "The Annals of Radiation" in the June 26 *New Yorker*. Or it about finished me and computing. The long and the short of it is that, according to the article, there ARE real dangers from extra low frequency fields generated in our video display terminals--dangers for cancer, for abortions, and more. His recommendation, beyond calling for more study of the phenomenon, is to keep as far away from the terminal as possible--at least a couple of feet. I set mine back to 36 inches from me. He also notes that even greater distances from the sides and back of the terminal-- about 40 inches--are recommended. Here's a tricky problem. Say you are instructing an English I class and you'd like them to learn wordprocessing. Can you require they go to a lab and sit for hours working at a terminal if you think, maybe there are real dangers? What if a couple of the students are pregnant? Should they be required to go to a computer lab? Would it be enough to outline the potential hazard and let them choose? What are my responsibilities to my secretary? Say my secretary reads the article and says, I won't work on the computer any more? Of course we can all hope the article is wrong and that there are no dangers . . . From: Judith Rowe Subject: job opening Date: Mon, 26 Jun 89 11:53:27 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 253 (335) I would appreciate your posting this job description on the HUMANIST. For the curious, Rich Giordano will be leaving Research Services at Princeton University's Office of Computing and Information Technology. Toby Paff, who also provides consulting on computing in the humanities will be remaining with us. Anyone seeking more information about the position, about CIT or about Research Services, may send mail to JUDITH@PUCC. I would hope to appoint someone by mid-summer so that they can be settled in by fall. Judith Rowe Manager of Humanities Applications Individual with advanced graduate training in literature, languages or fine arts and with basic computing skills on both mainframe and microcomputer for position in Research Services. Familiarity with such packages as SCRIPT and SPIRES under VM/CMS, relevant application programs under UNIX, word processors such as WORD, WORD PERFECT or Nota Bene on the PC or MAC would all be helpful. Programming experience, an interest in computer graphics, especially font design, and an understanding of the concepts of information retrieval and DBMS are all desirable. The successful candidate will work cooperatively in providing support for computer use by faculty and students in humanities research and instruction, install and support software packages; write special purpose software in languages such as C, and assist users in locating machine- readable resources and programs for analysis. This is a professional support position but it has no faculty potential. Qualified candidates should forward their resumes to: Bruce Finnie Computing and Information Technology Princeton University 87 Prospect Street Princeton, NJ 08544 An Equal Employment Affirmative Action Employer From: woolleyj@lafayett.bitnet Subject: RE: 3.171 queries (55) Date: Sun, 25 Jun 89 23:24 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 254 (336) At the British Library, computers may be used in the typing room off the North Library gallery. They may be used in the North Library (= rare books room) only at a side table next to the issue desk and only with permission, keyboard noise being the issue. In both cases electric outlets may be used if desired. Computers may not ordinarily be used in the main reading room or, so far as I know, in the Department of Manuscripts. James Woolley Lafayette College From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: On Top of My Lap in the Bodleian Date: Mon, 26 Jun 89 08:49:49 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 255 (337) A question was recently raised regarding the policy of the British Library toward the use of portable computers for note-taking within the precincts of the library. I'd like to raise the same question regarding the Bodleian and other Oxford libraries. What is (or is there) a policy regarding the use of these instruments in the public reading rooms or other study facilities? Thank you. Kevin L. Cope ENCOPE@LSUVM From: Subject: Embedded values in computer systems Date: Mon, 26 Jun 89 09:35 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 177 (338) I'd very much like to hear from anyone else who has been considering the question of what sort of implicit values and value system "we" are building into our computer systems. My primary reason for being in "computing" at a business school is to get a better perspective on the types of analyses and values and metrics that are slowly being given electronic life in the corporate wide filters that MBA's are building for each other to use. If your Procrustean model can fit the savings in dollars from closing the Louisville assembly plant into the spreadsheet, but can't fit the human costs associated with the layoffs, then you have just committed a major error that is the computer equivalent of "iatrogenic" (new word needed here for computer-induced error ; can someone tell me what that word would be?) Reading such books as "Command and Control of Nuclear Forces" by Paul Bracken makes one realize how multiple levels of filters throw out all the ambiguity, all the human clues, all the human values, till, by the time the decision reaches the white house, there's nothing left for a human to do but push the button. Observing huge multinationals also leads one to believe that the guys in the cockpit are effectively blind. There seems to be a huge need for humanists to study, understand, and figure out where to intervene in this process. Loss of values in the "decision-support" systems being built today, now, around us is as critical a problems as loss of values in universities. Computer code is _not_ value-neutral. Wade Schuette, Cornell University From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Re: [3.161 education and universities, cont. (116)] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 89 09:28:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 256 (339) (Message number 102) [ ]Draft IPMessageId: A084903CDC894870 There is an interesting antinomy in our anonymous friend's contribution to the discussion on teaching values. He (?or It) says, [deleted quotation] If none of us is confident then none of us can possibly be distinterested, and if none of us is disinterested then we *cannot* preserve the practice of disintersted inquiry. Indeed, I believe that *any* confidence in one's ability to be disinterested would be misplaced. Surely a more responsible approach is to recognise just how little we are able to be disinterested. Like the observer in classical quantum mechanics, we are intimately involved in what we are doing; part of the system we study. I am less and less convinced that we can impart *data* to students, whether they be values or historical facts. We don't have raw data. What we can do, perhaps, is to clarify the issues, stop up some old dead-end approaches to prevent students re-inventing the square wheel, and -- perhaps most significantly -- open their minds to new possibilities; undreamed-of worlds to explore. One value which may hopefully come across in this recognition of our own limitations is -- humility. Douglas de Lacey From: Subject: Education, human role in tech. world Date: Mon, 26 Jun 89 09:12 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 257 (340) My "devil's advocate" proposal to close universities was, of course, intended to focus on what universities do by thinking about what hole would be left if they closed. Personally, I think that there is a rapidly growing need for a mixture of humanists and computer-specialists in dealing with this growing technology and the evolving hybrid planet. The technologists have actually just about run out of their ability to manage change, so I actually see hope where Robert Amsler sees a dead-end. EVEN THE COMPUTER people have run into a brick wall that only humanists can help them past. The following, by yours truly, reflects my actual views, and, despite the title, seems relevant to this forum. ------- DON'T UNDERESTIMATE JAPAN'S I.S. KNOW-HOW (Reader's Platform/Viewpoint, Computerworld, June 12, 1989, page 26, by R. Wade Schuette, Database Specialist, at Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management) As a computing professional and longtime observer of Japan, I'll throw in my two yen to the discussion you launched [CW, May 8] about the nature of the "threat" from Japanese software. With the rapid emergence of computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools, we are a relatively short time (five to 10 years?) away from the state in which the specifications-to-code steps are fully automated, and I foresee an emerging realization that this accomplishment really doesn't solve as much as we thought. The central problem of IS is that we are trying to change the behavior of _people_ by altering the embedded electronic infrastructure. Contrary to the assumptions behind most systems, people are different from missiles and washing machines. While some of the past wreckage may be laid at the doorstep of inadequate hardware or software, most of the failure modes of large projects seem to be along the human, social, organizational, and managerial dimensions - not technical ones. It would seem that a slow, diligent and incremental approach to such development - roote in concensus building before proceeding - may be the only approach that will actually have a hope of pulling together the fragmentation and heterogeneity within most large organizations today. When human beings and turf are involved, systems integration is not an activity that can be rushed. Adding more and more people to the development team has, in general, a profoundly negative impact on the schedule and budget. The rate-limiting factor is not inside the box. In the Japanese language, there is a tendency to be vague in order not to offend someone. Unfortuneately, this can cause ambiguity in delivering the message in a technical area. Certainly this concern is deply rooted in the culture and language and has been an impediment to everything from writing instructions to writing classical software "packages." However, it is preciselythis concern that turns into an advantage when working out an implementation route between hostile departments in a corporate integration. Also, it is not at all clear to me that the Japanese need to have any good "hackers" to succeed in this arena. What on earth good does it do to rapidly turn out clever, generic products that don't really fit the problem and don't really deliver the business solution that was hoped for? I believe that the fraction of American systems and computers that actually have proven helpful to management is much smaller than generally believed. On the other hand, open almost any publication and read about the latest implementation disaster. Would you trust your own IS shop to write the code for a medical life-support system that you are going to be on next year? Would you prefer a "team" of hackers or diligent detail men? In IS, our task is not to find incredibly ingenious ways to solve fantastic problems -- it is to find workable, reliable ways to deal with the same old problems. A slow and patient co-development may be the only way that such systems cna be developed -- grown, not built. Chief executive officers are getting pretty tired of systems that promise much but deliver little. If the above analysis is correct, and the Japanese are the only ones capable of delivering, then they will simply walk in and take the market, whether they do "calesthentics at sunrise" or not. - end - From: Willard McCarty Subject: is it possible to be disinterested? Date: 26 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 258 (341) "Disinterested inquiry" is something I also value, so I find myself again unable to resist pulling off my editor's hat for a moment and jumping into the fray. I also suspect that Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle -- that you cannot observe a certain class of phenomena without affecting the phenomena -- has useful analogies in larger realms than quantum dynamics. One thinks of all those jokes told at the expense of anthropologists, but the point is a serious one. Certainly, no one can be completely disinterested, at least no one this side of death, but it seems to me that the real question is what you DO with your admittedly imperfect disinterestedness. The whole point of old fashioned historical scholarship, I was taught, is that you try as hard as you can to break out of what has been called your "historical provincialism" -- that prison of time into which we are all born -- and attempt to LEARN something by taking on the perspective, say, of a 17th century English Puritan, or Royalist, or whatever. The disinterestedness in that spiritual discipline (for that is what it is) expresses the aim, not the probable achievement. Some folks I know react quite differently. Having perceived the impossibility of complete disinterestedness, they then proclaim the wisdom of seeing everything in essentially political terms. I suppose they are reacting against the hypocrisy of those who pretend to be neutral while secretly following a hidden agenda. In any case, it seems to me, politicizing the world makes independent thinking extremely difficult -- that is, much more difficult than it otherwise would be. I am reminded of an English professor of mine whom I respected (he was a bright and friendly man) but with whom a truly intelligent conversation was almost impossible. At some point he must have been taught extremely well all the possible heresies of literary criticism. I infer this because when I tried to explain in my typically impressionistic way some thoughts about John Donne or whomever, he would spend the whole time telling me what heresy I had either fallen into or was on the brink of falling into. To survive his instruction I had to develop a very robust filter! To argue by extension. Certainly I am violent by nature, I know this. But isn't there some point in me attempting to be peaceful? Isn't humanity, like disinterestedness, a worthy goal even if we can never reach it? Or has the "post-modernist condition" rendered all this merely academic? Willard McCarty From: Willard McCarty Subject: humanities computing Date: 27 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 259 (342) The discussion I mean to provoke with this note has occurred before. Will those who are bothered by rehashments please forgive me? Some things (I need not name them) are in the repeating not like proverbial reinventing of the wheel -- though even in that case, the moment of discovery is to the discoverer a great joy, even if others have done it before. If it isn't, there's something wrong! I have just been reading a paper in which the author argues that humanities computing is not a discipline of its own and that, in fact, it is doomed to extinction as the techniques it exploits become assimilated into the disciplines it serves. If I follow the author correctly, the conclusions I have just summarized are a consequence of the (I think arguable) fact that humanities computing is essentially a collection of convenient tools designed by one set of people (computer scientists) for another (humanists), that it has no unique perspective nor unified and consistent methodology of its own. I say "arguable" but do not mean that I know enough to disagree intelligently, only that I am suspicious and have some reasons for keeping the question open. If I remember correctly, when this topic was discussed before, people focussed on the difference between quantative differences the computer can make (do a job much faster and more accurately) and the qualitative differences (do an altogether new job). Someone made the point, I think, that quantitative and qualitative differences tend to be the same, because jobs that are too hard for people using an inferior technology will not only not be attempted but often not even be considered. The British calligrapher Edward Johnston, dealing with the relationship between the size of letters and their qualities, used to exclaim, "Size is absolute!" He was certainly right about lettering. Does the same principle apply to computing speeds and the qualitative nature of what is done? My suggestion about publishing syllabi in humanities computing (apparently a project being undertaken already by Joe Rudman of Carnegie-Mellon) was motivated by the same basic question. People are teaching courses in humanities computing; perhaps interesting answers could be found by seeing what they have chosen as their subject matter. Are fundamentally new things being taught? Comments? Willard McCarty From: "Robin C. Cover" Subject: GERMAN HUMANISTS (? Date: Tue, 27 Jun 89 13:20:02 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 260 (343) A colleague will be spending the year in Germany (near Tuebingen or Stuttgart) and I would like to assess the probability of him obtaining a BITNET account for the year. I counted 143 institutions in Germany having BITNET membership, and 230 BITNET nodes. But are there any German HUMANISTS? Are computing resources available/accessible for the scholar on sabbatical? Presumably this would invlove getting an external user account for the year. Can any of our German HUMANISTS gelp me assess this situation? Thanks. Professor Robin C. Cover zrcc1001@smuvm1.BITNET 3909 Swiss Avenue convex!txsil!robin.UUCP Dallas, TX 75204 killer!dtseap!robin.UUCP 214/296-1783(h), 824-3094(w) ames!texbell!utafll!robin.UUCP From: Laine Ruus Subject: MLA citation format Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1989 12:06:38 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 180 (344) In response to the suggested e-mail citation format in 3.174: I have several objections to the format for the citation of e-mail which was outlined. The suggested format was as follows: Germain, Ellen. "Micro applications for scholarly research." Electronic correspondence. Humanist Discussion Group. U of Toronto. Bitnet Network. 30 May 1989. My objections are as follows: (a) it would seem that there is little dispute that electronic mail communications should be treated as mail in the traditional sense of the word. We should then cite electronic mail as we cite other mail. (b) taking the title from a field that is not REQUIRED in an e-mail communication then leaves one with the question of how to provide titles for e-mail messages without author-supplied subjects. The _MLA style manual_(1985) does not specify a title for traditional letters, but merely calls them 'Letter to...'. (c) Since it perfectly feasible for another 'Humanist discussion group' to exist on bitnet, and even operate from the University of Toronto (although I agree that this is unlikely), the 'publishing information' in the above example is too vague. The only thing that is totally unique, for various system and software reasons, about the discussion group to which we belong is the computer account which maintains the list, i.e. HUMANIST@UTORONTO. This should be likened, not to the call number, but to the PUBLISHER. The label by which the list identifies itself (as the 'Sender', i.e. 'HUMANIST Discussion') is a field in a NAMES file which is relatively easy to change but nontheless identifies the 'publisher' further. Should this identifier, or the computer account on which the list is maintained be changed, it would be tatamount to the takeover of a periodical from one publishing house by another. (d) The _MLA style manual_(1985, p. 157) makes a distinction between three general categories of letters, which for these purposes I find a useful one. The categories are "(1) published letters, (2) letters in archives, and (3) letters received by the researcher." For the purpose of citations, I would suggest that e-mail letters to a discussion group such as Humanist should be considered to be in the first category, published letters. The same reference continues: "Treat a published letter like a work in a collection...adding the date of the letter and the number (if the editor has assigned one)." Well, Willard very kindly has started to assign a number indeed to, not granted each letter per se, but to each message. (e) The object of citing sources is to make them as easy as possible for the next person to identify and find. Thus citations should be specific rather than general. Given the above, I would suggest the following as alternative citation formats for e-mail: If the letter is to a discussion group - Uchitelle, Daniel. Electronic letter to Humanist Discussion, no. 3.174. HUMANIST@UTORONTO.BITNET. 26 June, 1989. If the message is a direct communication: Humphrey, Chuck. Electronic letter to Laine Ruus. 22 April 1989. I have no strong feeling whether the medium should be called 'electronic letter' or 'electronic mail message', but do suggest that the publishers should coordinate their terminology. While we are speaking to a publishers' concern...when are publishers such as MLA, OUP, etc. going to require citations for computer files of primary research data (such as full-text files) in the bibliographies of their publications? And when will such citation formats appear in the various style manuals? Are the publishers aware that the American Sociological Association has, for the last two years, required citations for data files in all their periodicals? From: Subject: reply to 3.165, Daniel Boyarin (gornisch) Date: Mon, 26 Jun 89 17:47 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 261 (345) I'm probably being naive, but gornisch looks awfully close to the Yiddish garnisht (Mod. Germ. gar nicht). I wonder if marginal notes (scholia?) might be referred to in a sort of deprecatory way as a "little nothing," a petit rien. ---Joel Farber From: Farrukh Hakeem Subject: Re: 3.165 Urdu? Swedish address? word meaning? (67) Date: Mon, 26 Jun 89 19:46:52 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 262 (346) URDU: As an urdu speaking person from India I remember the problems that were faced by friends who wanted to have an urdu typewriter. Urdu developed from "Khari Boli " a language that is still spoken in Uttar Pradesh, India. It eventually developed with a lot of borrowing from Arabic and Persian as well as Sanskrit. However, Urdu is quite distinct in script from both-- Arabic and Persian. It has a greater range of sounds than either. The hard 'dh' and 'jh' are unique. During the muslim rule it developed as the court language. After independence in 1947, its flowery form has been in decline and is being replaced either by Hindustani or Hindi in the Devanagiri script. In Modern India its teaching in shools has been declining because it does not qualify as an official language in many States of the Indian Union (except Kashmir). From: Willard McCarty Subject: Conference Guide and Software Fair Guide available Date: 28 June 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 263 (347) For those unable to attend The Dynamic Text and Tools for Humanists, a limited number of copies of the guidebooks are available from the Centre for Computing in the Humanities. Each volume is $15 plus $3.50 postage and handling, for a total of $18.50 per volume. Cheques or money orders (in Canadian funds, please) should be sent to the following address with a note about which book you want. They are (if I may say so) a bargain at that price. Get one while they last! Centre for Computing in the Humanities University of Toronto 14th floor Robarts Library 130 St. George St. Toronto, Canada M5S 1A5 Willard McCarty From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: OFFLINE 24 Date: Tuesday, 27 June 1989 2123-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 264 (348) ---------------------------------- by Robert A. Kraft ---------------------------------- I write this as June rapidly draws to a close. Fresh in memory is the combined international conference on THE DYNAMIC TEXT held earlier this month in Toronto (see further below). Not very far in the future is the SBL/AAR/ASOR meeting, including its CARG (Computer Assisted Research Group) activities. In between is a papyrology conference in Cairo, Egypt, at which I plan to present an update on some of the procedures and results of our work on computer assisted identification and restoration of papyri fragments. For recreation, I have just finished a computer program to index the names in a massive family genealogy file that I have been developing. On a daily basis, incoming and outgoing electronic mail takes up some of my time, and the more traditional and regular chores of an academician's life, including bibliographical searching of the Library holdings, are also facilitated in various ways by computerized activity. [NB: This Offline also contains a thoughtful discussion of humanities computing as a nascent discipline and the need for assimilating computing activities into the disciplines from which the applications arise. -- W.M.] -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. OFFLINE 24 (454 lines). A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: stephen clark Subject: UK PHILOSOPHY LIST Date: Wed, 28 Jun 89 14:22:44 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 265 (349) Announcing yet another LIST: namely PHILOS-L. This is primarily a list for philosophers (waged or unwaged) in the United Kingdom to discuss matters of mutual concern, and to encourage other such philosophers to meet in the High Country of computer-mail. Subscribe by sending SUBSCRIBE PHILOS-L [your_name] to LISTSERV@LIVCMS.AC.UK. Stephen Clark Liverpool From: Oxford Text Archive Subject: Date: Wed, 28 Jun 89 17:43 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 183 (350) Subject: Anyone know of machine readable texts of any of the following? They are needed rather sharpish for teaching purposes next term. French Complete works of Baudelaire Novels of Gide (other than l'Immoraliste) Works of F. Villon Romance of Tristran (Berons) Saussurre: Cours de linguistique generale Portuguese Mario de Sa Carneiro: A confissao de Lucio Graciliano Ramos: Vidas secas Vergilia Ferreira: mAnha submersa Camoens: os Lusiadas Modern Greek Seferes: Poiemata Kavafe: Poiemata Solomos: Poiemata Palamas: Iamvoi kai anapairtoi Thanks... Lou From: Ruth Glynn Subject: Size of the OED Date: Wed, 28 Jun 89 04:39:02 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 266 (351) The OED (second edition) is approx. 625 Mb with tagging, and roughly half that without -- i.e. there are approx. 325,000,000 printed characters. Ruth Glynn OUP From: Peter D. Junger Subject: Gornisch == Gar nicht Date: Tue, 27 Jun 89 18:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 267 (352) To one who learned what little German he has in Kneipen in Schweinfurth am Main, "gornisch" sounds very much the way I expect to hear "gar nicht" pronounced. Could it be that gornisch refers to something so marginal that it is nothing at all? Peter D. Junger--CWRU Law School--Cleveland, OH--bitnet: JUNGER@CWRU [Editor's query: has anyone at the OED thought of using groups like Humanist for gathering occurrences of words?] From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Humanities computing Date: Tue, 27 Jun 89 21:15:25 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 268 (353) Interestingly enough, people have held the same view about computer science itself. That is, that computer science isn't a discipline itself, but a collection of things taken from mathematics, logic, electrical engineering and the like which will eventually all reclaim their territories. I don't think this will happen. Invariably, something new develops in the center of a new field and remains when all else is subtracted away. For computer science it may have been formal specification of programming languages, proving programs correct, etc. For humanities computing it may be some theorems which have yet to be discovered about things such as aesthetics, stylistics, authorship (or artistry) identification. Clearly there is far too little of the humanities which is readily available electronically for anyone to do definitive studies at this point. Perhaps for Greek this can now be done, but surely for many other languages and time periods or even artistic media, the available bodies of computer-readable material fall far short of the requirements for doing humanistic research compared to what could be done with the original materials. For example, for how many authors can one locate the complete computer-readable works? Look at the effort it would take to complete a computer version of the Norton Guide to English Literature? And that is a minimal requirement for undergraduate education--not advanced scholorship. From: David Megginson Subject: Re: 3.179 new things under the sun? German Humanists? (86) Date: Wed, 28 Jun 89 08:40:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 269 (354) In response to Willard's note: The problem I see with Humanities computing is that, most of the time, we don't seem to be breaking new ground. Concordances, word counts, and even parsing are old news in the computer world. As a matter of fact, expert systems will soon be as old as first year undergraduates, and we have barely started with them (the expert systems, that is). We look ridiculous when we haul up some ancient technology, apply it to some text, and call for kudos from the computing community. On the other hand, if we were to work on a useful theoretical framework for applying these tools to our various disciplines, rather than on the technology itself, we would have much worth reporting. Of course, then we would be back in our own disciplines where, perhaps, we belong. David Megginson From: Subject: re 3.179 humanities computing Date: Tue, 27 Jun 89 21:53 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 270 (355) Willard, to carry your example to its logical conclusion, we could argue that there can be no such field as painting, because, after all, paints were invented and produced by chemists... IN almost every field of products I know about, the "end users" prove to be the most creative group, using things for activities the inventors never dreamt of. The proper role of tool developers, in my not so humble opinion, is to design tools that the users can customize and evolve into something totally new. In 25 years of computing, I've observed very small changes in "ease of use" making tremendous difference in who gets into the act. For example, the visual statistics package "Datadesk", by allowing one to make a collection of 3-d plots in various windows, and then rotate them "live" opens up new vistas of analysis. Most people who've never had a physically large screen with the capacity to work in lots of places at once don't realize how powerful that can be, and how human. Once we get background processing going on, you can launch your workstation/assistant to "go fetch the full text behind this reference while I continue over here and buzz me when you've retrieved it...". The biggest changes I see are in interaction with other people , though. The 5 people in the world in this one sub-speciality can compare notes and conference , regardless of geographic diversity. I'd argue (just did!) that humanists will use tools in new ways for new approaches and that "humanities computing" will die about as fast as the patent office. Au contraire, it looks to me like it is just starting to wake up to an exciting new world of new ways to look and new windows to look through. As Frank Drake, the radio-astronomer observed: every time scientists open up a new window in the spectrum (radio, optical, x-ray, infrared, uv, etc.), they see not just new aspects of old things, but totally new things, never before imagined processes going on. Similarly, radio astronomers figured out how to link up 2 or more small and geographically separated telescopes to synthesize a larger aperture, which also let them see new details never before seen, as resolution varies inversely with aperture. My hunch is that we're on the verge of doing something similar with people, connecting enough of them real-time over a broad enough range that we will get some emergent properties and discover new joys of cooperative observation that have never been possible before (you can't fit ten million people around the water cooler.). This forum, and thousands like it, are leading the way to new power to the humanities, not to the "death" of humanities computing. Lead on, Willard! == wade schuette, Cornell == From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: MLA Style for Citing HUMANIST Date: Tuesday, 27 June 1989 2142-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 271 (356) Having startled at least one person in the audience at Toronto by admitting that I was not familiar with the MLA style sheet (which he assumed was common to all humanist disciplines), nor had even heard of it (well, maybe that was an overstatement -- my memory is spotty), I hesitate to address the question of standardizing references to HUMANIST communications. Nevertheless, if one of my doctoral students was/were facing this problem and the decision was/were mine to make (as indeed, it would be!), here is what I would suggest: (1) The crucial elements are name of author, identification in the files for recovery purposes (including date), and current electronic location or contact point. (2) Title may or may not exist, may or may not be relevant; as with reviews that are listed (in the style to which I am accustomed) as Review of ..., it may be helpful to simply create a "title" such as Discussion of ... in some instances. The Germain reference given as a sample is not problematic at this point, but many HUMANIST communications are. (3) I wouldn't worry about the Librarians! They are catching up rapidly and would be able to find their way with an email address in most instances, I suspect (by knowing who to ask, if necessary). If the @ sign offends, write out "at" -- for simple addresses like HUMANIST, that creates no problem. I'm not sure how I would suggest handling an Australian address, however!! Thus my sample format would be along these lines: Germain, Ellen. "Micro Applications for Scholarly Research" [ID#.#]. Electronic Discussion Group. HUMANIST at UTORONTO.BITNET. 30 May 1989. Well, maybe HUMANIST at UTORONTO (BITNET), or possibly BITNET: HUMANIST at UTORONTO (to imitate how we do place and publisher). Yes, in our normal framework of "Philadelphia: Westminster, 1989" I like the final suggestion, but apparently the MLA style is different on how it records place and publisher? Bob From: Ruth Glynn Subject: Citations to electronic material Date: Wed, 28 Jun 89 09:43:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 272 (357) Laine Ruus asks 'when are publishers such as MLA, OUP, etc. going to require citations for computer files of primary research data (such as full-text files) in the bibliographies of their publications?' The suggestion that electronic material should be cited in bibliographies is an excellent one and it is one that publishers would whole-heartedly support. But it does beg some questions. (1) Publishers don't dictate to authors what they should put in their bibliographies! We assume that our authors are sufficiently thorough and honest (yes, that is the right word) to declare their sources as they deem fit. Our desk- and copy- editors may of course consider a bibliography 'over-populated' or lacking in citations to relevant material, in which case they make suggestions for revision as necessary to the authors. (2) The desirability of there being a central directory of m-r material, full-text or otherwise, was touched on in the archives panel session at the Dynamic Text Conference. One of the concerns expressed there was that people *weren't* citing their electronic sources and that the originators of that material -- both of the printed source material and of the electronic -- were, therefore, being deprived of the sort of credit and recognition that normally accrues from citations to their work in others' scholarly work. (3) I imagine that the completeness of any such catalogue, however, would be suspect. It seems to me that a quantity of printed material is nowadays being converted to m-r form (usually by scanning) without either the editor's or author's knowledge or permission (never mind that of the publisher). Does anyone really think that those who have created such m-r texts without copyright permissions having been cleared are going to broadcast the fact that they have done so? If such a directory of material is incomplete, it is of limited value. But it is really up to the authors themselves to declare their sources and make suitable acknowledgement to others' material. Ruth Glynn From: Subject: UNIVERSITIES AND EDUCATION Date: Wed, 28 Jun 89 09:03 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 187 (358) Universities and Education --------------------------- The recent discussion of universities and education suffers from a widespread attitude of anti-intellectualism in the culture of intellectuals. Such notions that like Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, observers and teachers of human values cannot do so in a disinterested or value-free manner, stems from an interpretation of a mathematical formalism that is firstly a misinterpretation of the one Heisenberg provided, and secondly, a dogmatic belief that Heisenberg's own interpretation is no mere interpretation but some 'law' of physics. The mathematical formalism in words is: the product of momentum and position of micro-particles is more or less equivalent to Planck's quantum constant. Bohr, in his popular writings, interpreted this mathematical formalism to mean that the physicst is like the psychologist in that when he observes nature, he interferes in nature. Humanists, immediately jump in and say, 'even so-called objective physicts must be subjective, just like us'. However, Heisenberg provides a more limited interpretation: when we obtain a precise measurement of position, we cannot obtain an equally precise measurement of momentum; and, vice versa. That is the Uncertainty. To explain the Uncertainty in terms of human interfernce in nature, is a gloss that goes above and beyond the exact statement of Uncertainty. Furthermore, among physicists there has been a long debate, beginning with Einstein, that attempted to show that quantum mechanics is incomplete--and that quantum mechanics cannot be the last word contrary to Heisenberg, Bohr and Born. The question arises, why do so many humanists jump on the bandwagon of a philosophical interpretation of quantum mechanics, that is in part a misinterpretation, and one that is controversial among physicists? Part of the answer lies in a neo-Hegelian philosophy of 'hyper-rationalism' where everything we do must be, at bottom, rational and perfect. So, the anti-intellectual humanists argues: 'Our apparently, imperfect educational institutions, which in part devote themselves to extra-intellectual pursuits, such as socialization, networking, leading a life of leisure... and so forth, must be really perfect, given the appropriate perspective. Moreover, since intellect is so biased, so subjective, so weak and ineffective, we can only subliminally dictate to students what we professors believe dogmatically to be the correct values--and in the end, it is the rational course.' The anti-dote to anti-intellectualism is to realize that within physics there are objectivist, and realist interpretations of quantum mechanics. Also, there are objectivist interpretations of 'interpretation', 'value', and 'understanding'. As a first step to exploring the alternative to anti-intellecutalism, one might read Karl Popper's three volumes on the philosophy of quantum mechanics and indeterminism. In any case, universities do today what institutions of learning have always done, and done very imperfectly, provide free-zones for intellectual research into the fundamental problems of human existence in the physical universe. Unfortunately, what Buber says is true: teachers teach more by what they don't say, then through what they say. So the teacher who has the anti-intellectual attitude of disdain towards the life of mind, and who thinks university teachers have a free ride to show proficiency with little or meaningless content, or who thinks the university is a big joke, will convey that attitude to students. The devil's adovcate for the side of abolishing the university will win the case by default unless intellectuals adopt a more intellectually honest attitude towards their self-congratulatory 'philosophies' of physics. I have attempted a beginning towards developing a framework for an intellectually honest self-criticism of the culture of intellectuals in a paper that seeks comments and a publisher. If interested in commenting or reviewing for possible publication, please contact me. ---------------------------------- Sheldon Richmond S_RICHMOND@UTOROISE.BITNET From: John Lavagnino Subject: Universities and education and quantum mechanics Date: Thu, 29 Jun 89 10:23 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 273 (359) Here are some objections from an ex-physicist to Sheldon Richmond's account of quantum mechanics. [deleted quotation] A few important words are missing here: it's ``the product of the uncertainties in,'' not just ``the product of.'' There is a more accurate statement a few sentences later (which however needlessly omits the point that as one uncertainty goes up the other necessarily goes down): [deleted quotation] On the theory of measurement: [deleted quotation] This isn't only something that comes up in popular writings. There is no way to determine the position of a subatomic particle except by bouncing other particles off it, particles which can't be much smaller, and which therefore are going to push the original particle around some. It's not a wild claim, but an everyday problem in doing that kind of physics. Humanists, though, usually deal with bigger things (angels apart) for which this effect, while present, is so tiny that it can be ignored. [deleted quotation] ``Attempted'' is the key word here. It's never actually been done, and the Copenhagen interpretation is still the one physicists use. As with evolution, some people would like the theory to go away or say something different, but it's a big step from that to having another theory that works as well. ---Which doesn't mean that I agree with the usual humanist's use of quantum mechanics. It is a theory appropriate for the description of tiny particles of matter; it's only a metaphor when you apply it to, say, psychology. It may help us to see new things, or to provide suggestive analogies for things we already know, but any belief that it provides ``scientific'' support for such insights is unfounded. John Lavagnino (English and American Literature, Brandeis University) From: Daniel Boyarin Subject: Re: 3.187 education and universities, cont. (74) Date: Thu, 29 Jun 89 16:34:07 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 274 (360) The points about humanists jumping on a rickety bandwagon with Heisenberg seem very well taken, but I don't understand why the position that all interpretation is construction is glossed by you as anti-intellectualism. Most of the people working out such positions in literary, anthropological and historical theory seem to me very committed to the life of the mind. From: "Michael Sperberg-McQueen 312 996-2477 -2981" Subject: more on citing Humanist communications Date: 28 June 1989 21:45:58 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 275 (361) Laine Ruus is right, I think, that an address like HUMANIST@UTORONTO is not like a call number but like a publisher (or the reference number for a technical report). It's probably worth mentioning, though, that Listserv lists do not always have unique addresses: many lists are split, when they grow large, among multiple peer servers, to reduce overall network load. Each list continues to have a central host, but it's not always obvious which server is the central one, if you don't inquire. (Is this like title pages which list five cities of publication? More like a book published in five cities, but each copy bearing the name of only one ...) Even flawed address information seems better than nothing, though. Michael Sperberg-McQueen From: sdm@cs.brown.edu Subject: MLA Style for Citing HUMANIST Date: Thu, 29 Jun 89 01:12:31 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 276 (362) In a recent Humanist message, KRAFT@PENNDRLS (sorry, I don't know this person's real name) suggested the following citation format: Germain, Ellen. "Micro Applications for Scholarly Research" [ID#.#]. Electronic Discussion Group. HUMANIST at UTORONTO.BITNET. 30 May 1989. S/he also suggested two alternative formats for the electronic mail address: HUMANIST at UTORONTO (BITNET) BITNET: HUMANIST at UTORONTO In my view, there is a serious problem with each of the formats mentioned here: none of the electronic mail addresses is in a valid form. Unless things have changed radically in the past few years, email address formats are prescribed by RFC 822, and RFC 822 dictates addresses like these: HUMANIST%UTORONTO.BITNET@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU HUMANIST@UTORONTO.BITNET (I copied both of these addresses from one of the recent Humanist messages sent to me. As you can see, a single location can have more than one valid address. All valid addresses, however, must conform to RFC 822. By the way, RFC 822 is case-insensitive, so "Humanist@UToronto.Bitnet" is equivalent to "HUMANIST@UTORONTO.BITNET".) Since the purpose of citations is to allow interested parties to probe further into a matter, it does little good to give them citations they can't easily follow up on. Electronic mail addresses in citations should be syntactically valid, no matter how ugly they may look. They aren't supposed to be pretty, just functional. Scott Meyers Computer Science Department Brown University From: Subject: Citation practices: place of publication. Date: Thu, 29 Jun 89 09:22 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 277 (363) The recent discussion about how to cite e-mail and e-docs prompts me to raise an inter-related question which Bob Kraft alluded to: inclusion of place of publication. I am aware of the MLA style sheet, but normally have written for publication that did not require that. In recent years I have been assembling some bibliographies for my own use (teaching) rather than publication, so have followed my own style preferences. In the past, when writing for technical publications, most of the citations have been to journal literature, with very few books. These recent bibliographies have been on The Holocaust and are almost all to books or portions of books. This caused me to take a fresh look at the practice of citing place of publication. Basically I don't understand why it is done for recent books. The use of ISBN's (International Standard Book Numbers) now seems to be close to 100%, at least for books published in the English language (I have not looked at original publications in other languages). Doesn't the ISBN more specifically identify the book than city and country of publication? For example, as I reach to my self and select a John Wiley and Sons book, the title page lists "New York, Chichester, Brisbane, Toronto, Singapore." So, if required to include place of publication in a citation, I would select the first city on the list, New York. But this book has an ISBN, which is what is included in the "Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data sample main entry under title," that is provided (rather than place of publication) and it is the ISBN that I would have to use to order the book through a bookstore. Doesn't the ISBN better identify that edition of that book than place of publication? I would expect a definite trend toward use of ISBN's in citation, but except for my own working bibliographies I don't see anyone doing it! Is this an issue that has already been thrashed out or is it one that is just coming over the horizon? Jim Cerny, Computing and Information Services, University of New Hampshire. From: "James H. Coombs" Subject: MLA citation format Date: Tue, 27 Jun 89 19:04:03 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 278 (364) I believe the citation should include the volume and issue number, much like a journal. This is more than "electronic correspondence"; we have a moderator and regular distribution. The citation should include the full information needed to locate the publication, and the citation style should make a clear distinction between this form of publication and something as informal as "personal communication." I agree that the suggested style is very clean. I think that the additional information will keep it clean. I think that the specific node should not be that important. What if Humanist moves to another university, or even if Toronto changes its node names? Then the current node information would be of no real value. For paper journals, we do not provide any place of publication now, but the information on Toronto would at least give someone a starting point for tracking down an unfamiliar electronic journal. Thanks for asking for suggestions. --Jim Dr. James H. Coombs Senior Software Engineer, Research Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship (IRIS) Brown University, Box 1946 Providence, RI 02912 jazbo@brownvm.bitnet From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: OFFLINE 24 Date: Tuesday, 27 June 1989 2123-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 190 (365) [Bob Kraft has alerted me to the fact that my partial publication of Offline 24 was a departure from my usual practice of sending out the entire thing. Of this departure I now repent me. Be assured that I was concerned only about the load of Humanist's mail at the time and did not intend in any way to suggest that the contents were less worthy. In fact, this is a fascinating issue, which here follows in its entirety. --W.M.] ---------------------------------- by Robert A. Kraft ---------------------------------- I write this as June rapidly draws to a close. Fresh in memory is the combined international conference on THE DYNAMIC TEXT held earlier this month in Toronto (see further below). Not very far in the future is the SBL/AAR/ASOR meeting, including its CARG (Computer Assisted Research Group) activities. In between is a papyrology conference in Cairo, Egypt, at which I plan to present an update on some of the procedures and results of our work on computer assisted identification and restoration of papyri fragments. For recreation, I have just finished a computer program to index the names in a massive family genealogy file that I have been developing. On a daily basis, incoming and outgoing electronic mail takes up some of my time, and the more traditional and regular chores of an academician's life, including bibliographical searching of the Library holdings, are also facilitated in various ways by computerized activity. The point is that in virtually every direction and connection, computers and computing are part of the life situation within which I operate. This access to such enormous power no longer awes me as it once did. It is, indeed, largely taken for granted and I wonder how life ever could have functioned adequately otherwise! It is both interesting and comforting to find that many colleagues, students and acquaintances are having a similar experience, at some level or another. Throughout the University, textprocessing has become commonplace, and its benefits obvious. Graduate students marvel that anyone ever finished a dissertation in the pre-computer age, as they exploit the technology to write, rewrite, index, and print their scholarly efforts. A new set of excuses can be heard from tardy undergraduates when the course papers are due -- couldn't make the printer work, or experienced a disk crash, or the dog chewed up the diskette! When my department agreed in 1984 to require an appropriate level of computer literacy from all graduate students, we felt that it would become an unnecessary rule, since it would automatically take care of itself in the fairly near future. This has proved true, not only because most students now enter with some computer experience, but because we are able to provide new levels of usage through the presence of "humanities computing" facilities here at the University. What the isolated person might only suspect or know of indirectly can often be seen in action here, such as optical scanning of texts and pictures, special printing facilities, CD-ROM manipulation, data transfer to optimize machine-specific software, graphics and video coordination, and the like. And as is increasingly clear from the banter on the HUMANIST electronic list (about 400 computing humanists linked together on the BITNET academic network) and from the participation in conferences that deal with humanities computing, a great deal of activity is taking place throughout the world of academia to make such facilities available more broadly. THE DYNAMIC TEXT conference hosted by the Centre for Computing in the Humanities at the University of Toronto provided an excellent cross section of the current situation. The conference was sponsored by two of the leading international "computers and humanities" groups, the American based ACH (Association for Computers and the Humanities) which publishes the journal called CHum (Computers and the Humanities), and the British based ALLC (Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing) which publishes LLC (Literary and Linguistic Computing). Included among the "cooperating associations and institutions" were not only several other "computers and ..." type groups (linguistics, history, bible, conceptual/content analysis), but also a few of the traditional professional associations (historical, philological, philosophical, linguistic) along with a research libraries organization. It would be interesting to know whether other traditional professional societies had been invited to cooperate, and what their responses were. To my knowledge, neither SBL nor AAR was approached, for example, despite their demonstrated interest in such matters. As I will argue below, this type of crossfertilization needs to be actively fostered as general attitudes to computing become more positive. Two booklets were produced in connection with the conference, and copies may still be available from the organizers: A Conference Guide edited by local host Ian Lancashire (191 pages plus index), with an overview of the program and abstracts of most of the presentations; and a Software and Hardware Fair Guide edited by Willard McCarty (131 pages plus index), with details about 74 planned exhibits (a few of them failed to materialize). I have no intention of trying to summarize the variety of activities that took place in this basically 4 day conference (plus associated workshops and short courses). My two graduate student assistants and I spent much of the time showing off various "wares" in the Exhibition room, but we also attended a smattering of the program segments and it is clear that all three of us had an enjoyable and rewarding time (and made many useful contacts). I would like to comment on a few of the issues that were raised and/or reraised at or by the conference that seem to me to impact on virtually all academics in one way or another. Some of these have been mentioned in previous OFFLINE columns, but are reasserting themselves with new vigor and sometimes in new ways. My intent is not primarily to report on the Toronto conference, but to use it as a springboard to more general observations. In Toronto, I chaired a very interesting panel on computer "archives" and related issues. For most of the short history of computing and textual studies, archives of electronic materials have been maintained by centers and projects. Now the situation is changing rapidly -- very rapidly! Libraries, as the traditional custodians of publicly available (mostly printed) information are moving more aggressively to keep abreast of the new electronic developments. Publishers, for whom the invention of the printing press created an immense market opportunity, are increasingly exploring ways in which the new electronic technology can be harnessed to their advantage. The development of storage and delivery devices such as CD-ROM, which in many ways (not the least of which is its "fixed" content) is more like a book than are the more dynamic read/write media, or largely controllable on-line access services (you can see/use what is there, but can't easily obtain it as such), provide an excellent point of contact between the electronic developments and the more traditional modes of publication and storage/access. Roles are necessarily being reshaped -- and with them, expectations, procedures, laws, interrelationships. In many instances, the author with appropriate electronic equipment no longer needs a separate "publisher" to produce attractive printed copy, although questions remain (if appropriate) regarding replication, publicity and distribution. And as authors move more to primarily electronic (rather than printed) publication, and/or as users come to demand more material in electronic forms, how will traditional publishing houses and libraries respond? Who controls the quality of what is "published"? Who keeps track of what version appeared when, and whether any given version is "authorized"? How do legal concepts such as "copyright" or "fair use" apply, and how do they relate to economic issues such as the treatment of expenses and of any income? A futuristic treatment of how such issues could be handled was provided at Toronto by a surprise visitor, Ted Nelson, who spoke about his "Project Xanadu" and its Hypertext System as described in his book LITERARY MACHINES (edition 87.1), which is itself an example of a new approach to publication in various forms (hard copy privately and through a distributor, and also in electronic form). "The old order changes, yielding way to new." Many of the same issues are relevant whether one refers to future original productions, or to the attempt to produce electronic copies of existing publications. New procedures will necessarily be worked out for the future; hopefully authors will be more conscious of protecting their "ownership" rights and not simply give them up pro forma to the new order of distributors, for example. But with reference to works that are already published in the old way, and for which electronic versions are desired, the waters are considerably muddied. It is not clear how traditional "copyright" laws relate to such electronic materials, especially when the original authors (Paul, Shakespeare, etc.) whose writings are reissued under copyright are themselves long removed from the jurisdiction of such laws. If I take a standard copyrighted edition of such an author, strip away all but the consecutive text (without modern page numbers, introduction, notes, etc.), and make it available electronically, do I violate copyright? Have I produced a new edition that is itself copyrightable in my name? Such questions will only be answered legally by being tested in the courts (as has happened with some legal materials), but that prospect currently does not seem appealing to any of the discussants (for understandable reasons!), and we may be able to muddle through the situation by developing agreements between the interested parties -- as has been the situation thus far with the biblical and related materials circulated by CCAT. In many ways, the libraries are caught in the middle on such discussions, and may help force solutions to be found. If a traditional publisher produces an electronic edition, as with the recent Oxford University Press releases of the Oxford English Dictionary (CD-ROM, $950) or of Shakespeare (diskettes, $300), the issues are relatively clear and clean. But some works of Shakespeare, encoded from editions no longer under copyright, also have been available electronically for a longer period of time, without benefit of any authorized "protector" to be responsible for quality and to control distribution. Should libraries attempt to locate and acquire such "public domain" material as well? Until very recently, prospective users were approaching the computer centers for such information and tasks, with mixed results. Growing interest and involvement of the libraries should provide a relatively stabilizing effect on the situation. A major problem has been that it is not easy to ascertain whether a text is available electronically, and if so under what conditions. Lou Burnard at the Oxford Text Archive and his counterparts at a few other centers had managed to provide lists of materials that were on deposit with them, but the long desired inventory of machine readable texts (MRT) that had been begun by Marianne Gaunt at the Rutgers Library was stalled for several years from lack of adequate funding and support. This situation is now changing radically, as we learned at Toronto. The NEH has granted some planning funds for the exploration of a consortial type of Center for MRT in the Humanities, under the combined sponsorship of Rutgers and Princeton Universities, and the first major task will be completion of the Inventory. This will be done in cooperation with other groups and projects that had independently begun to move toward the same goal. Once the inventory information is in hand, and has become available on the standard library networks, it will be much easier to sort out the problems of how individual libraries can facilitate access to the actual materials (e.g. from centralized banks, through an "interlibrary loan" type system, through direct purchase, etc.) and whose legal rights may be involved. Overall, the Toronto conference was a great success, and all who were involved in making it so are to be congratulated. There is, however, for me, an uncomfortable aspect to such success. It breeds enthusiasm, esprit de corps, commitment to the cause, and all those normally desirable side effects. But at the same time it raises the question of what should be the primary focus of allegiance -- what is the function of "computers and ..." organizations in relation to the more traditional types of field oriented professional groups. When the "old guard" left little room or encouragement for serious computer related discussion at professional society meetings, it made sense for alternative fora to arise. But hasn't the current situation become more receptive, so that inclusion of computer assisted study in the traditional framework is no longer a divisive issue? If so, should not scholarly expertise of all types seek its primary focus and expression in the recognized field that it represents? This is not to deny the value of secondary affiliations such as the "computers and ..." groups, or even the possibility that the new technology may actually justify the spawning of some new "fields" in humanities (although I am hard pressed to imagine what, given the "human" emphasis in my definition of "humanities"). But the danger of expending our energies to perpetuate the now comfortable and congenial "technocentric" situation, among longtime friends and sympathizers, at the cost of robbing our special fields of our newly acquired wisdom, talents and leadership, leaves me ambivalent. In the long run, computers are tools -- very powerful tools, to be sure -- that we humanists use in the pursuit and presentation of knowledge. The Fair Guide at Toronto was even entitled "Tools for Humainsts" although in the Introduction Willard McCarty refers in passing, inviting this sort of discussion, to "the discipline [of humanities computing], if it is one" (p. ii). Is there a case to be made for developing departments of "humanities computing," with attendant majors and advanced degrees, side by side with the more traditional departments? Should this become a self-perpetuating "discipline" or better "field of specialization" alongside the other humanities "fields" that it also serves? At present, my inclination is to resist such a development, and to urge that the rapidly growing body of computing humanists not abandon the traditional fields in favor of "computers and ..." contexts, but on the contrary, aggressivly interact with the traditional structures to forge a new and stronger synthesis. To put it another way, the riches of the Toronto exhibits deserve to be seen at the traditional professional society meetings. Some of the presentations made at the Toronto sessions deserve to be heard in the more traditional settings. Conversely, the program committees of the traditional professional societies need to be conscious about insuring that computer related approaches are welcome and encouraged at the sessions. Otherwise, we are in danger of fostering the development of two quite different levels of computer literacy within any given academic field -- those who write with their computers but don't know how to do much more, and those who do much more but fail to communicate it to or share it with the colleagues who, unlike years ago, are now in a better position to appreciate it. There is a very real sense in which the continued flourishing of "computers and ..." groups could prove counterproductive for the future of humanistic scholarship. This is not to say that a continuing forum for technical discussions of humanistic computer applications has no place. But I see its role as supportive and complimentary, not as competitive. The problem is, in its oversimplified form, two sided. The traditional societies and journals seldom have taken an actively positive attitude to the new developments. What journals are reviewing general purpose software, or electronic data? How many scholarly articles that make careful and explicit use of computer technology appear in those journals? Which societies sponsor hardware and software fairs such as the one at Toronto? But on the other side, to what extent are those who are especially interested and talented in the computer assisted applications pouring time and energies into helping the traditional societies and journals cope with the new situation? Do we volunteer to serve as program coordinators and editors for relevant interests? Are computer related articles being submitted to (or rejected by) traditional journals? How can such articles reach the wider audience of the less skilled and help to make them more skilled if they appear mainly in the "computers and ..." journals for the very skilled? Examples of this paradoxical situation are not difficult to find. Many presentations in ACH and ALLC programs over the years, and articles in CHum and LLC, have been very field specific as well as explicitly computer oriented. To what extent has that research also made its way into the traditional journals (with appropriate rewriting, as necessary)? The current issue of LLC (4.1, 1989) contains an article by M. E. Davidson on "New Testament Word Order" (19-28), the spinoff from an MA project at Queen's University, Belfast. While it is clear that Davidson used electronic data in researching the subject, it is not an article on any aspect of computing -- indeed, its use of computers is relatively trivial and incidental. Davidson even prepared a control study from Epictetus "by hand" since appropriate computer data was not available for that author. Davidson's primary approach is through statistical analysis, and his results (whatever their validity) would be of interest to a variety of people in biblical and classical studies as well as in linguistics. I do not know whether the study has been submitted to any traditional journals, but it should be. It is an article on the Greek of the Gospel of Luke and Paul's Romans, and should be used and evaluated by experts in that material. It makes no contribution to humanities computing as such, although it peripherally relates to statistical linguistics. The very next article in LLC deals with the problems of using machine readable dictionaries of English. It is more directly and explicitly related to the computer aspects of linguistic research, addressing such problems as ambiguity and coding of various entries in English dictionary lists. It is an instructive study, and would be of value to people interested in dictionary construction in general, as well as to people who work with computerized dictionaries. Surely such an article has a place in the general scholarly literature for the study of English (and other) lexicography as well as in a journal read by people who must be concerned with consistent electronic coding conventions, file structures, and the like. The more technical discussions in the computer societies would be difficult to justify in traditional periodicals and scholarly meetings, to be sure, although the day may be coming when even that observation may ring false. My point is that we need to seek actively to incorporate, or sometimes reincorporate, the computer assisted studies into the general framework of the existing fields, where appropriate. I suspect that there may already be a generation of computer society members whose primary scholarly affiliation is in that "interdisciplinary" context, and who have no significant involvement with the more traditional professional societies. While I can understand how that can happen, I think we need to resist the inbreeding and tendency to isolation that can result from overly successful "computers and ..." approaches. Otherwise the old will tend to atrophy, and the new will have inadequate rooting and support. Most of the presentations and exhibits at Toronto have a direct application to the teaching and research of the individual academic. The Introduction to the Fair Guide provides a useful classification of the exhibits by type of application, with the following main divisions: computer assisted instruction (including various sight, sound and text systems), databanks and databases (local as well as online), special hardware systems (e.g. NeXT, IBYCUS), machine assisted translation, scanning systems, personal information management (e.g. bibliography), philological and linguistic analysis, historical (and archaeological) simulations, analysis of style and meaning, search and retrieval systems, text editing and textprocessing, data transfer utilities. There was something for everyone, and these brief comments cannot possibly do it all justice. In most instances, it was not a preview of tomorrow but a sample of what is being done today and a challenge to further infuse our everyday academic activities with the fruits and potential of this fabulous new technology. <-----> 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. BITNET address: KRAFT at PENNDRLS (no longer PENNDRLN). To request printed information or materials from OFFLINE (or from CCAT), please supply an appropriately sized, self-addressed envelope or an address label. A complete electronic file of OFFLINE columns is also available upon request (for IBM/DOS, Mac, or IBYCUS). From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: humanities computing Date: Thursday, 29 June 1989 1004-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 191 (366) As a point of information, to help sharpen at least the sorts of models with which we work when we discuss "humanities computing," has anything similar developed in the other tridents/quadrants of traditional academia? Are there special "computers and physics" or "computers and the natural sciences" groups? Or "computers and sociology" ("sociological computing")? Was there a point in the development of the new technology when "computers and logic" or "computers and mathematics" groups came into being, and if so, do they continue to exist in distinction from some other approach? I search for non computer analogies in my own broader field of specialization -- I learn a lot from analogies -- and think that in some ways the attempts to deal with "social sciences methodology" may come close. A society was created, sometime back in the 1960s called "Society for Scientific Study of Religion" (triple-S R). It still exists. I know several people who have been members at one point or another, some who have been leaders. I don't know how current SSSR members see themselves, or what the Society's current raison d'etre may be, relative to the fields of religion or the social sciences. My impression, perhaps quite misguided and not fully informed, is that it has tended to become a self-perpetuating island, and that the more mainstream religious studies societies have pretty much assimilated social sciences approaches as appropriate and are moving ahead with the new synthesis. There was a need, when SSSR developed, and the SSSR did bring it to people's attention. If the need has passed, what then? I'm trying to find analogies that have a central "methodological" (a word that I'm not always comfortable with) component. There are lots of situations in which sub-fields (geographical or chronological, for example) split off and develop alongside the spawning (intentionally or unintentionally) body. I don't see this as really parallel to "computers and..." groups, except perhaps in areas such as linguistics, about which I am not very qualified to speak. Perhaps similarly, in such "disciplines" (I'm nervous about that word too!) as history and sociology and anthropology, in which there are visible distinctions between people who tend to operate more "quantitatively" from those who are more "humanistic" in orientation (if those are the proper contrasting terms!), different types of groups with different interest foci emerge and often flourish with great value. This situation probably comes closer to what is going on IN SOME AREAS with the "computers and..." approach. To what extent, and in what areas, does the appeal to "computers" represent an attempt to emphasize quantitative approaches as over against something else? I have that impression of "computational linguistics," although as a relative outsider, I really do not know. At present, my feeling is that in the humanistic areas that interest and concern me most -- textual, paleographical, philological, literary, intellectual-historical, socio-historical, philosophical, and the like, the use of computers needs to become fully integrated with, not somehow adjunct to the ongoing academic endeavor. And the energies of those who have become expert, in various ways, with how to use computers in these contexts need to be directed at the less literate, computerwise, as well as shared with the more literate. To the extent that we fail to invest our talents and time in the ongoing, "traditional," organizations and contexts, to that extent we will impede the sort of synthesis that will inevitably come, but which we have a great opportunity to hasten. My humanistic ideals (ok, values) at this point reflect that aspect of Platonism (probably itself reflecting values that have common roots with some southeast Asian traditions) that saw the task of the enlightened one (e.g. in Plato's Cave Analogy) as fulfilled only when that person returned to the less enlightened to help them along their path. Thus for me, computer groups for the enlightened have their primary function to assist the less enlightened, and not to become self-perpetuating islands. Bob From: hans@leif.mun.ca Subject: RE: 3.184 size of the OED; gornisch (43) Date: 29 Jun 89 07:27 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 279 (367) RE: GORNISCH ------------ I'd add my voice to the conjecture of GORNISCH = GAR NICHT as long as the linguistic source area is the South or Southeast of Germany. I don't remember from the original e-mail where the term occurred geographically. HANS ROLLMANN (hans@man) From: Subject: Re: 3.183 e-texts needed (37) Date: Thu, 29 Jun 89 08:54:56 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 280 (368) lou: i think you can find gide and baudelaire in the artfl project: mark at gide.uchicago.edu if you have others answers. let me know. i am also interested in french text ronen From: Richard Goerwitz Subject: death rituals Date: Wed, 28 Jun 89 20:23:07 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 281 (369) Lately I've been interested in old Near Eastern rituals concerning the mourning of recently deceased relatives. Among the general stock of practices were 1) cutting the flesh, 2) shaving the head, 2) wear- ing sackcloth, 4) putting dust on the head, 5) sitting on the ground or on some other lowly place (dungheap, ash heap), 6) moaning and wailing, 7) foregoing personal adornments, 8) fasting. Does anyone know of parallels to any of these rituals in other cultures? I'm not so much thinking of moaning or wailing as of the more exotic rituals, such as cutting the flesh and shaving the head. I'd suggest sending replies to me, unless I'm unreachable. If any- one requests it, I'll be happy to relay information back again to this newsgroup. -Richard L. Goerwitz goer@sophist.uchicago.edu rutgers!oddjob!gide!sophist!goer From: Subject: bibliographies, databases, back issues Date: Wed, 28 Jun 89 21:39:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 282 (370) A brief request, probably not worth posting: my dean, hearing me mention my recent experience accessing the Eighteenth Century Short Title Catalogue from my own home, has asked me to report on what other databases &c. are similarly available. We're rather remote from research centres, and such tools are invaluable. The subject of the MLA biblio- graphies also came up, and I remembered the discussions of last week (which I did not save -- can I get them again from the archives?). [I answered this question about Humanist's archives. --W.M.] Are there listings anywhere of accessible on-line catalogues and other databases useful for isolated humanists? Thanks for any information you can forward. Kevin Berland From: Geoff Rockwell Subject: Biblio-Base Date: Fri, 30 Jun 89 15:37:54 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 194 (371) Can anyone tell me about a program from Brown called Biblio-Base? I take it that it works with HyperCard on a Mac. Is it available outside of Brown? Yours Geoffrey Rockwell rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca rockwell@utorgpu From: Subject: EDUCATION AND UNIVERSITIES Date: Fri, 30 Jun 89 10:17 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 195 (372) Education and Universities: Replies: 1. John Lavagnino (English and American Literature, Brandeis University) I am indebted to John Lavagnino for his corrections of my wording of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. However, though he rejects the misapplication of Uncertainty by humanists, he endorses the implicit anti-intellectual attitude incorporated in the Copenhagen interpretation. I quote: "``Attempted'' is the key word here. It's never actually been done, and the Copenhagen interpretation is still the one physicists use. As with evolution, some people would like the theory to go away or say something different, but it's a big step from that to having another theory that works as well." The presumptions of the above statements are: what physicists use must be correct; and the Copenhagen interpretation is a scientific theory as opposed to a philosophical theory open to philosophical debate. These presumptions protect physicists who accept them from all criticism of the Copenhagen intepretation. They are given the licence to hide from open and intellectually honest criticism of what is turned from a philosophical interpretation of certain mathematical formalisms, and a set of physical problems or dilemmas, into a scientific theory. This slide from recognizing the Copenhagen interpretation to be a philosophical theory as opposed to a scientific theory, is due to an anti-intellectual theory of 'theory' and 'interpretation'. There are several criticisms by physicists and philosophers made against the Copenhagen interpretation: 1)that it is a poor interpretation that should be replaced by an indeterminist philosophy of physical reality; 2)that the formalisms of quantum mechanics are like Newtonian mechanics, tentative and should replaced by improved formalisms. None of the critics deny that it works; or, that is should not be "used". However, to imply that what works, and what is accepted by the majority, should be treated virtually as true, is to tacitly accept the hyper-rationalist, and anti-intellectual view of 'theory' and 'interpretation'. This philosophy when accepted among physicists, particularly given that physics is taken to represent one of the heights of intellectual achievement, gives credit to anti-intellectualism among humanists, and the general culture of intellectuals. The following comment from, Daniel Boyarin, nicely states this anti-intellectual approach to interpretation and theory: "The points about humanists jumping on a rickety bandwagon with Heisenberg seem very well taken, but I don't understand why the position that all interpretation is construction is glossed by you as anti-intellectualism. Most of the people working out such positions in literary, anthropological and historical theory seem to me very committed to the life of the mind." This presumes that there is only one theory of intepretation, namely "interpretation as construction", and that because most people in the humanities seem to accept this theory, then it must be correct, and must thereby define the "life of mind". The implicit attitude here is that the current standards of intellectual life must be correct, just because they are current. The current theories of humanists and physicists, that are widely held or held by the majority, must be correct because they are held by the majority. This attitude is based on a neo-Hegelian philosophy of hyper-rationalism. This neo-Hegelian philosophy, is hardly criticised, and hardly discussed in our culture of intellectuals because it is held tacitly as part of the required framework for intellectual work. This theory is: 'Standards of rationality, truth, intellectual honesty, and correctness of theory or interpretation vary with the history of a domain, and are instrinsic to all intellectual work within the domain. Whatever scientists and intellectuals, in the majority, accept at a certain point in the history of their various domains as the appropriate standards of rationality, truth, and intellectual honesty, must be.' Firstly, 'hyper-rationalism' is one among other possible interpretations of rationality, intellectual honesty, and truth. (Hyper-rationalism goes deeper and is much more dangerous than relativism, because, unlike relativism, hyper-rationalism is intellectually arrogant and intolerant as a modification of Hegelian absolutism--it states that the majority of intellectuals determine what counts as genuine knowledge; anything contrary to the majority should be dismissed as 'fringe', or 'gornish mit gornish'.) Secondly, to be intellectually honest about how we live the "life of mind", we require to discuss, as opposed to dismiss, criticisms and alternative theories of intellectual culture. The tacit presumption of both Lavagnino and Boyarin is that the fringe critics don't count, what counts is what the majority thinks. This cynicism is just the attitude that students pick up, and that could result in the self-destruction of universities and the genuine life of mind. Their comments, unfortunately, further document my thesis that intellectual culture is beset with a self-destructive theory of intellect, that is hardly observed, and when observed, taken as a fundamental fact of the universe as opposed to a fallible, philosophical hypothesis. I regret that I can't say more here about anti-intellectualism without presenting my paper on anti-intellectualism among intellectuals, which I would be glad to send out for comment or review for publication when contacted by e-mail. ----------------------------- Sheldon Richmond S_RICHMOND@UTOROISE.BITNET From: PROF NORM COOMBS Subject: electronic citations 5 lines Date: Thu, 29 Jun 89 15:08 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 196 (373) The recent posting to Humanist on citations seem to agree on identifying email as mail. However, I receive a couple electronic Journals via bitnet. Because my print journals arrive in the mail is not reason to identify them as mail. This would suggest that material received via email should not be all lumped together as mail either! Norman Coombs From: Willard McCarty Subject: report from the Times Literary Supplement Date: 2 July 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 197 (374) The TLS no. 4499, June 23-29, contains a longish extract from the valedictory address of Michael Howard, outgoing (to Yale) Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford. Its title is "Structure and Process in History". It addresses the question posed in the first sentence, "Why has the study of history been seen, throughout the evolution of Western society, as an intrinsic and essential part of the education of all civilized men and women?" I recommend it to your attention, particularly because Howard deals with "the belief that the past should be studied in its own right and on its own terms, without distorting its significance by forcing upon it a pattern of development which often [involves] ruthless selectivity in the treatment of evidence and complete insensitivity to values other than our own" (p. 688). This kind of distortion, which one contributor referred to as "historical provincialism", is related to the question of disinterestedness that we have been discussing in conjunction with the topic, education and the universities. Willard McCarty From: PACE@WSUVM1 Subject: MLA Style for Citing Humanist Date: Fri, 30 Jun 89 09:01:49 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 198 (375) I must put in my two-bits worth on this issue. The main purpose, as I see it, of a bibliographic entry, is to provide the reader (whoever that may be) with the information necessary to find the resources used in the document for further study, or for checking the context of the referenced material. In normal MLA or Chicago style, I can take a bibliography and quickly find a magazine article, book or any published work cited because the necessary information (title, author, date, publisher) is included in the citation. However, that works with the old technology. The new technology requires a slightly difference approach. Although we may look at our discussion group as an informal, intellectual exchange, it actually represents a new form of publishing. University of Toronto is the de facto publisher, Willard is the editor. When a message is sent to HUMANIST and Willard resends it to the membership, it is no longer a private correspondence, but is a published document. If a message published on an electronic network is referenced in a paper, article or book, the means to check the reference must be included in the citation. Dr. Gibaldi's provisional recommendation just doesn't provide the information necessary to access the reference. KRAFT's suggestions make a lot more sense. Access to BITNET, at least in academic circles, is simple. Determining the correct address of a discussion group (publisher) is more difficult without specific information. I'm surprised that MLA has been so slow in responding to this need. The *New Papyrus* of electronically published material has been around for quite some time, now. The lack of response suggests that the medium is trivial. I resent that, both for personal reasons and on behalf of those involved in electronic communication. My experience over the last few years on electronic media shows me that the majority of communication on both private and public access networks is far from trivial. I think we are speeding to the point at which the amount of material published *on-line* will far exceed that published by traditional methods. That should put the issue of standard citation format for electronically published information on the high priority list. From: "Guy L. Pace" Subject: Text Searching Software for Mainframe (CMS) Date: Fri, 30 Jun 89 08:51:08 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 199 (376) I need some suggestions from HUMANISTS for text searching or concordancing software for use on the IBM 3090 (CMS). Our administration is converting text files created on DisplayWrite to pure text. These files are the minutes from Board of Regents meetings for the last five years. They also want to convert hard paper files to electronic files. From this, they want to create a text base from which the university president or his staff can find specific references to topics or projects and when those were made. I thought that one of the concordance or text search applications developed for humanities research may prove useful in this project. Any thoughts? Any suggestions? Just post it here. Thanks for your help. From: "Patrick W. Conner" Subject: 3.193 online resources? Date: Mon, 3 Jul 89 14:36:32 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 200 (377) BRS (and probably Dialog and others, too) vends an online database called KNOWLEDGE INDEX, which is a database of online databases. Under each entry, you will find information about the source of the database, its cost, and where it is vended. The ability to search KNOWLEDGE INDEX using boolian operators makes it an excellent tool the best database for the job. BRS itself has an afterhours rate (NIGHTOWL, they call it) for individual scholars, which might put such tools within the range of your personal budget, if your institution doesn't already have access to them. From: John McDaid Subject: Ed & Univ Date: Mon, 3 Jul 89 03:24 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 283 (378) In 3.17, Sheldon Richmond writes: [deleted quotation] He goes on to explain his disssatisfaction with our popular notion of the Principle: [deleted quotation] What Richmond is leaving out, in this biased rendition, is the REASON this uncertainty is originally observed. That is, that the process of observation, on the quantum level, (Which, I would like to point out, could also be done by _women_...) always involves the exchange of at least one quantum of energy with the system being measured; that the process of measurement itself will always and forever disturb the system so measured, and hence, erect the momentum x position >= Planck's constant limit. Therefore, when he says, [deleted quotation] I must confess that unless we are using the word "interference" in different ways, I cannot make sense of this sentence. Even in its most "limited," quantum-level, bare-bones interpretation, the Indeterminacy Principle is inextricably bound up with the notion of measurement necessitating disturbance. As such, contra Richmond, this is indeed a "law" of physics, as we currently understand it, there being no magic way to penetrate the Noumenal system without bouncing some kind of quanta off it. On the question of the Einstein v. Quantum Mechanics debate, I urge Richmond to be more circumspect about the "long debate, beginning with Einstein." Quantum theories have a body of experimental support. In point of fact, the objection which Einstein (along with Podolsky and Rosen) proposed to quantum mechanics is what prompted Bohr to postulate indeterminacy as a "law of nature," in that the macroworld (us) could only make probabilistic assertions about the quantum. According to this interpretation, there is no "disturbance," rather, until the point of measurement, there is only a wave function. We have, finally, to give up our anthropocentric notion that reality on the quantum level must be just like the world we grew up in so we can understand it. In response to Einstein's "Der Herrgott Wurfelt Nicht," Stephen Hawkings has said, "Not only does God play at dice, but sometimes He throws them where you can't see them." I am most at a loss, I must confess, when to answer his question of why humanists jump on the "bandwagon" of quantum mechanics, Richmond finds that we are, at bottom, victims of a weak-minded subjectivist self deception. The logical extension of Indeterminacy is not a Panglossian "best of all possible worlds," but rather a tough-minded intellectual honesty which -- like Popper -- is constantly attempting refine its approximations. Teachers are not scientists, poking quanta of information into the heads of students. I would hope that by now, the model of the college classroom would be one of a holistic system in which the "students" and "professor" are cooperating in the enterprise of discovery. The spectre of meaninglessness which Richmond attributes to Humanists' "Self-congratulatory philosophies of physics" is a mere spectre. The true message of quantum mechanics is that we need fundamentally new ways of understanding the universe, ways which are unlike the ones learned from experience in the macroscopic world. The desire to deny quantum reality, is, at base, a desire to erect the human as the measure of reality, and to re- enshrine the accidents of evolution as fundamental truth. I think that this attitude, rather than an honest investigation into the implications of quantum mechanics and introspective pedagogical enactment, which can rightly be called anti-intellectualism. John G. McDaid mcdaid@nyuacf From: Tom Thomson Subject: Philosophy of Uncertainty (was Universities & Education) Date: Mon, 3 Jul 89 08:16:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 284 (379) When arguing about interpretations of some "law" of physics, it's best to get the law right first; so I can't let Sheldon Richmonds remarks go unchallenged. The uncertainty principle says nothing about the value of the product of the quantities he mentions; what it says is that the product of the margins of error within which we know these quantities has a lower bound. The "mathemetical" form proposed is wrong. One can deduce from that statement that if one measures one of the quantities very accurately, it becomes impossible to know much about the other. So this act of measurement has, empirically, an effect on our capacity to discover the other quantity. The principal appears not to be about the properties of an isolated system, but about how accurately those properties can be known. The formulation SR attributes to Bohr (correctly, I think) is very close to the remark above - it differs only in whether what is affected by observation is our ability to make further observations or to the thing being observed. From a verificationist point of view, there could be no difference - statements about the state of the system could only be verified by observation, and would have no meaning apart from that possibility of verification. Similarly, the "limited interpretation" attributed to Heisenberg is accurate, and bears no relation to the "mathematical" form proposed. The objection to quantum mechanics formulated by Einstein was, I believe, precisely opposite to that proposed by SR. The uncertainty does not lie in the underlying system - God does not play dice - but in our failure to measure or understand it correctly; maybe this failure is not inherent in nature either, but Einstein's point was that he didn't believe the uncertainty was. A good, and fairly recent, book is Boehm's The Infinite and the Applicative Order (I think that's the right title) which puts forward one of the many "hidden variable" philosophies to counter the excessively physical interpretation of the uncertainty principle that SR seems simeoultaneously to advocate and deprecate. Tom Thomson From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Re: [3.195 Heisenberg and anti-intellectualism (109)] Date: Mon, 3 Jul 89 11:20:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 285 (380) I'm a bit behind with my e-mail but I cannot resist re-joining the fray on this one (as another ex-physicist). In my previous comment I was not thinking so much of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle as of Maxwell's Demon. But I am surprised that Sheldon Richmond sees this sort of approach as 'neo-Hegelian'. My own model would be that of Popper, who has written much that is to the point here, and who can hardly be accused of having much love for Hegel... The Copenhagen interpretation is, ultimately, counsel of despair. It says, in effect, we *cannot* interpret the conflicting sets of data; they are irreconcilable. But how can we *know* that? How indeed can we know objective truth? I don't believe we can -- hence my rejection of the possibility of objectivity. Douglas de Lacey. From: jdg@eleazar.Dartmouth.EDU (Joel D. Goldfield) Subject: "Documenting e-mail authors' identities" Date: Mon, 3 Jul 89 10:24:59 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 202 (381) As we discussed in several messages on HUMANIST last year, would contri- butors please be so kind as to supply their real life identities? There have been several recent messages which supply only cryptic e-mail addresses. No need to fear blaspheme, we potential "citers" wish only to know with whom we're corresponding, and these names and addresses are not always in the Humanist address list. Thanks, Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College Dartmouth College From: Duane Harbin Subject: Re: 3.189 citing e-documents, cont. (160) Date: Mon, 03 Jul 89 09:57:33 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 203 (382) Regarding the use of the ISBN in identifying works in bibliographic citations: It is important to realize that ISBN's (International Standard Book Numbers) are assigned by publishers. They are used somewhat inconsistently, but generally speaking, publishers treat them as inventory numbers. Thus a publisher will keep the same ISBN for multiple printings (in some cases, multiple editions) regardless of corrections or changes in the text. Hardcover, paperback and special bindings of the same work have differing ISBN's. If a work changes publisher, it changes ISBN, regardless of content. The point to emphasize is that the numbers are intended more to identify pieces rather than works, and serve publishers and booksellers somewhat better than libraries and individuals. The other difficulty is that unless you have access to a database containing the information, bibliographic information is difficult if not impossible to retrieve using an ISBN. Thus although ISBN's might be a useful ADDITION to standard bibliographic citations, they are not a substitute for traditionally supplied information. From: Lou Burnard Subject: OCR and the Text Encoding Initiative Date: Mon, 3 Jul 89 12:39 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 204 (383) I have waited and watched in vain for someone else to jump on Terry Erdt's astounding comment about OCRs and the TEI of June 14th (3.121) but a fortnight has gone by (an eon on Humanist) so regretfully I rise to take the bait myself. Terry said (in case you've forgotten) that given the wonderful capabilities of the next generation of OCR devices - in particular their ability to link bit mapped images of an original with the OCR output derived from it - "the tedious and herculean efforts of the Text Encoding Initiative may be misplaced or misdirected". Now, I won't argue with the 'tedious' or even (modesty apart) the 'herculean', but the 'misdirected' is just plain wrong. Suppose an OCR system were capable of 100% accuracy in identifying the typeface and layout of a printed or written page. (Suppose everything they say about Optiram was true!). Suppose you got a machine readable text in which every change of font, every variation of point size, every detail of inter-letter and intra-word spacing were perfectly tagged. What use would it be if you couldn't tell the footnotes from the running titles EXCEPT in terms of their typography? Reading a text - and encoding the results of that reading - is not only a matter of identifying what it looks like. It's also an interpretative act. If the TEI doesn't deliver ways of making explicit those interpretations then it really will be misdirected, in much the same way as WYSWYG word-processors, by focussing attention on the medium at the expense of the message. Let me recommend, yet again, the CACM article on scholarly markup by Coombs et al. as a reminder of what we are trying to achieve, for those who have forgotten, or never knew. From: EVENS@UTORPHYS Subject: Public domain software Date: Sun, 2 Jul 89 23:58 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 205 (384) There have been some requests on the list for public domain software, especially to do with graphics printer drivers. I have info on how to access several large archives of public domain for IBM-PC's and compatibles. If anybody is interested they should send me mail directly and I will send them the info. If there is sufficient interest I will post the info, but only if there are many requests as it is a fairly long file (something in the 100's of lines) dan evens From: Robert Kirsner Subject: converting to and from Nota Bene Date: Tue, 4 Jul 89 13:51:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 286 (385) Dear Colleagues, I have recently experienced difficulty converting Nota Bene files to Microsoft Word and to Wordstar and to WordPerfect. Can anyone out there recommend a translation program which does the job without losing footnotes and formatting? If so, please send all information so that I can have it ordered. Thank you, Robert Kirsner From: Robert Kirsner Subject: Hungarian fonts for the MacIntosh??? Date: Tue, 4 Jul 89 13:49:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 287 (386) Dear members of the Humanist Group Mind: I have a colleague who has just begun to use a MacIntosh and Microsoft Word. She works on Hungarian, which uses special diacritics, such as long and short umlauts. Could anyone out there recommend a Hungarian font which she could use. She is a beginner, so it must be simple. Thank you, Robert Kirsner From: Donald Spaeth (0532) 33 3573 Subject: Date: Tue, 04 Jul 89 17:15:38 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 207 (387) Re: 3.137 laptops and noise It's all very well for Michael Sperberg-McQueen et al. to argue that noise is relative and that people will "get used" to listening to the tapping of computer keyboards in libraries. May I suggest (1) that libraries are meant to be quiet and that it is rude to be noisy in such an environment (the noise librarians themselves make is irrelevant to this argument), and (2) that if we really expect others to convert to the wonders of computers we must avoid making ourselves objectionable. We do not want the sins of a few rude typists to queer the pitch (if I may be allowed a quaint local colloquialism) for the rest of us. Personally, my hunting and pecking can be heard from far away! Donald Spaeth Arts Computing Development Officer University of Leeds email: Janet: d.a.spaeth at uk.ac.leeds.cms1 Earn/bitnet: d.a.spaeth at cms1.leeds.ac.uk From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" Subject: Searches and Icon Date: Tue, 4 Jul 89 09:10:12 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 208 (388) Guy L. Pace asked if there were a concordance or text search application to find specific references to topics or projects and when those were made; the text files were created on DisplayWrite and converted to pure text and are on an IBM 3090 (CMS). I had two immediate thoughts: (1) Depending on the exact format of the texts, the use of a concordance or text search package will probably produce disappointing results, will require additional rekeying of the text, or both. (2) This is a perfect application for Icon for VM/CMS. Version 7.5 of Icon for VM/CMS should be available in the very near future. An Icon program could be written that would produce exactly what was wanted. From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Re: [3.189 citing e-documents, cont. (160)] Date: Tue, 4 Jul 89 09:35:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 209 (389) Someone recently suggested that ISBNs should be used in place of publisher data. But am I not right in thinking that hardback and paperback versions, US and UK editions, may all have different ISBNs? Do reprints necessarily keep the same ISBN? Does anyone know of any literature on the significance of these esoteric numbers? Douglas de Lacey From: "Gentlemen, let's broaden our minds." Subject: PD software -- it's not just for IBM's anymore. Date: Tue, 4 Jul 89 01:46 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 288 (390) Those of you looking for good Public Domain and Shareware software for the Apple II series (GS included) could subscribe to the APPLE2-L list, on the LISTSERV at BROWNVM. For discussions and tips regarding the Apple II line, you could subscribe to Info-Apple. Anybody can send a mail message to INFO-APPLE-REQUEST@BRL.ARPA, asking to be added to the list. BITNET users could send a subscribe command to the LISTSERV at NDSUVM1, and subscribe to INFO-APP. Don't quote me on that, though; I'm not positive about the node. Either approach will have the same effect. Good luck, William Dickson DICKSON@HARTFORD.BITNET From: stephen clark Subject: PHILOS-L Date: Tue, 04 Jul 89 12:09:08 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 289 (391) My apologies: some people have been having difficulty getting through to LISTSERV here to subscribe to PHILOS-L. Others have obviously succeeded. Try sending to LISTSERV@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK (or UK.AC.LIVERPOOL) rather than LIVCMS. New users can get instructions re LISTSERV by sending INFO to any LISTSERV. Stephen From: Subject: query Date: Wed, 5 Jul 89 13:10:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 290 (392) Maria Edgeworth, in _Practical Education_ (1798), notes that Peter the Wild Boy's head, "as Mr. Wedgwood and many others had remarked, resembled that of Socrates" (I, 63). I know this is pretty obscure stuff, but maybe there are some HUMANISTs out there who could direct me to discussions of Peter the Wild Boy, or to a possible source for Wedgwood's comment (or some of the many others). Kevin Berland Penn State BCJ@PSUVM From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 291 (393) DATE: Wednesday, July 5, 1989 - 14:38:46 MST FROM: John J. Hughes SUBJECT: Early Church Fathers Dear Humanists, Does anyone know of machine-reabable versions of the Early Greek and Latin Fathers? John Hughes From: Subject: Uncertainty and anti-intellectualism Date: Wed, 5 Jul 89 16:20 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 212 (394) REPLIES concerning Uncertainty: I thank the various recent commmentators (i.e. Tom Thomson) on my remarks about the verbal statement of Heisenberg's Uncertainty principle for their corrections and completions. I agree that we must be careful and complete in our verbalizations of Heisenberg's formalism; and my statement was neither. My over-all point is that intellectual honesty involves opening apparently uncontested practices and theories to critical examination. It seems that to mention that quantum mechanics, the Uncertainty Principle, and Bohr's Copenhagen Intepretation have been questioned and debated by philosophers of physics and philosophically minded physicists, has resulted in various ad hominem remarks that those who question quantum mechanics must be 'anthropocentric', and by implication, reactionary. 1. John G. McDaid mcdaid@nyuacf "The desire to deny quantum reality, is, at base, a desire to erect the human as the measure of reality, and to re-enshrine the accidents of evolution as fundamental truth. I think that this attitude, rather than an honest investigation into the implications of quantum mechanics and introspective pedagogical enactment, which can rightly be called anti-intellectualism." This statement presumes that quantum physics is the measure of "quantum reality", as opposed to being the best current theory of fundamental micro-particles. All that we humanists can do is to submissively state the implications of the current physics which is the positive measure of reality. This remark documents my point about current hyper-rationalism and its anti-intellectualism: 'What physicists of the day say about reality, must be true, or close to the truth, either because they have evidence for it, or because they are in a position to know. Whatever the current state of physics is, physics must be rational; so all that intellectuals can do, is to submit to the dictates of physicts.' Intellectuals have a responsibility to examine alternative viewpoints, not merely to document and elaborate what the current majority in physics, or in any other discipline, happen to hold as unquestionable. The teacher, whether we like it, or not is given a place of intellectual authority in our universities as a person who has come to her conclusions after much thought. When a teacher says that anyone who questions quantum mechanics is being 'anthropocentric', she is enshrining the current view of physics as a dogma. This person is doing no favour to physics and no favour to intellectual culture. However, it would be ant-intellectual to insist on rejecting quantum mechanics simply because it does not conform to a particular world-view. The intellectually honest attitude is to admit that quantum mechanics is a fallible, first stab in the dark into a very elusive domain of reality. Newtonian mechanics had much more evidence in its favour, and had been around much longer than quantum mechanics before Einstein had definitively refuted Newton's giant achievement. 2. There is some confusion, by those who defend quantum mechanics, about the nature of the criticisms of quantum mechanics. Einstein's arguments: 1. The EPR paradox reveals that either there is non-local action, or current physics is incomplete. 2. Even a realist interpretation of current quantum phenomena is unacceptable because it is incomplete in treating the fundamental laws of physics as probabilistic, or statistical. Bohm's argument: the variables of quantum mechanics, though they appear to be absolutes given the current state of quantum mechanics, could, like the variables of space and time which were once held to be absolutes, be found to be variables relative to specific frameworks. There may be a hidden layer of invariables, such as the relativistic laws for mass and energy, which will provide a deterministic explanation of quantum mechanics. Popper's argument: the Copenhagen Intepretation treats the laws of physics as subjective, and final. Rather, we should interpret quantum mechanics as hypotheses about the indeterministic nature of physical reality. In short, there are two layers of comments. Bohm's and Einstein's are more on the physical as opposed to philosophical layer--they prefer us to look for an alternative physical theory to explain the variables of quantum reality. Popper's comment is more methodological and metaphysical: treat quantum mechanics as a set of falsifiable hypotheses about an indeterministic layer of reality. I am not speaking for myself when reporting the objections to quantum mechanics. Rather, I report those objections, and the largely silent reaction of the majority, as a fact of intellectual culture that requires explanation. The problem raised by this fact is, why do so many in our intellectual culture endorse the Copenhagen Interpretation, and ignore not only the criticisms to it, but also treat it as an inevitable state of affairs as opposed to an interpretation open to argument? I propose the cultural historical hypothesis that Bohr's Interpretation is so widely accepted because it fits in with the general world view of anti-intellectualism and hyper-rationalism in the culture of intellectuals; and, moreover, Bohr's Interpretation not only fits in with this world view, but also gives it a seeming exclusivity and invevitability. Douglas de Lacey sums up in positive terms what I argue is a negative feature of our intellectual culture--its treatment of an interpretation (of one interpretation among others) of a set of problems, a set of inconsistencies, as the inevitable outcome of the rational minds of intellectuals: "The Copenhagen interpretation is, ultimately, counsel of despair. It says, in effect, we *cannot* interpret the conflicting sets of data; they are irreconcilable. But how can we *know* that? How indeed can we know objective truth? I don't believe we can -- hence my rejection of the possibility of objectivity." This anti-intellectual world view ( that the mind creates fictional worlds of its own making which are the only reality we can know; and all the products of mind, however apparently inconsistent and irrational, have a deeper layer of motivation and intellegibility) is responsible for a general malaise among intellectuals, and, in part, responsible for the general undervaluing, both economically and morally, of our educational institutions. The general malaise is that our intellects cannot expect to gain any hold on the real world; and that the products of our mind are chimerical, and have no real value beyond giving a few people tenure in universities. -------------------- Sheldon Richmond From: Geoff Rockwell Subject: Re: 2.306 converting to/from NB? Hungarian Mac? (44) Date: Wed, 5 Jul 89 09:53:11 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 292 (395) Re: Hungarian Mac Linguist's Software has a font called "SuperFRENCH GERMAN SPANISH" that is supposed to do Hungarian. SuperFrench costs 49.95 $ (US) and works with LaserFRENCH GERMAN SPANISH, which is a postscript font for postscript printers. LaserFrench costs 99.95 $ (US) and includes the bit-mapped fonts in SuperFRENCH. (Does your colleague have access to a laser printer?) They claim that the fonts included in the package, which resemble Geneva, New York and Times, cover all the European Roman languages. SuperFrench can be ordered by phone (206) 775-1130. Ecological Linguistics has a font called "European Times" that "covers all Roman alphabets of continental Europe." This is based on the Adobe Times font and should print correctly on any postscript device that has the Adobe Times postscript font on board. They also claim to have modified resources so that the font will sort correctly and macro sets that give you different key board layouts. European Times costs 45 $(US) and is available from: Ecological Linguistics P.O. Box 15156 Washington, D.C. 20003 USA I neither know Hungarian nor have these fonts. This note should not be taken as an endorsement of these products. Yours Geoffrey Rockwell rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca From: MLAOD@CUVMB.bitnet Subject: Directory of Databases Date: Wed, 5 Jul 89 12:07:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 293 (396) In answer to the question concerning a list of available databases, there are a number of such lists, one being the *Directory of Online Databases* (New York: Cuadra/Elsevier). ISSN: 0193-6840. This directory is pub- lished quarterly, and currently lists approximately 4,000 databases, only a few dozen of which are of any interest to most humanities scholars. The subject index to this publication is poor, (MLA Bibliography database is not listed in the Social Science/Humanities section, for example), and it does not list the scholarly text bases which have been mentioned at various times on Humanist. It is, however, an interesting volume to browse through, listing all databases offered by major online services (Dialog, BRS, Wilson etc.), and seems to do a good job of covering data- bases outside North America Daniel Uchitelle From: N.J.Morgan@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.207 noisy laptops (32) Date: Wed, 5 Jul 89 09:10:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 294 (397) More nosiy laptops ! I think I started this particular hare running a few weeks ago. One substantial mail failure at Glasgow and an outing with a Summer School group to the Hebredies have contrived to make me miss much of the ensuing "debate" Has anyone collected the relevant postings, and would they be willing to let me have them. I would be grateful as I am interested in knowing what is done, and where. And as a comment to Spaeth - one of my original points was that many libraries and archives are already full of rude typists (not to mention the sniffers, sneezers, coughers etc.), so what a difference a polite portable ? Nicholas Morgan Department of Scottish History University of Glasgow From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.208 mainframe text searching (27) Date: Tue, 04 Jul 89 18:28:21 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 295 (398) I believe some of the feature you wanted in a search and concordance program might be available for DOS and MAC use in the TEX program by: Mark Zimmermann 9511 Gwyndale Drive Silver Spring, MD 20910 I am currently testing a copy and find it quite efficient. email to science@nems.arpa or compuserve [75066,2044] I think you will find Mark quite well informed and helpful. Michael S. Hart From: Laine Ruus Subject: response to 3.198 Date: Wed, 05 Jul 89 10:31:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 296 (399) In response to the suggestion in item 3.198 on the subject that there should be a citation format for electronically published materials - one was produced as early as 1979. The citation of the article in which it was outlined follows: Dodd, Sue. Bibliographic references for numeric social science data files: suggested guidelines. ASIS journal 30(2):77-82, 1979. The problem is not with the lack of a format - the problems are (a) to get authors, editors, and publishers to begin to routinely cite and require the citation of electronic publications, and, (b) the format above was developed for primary data files, the production of which is often no less labourious than writing and having published a traditional printed book. It can, however be adapted to serve any number of electronic 'formats' (by which I mean the electronic versions of monographs, serials, maps, correspondence, etc.) I do not dispute that the pearls of wisdom dropped in this electronic mailing list should be considered, for citation purposes, as some sort of publication - I do however dispute that the amount of thought and effort put into the polish and intellectual content equals that put into more traditional academic publications, such as monographs, periodical articles, full text files of Milton, etc. Thus I really do not think that electronic mailing lists require ISBNs, nor anything much more formal by way of identification than author, electronic mailing list identification, number, and date, as well of course as medium designator. If ISBNs are eventually applied to electronic publications, they will undoubtedly be applied to less trivial products, such as the individual texts listed in the OTA shortlist, or the TLG list, etc., but not to informal e-mail offerings. From: Willard McCarty Subject: informal and trivial Date: 5 July 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 297 (400) My colleague Laine Ruus writes, "If ISBNs are eventually applied to electronic publications, they will undoubtedly be applied to less trivial products, such as the individual texts listed in the OTA shortlist, or the TLG list, etc., but not to informal e-mail offerings." For what it's worth, I too think that ISBNs are a bit much for electronic forums such as Humanist, but I cannot let pass without comment the equation she makes between "informal" media of publication and things "trivial". It is natural enough for someone familiar with electronic chatter to despair at the ratio of intelligent thoughts to words. As I've said before, when I started Humanist I was driven by the desire to improve the overall usage of the electronic medium and to see if that ratio could be raised. (I hasten to add that I did not have a very wide experience with electronic discussions, so my ambitions were fueled by no comprehensive judgment.) Improvement was and is not merely a question of discipline (or, rather, self-discipline) but equally one of identity: what is electronic publication? how does it relate to other forms of "making public"? what are its inherent characteristics? Humanist's membership has shown that electronic mail and literate English are not incompatible. Humanists have done this by disciplining themselves to take some care with what they write. At the same time Humanist has evolved with the gradual discovery of what the medium is and what it is and is not good for. I would argue that although it may be used in a trivial way, there is nothing inherently trivial about it. Informality does seem inherent, however. In terms of formality, electronic seminars such as Humanist can, I think, be located somewhere between the written letter or essay and the spoken conversation or unprepared talk. Perhaps not less care but certainly less self-censorship or regulation goes into an electronic piece than into a written one, at least under such circumstances as ListServ provides. At the same time, we e-mailers are naturally more sparing with what we type into our computers that what we might speak into a telephone or at a convivial gathering. Apart from the exchange of raw information, things like Humanist seem to be particularly suited to free-ranging discussion, during which some truth emerges. A creative combination of watchfulness and relaxation allows for discovery that, I think, would not otherwise happen. We can and frequently do try out ideas in a way not possible elsewhere. Perhaps we like Humanist partly because such give-and-take of ideas is not something we can easily find among our face-to-face colleagues anymore, who are too busy being pressured and so cannot easily think slowly and generously about important matters the world has no time for. In any case, with e-mail "talking" one's way to understanding is possible. A certain amount of irrelevance, of plain BS will of course happen. That doesn't mean that the medium or its works is trivial, nor even that it is ultimately without form (in-formal), just that one keeps an open mind about the form that will emerge. The trick is to (a) have a mind, and (b) keep it open. Putting those two conditions together successfully isn't easy, but we seem to do it often enough to keep alive some faith in the possibility of thought. I say that it is as crucial to have a principle of irrelevance as it is to be able to recognize the relevant stuff when it walks by. Comments, please. Willard McCarty From: Willard McCarty Subject: change for Humanist's logbooks; Humanist on CD-ROM Date: 5 July 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 215 (401) As many of you will know, Humanist's monthly logbooks have been growing so large that fetching them has at times been difficult or simply impossible. Long delays have been caused by the network software's habit of shunting aside large files until the traffic in small ones is slight. Then, too, ListServ's limit on the maximum amount of data any one person can request within a 6-hour period has caused a bit of grief. We have, therefore, told the software to start making weekly logbooks. These are named HUMANIST LOGyymmx, where as before yy = last two digits of the year, mm = the number of the month, but x = the week, designated A, B, and so forth. This change will mean more typing when you cannot pinpoint the week in which some desired item was transmitted, but you will get the file(s) more quickly and without some other difficulties. Plans are afoot to put all of Humanist on a CD-ROM disk. Stay tuned for more information. Willard McCarty From: Ian Lancashire Subject: Dynamic Text Conference Statistics Date: Tue, 04 Jul 89 23:26:48 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 216 (402) I am very glad at last to be able to report on the Dynamic Text conference held in Toronto last month. There were 14 keynote speakers in seven plenary sessions, and 121 talks and 40 panelists in 44 parallel sessions, for a total of 175 separate presentations. There were 55 participants in the software and hardware fair demonstrating a large number of programs. Final registration was 427 people from 18 countries in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. 197 educational institutions and research centres and 32 international businesses were represented. We have been told by some that this was the largest conference ever in the field. Given that the two associations met for the first time together at Toronto, the size of the registration is not surprising. Here is a breakdown by country. NORTH AMERICA Canada 168 US 165 Sub-Total 333 EUROPE Belgium 5 Denmark 2 Federal Republic of Germany 12 France 6 Italy 10 The Netherlands 5 Norway 4 Spain 4 Sweden 3 Switzerland 1 United Kingdom 35 Sub-Total 87 REST OF WORLD Australia 2 Israel 1 Japan 2 People's Republic of China 1 Turkey 1 Sub-Total 7 TOTAL 427 The final list of registrants will shortly be made available on Humanist, and a paper copy will be mailed out to each registrant. Of all the speakers whose talks had been scheduled, only six speakers were prevented from attending, and four of these were replaced by the time of the session. We were especially sorry to lose Jostein Hauge (Bergen) and Bernard Quemada (Paris) to circumstances beyond their control. It was a special pleasure to have Donald Walker (Bellcore), Susan Hockey (Oxford), and Ted Nelson (Autodesk) agree to take part, at the last minute, in three plenary sessions. Oxford University Press will be publishing selected papers from the conference. Editors of the volume will be Susan Hockey, Nancy Ide, and myself. I would like to take this opportunity, finally, to thank everyone who participated in ALLC-ICCH89. We have had many compliments about the organization of the meetings and (this after polling the conference staff) no negative remarks at all. We look forward to seeing many of you at Siegen next June. From: EVENS@utorphys.bitnet Subject: public domain info Date: Thu, 6 Jul 89 19:31:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 217 (403) This is the info on getting public domain software from several places. It's somewhat chatty and assumes you don't know much about computers or getting files from servers. Simtel20: This is a public domain archive maintained by the U.S. Army. They have many gigabytes of public domain and shareware. Simtel20 archives are a combination of shareware and user donated public domain, plus some things typed in out of public domain things like Byte Magazine etc. They come with absolutely NO waranty, or promises of any kind. If you have ftp available (not unlikely if you have unix on the unix net) then you can download these files directly. You would use the ftp address 26.2.0.74 and be prepared to deal with network congestion in business hours in the U.S. Else you will have to use what are called trickle servers. Send your commands to one of the following two places if you are in North America. listserv@ndsuvm1 listserv@rpiecs These both accept /pdget and /pddir commands. You can send your messages interactively or as the body of mail messages. If in mail messages, you can put several commands in one message, one on each line, and the subject line of the message is ignored. You can also ask the listserv for syntax help, try send listserv@rpiecs help /pddir send listserv@ndsuvm1 help /pdget etc. In Europe there are trickle servers at the following nodes. TREARN (Turkey) IMIPOLI (Ialy) DBOFUB11 (Germany) DKTC11 (Denmark) AWIWUW11 (Austria) The servers in Europe use slightly different command syntax, so you should send for help files on the /pdget and /pddir commands if you are closest to one of these servers. I will assume here that you are using one of the U.S. servers, but you will get faster service if you use the one closest to you. Most simtel20 files contain binary data so you want them uuencoded so you will need a uudecode program. This may already exist on your unix so check that before you order it. Anyway you can get a uudecode source in basic, pascal or c. send listserv@rpiecs /pdget mail pd:uudecode.bas (asis The /pdget command tells the listserv to get the specified file from simtel20 and ship it to you. The mail option tells it how. You can tell it mail or punch. Big files should be sent by mail, as listserv will break them up into manegable chunks and mail them to you as part m of n. You will have to put them back together with your favourite text editor. Then comes the filename. Then comes the format you want the file sent to you in. You should usually choose (asis or (uue. Asis should be obvious. But don't try to get binary files this way as bitnet screws them up node-hopping. (uue means put it in uuencoded format. This is a format that will transmit properly on the net but is not readable. The uudecode gets you back the original file. To see what else is in simtel20 get the files from the same directory (all text ascii files.) simtel-archives.info (about 140k) pkarc.readme aaread.me Also try send listserv@ndsuvm1 /pddir pd: 9999 This is the directory command, and everything but the 9999 should be obvious. The 9999 specifies how many days old you want files listed. If you leave out the 9999 it defaults to 30 days. You can put in any number you like. The archive is continually being updated with new files being added and new versions displacing old. Wildcards (such as msdos.* for ALL subdirectories, or msdos.t* for all subdirs starting with 't') are allowed but NOTE: if you send for a directory of 9999 you are going to get a listing of the names of something like 3500 files. When you get a uuencoded file in several parts you have to put it back together using your editor, strip out the mail headers, don't leave blank lines, then run it through a uudecode program. Now after you uudecode these you will have a .arc file. These must be unarchived using one of the pkunpak programs, such as send listserv@ndsuvm1 /pdget mail pd:pk361.exe (uue These are really nifty programs. There are several versions in various places around the simtel20 and on several listserv archives. One thing to remember if you use a trickle server is that it may not process your request properly due to no fault of your own. There are at least two reasons for this. 1)If network congestion keeps the server from getting the file within three days, it will abandon the attempt. 2)If the file has been erased at simtel20 between the time you ordered it and the time the server tried to get it, it will abandon the attempt and give you some not very useful error message, basically the same as reason 1. If it does abandon your request, try the /pddir command again and see if the file is still there. There are two main chunks of files for IBM-PC's in simtel20. The first is pd: where the .* meand all the subdirectories. Most of the subdirectories have a 00-index.txt file which is an ascii listing of what is in that directory. pd: has about 3500 files in it so you should be prepared to accept that much data if you do a directory of the entire thing. Some of the interesting directories are msdos.starter for all the little tool progs you'll need and a bunch of help files msdos.graph these 3 for graphics, graphing, graphics msdos.graphics printers and such msdos.ega msdos.tex for a dos version of TeX and LaTeX and a nice screen previewer for TeX The other chunk is called pd: where nnn is 000 (that is zero zero zero not OH OH OH) through 572. There are over 9000 files in this chunk and you should think carefully before ordering a directory of the entire thing. Each volume has as the first file in it a file called -catalog.nnn where nnn is again 000 through 572, which contains a list of what is in the volume. Unfortuneately pc-blue is not organized too well, and there is a lot of duplication and it is hard to find your way around in all those files. Also there are pd: for cpm software, pd: for sig/m software and pd: with miscellaneous stuff. There is also a public domain archive on the listserv@dhdurz1. Try send listserv@dhdurz1 index send listserv@dhdurz1 get filename fileextension f=uue The f=uue is optional. It would send you a uuencode file. This is necessary if the file you want is binary data, or an executable or such, as these don't transmit properly over the net. They have a version of TeX, a bunch of fonts, a raft of latex style files, and a whole family of printer drivers, an OS/2 version of TeX, and a whole lot more. Note: This is not a trickle server for simtel20 so you use regular listserv commands, not /pddir and /pdget. Yet another archive is at listserv@blekul11. This one has a lot of 'C' source code, and unix stuff. If you have questions about this stuff send them to me and I'll update this file to make it more useful. dan evens From: David Megginson Subject: Observation and Quantum Physics Date: Thu, 06 Jul 89 07:08:53 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 298 (404) There is an interesting parallel to the Quantum observation problem on the non-quantum level. Consider a television set with rabbit's ears in a small room. What you see on the screen depends on how close you are standing to the television set, and you can never see what the picture is like by itself, because your presence in the room affects what you can see. This is a day-to-day problem for those of us without cable TV, because when we walk to the TV to turn the antenna, we also change the signal to the point that we cannot tune the set accurately. Please note: a) I am not a physicist; and b) I am not claiming an instance of quantum physics, only an analogy. From: Richard Jensen Subject: science Date: Wed, 5 Jul 89 19:39 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 299 (405) The debate about quantum mechanics is about the wrong science. In the 18th century, physics was the dominant science for humanists, (thanks to Newton) and again in the early/mid 20th century (thanks to Einstein, Heisenberg et al.) But the 19th century, dominated by reactions to Darwinism, seems more atuned to our current postmodern sensibilities. Evolution attracted the 19c mind because it seemed congruent with the teleological theme of progress. Granted that caused humanities & social sciences some trouble. Spencer and all that. But Spencer wasn't Darwin. Consider the advantage of evolutionary biology today (in the guise of the neo-Darwinian synthesis, as explained by Ernsy Mayr). It is non-telological. A species' adaptation to the world--finding the right niche--is a risky and uncertain venture. While biology can explain adaptation after the event, it cannot predict the future. That is, it's a technical matter to explain why the giraffe has a long neck. It's quite impossible to predict what giraffes will look like a million years hence. Uncertainty about the future arises from the options open to decision- makers, combined with the impact their choices will have on the environment and other creatures. This is much more akin to the humanities' insights than the problem of measuring velocity or location of a particle to plus-or-minus 10exp(-40). From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Patristic Texts Date: Thursday, 6 July 1989 1053-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 300 (406) In reply to John Hughes' inquiry about Greek and Latin patristic texts on computer, (1) Most of the Greek materials (through the 5th century) are on the TLG CD-ROM already, and virtually all of them will be in the completed TLG bank (I have prepared a chronological list of the Jewish and Christian texts on the TLG disk, for anyone who cares to have it); (2) Various Latin Christian materials have been encoded by various projects, some of which make the materials available, others of which do not. See the archive list prepared by Mike Neuman at Georgetown, for example, with reference to projects at Montreal, Louvain-le-Neuve (CETEDOC), Liege (LASLA), etc. Also be aware of the reactivated Rutgers Inventory of Machine Readable Texts being coordinated by Marianne Gaunt. I will be happy to try to provide further details, if needed, but thought a general HUMAINST announcement might be useful at this point. Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: David H. Hesla Subject: Peter the Wild Boy Date: Thu, 6 Jul 1989 11:43 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 301 (407) Peter the Wild Boy (d. 1785) was found living in the woods near Hanover. He wa s transported to England and made much of. J. Swift satirized the craze. For further information see the *Encyclopaedia Britannica*, 13th ed., v. 21, p. 295 . The EB cites Henry Wilson, *The Book of Wonderful Character (London 1869). David H. Hesla Emory University From: jonathan@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Jonathan Altman) Subject: Re: 3.198 citing e-documents, cont. (50) Date: Thu, 6 Jul 89 08:15:45 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 220 (408) There are two issues in the e-mail citation issue that I wish to address. One has been well discussed, one mentioned only in passing but I feel the latter is important. 1. On using the electronic mail address of the originator of an electronic mail message. Somebody suggested using RFC 822 compliant e-mail paths. I concur that this is what should be used. The reason is that RFC 822 is a standard on electronic e-mail addresses. This standard is not likely to disappear, although it may be subsumed into a later standard. Those who write and maintain computer systems and network software will make sure that RFC 822 addresses work, much the same as the U.S. Postal service (or anybody else's postal service presumably) makes sure that zipcodes work, or the phone company makes sure that area codes, exchanges, and so forth work. We should decide instead how to simplify things. One contributor listed two address which Humanist arrive from: HUMANIST%UTORONTO.BITNET@MITVMA.MIT.EDU (or some such) and HUMANIST@UTORONTO.BITNET Out of these two addresses, we can consider the top address to be like a street address, or routing address. It seems in most citations we do not need the street address, nor directions on how to get to a particular publisher's office, just the city. So, I suggest we standardize on using the latter (domain) address whenever possible. In the case of journals such as HUMANIST, this is easy, because the address is constant. The latter address uses domain format. Humanist SHOULD be reachable at that address from any computer which can send e-mail to BITNET. Mail programs that can't reach the latter address above are, to my knowledge, non-compliant mailers and therefore there is a problem with THAT mail program, not the address. This should be fixed by the computer people who maintain that computer, NOT by our citation style. Computer scientists have not finished standardizing yet, but e-mail sites are gradually becoming more accessible by addresses such as the latter above. 2. On journals such as Humanist. One thing that has been left ouf of the discussion so far is acknowledging the editors of e-journals such as Humanist. I watched over Willard's shoulder as he composed an issue of Humanist while at the Dynamic Text conference. Changes are occasionally made (such as including historical information about a message, or apologia, or announcement). Further, to be strict, Willard must also edit EVERY message that goes out on Humanist to remove the e-mail headers and assign issue numbers. So, he needs to be included as the editor of the journal, to recognize his influence on the final journal product (and no, this is not a plug for Willard, necessarily. This should be the case for ALL e-journals and their editors). Enough for now on this. Jonathan Altman jonathan@eleazar.Dartmouth.edu Database Consultant jonathan.altman@Dartmouth.edu Dartmouth Dante Project From: Subject: CD disk Date: Thu, 6 Jul 89 08:22 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 302 (409) Thank God I misread your message. I thought you were going to put all HUMANISTS on a CD-ROM. I wonder how many would fit, what with the new personality compression algorithm and N.V. Phillips company's new DSS (digital soul storage) device. Oh, wait... I have my time machine set for 1989, not 2089. Rats, where is that .... (Wade Schuette) From: JACKA@PENNDRLS Subject: On films transferred to Video Disc, what else? Date: Thursday, 6 July 1989 0949-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 303 (410) I received a private communication concerning available material on video disc that I would like to answer in public. The question concerned what material is now available on video disc in the US and Japan. Currently there are some 5000 titles available in the US. Most of these are English speaking movies, many of which are unsuitable for academic use unless you are studying Americana. For foreign movies, the Japanese division of Pioneer has been reproducing films of well-known European directors. There is a wealth of material from Japan in French, Italian and Swedish. Unfortunately, there are no Arabic films, but we are working on that with Janus films. Of course, there is a wealth of Japanese titles available in Japan. In the US, you should contact the Criteron Collection, a venture of Janus Films and Voyager Press. You can dial their 800 number for service: 800 446-2001. The current collection includes 70 titles of which half are foreign films. The collection will increase by another 30 titles by the end of the year. Most of the movies we use in German, French and Italian classes are on video disc. You just have to search for them. If anyone needs more details on this I would be happy to send you a description that includes sources for video disc material. JACK From: Steven J. DeRose Subject: Humanist biographies again Date: Sat, 08 Jul 89 12:47:27 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 222 (411) The Humanist biographies have reached a pretty good state of organization. There is a HyperCard stack which displays them nicely, with appropriate indexing, search, etc., and which can write them out either in SGML or as formatted text files. However, the later supplements still need to be added; this involves adding some tags to each biography, a task which several Humanists helped with earlier. I've been asked to complete the database quickly, so would appreciate any volunteers who could spend an hour or so to tag one file of biographies each. I have a file of tagging instructions, and it really is a pretty quick and straightforward task; it just gets large if one person has to do it all.... Any volunteers who can get to it quickly (say, within about a week) would be *extremely* appreciated (and, of course, will be appreciatively cited in the stack). Please contact me directly if you can help, and I'll send you a file to do. Many thanks, Steve DeRose From: Christian Koch Subject: Scanners and the law Date: Fri, 7 Jul 89 14:47 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 223 (412) I am looking for some clarification on the matter of text scanning (or, I suppose, the matter of possession of machine-readable texts) and the law. I realize this has been dealt with from time to time in various contexts on HUMANIST, but I don't feel that I have a clear picture at the moment. Here at Oberlin there are a number of us who would like the institution to buy a relatively high quality text scanner so we can place books, articles, and documents onto disk for computer manipulation in personal research as well as in class instruction. A request for approximately $17,000 for a Kurzweil 5100 scanner went to the powers that be, who have indicated in the past that they are receptive to the idea of the institution's acquiring such an instrument. The request was, however, turned down not necessarily because of the money, although it is a matter of concern, but because they say there is currently pending in the U.S. congress some legislation that will clarify the issue of copyright infringement as it relates to machine-readable texts. In the meantime, the administration argues, it is just too risky to make available a high quality scanner to faculty members. They are not too concerned about the individual scholar who might want to make a single copy of some text or the other in the course of personal research, but they are very concerned at the thought that some persons, like myself, might want to make ten or twenty machine-readable copies of a given text for use by students in a course. The administration insists that the matter is of such gravity that nothing can be done until the U.S. congress acts. I am wondering if the Oberlin adminstration's position in this matter sounds reasonable to those of you with expertise in this area? I really don't know what legislation they are talking about, how great a risk is involved, what might be done to protect ourselves prior to legislation, etc. I am also wondering if the Kurzweil 5100 at about $17,000 seems to be a good choice (I know there has been extensive commentary about scanners on HUMANIST -- I'm more or less looking for a yes or no on the 5100). The administration says that if the 5100 represents the cutting edge of technology they might prefer to pass since they "have been burned before on state-of-the-art machines" which have later proved to be a bad idea and therefore abandoned by the manufacturer. I did not personally investigate the type of scanner to recommend, so I don't know if the Kurzweil 5100 is cutting edge or tried and true in its technology. My unenlightened attitude is that if Kurzweil brings it out, it can't be that bad. The Oberlin administration says that in spite of their having turned down an initial request for a scanner they are open to new suggestions in the matter. They are, however, not clear on whose budget should really pay for it or where it should be made available to institutional persons -- the library, the computing center, secretarial services, graphics services, etc. They are also not clear whether each user should be charged by the page or whether the institution should make the machine available free of charge to, particularly, faculty. Since Oberlin is an institution of about 2700 students, there is not much chance that several high quality scanners will be purchased by individual departments. A good scanner will have to be shared. Perhaps some of you out there may have discovered the ideal campus logistics for scanners? Christian ("Chris") Koch Computer Science (emphasis: Computing in the Liberal Arts) Oberlin College Oberlin, Ohio BITNET: fkoch@oberlin From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.216 Dynamic Text conference statistics (84) Date: Thu, 06 Jul 89 19:19:18 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 304 (413) I would like to hear what attendees thought about the Dynamic Text Conf. If those who attended could tell us the nature of the presentations and topics discussed, perhaps those of us who were unable to attend could glean some part of what we might had gained if we were able to be there (and we could make a concerted effort to get to the next one). Thank you, Michael S. Hart (Please respond to Humanist, so all concerned may benefit) From: "Ouden Eimi " Subject: gorillas in the mist? Date: 6 July 1989 14:25:40 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 305 (414) Sorry -- bad movie but suggestive title. I am wondering if anyone here knows of studies in the history of technology that deal with the general question just raised in conjunction with electronic communications. What usually happens when a new technology enters the scene? How does it tend to disrupt the domains of other technologies, replacing or transforming some, redefining others? Or, to ask about communications in particular, is the electronic medium in fact turned out to be significantly like orality? (McLuhan, yes, I know, but to what extent has experience with electronic mail or things like Humanist changed our ideas? The "global village" is a sexy idea, but Humanist, for example, differs quite significantly from any village, even an artificial one made up only of computing humanists and their friends. (What a thought.....) Stir the pot. OE From: "Patrick W. Conner" Subject: Historian of Roman Rite wanted Date: Friday, 7 Jul 1989 04:34:39 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 306 (415) I won't bore all of HUMANIST with my problem, but I have a couple of questions about the relationship of the Fulda sacramentary of the tenth century to the developing Roman Missal in England with which I need some advice of the 'why don't you read so-and-so' sort. Any takers? - Pat Conner U47C2@WVUVM.BITNET From: Roy Rada Subject: thesauri Date: Fri, 07 Jul 89 19:08:09 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 307 (416) [Any replies to this query should go directly to the questioner.] I'm a professor of computer science and exploring collaborative authoring systems. Authors express their ideas in a semantic net whose edges point to blocks of text. To facilitate the labeling of edges we would like to require that each label be identified as a verb within Roget's thesaurus. The hierarchical structure within Roget's supports inferencing about the relationships among edges. We need an online thesaurus for this purpose. Can anyone help? (I'll be in the USA from July 8 through July 22 but will answer my email after July 22). Thank you, Roy Rada From: Merri Beth Lavagnino Subject: Trivialities Date: Fri, 07 Jul 89 13:31:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 225 (417) You asked for comments, and I have one. I'd like to point out that correspondence, while not usually formal, is an important source of information for scholars. I can think of several archival collections in libraries that consist of purely correspondence. While these usually focus on one or more important persons, what would we do today if no one had kept any of the letters they received from persons who were not especially important in their day? Or even from ones who WERE important? Some of you humanists, I am sure, will one day be considered important enough for future graduate students and scholars to study. Wouldn't it be wonderful for them to be able to locate information about you? Even better, to locate this "informal" communication, which may reveal more of your character and personality than a "published" work would? I can envision a library in the future cataloging a CD-ROM of early HUMANIST correspondence, feeling grateful that they were able to acquire such an early example of electronic mail. Then I can see the scholar poring over its contents, able to get a vision of intellectual life in 1989, how technology advanced, and how the 1989 scholar reacted. Perhaps a bit farfetched, but perhaps not. Merri Beth Lavagnino Yale University Libraries From: John McDaid Subject: Response to Richmond Date: Thu, 6 Jul 89 14:51 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 308 (418) In 3.212, Sheldon Richmond writes: [deleted quotation] With regard to ad hominem remarks, I would like to remind Professor Richmond that it was his initial posting which referred to quantum humanists as "anti-intellectual," "dogmatic," and "hyper-rational" (which hurts worse than being called anti-intellectual, let me tell you, Sheldon...) protecting their "self-congratulatory" quantum doctrinal adhesions because it gives them "a free ride" with "meaningless content," since people who think quantum mechanics is a reasonable approximation will construe the university as a "big joke." He then goes on to respond to me personally. The next paragraph is my summation, which he quotes, followed by his response. [deleted quotation] The statement makes no such move. The statement says that the desire to deny the indeterminacy of our knowledge of the universe is an attempt to crawl back into the womb of naive realism. [deleted quotation] This is the opposite of what the statement says. Anyone who reads Popper should see that his notion of the enterprise of physics is phenomenology writ large. (Or at least, the pragmatic American flavor characterized by C.I. Lewis) We are therefore _doing_ physics all the time, in the sense of creating falsifiable hypotheses about experience. What I am arguing _against_ is the characterization (which Richmond seems committed to) that entertaining indeterminist hypotheses rots the mind. [deleted quotation] I am not now, nor have I ever been, a hyper-rationalist. I _am_ a phenomenologist, and as such, I reject the twisted construal of my text as a passive acceptance of ultimate knowledge. The text, in fact, says the opposite: that there are things which cannot be known. I do not accept quantum mechanics as the "true state of reality," but rather, as a philosophically interesting and pragmatically fruitful perspective, from which follow certain implications. (The Copenhagen Interpretation does not, however, imply that the university is a joke.) [deleted quotation] What I actually said about anthropocentrism was, "We have, finally, to give up our anthropocentric notion that reality on the quantum level must be just like the world we grew up in so we can understand it." I think it does violence to this sentence to characterize it as enshrining _any_ view of physics--or any human perception--as dogma. Except, of course, for Popperian fallibilism, which is of course, infallible. :) In criticising Douglas de Lacey's response, Richmond says: [deleted quotation] I think that ultimately, it's kind of sad to think that we humanists have such a low resistance to general malaise; that admitting our perceptions are mediated and hence fallible leads us so inevitably to a total destruction of value. As Lucy once said in a Peanuts cartoon, "I was outside skipping rope, and suddenly it all seemed so pointless..." While I agree that postmodern uncertainty requires an intellectual rigor that wasn't required When We Knew The World, it seems facile to couple this challenge to our alleged quantum hopelessness. If to shake off this creeping malaise, if to be an intellectual, I must believe that the mind does not create fictional worlds, then I would rather not be thought of as an intellectual. So be it. But that does not mean that I take the products of our minds to be "chimerical," but rather that the central task of consciousness, hence, the central task of mind as enactment of cosmic evolution, (to paraphrase Paul Levinson) is the search for meaning-making patterns. This does not make my limited "knowing" valueless, rather, it gives it an honest urgency in the face of a bewildering, challenging universe. If believing that human thought and its Sisyphean self-evolution are the most important thing is anti-intellectual, then heck, I guess that's what I am. -John G. McDaid mcdaid@nyuacf From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Re: [3.218 uncertainty, science, the humanities (63)] Date: Fri, 7 Jul 89 09:52:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 309 (419) David Megginson's comment about the impossiblility of accurate tuning of a TV reminded me forcefully of a splendid book replete with comparable and evocative analogies, for those interested in this discussion. It is Douglas Hofstadter, *Goedel, Escher, Bach; an Eternal Golden Braid*, published (I think) by Harvester in UK and I don't know who in US. I would be interested to know what other HUMANISTs think of it. And does anyone know how to transmit an umlaut over e-mail? Douglas de Lacey. From: "Kenneth B. Steele" Subject: Noisy Keyboards & Libraries Date: Thu, 06 Jul 89 23:55:04 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 227 (420) Those of us accustomed to composing at the typewriter keyboard have quickly embraced the computer as a boon for research, note-taking, and writing. Unless libraries wish their users to borrow all the works they find of use in order to take notes in the privacy of their own homes (something neither feasible nor desirable, I should think), some form of compromise must be found to keep reading and typing together in the libraries. (And I don't believe it should be necessary to relegate computer users to "typing carrels" to avoid disturbing others, either -- typewriters combined keyboard and printer, after all, and no-one is suggesting hard copy or sheet feeders in the reading room.) My first point is not likely to win many advocates, but I have been led to understand, by speed-reading experts, that a manageable level of background noise actually IMPROVES reading comprehension, because it drives the mind from aural to visual reading. We are indeed oblivious to a considerable amount of background noise already, and I agree with those who claim that it would be possible to get used to keyboards in the library -- but then I am also one who has become accustomed to living near one of the noisiest street corners in Canada. My second point, however, is that no-one should HAVE to get used to keyboard noise. Computer users have demonstrated a phenomenal lust for clattering keys -- perhaps so that they can HEAR how hard they're working. Keyboard manufacturers have expended enormous energy attempting to duplicate the "IBM tactile feel" [sic], because people covet keyboard percussion even more than 256 colours as an indicator of computing power. I myself can't preach too much on this point, because it was not so long ago that I bought a second keyboard for my PCjr (which has long since been put out to pasture), just because the original "chicklet" keyboard was spongy and, above all, SILENT. It is important to observe, however, that this spongy, silent keyboard WORKED -- and it was not particularly awkward or error-prone, once familiar. Surely there MUST be a laptop computer out there which has a similar keyboard construction. As for the incessant beeping of spell-checkers -- no self-respecting humanist would want to be seen using one of those in public, anyway, now would s/he? Ken Steele (KSTEELE@utorepas) From: Jim McSwain Subject: Date: THU 06 JUL 1989 15:19:00 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 228 (421) re: THE CLASSICAL BULLETIN Please note THE CLASSICAL BULLETIN, vol. 65 (nos. 1&2 1989), is devoted to "Computers and the Study of Greek & Latin Classics." Among the useful and interesting articles in this issue is "Greek- English Word Processing" by Michael J. Harstad which examines in detail software such as 'ChiWriter' and 'DuangJan.' Also worth- while is "Telecommunications and the Classics" by Jeffrey L. Buller. In addition to a glossary of technical terms and what off-line databases offer, it contains vendor addresses, public access and commercial services (CompuServe, etc.), as well as information on databases with access costs, phone numbers and so forth. Footnotes and bibliographies provide the curious further channels and sources of information. And of course for HUMANIST participants the articles illuminate the way in which classics scholars are making the transition to working with machine-based information. From: "Matthew Gilmore, Special Collections GW" Subject: CACM/Communications of the ACM Date: Sun, 09 Jul 89 23:50:07 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 310 (422) The latest CACM // July 1989 // is on interactive technology and would probably be of interest to many HUMANISTS out there. Matthew Gilmore From: CAMERON@EXETER.AC.UK Subject: CALL for papers Date: Mon, 10 Jul 89 18:09:54 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 311 (423) Notice and call for contributions CALL COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING An International Journal Editorial Board General Editor: Keith Cameron (Exeter) Associate Editors: Jeremy Fox (East Anglia) Henry Hamburger (George Mason, Virginia) Masoud Yazdani (Exeter) Advisory Board: Stephano Cerri (Milan) Brian Farrington (Aberdeen) Ralph Ginsberg (Pennsylvania) Rex Last (Dundee) Dana Paramskas (Guelph) Camilla Schwind (Marseille) Dieter Wolff (Duesseldorf) Over the last few years interest has been growing in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). The role of the computer in the classroom is being investigated both from the pedagogical aspect and from the programmer's point of view. The `big dream' for some is the creation of an `Intelligent' Tutoring System (ITS), one that would incorporate the techniques of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and that would be flexible enough for the teacher of Modern Languages to use without a specialist knowledge of computing. Until an Artificial Intelligent machine has been perfected, however, there is a need to explore other techniques as well and to test them in learning situations. It has become apparent from conferences we have organised at Exeter, and elsewhere, and from correspondence with colleagues at home and overseas, that it is essential that there be an easily accessible means of information distribution about current research and its findings. To facilitate an interchange of ideas and knowledge, we have decided to create a new periodical which will be devoted to all aspects of CALL : e.g. Pedagogical principles and their application to CALL Observations on, and evaluation of, commercial and proto- type software Intelligent Tutoring Systems Use of CALL with other forms of Educational Technology, in particular conventional, interactive, and Audio-Visual devices. Application of AI to language teaching A Forum where information relative to CALL users can be exchanged. While the primary focus of the journal is CALL, it is also intended to keep readers fully informed of developments in other language technologies. In particular, papers dealing with computer assisted translation, computer assisted compostion, with multi-lingual systems, etc., will be welcome. Articles should be sent in hardcopy and either on disk or via e/mail (preferably the latter) to the Editor. Details of forthcoming conferences or points to be raised in the Forum section should also be sent as soon as possible to : Dr Keith Cameron (General Editor), Computer Assisted Language Learning, Queen's Building, The University, EXETER, EX4 4QH, (UK) or by e/mail to : . The first number of the journal will appear in February, 1990. For subscription information and a specimen copy of CALL, please contact: Intellect Books, Suite 2, 108/110 London Road, Oxford, OX3 9AW. From: Willard McCarty Subject: notice of an interesting book Date: 10 July 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 312 (424) Just this evening I found in the new OUP "General Books Autumn 1989" catalogue the following: Roger Penrose, _The Emperor's New Mind: On computers, minds, and the laws of physics_ (Oxford, 1989). As some of you will doubtless know, Penrose (Mathematics, Oxford) is a colleague of Stephen Hawking and has shared with him the Wolf Prize (1988) for work on the nature of the cosmos, and the Dirac Prize (1989). According to the blurb, this "frequently contentious book" introduces the informed layman "to the concepts of classical and quantum mechanics, the principles of computability, fractals, Turing machines, cosmology, artificial intelligence, and brain function". Its aim is to "explain why the current laws of physics, considered by many to be of fundamental importance and more or less immutable, must be re-evaluated in the light of their application to the nature of consciousness and intelligence". I for one am very interested to know what's behind the allusion to the famous story about the emperor's new clothes. Reports on this book welcome. Willard McCarty From: Don D Roberts (Philosophy) Subject: Date: Sun, 9 Jul 89 00:41:25 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 313 (425) Douglas de Lacey asks about GODEL, ESCHER, BACH. I think it is a wonderful book (much better than THE MIND'S I (done with Dennett) and METAMAGICAL THEMAS, in my estimation). I have used it 5 times or so in seminars, and it has attracted bright students at UW which made teaching enjoyable for me. I am aware that some people found Hofstadter's punning and fooling around excessive, but for some reason it doesn't bother me, in part, I suppose, because the book provides such an unusual variety of excellent things--on the logic side, for instance, the introductions to formal systems and to recursive functions, and the treatment of Godel's incompleteness proof. The dialogues are delightful. My students enjoyed the "games" contained in the book, even the relatively hidden ones (for instance, look up "ATTACCA" and "Hofstadter" in the index (add a reference to page 702 for the latter)). From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Goedel et al Date: Mon, 10 Jul 89 01:44 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 314 (426) [deleted quotation]Thank you for reminding me, it is long overdue that I reread this book. I have enjoyed every attempt at it (about 4 or 5 now I think) but never actualy finished it as I have always tried to do all the "exercises" and it was taking weeks to the chapter. Symbolic logic is not exactly my forte. [deleted quotation]If you were using TeX it would be G\"oedel. If you were using LaTeX then to get Goedel right it would be G\"{o}edel. My problem with G\"{o}edel is how to pronounce it. From: Peter D. Junger Subject: More on the interpretations of quantum mechanics Date: Mon, 10 Jul 89 19:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 315 (427) The discussion of the Copenhagen 'interpretation' of the 'formalism' of quantum mechanics--or is it the 'formalism' of the uncertainty principle?-- and the somehow consequent charges of anti-intellectualism have me very confused. Perhaps my confusion supports the position that humanists should not talk--or read--about quantum mechanics, but I would still like to know where I have gone wrong. In the first place, as I understand it, the so-called Copenhagen interpretation is an interpretation of quantum mechanics (or quantum dynamics) as a model of physical 'reality'; it is no more an interpretation of a formalism than Newtonian mechanics is an interpretation of the formalism "F = MA" (and a bunch of other formalisms dressed up as differential equations). Newtonian mechanics is about--is an interpretation of the observed behavior of--apples and moons and billiard balls and things like that. Not as a matter of physics, but as a matter of cultural history, Newtonian physics represented a triumph for those--who did not include Newton, who was into alchemy and things like that--who believed that the rational mind could 'see'--i.e., anschauen or intuit--the ultimate reality of the world by abstracting from the world all thought of, or reference to, anything subjective, anything merely human. The triumph of this view was, of course, a defeat for anyone who was interested in human thought, culture, or desires. Erstwhile humanists tried to turn themselves into scientists and excluded everything subjective from their ontologies, lisped in numbers, and brought forth monsters, as neo-classical economics did with its rational--but uninterpreted-- formalisms who go about maximizing transitory desires by slithering along indifference curves. Those humanists who remained true to their cause were told that their interests were positively meaningless, and meaningless at least in part because the poor humanists could not abstract their subjectivity from the part of the world that they were attempting to describe. With this history, it is understandable that humanists tended to snigger when they heard rumors out of Copenhagen that the physicists were discovering that their own observations were changing the outcome of their experiments. But, as I understand it, the problem with quantum mechanics is much more serious than that. It was not just that physicists found that they were trying to do the equivalent of plotting both the position and velocity of an invisible baseball by throwing invisible pingpong balls at the baseball and observing how the pingpong balls bounced. The physicists' difficulty was that they could only predict the probability of where the baseball, or one of the pingpong balls, would turn up and--and this is the rough part--that that probability distribution described the behavior of a wave, not of a ball or some other type of particle. I can't recall the details of the double slit experiments, but it was quite clear--and had been clear to Newton--that light behaves like some sort of wave rather than like a particle. But when something actually interacts with light, then the light equally clearly appears to be made up of photons, i.e., particles. Equations (formalisms) were written which could predict what one would observe in any given experiment involving photons or other subatomic particles, but the physicists could not come up with any noncontradictory interpretation of what light (or anything else that exists in the subatomic world) was. The variables in some of those equations could only be interpreted as particles, while the variables in other equations could only be interpreted as waves. But the two sets of equations described the same reality, and, I believe, that it was discovered that they could be rewritten so that they could not be interpreted at all. But whatever form the equations took, they worked fine, in the sense that they precisely predicted the probability that during an experiment an observer would observe a particle at a given time and place, provided always that that time and place were both large enough to admit of an observation. As I understand it, the Copenhagen interpretation can be stated in two complementary ways: i) there is just the observations and there is no underlying reality other than those observations and the uninterpreted equations predicting what will be observed or ii) for one type of experiment the underlying reality can be considered to be waves while for a complementary experiment the underlying reality can only be considered to be particles. So one can take one's choice: no reality or multiple inconsistent (but complementary) realities. With this interpretation the whole idea of some sort of Platonic reality, idealistic or materialistic, was cast aside. One ended up with true statements that did not refer to anything or with 'things' about which one could not make a noncontradictory statement. This interpretation is not, however, part of quantum mechanics. There are other interpretations that one can choose. One of them is to posit hidden variables, some reality at a level deeper than the wave/particles. The only trouble with this interpretation is that there is experimental evidence, so I understand, that any such hidden variables would have to be so well hidden that no experiment in quantum mechanics could reveal them. Another possibility--one that makes me most uncomfortable--is that everything that could happen with some probability does in fact happen, each in a different universe. No one has suggested anyway of testing this interpretation either. And then there are those who argue that it is only an observation by a human being that can actually bring a quantum particle into existence and postulate the strong anthropic principle that we are here because the universe is--against all probability--the perfect place for critters like us and that the universe exists as it does--in esse, not just in posse--only because we are here to observe it; another untestable interpretation. Physicists working with quantum mechanics do not need to worry about these interpretations. A computer chip can be designed in accordance with the principles of quantum mechanics and it will work, no matter how the designer interprets--or fails to interpret--the underlying quantum mechanisms (if there are any underlying quantum mechanisms). Something may someday replace quantum mechanics that is not confronted with these problems, but that something will not be quantum mechanics. It will supply answers to different questions, and the problems of interpreting quantum mechanics will be forgotten, along with quantum mechanics. Perhaps this new and as yet undreamed of theory will admit more easily of interpretation and allow the physicists to delude themselves once again that they have been able to view reality in the raw. I would not, however, hold my breath awaiting that day on which old Plato will be, for a while, vindicated. It seems to me that the importance of all this--to the extent that I have not gotten it all muddled up--to humanists, is that our last best hope of actually seeing reality, nature, what-have-you, as-it-is has blown up like bubble gum in the physicists' faces. Some may find it nervous making, but I should think that most humanists would be delighted that our advance guard has returned from Plato's cave and reported that the shadows are there, all right, but that there is nothing projecting them. It may not be true that things are what they seem, but it seems to be true that there is nothing else that they can be. Am I an anti-intellectual for hoping--and assuming--that reality is dead? The world has not been changed after all by the development of quantum mechanics. There is still plenty to think about; especially if one is not a physicist. I await the correction of my misconceptions. Peter D. Junger--CWRU Law School--Cleveland, OH--bitnet: JUNGER@CWRU From: Oxford Text Archive Subject: A note on copyright Date: Mon, 10 Jul 89 17:07 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 231 (428) This is a brief statement of my current understanding of British copyright law, or rather those parts of it which relate to the Text Archive's concerns. It has been obtained at considerable expense, both financial and intellectual, with the help of the University's solicitor and Judith Proud's dogged research, but I accept full responsibility for what follows (i.e. it may be wrong). There is no such thing as copyright (singular). The law provides for a number of rights (plural) with respect to a published literary work. These are:- 1. The author's right in the content of the text. This applies to any literary or artistic work and it lasts for 50 years after the author's death. 2. In the case of a published work, the publisher's right in the typographic arrangement, presentation, look and feel (if you will) of any work. This applies for 25 years, and is renewable every time the publisher produces a new edition. 3. In the case of an electronic work, where significant intellectual effort has gone into the process of tagging or otherwise transforming or editing the text, the creator of that electronic form may have rights in that. 4. There is also in French law a concept of `moral right' additional to (1): this is the author's right not to have inferior adaptations of a work passed off as authentic. It has not yet entered English law, but may do so. For any text any combination of the above rights may exist and therefore be infringed by the act of copying. `Copying' includes:- transcribing all the words of a text or substantial portions of it (infringes 1); transcribing instructions sufficient to mimic the appearance and content of a published text, transmitting by FAX etc. (infringes 2); making unlicensed electronic copies (infringes 3). You can mix and match infringements ad lib. Further to complicate affairs, any of these rights can of course be passed on to others, licensed for particular purposes etc. etc. And of course there will be copyrights in some parts of texts, (notes appendixes, illustrations etc) independent of other parts. Previously unpublished texts are treated rather strangely in British law. When a text (e.g. a mediaeval manuscript) which would otherwise be in the public domain is published for the first time, then its first publishers have rights in it for 50 years from the date of first publication. This right is abolished in the 1989 Copyright Act, but with the proviso that all works currently so protected are given a last 50 years (from 1989) to run. With reference to scanning texts, it's my understanding that the simple process of making a text machine-readable confers no rights at all on the owner of the resulting electronic text, any more than making a xerox copy or a manual transcript would. To own electronic rights in something you have to have created something analagous to an original work. So, my answer to "Chris" Koch is to say that yes, alas, your administrators are quite correct. You may not make electronic versions of work not in the public domain without permission from the authors (or whoever owns their rights). And such electronic texts as you make from public domain texts will themselves be in the public domain unless you put a lot of work into them. As this posting is already rather long, I'll defer discussion of how the Text Archive intends to continue functioning now that we finally understand the law until another time... Lou Burnard, Oxford Text Archive From: stephen clark Subject: Wild Boys etc Date: Mon, 10 Jul 89 10:03:09 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 316 (429) See Lucien Malson Les Enfants Sauvages, and Memoire et rapport sur Victoire de l'Aveyron (Paris 1964) Also Jean-Claude Armen, Gazelle Boy (Bodley Head: London 1974) - evocative but could do with more convincing evidence. See also (debunkingly) C.Levi-Strauss, Elementary Structures of Kinship chapter I: "it seems clear that most of these children were congenital defectives, and that their imbecility was the cause of their initial abandonment and not, as might sometimes be insisted, the result" - it isn't clear to me (but then neither is the opposite). Stephen From: grgo@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Greg Goode) Subject: Re: Re: [3.218 uncertainty] and umlauts Date: Mon, 10 Jul 89 15:06:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 317 (430) [deleted quotation] Two ways, at least. You can type the letter followed by a " symbol, as follows: a" as in Universita"t o" as in Ko"ln u" as in fru"h A" as in A"mte U" as in U"ber Or, if it's German, you can follow the umlauted vowel by an e. --Greg Goode From: Donald J. Mabry Subject: Re: 3.227 noisy keyboards (laptops) (56) Date: Sat, 8 Jul 89 17:38:47 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 318 (431) In re KSTEELE@UTOREPAS's comments (and those of others) regarding beeps of spell-checkers, my versions of WordPerfect allow me to turn off the beeps. Perhaps this is true with other word processing programs. From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.227 noisy keyboards (laptops) (56) Date: Sat, 08 Jul 89 22:10:31 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 319 (432) For those of us who actually know how to type and learned before the advent of computer keyboards, especially those of us referred to by others as "touch typists," the physical and audible feel of the keys hitting home is the fastest and surest indicator we have that a key has actually been struck home. I, myself, have never been able to stand either quiet or spongy keyboards, since I usually type at between 50 and 100 words per minute and I don't look at the screen to get my feedback. In fact (and contrary to the previous argument - that no self-respecting Humanist would be seen in public using a spelling program) my typing has actually improved in speed because I no longer go back to correct typos, but leave that for the spell checkers. I realize that real typists are a true rarity amongst computer users, or this point would have been made far earlier. I particularly like the genuine IBM keyboards, and hit the keys quite firmly to hear and feel what is going on. From: Steven J. DeRose Subject: Computers in libraries Date: Mon, 10 Jul 89 09:39:51 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 320 (433) How about wiring an earphone plug into your laptop, so the keyboard noise (at least on some models, generated electronically) can go to a pair of Walkman(tm?) earphones? That way the user can have clicks, while the surroundings can remain in blissful quietude. The modification no doubt would void the warranty, but most machines are out of warranty anyway. All of 2 wires would likely need changing, and the typical earphone plug is built to automatically disconnect the main speaker when and only when an earphone is in fact plugged in. SJD, momentarily overcome by technoid-mode.... From: David Megginson Subject: E-Mail Address Date: Mon, 10 Jul 89 11:40:33 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 233 (434) Wanted: an e-mail address for Robert Birchfield. Please reply to meggin@vm.epas.utoronto.ca OR meggin@utorepas. Thanks. From: Axel Wupper Subject: Quoting e-journals Date: Fri, 07 Jul 89 11:09:54 MEZ X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 234 (435) The ISBN is not usable for quoting, but what about the ISSN (International Standard Serial Number). The ISSN together with the keytitle should allow easy and accurate desciption of a journal. Everybody who publishes (or want to publish) something like a journal can get a ISSN. Example for "electronic ISSN" is JBH-Online. Regards Axel Wupper Department of Historical Geography - University of Bonn Konviktstr. 11 - D-5300 Bonn 1 (Fed. Rep. of Germany) Bitnet: UPG202@DBNRHRZ1 Noisenet: +49 (2 28) 73 36 90 All opinions expressed here are my own, not neccesarily those of Bonn University From: Rudolf WYTEK Subject: Re: 3.223 scanning and the law (78) Date: Sun, 9 Jul 89 08:11:55 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 235 (436) My reply is not about sanning and the law but about scanning and the humanists. At University of Vienna we had until now three tentative tests of scanners (also Kurzuweil) and our humanists came until now always to the conclusion to wait some (5 or so) years longer, since the bad printing quality of the interesting older originals surpasses the possibilities of the scanners currently on market. Our Indogermanists, Tibetologists, Egyptologists, Numismatologists, 'Paper mill water sign'ologists, clinical psychologists and last but not least our historians are very eager to use these possibilities, but until now we see no practical chance for the unspecialized humanist to use it effectively. In my opinion until now it will bring mostly a transfer of workload and not a real bettering of the common situation. But maybe we Austrians are again some years behind you in the USA. Nice greetings from Vienna, RWY. From: Gisele Sapiro Subject: Query about basic color terms Date: Tue, 11 Jul 89 14:05:24 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 321 (437) [Please send replies directly to the questioner. --W.M.] I am interested to obtain up to date information of any kind, and especially bibliographical references (articles, abstracts...) about basic color terms. I am working on the experiments done in the seventies in cognitive and developmental psychology and cognitive anthropology, including Berlin & Kay, Elinor Heider Rosh, etc., and I would like to know if there are some new issues (in the eighties) about both color perception and semantic universals in color vocabulary. I am mostly interested in finding material against the universalism claim in this domain. I wonder if *Nature* and/or *Science*, for instance, have recently published anything valuable in this domain. Thank you very much for your help. Gisele Sapiro Porter Institute for Poetics and Semiotics Tel Aviv University PORTER2@TAUNIVM.BITNET From: Malcolm Brown Subject: Chinese word processing for the Mac Date: Tue, 11 Jul 89 13:12:57 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 322 (438) Does anyone know of word processing programs for the Mac that support Chinese? Please send directly to me and I'll summarize the responses back to Humanist. many thanks Malcolm Brown, Stanford Internet: mbb@jessica.stanford.edu bitnet: gx.mbb@stanford.bitnet From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: ListServ Additions Date: Monday, 10 July 1989 2355-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 323 (439) Appended is the Author List from TLG-C CD-ROM sorted by date as described in an earlier notice. It is based on the materials supplied by William Johnson on behalf of IBYCUS Systems. In a separate file I will send the same list with the dates removed, for easy import to the IBYCUS list function. Bob Kraft (CCAT) -------------------- [A complete version of this list is now available on the file-server, s.v. TLGCDROM AUTHORS. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Offline 17 now on the file-server Date: Tuesday, 11 July 1989 0001-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 324 (440) <> by Robert A. Kraft [containing a listing of the contents of the PHI/CCAT CD-ROM with a brief discussion, a complete version of which is now available on the file-server, s.v. OFFLINE 17. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Michael Sperberg-McQueen 312 996-2477 -2981 Subject: TEI Report from Toronto Date: Tue, 11 Jul 89 12:29:29 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 325 (441) Herewith a general report from the editors on the Toronto meetings: Text Encoding Initiative Progress Report The Text Encoding Initiative of the ACH, ALLC and ACL has begun in earnest the work sketched out for it. (Subscribers to this list will no doubt have seen various reports announcing the inception of the project; we won't repeat their content here.) -------------------- [A complete version of this report is now available on the file-server, s.v. TXT_ENCD REPORT. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Leslie Morgan Subject: CAI/CALL failures Date: 11 July 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 326 (442) Those interested in CAI/CALL should have a look at the July 17 Business Week. There is a three page (+/-) article called "Why computers flunk out." Some of the points raised are the standard ones (e.g., teachers not trained in use) but the problem of useable software, not page-turners, is hit upon with full force. Maybe it will help some of the computer companies become interested in developing some useful courseware. Happy reading- Leslie Morgan MORGAN@LOYVAX (Loyola College in Maryland) From: Willard McCarty Subject: humanities computing centres and offices Date: 11 July 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 238 (443) For the Humanities Computing Yearbook 1989, now in progress, we would like to publish the most up-to-date information about all humanities computing centres and offices world-wide. Following is an edited version of the list in the previous volume of the Yearbook. We would be very grateful if you would contact us, via the e-mail address YEARBOOK@UTOREPAS, with information about any such centre or office *not* listed below. Each of those listed will be receiving a form letter requesting an update of the relevant entry. Please circulate this list as appropriate. Thank you very much. Ian Lancashire Willard McCarty - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Humanities Computing Centres and Offices extracted from _The Humanities Computing Yearbook 1988_ (11 July 1989) Analyse du Discours, URL 7, INaLF-CNRS Groupe de Recherches Se'mio-linguistiques, E'cole des hautes e'tudes en sciences sociales, 10 rue Monsieur le Prince 75006 Paris ARTEM-CNRS Atelier de Recherche sur les Textes Me'die'vaux et leur Traitement Assiste' Universite' de Nancy 2, BP 3397, 23, blvd. Albert 1er 54015 Nancy CEDEX France Arts Computing Office, University of Waterloo. PAS Building, Waterloo, Ont. N2L 3G1 Canada Bell Communications Research, 435 South St., MRE 2A379, Morristown, NJ 07960-1961 U.S.A. CAAL Centro per l'Automazione dell'Analisi Linguistica, Gallarate, Italy. CATAB-CNRS Centre d'Analyse et de Traitement Automatique de la Bible et des Traditions E'crites, Universite' de Lyon 3, Ba^timent The'mis, 43 rue du 11 Novembre 1918 69622 Villeurbanne France CASTLOTS Computer-Assisted Statistical Linguistic Old Testament Studies, Technion -- Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. CCALI Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction, Law Center, 229 Nineteenth Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn. 55455; U.S.A. CCAT Center for Computer Analysis of Texts Box 36, College Hall, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Penn. 19104. U.S.A. CDMB-CNRS Centre de Documentation sur les Manuscrits de la Bible, Centre Universitaire Protestant, 13, rue Louis Perrier, 34000 Montpellier France CELTA-CNRS Centre d'Etudes Linguistiques pour la Traduction Automatique, Universite' de Nancy 2, 23, bld. Albert 1er 54015 Nancy CEDEX U.S.A. Center for Computer Applications in the Humanities, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154 U.S.A. Center for Computer Assisted Research in the Humanities, 525 Middlefield Road, Suite 120, Menlo Park, Calif. 94025 U.S.A. Center for Computer Research in the Humanities, Texas A & M University College Station, Texas 77843 U.S.A. Center for Design of Educational Computing, Carnegie Mellon University, Bureau of Mines, Bldg. B, 5000 Forbes, Pittsburgh, Penn. 15213--3890 U.S.A. Centre d'Analyse Syntaxique, Universite' de Metz [? address] Centre d'ATO, Universite' du Que'bec a` Montre'al, PO Box 8888, `A', Montre'al, Que'bec H3C 3P8 Canada Centre de Recherche sur les Traitements automatise's en Arche'ologie Classique---CNRS, Universite' de Paris X, 200, Ave. de la Re'publique, 92001-Nanterre Cedex France Centre for the New OED University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ont. N2L 3G1 Canada Centre for Computer Analysis of Language and Speech, AI Division, School of Computer Studies, Leeds University, Leeds LS2 9JT. U.K. Centre for Research into the Applications of Computers to Music, Music Dept., University of Lancaster, Lancaster LA1 4YW U.K. CIB Centre Informatique et Bible de l'Abbaye de Maredsous, B-5198 Dene'e, Belgium CERL Computer-based Education Research Laboratory, University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill. 61801 U.S.A. CERTAL-CNRS Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches en Traitement Automatique des Langues, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, 2 rue de Lille 75007 Paris France CETEDOC Centre de traitement electronique des documents, 1, place Blaise Pascal, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium CILT. Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research, Regent's College, Inner Circle, Regent's Park, London NW1 4NS U.K. CIPL Centre Informatique de Philosophie et Lettres, Universite' de Lie`ge, place du 20-Aou^t, 32, 4000-Lie`ge, Belgium Computer Centre for Research in the Humanities, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado. CNRS. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 15 Quai Anatole France, F-75700 Paris, France. CRAL-CNRS. Centre de Recherches et d'Applications Linguistiques, Universite' de Nancy II, 23, bld. Albert 1er, BP 3397 54015 Nancy France. CRIN-CNRS Centre de Recherche en Informatique de Nancy, BP 239, 54509-Vandoeuvre France CRTT. Centre for Research in Terminology and Translation, Faculte' des Langues, Universite' Lumie`re -- Lyon 2, 86 rue Pasteur, 69365 Lyon Cedex 07, France CSLI. Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University, Ventura Hall, Stanford, Calif. 94305--4115. U.S.A. DBMIST. Direction des Bibliothe`ques, des Muse'es et de l'Information Scientifique et Technique, Ministe`re de l'Education Nationale, 3 blvd. Pasteur, 75015-Paris France Dictionnaire de la Langue Franc,aise des XIX et XX Sie`cles, URL 2 INaLF-CNRS 44 avenue de la Libe'ration 54014 Nancy France Elektronische Sprachforschung, Universitaet des Saarlandes, Saarbruecken, Federal Republic of Germany ERATTO-CNRS. Equipe de Recherche sur l'Analyse et Transcription des Tablatures par Ordinateur, 27, rue Paul Bert 94200 Ivry-sur-Seine France E'tude Statistique du Tre'sor Litte'raire, URL 9, INaLF-CNRS Universite' de Nice, 98 bld. Edouard Herriot 06007 Nice France GETA-CNRS. Groupe d'e'tudes pour la Traduction Automatique, Universite' de Grenoble, Domaine universitaire, BT 68, 38402-St. Martin d'He`res, Grenoble France GITA. Le Groupe d'Informatique et de Traitement Automatique, Universite' Libre de Bruxelles Belgium Groupe d'e'tudes Lexicologiques et Lexicographiques des XVI et XVII Sie`cles, URL 6, INaLF-CNRS Universite' de Lyon 2, 86 rue Pasteur 69365 Lyon CEDEX 7 France Groupe Paragraphe. Universite' de Paris VIII, 2, rue de la Liberte', 93526-St. Denis Cedex 02 France GRTC-CNRS. 31, Chemin J. Aiguier, 13402 -- Marseille Cedex 09 France HESO-CNRS. Histoire et Structure des Orthographes et Syste`mes d'e'critures, 27, rue Paul Bert, 94204 -- Ivry-sur-Seine France History Computing Laboratory, 2 University Gardens, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ Scotland Humanities and Arts Computing Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 U.S.A. Humanities Computing Centre, CNH-428, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. West, Hamilton, Ont. L8S 4L9, Canada Humanities Computing Facility, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287 U.S.A. Humanities Computing Facility, Duke University, 104 Languages Bldg., Durham, NC 27706 U.S.A. Humanities Computing Facility, 2221B Bunche Hall, UCLA, 405 Hilgard Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90024--1499 U.S.A. Humanities Division, Computer Centre, King's College, London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS U.S. Humanities Research Center, Brigham Young University, 3060 JKHB, Provo, Utah 84602 U.S.A. Humanities Research Center, Washington State University, Pullman, Wash. 99164--5020 U.S.A. ICJL. Institute for Computers in Jewish Life, 845 North Michigan Ave., Suite 843, Chicago, Ill. 60611 U.S.A. ICRH. Institute for Computer Research in the Humanities, New York University, University Heights, New York, NY 10453 U.S.A. IdS. Institut fuer deutsche Sprache, Postfach 5409, D-6800 Mannheim, Friedrich-Karl-Strasse 12, Federal Republic of Germany IKP. Institut fuer Kommunikationsforschung und Phonetik, Poppelsdorfer Allee 47, D-5300 Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany ILC. Istituto Linguistica Computazionale -- CNR Via della Faggiola 32, I-56100 Pisa, Italy INaLF-CNRS. Institut Nationale de la Langue Franc,aise 52, boulevard Magenta 75010 Paris France Unite' de Recherche sur le Franc,ais Ancien, URL 10, INaLF-CNRS Universite' de Nancy 2, 23 bld. Albert 1, BP 3397 54015 Nancy CEDEX France Informatica e Discipline Umanistiche, c/o Dip. di Studi Storico-Religiosi, Universita` di Roma (`La Sapienza'), Fac. di Lettere P. le A. Moro 5, 1 00185 Roma, Italia Infoterm. The International Information Centre for Terminology, Oesterreichisches Normungsinstitut, Postfach 130, A-1021 Wein, Austria IRCOL. Institute for Information Retrieval and Computational Linguistics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel 52100 IRHT-CNRS. L'Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes, Section d'in~formatique, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre Fe'lix Grat, 40 avenue d'Ie'na, F-75116 Paris France IRIS. Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship, Brown University, Box 1946, Providence, RI 02912. U.S.A. Langue et Informatique, Universite' de Savoie, BP 1104, 73011-Chambe'ry Cedex France Language Laboratories University of Western Ontario London, Ont. Language Research Center, Room 345, Modern Languages, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85702 U.S.A. LART. Laboratoire d'Analyse Relationnelle des Textes, Universite' de Paris VIII, 2, rue de la Liberte', 93526 St. Denis Cedex 02 France LASLA. Laboratoire d'Analyse Statistique des Langues Anciennes, Universite' de Lie`ge, 110 boul. de la Sauvenie`re, Lie`ge Belgium Lexicologie et Terminologie Litte'raires Contemporaines, URL 5, INaLF-CNRS 1 place Aristide Briand 92195-Meudon France Lexicologie et Textes Politiques, URL 3, INaLF-CNRS E'cole Normale Supe'rieure de Saint Cloud, 2 ave. du Palais 92211 Saint Cloud France Lexiques de l'e'conomie du Be'tail et du Circuit des Viandes, URL 8, INaLF-CNRS Universite' de Toulouse 2, 5 alle'es Antonio Machado 31058 Toulouse CEDEX France LIE. Lessico Intellettuale Europeo -- CNR, via Nomentana 118, I-00161 Roma Italy LISH-CNRS. Laboratoire d'Informatique pour les Sciences de l'Homme, 54, bld. Raspail, 75006-Paris CEDEX France Literary and Linguistic Computing Centre, Sidgwick Site, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB3 9DA U.K. LRC. Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, PO Box 7247, U. T. Station, Austin, Texas 78712 U.S.A. MESY Arbeitsgruppe fuer Mathematisch-Empirische Systemforschung, Germanistisches Institut, Technische Universitaet Aachen Federal Republic of Germany MIS. Mathe'matiques, Informatique, Statistique, Faculte' des Lettres et Sciences Humaines de Besanc,on [? address] NCCALL. National Centre for Computer-Assisted Language Learning, School of Language Studies, Ealing College of Higher Education, St. Mary's Road, London W5 5RF U.K. Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities, Harald Haarfagresgt. 31, PO Box 53, N-5014 Bergen Norway Observation et Enseignement/Apprentissage du Franc,ais Contemporain, URL 4, INaLF-CNRS Universite' 13 93430 Villetaneuse France Office for Humanities Communication, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH U.K. Oxford University Computing Service, Computing in the Arts, 13 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6NN U.K. PHI. The Packard Humanities Institute, 300 Second St., Suite 201, Los Altos, Calif. 94022 U.S.A. Phonetics Laboratory, University of Michigan 2096 Frieze Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 U.S.A. Research Unit for Computational Linguistics, University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland Research Unit for Computer Applications to the Language and Text of the Old Testament, Dept. of Semitic Languages, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa Russian Text Analysis Facility, Center for Soviet and East European Studies, 641 Williams Hall, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Penn. 19104--6305 U.S.A. Seminary of Medieval Spanish Studies, University of Wisconsin, Van Hise Hall, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 U.S.A. Spraakdata. The Department of Computational Linguistics, University of Goteborg, S-412 98, Goteborg, Sweden Traitement Automatique des Sources du Bas Moyen Age, Universite' de Paris 1, Bibliothe`que Halphen, 17 rue de la Sorbonne 75231 Paris CEDEX France Tre'sor Ge'ne'ral des Langues et Parlers Franc,ais, URL 1 INaLF-CNRS 52 boulevard Magenta 75010 Paris France UCREL. Unit for Computer Research on the English Language, Lancaster University Lancaster U.K. Uppsala Centre for Computational Linguistics Uppsala University Uppsala, Sweden. Werkgroep Informatika, Faculty of Theology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands ZDV. Zentrum fuer Datenverarbeitung, Brunnenstr. 27, D-7400 Tuebingen Federal Republic of Germany Zentrum fuer Historische Sozialforschung, Universitaetsstrasse 20, D-5000 Koeln 41, Federal Republic of Germany. ZUMA. Zentrum fuer Umfragen, Methoden & Analysen, Postfach 5969, D-6800 Mannheim, Federal Republic of Germany *****END***** From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.231 British copyright law (85) Date: Mon, 10 Jul 89 22:23:19 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 327 (444) re: Lou Burnard's posting of British Copyright(s) Law Second Topic Lou mentioned that one may not make electronic copies of works not in the public domain. Does this limitation exist more extensively than the right to make xerox copies? I was under the impression that certain academic usages were given more freedom. From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.231 British copyright law (85) Date: Mon, 10 Jul 89 22:14:34 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 328 (445) re: Lou Burnard's posting of British Copyright(s) Law Am I to understand that it might be possible, for example, to remove all the "markup" from something like the CD-ROM OED, so that it resembles nothing more than a scanned version of the first edition, and that this electronic edition would then be in the public domain - as a copy of the first edition which is, I have heard, public domain due to its having been published in 1888 and years following, but always prior to dates having current copyright protection? Can anyone clarify such position on the texts made from works certainly in the public domain, such as BYU/WordCruncher's editions of Tom Sawyer, etc? I would greatly appreciate information on this subject, pro or con, from any and all. Thank you. From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Re: [3.230 uncertainty, etc. (204)] Date: Tue, 11 Jul 89 06:39:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 240 (446) I'm grateful for the responses to my message. Those on umlaut manifest what I assumed anyway; that there is no agreed standard. Here at Cambridge we follow the character by vertical bar (|); and encode other accents comparably (eg < = acute; > = grave; ~ = cedilla or tilde as appropriate). Would it be worth having a standard at least for communications to HUMANIST? Douglas de Lacey From: Jim McSwain Subject: baptism, infant baptism Date: WED 12 JUL 1989 16:28:00 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 241 (447) Anyone who has information, particularly book/article citations, about baptism as a subject of discourse, a literary metaphor, a rite of passage or part of a "mentalitie," please send it along to me at f0a8@usouthal. For example, work has been published on how baptism is used as a motif in the works of Flannery O'Conner. My interest focuses upon 17th and 18th c. England, but I wish to "cast" my bibliographic net as widely as possible, and I solicit input from fellow HUMANISTS whose training in anthropology, linguistics and contemporary literary theory may offer them perspectives on aspects of the rite or its role in language-games otherwise unimaginable to me!! THANKS! From: EVENS@UTORPHYS Subject: Coping with Copenhaggen Date: Tue, 11 Jul 89 23:31 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 329 (448) I have been unable to find any references which explain EXACTLY what the Copenhaggen interpretation of quantum mechanics is. Several refs. said things like Bohr was the originator of this interp., and talked about the observer/observed relationship, but they never pinned down just what the interpretaion was. Any suggestions? (Besides learning to spell etc.) dan evens From: Subject: Uncertainty, etc. Date: Wed, 12 Jul 89 12:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 330 (449) Uncertainty about the intellectual value of intellect ----------------------------------------------------- Intellectuals like to read, write, and talk, among other things. One of the hazards of intellectualizing is clouding issues in pretentious jargon. Let me try, in a neutral and jargon-free manner as possible, pose the question that has been discussed here in a rather confrontational manner. Is the current, intellectual culture fraught with a fundamentally anti-intellectual approach? Usually anti-intellectuals are people who try to avoid reading, writing, and talking about intellectual matters. One of the reasons may be just a simple lack of interest. However, another reason is a definite distate and antipathy towards intellectual matters and intellectuals. Remember the slogan of a former U.S. Vice-President, "effete intellectuals". Unfortunately, I have found, or more correctly, I have proposed the fallible hypothesis that intellectual culture, itself, and to its own detriment, has an anti-intellectual attitude. One of the ways to determine whether intellectuals do have this attitude is to examine how intellectuals value their own products and their own efforts at intellectual understanding. The question to ask is--how do intellectuals, in general, confront the chief issue of their intellectual life? The chief issue for an intellectual, at one time or other, in the intellectual's life time, is whether reading, writing, and talking get the goods that an intellectual might expect. One of the goods, apart from some form of income rewarding labour in our 'information economy', is an improved understanding of issues that one had prior to reading, writing, and talking. Of course intellectuals are fallible. However, we may wonder whether the universe that we explore is just a product of minds or is real. True, we may never get hold of the final answer, but do we in any way, and in any sense, get somewhat closer to reality by our fallible efforts at using our intellects? This some people treat as an open question, and perhaps fundamentally unanswerable, but still worth asking, and reading, writing, and talking about. Other people write the question off as not worth asking just because it may be unanswerable. And some other people hold it as virtually axiomatic that the answer is no-- the only things our minds can do is create illusions for it to study, including the illusion of a physical world. Are people who hold the products of intellect to be in some fundamental manner illusory, and hold that all we can do by way of reading, writing, and talking is to construct fictional interpretations that do not gain any foothold either on physical or mental life, anti-intellectual? Let me explain why I think that people, who may enjoy reading, writing and talking, and may be quite fine and honest people in all matters, are deluding themselves when they think that they are not anti-intellectual when denying the effectiveness of mind to gain some foothold on the real world. I am sure at some time or other one has hired the services of a lawyer, accountant, carpenter, or optician, or some other professional who hates his or her work. This person feels totally disatisfied, and reveals that he or she is only in it for external rewards, such as status, money, or good holidays. This person, obviously, does not gain satisfaction through their work, but seeks other means for gaining self-satisfaction-- another part-time occupation, or a hobby. After many years of working at the hated job the person only looks to retirement as the means of escape. You may wonder, well why wait for retirement. Why doesn't this disatisfied person look for another occupation? What holds this person to a job that is so personally distatesful? It may be that the external rewards, the side benefits, outweigh the intrinsic detriments. It may be that the person actually seeks a form of self-punishment. For whatever reason the person persists working in an occupation loathsome to that person, you find that the person is actually undermining his or her profession. They may not perform as well as they could. And worse, you may find that the person gossips about those who think highly of the profession, and tries to convince you that those people are really silly, narrow-minded, short-sighted and are really inferior types of humanity. In short, after many years of self-forced labour in an occupation that one despises, one tacitly joins the ranks of those who may be outside the profession but who share the same dim view of the profession. Suppose after much survey of one profession, say law, that one found that most lawyers hate law, and share the attitudes of those outside the legal profession who think that lawyers are con-artists. I, for one, would agree with the hypothetical surveyer of the legal profession that the culture of the legal profession is tacitly anti-law. To what end do humanists assist in the self-evolution of mind? Is it to gain an objective understanding of the real situation of humans in a cosmos that is an objective reality? Or, is it to assist in the self-evolution of a self-perpetuating game that has no other meaning than the game itself? How one answers these questions, whether explicitly or implicitly through one's valuation of the products and processes of intellectual labour, one indicates whether one is anti-intellectual or not. One of the other signs of anti-intellectualism is how one engages in intellectual debate. For instance, one device of the witting and unwitting anti-intellectual is to define one's alternatives and the supposed position of one's interlocutor in a very limited manner. Specifically, there are non-Platonist and non 'naive-realist' alternatives to anti-realism. To identify realism with Platonism or naive-realism is to overly limit the discussion of realism and objectivity, and is a form of intellectual cheating. One takes the weakest form of the alternative theory, identifies it as the only alternative, and then claims an easy victory. One cheats oneself, for the questionable benefit of self-satisfaction, by not examining the full range of alternatives and by hiding one's view from open criticism. One also does damage to the intellectual status of the activity of dialogue by undermining that forum of intellectual pursuit for those who do value the activity of dialogue as a means for contributing to the growth of objective knowledge. Another tact of the witting and unwitting anti-intellectual is to provide mythological histories. Comprehension and appreciation of difficult issues are inhibited by providing histories of a complex debate which omit alternative positions, and which lead up to the desired position as the supposed victor of the debate. By the way, some of the realist and objectivist alternatives to naive realism and Platonism are the critical realism of Popper, Einstein, and Piaget; the Absolute Idealism of various Hegelians, including Hegel, and Bradley; and the dialectical materialism of various Marxists, including Marx and L. Vygotsky. --------------- Sheldon Richmond From: Jim McSwain Subject: Chronicle of Higher Education Date: THU 13 JUL 1989 17:04:00 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 243 (450) At the risk of directing fellow participants to what can sometimes be an absurd and parochial publication reeking with insider bias and educational nonsense, I take note of an article in THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, 12 July 1989, pp. A6-A8, entitled "Humanities Researchers Experience a 'Sea Change' . . ." In addition to favorable comments on the research possibilities of "Thesaurus Linguae Graecae" or T.L.G. it introduces Constance Gould, historian and officer with RLIN, who makes some interesting comments and is someone participants should know in as much as she is involved with the RLIN database projects. Also mentioned is ACADEMIC COMPUTING, a useful magazine free to many academic computer users whose authors kindly included their BITNET addresses, a practice which should be routine in the credits of all journal/magazine publications. Imagine instantly challenging or offering comments on periodical material to the author without the usual obstacles of gender, regional background, tint of language or the shame of employment at a third-rate institution . . . The article also mentions LITERARY COMPUTING AND LITERARY CRITICISM (Univ. of Pa. 1989) by Paul Fortier of Winnipeg (are you out there Prof. Fortier??), which is a work with which I am not familiar but will now investigate. Although the article concludes with a familiar instance of using the computers "dumb" calculating power to catalogue a vast collection of Greek artifacts, it nonetheless ends provocatively by asserting that graduate students (lowly though they may be) have sharply increased their research skills by using computer search techniques and databases that allow one to draw upon data from outside one's alleged field of expertise. Which brings me to some silly thoughts I wish to throw out to my . .--listeners(?), readers(?)--fellow participants. One change brought to humanists by computers is to expand, modify and then transform the field of experience with which we all work to make comprehensible, to integrate with past knowledge and insight and to therefore shed "light" on our existence--isn't that what humanists do? if not, tell me now before I go further. If Foucoult is correct that categories or structures of meaning are often carried by inertia from the past, emptied and then given new and sometimes surprising "meanings," then computers, as a way of dealing with experience, may empty old categories--literacy, communication, power, description or explanation--and then refill them with a mode of interacting with experience shaped, tuned and focused by the progressively complex and speedy capabilities of machine-based intelligence. If we take part in this, will the outcome be a product of our present ways of dealing with experience, or will we gradually and unconsciously substitute perhaps narrow and limited machine capabilities for the frightening and terribly powerful ability which God put into our brain to analyze, comprehend and integrate experience? Or will it turn out to be the reverse--the substitution of superior machine capabilities for our limited natural abilities with unknown consequences for the nature and (oops, jargon) destiny of man? Pardon me for thinking out loud, it can be embarassing and dangerous. Regards, JMcSwain f0a8@usouthal From: "John K. Baima" Subject: uncertainty and faith Date: Thu, 13 Jul 89 12:35 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 244 (451) This long debate about Physics leaves me wondering about another topic: faith. Has the necessity of faith in today's world ever been discussed in the Humanist forum? If so, please excuse me. No, I am not refering to "religious" faith, but faith in a larger context. I have listened to long and detailed arguments about an important topic, but how much do I have to accept on faith and how much can I directly observe or reason? I'm still not sure that I have not read a description of Heisenberg's "uncertainty" that I like. Take, for example, the correction by John McDaid: [deleted quotation] This is almost true. Or maybe sort of true. The REASON as Heisenberg originally understood it, I beleive, is that particles behave as waves. The wave equations of de Broglie and others leads to the "uncertainty". The idea of expressing an electrical or other force as the exchange of a particle (a quantum) is much later (I believe it was Feynman in 1949) and it is not necessary to deduce "uncertainty". These problems are difficult even without any math, most of which is far beyond the schooling (not the ability) of most humanists. Am I right about uncertainty? Am I wrong? Most who read this will either have no opinion or they will accept one position on faith. Even for those of us who have studied such things in detail, how much can we remember out of the distant and murky past? How much is faith? There was a time when a single person could know a lot of what was known in the world, at least as far as science and technology was concerned. Those days are long past and now we live by faith. How does a modern car work? I like my 71 Volvo because I think I understand it. I have faith in today's cars, not understanding. Take the computers that we all love and hate. Does anyone really understand how they work in all their detail? I wonder. I do not. But I have faith. Although I do not have as much faith as others. I make frequent backups. True believers in computers often do not make backups and suffer. Does anyone think that because we have to accept such things as "Uncertainty" by faith that it should temper the results we derive from it? How many layers of faith can or should we build on? Is faith necessary for progress? John Baima d024jkb@utarlg From: bobh@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Robert Hollander) Subject: A proposed U.S. National Center for Machine-Readable Texts Date: Thu, 13 Jul 89 23:43:04 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 331 (452) in the Humanities Brief Description of Project In 1981 the Council of Library Resources gave start-up funds in the amount of $10,000 to Rutgers University so that the Inventory of Machine-Readable Texts might come into existence. The Mellon Foundation followed with a grant of $30,000 in 1982. These funds enabled the project, directed by Marianne Gaunt of the Alexander Library at Rutgers University, to establish itself as the only organism in the world dedicated to the cataloguing of all machine-readable texts in the various disciplines of the humanities. In May 1989 NEH offered $30,000 in response to a proposal made on behalf of a new initiative directed by Marianne Gaunt (for Rutgers, the Project Director) and Robert Hollander (for Princeton). What is envisioned is a National Center for Machine- Readable Texts in the Humanities. NEH has insisted, in response to the concerns expressed by various reviewers, that this year of planning include a conference, national in scope and with international collaborators, to be sure that the leading figures in this inceasingly important area of humanistic research are consulted and have a chance to offer advice as Rutgers and Princeton decide how this project may best be implemented. In order to have a schedule of work that might become functional after a year of planning, a good deal of work needs to be done in preparation. As a result, since the conference itself will cost approximately $20,000 and the planning activities between $20,000 and $30,000, Rutgers and Princeton are seeking between $10,000 and $20,000 from other sources during the planning year and some $20,000 in "bridge" funds to keep the project moving until significantly larger amounts of money may become available from NEH and other sources in 1991-92 to put the project into fully operational mode. We have begun seeking help from six other funding organizations at this time. We hope to be successful with at least some of these in order to be able to implement as much as we can as soon as possible. In May of 1989 nineteen interested parties, five of them not associated with Princeton or Rutgers (these people have now become our advisory board), met at Dunwalke, a Princeton facility, to discuss the nature of the proposed center and the collaboration envisioned between Princeton and Rutgers and between the proposed Center and the rest of the universe of librarians, personnel of computer centers, and academics who have the most at stake in the existence of such a center. A second meeting, involving roughly half of those present at Dunwalke, took place during the large "computer fair" at Toronto in June. On both occasions the importance and desirability of establishing such a center were strongly supported by all present. The time seems ripe (it is perhaps overdue). We should add that Princeton has now established two "Listservers" for the project, overseen by Robert Hollander. These are both now operational, the first for continuing consultation among those who met at Dunwalke, the second for that group and others who have demonstrated interest in being aware of our plans and in offering advice for our future initiatives. All of us involved in this project are gratified by the enthusiastic response the enterprise has already had. We are optimistic that the Center will be off the drawing board and in operation in a year or so. We will shortly be inviting some fifty experts in this field to a two-day conference early in March of 1990. In the meantime we are proceeding with our own studies and plans. What the Center is intended to accomplish is to bring into being a mechanism which will facilitate the growth of interest in the use of technological improvements in the way in which people consult texts on computers. (We are not announcing the death of the printed book. On the contrary, all experience indicates that the existence of computerized texts has the effect of increasing consultation of printed ones.) Thousands of texts already have been computerized. What is needed is a central clearing house to which those interested, scholars and students as well as the general public, may apply for the following purposes: 1) to know if a particular text has been made machine- readable, 2) to find out how and where to gain access to this material, 3) if it is not available, to discover how to have such a text produced for their use. This is a large undertaking with significant implications for the future of study in the humanities. As of now it is clear that the Center will perform the function originally conceived for the Inventory. In the coming year we will need to consider the extent to which the Center itself will collect datafiles not already available in other holdings of these materials, how it will preserve and disseminate these, and whether it should also develop the capacity to produce machine-readable texts itself. We believe that the conjoined resources of two major research institutions, one public, one private, will not only be sufficient to the task, but also serve as a model to others in a time of increasing need for major projects in the humanities and no visible sign that more resources will be made available for this need. Marianne Gaunt and Robert Hollander 29 June 1989 [NB: Those who are interested in becoming members of the ListServ group should contact Robert Hollander, bobh@phoenix.princeton.edu, who will also serve as the liaison member between this group and Humanist. See also the note that follows. --W.M.] From: Willard McCarty Subject: liaisons with other discussion groups Date: 14 July 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 332 (453) Robert Hollander's ListServ seminar for scholars interested in the (U.S.) National Center for Machine-Readable Texts in the Humanities is a welcome development. Like TEI-L, a similar group serving the Text Encoding Initiative, Hollander's seminar will allow interested Humanists to discuss aspects of his project that would be far too specialized for our membership. At the same time, Hollander has agreed to watch for items of general interest in his seminar and submit them to Humanist so that valuable contributions of a more general nature are not lost to us. I would like to request somewhat more formally than before that any Humanist who happens to edit another electronic seminar contact me about a similar arrangement. Of course, things that appear here can by tacit agreement be published elsewhere (read your Guide to Humanist), but I would like to make sure that sharing takes place in a somewhat less haphazard fashion than may have been the case so far. I will be more than happy to help anyone interested in setting up a related ListServ group, mostly with -- caveat computor -- good advice. Willard McCarty From: jdg@eleazar.Dartmouth.EDU (Joel D. Goldfield) Subject: "Literary computing & comments of 13 July by Jim McSwain" Date: Fri, 14 Jul 89 17:11:05 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 246 (454) Thanks to Jim for listing publications and products of great interest to Humanist. My colleagues and I find _Academic Computing_ worthwhile. We have been impressed by TLG equipment, information access and content at various conferences. _Literary Computing and Literary Criticism. Theoretical and Practical Essays on Theme and Rhetoric_ is edited by Rosanne G. Potter (Iowa State University); our colleague's (Paul Fortier's) essay is one of 12. I'd be interested in hearing about any other comments or reviews that may be appearing about this recent publication (May 31, 1989). --Joel D. Goldfield J_GOLDFI@UNHH.bitnet From: Willard McCarty Subject: the ideal language and literature lab Date: 13 July 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 333 (455) If you could have what software you wanted to equip an IBM-and-Macintosh instructional computing laboratory for language departments such as English, French, Italian, and German, what would you ask for? Let us say that you wanted to provide for all levels of university students and that you would be taking into account all the various applications instructors might require or should require, e.g., elementary writing, grammar and style checking, wordprocessing, dictionary access, machine-assisted translation, note-taking and keeping, language-learning, text-analysis, and so forth. I think it would be instructive to see arguments over what the categories of things should be and what should be put into them. We need not argue about which wordprocessor is best, but I think recommendations in the other categories might be illuminating. Willard McCarty From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Courses on Genealogical Research Date: Thursday, 13 July 1989 2220-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 334 (456) Having worked myself into the literatures, approaches, and rewards of genealogical research, I am contemplating proposing a credit course on the subject in our College of General Studies (evening school, summer programs). It occurs to me that it would be useful, in preparing to submit the necessary paperwork to the curriculum committee, to know whether such courses exist elsewhere and if so, under what departmental auspices? My experience thus far is that there is a great deal to be learned in terms of historical "method" through systematic research into genealogical and biographical matters, but I don't recall having come across developed University programs in such subjects. Any pertinent information will be appreciated. Obviously, the computer assisted aspects of such research make it all the more exciting and teachable. I suspect it would make a very desirable evening/extension type course, for openers. Thanks, Bob Kraft (Univ. of Pennsylvania) From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Genealogy, Psychology, Religious Experience Date: Thursday, 13 July 1989 2231-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 335 (457) In an article presented in 1982, William M. Shea argues that much of what the Puritan-Calvinist revivalist Rev Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) had to say about personal Christian experience may have been derived from conversations with his wife, Sarah Pierpont, about her special experiences ("Jonathan Edwards and Sarah Pierpont: and Uncommon Union," pp.107-126 in Foundations of Religious Literacy, ed. John V. Apczynski; Scholars Press, 1983). Apparently Sarah had such "wonderful seasons" of religious experience as early as 1715 (at age 6), and again (at least) in 1735, 1739, and 1740. Since I have been compiling genealogical information on the Pierponts for several years (my great grandmother was a Pierpont), it occurred to me in my historian's inquisitiveness to search the genealogical file to determine whether those dates fit into any pattern of events in the lives of Sarah and her immediate family. To my delight, if not amazement, each of Sarah's special experiences seems to come in the immediate wake of deaths within the family -- her father on 22 Nov 1714, three of her oldest sister's children in 1734/5 and 1739 (that sister lost most of her children when they were very young, while Sarah lost NONE of hers!), her own sister Mary (on 24 June) and her own mother (on 1 Nov) in 1740. (Other deaths in her immediate family occurred in 1718, 1722/23, 1727, 1728, 1741, 1748, and 1758.) That she struggled with the problem of death in relation to God's justice and goodness is clear from her letter to her daughter Esther upon the death of Jonathan Edwards in 1758 (quoted by Shea, p.121). The fact that her father died when Sarah was not yet 6 years old may have set a pattern. In any event, my question is whether anyone on HUMANIST knows of studies of the relationship between death to loved ones and heightened religious experience? My hunch that Sarah's experiences might be related to her struggles with accepting death would be strengthened if such a connection has been observed in other instances. And the value of access to systematic genealogical data for this sort of historical research would be further enhanced. Bob Kraft (Religious Studies, Univ. of Pennsylvania) From: Malcolm Brown Subject: Nota Bene 3.0 on PS/2's: any caveat's?? Date: Fri, 14 Jul 89 07:37:59 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 336 (458) The folks in our department of Slavic Languages are considering the purchase of some IBM PS/2's in order to run Nota Bene. They would be using Nota Bene's Cyrllic language system. If anyone is aware of any problems with this combination or has any sort of caveat in this regard, I'd be most grateful if you'd share them with me. Please send directly to me, and if anything significant turns up, I'll summarize back to the list. many thanks, Malcolm Brown INTERNET: mbb@jessica.stanford.edu BITNET: gx.mbb@stanford.bitnet From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Uncertainty and Academic Discussion Date: Friday, 14 July 1989 0923-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 337 (459) I suspect that many HUMANISTs like myself have followed the recent discussion of Heisenberg, etc., with great interest but also with feelings of discomfort, even dispair, at the tone and direction of some of the comments. As a person who comes from a conservative protestant biblicistic religious and educational background, I have often heard people appeal to "Heisenberg's Principle of Indeterminancy" as a way to avoid or defuse certain attempts at consistent rational discussion aimed at "objective" results. Usually the appeal to "Heisenberg" has been simplistic and irrelevant to the discussion. It has served as an escape from looking carefully and with "academic discipline" at the issues at hand. Thus I think I understand the sorts of things that often lie below the surface, or sometimes on the surface, of the recent HUMANIST exchanges, and I have felt comforted and further enlightened in my own suspicion about misuses of "Heisenberg." Nevertheless, I find the tone of the discussion frequently to be counterproductive to what I would consider appropriate academic and wissenschaftlich communication. Although Sheldon Richmond may not intend this to be so (or perhaps he does!), the use of such terms as "anti-intellectual" or "hyper-rational" do little or nothing to further open discussion. They ring out as confrontational, encouraging defensiveness rather than open discussion of issues. As some HUMANISTs have already pointed out, "intellectual" and "rational" and similar terms need to be contextualized in relation to some set of standards commonly agreed on by the discussants. If one wanted to play Richmond's epithet game (and I do not want to do so!), it could be said that the very use of such terms is itself "anti-intellectual" insofar as it tends to restrict the sort of open discussion that it claims to want to foster! Most of the people I know have a point at which they cease to be "open" for one reason or another, although usually many of them are quite "intellectual" and normally "rational" in their academic discussions that take place in the framework in which they are willing to be "open." Why should I brand them "anti-intellectual"? John Baima introduces into the discussion another term, "faith," that seems to me to represent legitimate issues but is so loaded in other ways (and multi-valent) as to be largely unhelpful. But I do agree that it is very important to recognize that at various points in such a discussion we each need to determine what authorities we trust (and why) for matters not subject to our own individual investigation, what assumptions we use (or take for granted) as building blocks and operational principles (e.g. regarding the possibilities and limits of human rational investigation, goals such as "objectivity," etc.), whether we impose any limits on the context of acceptable discussion (and why), etc. Many of our supposed points of difference in many of our academic (and other!) discussions are really differences in assumptions and perspectives, but until this is explicated we go around in circles seeming to be arguing about firm "evidence." Somewhat in this context, and to pick again on Sheldon Richmond (didn't he get us into all this in the first place?) in a friendly way, what IS the difference between a "scientific" theory and a "philosophical" theory or interpretation? I think the answer to that sort of (what I see as a jargon) issue may help me to see just where Sheldon is coming from, in terms of assumptions and contextualization. Bob Kraft (Religious Studies, Univ. of Pennsylvania) From: EVENS@UTORPHYS Subject: haising Heisenberg Date: Thu, 13 Jul 89 21:30 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 338 (460) I can't figure out if we are discussing Heisenberg in order to understand the theory of quantum mechanics (or perhaps the philosophy of the ...) or if we are trying to understand those who DO quantum mechanics. (Quantum mechanics are people too!) Perhaps the issue of the existence and nature of what has been called here "anti-intellectual activity" could be illustrated with something else. For me it is very difficult to seperate the two, especially when I am having to work so hard to try to understand if the statements on quantum mechanics are correct. And just to make that clear, the reason I'm finding that hard is because they are in "English" when statements about quantum mechanics are really much easier to understand in the mathematical language invented for it. Translating the English symbols into the math symbols, and then seeing if they are correct is hard work. For example, I could state the derivation of Heisenberg's uncertainty relation in about 20 lines of mathematics, but it would take many pages in English. So what I would like to suggest is that the discussion split in two, one part discussing the anti-intellectual issue, and the other discussing the ideas of quantum mechanics. I'd be quite happy to listen/participate in eithor, but I'm getting confused doing both at the same time. dan evens From: "Matthew Gilmore, Special Collections GW" Subject: Chronicle of Higher Ed. Article Date: Thu, 13 Jul 89 23:01:24 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 339 (461) I was hoping that someone else would see and comment on the article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, as Jim McSwain (F0A8@USOUTHAL) did. Of note: Linguistics and then classics are given pride of place in adopting computers. Mark V. Olsen, a HUMANIST is quoted, in re ARTFL. An interview Theodore Brunner, of TLG, anchors the article. A passage worth noting: "Scholars suggest that having such extensive evidence (TLG) reliably at one's fingertips will lessen the weight given to exquisitely crafted explantions based on not large numbers of cases, but on the force of argument." The more I look at that sentence the less clear it becomes--anyway, IS that what scholars are suggesting? The paragraph continues: "It may also make it easier for a newcomer to the field, drawing on extensive and replicable examples, to have his or her unorthodox interpretation accepted. Or so says the French scholar Paul A. Fortier of the University of Winnepeg in a new book, >>Literary Computing and Literary Criticism<< (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1989). It is unclear whether Fortier is suggesting both sentences ("Scholars... and "It may...) or just the second. But it sounds as if the trend is toward a more SCIENTIFIC METHOD type of scholarship, especially with the mention of replicability. The article continues with more on RLIN, ARTFL, and Intermedia. Interesting, but maybe we could find the author, Chris Raymond, and sign him/her up on HUMANIST and/or send copies of the logs from the server, for a followup article. Matthew Gilmore From: "Matthew Gilmore, Special Collections GW" Subject: Telemann Date: Thu, 13 Jul 89 23:34:22 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 340 (462) As a Telemann fan, I was pleased to see, also in the July 12, 1989 Chronicle of Higher Education, that Brian Stewart of Penn State is "working with the Center for Computer Assisted Research in the Humanities--a think-tank in Menlo Park, Cal.--to computerize, categorize, and eventually analyze Telemann's work electronically." (p.A17) Matthew Gilmore From: Jim McSwain Subject: reply to Gilmore (Chronicle of Higher Education article) Date: SUN 16 JUL 1989 15:11:00 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 250 (463) Well done to Matthew Gilmore (LIBRSPE@GWUVM) for his comments on the CHE article of 12 July 1989. I think the statement "extensive evidence . . will lessen the weight given to exquisitely crafted explanations based not on large numbers of cases, but on the force of argument" refers back to an earlier statement that computers are "absolutely trustworthy . . ."; i.e. they can seach an enormous datebase and not leave out anything which human fatigue or carelessness might leave untouched. I add the caution, however, that quite obviously a database is only as "trustworthy" as the humans who compiled it, and they may leave out data deemed irrelevant or emphemeral. Computers do repetitive tasks quite well, the drudgery of looking through stacks of records and texts for key words, dates, etc., but they cannot anticipate the relevancy of previously unimagined data based on new insights into the nature of the problems being pursued, which is for me a tentative definition of one type of human thinking which AI and microprocessors cannot as yet perform. Perhaps that is because contrary to contemporary sentiments the mind is more than just brain . . As for the original quote, I call to mind Keith Thomas's book, RELIGION AND THE DECLINE OF MAGIC (1971?). In a critical review Margaret Bowker objected that citing examples and counter-examples of "cunning" men did not establish the extent of their influence among the English masses. Large numbers of cases found through computer searches still require human thought and imagination before they make sense, and computers cannot do that for you. One must consider for example what percentage surviving records were of the original number of records, so that even apparently large numbers of cases taken from existing records still may not tell one the significance of the event or idea in the time under investigation. I welcome massive databases and the equipment to use them, but human skill and thought remain indispensable ingredients in the scholarly process. What I am enthusiastic about in this article is the remark that "computerized data bases . . . open up a new range of questions that can be asked that would hitherto have been unthinkable . . ." Again I see this as part of the humanistic task of ordering experience, expanded in the case of computers and databases simply because our practical range of speculation, examination and proof has been enlarged relative to the fixed limitations of human energy, vision and integration of vast amounts of data. Breath-taking stuff for the lowly . . . JMcSwain From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" Subject: Icon for VM/CMS Date: Fri, 14 Jul 89 21:09:03 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 341 (464) Version 7.5 of Icon is now available for IBM 370 computers running VM/CMS. It should run on the IBM 30xx and 43xx families of processors and on other 370-type processors that use the VM/CMS operating system. This system is available from the Icon project on a 1600 bpi magnetic tape. The tape includes executables and source code (which compiles under Waterloo C 3.0 and should be easily adaptable to other production- quality C compilers). The tape is available from Icon Project Department of Computer Science Gould-Simpson Building The University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 USA The cost is $30, payable by Visa, MasterCard, or check. Checks must be in US dollars, written on a bank with a branch in the United States, and made payable to The University of Arizona. See Icon Newsletter 30 for more information on ordering. There is no charge for shipping in the United States and Canada. There is a $10 charge for shipment overseas, which is by air. This version of Icon is not available via FTP or RBBS. Please address any questions to: Ralph Griswold / Dept of Computer Science / Univ of Arizona / Tucson, AZ 85721 +1 602 621 6609 ralph@Arizona.EDU uunet!arizona!ralph From: ANDREWO at UTOREPAS Subject: Date: 16 July 1989, 11:42:19 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 342 (465) A belated response to Lou Burnard's request for information concerning electronic versions of works by Gide inter alia. Lou's enquiry poses a much broader problem, that of copyright. To my knowledge - I am a Gide specialist - there exists no legitimate electronic version of any Gide text. By "legitimate" I mean an electronic version authorized by the holders of the copyright, in this case Gallimard and Gide's daughter, Mme Catherine Gide. There are unquestionably scores of unauthorized versions on private computers around the globe. However, none has been made available to any electronic archive as far as I am aware and it would be highly imprudent for any individual to communicate his/her electronic copy of a Gide text to a third party. To do so would be to invite an immediate law suit for infringement of copyright. Moreover it would constitute a disservice to the scholarly community in that it would raise the ire of the publisher/copyright holder(s) who would be more reticent than they already are in cooperating in scholarly enterprises. Scholars must take questions of copyright seriously. In an ideal world the scholarly enterprise would be totally open, untramelled by commercial interests or quirks of personality of the offspring or heirs of famous authors: at least that is our usual perspective as academics. We must realize, however, that publishers have their own legitimate perspective, that they have rights which may NOT be disregarded in the name of free intellectual inquiry. In the present example, I think it fair to say that Gide studies have, in the recent past, been set back decades by the overenthusiasm of scholars who were not as careful as they should have been with copyrighted material. Here endeth the lesson. From: Subject: Archeologists and the Ark of the Covenant Date: Fri, 14 Jul 89 15:31 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 343 (466) A student of mine claims to have seen a news clip on CNN (the Cable News Network run by Turner Broadcasting) concerning a current archeological dig in Israel. Supposedly there was an exciting find of a bottle of perfume made from a now-extinct plant, and as he understood it, the archeologists felt they were "close to finding the Ark..." Since my understanding had been that serious archeologists had stopped looking for the Ark after the disastrous events at the beginning of this century, I would be interested in any solid information on these develoments. Thank you! Philip E. Yevics Theology/Religious Studies BITNET%"PEY365@SCRANTON" University of Scranton (PA - USA) From: Jim McSwain Subject: e-mail to the USSR? Date: SAT 15 JUL 1989 16:19:00 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 344 (467) My colleague, Larry Holmes, will spend next year in the USSR as an IREX scholar. Does anyone know if he will be able to stay in touch with our department through BITNET? Is there a BITNET node or means of access in the USSR which does not require elaborate clearances to use? Would it have to be arranged in advance of his trip? Thanks. James McSwain f0a8@usouthal From: David Megginson Subject: Re: 3.247 ideal lab? genealogy? Nota Bene? (138) Date: Fri, 14 Jul 89 23:26:04 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 253 (468) Whatever software you choose to do the actual language work, I cannot stress too strongly that you _must_ provide a friendly environment where the users will not feel intimidated by the machines. The macs will be no problem, but you might consider Windows 386 on the IBM machines. By the way, I've heard rumours of a Windows version of Wordcruncher coming out. S'truth? From: Peter D. Junger Subject: Objective reality and the anti-intellectualism of Date: Fri, 14 Jul 89 21:28 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 254 (469) intellectuals Sheldon Richmond raises the question: "Are people who hold the products of intellect to be in some fundamental manner illusory, and hold that all we can do by way of reading, writing, and talking is to construct fictional interpretations that do not gain any foothold either on physical or mental life, anti-intellectual?" And then seems to argue that the answer is: "yes." Since I cannot understand what it means to "gain [a] foothold on mental life"--or on physical life for that matter--I have some difficulty in figuring out what he is trying to say or whom he is attacking, if he is attacking anyone. I doubt, however, that there is anyone who believes that all "we can do by way of reading, writing and talking is to construct fictional interpretations." But then I don't understand what a "fictional interpretation" could be. It is pretty clear that Richmond's vocabulary differs so radically from mine--and I think from that of most of us who reacted to his original posting about the uncertainty principle--that we cannot argue with each other or carry on anything resembling a discussion. But perhaps there is someone out there on HUMANIST with a large enough vocabulary to explain to each of us what the other is saying. I think that this unspeakable difference between Richmond and myself is important enough to justify an attempt on my part to say something--even if I can't say anything to him--especially as I am a lawyer turned law professor and Richmond attacks the anti-intellectual intellectual--the apparent villain of his piece--for being like a lawyer who dislikes lawyers. For the life of me I can't figure out why he didn't cite the poet who said of her craft: "I too dislike it." Or perhaps I can .... A few years ago a law school dean named Carrington indulged himself in a--quite well written for a decanal work, but really rather nasty--diatribe against the closest thing to a good old-fashioned, mitteleuropaischen (even if he is Brazilian) intellectual that we have in legal academia: Roberto Unger, the doyen of the Critical Legal Studies movement, often mistaken for a Christian Hegelian idealist, and a professor at the law school at Harvard. The charge was nihilism; the specification was, in effect, that Unger, and the other Crits, didn't believe in the reality of the law, seeing it only as the contingent consequence of--or perhaps a rationalization for--the illegitimate exercise of power by those who profit from the liberal conception of the state. For their truth telling, Carrington would have banished the Crits from the legal trade schools, purportedly to protect the innocence of their pupils. I say 'purportedly,' because it is quite clear that Carrington was--as I suspect Richmond is--trying to protect himself from the knowledge of his own nihilism, from the knowledge that he could not rejoice that all his work had come to nothing--something that is, admittedly, difficult to do. I don't mean to suggest that Richmond has ever heard of Carrington, I'm just saying that I'm saying this because I hear echoes of Carrington in Richmond's message. Just as Richmond undoubtedly heard echoes of .... Of whom? Wittgenstein? Kuhn? Rorty? Foucault? Habermas? Poor old Niels Bohr? The Lord Buddha? ... echoes of some one or another of his bugbears in our naive babblings about--nasty! nasty!--quantum mechanics. Since the difference between Richmond and myself is probably one of vocabulary, I have looked the word "intellectual" up in the OED II. The surprising thing to me--wouldn't it be nice if English had an ethical dative?--is that I cannot find a definition there that suggests that being an intellectual can mean having a profession or a job in the way that a lawyer does. The closest I could find--and it is not close--is: "an intellectual being; a person possessing or supposed to possess superior powers of intellect." That doesn't help much. But one of the examples appended to this definition perhaps gives us--that is, gives people like me--a clue as to what concerns Richmond: "1898 _Daily News_ 30 Nov. 5/1 Proceeding to refer to the so-called intellectuals of Constantinople, who were engaged in discussion while the Turks were taking possession of the city." I get the impression that both 'intellectual' and 'anti-intellectual' are most frequently used as insults, rather than as praise. But, though the OED failed me, the first sentence of the article on Intellectuals at page 399 of the 7th volume of the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences came to the rescue: "Intellectuals are the aggregate of persons in any society who employ in their communication and expression, with relatively higher frequency than most other members of their society, symbols of general scope and abstract reference, concerning man, society, nature and the cosmos." "Symbols of general scope and abstract reference" are, of course, likely to get so general in scope, and so abstract in reference, that they just go 'pop.' To provide a mythological history--and what other kind of history it there?--of western intellectuals since the Seventeenth century, one would only have to record the snap, crackle and pop of their multifarious realities selfdeconstructing. (What is the opposite of autopoesis?) Listen: "[S]ome of the realist and objectivist alternatives to naive realism and Platonism are the critical realism of Popper, Einstein, and Piaget; the Absolute Idealism of various Hegelians, including Hegel, and Bradley; and the dialectical materialism of various Marxists, including Marx and L. Vygotsky." So many realities. So many inconsistent realities. If one doesn't cancel itself out, one of the others will get it in the end. All gone. Even the last one, the reality Richmond clings to so desperately, the reality that must--I mean, it's just got to!--be the reality of realities, the meaning of meanings, the essence of essences, the object of objects, the .... Listen: Pfffft. Whence did all this fury--this need for objective realities, apparently the more the merrier--come? Why the anguished--and if I cannot understand Richmond's words, I can still sense something close to agony in his voice--the anguished, as I was saying, need to believe that there could be some objective reality--some 'thingity'--behind all the quotidian things; trees, gods, words, and frying pans, among which we live our lives. A tree is not enough for Richmond. What he demands is some ineffable something that he can speak about--as if one can eff the unspeakable, speak the ineffable--that ... that what? ... that guarantees that the tree remains a tree? that guarantees that the tree itself is "real"? If there is a tree in front of you and you say "there's a tree"; would you be saying anything more if you were to add: "Really, it's a real tree"? If you added that, I should think that your listeners would begin to wonder whether there was something wrong with the tree, or with you, or with your use of English. In any case, the tree would--of course--not care what you happened to say about it. The trouble is that I don't think that Richmond cares much about trees; he's more concerned bout his relation to the cosmos. (By the way, do you remember that passage in Archie and Mehitabel, where Archie talks to the Cosmos and says: "see, i exist," and the Cosmos replies and says, "well, perhaps, but that really doesn't concern me, does it?"--or words to that effect?) Here's a quote from Richmond: "To what end do humanists assist in the self-evolution of mind? Is it to gain an objective understanding of the real situation of humans in a cosmos that is an objective reality? Or, is it to assist in the self-evolution of a self-perpetuating game that has no other meaning than the game itself? How one answers these questions, whether explicitly or implicitly through one's valuation of the products and processes of intellectual labour, one indicates whether one is anti-intellectual or not." Let us not worry about the fact that the paired questions are unanswerable, being incomprehensible unless one happens to speak some sort of neo-Hegelian; rather let us simply compare this passage with a quotation from that--I presume in Richmond's thought--fons et origo of anti-intellectualism, Niels Bohr. Here--TA RA RA!--Ladies and Gentlemen, in Niels Bohr's own words--if one believes the Encyclopedia of Britannica--is the infamous, parental guidance required, COPENHAGEN INTERPRETATION!!!: "EVIDENCE OBTAINED UNDER DIFFERENT EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS CANNOT BE COMPREHENDED WITHIN A SINGLE PICTURE, BUT MUST BE REGARDED AS COMPLEMENTARY IN THE SENSE THAT ONLY THE TOTALITY OF THE PHENOMENA EXHAUSTS THE POSSIBLE INFORMATION ABOUT THE OBJECTS." Now I am sorry, and I am sure that Bohr would have been sorry if he could have known, that this simple statement from a great and decent man has caused Richmond so much pain; but that pain really does seem disproportionate to the offense. Once again the question arises, whence did all this fury come? One possibility is that Richmond got tripped up by his propensity to indulge in category mistakes. Someone who concludes that a lawyer who dislikes lawyers--pour moi-je, I quite like them--is, ipso facto, anti-law--whatever law may be--, such a person might be capable of fearing that his own existence-- whatever that may be--, his very self will turn out to be an illusion. What is the opposite of solipsism? But how could one believe in the "self-evolution of mind" and still believe that his self is something more than a soon to be forgotten doubting thought? On the other hand, how could anyone begin to make sense out of the phrase, "the self-evolution of mind"? But then, of course, there is always Tertullian ... but, on the other hand, Tertullian was pretty weird in his own right .... These speculations don't seem very profitable. So perhaps we had better just take Richmond at his word. He will hate his job--like his lawyer hated his--if it turns out that there is no objective reality to make him "self-satisfied." And it just isn't fair that those of us who get paid for doing real work, rebuilding Neurath's raft in the middle of a contingent ocean, should actually have fun "reading, writing and talking" and generally carrying on like intellectuals, while Richmond fears that he may be stuck in "a job that is so personally distatesful [sic]"?. It just isn't fair, but that's what happens to someone who mistakes that broad, brae road winding over the lily leaven--or however one really spells that word--for the royal road to reality. Sorry to be so long winded, but I think my goat done got gotten. Peter D. Junger--CWRU Law School--Cleveland, OH--bitnet: JUNGER@CWRU From: Yechiel Greenbaum Subject: World Union of Jewish Studies Congress Schedule Date: Thu, 13 Jul 1989 19:00 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 255 (470) Tenth World Congress of Jewish Studies Jerusalem, Israel Aug 16-24, 1989 DIVISION A: THE PERIOD OF THE BIBLE DIVISION B: THE HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE DIVISION C: JEWISH THOUGHT AND LITERATURE DIVISION D: LANGUAGES AND ARTS -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. WUJS CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Subject: TEXT-BASE MANAGERS Date: Mon, 17 Jul 89 09:28:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 345 (471) I'm a new Humanist subscriber, so forgive me if you guys have already discussed this stuff. I am analyzing verbatim transcripts of interviews. I'd like to be able to do this on the computer. However, I do not want to use pre-established keywords. I want to be able to identify "chunks" that fit with other "chunks" before I decide what label to attach to them. I have looked at "ASK SAM", and "THE ETHNOGRAPH", but both seem to require premeature labeling. I use NOTA BENE as a wordprocesser, but have not figured out how to use it as a text-base precesser, nor even if it would work for the purpose I have in mind. Anybody out there with similar problems and potential solutions? Thanks. From: TBESTUL@crcvms.unl.edu Subject: Bibliographic database software Date: Mon, 17 Jul 89 17:19:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 346 (472) We are in the process of selecting a bibliographic software package for our Humanities Research Facility that would be supported by our campus computing center. We know about NoteBook II and Pro-Cite for the DOS environment, and EndNote, Pro-Cite, Publish or Perish 4.0 (as well as Geoffrey Rockwell's Bib 1.0) for the Mac. We have read the reviews of Pro-Cite in Bits and Bytes Dec 88, and of bibliographic software for the Mac in MacGuide June 89 and Macuser February 89. Does anyone have any advice about these packages or recommendations for other software we should consider, or know about other reviews we should look at? We want to find something that the average computer literate faculty member in the humanities (i.e. can use a word processor) would feel comfortable using. Thank you. Thomas H. Bestul, Director Humanities Research Facility, University of Nebraska-Lincoln tbestul@crcvms.unl.edu From: "Guy L. Pace" Subject: the ideal language and lit lab Date: Mon, 17 Jul 89 09:42:08 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 347 (473) Okay, you asked for it. Of course, my concept is based on what I think would make a manageable lab. I cannot address machine-assisted translation or language learning since I have no background in that area. The ideal lab using IBM compatible and Macintosh systems would be networked into the university's mainframe computer (we have a similar lab set up for training purposes). Elementary writing and wordprocessing would be supported by use of WordPerfect (give 'em the tools they'll likely use on the outside). I favor RightWriter as a grammar and style checker since it creates a separate file of markups and the user can turn rules and features on or off. On the point of dictionary access, WordPerfect has foriegn language dictionaries available, so that is not a problem. When it comes to notetaking and keeping, one of the outline processors available would be best suited. WordPerfect's outline feature is the only part of that package that is disappointing. I use ThoughtLine (which may or may not be available now), but PC-Outline and other products are adequate. With the capability of accessing the mainframe from the lab, powerful applications for other tasks would be available for text-analysis, translation and language-learning. Our own training lab uses IBM PS/2 Model 30/286 and Macintosh SE computers. Each station has its own hard disk and the software is purchased under site license and loaded onto each system. There is also a printer for each station. Sound a little like overkill? Well, the concept was to create an environment similar to individual workstations to reduce confusion and provide the trainee a familiar, comfortable set up. I think a similar lab could be established for much less money using compatible systems, rather than IBM's. For instance, the PS/2 described above costs about $2,000. A compatible with similar memory, hard disk and speed runs about $1200 to $1800 (government bid prices). For now, there is no substitute for the Mac, so you're stuck with paying Apple's prices. As far as providing a "friendly" user interface for the IBM types, a simple front end (i.e. WordPerfect Library) would sufice. It's hard to justify the costs (memory and $) for something like Windows386 for a lab. My own ideal lab would have a minimum requirement of AT type machines. If they were 386 systems, and multitasking were required, I'd use Quarterdeck's DesqView 386. The balance of price and performance is much better (and you don't have to have special versions of programs to run them under it). The main purpose of a lab of this type, of course, is to provide the tools for learning. Managing such a project is a prime consideration in the concept and design. A manageable lab will be more successful in its purpose than one which is unmanageable. Guy L. Pace Consultant WSU CSC Information Center From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.253 the ideal lab (19) Date: Mon, 17 Jul 89 11:46:37 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 253 (474) [deleted quotation] Are you suggesting WordCruncher as the friendly environment? From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.245 Center for e-texts, ListServ group, liaisons (157) Date: Sat, 15 Jul 89 11:31:59 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 258 (475) As you may be aware, I have been promoting a National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts for some time and thus had great pleasure in reading Bob Hollander's posting in HUMANIST today. I have already sent him a message requesting a subscription and offering encouragement and discussion. He and Marianne Gaunt are to be congratulated on this posting and encouraged in the pursuit of Machine Readable Text concept which has definitely reached its time. I will include the posting in the materials going out this week to the informally named "Machine Readable Text" listserv group. I am sure from the description in the posting that a great mutual benefit will be derived from these groups and others. From: Subject: mail to the USSR Date: Sun, 16 Jul 89 23:04 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 348 (476) I'm not sure of the location, but there was some man on the west coast that was written up in Business Week and the New York Times aboue two months ago that had secured e-mail routes to USSR (CCCP?) and, I presume, from it as well, and was a gateway for interested users. I'll try to track down the reference. - wade Schuette, Cornell University. From: Emmanuel Tov Subject: Re: 3.252 dig for the Ark? e-mail to the USSR? (48) Date: Mon, 17 Jul 89 08:44:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 349 (477) your news agency may have gotten something wrong with regard to the perfume flask recently found in israel. maybe something went astray between the hebrew and english. in any event, the announcements about this find may have been strange and somewhat unscientific, but I've not seen any connection been the perfume and the ark. besides, would noah have used perfume only for his wife? From: Sebastian Rahtz Subject: Bibliographic database software Date: 18 July 1989 09:39:03 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 354 (483) In selecting a bibliographic software package for humanities users, I would recommend taking a look at DataPerfect (which is a newer version of SSI Data), put out by the Word Perfect people. I am only familiar with SSI Data, but I assume that Data Perfect will have retained the nice features and overcome the bugs. SSI Data is fairly user friendly and not over-intimidating for the person who knows (only) word processing; it's nicely compatible with Word Perfect--while also having facilities for ex/importing material in formats besides WP. I particularly liked its so-called "look-up" facility: the upper half of the screen could be set up to scroll past you in alpha or numeric order a selected key field with other fields attached, i.e., there was immediate and automatic sorting. You could, thus, immediately sort through a bibliography arranged according to date, or to publisher, or to language, or whatever else, once you'd set it up. Caveats: SSI Data was not forgiving of (my) mistakes. It crashed on me numerous times when I hit a wrong key and when I did things I thought I should have been able to do but it didn't. And the manual was a problem: it was ok for walking through your first time putting together a database, but was not much help for reference or for answering moderately demanding questions. Finally, I believe some sites will want a data base system that's more powerful and comes with its own programming language, which SSI Data didn't; I don't know about Data Perfect. But I think that a lot of humanists will be able to do all they want with what SSI Data offered and what I presume DP offers. My hope is that SSI Data's reincarnation as Data Perfect is more stable and that its manual is better. WP people have promised me the latter on the phone. The former would have to come out in testing. In any case: I think it would be worth looking at. Marian Sperberg-McQueen U15440 at UICVM From: Subject: (Humanist) the Ideal Lab Date: Tue, 18 Jul 89 15:01 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 355 (484) Being a language lab director I attended a workshop in Boston last week sponsored by the International Association of Learning Laboratories. I was floored by the wonders possible already. At MIT (the Athena project) and Iowa (PICS) there are some very inter- esting adaptations of technology already in place. The projects, sponsored by Annenberg and the Corp. for Public Broadcasting (USA), make very good use of Macintosh computers, videodisc players, and carefully tailored software. Thus my answer to the question of the ideal lab would have to include numerous student workstations which had monitors and computers hooked into videodisc players as well as a centralized controlling facility. Then truly interactive lab would be a reality. I would also be sure that the facility, as a whole, remained flexible. The furniture would be set up in a way to allow for varying sizes of group interaction. There would be places for group video use as well as the more private one-to-one student to video equipment. If any of the membership wants to know more details about any of the above they can contact me at Ledgerwo(od)@Rhodes From: David.A.Bantz@mac.Dartmouth.EDU Subject: Re: 3.256 bibliographic and textbase managers? Date: Tue, 18 Jul 89 13:18:03 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 356 (485) At Dartmouth, we are making EndNote a part of the Freshman computing package: that is, all entering students are advised to purchase EndNote with their Macintoshes (in a package which also includes Microsoft Word, SuperPaint, True Basic, and local communications software). Though EndNote is more of a bare bones package than ProCite, and has some quirks that make it slightly awkward, it's a modest cost solution to maintaining bibliographies and producing papers with acceptably formatted reference list. From: RGLYNN@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: Date: Tue, 18 Jul 89 09:28:31 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 263 (486) [At my suggestion Ruth Glynn of OUP Electronic Publishing here passes along a list of words for which the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary would like to find occurrences. OUP is a commercial venture, true, but the Dictionary is of such immense value to scholars in English, and responding to such queries is so much fun in itself, that I think such a query appropriate for Humanist. Any who disagree are, of course, free to argue the point. After all, we do nothing better than argue about things. In any case, please circulate this list. --W.M.] Appeal List no. 16 Dictionary entries for new words, sense, and expressions are now being prepared for the OED and for other Oxford dictionaries. Additional quotations for the following words would usefully complement the entries now under consideration. Unless otherwise stated, examples are needed which predate the bracketed date in each request. Please send quotations to John Simpson, Co-Editor, OED Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK. Or to JSIMPSON at UK.AC.OXFORD.VAX. (Please do *NOT* send them to RGLYNN.) In your reply please say that you are responding to the appeal list posted on the HUMANIST. Thanks in advance for your help. The words are listed as ITEM, followed by the REQUEST on the second line. Asterisk indicates italics. oaf = boorish, ill-mannered person (any exx.) obfuscatory (a.) (1961) obituarial (a.) = characteristic of an obituary notice (1978) obliteration = postmark used to cancel a stamp (recent exx.) under observation in *Mil.* use, of an enemy patrol, enemy activities, etc. (1975) obsess (v.i.) = to worry obsessively (any exx.) obviously (in reply to question) = yes, of course (any exx.) occlusion (fig.) = blocking out, as of an event from one's memory (1980) off (prep.) = with a handicap of, as in 'off 6' (any exx. outside golf) off (prep.) = not in communication via, as in 'off the air' (1940) off (prep.) = abstaining from, as in 'off drink', 'off drugs' (post 1958) off exx. of 'claws off', 'fingers off', 'feet off', but *not* 'hands off' or 'paws off' off (adv.) = out of the question, 'not on' (any exx.) offendedness (any exx.) oggy = Cornish pasty (1976) O.K., Okay introductory exclam., as in 'Okay, now listen to me', 'Okay, so I lost my temper' (1970) O.K., Okay (a.) = mediocre, as in 'it was O.K. but not wonderful' (any exx.) old (a.) = familiar through constant repetition or recurrence, as in 'I felt that old hurt welling up inside me' (recent exx.) olim = at one time, formerly, as in 'Jakarta (*olim* Batavia)' (any exx. between 1645 and 1975) omerta *trans.* from Mafia, = oath or code of silence (any exx. *not* Mafia) on as in 'come on down' (recent exx.) one = I, used to suggest social superiority (1978) oojimaflip (and varr.) (any exx.) oomph = power, esp. in a car (1975) open date = unspecified future date (for ticket, meeting etc.) (1967) order (v.t.) = to set in numerical or alphabetical order (any exx.) orangish (a.) (1977) ordain (v.t.) = to decide upon (a time, an appointment, etc.) (1934) organ = penis (1922) organize (v.t.) = to arrange, as in 'to organize the chairs round the table' (1950) organized (a.) of a person, as in 'he's so organized he gets up at 6 every morning' (1976) otherness = the state of being different from other people (exx. between 1919 and 1980) otherwhere (n.) as in 'an artificial otherwhere peopled by gorgeous phantoms' otherwhere (a.) as in ' he still wore a glazed, otherwhere look' (any exx.) our as in 'no-one objected to our going' (any 20th C. exx.) out (1) of the tide, at its lowest ebb (recent exx.) out (2) = out of doors, as in 'is it cold out?' (1961) out (3) =out of the closet (1979) out (4) = out of order (of telephone, radio, etc.) (1975) outs (sb. pl.) = those who lack money, status, popularity, etc. (1955; post 1980) outboard (of) = to the outside of (*not* boats) (1966) pan (v.t.) = to strike, hit, punch (1942) pancrack = social security benefit, or the Dept. that pays it (?etymology?) (1986) panic (v.t.) = to delight (an audience), esp. to make them laugh (post 1960) panoptic (a.) *fig.,* of a writer or piece of writing, = covering every aspect of a subject (1972) parade (v.i.) = to strut (not necessarily in public) (1961) parade (v.t.) to expose (e.g. one's ignorance) (any exx.) parade (v.i.) = as in 'prurience and disgust parade under the banner of social studies' (any exx.) paralysed = drunk (recent ex.) parking = an area to park in, as in 'ample parking will be provided' (any exx.) partner (1) = a lover (homo- or heterosexual) (any exx.) (2) = one who accompanies another to an entertainment (any exx.) patchwork (v.) (any exx.) pea-brain (1959) pea-brained (a.) (1975) peal (v.t.) esp. to peal bells (any exx.) peal (v.i.) as in 'the telephone pealed loudly' (any exx.) pearly whites (also pearlies) = teeth (any exx.) ped-xing short for 'pedestrian crossing' (1984) peep = a short high-pitched sound produced mechanically or electronically (1957) pend (v.t.) = to put off, postpone (1953) penetration in Sport, = the ability to get through opponent's defence (any exx.) penetrating (a.) and penetrative =having this ability (any exx.) pennanted (a.) = decorated with a pennant (1972) perform (v.i.) (1) = to do well, as in 'people are coming under pressure to perform' (any exx.) perform (v.i.) (2) = to copulate (successfully) (1977) peripatetic (a.) (1) = carried about from place to place (and recent exx.) peripatetic (a.) (2) of a way of life, involving much being away from home, moving house, etc. (1954) peripatetic (a.) (3) of e.g. a theatre company or event, performing or held in a series of locations (1970) permission = a written authorization to do something (exx. between 1867 and 1979) perpetuate (v.t.) as in ' the press perpetuates the notion that ... etc.' (any exx.) a person = anyone, as in 'that wind really goes through a person' (any exx.) pessimal = opposite of 'optimal' (1977) petition (v.i.) as in 'local residents petitioned against the new road' (any exx.) physis = nature (in any sense) (any exx.) pickily (any exx.) pit = bed (R.A.F. slang) (any exx.) From: RGLYNN@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: Date: Tue, 18 Jul 89 09:16:39 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 264 (487) There hasn't been much correspondence on this subject -- perhaps because none of us is in a position to offer legal advice on such a complex issue, though Lou's contribution was helpful and reasonable in its interpretation. Although I have no intention of offering any advice on the matter because I am not qualified to do so, it is, however, probably worth pointing out that publishers are generally quite agreeable to individual scholars' using their material for purely research purposes. But of course scholars must first ask permission and then operate purely within the terms of their agreement with the publisher. For many years OUP has granted such permissions, and the terms under which the material may be used have of course been restricted. The agreement between scholar and publisher (or copyright holder if not the publisher himself) are not open-ended. If the scholar wishes to use the material for purposes other than that for which permission was originally granted (e.g. making multiple copies of a text for classroom use), then he must negotiate a different type of agreement. Surely the message is simple: if you wish to capture electronically a text that is not your own, for whatever purpose, *ask permission*. It is at the very least courteous to do so. This is a trivial matter of writing a letter and stating the purpose(s) for which permission is sought. Invariably a publisher will be happy to help you in your research and you can then wave the permissions letter at the appropriate university body who is (rightly) concerned about infringement of copyright. Ruth Glynn From: Donald Spaeth (0532) 33 3573 Subject: Date: Tue, 18 Jul 89 10:15:51 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 265 (488) I am reading the discussion of the recent Chronicle of Higher Education article with much interest. Unfortunately, I do not have access to the Chronicle (no-one I've mentioned it to in Britain appears to have heard of it!), so I can only comment second hand. But I am nervous about the implication that the computer will make the humanities more scientific, in that hard facts will render obsolete arguments which are crafted to obscure lack of evidence. Jim McSwain's comments on this point are well made, at least in the context of history. The documents which survive are a sample, and unfortunately not a random one. This means that 100 cases prove no more than 10 examples (the number Keith Thomas tended to find, more or less, for each point). One common problem is how to decide how significant a small number of documented cases of a phenomenon is. They may be a small proportion of a much larger number of episodes which occurred but were either not recorded or were recorded in documents that were later lost. Or they may represent the only occasions when such behavior occurred. There is no way of solving this dilemma, although the historian may prefer to believe the first possibility! With or without a computer, the historian must rely upon his/her overall understanding of the documents, their provenance, their biases and their flavor (an expression that may cause me trouble on my next visit to the archives!) to judge how typical an example is. The reason for giving a number of examples is less to swamp the reader with the mass of evidence than to give a sense of how a trend being described manifested itself in practice in various different ways and to place the evidence in clear sight so that the reader may evaluate it. In the case of Keith Thomas, for example, because he was so liberal with his examples it is often possible for someone who is familiar with an example he uses to dispute his interpretation. If the computer will render obsolete the well-crafted bit of rhetoric, based on weak foundations, I want no part of it. Such arguments can be among the most enjoyable to read. (I'll cite no examples lest I be had up for libel!) After all, that's what graduate school is for: to teach us to see through such arguments. Don Spaeth Arts Computing Development Officer University of Leeds email: uk: d.a.spaeth at uk.ac.leeds Janet/earn: d.a.spaeth at leeds.ac.uk From: "Guy L. Pace" Subject: Electronic Text Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 10:02:41 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 357 (489) Robert Hollander's note prompted this thought. Has anyone contacted the publishers of texts about the possibility of getting a copy of the publisher's electronic version of a specific text to clean up and modify for use in scholarly research? I know most, if not all, publishers today use some form of electronic entry of text for typesetting, page layout, whathaveyou. Wouldn't it make more sense (cents? dollars?) to capture a copy of the publisher's electronic version of a text, rather than duplicating the effort to re-keyboard everything? I would think that if a publisher grants permission for use of a text in scholarly research, it would be just as simple to send the requestor a disk or tape (for a nominal fee, of course) of the electronic version of that text. In most cases, a text entered for typesetting will have special markup required by a particular typesetter. Those markups would likely need to be stripped from the file, then text database markup would need to be added. However, that process would be much less costly than re-keyboarding. Would publishers be interested in this? Am I being naive? It's a thought, though. Maybe someone with closer ties to the East Coast publishing world could check this out? From: bobh@phoenix (Robert Hollander) Subject: Re: 3.259 Israeli perfume flask (40) Date: Mon, 17 Jul 89 19:02:32 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 358 (490) The name of the perfume, barely legible after all these years, is Raising Cain. From: "Guy L. Pace" Subject: Database software, Etc. Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 09:02:02 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 267 (491) My thanks to Sperberg_McQueen for bringing up DataPerfect. I've demonstrated that program to several people and departments recently. It's a flexible, powerful database management environment, and very underrated in the database field. I designed my own accounting system, order entry screens, and a simple bibliographic database/notetaker with DataPerfect. So far, there have been no bugs, no crashes, no errors. Importing and exporting is much easier than with dBase. Since I have no experience with SSI Data, I cannot comment on past sins. However, DataPerfect works well and the manual is well designed and written. The manual, by the way, is in two parts. One part is for the system designer, the other is for the user. There are excellent tutorials as well. Another thanks to Willard for the word list from OUP. I'm going over the words, puzzling out when was the first time I heard or read them. What fun! From: "Matthew Gilmore, Special Collections GW" Subject: return of CHE Date: Tue, 18 Jul 89 23:21:30 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 359 (492) I get the Chronicle of Higher Education for a number of reasons, so I don't want to seem to be pushing it but, this week's issue (July 19) seems also relevant to HUMANIST. Cover page--article by Katherine Mangan "Trinity's 'Logical Detectives' stalk Jack the Ripper: Would Socrates have approved?" Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas has a Center for Undergraduate Philosophical Analysis. The article explains that students can practice their skill of logic, critical reasoning, and moral responsibility in decision making. They have game played through Jack the Ripper's killings, reviewing the evidence and deciding on motives via querying the computer. (The kicker is that the professor has the answer programmed in already and students have to come closest to HIS answer. Hmm?) (Of course I am summarizing from a summary in the CHE, so doubtless this explanation could be expanded.) Students also created an AIDS experts system, and are working on "a report to the drug czar." I'm not a philosopher, so would some HUMANIST philosopher provide some commentary on work at Trinity? Matthew Gilmore From: "Matthew Gilmore, Special Collections GW" Subject: AIIM Date: Tue, 18 Jul 89 23:37:51 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 360 (493) Reviewing the HUMANIST logs (my sparetime fun) I see lots of technical questions. One source of information on all sorts of "information management" concerns is AIIM--the Association for Image and Information Management. This note is prompted by the catalog I received from them today which has a number of items on optical technologies and on scanners and expert systems, etc., as well as a lot of information on micrographics. If anyone wants any more information: Matthew Gilmore LIBRSPE@GWUVM "History adds a dignity to life and a charm to existence." Polybius From: "Matthew Gilmore, Special Collections GW" Subject: information needs--scholars Date: Tue, 18 Jul 89 23:46:48 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 361 (494) A more general note. In thinking about what the role of technology should be in the humanities, HUMANISTs might want to check into what scholars are working on in lis (library and information science schools). The whole aim of l/is (library and information science) is to organise information (data/knowledge/etc.) for use and train people to provide it. A recent emphasis has been to try to find out what the research process consists of and how l/is can be better involved, so there is a literature of information needs (& uses) connected with research methods and scholarly communication. So l/is(ers) are thinking about e-mail and electronic publishing and databases and online catalogs, etc. Cites to follow. Matthew Gilmore LIBRSPE@GWUVM From: iwml@UKC.AC.UK Subject: BIBLICAL DATABASE EXHIBITION Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 15:05:30 +0100 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 362 (495) I was fortunate to call in at the Abbaye de Maresous in Belgium on the day that they were launching the exhibition of computer applications in biblical studies. It is an exhibition which is open until the first week in October, and this message is to alert you to it, and encourage you to call in as well, if you are in the region. The Abbaye is just south of Namur, and I can provide directions if you are interested. The exhibition records the fifteen years during which the monks have been committed to exploring the biblical text with the help of the computer. They are led by the notorious Br Ferdinand Poswick, who threatens to join the BITNET network one day! The surprise is the extensiveness of the displays. They take up half of the c cloister area, and cover historical development, varying approaches to examining the biblical text through the ages and the place the computer has in that development. On hands experience is available for adults and children to explore databases, together with a video presentation created especially for the event. Maredsous is responsible for the complete and most modern translation of the Bible in French, and the stages of that process are on view, together with sensitive and honest recognition of the contribution of Judaism. The Abbaye is worth visiting in its own right, and is used by trippers as a place for quiet and picnicking (an English pasttime where you take your meal out with you and eat it in the country!) quite apart from the value of experiencing the simplicity of the church itself. Well worth visiting, and entry fees are low and reasonable. Ian Mitchell Lambert From: Steven J. DeRose Subject: Evidence Date: Tue, 18 Jul 89 21:53:17 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 269 (496) In general I agree with Donald Spaeth's note, pointing out that one cannot prove a literary point by heaping up examples; but I would suggest a small adjustment. While it is sometimes the case that 100 examples prove no more than 10, it is also *only* sometimes the case. It all depends on just what claim the author is making. For example, in the realms of linguistics and philology, one can examine (say) the TLG or GramCord or what-have-you and say with substantial authority that such an event does or does not occur, or always occurs when another does, **in the extant literature**. The proviso is important, of course, since as DS rightly pointed out the surviving works may not be representative. But such a claim, for example that a particular Greek verb occurs *only* in funeral narrations in the surviving literature, may be a significant and interesting one. Another use for the computer is in finding not *positive* but *negative* truths. If one is planning to state a universal claim, one is well advised to check as thoroughly as possible for counterexample. Writing a paper on certain syntactic constructions in Greek, I found a source which made a universal claim about syntax; so I scanned the TLG for the verbs involved, and found that while the claim was true, common elements in all the syntactic contexts made it predictable on other grounds, and therefore less significant. Without checking a large number of examples, the more comprehensive generalization would have been hard to see. Steve DeRose From: "Michael Sperberg-McQueen 312 996-2477 -2981" Subject: publishers and permissions Date: 18 July 1989 19:29:22 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 270 (497) Ruth Glynn makes excellent sense in her note on publishers and permissions. But if I ask permission to do something which by law I have the right to do, and receive the reply that I may not do it (because, say, the publisher believes I have no such right, and does not wish to give any ground) -- have I not conceded in advance that it is something that I do *not* have the right to do? Otherwise why did I ask permission? Whereas if I rudely do not ask permission, I at least have the chance of arguing that I have not already conceded that what I do is not fair use. Not so tortured logic: consider the arguments in Ariel Sharon's suit against Time magazine, where checking a story proved to Time's legal detriment, and printing it without checking was legally easier to defend. I don't know if it's just copyright law, or law in general, or just Cravath Swaine and whoever, but it's certainly depressing. Makes me glad I work with medieval texts which are (I think) out of copyright (unless, of course, I use a good edition ...) Bemused, Michael Sperberg-McQueen, University of Illinois at Chicago From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Typsetting Tapes Date: Thursday, 20 July 1989 0003-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 363 (498) Guy Pace (re)raises an issue of great importance, of rescuing and using for electronic research purposes the typesetting tapes used in publication preparation. Neither scholars nor publishers seem to be doing very much about the problem, and I have been told by publishers in some instances that the tapes are under the control of the typesetters (who tend to reuse them) .... I have been urging scholars to make it part of contracts with publishers that the author recovers the best electronic form for his/her purposes (revision, excerpting, etc.), and I have seen some recent contracts that include such provisions. Progress. But publishers and sponsors (e.g. scholarly societies, publication series, etc.) also need to become systematically responsible for preserving (and reformatting) these materials, and depositing them in appropriate "archives" at the very least. Some attention to these issues was given at the recent Toronto ACH/ALLC meeting in the Archive Panel discussion. On the practical level, we at CCAT have reformatted typesetting tapes for some publishers, for reuse as electronic texts. Once the program shell is in place, it is not a difficult task. I have heard publishers claim that it would be too difficult to be worthwhile, but I have yet to see a typesetting tape that comes anywhere close to living up to that billing! Indeed, if the tape was used for automatic typesetting, it can without undue effort be reformatted for appropriate electronic access. In short, we need to put pressure on at all levels -- as authors, editors, users, buyers, members of professional societies, etc. -- to encourage and, where appropriate, demand that the electronic "byproducts" of current publishing technology not be discarded or lost. The time will be soon upon us when the electronic version will be primary, and the printed version a "byproduct," in many instances! Bob Kraft (Center for Computer Analysis of Texts, Univ. of Penn.) From: Donald Spaeth (0532) 33 3573 Subject: Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 09:14:20 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 364 (499) Subject 3.266 Electronic Text (Pace) Concerning using publisher's/printer's tapes as the basic for electronic text...it's not that sample, as Ruth Glynn made clear at the Toronto conference. Ruth and others are much better able to explain why than I am, so I leave it them. Don From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Gaining permission to use publishers' electronic texts. Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 22:34:02 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 365 (500) On the other hand, what about the greater proportion of books which are still under copyright protection, but were published over 10 years ago. Does anyone know if any publishers might be willing to allow someone to create machine readable editions? From: Oxford Text Archive Subject: why publishers' may be of little use Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 18:07 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 366 (501) Here are some reasons why the electronic form into which texts may be put by publishers before prublication are usually of depressingly little use to anyone else: 1. It has been prepared by a jobbing printer or typesetting agency using its own inhouse equipment and standards which are almost certainly incompatible with anyone elses. Or even more than one such. 2. It has nearly always been revised again after the initial data capture - sometimes substantially and sometimes even after the stage where it leaves electronic form as bromide or whatever 3. It is in a REALLY obscure encoding, using for example special nonascii sequences to indicate common ligatures as well as formatting instructions 4. It is structured as bits and pieces of galley proof, not as a continuous text 5. Even if you can understand its markup, the purpose of that markup will have been the production of a printed page. This, as I believe has been remarked elsewhere, is not enough for any sort of satisfactory textual analysis. Dare I mention that the answer to all the technical problems would be the widespread acceptance of SGML without the publishing industry? Then all we'd have to worry about would be the copyright problems.... Lou From: JACKA@PENNDRLS Subject: DON'T ASK, JUST DO SOMETIMES ! Date: Wednesday, 19 July 1989 2047-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 367 (502) Michael is correct and here is a case in point! We are in the process of submitting to WISC-WARE our data file and control program for CINEMA. The major problem we are having is not with the programming but with the University lawyers who worry about copyright infringement. We have been extremely careful to follow the letter of the infamous FBI warning. We don't resell video discs though we could. We don't capture any parts of the video material though we could. We properly cited all material taken from the video, published material, etc. We use it in the prescribed manner under the restrictions of the FBI warning; that is, for classroom use and for face-to-face instruction as defined in that murky law. And yet, the University lawyers are hesitant to let us put this material, our own work to a large extent in the public arena, because the copyright law could be interpreted to define what we have done as derivative, that is, legal jargon for plagarism. In short, our lawyers don't want to even take the remotest chance of a suit. Now, I think that says something about copyright, doesn't it? To me, I would not rely on a University lawyer to define worthwhile instruction and research material. Well, we are now asking permission of the holders of copyright and have received oral and soon written permission. Funny. My last conversation with our lawyer here was this: "We have received permission from the holder of copyright to distribute." (JACK) "Well do they really hold copyright?" (LAWYER) "Should we find that out?" Lawyers! You got a love them! Too bad there are more of them in the Congress who are putting further restrictions on computing such as the new rewrites of copyright law. From: Peter D. Junger Subject: Copying Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 13:29 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 368 (503) The bemusement expressed by Michael Sperberg-McQueen in his recent posting about "publishers and permissions" is very reasonable. I have, as a former lawyer turned academic, been very reluctant to join in the discussion about copyright law because the 'law' in this area is so unruly. I believe that Sperberg-McQueen is wise in suggesting that if one asks for permission to do something that one is already privileged to do, one may discover, when the permission is denied, that one has lost one's former privilege. Although publishers and authors would often like to control the use that is made of copyrighted materials, and sometimes succeed in doing so, in theory all that a copyright owner has is the legally enforceable right to forbid copies being made of his work. Furthermore, though the degree of freedom from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, the legitimate possessor of a copy of a copyrighted is allowed to make "fair use" of that copy, including to some ill-defined extent, the privilege to make copies of that copy. To copy a copyrighted passage into your personal notebook either by typing (if the notebook is paper) or 'keyboarding' (if the notebook is on a computer) is not going to constitute a copyright violation and will not require any permission from the copyright owner. I do not think that use of an optical scanner or a xerograph machine should change this conclusion. If, however, you should later publish your notebooks, or use the material in them in a published work,--and publishing may amount to nothing more than circulating a few copies to your friends, although I hope that that would be fair use--those acts might constitute a copyright violation. There is also the danger that comes from doing things in excess. If you use a scanner to copy the entire 300 volumes of the 1989 edition of the Readers Digest edition of the Waverly Novels into your personal computer, I could imagine that someone might claim that you had violated the Readers Digest's copyright, even though I think that it is still fair use. On the other hand, if you use a laser printer to run off two hundred copies of the volume containing Ivanhoe, and sell those copies to your students in Medieval Literature 101, you have probably crossed the line and are no longer protected by the concept of fair use. From: "Guy L. Pace" Subject: Anyone there at University of Rochester? Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 11:20:28 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 369 (504) A friend here is looking for someone from University of Rochester, New York. Anyone out there from URNY? The person we're trying to contact has the last name of MODRAK. Any BITNET data would be welcome. Thanx. From: kurthern Subject: request for text analysis and retrieval program Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 16:16:12 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 370 (505) [Please send all replies BOTH to Humanist and to Dr. Kurthern at the above address. He is not on Humanist, but his question is interesting. Thanks. --W.M.] I am a Visiting Scholar from West-Germany at the Department of Sociology. At the moment I'm looking for a PC-computer program which fits best for my needs of text analysis or retrieval of WORD4.0 and SPSS files. The program should be - cheap or free of charge - good enough for searching multiple files (100-150) in different directories with altogether 1-5 MB - find words, combinations of words (by Boolean logic), blocks of text/phrases and numbers/symbols; retrieve them, manipulate them, record where they are and copy them from one file or text to another (not necessary, but helpful would be indexing, word frequency or vocabulary statistics) I was told that TACT or Gofer are not the most suitable programs for my purpose. Maybe you could give me some advice? Thank you very much for your help! Hermann Kurthen From: Willard McCarty Subject: call for publications, HCY 1989 Date: 20 July 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 273 (506) Authors who want to be certain that their work is included in The Humanities Computing Yearbook 1989 should send offprints or copies to the general editors immediately. Both current software and conventional publications issued during 1988-89 are eligible. The HCY aims to present the very best work in all areas of humanities computing wherever it is done and in whatever language. Work done in previous years but still current is also of interest. All material needs to be in our hands by 31 August 1989. We would in general welcome regular submission of work to us for consideration in the subsequent volume of the Yearbook. Thanks very much. Ian Lancashire Willard McCarty General Editors, HCY Willard McCarty From: Donald Spaeth (0532) 33 3573 Subject: Evidence (and CHEd) Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 09:20:32 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 371 (507) I agree wholeheartedly with Steven DeRose's adjustments to my comments that the the attempt to count cases is often invalidated by the poor nature of the evidence. I did not wish to suggest that counting is never valid, nor that the computer does not make it possible to improve the quality of research. There are many areas of my specialisation, history, where quantitative methods are very useful; that's why I stressed the importance of knowing one's sources (a point Joseph Rudman has made well in the context of Authorship Attribution studies, a highly quantitative field). I was reacting against two commonly-stated (but, I hope, rarely believed!) arguments: that the citing of examples ("cut and paste history", it's been called) is in some way less valid than the citing of numbers--each is appropriate to particular types of sources and fields; and that computers will make for more scientific, by which is (wrongly) meant more objective, results. In the golden age of humanities computing, I expect conflicts over interpretations to continue to rage! Cheers, Don (Spaeth) Arts Computing Development Officer University of Leeds From: P.Burnhill@edinburgh.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.265 computers in the humanities, cont. (54) Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 17:30:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 372 (508) The term 'sample' implies notions of representativeness, which may be why John W Tukey, a Princeton statistician of some note, when confronted with some observations for the first time liked to refer to a 'batch' of data, rather than grace it with undeserved status. If we know something of the 'sampling method', that is, how the data arose (survived) then we may risk the term. Big batches in themselves should not inspire confidence, except to let us know that an occurrence was more than an isolated incident. For us to estimate (or judge) whether such occurrences were widespread or major happenings requires access to a 'sample' which we reckon to have come from some 'population' in some predictable way. Surely the fact that computers are high speed idiots capable of doing sums across very large batches of data shouldn't mean that we should believe what these high speed idiots conclude. Peter Burnhill . From: Leslie Burkholder Subject: Re: Logical detectives, issue 3.268 Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 09:17:49 -0400 (EDT) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 373 (509) Matthew Gilmore refers us to an article in the 19 July 1989 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education on some programs written largely by philosophy undergraduates at Trinity University. The group of students writing the programs is called the Logical Detectives. There are several programs with various topics. One is about Jack the Ripper, one about a wierd treasure pit in Nova Scotia, one about AIDS, and one about the drug problem. I attended a session at a recent IBM ACIS conference during which Peter French, the organizer of the project and a professor of philosophy at Trinity, gave a talk about the programs and demonstrated parts of some of them. Anyone interested in the programs should read the article. I'll not summarize it here. Professor Gilmore asks for comments from someone in philosophy. I'll give some. In general the programs look exciting and interesting. What is exciting and interesting about them is that they (at least the Jack the Ripper and the Money Pit Madness programs) are more involving and more detailed exercises than those usually provided in critical thinking or logic classes. I wonder about some claims made about them: (1) That in writing the programs, the students exercised skills they were taught in philosophy classes. Perhaps. A strong version of this would be: If they had not taken some or other philosophy classes, they would not have been able to write the programs at all or would at least have produced worse programs or would have had a harder time producing the programs. A weaker version of this would be: If the students writing the programs had not certain skills and knowledge (wherever they obtained the skills or knowledge, in a philosophy class or elsewhere), they would not have been able to write the programs at all or would at least have produced worse programs or would have had a harder time producing the programs. Are either of these true? What are the skills that are supposed to be employed? (2) That in using the programs, students exercise skills they are taught in philosophy classes (especially in critical thinking or logic classes). This remark is relevant only to Jack the Ripper and Money Pit Madness. Again, a strong version of this would be: If a student does not understand some of things taught in these classes or have the skills that are supposed to be acquired from these classes (whether or not the knowledge and skills were acquired in the philosophy classes or somewhere else), then they won't be able to solve the problems the programs pose. Is this true? Another possibility would be that: Solving the problems the programs pose, like doing any other exercise, helps students to understand or acquire the knowledge that they are supposed to be acquiring in certain philosophy classes. What knowledge or skills is this? LB From: Subject: status of intellectual culture Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 08:46 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 275 (510) On the status of intellectual culture --------------------------------------- Is it permissable to ask questions about the status of intellectual culture? Is it permissable to present tentative, and fallible answers to those questions? Is it permissable to propose for open discussion a thesis that may turn out to be false, but nevertheless a thesis which asserts that the state of intellectual culture is self-defeating, i.e. anti-intellectual? Moreover, is it permissable to attempt to provide a hypothesis or explanation for this proposed 'diagnosis', an 'etiology' that states that the self-defeating status of intellectual culture is due to a largely tacit framework, that has many variations and applications: a framework which presumes that all cultures are wholly rational; and so that the concept rational, and all putatively invariant standards for truth, reality, and rationality are contextually sensitive? If these questions and tentative answers are not permissable, by which authority and according to which standards? There is an argument which renders such general questions about the status of language and cultural systems, intellectually illegitimate. The authority which denies the permissability of raising meta-questions, is a standard of intellectual legitimacy that involves restricting questions about truth, reality ,and rationality to specified and limited contexts. So, any discussion of the over-all intellectual status of a culture is ruled out of court. Consequently, the intellectual status of intellectual culture, is self-legitimating. However, this self-legitimating strategy of intellectual culture ignores some fundamental distinctions in linguistics and logic in order to legislate and arbitrate on how one may properly use language, and what questions one may meaningfully ask. In linguistics, there is a fundamental distinction between semantics and pragmatics. All words have psycho-social effects, apart from their meaning. If a doctor tells one that one has cancer, the doctor not only conveys a neutral diagnosis, but also may frighten or upset his patient. It can't be helped. When a patient confuses the meaning of the term 'cancer' with the patient's emotional reaction, and treats the term 'cancer' as a term of verbal abuse, the patient is confusing the semantics of the term with its pragmatics. Even verbal abuse, has a semantics apart from its pragmatics: the term 'liar' is most often used to abuse someone, rather than to describe someone's customary deceptive use of language. But, the words spoken with evil intent may still describe a factual situation. Just as there can be truth spoken in jest where the pragmatics of jests are to arouse laughter, there can be truth spoken with the use of insulting words. When one is interested in truth, one ignores the motivation and the pragmatics of the spoken words; one concentrates on the semantics of the words. Likewise, when one proposes a diagnosis and etiology for the current status of intellectual culture, one may offend some people, and please others. If intellectual culture is in perfect shape and if our standards for intellectual pursuits are top notch, most would be pleased. However, what if there are many indicators that the state of intellectual culture is suffering, is in great pain, is one to hide one's eyes from the pain? Are we to only accept diagnoses that are pleasant, and wish-fulfilling? I expect that most intellectuals would like medical doctors to tell us the truth, and as a matter of commonsense, are careful to heed the semantics of the diagnoses, apart from their pragmatics. However, when intellectuals do not like to hear a possible truth that is negative, then intellectuals are forgetting their commonsense when reacting to the words spoken about ourselves. Of course, there are circumstances when the pragmatics of some descriptions can over-ride concern with semantics: though the civil law allows true descriptions to be told about persons that have the pragmatic effect of damaging one's reputation (i.e. 'gossip'); the Talmudic code prohibits gossip, even when true. So, even in Law and in the Talmud, the distinction between semantics and pragmatics is clearly recognized. Another important distinction that is often confused is the one between asserting an hypothesis or theorem for intellectual discussion, and stating a belief. The beliefs of a person reveal their character, and often to understand their character and their beliefs, it is useful to know "where are you coming from?". However, theories are person-independent and belief-independent: a person may not believe in a hypothesis, but propose it for debate as a likely solution to a problem. Indeed there can be discrepancies between the personal background of an individual and the theoretical background of the hypotheses the person proposes for discussion. For instance, if one only knew the personal biography of Newton, one could neither predict nor understand Newton's classical physics. Those who write histories of science often express amazement at the discrepancies between the personal characteristics of certain scientific innovators and the nature of their theories. The answer to this puzzle is simple: theories are nested in logical networks, consisting of layers of premisses and infinite sets of consequences. These logical networks, though produced and modified by humans are beyond the complete understanding of their creators, and of the individuals who study, criticize, and change them. So, to understand the nature of our current intellectual culture, we require to examine the underlying logical structure of the various methodological theories that abound, and that are apparently unconnected and context-relative. In other words, the cultural historian/critic employs a methodology akin to the structuralist in linguistics and cultural anthropology: one looks for patterns of similarity and difference to find the rules of transformation for deriving the variations upon the basic thematic invariant. The invariant I propose for intellectual culture is what I term 'hyper-rationalism'. This invariant consists of the following thematic structure: 1. All cultures are wholly rational. 2. Cultures are historical. 3. Reason, or rationality achieves truth and attains reality. 4. Since rationality is culturally bound, so standards of truth and reality are culturally bound. 5. Also, since culture is historical, reason, truth and reality are historical. The rule of transformation for this invariant thema in our intellectual culture is this: in place of the word, 'culture' substitute such terms as 'interpretation', 'paradigms', 'methodologies', 'minds', 'objectivity', 'language-games', 'thinking', 'law','ethics', 'politics','norms'. In this way one derives the meta-theorems guiding the various enterprises of intellectual culture. One of the variants of the hyper-rational thema is the commitment oriented notion of communication and language that permeates hermeneutics. For instance, hermeneutics holds that interpretations (including philosophical theories, scientific hypotheses and empirical statements) as constructions are time-bound, and action dominated. The notion that scientific hypotheses , as opposed both to literary interpretations and philosophical theories, are falsifiable by reference to empirical statements, is rejected. All are interpretations that are constructed from culturally bound meaning-patterns. Thinking, or interpretation, is either a result of a break-down in action, or a form of commitment to action and its continuation. So, distinctions among belief, logical content, meaning and psychological impact are rejected in favour of the notion that a person's utterances are made as forms of social engagement. One speaks only to enjoin others in action. So, if one speaks words that offend, one does so to engage those offended in some form of confrontation; a verbal fight as a socially regulated form of hostility--as in courts of law or in seminars. The aim can only be victory. To return to my earlier analogy of being displeased with the diagnosis of the medical doctor: one who treats the words of a doctor as only fighting words because the words happen to indicate a negative diagnosis that is emotionally painful, one will react to the doctor by totally ignoring her suggested therapy, or by redirecting one's frustrations to the doctor. As everyone in the healing professions admit, the first axiom of doctor-patient relationships is that the patient will not respond to advice unless the patient treats the diagnoses as descriptive statements as opposed to labels or epithets. In the situation of diagnosing the state of intellectual culture, we all have to be our own doctors--since what we are assessing is our own mental culture. It is a common finding of psycho-analysis, a commonplace, that psychotics cannot be treated because they treat all diagnoses as hostile statements; neurotics can be treated because they recognize that there is a problem, and realize that their neuroses are fundamentally solutions to problems that further entrench the problems. The way to treat a neurotic problem is to leap out of the 'solution' and to find a totally new way of defining both the problem and the alternatives. As Dr. Seuss says, "Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the Thinks you can think up if only you try!." If we must be our own doctors, and if we treat all descriptions of the status of intellectual culture as verbal abuse, then we will become 'psychotic', and destroy our culture. However, if we at least recognize that there is a malaise, we are only 'neurotic', and might be able to heal our culture if we are willing to look for alternative meta-themes for intellectual enterprises, rather than stick to one thema, and refuse to see it as a single thema that guides our various intellectual activities; and reinforces our malaise. Another commonplace of psycho-analysis is that the troubled patient is on the road to cure, when the patient can jump out of the patient's single perspective and see the world from the viewpoint of the object of hate/love. So, perhaps if the intellectual can jump out of the perspective of viewing reality from the point of view of the intellectual and the methods of the intellectual, and view our products from the viewpoint of a reality that doesn't admit of inconsistency, and that is deep, partially incomprehensible, and transcendent, we might realize that our cultures can be incomplete, and have deep inconsistencies that require resolution, and have irrationalities that require further understanding. In sum, here are some steps we can take to combat the malaise of current intellectual life: The first step is to admit fallibility. The second step is to admit that there is a transcendent reality. The third step is to admit that our historical standards of rationality, truth, and reality require improvement. The fourth step is to identify the techniques we use to narrow the debate so that the desired outcome must win, or so that the troublesome questions are evaded. Some of these techniques are: i)playing the definition game and pretending not to understand; ii)claiming that what the person says is either obviously ridiculous or unintelligle, and so dismissing what the person says without having to respond to the argument or present an actual argument--i.e. series of statements with premisses and conclusions where if the premisses are true, the conclusions are true ('x implies y, however y is false, theorefore x is false' is an example of a typical form of logicl argument called modus tollens); iii)seeking allies to buttress one's position rather than to stand on one's own feet--i.e. appealing to the 'jury'; iv)poking fun at the opposed position rather than simply stating it, and finding inconsistencies, or shortcomings given the question under discussion; v)imputing terrible motives to the person with whom one disagrees rather than examing the issue; vi)justifying one's position as opposed to the alternative by appealing to the authority and fine character of the "saints" who supposedly are the originators of one's position; vii)treating language in a rigorous fashion, as an endi-in-itself, and viewing the use of metaphors as deep errors (i.e. Gilbert Ryle's "category mistakes") rather than viewing language as a means for articulating aspects of the logical content of holistic, networks of theories; viii)claiming that one is on the side of the angels, avante-garde, or the pure of heart, and that one's interlocutor is part of a rear-guard, reactionary, movement with vested interests in some form of pernicious status quo; ix)identifying one's interlocutor with some hated figure, thereby shutting one's ears to the words of the interlocutor; x)treating one's interlocutor as an opponent, where the object is to defeat the person as opposed to the theorems reported or presented by the interlocutor. -------------------- Sheldon Richmond From: Johnfox@RCN Subject: EUROPE TRIP Date: Fri, 21 Jul 89 19:59:40 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 374 (511) AM A PROFESSOR OF AMERICAN HISTORY AT A SMALL, PUBLIC, LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE IN MASSACHUSETTS. WILL BE IN EUROPE/IRELAND WITH FAMILY AUG 4 - 25. WOULD LIKE TO MEET WITH UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE LEVEL COLLEAGUES WHO ARE INTERESTED IN ORAL HISTORY, COMMUNITY HISTORY, HISTORY OF THE WORKPLACE AND TEACHER TRAINING. ITINERARY: AUG 4-6 ROME AUG 7-9 ZURICH AUG 10-12 BERLIN AUG 13-15 AMSTERDAM AUG 16-18 PARIS AUG 19-21 DUBLIN AUG 21-25 DONEGAL/SLIGO/LIMERICK WOULD ALSO APPRECIATE TIPS FOR SIGHT SEEING THAT WOULD HELP TO KEEP COST WITHIN REASON WHILE AT SAME TIME SEEING THE MOST. ESPECIALLY WOULD APPRECIATE RECOMMEDATIONS FOR MODERATELY PRICED RESTAURANTS. *****PLEASE E-MAIL TO JOHNFOXTAYLOR.RCC.RCN.EDU***** (not to Humanist) THANK YOU. From: Geoff Rockwell Subject: Greek Reading Date: Sat, 22 Jul 89 14:49:19 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 375 (512) I have been told that the ancient Greeks did not read silently. Does anyone know of any evidence that they read out loud (even to themselves)? Does anyone know of a work that summarizes the evidence? Thanks in advance, Geoffrey Rockwell rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca From: hans@leif.mun.ca Subject: RE: 3.272 anyone there? text retrieval program? (50) Date: 22 Jul 89 09:55 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 376 (513) There is an excellent little shareware programme for text searches, etc., which rivals GOFER but is faster. It is called LOOKFOR. If you wish to have it, I can make it available in a uuencoded version. HANS ROLLMANN. From: Itamar Even-Zohar Subject: TEXTBASE Date: Sat, 22 Jul 89 11:29:06 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 377 (514) MSWENSON@IUBACS writes (HUMANIST, Vol. 3, No. 256, 17 July 1989): [deleted quotation] Nota Bene's Text-Base is still the most flexible I know, that is, if you work with Nota Bene as a word processor. In spite of many advantages ASK-SAM offers, I think for most purposes Nota Bene's is still less tiresome. In addition to a number of pre-defined formats, there is a possibility to user customize formats, or use both in a more sophisticated way if combined with extra codes and prompts or labels. For the purpose indicated, I think the ideal format would be the one where the borders between the units is the word QUESTION, or just Q. This format is explained in Nota Bene's Manual, Section F2, pp. 24-- 27. This allows no preparation of any extra text (though such text can easily be added whenever wished), but a very quick and efficient retrieval of the "QUESTION-ANSWER" material. For some sophisticated uses of Nota Bene's TB, order file TEXTBASE DOC from NOTABENE LIST. If it's not yet uploaded, send me a short notice and I will send it to you. There is still much to be desired for Nota Bene's TB. Willard McCarty has prepared about a year ago a list of desiderata, which he might be willing to reproduce in HUMANIST for new members. Dragonfly has promised that the next version of the TB will make this one shameful... Still it's a magnificent tool for those of us who work with flexible texts which cannot be handled by databases. From: Itamar Even-Zohar Subject: Bibliographic Utility Date: Sat, 22 Jul 89 11:34:22 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 378 (515) Thomas A. Bestul (HUMANIST, Vol. 3, No. 256, 17 July 1989) looks for a bibliographic software package. I think Nota Bene's new bibliographic utility may be what he is looking for. Here are excerpts from *WINGS*, Spring/Summer 1989, about the new bibliography program by Dragonfly Software: NOTA BENE has always offered basic bibliographic management, but our innovative program promises to open up a new world. Now you'll be able to: * Enter titles only once: Simply type in the author's last name and/or a short title, and a pop-up window presents possible matches that you've already entered. Select one of the existing titles or add an entry on the spot. You'll only have to type a full bibliographic reference once, no matter how many papers you write. * Enter citations effortlessly Prompts tell you where to type the author, title, date and other relevant information. The program then arranges this data in the correct sequence. Worrying about capitalization, punctuation, abbreviations, and all those other details is a thing of the past: It's the program's task to provide the appropriate punctuation, to capitalize titles, and to convert page numbers. * Format citations in a variety of styles Entries may be formatted according to APA, ASPA, Chicago A, Chicago B, MLA, and Turabian styles instead of just the form in which they're entered. With a few keystrokes, you can even *reformat* a bibliography entirely and *accurately* from one format to another. * Take advantage of enhanced sorting possibilities In addition to alphabetization by author, date, or title, you can also sort significant works before short works, or singly-authored works before jointly-authored works, and all of these before translated or compiled works. The new program * Works from within Nota Bene Simply pop up a window and add, edit, or cite an entry. * Enviable formatting capabilities * Unmatched sophistication and accuracy * Sophisticated multilingual support Rules, exceptions to rules, exceptions to exceptions, and more: We've paid close attention to the minutiae of academic style sheets so that you don't have to. * Output is, as before, full ASCII files Registered Nota Bene users can order this utility for 40% discount, i.e., $99 instead of $165. (Competing packages cost as much as $495.) (I don't know for how long this offer stands now -- I.E-Z.) For more information write to Dragonfly Software 285 West Broadway, Suite 600 New York, NY 10013-2204 (Phone: 212-334-0445) Itamar Even-Zohar Porter Institute Tel Aviv University From: hans@leif.mun.ca Subject: RE: 3.267 database software, cont. (28) Date: 22 Jul 89 09:29 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 379 (516) I, too, am using DATAPERFECT with great success. All of my note-taking is accomplished with Dataperfect. I also have a biographical dictionary with a complete MLA-style bibliographical database in Dataperfect. Better than Dbase III PLus is DATAPERFECT's text handling. All alphanumeric fields are totally searchable. I can store an entire paper in such a field and search any string. THe latest version of DATAPERFECT is also fully compatible with WordPerfect 5.0. Wordperfect, WordPErfect Library, and Dataperfect are invaluable tools for computing in the Humanities. One drawback is the rather cumbersome adding or deleting of a field once records are in the database. The records have to be exported, then the modifications of the dbase accomplished, and finally the records have to be imported again. This is to change in future releases. But the drawback can be endured in view of the other good features, especially its text handling capabilities. I store my notes in Dataperfect, send them to a file or to the Library's clipboard, take them into Wperfect, split the screen, and write my paper in one screen portion, while displaying the notes in the other. It speeds up paper writing and stores notes in an efficient and easily retrievable fashion. I also have all my student records with their marks on Dataperfect. HANS. From: Subject: physics as metaphor Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 22:06:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 380 (517) Rhetoricians often warn against the dangers of pursuing every conceivable parallel implicit in a metaphor (or, conversely, of rejecting a metaphor apt on its major levels of correspondence because other parts of the comparison do not mesh). I confess that quantum mechanics make me dizzy, and assure my colleagues that I do not consider myself in any way qualified to join the debate about the essential meaning of this (to me) arcane realm of thought. Still, since I have observed that most humanists who refer to it are actually poaching in other disciplines, part of the endless search for curious likenesses, analogies, similitudes, models, gnomic or parabolical explanations, &c. --- and not really leaping into the pit among the active, professional theory brokers. It's valuable if we can use it, even if we don't use it absolutely correctly. Indeed, in some ways, our misunderstandings may be valuable, too. Anyway, let me recommend to all readers of HUMANIST a remarkable story that has just appeared in _Harper's_, Jane Hamilton's "When I Began to Understand Quantum Mechanics" (Vol. 279, No. 1671, August, 1989, pp. 41-9). The protagonist's uncle, a physicist, has been feeding her "brain food" for some time; the intellectual formulae she has absorbed help her explain (understand?) occurrences that otherwise seem inexplicable. When, for instance, she and her sister have to sing "All things wise and wonder- ful, / The Lord God made them all. / Each little flower that opens, / Each little bird that sings...", she substitutes "fart" for "flower", her action is hard to understand: [deleted quotation] Without giving away the events of the story, I can say that the heroine undergoes what Joyce calls an "epiphany" in her perception of life, a life that changes in part *because* it is being perceived. Things aren't as they seem. *The fact that the world shifts when it is measured means simply that you cannot make precise predictions about it.* This principle, together with Heisenberg's principle of uncertainty and the notion of particles as waves (& vice versa), all contribute to a woozy shock of recognition. I would be very glad to hear from other HUMANISTs how they respond to Hamilton's story. -- Kevin Berland, Penn State (BCJ@PSUVM) From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Intellectualism, Rationality and Method Date: Friday, 21 July 1989 1036-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 381 (518) I have read Sheldon Richmond's recent lengthy and meaty posting on the "status of intellectual culture" twice, and despite the recognition that I probably cannot avoid employing some of the "techniques" listed at the end (to point out that SR himself dabbles in some of these "techniques" is itself to use one of them, and to say "so I won't do so" is to use another!), I would like to reply to a couple of points. In an earlier HUMANIST posting, I bemoaned the fact that I was unable to get clear from the previous discussion just what SR meant by such terms as "intellectual" and "hyper-rational" and the like. His recent discussion helps, although not as much (or in as rigorous fashion) as I would like. Nevertheless, a couple of things seem clearer to me now: 1. By the definitional criteria presented by SR for "hyper-rationalism," I don't seem to qualify (and I wonder who does qualify?) -- I certainly would not affirm that "all cultures are wholly rational" (or that most individuals, who after all, make up "cultures," are rational, by which I mean AT LEAST consistent and coherent in terms of the categories of western logic and reason by which I function), or that "cultures are historical" except in the sense that everything that happens is "history" and thus potentially subject to "historical" analysis. Nor would I be happy embracing the statement that "reason, or rationality achieves truth and attains reality" -- indeed, I find that terminology to be very strange from my perspectives. I would, however, feel comfortable about saying that "rationality is culturally bound" and that "standards of truth and reality are culturally bound" -- indeed, I would say that ALL human attempts at knowing, interpreting, expressing and communicating are "culturally bound," and that is why explicating definitions seems so crucial to me. As for SR's "transformations" of "culture" into other terms, I find that on some of the transformations I may come closer to SR's "hyper-rationalism" than on others. For example, to me, BY DEFINITION, all scholarly metholological norms are rational. If they are not rational (in the sense of selfconsciously consistent [see above]) I would not call them methodological norms. But I would not claim that all minds or thinking or politics or law or ethics are "rational"! 2. Despite the fact that SR lists it at the top of the "techniques" to be avoided (presumably), I would argue that the sine qua non of rational and thus perhaps "intellectual" discussion is attention to "the definition game," which sometimes involves "pretending not to understand" since usually it is not "pretending" but a feeling of insecurity about what one thinks is being said ("can the speaker really mean what I understand to be the meaning?"). For example, I think I have learned a great deal from SR's somwhat "in passing" definition of the position he advocates, namely that there is a transcendent, deep and partially incomprehensible reality that doesn't admit of inconsistency, which explains why "our cultures can be incomplete, and have deep inconsistencies that require resolution, and have irrationalities that require further understanding." But in the interests of "the definition game" and "pretending not to understand," I wonder what the function of the element "doesn't admit of inconsistency" may be in the above statement. I suspect that it undergirds SR's goal of continued "further understanding" (that is, reality is potentially consistent and understandable if not actually so since we are "fallible," etc. -- a position with which I would agree as an operating principle, if not as an ontological commitment!) and "resolution" of inconsistencies. But it is not entirely clear. And if SR made it clearer, I think that BY DEFINITION of his position, many of the other matters that seem even less clear would be automatically resolved. My suspicion is that SR will be hard pressed to find many real instances of academics who disagree with his goals of better understanding, etc., but that there is an ontology (we used to call it "metaphysics") implied in his approach that would be subject to much more heated discussion. My own position is pragmatic. Since BY DEFINITION (mine or SR's) I cannot actually (rationally) understand "reality" in its fulness, I don't see much point arguing about it. There is plenty to do in improving understanding of what IS within the ability of human thinking (and doing). Bob Kraft (Religious Studies, Univ. of Penn) From: bobh@phoenix (Robert Hollander) Subject: Re: 3.266 e-texts from publishers? Israeli perfume flask (52) Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 20:19:14 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 279 (519) In response to Guy Pace's inquiry, I would like to report that at the first meeting of the Rutgers/Princeton initiative there was a good deal of talk about exactly the point he makes. Not only would it be helpful to interest publishers in making their tapes of books avail- able to archives (e.g., Oxford), if they do not, they apparently fairly often destroy them, thus making the need to get the word out more pressing. I will pass his good note and this response along to the ca. 45 people who are now on our Listserver. Thanks. From: UDAA270@ELM.CC.KCL.AC.UK Subject: Rose Theatre Update Date: Thu, 20 JUL 89 14:17:44 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 280 (520) The latest on the Rose theatre site, as reported by King's College London's correspondent, Steve Miller ... Susan Kruse ********************************** 17 July 1989 As promised Mr Justice Schiemann delivered this morning his verdict on the request by the Rose Theatre trust for a Judicial Review of the decision of Nicholas Ridley, Secretary of State for the Environment, not to list the Rose Theatre as a National Monument. He said that the Trust were wrong to suggest that Mr Ridley had misapplied any law. The law as it is written does not require Ridley to schedule the site, it only says he "may" schedule a monument based on the advice of English Heritage. But the judge went further and said that the Trust had no right in law to bring the Secretary of State into court in the first place. He strongly hinted that the respondants (the Secretary of State and the property developers) should have asked to have the request for a judicial review by the Trust thrown out of court. The Trust had no more right to challenge in law a decision of the Secretary of State for the Environment than any ordinary citizen which was none since they had no legal "interest" in the matter. In addition, he ruled that the Rose Theatre Trust must pay the costs not only of the lawyers defending the Secretary of State but also the lawyers of the property developers, Imry Merchant, who came into the case to argue their side. As to an appeal, since they have no right to bring such a case the Trust would apparently have to ask for someone to rule that they did have such a right before they could ask for an appeal against the judge's legal ruling on the question of scheduling. (Is this getting a little complicated? I am sorry, I am no legal expert despite my recent hours in court hearing all of this argued.) In any event, the judge limited the Rose Theatre Trust to three days to take further action. Judging as an outsider I do not know how the decision could have been more negative. Certainly it seems agreed that on the question of the right of the Trust to bring the Secretary into court, the judge took a narrow view of what the law allows. On the other hand, he did suggest that the legal argument as to how the Heritage law should be interpreted which was made by the Trust's lawyer, might be the basis for a very good law. The judge stated that his own opinion of the Rose Theatre had nothing to do with the matter of the law. * * * On a different matter, Nicholas Ridley has also refused the request of Southwark Planning Committee to "call in" Imry's Revised plans (those putting a low museum for the Rose remains in the basement of their office building). This would have meant a public inquiry into the plans as I understand it. I believe the Planning Committee need to decide on the plans before 27 July. Over the weekend Imry had the temporary roof covering the Rose site removed so that they can begin work as soon as they wish. I think that this is enough for the moment. While it appears that the plan to preserve a part of the remains of the Rose theatre in a museum in the basement of a new office block will go ahead, the hopes that a general archaeological investigation of the rest of the site will be allowed before drilling begins for foundations for the office block, or that the block might be avoided altogether do not look good. If any readers have better information than mine on this matter or more, could I ask that they let everyone know? It might amuse those readers who have not seen the British press over the past day or two to note that rumours are circulating that Mr. Ridley may be on his way out of his cabinet post and that the Prime Minister will reshuffle her Cabinet in a week or so. I offer no opinion as to what importance to attach to such rumours. Can we presume that any new appointee, if there were one, would be strongly advised not to produce any surprises in this matter? Sincerely, Stephen Miller c/o Dept of English, King's College London, The Strand, London WC2R 2LS England E-Mail JANET UDLE031 @ UK.AC.KCL.CC.OAK From: Ken Steele Subject: Inquiry for HUMANIST Date: Sun, 23 Jul 89 14:52:19 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 382 (521) An acquaintance of mine is interested in locating the source of the following lines, which appeared in the August 26-September 1 1988 _Times Literary Supplement_ (p. 925). The lines describe a centipede, . . . happy, quite, Until a toad, for fun, Enquired which leg came after which Which brought his mind to such a pitch He lay bewildered in the ditch Forgetting how to run. The answer to this question may well be extremely obvious, or nonexistent, but unfortunately I can think of no other efficient way to find out. Thanks. Ken Steele From: James Woolley Subject: Nota Bene bibliographic utility Date: 22 July 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 383 (522) Some questions concerning the new Nota Bene bibliography utility: --Will it generate footnotes? Most of the world still uses footnotes, MLA notwithstanding. --Will I be able to construct my own style sheet, in effect, if I'm using, say, (British) Oxford University Press style, or MHRA Style Book style? --How will I bring a given bibliography entry into a paper I'm working on? --How much memory will this utility require? how much disk space? --Is there any limit on the length of fields? --Do I correctly understand that this utility capitalizes words in titles as a given style requires? I posed these questions in a letter to Dragonfly two months ago but unfortunately have had no answer. I would welcome comments or discussion from readers of this list. James Woolley, English, Lafayette College, Easton, PA 18042, USA Bitnet: woolleyj@lafayett UUCP: rutgers!lafcol!woolleyj From: Jim McSwain Subject: on-line libraries in Illinois Date: MON 24 JUL 1989 16:15:00 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 282 (523) A recent issue of ILLINOIS LIBRARIES, 71 (#3-4 March/April 1989): 185-88 contains useful information for HUMANIST participants who wish to gain access to the holdings of major libraries in Illinois including the facility at Champaign-Urbana. ILLINET Online is a statewide online union catalogue network in Illinois. Those outside the state may use it to search for titles and gain bibliographic information. It includes DePaul University, Northern Illinois Univ., Catholic Theological Union (Chicago), in addition to a host of local county and municipal systems with a total of approximately 3,000,000 entries! If you have a modem, you can access the system by setting you software parameters to half duplex, 7 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity, and either 300, 1200 or 2400 baud (it is autobaud, so it sets the system to match your settings). The numbers are 312- 996-8844 or 217-333-2494, 0700-2400 hours M-F, 0800-2400 hours on Sat., and 01200 to 2400 hours on Sun. Once you "connect," hit the "return" key to call up the ILLINET Online logo, and follow the prompts from there. I have used the search procedures before, and if you think you need further instructions call the help desk at 312- 996-7280/217--333-3102 or Kristine Hammerstrand at 312-996-7853/ 217-244-7593. If there are other online catalogues you wish to access, I may have the information you need. Feel free to contact me at f0a8@usouthal. Regards, JMcSwain From: Michael Ossar Subject: ancient israeli perfume Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 08:36 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 384 (524) The New York Times carried a report about three or four months ago about the archaological expedition in Israel that discovered the ancient perfume. The vial was so well sealed that the perfume was still liquid, although it had lost its aroma. It was made from a plant that has since become extinct. I don't recall any reference to the ark in the Times report, but I believe there was speculation that the perfume had been used to annoint the kings of Israel. From: bobh@phoenix (Robert Hollander) Subject: Re: 3.276 European contacts? Greeks reading? (58) Date: Sun, 23 Jul 89 13:00:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 385 (525) In the _Confessions_ Augustine reports his surprise that Ambrose did _not_ read aloud (when reading to himself). That's a small piece of evidence that reading aloud in private was a continuing ancient tradition. From: elli@harvunxw.BITNET (Elli Mylonas) Subject: Silent Reading Date: Sun, 23 Jul 89 19:14:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 386 (526) One article that summarizes information is Knox, BMW. "Silent Reading in Antiquity, " GRBS. 1968. pp. 421-435. There is also a vast literature on orality and literacy, don't know if that addresss the problem per se, however. You might also look under reading or books in the Pauly-Wissowa. I can send some info on orality, if it seems fruitful. --elli mylonas From: gwp%dido.caltech.edu@Hamlet.Bitnet Subject: silent reading in antiquity Date: Sat, 22 Jul 89 13:45:04 -0700 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 387 (527) Geoff Rockwell writes: [deleted quotation] The received wisdom for many years was that silent reading under any circumstances was extraordinary in Greek and Roman antiquity, but sometime in the sixties (I believe it was) Bernard Knox argued that, although the primary method of reading literary texts was aloud, the reading of letters, wills, and everyday matter could be silent without arousing interest. (I think Knox's paper was published in *Greek, Roman, & Byzantine Studies*.) One of the primary passages suggesting the unusualness of silent reading occurs in Augustine, *Confessions* 6.3 (AD 397-98): When he read, his eyes scanned the page and his heart explored the meaning, but his voice was silent and his tongue was still. All could approach him freely, and it was not usual for visitors to be announced, so that often, when we came to see him, we found him reading like this in silence, for he never read aloud. We would sit there quietly, for no one had the heart to disturb him when he was so engrossed in study. After a time we went away again, guessing that in the short time when he was free from the turmoil of other men's affairs and was able to refresh his own mind, he would not wish to be distracted. Perhaps he was afraid that, if he read aloud, some obscure passage in the author he was reading might raise a question in the mind of an attentive listener, and he would then have to explain the meaning or even discuss some of the more difficult points. If he spent his time in this way, he would not manage to read as much as he wished. Perhaps a more likely reason why he read to himself was that he needed to spare his voice, which quite easily became hoarse. But whatever his reason, we may be sure it was a good one. The usual assumption about this passage is that if a man of Augustine's learning and experience could find silent reading so puzzling, it must have been normal to read aloud. I haven't studied the topic for years, so I'd be interested in learning of more recent work. -Mac Pigman gwp@hss.caltech.edu (internet) pigman@caltech.bitnet (bitnet) From: Subject: Re: Greeks reading Date: Mon, 24 Jul 89 09:10 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 388 (528) In response to Goeff Rockwell's request for information about how the Greeks read: The evidence for the claim that the Greeks read out loud seems to consist in the fact that it was thought noteworthy when someone read silently. See e.g. Plutarch, Brutus 5, on Julius Caesar and Augustine, Confessions 6.3, on Ambrose. See W. B. Stanford, The Sound of Greek (Berkeley: U. of California Press, 1967) for more. Best wishes, Charles From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.247 ideal lab? genealogy? Nota Bene? (138) Date: Sat, 22 Jul 89 18:23:30 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 389 (529) Someone responded to the ideal lab question with suggestions concerning grammar checkers among other tools. As a result, I swapped an empty xt case for a copy of Grammatik III and tried it out. The results were interesting, to say the most, and befuddling to say the least. The most remarkable "feature" was that when analyzing Alice in Wonderland, one of our most popular machine readable texts, Grammatik reported 1600 sentences, of which over 2500 were shorter than 14 words. However, on a more serious note, it didn't seem to handle single quote marks at all, though it did quite well with regular ones. After it responded that my writing was at grade level 14 (too high for the audience I was addressing in that instance) I fooled it into giving a result of 7, simply by having Word Perfect replace the commas with periods. I would love to hear others' experience with Grammatik III, since I understand it can be a very worthwhile tool in the hands of the experienced user. Michael S. Hart (National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts) From: Michael W Jennings Subject: NB Textbase; FYI 3000 Date: Mon, 24 Jul 89 09:21:28 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 390 (530) On the subject of text bases: frequent reference has been made to Nota Bene's text base facility. That aspect of Nota Bene is based (in slightly modified form) on a program called FYI 3000. There is now a FYI 3000 Plus (available from FYI Inc., P.O. Box 26481, Austin, TX 78755; (512) 346-0134). I have found it easy to use, flexible, and fast. It is compatible with most major word processors (I use it with WordPerfect) and costs a fraction of Nota Bene's (scandalous) price. From: Lou Burnard's 400 lines Subject: conference report - a bit long but quite interesting Date: Tue, 25 Jul 89 12:19 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 391 (531) Information Technology and the Research Process. Cranfield Institute of Technology, 18-21 July 1989 Conference Report Lou Burnard All academic communities define themselves partly by regular gatherings dedicated to self-examination; the community of "information scientists", i.e. those skilled in the management and exploitation of library and analogous resources in research, is no exception. During the seventies there had been a regular series of such gatherings known as the Cranfield Conference. These having now fallen into desuetude, when Brian Perry, head of the British Library's Research and Development Department, welcomed us to this reborn version he naturally proposed that it should be called "Not the Cranfield Conference". The four day event, jointly sponsored by the British Library, the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Library Science, and the UK Computer Board, attracted a small but agreeably heterogenous audience. Attendance at sessions averaged 60 from a total registration of just under a hundred, largely composed of information science professionals, computerate librarians, human- factors computing theoreticians, a sprinkling of civil servants and various other varieties of professional research support people, drawn fairly even handedly from universities and polytechnics, with even a few token representatives of industrial concerns such as Shell. Although the British formed the majority, followed by the Americans and the French, several other countries were represented including Sweden, Eire, Canada, Netherlands, Turkey and Bophutatswana. The conference bore every sign of having been carefully arranged to maximise opportunities for informal contact and discussion: there were no parallel sessions, and the timetable was not a tight one, with five keynote speakers, one panel session and a paltry 20 presentations spread over four and a half days. The venue, Cranfield Institute of Technology, notorious for its sybaritic charm as a conference centre, also contributed something to this end. As befits experts in the research process, the organisers had gone out of their way to create a stimulating, agreeable, thought-provoking environment in which creativity and information flow would flourish. But what were we supposed to talk *about*? -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. INFOTECH REPORT. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: SUSAN@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: Reminder - NewOED Conference at Oxford University Date: Wed, 26 JUL 89 10:10:35 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 392 (532) This is a reminder that registrations for the NewOED conference at Oxford University on 18-19 September 1989 must be received by 31 August 1989. Registrations received after that date will be subject to a surcharge of 20 pounds and will only be accepted if there is room. Susan Hockey ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DICTIONARIES IN THE ELECTRONIC AGE Fifth Annual Conference of the University of Waterloo Centre for the New OED Jointly presented by Oxford University Press Oxford University Computing Service University of Waterloo St. Catherine's College, Oxford, England -- 18-19 September 1989 (For associated workshops on Dictionary Assessment and Criticism and on Developing Lexical Resources, see below.) -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. New_OED CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" Subject: Grammar and style checkers Date: Tue, 25 Jul 89 07:29:26 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 393 (533) As the creator of a grammar and style checker (StrongWriter), I think I understand why Michael Hart got the results he did from Grammatik III. Grammar and style checkers are intended to analyze files consisting of a few hundred words, and should function the same on several thousand words. However, if a checker is given a whole novel consisting of thousands of sentences, it is difficult to know what will result. The sentence count provided by Grammatic III will probably be correct if it is given only a chapter of _Alice_in_Wonderland_ rather than the whole novel at once. Single quotation marks are a problem. Since the same character is also an apostrophe, it must be included in the definition of a word such as CAN'T, but the program must be written in such a way that the single quotation mark is not considered part of a word if the word happens to be the first found within single quotation marks ( I remember saying "He called 'Help me!'" the word is HELP and not 'HELP.) Replacing commas with periods in a text should reduce the grade level, since readability is based (in part) on sentence length. However, the end of a sentence is recognized not only as having a period (or other terminal punctuation) but as a period and two spaces. Therefore, changing commas to periods should increase the sentence count only when the commas were as the ends of lines. Grammar and style checkers are of value to student writers because they point out common blunders and make suggestions for revision. As a writing teacher, I believe any program that turns writers' attention back for additional revision is helpful. Eric Johnson ERIC@SDNET From: David.A.Bantz@mac.Dartmouth.EDU Subject: Re: 3.281 author, author? NB bib utility? (74) Date: Tue, 25 Jul 89 08:11:51 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 394 (534) --- James Woolley asked several good questions regarding Nota Bene bibliography utility which a previous contribution praised to the heavens. I thought readers might like answers for End Note & Microsoft Word, a package we are providing at Dartmouth for combined price of $105: --Will it generate footnotes? Most of the world still uses footnotes, MLA notwithstanding. [deleted quotation]text; end notes may be gathered at chapter or section breaks, or at the end of the entire document. --Will I be able to construct my own style sheet, in effect, if I'm using, say, (British) Oxford University Press style, or MHRA Style Book style? [deleted quotation]conference proceedings, etc. as opposed to monographs, journal articles and the like) which have their own formats. Bibliographies may be numbered or not. --How will I bring a given bibliography entry into a paper I'm working on? [deleted quotation]EndNote from the DA menu; you will have a window with author/title list of your references (since it is a desk accessory, you have not quit your word processing application or closed the document). Select the proper reference by clicking on it, or use EndNote's Find command to search for any portion of the reference, including your notes. You can select multiple references. Choose "Copy", return to the paper you're writing and choose "Paste;" the referece(s) is (are) inserted into the text. (They can be automatically formatted according to various styles for references later.) --How much memory will this utility require? how much disk space? [deleted quotation]or create styles, & maintain your master bibliograpy, is 203K (with all the supplied styles). You need some space for the bibliography per se, of course. --Is there any limit on the length of fields? [deleted quotation] --Do I correctly understand that this utility capitalizes words in titles as a given style requires? [deleted quotation]It is possible to get around this by creating an alternative title field, but this is, obviously, less than ideal. From: Subject: bibliography software Date: Tue, 25 Jul 89 14:53 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 395 (535) I ask a bibliography program to do two things: 1) to produce bibliographies in many formats from a single bibliography database, and 2) to extract from a large bibliography database only those entries I happen to cite in the article at hand. Scribe can do both of these in the VMS world, and so can Bibtex (which seems to be an extension of LaTeX). Nota Bene seems to be designed to do what Scribe does, but in the DOS world. Pro-Tem software has a program called Bibliography, which does both of these tasks in the cp/m world. The last of these is very cheap--Spite Software in Oregon is selling it at fire-sale prices, perhaps because CP/M is such a dead horse. You can do the first task, but not the second, with Wordperfect and even with Wordstar. All you have to do is to imagine the bibliography as a mailmerge file, with the bibliographic database as the "address list," and a user-defined entry-template as the "letter." All you need to do is to tell the program that you don't want any headers or footers on the pages, no carriage returns, and a page length of six or seven lines (just as you would if you were printing mailing labels) with no page numbers. You can kludge together a bibliography maintenance facility with any text formatter that will permit you to 1. define a string for substitution (as in mailmerging) and 2. call in a file (as in mailmerging). I am now writing a guide to producing bibliographies in many formats from one bibliographic database file using the public domain formatter Roff4. My method is a bit cumbersome, but Roff4 is free. I'll gladly send a copy to anyone who is interested. (I have also written macros to enable Roff4 to format large documents such as dissertations and books, making tables of contents, endnotes, forward and backward cross-references, etc.) John Burt Department of English Brandeis University From: Jim McSwain Subject: 5th generation computers Date: TUE 25 JUL 1989 19:59:00 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 287 (536) A recent issue of IEE REVIEW, 35 (#6 June 1989): 202, contains an article entitled "The 5th Generation coming of age?" It is an interesting discussion of a project sponsored by the Japanese government to build an advanced computer. ICOT, the Institute for new-generation computer technology, is in its final 3-year stage of work. Their objective has been to build a 1000 processor machine, which means a parallel device which has 1000 CPUs (PC-clones have normally only one!). Each processor will have a 1Mlips capability (1,000,000 logical instructions per second processing capability). In comparison a SUN workstation might have a 100klips capability. Other objectives include natural language processing, automatic generation of programs, expert systems capability (you explain your "problem" and based on vast amounts of accumulated data and insight the machine offers possible courses of action), etc. The Japanese government has spent an estimate $5,000,000,000 on the project (some say more than that), and has employed a large number of experts in the project. Although there is some doubt about what has been accomplished, HUMANIST participants might ponder what role such a device, if successfully completed and marketed, might play in future academic situations as an "expert" system in the humanities to lower the cost of largescale instruction of Western Civ., etc. Or what role education in the humanities will play in the future training of students who face a job market with severly diminished opportunities for "white-collar" experts... Perhaps the effects will not be as severe as I propose, but I think it is something we might discuss and ask questions to one another about various possibiliites. Regards, JMcSwain f0a8@usouthal From: Martin Ryle Subject: RE: 3.275 anti-intellectualism, etc. (218) Date: Tue, 25 Jul 89 14:48:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 396 (537) Sheldon Richmond denigrates the value of seeking rigorous definition of terms in intellectual debate, and he demands that we must admit the existence of transcendent reality, if we are to escape our cultural malaise. Unfortunately, I am unwilling to admit to such a "reality" without being persuaded of its existence, and to be persuaded I must understand better than I do now what the term is meant to imply. Does "transcendent reality" mean something like Plato's world of forms or something like Aquinas' First Mover or something like Voltaire's clockmaker or something like something else. I hope that SR will not assume malice or psychosis of those who attempt to understand his thesis in terms that resonate in their own experience. As a prof once told me in my youth, "'Self-evident' really means only 'evident to one's self' ." Until I have some confidence that SR and I are talking about the same transcendence, I will be forced to assume that the term carries connotations that he may not intend. Try again, Sheldon. From: Subject: the status of intellectual culture, clerics, and a Date: Tue, 25 Jul 89 14:47 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 397 (538) A hypothetical debate between a Critic and a Cleric, and a fish story --------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is a hypothetical discussion about a hypothetical group of clergy that might be helpful to illustrating what is meant in the question of the intellectual status of intellectual culture. Any resemblance to new wave theology is purely coincidental. I only use this hypothetical example for illustrating the thesis about the irrelevance and debate-closing nature of seeking definitions: Critic: Are clergy crypto-atheists? Cleric: My goodness, I don't understand your question. You don't define 'clergy', and you don't define 'crypto-atheist'. So,I cannot answer your question. Critic: People who are members of the clergy usually practice their profession by leading congregants in prayers, giving sermons, and talking about a book that mentions a deity. However, most of these clergy do not agree with the views expressed about this deity they find in the good book, nor do these clergy agree with the views of their congregants. Hence, from the point of view of their congregants, if the clergy ever clearly expressed their understanding of "GOD" to their congregants, they would be deemed to be atheists. Instead, clergy disguise their views about "GOD" to themselves and their congregants by interpreting religious belief as a metaphor for existential problems. So, clergy are crypto-atheists, i.e. covert atheists. Cleric: Well, I still don't understand what you mean by "clergy" and "crypto- atheist". You haven't defined the terms. Critic: The crypto-atheist position involves the following tacit framework: 1. One should not believe a position unless it is understandable to a member of modern culture. 2. Assertions about the literal existence of some supreme being, i.e. "GOD", who literally created the world, and who intervenes in nature through miracles, and talks to various people, etc, are unintelligible to modern day people. 3. We should restrict our discussions to that which is within current standards of intelligiblity or understanding. 4. Therefore, the traditional views about "GOD are not worthy of discussion, though we can re-interpret them metaphorically as symbols for human suffering, hope, and salvation. Cleric: Now that you have DEFINED "crypto-atheist", though not rigorously enough by my standards, I don't know too many clergy who would agree with every criterion you state, and so most cannot qualify as crypto-atheists. It would seem sufficient to explore current re-interpretations of the biblical views, rather than to critically evaluate those views of a past culture. So, we do not have to decide the issue of whether "GOD" exists. That issue is beyond current standards of intelligibility. ------ Our mythical defender of a hypothetical clergy postpones discussing the hypothesis that clergy are crypto-atheists by insisting on having criterial definitions. Firstly, is he correct about insisting on having a definition of of 'clergy' and 'crypto-atheist'? Secondly, is he correct about asserting that if one disagrees with some of the above 'definitional' statements for 'crypto-atheist', then one is not a crypto-atheist? Firstly, insisting on definitions or treating definitions as a necessary pre-requisite for a discussion, particularly criterial definitions, reduces the variety of methods to gaining mutual understanding about the questions and views under discussion, to the singular and narrow method of proposing the necessary and sufficient conditions for the application of terms. Secondly, the point about calling a position 'crypto', (or, tacit) is that those who hold a position tacitly, would for various reasons either deny the position or claim not to understand it when asked about it explicitly. The way to argue for the thesis that a person has a certain tacit position is to argue that the tacit position is a logical presupposition or logical consequence of other explicit positions. Why insist on definitions? Is it the only means to gain understanding of the content of a statement or question? There are alternatives means. For instance, one can seek an understanding by requesting examples or analogies; by paraphrasing and asking if the interlocutor would accept the paraphrase or summary. However, when one seeks a criterial definition, one demands a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for the application of a term. Thus, a criterial definition states the denotation of words, rather than the content of propositions. In effect, the demand for a criterial definition shifts the discussion from asking substantive questions, making statements, interpretations, analyses, and arguments by way of seeking the premisses and consequences of propositions, to talking about the use of terms. One can gain an understanding of a question and viewpoint without shifting ground from directly answering the question, or discussing the truth-value of the answers. One can re-state the question and viewpoint in one's own words, and one can provide one's objections to the viewpoint, or the question. When one's objections to those re-stated views are answered directly by one's interlocutor, then mutual understanding has been achieved. In short, seeking definitions is a strategy for closing debate rather than continuing debate. Furthermore, demanding that definitions be a pre-requisite for a discussion is a strategy for sabotaging the commencement of discussion. Let us momentarily, return to the question, Is intellectual culture, anti- intellectual? The answers are either, Yes, or No. One of the symptoms of anti-intellectualism is an over-concern with terminology. Instead of directly confronting issues i.e. --"Does God exist?"-- the anti-intellectual will talk about the terminology of "exist" and "god-talk". One would think that part of intellectual honesty involves concern with the proper use of language. Yes, of course it does. But, the point is not to evade issues by terminological discussion, but to use language to gain an understanding of what the real issues and problems are. When one is asked, "Does God exist?", the intellectually honest approach is to state either Yes or No, and provide an explanation for one's answer if requested. The evasive technique is to avoid the question by asking the interlocutor to give a definition of every term in the question, and then to find loop-holes in the definitions, i.e. by finding ambiguities, and cases where the term is applied similarly but differently. In other words, the interlocutor demands criteria for the acceptiblity of definitions which are impossible to meet given the ambiguous and metaphorical nature of language. Indeed, the most intellectually challenging questions--the meta-questions about disciplines-- are the ones where language is most ambiguous because what we are questioning is the adequacy of the current standards for asking questions and evaluating answers in various domains. To refuse to answer the meta-questions about a given domain because the terms of the meta-question do not accord with the way the terms are defined in a particular domain, merely self-legitimates the domain. For instance, to refuse to answer questions about the rationality of a culture or domain because 'rationality' applies to individuals and not to domains, avoids the question. When asking about the rationality of a culture or domain we are asking whether the standards of a domain help us to gain a better grasp of reality--help us to understand the challenges reality poses, and help us to better evaluate our tentative answers. Those who refuse to answer such questions because of a terminological fiat about the proper use of 'rationality' as restricted to individuals, tacilty assume that all cultures are by definition rational, and in the same breath, claim not to understand the assumption. As 'realistic', they would admit that most members of a given culture are 'irrational' much of the time, but would deny any sense to asking whether the standards of rationality are themselves rational. So, to deny that one can question the adequacy of the standards of reality, truth, and rationality of a culture is to tacitly admit that all cultures are rational; that rationality achieves reality and truth; and that all standards of reality, rationality, and truth --as culture-dependent --are historical. One can assume those positions without asserting them; and moreover, one can even deny them explicitly because standards are self-legitimating; or, because the terms 'rational', 'real', and 'true', apply individually and contextually. The more sophisticated manner of assuming a framework without having to articulate the framework, and without even having to admit that the framework is intelligible, is to assert that the intelligibility of all terms is relative to highly specified contexts. The human situation is that we are faced by problems that have a basis in objective reality. When we are intellectually honest, we wonder whether the approaches or domains we use allow us to adequately interpret or understand the problems, and whether the approaches we use help us to adequately improve upon our mistakes. Here is a story about a fishing community that might help convey what is meant by the general form of the realist meta-question: "Does such-and- such a methodology get us closer to reality?" Suppose a fishing community goes about trying to do their job, and comes home with empty nets. They refine their nets; and still return from their trips with empty nets. We ask them, what is the purpose of going fishing when you come home with empty nets? Well we just want to improve the quality of our nets. Surely, that is good enough. Of course, it is. That is a wonderful thing to do: we improve the quality of our nets, but don't have to catch any fish, they tells us. In fact, who is to say there is any fish out there? The goal of fishing surely cannot be to catch fish; it must be to make better and better nets. By which standards, you ask? By our standards, whatever we decide to invent; for our standards by DEFINITION determine what is a legitimate standard for improving the quality of fishing nets. But you say that we are supposed to catch fish and we come home with empty nets. Don't you see that either the nets chase the fish away, or the 'fish' are nothing above and beyond the motion of our nets in the water. Our nets are the only means we have for observing fish in our murky pond; and to observe fish is to catch them. As soon as we approach the fish, the fish turn tail and swim like scarred rabbits. When we don't approach the fish with our nets, they are there, but of course, we can't directly observe them. Well we see pertubations in the water, and that's good enough. By the Verificationist Principle of Meaning, a 'fish'=(df.) 'perturbations of the murky water of our pond when we have the nets in the water', 'catching fish'=(df.) 'observing or measuring perturbations in the murky water in our pond when we have the nets in the water'. To wonder what 'causes' the perturbations; i.e. our nets, our some hidden invariable, is to ask a meaningless question. A 'fish' is the phenomenology of the movement of water around our nets. We can't capture 'noumenal' fish. At best, according to Heisenberg's Principle of Uncertainty, we can increase the certainty of our measurements of the position of observed-fish, when we only slightly move our nets in the water; and we can increase the certainty of our measurements of the momentum of observed-fish, when we rapidly drag our nets through the water. The precision of the measurements of the two uncertainties varies inversely. So you ask, why do we go fishing? Just for the sport of it; to improve our skills at fishing, even though we don't 'catch' fish. Indeed, how can you raise the question, 'are our nets adquate to catch fish?'. Firstly, the adequacy of our nets is determined intrinsically by our own standards of adequacy. Secondly, it is a bit jejeune, given what we now know about how our nets disturb fish, to question whether there are any fish out there in our pond. In any case, what do you mean by "out there" and "fish"? Luckily this fishing community buys its supply of "fish" from the grocery store. ------------------- Sheldon Richmond From: Willard McCarty Subject: Enough Date: 26 July 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 289 (539) Once again I think we need to take stock of what we're doing with Humanist and to impose on ourselves some restraint. The long and very bulky discussion that began with "education and the universities", then mutated into physical and metaphorical "uncertainty", and has settled into variations on the theme of "anti-intellectualism" has become oppressive. As reader of Humanist I have felt the unpleasant weight of this discussion, and some others have told me likewise. Were we all sitting around a table in a seminar, we would doubtless have seen by now grimaces of discomfort at certain points, even perhaps heard the sorts of noises that people produce when they're impatient. E- mail makes for a semiotically deprived global village, so occasionally the headman (that's me) has to step in and say what would have been communicated much more effectively by subverbal means in person long ago. Yes, I have been sloppy as editor, but sometimes with a purpose. When I have had a method in my sloppiness, it has been to encourage the experimental aspects of Humanist. Now in its third year, it does different things less often than in its first few months, but innovations happen, and these delight not just me, I think. We have recently developed, for example, an interesting query service for members with all sorts of questions. I don't see much wrong with that. Do you? Discussions, however, are another matter because they tend to be bulky. We simply must keep ourselves to our general topic, computing in the humanities, or like the creatures of fermentation, we will do ourselves in with our own most wonderful output. So, I call for a halt to the questions of anti- intellectualism (continue privately, if you will) and call again for increased awareness of what we're here for. Willard McCarty From: Jim McSwain Subject: 4th c. story Date: TUE 25 JUL 1989 09:18:00 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 398 (540) A friend from graduate school related this story to me hoping to find the source of it. As it goes a Roman army commander in the early 4th c. on a campaign in the east left his men in northern Syria to visit Antioch. There he met a longtime acquaintance who had become a Christian. He asked his longtime friend who or what the Nazarite "carpenter" was doing: the friend replied that the Nazarite carpenter (refering to Jesus) was building an army to destroy Rome. Later this same army commander who had visited Antioch and had met his longtime friend lay dying. His last words were: "I think the Nazarite is winning." If anyone knows the source of this story, I would appreciate hearing from them at J.McSwain f0a8@usouthal. THANKS! From: Natalie Maynor Subject: Query Date: Wed, 26 Jul 89 14:12:34 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 399 (541) A colleague here is trying to remember what famous writer or artist wrote a letter offering his July birthday to a little girl who was unhappy about having a Christmas birthday. (I'm sending this to HUMANIST mainly as a way of demonstrating the glories of the electronic world to some non-users here. I haughtily said, "I can get the answer to your question on my computer within the next few days." So I'm counting on you HUMANISTs to come through!) Thanks. Natalie Maynor (maynor@msstate.bitnet) From: EVENS@UTORPHYS Subject: Grammar checkers Date: Wed, 26 Jul 89 15:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 400 (542) How would a grammar checker (your favourite variety) handle a name such as 't Hooft? (Pronounced something like 'tooft') The 't has to be spaced from the rest, and the upper/lower case has to be as shown. How will it tell this from somthing like "he said 'no'" or "he said he 'can't' go" or such? Will it think this is a messed up end of a sentence and that the 't belongs to a contracted word? Just what will it do? dan evens From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Japanese Monster Computer Date: Wed, 26 Jul 89 13:22:23 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 291 (543) Mr. McSwain points out that increased computing power will put many white- collar experts out of work. Could it be that computers have done TOO good a job? Perhaps they have reduced labor to the point that most people, including academics, don't need to work 40 hours per week. One down-side of the expansion of career opportunities to persons of all genders and ethnic groups is that we now have to find more things for more people to do--one of those things-to-do being finding a way to reduce the total amount of work in the world! Perhaps what HUMANISTS need to do is help to position the academy as the ultimate leisure industry. The success of adult-education programs proves that people will pay for what T. S. Eliot calls superior amusements. Can't we offer people the option of passing their time in an interesting, if not mechanically productive, manner? From: "TONY LENTZ 865-1985" Subject: Silent Reading Date: Tue, 25 Jul 89 10:27 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 401 (544) I was intrigued by the question of silent reading in Ancient Greece when it arose in my Classical Rhetoric class at the U of Michigan in the late 1970s. I picked it up as a dissertation topic, and ORALITY AND LITERACY IN HELLENIC GREECE was the result (Carbondale: Southern Illinois Univ. Pr., 1989. _ _ _ __ Tony M. Lentz /\ | | | | | | \ University Park, Pa. Dept. of Speech Comm. / \ | | | | | > (814) 238-3994 16802 Penn State University / \ |_| | |_| /__ T2L @ PSUVM ...!psuvax1!psuvm.bitnet!t2l (uucp) t2l%psuvm.bitnet@wscvm.arpa (arpa) From: Peter D. Junger Subject: How a centipede can walk Date: Tue, 25 Jul 89 12:03 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 402 (545) I do not know the source of the verse about the centipede, but I would very much like to have it and a copy of the text as well. I must use this as an example of the way that trying to know what gets in the way of knowing how at least once a month during term time. So I hope that Ken Steele posts whatever responses he gets. Peter D. Junger--CWRU Law School--Cleveland, OH--bitnet: JUNGER@CWRU From: Willard McCarty Subject: the road to excess Date: 27 July 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 293 (546) My thanks to those Humanists who immediately wrote in with supporting words for this global-e-village headman's halt-calling. (Sorry, it's the poetry I was raised on.) I continue to think that we must pay attention to what we're doing. One cherished friend pounced on me for using the phrase "what we're all about", exclaiming with his usual satiric wit that at least someone knew! I had to reply that at times I could certainly tell what Life is not about. Another wrote in saying that he hoped we would not turn into mere exchangers of information. I think he has not much to fear. Mindfulness is the virtue I tend to invoke, but it is certainly hard to say what that is, and perhaps even harder to achieve. Certainly respect for others in all their diversity is part of it, and taking over the stage for lengthy orations is not obviously a sign that the speaker cares much about his or her listeners. Alas, those of us below cannot make faces or fidget, but anyone here can write to me and express discomfort. Do not think that because Humanist's messages technically originate from my account, or because I personally send each one out, that I am in solidarity with the actual author. Even when I am the author, I may not always identify with what has been said..... But let us not talk about the fiction of the ego or we'll really get into muddy waters. As I say, Humanist is what you make of it. I invite anyone who thinks that I am in control to start his or her own electronic seminar and then see. Willard McCarty From: elli@harvunxw.BITNET (Elli Mylonas) Subject: centipede Date: Wed, 26 Jul 89 08:58:10 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 403 (547) Although at first I thought I remembered those verses from a Lewis Carroll poem, I discovered that it was actually "The Pig who could not Jump". After some investigation, i found that My "Children's book of Verse" edited by Untermeyer says that this poem is anonymous. --elli mylonas From: Axel Wupper Subject: Umlaute and accents Date: Tue, 13 Jul 89 8:15:25 MEZ X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 404 (548) Someone suggested to replace the 'Umlaute' and 'sz' with ae, oe, ...,ss. Unfortunately it is nearly impossible to replace that conversion. Take a look at a simple German sentence (national characters are marked): _ _ "Man mus viel uber Steuern wissen." (You have to know much about taxes.) If you replace the national charcters you get "Man muss viel ueber Steuern wissen." If you want to use this text with national characters it translates back to _ _ _ _ "Man mus viel uber Steurn wisen." So much about German national charcters. If you look at yesterdays HUMANIST (v. 3, No. 238) you will find a lot of French entries, e.g. "Centre d'Analyse et de Traitement Automatique de la Bible et des Traditions E'crites," Is it a 'd' with acute or 'E' followed by an apostrophy? I suggest using at least two chars to describe the accent/national character. Our department publishes a journal containing a bibliography with entries from Hungary, Poland, France - call it Europe. W use the following codes written *before* the letter. Accents above letter below letter --------------------------------------------------------- Double acute %" %"" 'Arc' %( %(( 'Semicircle' %) %)) Apostrophy %, %,, 'Beam' %- %-- Dot %. %.. Diaeresis %: %:: Acute %/ %// Grave %\ %\\ Hacek %> %>> Circumflex %< %<< Tilde %? %?? 'Curl' %* %** Cedilla %; German national characters: ^a ^o ^u ^s ^A ^O ^U '-' through letter (Icelandic, Polish): #.d #.l #.p #.D #.L #.P '/' through letter (Scandinavian): #.o #.o Ligature (letter + 'e'): #.^a #.^o #.^A #.^O 'i' without dot (Turkish): #.i Everybody can change the combinations (which normally don't appear in plain text) his terminal or printer can display back to the appropriate code. Sorry, this got a bit long. Regards Axel Wupper Department of Historical Geography - University of Bonn Konviktstr. 11 - D-5300 Bonn 1 (Fed. Rep. of Germany) Bitnet: UPG202@DBNRHRZ1 Noisenet: +49 (2 28) 73 36 90 From: EVENS@UTORPHYS Subject: New tech and employment Date: Thu, 27 Jul 89 17:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 405 (549) In Vol. 3, No. 291. Wednesday, 26 Jul., Kevin L. Cope writes [deleted quotation] Historically the effect of introducing new techonology has always been a net increase in total employment. This is because as the unit price of any product falls the number of people who can afford it rises, and the number of units each person purchases rises. Thus the total demand for the product always rises more than enough to compensate for the decreased unit labor requirement. This is documented in the May 1989 Scientific American. An example a little closer to home. If office automation allows an office of a given size to function with fewer secretaries, then a university of a given size can decrease its secretarial requirements, thus decreasing tuition costs. Then more students will attend, and individuals will attend longer, thus creating more demand for universities, and causing the university to expand. The expansion is (historically has been) large enough to cause more secretaries (indeed staff and faculty at all levels) to be hired overall. The one thing that must be emphasized is that with new technology will come demands for new skills. Again in the secretary example, the office of today is very unlike the office of even as little as 20 years ago. dan evens From: Donald Spaeth (0532) 33 3573 Subject: Loss of white collar jobs Date: Thu, 27 Jul 89 18:03:39 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 406 (550) I have yet to be convinced that computers are labour-saving devices. On the contrary! Employment simply shifts into new areas. In this country (Britain) we are facing a shortage of c. 30,000 IT professionals in the coming decade. Donald Spaeth Arts Computing Development Officer University of Leeds email: earn/bitnet: d.a.spaeth at leeds.ac.uk (janet) janet: d.a.spaeth at uk.ac.leeds From: Marshall Gilliland 306/966-5501 Subject: New LISTS (98 lines) Date: Thu, 27 Jul 89 18:52 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 296 (551) Members of HUMANIST with access to BITNET and its related networks may wish to know of these new lists, excerpted from the June 1989 issue of BITNET'S "NETMONTH". Marshall Gilliland gilliland@sask.usask.ca -------------------------- New Mailing Lists from NEW-LIST, North Dakota State University Send list announcements to NEW-LIST@NDSUVM1 Each of the lists described here is maintained on a LISTSERV machine unless otherwise noted. To subscribe to one of these lists you would send the following command to the the appropriate server via mail or message. SUBSCRIBE listname Your_full_name For example, if your name is Kristen Shaw and you want to subscribe to a list described as "DIAPERS@YALEVM" you would send the following command to LISTSERV@YALEVM: SUBSCRIBE DAIPERS Kristen Shaw To make contributions to the list you would send mail to DIAPERS@YALEVM. Please note that this is just and example and to my knowledge there are no mailing lists about diapers (although you never know). =============================================================== EMUSIC is a complementary pair of lists, EMUSIC-L and EMUSIC-D, both devoted to the discussion of Electronic Music. The intent of the lists is to provide as open a forum as possible, while allowing the subscriber to actively choose the degree of participation, based on particular interests in any attendant sub-topic. The list EMUSIC-L is organized as an open conversation, with all input immediately distributed to the subscribers. Discussions on this list change rapidly, can be brief or long- winded, and range from aesthetics to technology. The list EMUSIC-D is a digest, and tends more toward a question and answer format. At times, if a topic seems to be likely to spin off from the main threads of discussion, the editor will recommend that it be transferred to the conversational list. In no case is dual subscription necessary. All input to EMUSIC-D is passed directly to EMUSIC-L, and relevant information generated there is edited into the digest. Both lists are actively monitored and moderated. ALLMUSIC @ AUVM This list is dedicated to the discussion of all forms of music, in all its aspects. Its founding is based on the understanding that most people who listen to and enjoy music do so from a variety of standpoints, and that a general, unlimited forum is desirable for both the integration and expansion of musical ideas, techniques, and understanding. Therefore, all topics having to do with music are welcome, including but not limited to: composition, performance, recording; research, critique, inquiry, advocacy; instrument design, ethnomusicology, psychacoustics, orchestration; jazz, classical, funk, plainchant; and anything else you can think of. If a topic is running that you have something to say about, or to question, jump in. If you have something entirely different in mind, start up another thread. Music is universal. With the advent of electronic communication, so are we. LITERARY @ UCF1VM LITERARY is a list for any lover of literature. Discussions will include favorite authors, favorite works, literary styles, criticisms, etc. (in fact, basically anything you can think of regarding literature, unless postings become too numerous). Postings from scholars as well as interested parties are welcome. AMNESTY @ JHUVM This list distributes Amnesty International's urgent action appeals, usually one per month. They are 1 or 2-page summaries of a specific case of human rights abuse, such as a small group of people who have been arrested wihtout reason, or are being held secretly, or tortured, etc. They give the prisoners' names, why they were arrested, who to write to, and what they suggest you say. Amnesty International is concerned with human rights, not just amnesty. Sometimes they ask members to write letters requesting not freedom, but better or more just treatment. You don't have to be a member of or endorse Amnesty International to receive this list. Additional discussion or info from other organizations may be distributed. -------------------- From: Charles Ess Subject: culture & science; Chaos Date: Thu, 27 Jul 89 10:55:10 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 407 (552) As part of course next spring on the relationships between available technologies, prevailing religious attitudes, and the development of what become fundamental assumptions in the natural sciences, I'm looking more closely than I have before at St. Francis. There are two reasons for this: one, it seems to be a commonplace that the "Franciscan" attitude towards nature played an important role in turning the attention of at least a few folk (such as the Franciscans Robert Grosseteste, Roger Bacon, John Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham) towards an "experimental" attitude and interest in Creation/nature; and two, I was intrigued by the title of Roger D. Sorrell's recent book, _St. Francis of Assisi and Nature: Tradition and Innovation in Western Christian Attitudes toward the Environment_ (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988) and have begun reading it. My first set of queries: as a non-medievalist, I would appreciate Humanists' wisdom on: a) additional sources for exploring the relationship between Medieval technologies, prevailing religious attitudes, and the early roots of experimental/natural science, and b) any opinions on Sorrell's book as a reliable guide to St. Francis and medieval attitudes. (I realize that for every Ph.D. there is an equal but opposite Ph.D., and so the last query may open a contentious but interesting debate.) Relatedly, a number of my colleagues are becoming excited about James Gleick's _Chaos_ as a potential candidate for a faculty seminar. Interestingly enough, many of our science faculty do not share this excitement and interest. A professor of physics who has read the book is unhappy with its lack of mathematics, and argues that since chaos theory is first of all a mathematical theory -- those of us who aren't conversant with differential equations really can't discuss it. Secondly, he has compared the listings of articles and books on chaos in the past ten years with his understanding of articles and books on quantum mechanics in its first ten years of life; since the first list is far shorter than the second list, his current opinion is that chaos theory is not really a significant development. My second set of queries: as someone who wants to introduce my students in the class on technology/culture/science to chaos theory -- I'm curious if other Humanists can comment on: a) similar discrepancies between interest in chaos among humanities faculty vs. science faculty; b) successful efforts to teach chaos in an interdisciplinary fashion Of course, additional comments on this reaction by my colleagues in the sciences as a possible indication of professional resistance to paradigm shifts, the influence of science as a _culture_ on the development of new sciences, etc., would also be welcome. Thanks in advance, Charles Ess Philosophy and Religion Drury College Springfield, MO 65802 From: HANLY@UOFMCC Subject: gender specific man haters Date: Thu, 27 Jul 89 13:01 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 408 (553) In English as far as I can determine we have `misogynists` to refer to persons who hate women, and `misanthropes' for persons who hate members of the human species. Is there a term which is male gender specific which refers to persons who hate males? What is it or should it be? Misandropists? Misandropes? Do other languages have the same lack of a common gender specific word for those who hate men? Ken Hanly Brandon UNiv. From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.289 e-texts Date: Wed, 26 Jul 89 19:28:02 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 298 (554) I would like to step into the "vacuum" possibly created by the departure of the anti-intellectualism discussion and propose the following: A discussion on the availability and worthiness of machine readable texts at all levels of the educational system. I would hope this to include: Comparisons to calulators' effect on mathematical education. The concept of "authoritative texts." The ease and accuracy of quoting. and The ease and accuracy of researching a corpus for suitable material. I assume and encourage the inclusion of other ramifications. Michael S. Hart (National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts) From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: gender specific man-haters and "killer-women" Date: 28 July 1989, 18:24:16 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 409 (555) Ariosto in Cantos 19 and 20 of the *Orlando Furioso* constructs a sympathetic account of a nation of warlike women who rule themselves and regularly enslave or exterminate most of the men they encounter or even give birth to. They subject men to a severe test of strength, warlike skill and sexual potency: "Only he could escape this fate [being killed on contact or enslaved] who achieved victory over ten men in combat, and the same night in bed was able to pleasure ten damsels" (trans. Guido Waldman; sorry, I don't have the Italian at home). Other similar islands or inland nations of murderous or man-destroying women are reported in Apollonius of Rhodes' *Argonautica* and in the *Aeneid*, often associated, at least loosely with the semi-mythical Amazons. But I don't remember the "man-killer" phrase in any language I am acquainted with being associated with "man-hater." I thought the idea was that you didn't have to hate men in order to kill them; one Amazon princess was supposed to have selected Alexander the Great to propagate her children because he was such a noble warrior. Any further reports from antiquity? Roy Flannagan From: Willard McCarty Subject: sexual devourers Date: 28 July 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 410 (556) Roy Flannagan asks for more evidence from antiquity about aggressive women's attitude towards men, and he makes the interesting distinction between hatred and murder. The only "evidence" I have at hand concerns the powerful women whom Ovid depicts in the Metamorphoses. These have a questionable relationship to the "real" women of antiquity, of course. In any case, they do not despise men but devour them. The ones who always come to mind, probably because I am working on that section of the poem, are Semiramis (who is historical and widely attested) and Salmacis (who is mythical). Both appear in the poem as sexual devourers, and both are paralleled by the bloody-mouthed lioness who causes the deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe. They do not hate men, rather they consume them -- with apparent relish. What strikes me is that these and other sexual devourers in Ovid's poem (male and female) are there because they suit his purpose; that does not necessarily mean, however, that they are absolutely unlike any "real" people of the time. The scholarship on this subject is rapidly growing. Perhaps a better organized Humanist could provide a beginner's bibliography. Willard McCarty From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Computers and the Multiplication of Toil Date: Fri, 28 Jul 89 08:37:17 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 411 (557) I enjoyed Mr. Evens's remarks concerning the tendency of improvements in technology to increase the net amount of work or production in the world. But I have one question. Do his figures take into account the decrease in population (or at least population growth) that accomapnies prosperity? Yes, a cheaper, more easily produced product will draw more buyers (good (point), but is the supply of buyers unlimited? I've heard that population growth tends to drop off as a function of the prosperity of a given group of people. Thanks for your help. From: NMILLER@TRINCC.BITNET Subject: Date: Fri, 28 Jul 89 18:52:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 412 (558) These being the days of the Dog Star, we must expect a certain amount of satire and harmless fooling-around. So at least I choose to view Dan Evens' proposition that bringing computers to the campus has resulted in lower costs which are then reflected in lower tuition. Of course, if he's serious, we'll have to say something about it come September. ***************************************************************************** * * * Ven der aybershter vil shtrofn Norman Miller * * an am-orets, leygt er im a NMILLER@TRINCC * * loshn-koydesh vertl in moyl arayn. Trinity College * * Yiddish proverb Hartford, Ct. 06106 * * * ***************************************************************************** From: "Guy L. Pace" Subject: e-texts Date: Fri, 28 Jul 89 10:45:39 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 413 (559) Machine readable texts should be increasingly available as technology leaves the hard-copy print world behind. I'm not suggesting that there is no longer a place for hard-copy printed material, but that the value and usefulness of printed matter is decreasing as society becomes dependent on the immediacy and direct access of electronic materials. The main issues in electronic texts is the control of distribution and the protection of the original form of the documents. Keyboarding, scanning and proofreading for errors should be conducted by organizations set up for that purpose. A certain level of accuracy and quality (not to mention standardization in markup) needs to be established (International Standards for Text Conversion and Markup?). Again, somehow publishers need to be involved in capturing electronic versions of published materials, and setting up standards may help smooth this process. Michael Hart's suggestion for discussion of machine readable texts at all educational levels requires that the above needs to be addressed. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: M.S.Hart on e-texts Date: Friday, 28 July 1989 1715-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 414 (560) Please, Michael Hart, for those on HUMANIST who been through various earlier discussions of electronic text archives, inventories, storage and delivery mechanisms (e.g. CD-ROM), quality control, computer assited instruction, and ideal search and browse software -- (1) what is the "National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts," how does it relate to existing centers and projects such as those at Oxford, Bergen, Pisa, Toronto, Penn, and the emerging Princeton/Rutgers Center (to mention only a few), and (2) what specific aims/interests lie behind your very general sort of query? We have already, perhaps before you (and other interested members) joined, gone over much of this ground, so it would be useful to have some specific foci in mind to address in any renewed discussion. And it would also help you to know what has already been treated on HUMANIST, so that you can consult those discussions on the ListServer, and thus your new queries can build on that foundation. Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: Willard McCarty Subject: topical collection Date: 28 July 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 415 (561) Now on the file-server: LAB TOPIC-1, having to do with recommendations for the ideal language and literature laboratory. Note the query from Roy Flannagan, who asks some broader questions. Let's continue to talk about this. Willard McCarty From: EVENS@UTORPHYS Subject: yet more public domain Date: Fri, 28 Jul 89 14:45 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 416 (562) [Information follows about an archive of public-domain software.] For anyone who doesn't know about wuarchive, here is a bit of propaganda: Wuarchive.wustl.edu contains a large archive of Public Domain software. This service, which is offered at no cost by the Office of the Network Coordinator, is available to any interested party. You may freely mount the archives on your system via the Network File System (NFS) or access it via Anonymous FTP. Currently the archive contains over 390 Megabytes of software for Unix systems, Macintosh and IBM PC compatible computers; there are also hundreds of documents detailing various standards used throughout the Internet, bug fixes for various operating systems, all of the packages offered by the GNU project and complete source to the X11 windowing system. of your system supports NFS you may mount the archives by using a command similar to the one below: # mount wuarchive:/archive /archive To access the archives via FTP, the username is 'anonymous' and the password is 'guest'. Chris Myers Software Engineer Office of the Network Coordinator From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Location of List Date: Fri, 28 Jul 89 08:34:36 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 417 (563) Does anyone know the "appropriate listserv machine" for the newly announced list, emusic-l and emusic-d? This is the only list on the North Dakota list that doesn't names its host. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: Recommendations for a humanities computing center Date: 28 July 1989, 08:26:56 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 418 (564) [The following series of questions, interesting for many of us, have been sent me by Roy Flannagan. I will be making my own answer, but perhaps other Humanists would like to help the cause by contributing their practical wisdom and experience. Please do so on Humanist. --W.M.] I have the slim possibility for starting a computing in the humanities center at Ohio University, and I would like to know what your summary knowledge (after the request you made for the ideal lab was answered and the answers tabulated or digested) is on the following big subjects: (1) ideal equipment, in terms of a list of hardware including DOS, UNIX, and Mac-oriented machinery; also some idea of how many machines in proportion to the size of the university; (2) restrictions on faculty and graduate users (how many undergraduates do you allow to use the center?) and regulation or restriction in the usage of time (how much use of one machine in monopoly, and how controlled); (3) security necessary to guard against theft, piracy, or viral infection; (4) ideal qualifications of the director; (5) job-descriptions and qualifications for ideal employees, from "secretaries" to data-base searchers to programmers. I am also interested in records of usage: who uses the hardware and why. Are the most frequent users personnel from English, Linguistics, Languages, History, Sociology, Education, and, if so, in what order of frequency? How important is electronic mail to such a center, and how can something like on-line or telephone charges be calculated for all users? Exactly how should such a center be connected with the library? with the university computer center? From: psc90!jdg@Dartmouth.EDU (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "What is 'it'?" Date: Fri, 28 Jul 89 10:24:49 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 419 (565) Regarding Donald Spaeth's recent comment, perhaps someone could define the meaning of "we are facing a shortage of c. 30,000 IT professionals". What is "IT"? Thanks. --Joel Goldfield J_GOLDFI@UNHH.bitnet From: "Tom Benson 814-238-5277" Subject: humanist computing centers Date: Sat, 29 Jul 89 10:24 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 420 (566) My strong recommendation for anyone starting a Humanist Computing Center on any campus is to avoid, if possible, getting involved in the setting up, staffing, and supervision of large public-access labs--if it is possible to get the campus's main computer center to do this part of the job instead. This frees the Humanities Computing staff to deal primarily with training, consulting, and related activities, instead of security, supervision, endless begging for equipment, and so on. Of course, this is easier on a campus with a good university-wide computing center. Further, I'd urge looking ahead beyond the lab concept to the point when each student and faculty member will have a micro on his/her desk. This is partly a productivity issue (it is hard to write in public) and partly an equity issue (on a large campus like mine [Penn State], which is richly equipped with satellite micro labs having mainframe connections, open long hours, my women students do not have the same access to these facilities as men, since we live in a society that is dangerous to women walking alone across even this bucolic campus late at night). Tom Benson Penn State From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" Subject: Ideal computing lab Date: Sun, 30 Jul 89 09:02:27 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 421 (567) In the discussion of the ideal humanities computing lab, I think multi-tasking should be considered. Scholars who work without computers tend to gather a series of books, articles, notes, and writing materials together, and they read from one while they make notes and consult another. Computerized scholarship should allow a similar process. Macintosh's MultiFinder allows users to load as many applications as will fit into memory (up to 16 meg, and the new operating system will allow swapping to hard disk). The user can always switch among the applications, but whether several application will run simultaneously depends on the applications: MultiFinder cannot force an application to give time to another application; they must be written in such a way as to give time to another. A number of products allow IBM microcomputers to do multi- tasking: DESQview, Microsoft Windows, VM/386, and OS/2. Software Carousel will run only one program at a time, but it allows the user to switch among the loaded programs with a minimum of conflicts. As an example, a literary scholar ought to be able to use multi-tasking in the following way. One or more programs for literary analysis can be loaded and run to produce data about on-line texts. One copy of a word processor is loaded to take notes, another copy of a word processor is loaded to write the draft of the research. The output of the programs for literary analysis can be inspected on the screen and parts moved to the notes or to the draft. When the draft nears final form, a spelling checker and a grammar and style checker can be run. All of these programs should be available to the scholar at the same time with no more trouble than stacking one open book on top of another. From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" Subject: Grammar checkers Date: Fri, 28 Jul 89 06:26:56 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 422 (568) The answer to EVENS' question about whether a grammar checker would recognize 't Hooft as a name is that it depends how the program's code is written. A grammar and style checker (and other programs -- such as concordances -- that identify each word of a text) must be coded to span strings of specified characters and to disregard others. Most often, a word is considered any string of letters (upper or lower case), numbers, the apostrophe, and hyphen. Space, punctuation marks, and special characters are discarded. Now, after raw words are identified in this way, there may be a series of tests to determine whether the word contains characters that still need to be discarded (for example, a dash written as two hyphens not spaced from the words on either side). In addition there may be tests to determine whether what has been identified as two words should be considered one word. StrongWriter, the grammar and style checker I wrote, would consider 't Hooft two words, but would not give an error message about the 't. Although I am sure EVENS did not intend to offer this problem as a trick question, there is a tendency among some English teachers to play the game of Stump the Grammar Checker. The idea is that if a construction can be invented to trick the grammar checker into giving an incorrect message, then the checker can be regarded as worthless, and we can conclude that computers should only be used for word processing (typing). The value of grammar and style checkers is that they identify howlers in student writing and offer suggestions for revision; students' attention is turned back to their writing. Teachers can spend more time on more sophisticated matters of effective rhetoric. -- Eric Johnson ERIC@SDNET From: SUSAN@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: Microcomputers in the Bodleian Date: Mon, 31 JUL 89 15:06:15 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 423 (569) HUMANISTs may be interested in the following note which appeared in the Oxford University Gazette, 27 July 1989. Please direct any requests for clarification to the Bodleian, not to me. Susan Hockey ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Use of hand-held photocopiers and readers' mains-operated microcomputers The Curators of the Bodleian Library intend to bring the following regulation into effect after fifteen days from the date of appearance of this notice in the University Gazette: (a) Hand-held photocopiers may not be used in any part of the Library. (b) In certain circumstances, reading-room superintendents may give permission for battery-operated microcomputers to be used in reading rooms, though their use may be confined to certain areas. Readers' mains-operated microcomputers, or other similar equipment, may not be used in any reading room, though permission for their use in areas other than reading rooms may be granted by Bodley's Librarian. Permission for use of any reader's microcomputer may be withdrawn at the discretion of Bodley's Librarian or the relevant reading-room superintendent. From: Itamar Even-Zohar Subject: Re: 3.297 culture and science? Date: Sat, 29 Jul 89 05:19:14 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 305 (570) Re: Chaos The *implications* of chaos, like the implications of thermodynamics and quantum theory, for a more unified type of science (or rather, the nature of the scientific endevour), seem to interest those of us who are engaged in the sciences of man more than our colleagues in the "science" departments. (It is very unfortunate that it is only in English that "science" mostly denotes "'exact'" science.) Chaos simply shales too much the *image* of those "exact" sciences. I think that while these sciences indeed have developed in a most advanced way, the "daily semiotics" prevailing among those who are engaged with them is archaic. That is, while physics and mathematics have gone quite a bit away from what looks nowadays "naive" models of the world, the marketed and self-conscious images perpetuated among mathematicians and physicists (and those inculcated to their students) still belong to the Romantic era. Qua theory, the theory of dynamical systems, i.e., the heart of chaos, is no innovation for us. It was already in the 1920s that Russian and Prague functionalists worked on developing a theory of heterogeneous (and by definition *open*) systems (in clear contradistinction to Saussurian and post- Saussurian Structuralism). But it seems that the contribution of chaos is not a parallel set of hypotheses but the mathematics which allows successful computer simulations. Still, you will certainly remember how *mathematicians* reacted to Mandelbrot (as quoted by Gleick)! I am of course not competent to say whether chaos is more significant than, say, superstring theory (surely another "weak" theory in the eyes of your colleague). Yet one thing is clear: it continues the lines of thought initiated in thermodynamics, whereby the very nature of "laws" has gone a significant transformation. From determinism to probability; from univalent predictability to conditioned, multi-parametered predictability. This has definitely closed the artificial gap between what some people called "the two cultures". And this is precisly what seems to annoy our friends from the "sciences". They don't wish to lose the enormous symbolic capital (if I may use Bourdieu's view) they have managed to accumulate. And some of them obviously think that chaos may be a cause for this loss. I think we must try to convince our friends from the "sciences" that science can be discussed in general terms, too. It's time to revive the Movement for the Unification of Science. The trouble is: where is a new Neurath, a new Carnap? Itamar Even-Zohar Porter Institute for Semiotics Tel Aviv University B10@TAUNIVM.BITNET From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.301 e-texts (65) Date: Sat, 29 Jul 89 10:42:34 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 424 (571) In response to Bob Kraft's inquiries on this subject, we are preparing a posting for the HUMANIST, HUMBUL, RPDIST, GUTNBERG, and LITERARY listserv discussion groups. If any HUMANIST member would forward me the names of those running the LITERARY and HUMBUL groups, I would like to communicate with them directly about making such a posting. Briefly: The National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts had its beginnings in 1971 on a Xerox Sigma V mainframe. The first text posted was the Declaration of Independence which was followed by the Constitution. In the early 80's the project was moved from mainframes to micros. The Clearinghouse is dedicated to the creation and distribution of machine readable texts for users of all ages and interests. One of our most popular items is a children's library which receives much encouragement from our users who are interested in getting their children involved with computers. From: GUEST4@YUSol Subject: RE: 3.303 queries (68) Date: Fri, 28 Jul 89 22:52 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 425 (572) RE: On the supposedly benign effect of shifting from printed to electronic texts (How long can Humanists teaching at "Bombay State U." pretend to be immune?) (Reuters dispatch from Bombay, byline Moses Manoharan) Quoted from Toronto Globe and Mail, 28 July 1989, page C3: "The Indian film industry, the world's largest, is on the brink of financial disaster as videotapes and television dim the charisma of movie stars.... Seven movie theaters have closed in Bombay alone this year. "We have no choice but to tighten our belts. The rapid spread of video and television has reduced the awe in which fans hold the stars. THis has caused the crisis," said producer and actor Randhir Kapoor... The film stars are having to support their opulent lifestyles with less and less work... .In the past few years stars often worked two- to three-hour shifts on three or four different films every day..... Now even the poor, 70 percent of India's 850 million people, are becoming choosy. "With the advent of video, you could freeze the most terrifying or awe-inspiring character by pressing a button. It destroyed the bond of make-believe existing between audience and film. We can no longer suspend reality," said director Parvati Menon... Sterling Beckwith Humanities and Music York University, Toronto From: Jim McSwain Subject: LITERARY COMPUTING Date: MON 31 JUL 1989 18:10:00 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 307 (573) This is a preliminary report on Rosanne G. Potter, ed., LITERARY COMPUTING and LITERARY CRITICISM: Theoretical and Practical Essays on Theme and Rhetoric (Univ. of Pa., 1989). It contains twelve essays, three of which were published in the 1970s in several journals, in addition to a bibliography assembled by the editor and an index. The work is addressed to two sorts of researchers: literary critics who hope to use a computer's computational and search skills to analyze texts for factual information (occurrence of particular words, occurrence in connection with other words, etc.) and "computer critics," which I take to be literary scholars who have embraced computational analysis of texts to the extent that they have "lost" sight of the original "critical aims" of their hardware and software procedures. The editor's preface begins with an interesting assertion: "computer science and literary criticism differ considerably . . . one rooted in facts, the other rooted in ideas; one focusing on the replicable, the other on the unique." I suppose this means that critical judgments about literature, consisting of ideas, falls in the realm of subjectivity . . . the non-verifiable, and not the world of "facts." There is also an interesting observation on p. xvii that "verification" in literary criticism, counting occurrences of words, shifts the discipline from "brillance of insight and assertion toward the detailed testing of scientific experimentation." This procedure concerns "inductive proofs based on example" rather than the "more typical . . . traditional deductive proofs from authority . . . earlier critics or one's own responses . . ." This is only a taste of the provocative things addressed in this book, although a brief survey of the essays shows that despite serious effort to make the statistical material comprehensible, one still needs some sense of what statistics is about. The editor notes, however, that one must not veer off into number juggling, or the critical aims of using the computer are lost by reductionist techniques. As I work through some of the original essays, I will try to throw out more remarks which some participants may wish to debate. Although my report is limited, I think this book addresses many of the fundamental issues regarding texts and statistical analysis which go to the heart of the uncertainties, theoretical ambiguities and unspoken questions many may have about the still uneasy relationship between the IBM logo and your diminishing sense of selfhood and humanity. Regards, JMcSwain... From: lang@PRC.Unisys.COM Subject: gender specific man haters Date: Mon, 31 Jul 89 08:06:03 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 426 (574) There is, as far as I know, no English word for a person who hates people of the male persuasion. If such a word did exist, based on the formation of "misogynist", it would probably be "misandrist", from what I remember of my classical Greek. From: J.A.Hunter@newcastle.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.303 queries (68) Date: Monday, 31 Jul 89 09:39:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 427 (575) With reference to: [deleted quotation] IT = Information Technology. I realise that doesn't fully answer the question, but seems that while we were "systems analysts" a few years ago, these days it seems we are all "IT professionals". Alan Hunter The University of Newcastle upon Tyne From: Geoff Rockwell Subject: Re: 3.297 culture and science? terms of gender? Date: Mon, 31 Jul 89 10:19:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 428 (576) "Homophobe" is used in the gay community for those who hate men of that orientation. I have heard people refer to others as "man-haters". Perhaps there is no precise term because anyone who hates men hates them for a reason other than their masculinity. Perhaps our culture may be so thoroughly masculine that to hate men would be to hate oneself. I suspect that bitterness towards men has been around for a while, though it may have been supressed. I would be interested in the comments of those that are studying the history of women's thought on this subject. Geoffrey Rockwell From: HUMM@PENNDRLS (Alan Humm Religious Studies U. of Penn) Subject: "man-hater" Date: Monday, 31 July 1989 1338-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 429 (577) In response to Ken Hanly' query: [deleted quotation] If there were an Anglo-Greek word for "man-hater" it would come from "andros" rather than "anthropos" and hence "misandrist". This is not in any dictionary that I have at hand, although I do not have an OED, and people do make up words all the time anyway. The word would probably be understandable to most literate readers. It is probably better, however, to stick with something like "man-hater" even though it does not sound very scholarly. If fog factor is important, you could try something in French, unless you are writing for theological circles, in which case German is the fog language of choice. Alan Humm, misologist. From: UDAA270@ELM.CC.KCL.AC.UK Subject: Syllabus for "Computer-Assisted Biblical Research" Date: Mon, 31 Jul 89 09:25:46 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 309 (578) Syllabi of Humanities Computing courses at King's College London At present the Humanities Division within the Computing Centre offers a number of courses which are non-examinable; however, there are some plans for examinable humanities computing courses in the future. For practical reasons, we have prepared various modules which have in common a basic approach and the use of humanities data as examples. Each module is designed to be a practical introduction rather than a theoretical overview, with sufficient exercises, plus reference handouts so that the student should feel confident to begin to use the package after the course. The datasets used in the examples reflect the initial courses we prepared, but it is hoped to build up sets of teaching examples which cover a broader range of humanities subjects. The various modules have been combined in three major courses thus far: a course for undergraduate historians, with a two hour slot per week over two terms, a similar course for humanities postgraduates for one term, and an intensive half day course over two weeks for academic staff and postgraduates. The second term of the historian's course is devoted to a project in which the skills learned in the first term are applied to an open-ended historical problem. This historical element of the project is stressed as much as the computing, with students being encouraged to use the computer as analytical tool and for presentation. The course is taught on microcomputers. Since King's College London has standardised on two main microcomputers (IBM and Mac), both types are used. Although we thought this might prove confusing, in fact it has worked out very well, with students making the switch easily, and appreciating the opportunity to have experience on both types. Word Processing: Package used: Microsoft Word Taught on: Mac Duration : two two-hour/three-hour sessions Topics covered: Part i: Basic use of Mac; inserting text; selecting text; deleting, cut-and-paste, and formatting of selected text; formatting paragraphs; saving and loading; printing. Part ii: Using foreign characters; using windows; merging texts; glossaries; running heads; footnotes; and style sheets. Example files used: A page on early tennis courts (for basic formatting practice) A few pages from an academic work describing water in the Roman world (for advanced practice). Course material: locally written bulletin Spreadsheets: Package used: Microsoft Excel Taught on: Mac Duration: one two-hour/three-hour slot Topics covered: Creating worksheets with text, numbers, and numbers treated as text; formatting text/numbers and columns; use of formulae; use of graphing options Example file used: Voting figures from the last four general elections Mortality rates from the 20th century Course material: handouts of overheads, together with sheet describing local implementation of Excel. Communications: Packages used: Kermit, Electronic mail Taught on: either IBM or Mac, and mainframe (VAX) Duration: one two-hour/three hour slot Topics covered: File transfer between a mainframe and microcomputer; use of network to access bulletin boards, library catalogues; electronic mail (taught by electronic mail), including sending, receiving, forwarding, saving, deleting. Example file used: Humanist mail file for use in Kermit Course material: handouts of overheads, locally written bulletins on electronic mail, introduction to using the VAX mainframe, sheet on local implementation of Kermit. Databases: Package used: Ingres Taught on: IBM Duration: Two two-hour/three-hour slots; in some courses a third session is added, devoted to a practical database design exercise. Topics covered: Part i: Basic ingres environment and database terminology; querying an existing database, with both Query-by- forms and SQL; pattern matching, conditional searches, sorting, updating and adding data with query-by-forms; functions, joining tables with SQL. Part ii: database design issues; creating tables and forms. Example files used: Two tables relating to astronomy Baptism, burial, and marriage records from a 17th century Oxford parish Data sets provided (on paper) for design exercise: Elizabethan port records, London theatre productions, medieval guild renders, list of Frankish capitularies, further Oxford parish records. Course material: handouts of overheads, together with sheet on local implementation of Ingres on IBM PS/2. Textual Analysis: Package used: WordCruncher Taught on: IBM Duration: two two-hour/three-hour slots Topics covered: Part i: Using WC View to analyse an indexed text: searching for words or combinations of words, finding exact references, creating concordances. Part ii: Indexing a text with WC Index: beginning with an ascii text, inserting codes using a word processing package, loading the file, setting character options sort sequences, indexing. Example files used: example sets which come with WordCruncher, Anglo-Saxon charters from Staffordshire (in translation), two Browning poems. Course material: handouts of overheads, together with sheet on local implementation of WordCruncher on the IBM PS/2. Historians project: Packages used: at least two of the above, and preferably more. Taught on: IBM PS/2 and Mac Duration: nine two-hour sessions spread over the term. Topics covered: Students are encouraged to use at least two packages to explore some historial problem, preferably one which involves raw source material, leading to a small word processed essay and presentation on the final day. A 'prepared' example is available and strongly recommended. There is active participation by members of the History Department so that historical as well as computing problems are properly addressed. This year issues relating to Staffordshire in the Anglo-Saxon period were used as a basis. Example files used: the following were available for use: Anglo-Saxon charters in translation (already coded for WordCruncher), the originals in Latin/Old English from the Birch edition, Domesday book for Staffordshire. From: Willard McCarty Subject: collection of syllabi in humanities computing Date: 1 August 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 310 (579) The first group of syllabi has been put on the file-server as SYLLABUS TOPIC-1. It includes the two just circulated plus another contributed by Nick Besnier, for a course in corpus linguistics. An abstract from Besnier's syllabus follows. It contains, by the way, a reasonably large and recent bibliography. I have the impression that many Humanists regard the file-server as a kind of Gulag to which less important items are consigned. This is not so! Because circulation of large files puts a great burden on the networks and on individuals' disk quotas, I relegate large and more enduring items to the server. The Guide to Humanist does contain complete instructions on how to download items. Willard McCarty ------------------------------------------------------------------------- EIL 487P: COMPUTER ANALYSIS OF DISCOURSE (CORPUS LINGUISTICS) COURSE DESCRIPTION [This seminar was taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1986 and 1988. For further information, contact Niko Besnier at uttanu@yalevm.bitnet] Time & place: MW 11:30-1, 169 Davenport Hall Instructor: Niko Besnier Office hours: MW 2-3 or by appointment Office: 3043-FLB, phone 3-1506 E-mail: uttanu@uiucvmd.bitnet This course is a hands-on research seminar on the uses of programming tools for discourse analysis. Current approaches to computer-aided discourse analysis will be reviewed, focusing on recent developments in what has come to be known as 'corpus linguistics'. The questions addressed in this seminar include: * What range of problems in discourse analysis can be addressed using computational tools? * What problems are involved in the task of text sampling? * How do microscopic and microscopic approaches to discourse analysis differ, and what are the implications of this difference for computer- aided work in the area? * How can the standardized computer corpora be used? * What problems are involved in developing and tagging a corpus of texts? * How can textual and contextual information be integrated and handled in a computerized corpus? * How can qualitative and quantitative methods be integrated? The skills that will be taught during the course of the semester are: * PASCAL programming for discourse analysis; * Simple statistics with SPSS-PC+ with relevance to discourse analysis; * Handling the three standardized computer corpora; * Using the IBM mainframe system for receiving and sending e-mail; * Using LEXWARE, a data-management system for dictionaries; * Using the Kurtzweil Optical Reader. Each participant in the seminar will choose a term project and clear it with the instructor EARLY IN THE SEMESTER. They will present informal progress reports orally several times during the semester, and will submit a final written report in the form of a term paper at the end of the semester. Grading will be based on: * The originality and theoretical importance of the project; * The sophistication of the programming tools developed for the project; * The clarity and pedagogical sensibility of the final oral report; * The clarity and professionalism of the final written report. More than one participants in the seminar may work on the same project; please consult with the instructor if you want to co-author a project. Here are a few examples of appropriate projects: * An analysis of the use of particular hesitation markers in conversation; * A comparison of tense/aspect in ESL and native-speaker compositions; * An analysis of word-frequency differences across spoken and written styles; * A study of a particular subordinating strategy in a written style. The projects may be based on English data, ESL data, or data from any language as spoken or written by native or non-native speakers. All final written reports are due on Friday, December 9. Material needed: Access to a Turbo PASCAL compiler and manual (versions 3.0 or 4.0). You may purchase your own or you may borrow the copy held in the Language Learning Lab's Microcomputer room (G-13, FLB). [much material deleted, incl. a Semester Plan and bibliographies] From: UDAA270@ELM.CC.KCL.AC.UK Subject: rose theatre update Date: Tue, 1 Aug 89 10:32:56 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 311 (580) Not all campaigns have a happy ending ... Steve Miller's report on the Rose theatre. *************************** 27 July 1989 ROSE UPDATE - Though for a while during the meeting on Tuesday 25 July it seemed that some members of the Southwark Planning Committee might attempt to defy the efforts of the Department of the Environment and English Heritage to push through the developer's plans for an office block over the Rose Theatre, in the end the committee bowed and accepted the revised office block plan, though saying that they would attach legal clauses to try to protect public access to the site eventually. They did this despite advice from their solicitor that they might still delay things a bit longer to seek more archaeological advice. Before the meeting, the developers had already begun digging foundations for their revised plan on the Rose site. From one sample brought up by a drill a bone was rescued that proved to be from a brown bear. Museum of London archaeologists produced this at the meeting along with eloquent pleas that a full archaeological investigation of the whole site be requested before building work destroyed some of the evidence for good. In effect the Committee chose to ignore them. Dame Peggy Ashcroft, after the meeting, professed to be baffled by the decision and said that the fight for the Rose would continue. Pressure will still be needed and other attempts to influence events will still be mounted. I must admit to having found the committee decision, though not unexpected, very disappointing. Anyone wishing to write to the new Secretary of State for the Environment appointed three days ago should address - The Rt Hon Christopher Patten, Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Lambeth Bridge House, LONDON SE1 7SB ENGLAND telephone: 01-211-3000 TELEX: 886 598 FAX:01-238-4330 | One further bit of news, again sad I am afraid, is that | Philip Brockbank, former director of the Shakespeare Institute | died on Tuesday 18 July. His page and a half of reflections on | the Rose was published in the Times Higher Education Supplement | on June 23. I suspect that, as with Lord Olivier, his last | public utterances were in support of the Rose Theatre. Sincerely, Stephen Miller c/o Dept of English, King's College London, The Strand LONDON WC2R 2LS England e-mail JANET udle031@UK.AC.KCL.CC.OAK From: David.A.Bantz@mac.Dartmouth.EDU Subject: Chinese WP on Mac Date: Tue, 1 Aug 89 04:48:39 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 430 (581) Mishu-Write is a desk accessory which will allow you to enter Chinese, then paste it into, say, MacWrite. Simple but perhaps crude. Fei-Ma is a full fledged word processor with a variety of input methods. The number of characters is probably too limited for professional use; I don't know if it is for this reason or others that our Chinese faculty have not taken to it. What they do use is the Chinese version of the Mac operating system. This gives you a "Chinese" Mac - the finder's menus etc. will be in Chinese. When you type, you get a special input window, a string of homonyms appears above the pinyin input, and you can click on one to select it. The "enter" key transfers a string of hanzi into your document. Unfortunately, lots of programs do not work properly; MacWrite does, Word and Pagemaker do not. There are alternative input methods I believe. From: Donald Spaeth (0532) 33 3573 Subject: IT Date: Tue, 01 Aug 89 14:26:02 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 431 (582) A suitably unhelpful subject! I occasionally wonder if HUMANIST items don't reach me, as I never saw the query asking what IT means. Sorry to be so jargonistic. This leaves me wondering, however, whether IT is a bit of U.K. jargon. Perhaps North American commentators could say. IT stands for Information Technology, which is the current buzz term for computing. Strictly speaking it probably includes other office technologies, such as communications networks, FAX, et sim. The 30,000 IT-professionals of which I spoke are the computer programmers, system analysts, applications experts, trainors and the like needed to support the spread of computing in the world of business and government. The most visible need in the U.K. is for computer professionals to service the now computerised London stock exchange, but this only touches the surface. (The process of computerisation in the stock exchange is known as Big Bang.) Cheers, Donald Spaeth From: Paul Delany Subject: MIPS for humanities Date: Fri, 28 Jul 89 19:13:42 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 432 (583) We are setting up a small English department computing lab, and have the opportunity of getting a Sun computer cheaply--350 or, perhaps, a Sparcstation. The latter runs at 12.5 MIPS. My question for Humanists is: can they suggest practical uses for all that power with available software? Or should we stick to our existing (Mac-based) plans? From: NMILLER@TRINCC.BITNET Subject: Date: Fri, 28 Jul 89 23:55:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 433 (584) Can someone clear up for me the provenance of the expression "to gild the lily"? I assume that it begins with Shakespeare (King John, Act IV, Scene 2), in which case it should have been "to _paint_ the lily", since what was being gilded was refined gold. Is it then a kind of conflation, in which the precision of the original gets dulled, or is there yet another source for the phrase? Norman Miller From: Tom Thomson Subject: Re: 3.297 culture and science? Date: Wed, 2 Aug 89 20:17:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 314 (585) Ouch! After "Physics is anti-intellectual" (alright, I'm oversimplifying) we now have (from Itamar Even-Zohar) "Scientists (and Mathematicians) are naive and blinkered". I used to think Snow was wrong, the division of modern thought into two cultures was at most a tiny localised phenomenon and more likely just a figment of his imagination. Reading Humanist is beginning to make me think he was right - - - there are a lot of rather blinkered people out there who don't (want to?) understand that a scientist (or a mathematician) has just as much need for imagination, creative thought, willingness to stand against eminent authority, ability to give up long-held views/prejudices, and so on as does any student of the humanities. The claim that there the very nature of [physical] "laws" is significantly transformed by [classical?] thermodynamics seems to indicate a misunderstanding of thermodynamics, which uses statistical techniques to predict the behaviour of masses of DETERMINISTIC molecules. This is indeed similar to chaos theory, in that the equations of motion for a mass of gas are so complex as not to be effectively computable with available resources just as are the complex non-linear systems that give rise to apparent order out of apparent chaos. But it doesn't appear to be any different from (say) a 50-body problem in classical gravitation, where the computation would have been beyond c19 (same date as statistical thermodynamics) resources, although the laws underlying the problem were regarded as deterministic and computational. It's perfectly legitimate to argue different ontologies in physics, but not to attribute such arguments to the founders of thermodynamics, nor to complain because teachers of "exact" (what a NONSENSE word; stuff gets accepted as good theory because it makes predictions about the right order of magnitude, so in so far as science is about new ideas rather than refinement of existing ones it's rather inexact) science present students with a simple view until such time as they've acquired the mathematical, conceptual, philosophical tools to handle a more complex one. As for mathematics, which model of the world is "naive", which is the "archaic" semiotics? Constructive, non-constructive, semi-constructive? Do you prefer your logic (the tool, not the subject) with or without excluded middles? Are numbers fundamental (if so, which ones), or sets, or moded logics, or .... Of course maybe the mathematical world isn't the real one, so all this mathematical discussion is vacuous, but "vacuous" is a synonym neither for "naive" nor for "archaic". From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 315 (586) DATE: Wednesday, August 2, 1989, 17:36:28 MST FROM: John J. Hughes SUBJECT: Spell checking transliterated languages Dear Fellow HUMANISTS, Some time ago I requested help in locating a spell checker that would accept strings such as A)/RXN as valid words and spell check accordingly. Most spelling programs do not recognize nonalpha characters as valid constituents of words; they tend to see these nonalpha characters as word separators. After trying many programs, I can report that WordPerfect 5.0's spelling program is the only program I have found that will accept such strings as valid words. Additionally, unlike many programs, WP50 allows users to add words to the main dictionary. Soon, I will have a completely alphabetized list of every unique form in the Greek New Testament. This list will be based on Tim & Barbara Friberg's database of the GNT, which was created in the late 1970s at the University of Minnesota. I plan to add this list to my WP50 main dictionary file--WP{WP}US.LEX. Then I will be able to use WP50 to spell check files that contain transliterated Greek that follows the transliteration scheme used in the Friberg's material. Any HUMANIST who is interested in obtaining a copy of a machine-readable version of the alphabetized list of every unique form in the Greek New Testament should contact me at XB.J24@Stanford. Sincerely, John John J. Hughes From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 316 (587) DATE: Wednesday, August 2, 1989, 17:09:57 MST FROM: John J. Hughes SUBJECT: MRV of Patristic Texts Dear Fellow HUMANISTS, Several of you have expressed interest in learning what I found out about machine-readable versions of Patristic texts. Enclosed are verbatim copies of all the replies I have received. John Hughes ----------------------BEGINNING OF REPLIES----------------------------- (1) From Bob Kraft (KRAFT@PENNDRLS) In reply to John Hughes' inquiry about Greek and Latin patristic texts on computer, (1) Most of the Greek materials (through the 5th century) are on the TLG CD-ROM already, and virtually all of them will be in the completed TLG bank (I have prepared a chronological list of the Jewish and Christian texts on the TLG disk, for anyone who cares to have it); (2) Various Latin Christian materials have been encoded by various projects, some of which make the materials available, others of which do not. See the archive list prepared by Mike Neuman at Georgetown, for example, with reference to projects at Montreal, Louvain-le-Neuve (CETEDOC), Liege (LASLA), etc. Also be aware of the reactivated Rutgers Inventory of Machine Readable Texts being coordinated by Marianne Gaunt. I will be happy to try to provide further details, if needed, but thought a general HUMAINST announcement might be useful at this point. (2) From Neuman (NEUMAN@GUVAX) Have you tried CETEDOC? According to the Humanities Computing Yearbook (p.169), CETEDOC possesses a Latin electronic archive of (1) 22 authors from the Thesaurus Patrum Latinorum and fifteen authors from its Continuatio Mediaeualis (from the Corpus Christianorum), (2) the Dictionnaire du Latin Medieval Belge, and (3) conciliar texts. Contact Paul Tombeur at the Centre de Traitement Electronique des Documents at the Universite Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. [Editor's intrusive note: CETEDOC is a member of Humanist. --W.M.] If you learn of other sources, please let me know. We at Georgetown are collaborating on a catalogue of archives of machine-readable texts and would appreciate any leads you uncover. Thanks. (3) From Rudolf Wytek (Z00WYR01@AWIUNI11) At the Austrian Academy of Science there is a patrology-group active, perhaps they can help you. Try to post e-mail to Prof. Johannes DIVJAK under the following address: V4300DAA@@AWIUNI11 I think he will give you good advice. RWY. (4) From Patrick W. Connor (U47C2@WVNVM) Please share with me any information you get about parts of the Patrologia Latina (or any edition of those texts) in machine readable form. I shall append my standard invitation to folks to join my list, ANSAXNET so you'll know why I'm interested (and also to invite you to join, if we can serve any of your needs/interests). I shall be more than willing to reciprocate in kind. Sincerely, Patrick Conner Department of English West Virginia University Morgantown, WV 26505 ANSAXNET is a Special Interest Group using BITNET and associated university and research networks telecommunications systems for scholars and teachers of the culture and history of England before 1100 C.E. Persons interested in the later English Middle Ages and those interested in the early Medieval period throughout Europe are also encouraged to join the list. Currently, we have over 100 members in nine nations. <05>Members receive a directory of all our members in order to facilitate dialogues among small groups of member; access to ANSAX-L, a LISTSERV list which provides each member with the ability to communicate simultaneously with all other members of ANSAXNET; and a monthly electronic report to which members are encouraged to contribute announcements and information. This report often provides our members with new information about the disciplines, as well as news of more conventional developments in the field. We also have projects underway to encode databases which members may use in their own work, we provide access to the Dictionary of Old English at Toronto, the Fontes Anglo-Saxonici project at Manchester, SASLC ("Sources of Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture"), the Old English Newsletter, and Medieval Studies published by the Pontifical Institute at Toronto. We would be glad to add your name to our directory and thus to make you a member of ANSAXNET. Membership is free to everyone with access to$!PBITNET node. Either send an e-mail note to Patrick Conner, U47C2@@WVNVM.BITNET or, as a command or mail-message, SUB ANSAX-L YOUR NAME. The full command form is TELL (CMS; use SEND for VAX) LISTSERV AT WVNVM SUB ANSAX-L YOUR NAME. (5) From Rich Novak (2631002@RUTVM1) Just in case you did not get other responses, and my colleague does not check out his mail for a while, I recommend contacting Phil Yevics at the University of Scranton (PEY365@@Scranton). He may know the answer to your query directly or will know someone who will know someone... (6) From Bill McCarthy (MCCARTHY@CUA) Apart from the obvious resources of PHI/CCAT, of which you are doubtless aware, I know of almost no machine readable Patristic texts. Indeed, I would very much like to know myself of the whereabouts of the texts which the CCAT was supposed to include on the last CD-ROM which PHI released. A text of Augustine's Confessions used to be kept at the APA repository; and, I myself have recently scanned (with OmniPage and a Mac II) the complete works of Prudentius, with a view to creating a kind of electronic edition in which the apparatus criticus could be quite capacious. I am tinkering with this latter text in Hyper- Card right now, although the search capabilities are such that I am seriously considering ArchiText or something similar. --------------------------END OF REPLIES-------------------------------- From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Use for 12.5 MIPS workstations Date: Tue, 1 Aug 89 23:21:05 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 434 (588) What seems to be the intent is that we will eventually have to have all this speed to support display postscript output (i.e. scalable graphics and multiple fonts at high resolution in a multi-window environment). If you could see what those capabilities take out of the current workstations, you'd understand the need for the extra power. However, the disturbing element for any monetarily tight situation is that even if the hardware comes cheaply, there will be more expensive maintenance, software and extra peripherals for the SUN than for the Mac. From: sdm@cs.brown.edu Subject: MIPS for humanities Date: Wed, 2 Aug 89 00:32:08 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 435 (589) In an earlier note, Paul Delany mentioned that his department might be able to get a 12.5 MIPS SPARCstation, and he wonders if there are practical uses for "all that power." There are, or at least there should be. Consider first the size of the SPARCstation display, which is 1152 by 900 pixels. That makes it possible to have two 80-column windows side by side without having to resort to a font that will make your vision blurry after an hour or so. The Macintosh II, I believe, has less resolution, so you can't pull that trick. For example, as I write this note (on a color SPARCstation), I've got my editor on one side of the screen and a terminal window on the other side of the screen, and I have full access to both windows. With the font I've got, each of those windows could be up to 63 lines long, which is wonderful for showing me lots of context around whatever it is that I happen to be looking at. As it turns out, however, I've got lots of other stuff on the screen (e.g., a clock, a mailbox, etc.), so my windows are a bit smaller. An even more compelling argument for a screen like this is its ability to display photographic-quality images. For example, we have scanned images of paintings that are displayed using 256 different colors, and to the lay viewer, they might as well be perfect. I like to imagine what they'd be like in a hypermedia environment. I also like to think of the kinds of analysis that might be performed on them, because they can be manipulated and examined using software on the machine -- which is one place it pays to have 12.5 MIPS at your disposal. The Macintosh II has neither the resolution nor the horsepower to handle equivalent tasks. On a more mundane scale, note that a faster machine means that tasks that used to be impractical suddenly become practical. Searches that would take too long to be worth the trouble on a slower machine become tractable. The same is true of textual (and image) analyses, comparisons, and other similar jobs. To be fair, Paul's original query asked about "available software," and I haven't restricted my comments above to software that I know to be readily available. Nonetheless, the software certainly *could* be developed, and if it were to be, would it not be better to be in a position in which one could take advantage of it? In fact, might it not be the case that being able to use it might actually lead to its development? In short, my advice is for him to get the best machine he can afford, and not to lose any sleep wondering if applications will be found for it. It might be worthwhile to bear in mind a well-known homily in the Computer Science community: user demands always rise to swamp out all available computing power. Scott Meyers sdm@cs.brown.edu PS - I have no connection with Sun and no vested interest in seeing the SPARCstation succeed. I do, however, have lots and lots of experience on both Macintoshes and Sun workstations, and all I can say is that the Macs are SsssssssssLllllllllllllllOoooooooooooooooWwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.313 MIPS for English? "gild the lily"? (42) Date: Wed, 02 Aug 89 09:40:13 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 436 (590) re Paul Delaney's request for decision making information on the possibility of getting a Sun vs a Mac: I would think the main consideration would be software - availability, price and support. Is the value of the powerful Sun hardware going to be aided by a sufficient multiplier of software to compete with the lesser hardware but greater software available to the Mac? Not to mention the familiarity and ease of the operating systems. Will people shun the Sun just because they are unfamiliar with the hardware, the software or the operating system? (Paul - let me know how this comes out) From: dgraham@leif.mun.ca Subject: Multitasking Date: 01 Aug 89 21:36 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 437 (591) I don't like to quibble about concurrent, preemptive or other multitasking, but I'm struck by one or two things in Eric Johnson's postings. Surely any multitasking worth its silicon involves something which needs to run in the background, i.e. while you're doing something else with the computer, and so (for example) having two copies of a word processor loaded at the same time is not while I would call useful multitasking, unless you can operate two keyboards at once. Mind you, a word processor that can have only one document open at a time is not what I would call a useful word processor... And don't many if not most WP programmes now offer more or less constant access to such amenities as style and spelling checkers, thesauri and so forth without having to launch another programme? Many of the operations Johnson quotes as examples strike me as being sequential rather than concurrent, and so I would not call them 'multitasking', but perhaps my definition is too narrow? What sorts of things *do* Humanists like to have running 'in the background'? In my case, it tends to be big file transfers (Kermit running under MultiFinder), or string searches (using Gofer as a DA). But I should think that the text indexing and sorting operations that Johnson mentions would be excellent candidates too, as would most database searches. How badly do we need multitasking, anyway, and how many of us are already using it every day in some form or another, and what for? [I'm referring only to microcomputers here, not to minis or mainframes.] To Johnson's suggestion that "All of these programs should be available to the scholar at the same time with no more trouble than stacking one open book on top of another", I would add only that many of them already are. David Graham dgraham@kean.mun.ca From: Willard McCarty Subject: creating bilingual dictionaries Date: 2 August 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 438 (592) A non-networked colleague here would like to discover some answer to the following question: "What work has been done or is being done for the computer-assisted creation of bilingual dictionaries and vocabulary lists, e.g., for textbooks or other teaching aids?" Please direct your replies to Humanist, as I think they should interest us generally. Thanks. Willard McCarty From: Vincent Ooi Subject: PC-TEX Date: Wed, 02 Aug 89 18:51:04 SST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 439 (593) Has anyone heard of a word-processing package called PC-TEX, or something that sounds similar? I'm told that it's "the ultimate" in word-processing. Any comments on its usefulness and availability? (If I've missed any discussion regarding this package, please direct me to the relevant file stored on server). Vincent Ooi (BITNET: ELLOOIBY @ NUSVM) From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Man-hater = misandrist" Date: Tue, 1 Aug 89 23:59:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 319 (594) I concur with Alan Humm, et al., that "misandrist" seems to be a logical word for this definition. In fact, while an M.A. student at Brandeis in the late 70's, I needed a similar word in a termpaper and decided upon the term "misandry" for its counterpart, "misogyny." The professor of the course, a male, did not object to the term or meaning. --Joel D. Goldfield J_GOLDFI@UNHH.bitnet From: "Vicky A. Walsh" Subject: Re: 3.318 making dictionaries? Date: Thu, 3 Aug 89 14:41:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 440 (595) The Humanities Computing Facility at UCLA is working on some Hypercard stacks to aid in creating dictionaries of various kinds. One tool that is done is a script that will take a text and create a stack with one word per card for use as a lexicon for students reading the original text. Other such things are in the works but we are not yet ready to distribute so this for information only at present. Vicky Walsh From: Walter McCutchan Subject: Submission for Humanist; Database Managment Systems. Date: Thu, 03 Aug 89 11:56:05 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 441 (596) I found the recent round of postings about micro-based DBMS's such as DataPerfect interesting and informative. Currently I am interested in DBMS's for Unix platforms. Can people tell me what they use, and what their experiences have been? I am particularly interested in DBMS's that handle large fields of text well. People may wish to post directly to the group, but if reports and recommendations are sent directly to me (WALTER@WatDCS.UWaterloo.ca) I will summarize them and post the result. thanks in advance walter mccutchan From: Oxford Text Archive Subject: Date: Thu, 3 Aug 89 10:15 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 442 (597) Subject: At the severe risk of being very boring, may I quote from a glossy report entitled `Information Technology and the Conduct of Research' published by the National Academy Press, Washington DC, 1989. "Information Technology is that set of computer and telecommunications technologies that makes possible computation, communication, and the storage and retrieval of information. The term therefore includes computer hardware... communications networks ... and computer software." Some awkward cusses might argue that IT is just whatever technology you use to ship information around, and could thus be applied equally well to inscribed stones, knotted strings or illuminated mss. But I suppose no-one thought of those media as `technologies' at the time. From: Randal_Baier@ub.cc.umich.edu Subject: 3.209 citing e-documents, cont. (19) Date: Thu, 3 Aug 89 12:09:22 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 443 (598) You are correct: ISBNs are different for both paperback and hardcover, AND for different countries of publication. this means that a book can be published in Britain and the US simulataneously and have two almost identical numbers (save for the first digit). The value of the ISBN is very apparent in computer searching, which is why reprints and new editions get new ISBNs as well. From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" Subject: Multitasking Date: Thu, 3 Aug 89 13:00:38 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 444 (599) My thanks to David Graham for making me think more about multitasking in the ideal humanist computing lab. It seems to me that before I used computers I worked with a mass of materials at more or less the same time: I consulted various books, articles, indexes, concordances; I took notes, marked passages, and wrote drafts. I recall that I sat surrounded by books and notes and moved from one to another quickly and easily. That seemed to change when I started to use computers. Although most of the tasks I wanted to perform could be done (better) on a computer, I had to do them sequentially. With a few exceptions (such as printing one document while editing another), it was most convenient to finish one task before starting another. In recent years, it has been possible to use a microcomputer to snap back and forth easily among more-or-less simultaneous tasks and to run applications in the background while working on other things. Thus, it is now possible for me to work in about the same way on a computer as I did without it, and that is what users of the ideal humanist computer lab should be able to do. True multitasking with concurrent processing and preemptive power should be available so that text searching, indexing, sorting, and similar tasks can be performed in the background while another program is used. The ideal computer lab should offer a wide range of programs that can be run simultaneously. From: Charles Ess Subject: Re: 3.317 MIPSy workstations; multitasking (153) Date: Thu, 3 Aug 89 13:48:59 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 445 (600) The current debate over whether a 12.5 MIPs Sun workstation is a good choice for humanist computing hits nicely on a central problem -- hot hardware that is lightyears ahead of available software. The comments by Scott Myers make this conflict clear. He rightly praises the high screen resolution of the Sun, and its relative speed vis-a-vis the Macintosh -- and strikes a chord with one of my major complaints with the Macintosh: the screen is just too small to exploit the possibilities of hypermedia display. For that, he points out, while the software for all this is not available, it *could* be developed. Certainly it could. It only took some five years and a few million dollars to develop Intermedia for the Macintosh. And now that Intermedia has entered its commercial release phase, anyone who can afford the (admittedly expensive) hardware can make use of an extraordinary hypertext authoring system that is far more powerful than, say, Hypercard -- and its ease of use makes scripting in Hypertalk look like writing dissertations in UNIX (possible, but probably not the route most of us would take). And all this for $125.00... Perhaps in a few years, some brave soul will have developed equivalent software for the SUN -- i.e., powerful, user-friendly, and relatively affordable -- which will thus open up the SUN to humanities faculty who can (a) afford the equipment, and (b) do not care to become power users to exploit its 12.5 MIPS. Until that time, despite my aggravation with the current size limitations on the Macintosh display, -- if a choice must be made between available software and powerful hardware, I would prefer to have the software in hand and get to work, rather than become embroiled with the dubious joys of trying to create my own programs. Note: I do not hold stock in either IRIS (the source of Intermedia) or Apple Computer, Inc. I _am_ interested in software applications which bend technology to the traditional goals and functions of humanities scholarship and teaching. Finally, speed is, as has been commented on several times, highly relative. Compared to the Sun, yes the Mac is slow. Compared to my beloved PC -- which is perfectly adequate for most of my tasks -- the Mac is astonishingly fast. I suggest that the term "slow" belongs to the family of terms which includes "obsolete." In the face of the rapidly changing technology of computers, the term "obsolete" is obsolete: it has, at best, a highly relative meaning, and in general conveys something of the sense of a given user's aesthetic habits and preferences. While this may be useful information, it is hardly a term of damnation from a more general standpoint. Hope all this is taken in the spirit it is sent -- i.e., just a friendly comment from from a humanities professor at a small college. Charles Ess Philosophy and Religion Drury College From: Geoff Rockwell Subject: Re: 3.317 MIPSy workstations; multitasking (153) Date: Thu, 3 Aug 89 15:46:13 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 446 (601) I am confused by some of the comments on the Mac II. I thought it was possible to buy two page screens so that you can see two pages of text side by side. I also thought that with 24 bit color one could have 16 million different colors on screen with the appropriate video card and monitor. The problem is storage and speed. Color graphics without compression take amazing amounts of space. This is where a Sun would probably prove superior to the present generation of Mac IIs. But, that is not to say one cannot get high quality color graphics. The added power of machines like the Sun and NeXT could be used to compress and decompress high quality images in real time. This would allow one to store "moving pictures" and to play them back. Your computer and VCR could work together. Apple purportedly has a board that they are developing to do the compression and decompression, off and on to an optical disk. This would fit into the Mac II line. Do we need it? I suspect when we have it we will wonder how we ever lived without it. In the meantime I dream of the perfect word processor. Yours Geoffrey Rockwlel rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca From: Willard McCarty Subject: science and metaphor Date: 3 August 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 447 (602) The following contributions have the potential for generating a very interesting or a very vexing discussion. For us the guiding star must be relevance to humanities computing. In this light I think the central issue is the one originally touched on by Itamar Even-Zohar and explained by him again below: the `marketing' of science by misleading ideas. This is very relevant to us, who are currently engaged in discovering the nature and purpose of applying mechanical models and computing methods to humanistic thought. We have discussed before the idea that applying a computer to the uncertain humanities holds both promise and danger. If we market our methods to ourselves and to others with the false vocabulary of "proof" then we are in trouble, the more so the more we are believed. We are fighting for dollars with other people who use this vocabulary, so the temptation is great. Quite apart from the immediate political problems are the intellectual ones, on which I hope we can concentrate. What is the value of computing to the humanities if "proof" is not an issue? What do we mean by "proof" anyhow that we should want to use the word? What's the eros of proof? In any case, let's keep our eyes fixed on our navigational chart and avoid the call of those lovely ladies singing so sweetly off the starboard bow. Otherwise, I'll have to tie you to the mast, plug my ears with wax, and take control of the ship. I'm no Great Helmsman. Willard McCarty From: Itamar Even-Zohar Subject: Misunderstandings about what I wrote about Date: Thu, 3 Aug 89 12:36:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 448 (603) Tom Thomson is irritated (Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 3, No. 314. Wednesday, 2 Aug 1989) by my allegedly having written that "Scientists (and Mathematicians) are naive and blinkered". I would like to protest that never have I made such a statement. My limited knowledge of the English language does not even stretch to include, in the sort of Pidgin I use, such a word as "blinkered". And as for "naive", the only sentence where I used this word is the following: That is, while physics and mathematics have gone quite a bit away from what looks nowadays "naive" models of the world, the marketed and self-conscious images perpetuated among mathematicians and physicists (and those inculcated to their students) still belong to the Romantic era. What this paragraph says, though I admit that naturally the phrasing could have been improved, is precisely the opposite! That is, the "naive" models of the world are no longer accepted by mathematics and physics, but the images projected in everyday discourse often still belong to a bygone era. Am I wrong in saying that such words as "discover", "prove" ("proof"), "we now know that" and even, indeed, "exact" are still marketed with great success? (Thomson is disgusted with the term "exact", but he cannot ignore the fact that many University faculties still bear that name around the world.) so nothing here implies that scientists are naive in my eyes. In short, may I reiterate that I was referring to "self images and marketed images" rather than to scientific / mathematical thinking per se? After all, my little note emerged as a comment to Charles Ess's puzzlement (Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 3, No. 297. Thursday, 27 Jul 1989) about the negative reaction of some of his colleagues' to chaos theory. I have thus suggested that the reason might be the disagreeable possible implications of chaos for the image the scientific community is still in the habit of projecting. I believe Kline has put it in the sharpest way: We know today that mathematics does not possess the qualities that in the past earned for it universal respect and admiration. Mathematics was regarded as... The truth about the design of nature. How man came to the realization that these values are false and just what our present understanding is constitute the major themes [of Kline's book]. ... Many mathematicians would perhaps prefer to limit the disclosure of the present status of mathematics to members of the family. But intellectually oriented people must be fully aware of the powers of the tools at their disposal. Recognition of the limitations, as well as the capabilities, of reason is far more beneficial than blind trust, which can lead to false ideologies and even to destruction. (Kline, Morris 1980. *Mathematics: The Loss of Certainty* (Oxford: Oxford University Press), "Preface". Further, nowhere in my little note can it even indirectly be interpreted as if I claimed that, to use Thomson own words, "a scientist (or a mathematician) has no need for imagination, creative thought, willingness to stand against eminent authority, ability to give up long-held views/prejudices, and so on as does any student of the humanities." I could not agree more with Thomson on this point. From the whole spirit of my note I believe Thomson could have understood how indefensible I find the distinction between "sciences" on the other hand and "the humanities" on the other hand. As for probability vs. determinism and the nature of "laws", I am afraid Thomson is right in criticizing my lack of cautiousness in dealing with the concept of "determinism." I am aware that statistical computing need not be interpreted as probabilism and that at least classical thermodynamics did not revolt against the prevailing views of determinism in physics. What I tried to say was that looking back, in view of Maxwell's readiness, for instance, to accept our inability to predict the behaviour of *individual* molecules (though I admit by no means did he think that this was due to some inherent features of our constructed "laws"), and in view of the more explicit developments in quantum theory, nobody can claim that the understanding of "determinism", i.e., the concept of "determinism", has remained unchanged. The presence of "unknown", or "inaccessible", factors, of the sort we are often aware of in the sciences of man, is admitted in the natural sciences. In one way or another, this has made them closer to the sciences of man. I also think that Thomson insistence on "the behaviour of masses of deterministic molecules", contains a crucial key concept in this theme, namely "masses". In this particular aspect, the natural sciences are no doubt (as in most other aspects, I readily admit) are far ahead of the sciences of man. Several people have asked me about what I meant with Mandelbrot's position vis-a-vis the scientific community. May I end this little comment with the following quotation: Looking back, Mandelbrot saw that scientists in various disciplines responded to his approach in sadly predictable stages. The first stage was always the same: Who are you and why are you interested in our field? Second: How does it relate to what we have been doing, and why don't you explain it on the basis of what we know? Third: Are you sure it's standard mathematics? (Yes, I'm sure.) Then why don't we know it? (Because it's standard but very obscure.) (Gleick, James 1987. *Chaos*: *Making a New Science*. (New York:Viking), 113). Itamar Even-Zohar Porter Institute From: Subject: culture and science? Date: Thu, 3 Aug 89 14:54 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 449 (604) Re: culture and science? Tom Thomson writes: " I used to think Snow was wrong, the division of modern thought into two cultures was at most a tiny localised phenomenon and more likely just a figment of his imagination. Reading Humanist is beginning to make me think he was right - - - there are a lot of rather blinkered people out there who don't (want to?) understand that a scientist (or a mathematician) has just as much need for imagination, creative thought, willingness to stand against eminent authority, ability to give up long-held views/prejudices, and so on as does any student of the humanities. Well, is Snow's thesis about the two cultures, right or wrong? The notion that intellectuals are split in two cultures, the technophobic humanists and the technophilic scientists belies the common currents of thought underlying the 'two' cultures. For instance, recently their was some discussion about the nature of e-mail and the HUMANIST in McLuhanesque terminology--i.e. 'global village', 'oral nature of electronic media', and so on. One of McLuhan's claims was that contemporary physics, Einstein, Heisenberg, et. al., is a physics of an oral culture. Physics is no longer composed of deterministic laws, but of indeterministic laws relative to framework; and reasoning in physics is no longer linear, etc. etc. Itamar Even-Zohar's remarks indirectly echoe McLuhan: electronic media create not only a new physics but also a new form of cognition for the humanities. Consequently--on one hand: McLuhan's thesis about our supposedly new form of cognition undercuts Snow's two cultures--the electronic media creates a global village of scientists/humanists who think and speak in non-linear forms. On the other hand: Thomson's own remarks about how humanists, at least on the HUMANIST, distort science and misappreciate the nature of scientific imagination, seems to reinforce Snow's two cultures idea. Both sides to this debate misunderstand the nature of our so-called new electronic, global village. Contra McLuhan, good thinkers whether using electronic media or paper media, spoken or written language, think with the logic of the excluded middle, i.e. binary logic. Indeed, if we want to model thinking on the computer, we have no choice but to use binary logic. However, mislogists (i.e. Winograd, Dreyfus, and others) see the computer as a threat to creative human thinking, which supposedly cannot be modelled via binary logic. However, if we examine the history of creative thinkers from Thales to present: they all used binary logic, with devastating results to "eminent authority". Whereas, those who, beginning with G.F. Hegel, questioned binary logic, usually did so for the purpose of preserving and protecting the intellectual status quo--i.e. to defray the criticisims of 'logic choppers'. Unfortunately, as Snow pointed out, the home of anti-technology and anti-science seems to be among humanists. McLuhanists in their misology carry on the tradition of technophobia, and anti-science, in the guise of loving modern science and electronic media, by distorting the nature of science and electronic media; by promoting an idol of technology/physics as one which is supposedly non-linear, and non-logical. ------------------ Sheldon Richmond From: AMR06@DK0RRZK0 Subject: gutnberg Date: Thu, 03 Aug 1989 10:19:20 CET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 450 (605) In a recent contribution of Michael Hart I heard for the first time of the existence of a list called GUTNBERG. Am I right supposing that it is about history of books? Could anybody give me more details? Especially the node adress and the persons to contact? Thanks Hans-Christoph Hobohm Romanisches Seminar University of Cologne Germany From: Judy Armstrong Subject: Women's Studies programs Date: Thu, 03 Aug 89 11:57:41 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 451 (606) As part of my sabbatical study, I am collecting information on -- and, hopefully, contacts at - liberal arts colleges who have added women's studies courses to their curriculum, either as individual courses throughout the disciplines, or as a major or minor program. HUMANIST readers willing to share such information and/or suggestions about contacts are invited to respond privately to the author of this note. Thanks in advance, Judy Armstrong, Director, Walker Library Drury College From: Hans Joergen Marker Subject: WP 5.0 Spell-checking Date: Thu, 3 Aug 89 05:37:35 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 452 (607) John J. Hughes reports, that he has a list of Greek words, which he wants to add to his US WordPerfect dictionary in order to be able to spell-check texts that contain Greek quotations. This is not the proper way to do it with WP 5.0. What you ought to do, is to define a new dictionary WP{WP}GR.LEX, read the Greek words into that dictiona- ry, and mark the Greek passages as having language GR. WP 5.0 has powerful facilities for handling multilanguage texts. When doing spell-checking it automaticly chooses the relevant dictionary based on the language marked for the text. Hans Joergen Marker. From: MORGAN@LOYVAX.BITNET Subject: RE: 3.318 making dictionaries? PC-TEX? (51) Date: Thu, 3 Aug 89 11:22:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 453 (608) I would like to mention Word Perfect once again for concurrent dictionaries in different langauges (5.0 allows this). It is also nice in that, as mentioned several times in the recent past here, one can add one's own entries; thus, as I have translated Ariosto's *Cinque Canti* from Italian, I have added the proper names and have not had problems with the spellchecker stopping me for each one each time. I have a further question for those using computers in language teaching: how do I get started with Hypertext for IBM PC? I would like to create a series of readings, including dictionary files and references, for intermediate and upper level Italian classes. Without spending a mint, I would like a Hypertext like environment. What next? Many thanks for all responses. (If anyone knows of any such texts in Italian already available, I'd love to hear about it also; I haven't seen any mentioned in the literature.) Leslie Morgan Dept. of Foreign Langs. and Lits. Loyola College in Maryland (MORGAN@LOYVAX) From: EVENS@UTORPHYS Subject: pc-tex Date: Wed, 2 Aug 89 22:58 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 454 (609) Pc TeX is public domain and available at simtel20 (see the log files for this list from a fiew weeks ago.) It is especially intended for text with a lot of scientific or math symbols (indices, subscripts, superscripts, "standard" greek letters.) It does a lot of nice things for making text output look nice, such as proportional spacing, hyphenation (it gets 90% of the O.E.D. correct by construction, and 90% of the rest correct by guessing, and you can add exception lists.) If you are going to be using a lot of symbols or equations it would be worth your while. If not, it may be overkill to get it. You will need at least 5 meg on a hard disk, and a full 640 k ram. You may also want LaTeX, which has a lot of facility for doing things like making tables of contents, reference control and things like that. If you want to make VERY pretty output (and are willing to buy a good laser printer) then I recomend it highly. It is not an editor tho. You will need your own word processor. Also, you should note that it won't like any of the special characters your editor may put in for such things as bolding or underscores or such things. So you must have an editor that can output an ordinary ascii text file. The documentation for TeX and LaTeX are The TeX Book by Donald Knuth (the author of the TeX system) and The LaTeX Book by Leslie Lamport (the author of the LaTeX system.) These books will be in the area of $30 dollars each and you pretty much need them to use the systems. dan evens From: lang@PRC.Unisys.COM Subject: PC-TEX Date: Thu, 3 Aug 89 09:01:58 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 455 (610) Vincent Ooi inquired about PC-TEX: I assume this is a version of Donald Knuth's TeX typesetting system. If so, I can heartily recommend TeX, especially when accompanied by Leslie Lamport's macros, in which case the system is called LaTeX. Plain TeX is not easy to use, but LaTeX is much less complicated, block structured, and borrows (or steals*, as Lamport himself says) many ideas from Brian Reid's Scribe system. LaTeX is a very powerful, full-blown typesetting system which can (and has) been used to produce the actual camera-ready copy for professionally published books. Disclaimer: I know nothing specifically about PC-TEX. ------------ * "Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal." Igor Stravinsky From: Michael Stairs Subject: PC-TeX (the good, the bad, and not so ugly) Date: Thu, 03 Aug 89 10:23:40 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 456 (611) Greetings all, Willard has asked me to respond to the request for information on the topic of PC-TeX. Far from being a "word processor", TeX is a powerful formatting language. It accepts ascii text marked up according to very strict specifications. This text can be created on your chosen word processor, but be prepared to spend a lot of time going back and forth between it and TeX. TeX is extremely picky about the input, so most of your time (at least at first) will be spent debugging your text. The results are well worth the effort however! I have been involved in the production of three books here at the CCH (Toronto). We've produced the Humanities Yearbook which Willard and Ian Lancashire co-edit as well as the companion volumes associated with the Dynamic Text Conference held here a few months back. Being the local "TeXpert" I am familiar with the amount of labour involved in the production of articles and books using TeX. If you intend to use TeX either find a support person who would be willing to help (preferably someone with TeX experience) or be prepared for a long, hard struggle. I would recommend TeX only be used for the production of books, journals, and possibly newsletters. The amount of labour involved doesn't justify the use of TeX in anything smaller. If TeX seems too intimidating (and it might to some), one might consider Ventura Publisher or Pagemaker both of which are easier to use and produce only marginally worse copy. The latest version of Ventura appears to have addressed many of the more serious limitations obvious in earlier versions. I think one has to be clear on exactly what are the intended uses of the above mentioned packages and make their decision accordingly. Michael Stairs Site Coordinator Centre for Computing in the Humanities University of Toronto 416-978-6391 STAIRS@UTOREPAS From: David Megginson Subject: Re: 3.321 MIPSy multitasking workstations, cont. (140) Date: Fri, 04 Aug 89 07:42:39 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 457 (612) For text searching and analysis on the Sun, I would recommend PAT from the Oxford dictionary project at Waterloo. I have had an opportunity to try it out, and I have been reading the literature on how it works. I seems that it actually generates an index smaller than the original text. It also has enough features to make an IBM program like WordCruncher seem rather like a toy. In fact, _any_ Unix program can be recompiled onto the Sun, which means that thousands of different programs are only an hour or two away. David Megginson From: CHURCHDM@vuctrvax Subject: MIPS Date: Fri, 4 Aug 89 09:30 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 458 (613) The discussion about high-powered workstations prompts me to share with those of you who weren't there my favorite quote from the Dynamic Text Conference (actually from the Advanced Workstation Workshop that preceded the Conference): Non-existent software doesn't run any faster at 100 MIPS than at 10 MIPS. Obviously, it could be argued that software to take advantage of the fancy equipment can't be developed without that equipment. But that is no reason for those who aren't developing software to insist on having such equipment right now. Dan M. Church From: Andrew Gilmartin Subject: MIPS and Humanist computing Date: Fri, 04 Aug 89 13:24:15 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 459 (614) Recently I have also been thinking about the problem of whether software or hardware should be considered in purchasing a computer. In the past I would have always answered software now I am not so sure. Let me explain. The core of my problem is in what form do I store my data so that it can be worked with easily and yet safely be moved between machines and even between environments on the same machine? HUMANISTS frequently talk about the benefits afforded by document type definitions in SGML but still the problem exists in what form is the encoding done. ASCII or, worse yet, a restricted form consisting of the intersection of ASCII and EBCDIC seems the safest. While it is arguable that this form is far too restrictive a representation it is the only form that is universally acceptable. (If Apple Computer's work on MIFF works and is adopted by others we may soon have another.) Settling on such a decision Paul Delany's question concerning MIPS is coincidental. In order to work--browse, edit, and analyze--efficiently with such a low level representation of such high-level abstractions (as defined by a DTD) you need a powerful computer that can quickly change this representation into an efficient (for the computer) internal form. This constant decoding and encoding requires a very fast disk and a very fast processor. Since my choice of representation has decided the kind of hardware--in Paul's case it might be a SPARCstation--what software do I have? Tipping my hat into the ring (expecting a bloodied nose) Unix is the best currently available environment for Humanist work. If you can get past the obscure command mnemonics the wealth of software available to the Humanists is astounding. Unix was designed by programmers to aid the development and maintenance of software. Humanists are doing something quite analogous. What tools are available? A few examples (and maybe others will contribute more suggestions): - SCCS or RCS for managing all the documents that compose a project. - "Tools for Humanists" a collection of Unix filters (tools that transform one representation into another) for producing word concordances. - Icon (or SNOBAL4) for delving even deeper into the the content. - Browser, is not just for HyperCard users. There is also a Unix implementation. - TeX (in conjunction with LaTeX or AMSTeX) is one of the highest quality text processing system available. - Emacs, for editing. (Personally I would prefer something more Macintosh like.) I have a Macintosh on my desk. I do need it for the type of work I do but for the Humanist projects I have worked with the Macintosh and IBM PC are almost useless. By all means buy a Macintosh but make sure that you can Telnet to a Unix system to do other work. (Alternatively, buy a NeXT and get both worlds.) -- Andrew Gilmartin Computing & Information Services Brown University Box 1885 Providence, Rhode Island 02912 andrew@brownvm.brown.edu (internet) andrew@brownvm (bitnet) From: "John K. Baima" Subject: Sun's for Humanists Date: Fri, 4 Aug 89 15:15 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 460 (615) There is one good use of true multitasking (as opposed to Multifinder) that has not been discussed as a use for a Sun workstation: email. If you are on a campus that has an Internet connection, the Sun could be used as a bridge to give a Mac/IBM PC net direct access to internet. The next release of the TOPS email package, InBox will support SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol, the UNIX mail standard). This would allow someone to compose and read mail on their Macs and send it through the Sun. Even without Internet, a Sun can be used to call other UNIX machines so that mail can get in and out via UUCP. There are other ways of getting email, but this is one way. One of the nice programs for Sun workstations is FrameMaker. FM is both a word processor and a desk top publishing system. It really is a good program. A major update is due in the fall and they have promised SGML support by early 1990. FM could thus be one of the earlest and best word processors to support SGML transparently. SGML without ever having to type a "<". FM will be available on Mac's, but I think that it would suffer on the typical Mac screens. By the way, the original message mentioned a Sun 350. Is that a 3/50? Although I am using a Sun 3/50 to write this, I would not buy a 3/50 because it cannot be easily upgraded and the base configuration (4 MB RAM) cannot really run the latest version of the SunOS. John Baima From: (TOM=HORTON) Subject: Use for 12.5 MIPS workstations Date: 08/04/89 15:46:01 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 461 (616) A few more comments about Paul Delany's possible acquisition of a 12.5 MIPS Sun SPARCstation. Sun workstations can run DOS software (if that helps), but he should consider the cost of hardware and software maintenance, which are very high for workstations. More details on these two subjects follow at the end of this message. Maintenance costs must be considered. Humanities scholars who are offered one-time-only cash for setting up a lab should not forget that the bills keep coming. It's hard, but try not to get seduced by hot new hardware. Everyone is at risk to this. The folks from IRIS who gave the Advanced Function Workstation workship at the recent Toronto conference spent the first hour hammering home the point that it's the software environment that makes a workstation ``advanced.'' They then spent the next two or three hours on a detailed look at specific chips, storage media, mice (do you want 3 buttons or just 2?), etc etc. We got a demo of the NeXT environment and Intermedia in the afternoon, but they left us all frustrated by telling us at end: ``We had other software demos to show you, but we've run out of time!'' Tom Horton Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University BITNET: HortonT@SERVAX DOS on Suns ----------- If Paul was interested in using DOS software in the lab, Sun sells a product called DOS Windows for the Sun SPARCstation ($495 list) which will allow you to run all your favorite DOS humanist packages (text retrieval, word processing, CALL, etc). (I have no first-hand experience with this package.) The newer Suns (SPARCstation, 3/80, etc) can be bought with a 3.5" disk drive that read DOS diskettes. Also Sun sells software that would allow you to network DOS PCs to this workstation, so you could conceivably use the SPARCstation as the center of a networked DOS PC lab. Maintenance Costs ----------------- Bob Amsler alluded to something that has to be considered in setting up a software lab: cost of hardware maintenance. I've been involved in choosing machines for various labs and administering our departmental workstations, and a room full of Suns, Apollos, HPs, etc will eat you alive if you keep them on hardware and software support. For example, the SPARCstation Paul Delany is considering will cost him between US $96 and $130 each MONTH in hardware maintenance after the first 90 days. (Price for next-day, on-site service. Cheaper rates may be available if you can live without your machine for several weeks. Hardware maintenance for workstations is not normally discounted for universities unless there are a lot machines on campus.) This does not even include software maintenance (although this is usually discounted). Software for workstations is expensive. For example, FrameMaker, a popular Desktop Publishing Package, is about $1000 per machine. (And if you want maintenance and updates, it's $515 a year for the 1st user, $195 each additional user.) I don't know how these maintenance costs compare to those for PCs. But maintenance costs are high enough to cause problems for our fairly-well-funded computer science department, so humanities departments beware. From: Steven J. DeRose Subject: TeX Date: Fri, 04 Aug 89 14:27:48 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 462 (617) I'd like to add one small caveat about TeX: TeX is not an authoring or writing system, but a *typesetting* system. As that it is very good; that is to say, it allows you to place ink on paper in quite subtle and sophisticated ways. *However,* I suspect most of us are not professional typesetters, have no training in graphic design anyway, and would make better use of our time by writing than by typesetting. If you need to produce camera-ready copy, TeX is great; but this is a job publishers used to do for you, at their own expense (both money and time). While you're adding "italic corrections" and playing with leading, you could instead be writing your next book, so I'd recommend thinking through your goals before starting to learn TeX. LaTeX is less prone to these criticisms, but still doesn't insulate the author from the details as well as it might. Steve DeRose From: (TOM=HORTON) Subject: TeX/LaTeX for DOS Date: 08/04/89 15:44:59 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 463 (618) Regarding the public domain DOS versions that have been discussed, there are two version of TeX available on the SIMTEL server. The file PD:-READ.ME on that server describes these two: SBTeX and DosTeX. Read that file for more info, but briefly SBTeX is reported to be 2 to 3 times faster and requires less memory. SBTeX doesn't come with fonts or printer drivers but these are available from another site using FTP transfers over the Internet. I don't see why the fonts and drivers that come with DosTeX wouldn't work with SBTeX too. I think Michael Stairs' assessment of TeX and LaTeX is accurate. I'm a big fan of this system, but I'm also a programmer with a fast workstation with a good enough graphics system to make previewing easy. I've helped secretaries learn LaTeX, so one doesn't have to have a programmer to use the system. But, if we'd had a WYSIWYG or Desktop Publishing system on our machines in the beginning I would have certainly encouraged the secretaries to learn that before learning LaTeX. Tom Horton Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University BITNET: HortonT@SERVAX From: Jim McSwain Subject: Ralph Beaufort Date: THU 03 AUG 1989 17:15:00 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 464 (619) I have a question which I wish to throw out to participants. Does anyone have any information on one Ralph Beaufort, canon of York from 1430 until his death in 1450? Other than the York ecclesiastical records are there any other records in which he appears? I wish to know if he was part of the prominent Beaufort family that were relatives of Henry IV. If you know of any pertinent citations, please advise. Regards, JMcSwain f0a8@usouthal From: SRRJ1@VAXA.YORK.AC.UK Subject: Date: Fri, 4 AUG 89 14:12:37 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 465 (620) MY HEART BELONGS TO......? On behalf of a colleague could I ask HUMANISTS to pass on their knowledge of any celebrated individual who died before c. 1500 and whose heart was removed and buried in a different place from the rest of their body? with heartfelt thanks, Sarah Rees Jones Department of History University of York srrj1@uk.ac.york.vaxa From: HANLY@UOFMCC Subject: gender specific man haters (concluded?) Date: Fri, 04 Aug 89 07:33 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 329 (621) Thanks to all those who have provided communications concerning gender specific man haters. This is a short summary of the situation as it seems to me. The appropriate root term in Greek is ANDR meaning `man' -in the gender sense. Words such as `polyandrous' illustrate this root. Using this root and the existing `feminine' terms `misogyny' and `misogynist' we could form the following pairings: misogyny --- misandry misogynist --- misandrist The `male' pairings seem to be lacking in attraction to lexicographers, in particular those associated with the OED. Our edition of the OED lists neither `misandry' nor `misandrist'. A l976 supplement lists `misandry' under the prefix `miso'-presumably because `miso' is the prefix of the existing female term. (Isn't that sexist?) Quotations illustrating the use of `misandry' are from 1946 and 1960 ,rather recent in lexicographic terms. `misandrist' is not listed at all. The Webster's 3rd International recognises `misandry' but not `misandrist'. Perhaps some budding Sam Johnson--the front runner among lexicographers-- is reading this, and having perfected a protocol for citing electronic texts, will recognise this HUMANIST text by citing it in his online dictionary. We will end then not with a use but a mention. `misandrist'. Ken Hanly Brandon Univ. From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Getting started with hypertextual authoring software" Date: Fri, 4 Aug 89 00:14:56 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 330 (622) Regarding Leslie Morgan's recent query about hypertext, I would suggest Guide 2.0 (MS-DOS version) from Owl International (see Joseph Feustle's article in this Spring's _Hispania_) or, for the more database-inclined, AskSam. Right now I'm also favoring Guide as a useful "software glue" that can run commercial programs as interconnected applications. Furthermore, there's a Mac version, one that seems to complement Hypercard well. Some members of the Cornell School of Ed. are doing just that for Spanish & German interactive video. Joel D. Goldfield J_GOLDFI@UNHH.bitnet From: sdm@cs.brown.edu Subject: Developing Software Date: Thu, 3 Aug 89 23:04:32 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 331 (623) Charles Ess pointed out that "it only took some five years and a few million dollars to develop Intermedia for the Macintosh." This is probably true, although I feel compelled to point out that at least some of that time and money was invested in trying to make an IBM PC/RT look like a Macintosh, and of course some of it was spent producing reports for the funding agencies. Nonetheless, the undertaking was a substantial one, and the end result is an industrial-strength hypermedia system. Still, it's interesting to ponder how much could have been done if the project were not so ambitious. For example, imagine that you wanted to develop a primitive hypermedia system on a Unix workstation that ran the X window system, and you had access to an experienced programmer who was familiar with writing programs to run under X. Imagine further that you were willing to settle for relatively small amounts of data in your system, and you were willing to limit yourself to textual entries and bitmaps, plus fairly simple linking schemes. In other words, you just wanted to "play around" with a simple hypertext system. My guess is that you could have such a "toy" system put together and available for experimentation within no more than a month (exclusive of the entering of the data for the system, which is a separate problem). What would you give up in comparison to a system like Intermedia? 1. Ease of use. The user interface wouldn't look like a Macintosh, it would look like whatever X happened to offer. This would make it less suitable for inexperienced computer users. 2. Robustness. There would be more bugs in the system. 3. Views of the data. Intermedia offers web views and timelines (and possibly others), and you wouldn't have those kinds of views. 4. Extensibility. Intermedia can handle large quantities of data. Your system would become slower and slower as you added more data to it. 5. Documentation. You'd have to learn how to use the system from the programmer. My point here is not that everybody should be writing their own hypermedia system, but that the essence of such a system can be implemented in a fairly straightforward fashion. What costs you is getting the system into shape for use by outsiders. If you're willing to live with something that is clearly home-grown, you can develop things fairly quickly and inexpensively. My second point is that many colleges have an ample source of programmers who could potentially write systems such as I've described: undergraduates, especially majors in Computer Science or a similar field. Certainly the hypermedia system I described above could be implemented by an undergraduate in about a month, presupposing s/he had the qualifications I've listed above. Here at Brown University, for example, the CHUG (Computing in the Humanities User's Group) and the CSDUG (Computer Science Departmental Undergraduate Group) are exploring the possibility of having CSDUG members work on implementing projects that are suggested by the CHUG. The idea is that the CSDUG members gain experience with "real" computer programs and with "real" research projects, and CHUG members gain (potentially) useful software for the cost of advising a CSDUG member. As far as I know, this cooperative effort is still quite tentative, but the idea, I believe, is a sound one. If other Humanists have experience with this kind of collaboration, I would appreciate knowing about it. My overall point is that it need not be that difficult to develop software for use in the humanities, whether on new machines or old. At many schools, there is even a pretty good chance that you could coax someone into writing your program for you. There being no free lunch, however, you've got to give up something, and what you'll probably have to give up is the luster of a polished professional-quality program. For some Humanists, I suspect, the tradeoff may well be worth it. Scott Meyers sdm@cs.brown.edu From: Willard McCarty Subject: LOOK Date: 2 August 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 466 (624) Thanks to Hans Rollman, the shareware program LOOK is now on the fileserver, s.v. LOOKFOR UUE. As you may know, compiled programs must be encoded to survive many network transmissions. The UUE scheme is one of several but very widely known. You may download this file from the file-server in the usual way (see your Guide to Humanist), but to use it you must have a copy of UUDECODE. For obvious reasons it makes no sense to place a UUENCODEd version of UUDECODE.COM on the server. So, you'll have to ask around locally. By the way, once you've UUDECODEd it, you'll discover an ARCed file, so you'll also need some version of ARC. By now you're no doubt burning up with curiosity. What is LOOK? It is a nifty utility much like Gofer but, some say, faster. The interface isn't quite as trendy, but the program works. As far as I know it isn't infected. Note the developer's request for a small fee if you decide to keep the program. Willard McCarty From: Jim McSwain Subject: packet switching Date: THU 03 AUG 1989 09:39:00 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 467 (625) Recently I received a message from a man in Germany about packet switching. Unfortunately, I mislaid his address after I had sent him a message stating that I had no information to help him. I wish now to point him or anyone else to an article in PC COMPUTING July 1989 entitled "Crossing Borders, Different communications standards and national packet-switching networks . . ." by Bruce Page, pp. 167- 168. Perhaps this will be of some help. Regards, JMcSwain f0a8@usouthal From: "James H. Coombs" Subject: MIPS; MACII screens; hypertext development Date: Sat, 05 Aug 89 16:58:37 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 468 (626) A few quick comments from skimming/scanning discussion of MIPS, etc. 1. I use SUNs for database construction and servers. I find the SUN 3 about 4 times as fast as a MACII for database construction. Perhaps 2 times as fast for serving. Others might have different experience. I have to allow at least 24 hours to process the American Heritage Dictionary and build a new database (27 meg.); lot's of extra processing but the database is highly optimized. 2. I have not seen any software that is designed to serve scholarly research or education at high levels. Sun Tools is nice. et++ is interesting. But no special tools to help me in my research. It might be there, but I haven't seen it. 3. We use SUN 3s and NFS to mount large filesystems on our MACs for program development. High speed. Lots of disk space. Share files. We use a MACII and NFS for our Intermedia database and documents. Performance is fine. 4. I am using a large b/w monitor on a Mac IIcx. I guess it's 21 inches diag. At any rate, I almost never feel a need to open a window that stretches all of the way from top to bottom. I find that the window borders help me keep my place in the document. That means that I have free space on the "desktop" not because I am trying to keep it free but because I don't need it all of the time. Intermedia runs on this monitor without requiring modifications. (We did have to change some dialogs recently to fit on the tiny SE 30 display.) I don't know how much the monitor costs, but it is good. 5. I'm not sure how this one came up, but there has been some discussion of the costs of developing a hypermedia system. Good software engineering is very expensive. Maintenance is even more expensive than creation. There are no easy answers. Some people say that there are NO answers, only tradeoffs (D.A. Norman on cognitive engineering; G. Weinberg on systems design; etc.). We had problems with Ingres. I had just developed a dictionary database using CTree, a b+tree file management system. Victor Riley and I developed a basic communications protocol. We implemented a client layer to slide under Intermedia and a server with a pluggable database layer. Also the CTree implementation of the database layer. This took two weeks to design and implement. It took another couple of months to debug and get it up to product quality. We had only one lingering problem: documents were left locked when Intermedia crashed. Part of the solution was to debug Intermedia; the other part was to use a "keepalive" option on sockets (and this required hacking the kernel when A/UX 1.1 came out). Ok, so we had a usable database and server in two weeks, with major bugs out in a total of one month. We had to develop the communications protocol, but we were given a hypermedia model, which we modified only slightly. We also had a server building block already developed and in use for about six months. Currently, we have about 8000 lines of code for the server, client, and database layers. Note that this does not include any interface, editors, or anything of the sort. It also does not include the maintenance of lists of blocks and links on the Intermedia client side. On the other hand, we were working only about 1/4 time on this project once we finished the initial coding. I will leave it to others to estimate what it takes to create a minimal hypertext environment. My experience is that developing a good interface takes a long time. It cost me about two weeks to put up a dialog for spelling correction and get it right. 5 buttons, 1 scrolling tile, 1 edit text box, 1 static text box. I currently take my best estimate and multiply it by 4. That just about fits the two weeks it took to implement the hypertext server and the two months that it took before we could forget about it. This is based on personal experience. I don't know what formula others apply, but this one works for me. My advice to humanists who are thinking about contracting for some software work? Don't. I suspect that only 1 in 10 ever get something they can use. Get your university to establish a staff of developers. That staff can include students, who will get to work with experienced professionals, both for their own benefit and for the benefit of the project. Most universities will say that they cannot afford such a staff. If not, then how can individual faculty or departments afford it? Principles: a. Software requires maintenance. b. Maintenance is more time consuming than initial development. c. Inexperienced developers need close supervision. So do experienced developers (I have seen 40,000 lines of code developed over 2 years thrown away for poor quality). I guess I should add that only experienced developers have the qualification to provide this supervision. d. This is not a problem for scholars and humanists uniquely. I'm beginning to accept that software engineers should be licensed. e. When negotiating for software, don't forget to include the costs of your own time (and probable stress). I guess this is enough for a start. I acknowledge that there are some success stories: my guess is 1 in 10. --Jim Dr. James H. Coombs Senior Software Engineer, Research Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship (IRIS) Brown University, Box 1946 Providence, RI 02912 jazbo@brownvm.bitnet From: JACKA@PENNDRLS Subject: IT; MIPSy workstations Date: Monday, 7 August 1989 1904-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 469 (627) Two quick notes: 1. ON IT: As organizations have a tendency to do, we in Computer Services at the University of Pennsylvania had to spend each Wednesday of last semester together writing a mission statement for Computer Services. It is perhaps interesting to note that those colleagues who came from administrative computing spoke of computing as IT. Those of us from academic computing didn't know what they were talking about even when IT was defined; however, we embraced the term fully when we saw that IT could mean most anything and would, if included in our mission statement, allow us to take under our wing the library, the media center, the typing pool and almost any piece of technology we could label as technology. 2. The whole question about which machine is faster and more powerful reminds me of my days in high school when we used to run cars at night down the straight ways on Chapel St. in New Haven, Connecticut. So what? I think it is relevant to point out that software is the primary requirement along with personal choice. Also, I liked to add that there still exists such machines as mainframes which are certainly more powerful than any of the machines mentioned yet in this discussion. The problem here is the software and interface to a certain extent. Mainframes remain fossilized in the ideas of the past unlike the SUN or NeXT which are present tense concept, but certainly not futuristic enough for my tastes. From: Paul Delany Subject: MIPSy workstations Date: Mon, 7 Aug 89 16:44:12 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 470 (628) Thanks for the many useful comments on this issue, & may the discussion continue. HUMANIST is an invaluable resource for such decisions. We have decided to go ahead with our plans for a Macintosh Lab, helped by Apple's recent offering to us of Mac IIx's for $2900Cdn (that's just the box, but still . . . ). Meanwhile, there's a chance we can get free use of a Sun 3/50, declared surplus by another department, to experiment with. They can also be upgraded to a 3/80 for about $1200. Again, my thanks for the advice. Paul Delany, Simon Fraser Univ. From: Harold Wilson Subject: Jack the Ripper Date: Sat, 05 Aug 89 21:34:54 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 471 (629) There was some discussion recently about two programs for students, Jack the Ripper (a logic teaching device) and Buried Treasurer (same thing). Are these programs available for purchase and general use by the universities that developed them? If so, to whom do I apply? Thank you. From: Hans Rollmann (hans@mun.bitnet) Subject: Works of John Wesley in electronic form? Date: 06 Aug 89 05:50 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 472 (630) ---------------------------------------------- Is anyone aware of electronic versions of the works of John Wesley? I'm especially interested in his JOURNAL and the CORRESPONDENCE but also in other opera. Thanks. Hans Rollmann From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 473 (631) DATE: 07 AUG 89 17:33:08 FROM: C60903@AINUNI01 SUBJECT: online libraries Since I am probably the "man in Germany" - Austria, actually - mentioned in Jim McSwains recent posting to HUMANIST, I might just as well put my question to the group as a whole. I would be interested in finding out about gaining access to library information networks in the United States and Canada through either the research networks or alternatively via public packet-switching services such as TYMNET. It is possible for me to log-on to online public access catalogues in the United Kingdom, which makes life a lot easier far away from an English-language research library; any information on library networks in North America would thus be most welcome. Regards, Joe Wallmannsberger English Department, University of Innsbruck, Austria From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 474 (632) DATE: 07 AUG 89 18:04:47 FROM: C60903@AINUNI01 SUBJECT: postscript font generators At the moment I am back to the basics of humanities computing: getting strange creatures such as thorns and yoghs on a sheet of a paper. For various reasons the trick has to be done with Microsoft WORD, or a similar general-purpose word processor,and in POSTSCRIPT. I am planning to use PUBLISHER's TYPE FOUNDRY to redesign a BITSTREAM softfont and then to use BITSTREAM's FONTWARE to customize WORD's postscript printer driver and download the fonts to an Apple Laserwriter IINT. Now this looks like a major effort, and I would thus like to find out if a fellow HUMANIST has successfully carried out something along those lines; maybe HUMANIST could even function as a repository of public domain softfonts for humanities publishing. Generally, contacts with IBM-PC/Laser printer (Postscript or HP) fontographers and desk top publishers would be much appreciated. Regards, Josef Wallmannsberger English Department, University of Innsbruck, Austria c60903@ainuni01.bitnet From: "J. Harwood, 5-4764/3-3605" Subject: Machine-readable version of a Manzoni Novel Date: Mon, 7 Aug 89 15:10:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 475 (633) A colleague is looking for a machine-readable version of a classic Italian novel: Alessandro Manzoni's _I pronessi sposi_. Please let me know if you are aware of such a version. Thanks. From: MLAOD@CUVMB.bitnet Subject: Politics Date: Mon, 7 Aug 89 14:08:00 EDT(2) (189 lines) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 335 (634) Humanist members: Attached is a letter which is being sent to all MLA members regarding recent events in Washington and the National Endowment for the Arts. Briefly, it involves political pressure which would disable or replace the process of peer review in granting federal funds in the arts and humanities, substituting instead various moral and political tests which are, to me, profoundly frightening. I hope that you will read this letter and, if similarly moved, take the time to respond accordingly. Daniel Uchitelle Modern Language Association -------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August 1989 Dear MLA Member: We are writing to you about a current debate in the United States Con- gress that is of vital concern to those of us who work in the humanities. Although the debate focuses on two controversial exhibits of photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano supported by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), it raises large questions about the role of government in subsidizing art. Immediately after Labor Day a conference committee made up of legislators from the House of Representatives and the Senate will meet to resolve some of these questions. The committee's decisions will affect the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as well as the NEA and will have far-reaching implications. On 26 July, Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) introduced an amendment to the Fiscal Year 1990 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations bill that the Senate approved by a voice vote. The purpose of this amendment is To prohibit the use of appropriated funds for the dissemination, promotion, or production of obscene or indecent materials or materials denigrating a particular religion. The amendment specifies: None of the funds authorized to be appropriated pursuant to this Act may be used to promote, dis- seminate, or produce-- (1) obscene or indecent materials, including but not limited to depictions of sadomasochism, homo- eroticism, the exploitation of children, or indi- viduals engaged in sex acts; or (2) material which denigrates the objects or beliefs of the adherents of a particular religion or non-religion; or (3) material which denigrates, debases, or reviles a person, group, or class of citizens on the basis of race, creed, sex, handicap, age, or national origin. According to knowledgeable observers, although Senator Helms aimed the amendment at the NEA, by its placement in the bill, its provisions will apply to all agencies funded under the bill, including the NEH, the National Gallery of Art, the Institute for Museum Services, the Smith- sonian Institution, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Early in September, the conference committee will negotiate the final version of the appropriations bill. If the amendment remains in the bill and becomes law, it will mark an important shift in the government's regulation of federally supported artistic and intellectual endeavor. The change may be seen by comparing the Helms amendment with the report language the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee adopted to accompany the authorizing statute that established the NEA and the NEH in 1965. It is the intent of the committee that in the administration of this act there be given the ful- lest attention to freedom of artistic and humanistic expression. One of the artist's and the humanist's great values to society is the mirror of self-examination which they raise so that society can become aware of its shortcomings as well as its strengths. Moreover, modes of expression are not static, but are constantly evolving. Countless times in history artists and humanists who were vilified by their contemporaries because of their innovations in style or mode of expression have become prophets to a later age. Therefore, the committee affirms that the intent of this act should be the encouragement of free inquiry and expression. The committee wishes to make clear that conformity for its own sake is not to be encouraged, and that no undue preference should be given to any particu- lar style or school of thought or expression. Nor is innovation for its own sake to be favored. The standard should be artistic and humanistic excellence. To carry out the work of the NEA and the NEH, Congress endorsed a system of peer review. Panels of specialists were to consider applications requesting support for various projects and to identify proposals they judged worthy of funding. Final decisions were to be made by the heads of the endowments with the advice of the endowments' governing councils. The Helms amendment would significantly reduce the role of peer review and even the role of presidentially appointed leaders of the endowments. How the NEA and the NEH will interpret and apply the language in the amendment, should it become law, cannot be predicted, but you may wish to consider its possible effects on the arts and the humanities. As a scholar and teacher of language and literature, you are in a position to speak with authority to the issues the Helms amendment raises, and you may wish to express your views about the amendment to the members of the conference committee. (A list of committee members' names and addresses appears below.) If you do write, your letter should reach committee members before Labor Day. We would appreciate receiving a copy of your letter as well and ask that you direct it to us at the MLA office. If you have questions, please call Phyllis Franklin at (212) 614-6301. Sincerely yours, Victor Brombert President Modern Language Association Catharine R. Stimpson First Vice President Modern Language Association If you live in a state represented on the committees, you should write directly to your state's senator or representative(s). If you do not live in a state represented on the committees, please direct your letters to Senators Byrd and McClure and to Representatives Yates and Regula. | SENATE | HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | Interior and Related Agencies Subcom- |Interior and Related Agencies Subcommit- mittee of the Senate Committee on |tee of the House Committee on Appropri- Appropriations ( listed in order |ations (members listed in order of of seniority on the subcommittee) |seniority on the subcommittee) | | Name ZIP+4 | Name ZIP+4 MAJORITY MEMBERS | MAJORITY MEMBERS Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) 20510-4801|Sidney R. Yates (D-IL) 20515-1309 (chair) | (chair) J. Bennett Johnston (D-LA) 20510-1802|John P. Murtha (D-PA) 20515-3812 Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) 20510-4502|Norman D. Dicks (D-WA) 20515-4706 Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ) 20510-0302|Les AuCoin (D-OR) 20515-3701 Quentin N. Burdick (D-ND) 20510-3401|Tom Bevill (D-AL) 20515-0104 Dale Bumpers (D-AR) 20510-0401|Chester G. Atkins (D-MA) 20515-2105 Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC) 20510-4002| Harry Reid (D-NV) 20510-2803| | MINORITY MEMBERS |Ralph Regula (R-OH) 20515-3516 MINORITY MEMBERS | (ranking minority member) James A. McClure (R-ID) 20510-1201|Joseph M. McDade (R-PA) 20515-3810 (ranking minority member) |Bill Lowery (R-CA) 20515-0541 Ted Stevens (R-AK) 20510-0201| Jake Garn (R-UT) 20510-4401| Thad Cochran (R-MS) 20510-2402|For appropriations conferences, the Warren B. Rudman (R-NH) 20510-2902|chair and ranking minority member of Don Nickles (R-OK) 20510-3602|the full House Appropriations Committee Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) 20510-3101|are traditionally active participants. |The chair and ranking minority member |of the House Appropriations Committee For appropriations conferences, the |are, respectively: chair and ranking minority member of | Jamie L. Whitten (D-MS) 20515-2401 the full Senate Appropriations Commit-| Silvio O. Conte (R-MA) 20515-2101 tee are traditionally active partici- | pants. The chair and ranking minority| member of the Senate Appropriations | Letters to representatives should be Committee are, respectively: | addressed as follows: Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) 20510-4801| Honorable ____________________ Mark O. Hatfield (R-OR) 20510-3701| U. S. House of Representatives | Washington, DC 20515-____ | (fill in name and extension of zipcode) Letters to senators should be addressed| as follows: | Honorable ____________________ | United States Senate | Washington, DC 20510-____ | (fill in name and extension of zipcode)| | From: Charles Ess Subject: Re: 3.331 software development (87) Date: Mon, 7 Aug 89 11:21:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 336 (635) I very much enjoyed Scott Myer's most recent comments (evoked by my comments on his comments...) on the issue of developing homegrown software for humanists when more polished, commercially available software is lacking. I hesitate to quibble with the eminent good sense he displays -- but I think the quibble is an important one. Underneath much of our discussion, it seems to me, is a rather large disparity between the environments and goals of humanities computing which we are attempting to address. To state this disparity most sharply: I am interested in taking a long- standing claim about computing resources -- namely, that they will democratize research and learning resources -- very seriously. While there is some reason to believe that this democritization process is gradually emerging -- there is equal reason to believe that computing resources remain largely the province of the lucky few who (a) find themselves in an institutional environment with the resources and interest in academic computing to support their endeavors, and (b) manage the difficult conjunction between traditional academic research and teaching interests and the new technologies. For example, Scott (if I may be so familiar) mentions collaboration between humanities faculty and students in a computer science program. My college, however, has no such program -- partly out of an intentional decision to avoid creating a program which might reinforce our rather traditional faculty's belief that computers are "really" the province of the hard sciences and programmers. More generally, the financial resources available to many of us in colleges such as mine -- small, liberal arts institutions which are neither a Princeton or Stanford, nor a _______ (fill in the name of one of the dozens of struggling liberal arts colleges in this country who may boast some very fine and dedicated faculty, but who are also not entirely certain their doors will open next year) -- mean that a PC (not to mention a Macintosh) for every faculty member, provided by the college, remains a fond dream. My point is not to bewail our relative poverty, nor to somehow cast moral deprecation on my colleagues who find themselves in more richly supportive environments. Rather, it is to point out that there are considerable differences in the computing environments. While this may seem obvious, it leads to a critical difference in the decisions we make regarding hardware and software. Most sharply, if I'm interested in developing computing resources which can be utilized by as many students and faculty on my campus as possible -- and in this way, such resources will democritize the research and learning process by extending such resources to faculty and students who otherwise would have no access to them -- then these resources must be cheap, exceptionally user-friendly, and sufficiently powerful to overcome the fairly common reaction: "What can your computer do that I can't already do with a typewriter or an overhead projector?" In such an environment, acquiring a SUN would not make a great deal of sense. For the humanities faculty who enjoy greater levels of technical and financial support -- and, as some of Scott's comments suggest, are primarily interested in exploiting the computer for their own research (_not_ a bad thing at all, just to be sure that's clear) -- the SUN might be a wise investment indeed. I do not mean to suggest that democritization is morally superior to a kind of computer elitism. I simply want to call attention to a distinction between computing environments which I fear is not always explicit in our discussions, but which defines in large measure what makes sense for us. Charles Ess Drury College From: Michael Ossar Subject: hypertext for DOS Date: Sat, 5 Aug 89 22:10 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 476 (636) Regarding Leslie Morgan's inquiry on hypertext programs for DOS, I know of two programs that can be obtained from Public Domain Software, P.O. Box 51315, Indianapolis, IN 46251. Hypertext gets two stars (out of four) on PDS's rating system. It is described as "a cross between an expert system, an outliner, and a database management system that handles text. . . . Presents windowed dialog and allows the reader to select where the discussion is going by transversing 'threads' of thought built into the text. This stuff has real potential." The other is called Black Magic, and gets four stars. It comes on three disks and requires *lots* of memory. PBS comments: "Black Magic smoothly handles chains of items, whether text or graphics. Link types include: note, replace, reference (traverse), and special graphics links with full pointing capabilities with either a mouse or the keyboard. . . . Added to the standard hypertext display capabilities are: limited text find, document print, use of EMS if available, saving bookmarks, and a TSR interface. . . . A major work." From: Hans Rollmann Subject: RE: 3.328 displaced heart? (43) Date: 06 Aug 89 05:36 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 477 (637) ----------------------- I don't know the exact dates, but many members of the House of Habsburg are buried in two places in Vienna: their bodies lie in the Kaisergruft but their hearts are in a different church in the "heart crypt". From: LNGDANAP@UOGUELPH Subject: Misandry: A P.S. and an aside Date: Sun, 06 Aug 89 18:41:20 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 478 (638) - - Let's set up a semantic class whose contents consist of words for people hating people. The following have been submitted: misanthrope, (person who hates all other persons), homophobe (person who hates homosexuals), misogyne (person who hates women) and the newly coined misandrist (person who hates men). The thing that strikes me about this list is that while the object of the hate can vary from the global (all but self) to the particular (homosexuals/women/men) the subject (the person doing the hating) is generally perceived to be male. I suppose one could have females in the subject position, but my personal perception of general usage is that it is unlikely. Which raises a question: why is there no term where the subject is most likely female and the object male, i.e., a term for women who hate men? - Where terms are missing from paradigms, sociolinguistics tends to posit that the absence is as significative as the presence of the other terms. If `misandrist' does not exist, nor a more specific word for women hating men (although someone suggested that women don't hate men, they just devour them...so *that*s where males disappear to at the end of a relationship! Always wondered about that...) could we possibly be dealing with the issue of a male-dominated language? If the language is male-dominant, then it is unlikely that the `owner' of the language will have words to hate himself or fellow men who do not deviate from his norm. Deviants, on the other hand, could easily be named for hating: sexual deviants, gender deviants, racial deviants, physically deformed deviants. Since the deviants do not own the language, they would have a hard time having their hate words accepted, i.e., homosexuals who hate straight males; women who hate men; minorities who hate the majority, etc. - It's a sad thought that the subject of hating is such a rich one semantically... would it that, like those languages which do not have a term for `snow' because that phenomenon does not occur locally, our language were lacking in terms for hate... - I think it's time for me to duck and run for shelter... - P.S. Why are there no `female' chauvinist pigs?? - - From: FINEART@ECS.UMASS.EDU Subject: FineArt Forum -- a reminder Date: Tue, 8 Aug 89 06:54:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 338 (639) [This is a reminder about the existence of a very interesting electronic discussion group. The address for the interested will be found below. I reproduce merely the header and table from the most recent issue. --W.M.] _______________________________________________________________________ ___] | \ | ____] \ __ ___ ___] | | | \ | | / \ | | | __] | | \ | ___] ____ \ __ / | | | | \ | | / \ | \ | _| _| _| __| ______] _/ _\ _| _\ _| :::::: .::::. :::::. :: :: ::. .:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :::. .::: :::: :: :: :::::' :: :: :: ::: :: :: :: :: :: ':. :: :: :: ' :: :: '::::' :: ':. '::::' :: :: _______________________________________________________________________ FINEART Forum Aug 15, 1989 Volume 3 : Number 23 _______________________________________________________________________ Send both contributions and mailing list requests to: or _______________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS: New Positions in Cologne: Manfred Eisenbeis Polish Conference on New Media: Janusz Grzonkowski ICMC 89: Papers and Compositions: Mark Welch Seminal Chrono-Schema: Stephen Moore Image Processing Job: Kirk Martinez The Computer Revolution and the Arts: Roger Malina European Cultural Foundation: Jan van Goyenkade IBM Supercomputing Competition: Roger Malina Art Holography Show: John Kaufman Storing in analog on CDs: ???????? Digital Images: Howard Besser Some Announcements: Ray Lauzzana ISAST news: Judy Malloy From: Willard McCarty Subject: a dare Date: 3 August 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 479 (640) Below, in the second query, you will find evidence of a growing phenomenon. There a non-networked colleague challenges us to prove our mettle by providing information about three people. Of course this sort of thing, however helpful good answers may be, is in itself not a particularly interesting use of the technology, but it is interesting that we are now at that stage of things. "I have heard about these newfangled gadgets, now let's see what they can do!" It certainly is hard to resist such a challenge. Perhaps if we can meet it at least one more person will become receptive to suggestions about the really important things that an electronic seminar such as Humanist can do. Willard McCarty From: "James Woolley, Lafayette College" Subject: UUENCODed files Date: Mon, 7 Aug 89 13:41:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 480 (641) I've had excellent results downloading and uudecoding uuencoded files myself, but some e-mail correspondents don't have the same luck receiving them from me. One suspects a problem over Bitnet as the files shuttle into and out of ASCII and EBCDIC machines. Another correspondent's local computer guru claims you can't upload a uuencoded file through Kermit into the IBM mainframe because IBM Kermit chokes on the pound sterling sign in the uuencoded file. Since uuencoded files are archived on many Bitnet LISTSERVers, would I be right in assuming that there *is* a way to upload, transmit, and download uuencoded files across the Bitnet world? Any pointers welcome. James Woolley, English, Lafayette College (woolleyj@lafayett.bitnet) From: "TRACY LOGAN, LAFAYETTE COLLEGE" Subject: something for humanist if it seems approp. Date: Tue, 8 Aug 89 16:31:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 481 (642) At a Search Committee lunch, the humanist on my right was arguing that for his work, his modus operandi, etc., E-mail and the like were not useful. After some discussion, which many HUMANISTs can imagine better than I can conduct, he agreed to let me try the following (genuine) query to see if it bears fruit: [Copied from a napkin, so please read with some elasticity] Would like to hear from, share info with, HUMANISTs interested in any or all of these individuals: Louise Swanton-Belloc, Edward John Trelawnly, Thomas Medwin [I'll forward any responses. --tracy LOGANT@LAFAYETT.BITNET ] From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Biographical and Genealogical Information Date: Tuesday, 8 August 1989 0933-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 482 (643) Jim McSwain asked about information on Ralph Beaufort and the "prominent Beaufort family." Unfortunately, I have not come up with the desired information, but it may be useful for HUMANISTs with similar interests to know that the New England Historical Genealogical Society in Boston has an extensive library from which members may borrow books (two weeks limit), and that NEHGS publishes a catalogue of its holdings organized by family name. Thus I checked my catalogue under Beaufort to see if NEHGS had any pertinent information listed. It did not. But the catalogue is extensive, and the chances were good that something might appear there. I am willing to check any similar requests from HUMANISTS. Sometimes NEHGS has rare, even unpublished information on file. Bob Kraft From: Leslie Burkholder Subject: Re: 3.334 query Date: Tue, 8 Aug 89 03:37:57 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 483 (644) JACK THE RIPPER and MONEY PIT MADNESS are both to be obtained from Peter A French, Center for Undergraduate Philosophical Research, Trinity University, San Antonio Texas 78284, USA. LB From: "Guy L. Pace" Subject: Library access Date: Tue, 08 Aug 89 11:14:32 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 484 (645) Joe Wallmannsberger (Austria) asked about access to English-language libraries. The Internet Resources Guide, now being published by NSFNET is available. Some of the libraries contributing information for INTERNET access include libraries in Cambridge, Princeton, and sunny Marina del Rey, CA. I'm making printed copies as the pages come through, but you may find it easier to join NSFNET to get your own copy sent. Chris is sending the pages in both straight text and in postscript format. From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: UUQUERY Date: Wed, 09 Aug 89 15:42:25 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 485 (646) What is "uuencoding"? Is it a variety of data compression? KLC. From: Charles Ess Subject: Chaos resources; external hard drives Date: Thu, 10 Aug 89 11:17:29 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 486 (647) HUMANIST readers may remember an earlier comment on Chaos theory. Partly on the basis of the information and suggestions forwarded by several of you, interest in studying chaos among faculty continues to grow. In particular, the Dean would like to arrange for us to bring in "someone" as a facilitator for a faculty discussion group/workshop on chaos. Qualifications would include a sufficient familiarity with chaos, both in its mathematics and its more qualitative and conceptual dimensions -- and the ability to introduce non-mathematicians to the elementary concepts of chaos and generally facilitate discussion among liberal arts faculty. Also, this wonderful person should be fairly modest regarding expectations for a stipend. (I suspect we can arrange a stipend along the usual lines for academic speakers of some distinction these days, but the chaos equivalent of Henry Kissinger or Oliver North we certainly cannot afford.) Any suggestions? (And please don't be so overly modest as to not offer your own expertise, if you feel up to these rather stringent demands.) On an entirely different matter: I would like to add a 3.5" drive to my IBM clone (a Zenith 158). While the existing controller card includes a logic cable for a second floppy drive (space for which is occupied by a hard disk), no additional power cables are available. I suspect the neatest, but rather expensive solution is to buy an external drive of the Sysgen variety. Any suggestions from my fellow HUMANISTS on solutions to what I suspect must be an awfully common problem would be very much appreciated. Charles Ess Drury College From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: OS SERTO=ES available, needs work Date: Thursday, 10 August 1989 1749-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 487 (648) Due to a set of unfortunate circumstances, we find ourselves in possession of a KDEM-scanned copy of the Portuguese text "Os Serto=es" (of which I know nothing) that still needs significant work to make it usable, but in which we have a considerable investment that we would not like to see wasted. The scanning was not done by a regular KDEM operator, nor was any of the usual post-editing done, and the results have been refused by the person who originally requested the job. That person has agreed to my plan to offer the "raw" output to anyone willing to invest the time and energy in getting it into acceptable shape, with the understanding that the resultant text will also be available to others through CCAT. The full text is about 500 pages long, and about 1000 random lines are missing (although the locations are marked) in that body of electronic material (about 2 lines per page average). In a few places, smaller type appeared in the printed copy that has been mangled in scanning. I estimate that it would take a good encoder about 10 hours to rectify these problems. The resultant, quantitatively complete text, would still need massaging of the usual sort for KDEM scanned materials (confusions of c and e, l and I and 1, etc.), but much of that can be done with various global checks, creation of a word list, etc. If anyone is interested, please contact me. The idea is (1) not to waste the effort already expended on this text if the material is of sufficient value to someone, and (2) to create a situation in which the expenses already incurred by CCAT might be recovered to some extent, or at least justified! Bob Kraft, CCAT From: Willard McCarty Subject: lex talionis Date: 10 August 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 488 (649) I have a particular need to discover what work has been done on the lex talionis or law of retaliation, especially in classical Roman jurisprudence. What would be best for me is a general study on the sort of retaliation or vengeance which specifies that the punishment must fit the crime. The best known statement is biblical, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", but the idea that matching compensation is required for damage done is a very well attested idea throughout the ancient Near East and elsewhere. Lewis-and-Short shows a few references to Latin sources s.v. "talio" (e.g. Festus, Pliny), and I suppose a few more can be turned up by the usual means. I imagine that a general study would relate the talion to the idea of nemesis, and I would hope that it would also deal with the metaphorical dimension (as in mirroring), but that may be hoping for too much. In any case, suggestions would be welcome. Willard McCarty From: Alan D Corre Subject: LaTex Date: Thu, 10 Aug 89 15:32:59 -0500 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 342 (650) I have been working with computers for fourteen years (I've even tried some assembly language) and regard LaTeX as the biggest challenge I ever undertook. You can enjoy the marijuana of WordPerfect, even graduate to the cocaine of some programming language or another, but LaTeX is definitely the heroin of programming, to be avoided unless you plan to write an updated confessions of an opium eater. It is not a word processor. It is a typesetting program, and one of the most difficult and frustrating things you can imagine. Only one thing is worse, TeX itself. I once opened the TeXbook, decided it was the Bible of Beelzebub himself, closed it and vowed never to open it again. Many times when using it I have cursed the day I started. But...the results can be fabulous. I used it to compose my forthcoming book "Icon Programming for Humanists" and the technical editor at Prentice Hall wrote to me that it was one of the best-looking manuscripts she had ever seen. She asked me casually: Would you mind taking out the dots that join the chapters and page number in the index? I wrote back to her: Would you mind if I don't? Why? Because to achieve that seemingly simple task I should have to crawl around the guts of that awesome program which is full of dragons and dungeons. And that is the crux of it. LaTeX can do everything, but nothing simply. White space is a bear. Try and alter a little bit of it and all hell breaks loose. Error messages look like dispatches from Moscow to American diplomats in Vienna. It takes for ever to run. It asks coy questions to which you don't know the answer. In short, it is guaranteed to drive you crazy, and when you approach the local Texpert he or she will give you more soothing words than good advice. If nonetheless you decide to navigate these troubled waters, keep your files short. LaTeX has ways to join files together satisfactorily. Divide and conquer. Better yet, switch on your tape deck and play the timeless ballad: There is a house in New Orleans They call the Rising Sun And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy I know, cos I am one. Then take the advice of this poor boy and stick to your user-friendly word processor. Alan D. Corre Department of Hebrew Studies University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (414) 229-4245 PO Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201 corre@csd4.milw.wisc.edu [I cannot resist repeating "the standard joke about TeX" related to me by someone whose wisdom in these matters far exceeds mine: To the question, "Can it be done with TeX?" the answer is invariably, "Yes!" To the question, "Is it easy?" the answer is invariably, "No!" --WM] From: Willard McCarty Subject: from: Five Letters Date: 11 August 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 343 (651) 2 Your unwritten letters insist on a reply: Those unread letters, memorized In the unfuddled fever of waiting, In the fugue of some voyage, or in sleeplessness, Bitter and bright with your breath and the snow On the window of this room; did you forget The postcode? I breathed it, unreadably perhaps, Into the music you love; I jotted it in the margin Of a page in a book you are afraid to read At night, when its truth flashes like phosphor Between the black of the print. Let me answer: Nothing can dissolve this toxic glue of years Binding hope to space, and time to faithfulness To the spaces of hope. As for misfortune -- It is merely the sister of some absent wisdom, The shadow, perhaps, of foreseen defeat; This meaning eludes me, as does the meaning Of music, which is, even so, mathematics; Though I only count with two or three Golden numbers distilled from your name. So, maybe, we both lose out. Nothing, However, can take our place In this pattern of effects, written by The numbered hand of a god into the amnesia Of the stars, into the brief memory Of drying ink, Into your unwritten letters. Ivan V. Lalic' trans. Francis R. Jones TLS 4505 (Aug. 4-10 1989): 842. From: USERPVIF@UBCMTSG.BITNET Subject: Taiwan Date: Thu, 10 Aug 89 17:52:44 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 489 (652) Can anyone identify a HUMANIST in Taiwan? Does anyone know of a way to tap into a local (academic and non-academic) network with a name something like tugnet? All addresses and advice would be helpful. Richard Unger, Univ. of British Columbia From: MTRILEY@CALSTATE (Mark Timothy Riley) Subject: History of science on Bitnet? Date: Fri, 11 Aug 89 12:10:12 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 490 (653) Does anyone know of a history-of-science discussion group on Bitnet? reply to Mark Riley MTRiley@CalState. Thanks From: Subject: humanist contribution Date: Fri, 11 Aug 89 20:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 491 (654) In the midst of reading about misandry a curious thought struck me. Why is "philandry", which appears to mean "love of men", often used to describe a male fondness for women, albeit of less than respectable sort? While from a strictly etymological point of view one could imagine women philandering with males, surely it would be impossible for males to do the same with women? Perhaps hidden within our usage here is a sexist slur on feminine faithfulness. To go on further, why is philandry's cousin "philanthropy" such a respectable word - or is philandry simply the black sheep of the family? John Sandys-Wunsch, Lauvax01.Laurentian.ca. From: Peter D. Junger Subject: Chaos theory; science and the humanities Date: Fri, 11 Aug 89 19:29 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 345 (655) There appear to be two related subjects of general interest that are currently being discussed on Humanist: The impact of 'Chaos' on science, and perhaps the humanities, and the relations between the 'two cultures' of Science and the Humanities. I am now reading, and recommend highly to anyone who is interested in the historical development and the implications of Chaos theory, Ian Stewart's "Does God Play Dice? The Mathematics of Chaos" (Basil Blackwell, Oxford and New York: 1989). Despite the title no great mathematical knowledge is required of the reader, Stewart is one of those rare mathematicians who can get the basic ideas across to interested non-mathematicians. Although I am only a third of the way through the book, I feel that I can comment--with much more confidence than I would have had the day before yesterday--on two points that have been touched on by others. The type of 'indeterminancy' exhibited by chaotic systems is not necessarily a product of complexity, in the sense of the system having many variables (or dimensions or whatever). The behavior of the millions of millions of molecules in a balloon appears random in part because of the sheer number of molecules whose activities must be taken into account; on the other hand a system containing only three bodies may exhibit chaotic behavior--or, at least, the behavior of one of the three bodies may be chaotic if that body is significantly smaller than the other two. As an example of a very simple 'system' that can exhibit Chaos, Stewart cites the equation f(x) = k(xx)-1, where k is a constant and xx stands for x squared. Stewart includes the following BASIC program to explore the behavior of successive iterations of this function. 10 INPUT k 20 x = 0.54321 30 FOR n = 1 TO 50 40 x = k*x*x-1 50 NEXT n 60 FOR n = 1 TO 100 70 x = k*x*x-1 80 PRINT x 90 NEXT n 100 STOP Lines 10 through 50 are there to calculate, without printing, enough iterations to allow things to get interesting. Stewart says: "Chaos sets in around k = 1.5. After that, the bigger you make k, the more chaotic things get. "Or so it may seem. But it's not quite that easy." It seems pretty clear from the fact that the output of this program is chaotic that chaos can result from something that is very simple. The second point is that the new interest in chaos is not likely to cause a scientific 'paradigm shift.' The problems that can best be explored by chaos theory, i.e. by non-linear dynamics, are not those that have been studied by traditonal scientists. Since Newton's day scientists have, for the most part, restricted their interest to problems that they could solve and--for the most part--that meant that their interest was restricted to linear differential equations. Now that computers have enabled us to study the behavior of non-linear equations, new areas can be explored using new techniques. But for the traditional problems of physics linear, deterministic equations will still be the best tools. So there is not likely to be a paradigm shift in physics attributable to the development of chaos theory; instead the new paradigms will be used to study to new areas. My guess is that many of these new areas of scientific study will be in--or at least near--the humanities. One of the characteristics of non-linear dynamic systems is that they are unpredictable, even though their behavior can be described by simple equations that are completely determined by the original conditions of their variables. That suggests that mathematics will become another way of describing the unpredictable behavior of systems that up to now have only been describable by words. I would hope that such mathematical descriptions would be considered as complementary, rather than oppossed, to the more traditional descriptions of humanists. Peter D. Junger--CWRU Law School--Cleveland, OH--JUNGER@CWRU.bitnet From: N.J.Morgan@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.283 Israeli perfume; Greeks reading (134) Date: Mon, 7 Aug 89 12:04:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 492 (656) I have just returned from two weeks solace in the West Highlands and Islands of Scotland to be faced be mounds of mail on silent reading greeks. What I can't understand is how they could ever have got in a library, let alone an archive, as a clutch of loudly reading greeks must be much worse than a silently tip-tapping toshiba - or were librarians and archivists simply more tolerant in those olden days ? Nicholas Morgan University of Glasgow From: "Guy L. Pace" Subject: 3.5 inch drives Date: Fri, 11 Aug 89 10:26:55 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 493 (657) Charles Ess' desire for a 3.5 inch drive in his Zenith is understandable. However, the first question to ask is whether the Zenith's drive controller card supports the 3.5 inch drives. The power supply connector is not a problem. Most computer stores sell "splitters"--power supply connector wires that split a single power connector into two connectors. These go for $1 to $5. The most important part is the controller card. If it supports the 3.5 inch drive, then Charles should have no trouble installing a 720K drive. He may or may not be able to install a 1.44M drive. Also, the version of DOS should be 3.3 or better (you can set up the drive format in CONFIG.SYS to support the 1.44M drives if your controller card can handle it). What kind of room is inside the Zenith 158? Can the hard disk be put in an unexposed drive bay? Is there anywhere else to put the hard disk to open up the second floppy drive bay? Charles is correct in his assumption that the external drive is the most expensive solution. It may not be the neatest, nor the most convenient. If Charles can provide the answers to the above questions, I'll be able to provide more accurate and helpful information. From: Michael Ossar Subject: buried hearts Date: Fri, 11 Aug 89 15:02 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 494 (658) The heart of the Empress Zita, who just died, was buried apart from her body. I believe the Wittelsbachs buried their hearts at Altoetting. From: "Guy L. Pace" Subject: TEX, LaTEX and TEXT1 Date: Fri, 11 Aug 89 10:40:21 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 347 (659) I do quite a bit of consulting on TEXT1 (a system of macros created by some folks here at WSU for TEX). My wife typesets with LaTEX in the WSU Math Department. I use the TEXBook regularly to troubleshoot TEXT1 problems. Why anyone would recommend any version of the above as a "wordprocessor" is beyond me. TEX is no more than a text markup for typesetting. LaTEX and TEXT1 are extensions of TEX--macros to simplify the process for specific purposes. None of them are easy to use. For some unknown reasons, grad students at WSU have been encouraged to spend their free time for two or more years wrestling with TEXT1 to produce their thesis and dissertations. Most have been certifiable by graduation (if they make it that far). Some have botched their papers so badly when they finally come to me for help that it is simpler to download their thesis to a PC, strip out the markup, and reformat the document in WordPerfect, and print it out on a laser printer. TEX, TEXT1 and LaTEX are far cries from even the most basic wordprocessor. The output is great when using a laser printer like the IBM 382x series printers. However, WordPerfect (or Word, or WordStar) can do just as well on the HP or Apple lasers as PC-TEX--maybe even better. Using TEX products reminds me of the old Perfect Writer (CP/M version). You had to physically imbed the markup in the text. It was unforgiving. It was hard to use. The output was great. Personally, I like to spend my time writing, not troubleshooting a blankety-blank markup that doesn't work correctly. From: "John K. Baima" Subject: 3.5" Drives Date: Sat, 12 Aug 89 10:14 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 495 (660) Any normal disk controller that can handle 360k drives can also work with 3.5" drives. The 3.5" drives were designed to work with a standard controller, unlike 1.2meg 5 1/4 drives. They have the same spin rate, the same transfer rate and the same format. They only differ in the number of tracks which is not something the controller cares about. So, that is not a concern for a standard clone. DOS 3.2 is necessary for a 720k drive and DOS 3.3 is necessary for a 1.44 meg drive. Adding a "Y" to a power cable is the standard way of adding another device to the power supply. If you do not have room inside your computer, you could dangle the drive outside, but that is not recommended. Most PC's have a switch on the mother board that indicates the number of installed floppies. I would suggest leaving that at 1 and installing the drive as an external drive even although the 3.5" drive is inside your computer and uses your internal controller. This is done by adding a line such as device = \dos\driver.sys /d:01 to your CONFIG.SYS file. The DRIVER.SYS file comes with DOS. Complete documentation is in the DOS manual. This line is for a 720k drive. The reason for making it an external drive is so you will be able to format 3.5" disks properly. If you just install it like another 360k drive, you will be able to read and write to the disk just fine, but when you try to format the disk, it will be formated as a 360k disk! Installing the disk as an external drive with DRIVER.SYS will allow the disks to be formated properly. I have heard that there are sometimes problems attaching a 1.44 meg drive to an XT. I am not sure why that should be so, but I consider the person who told me reliable. I hope that this saves you some time installing a 3.5" drive. John Baima d024jkb@utarlg From: Jeutonne Brewer Subject: 3.5" drive Date: 12 August 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 496 (661) There are at least three questions to consider in adding a 3.5" drive to an older computer: 1. Will the computer's BIOS support a 3.5" drive? 2. Will the computer's controller card support the 3.5" drive? 3. What kind of case does the computer have? (full height drives or half height drives) The answer to these questions and the amount of time you are willing to spend in figuring out the answers to installation problems will determine whether the external drive is a more expensive or a more practical solution. Guy Pace's comments about the controller card are important. Even more basic than the controller card, however, is the BIOS, particularly for 1.44 meg drives. You may have to replace the BIOS. Or you may have to replace the controller card. Or you may have to replace both. (Interestingly, the BIOS is more basic but often less expensive to replace than the controller card.) Last year I decided to add a 1.44 meg 3.5" drive to my AT compatible (Five Star 286/10), knowing that I would have to figure out what changes might be necessary. The result was that I had to replace the BIOS chip. The controller card worked fine. If your computer has full height drives instead of half height drives, there are additional concerns. The earlier XT compatible computers and the earlier AT compatible computers had one full height floppy drive and one full height hard disk (usually 10 meg.). In a case like this you have to work out a way to add a frame to hold half height drives, or figure out a way to attach the half height drives to the computer case. 3.5 " drives come with kits to place them in 5.25" drive slots. What you have to do is attach the kit to the computer case. Anyone who has to change BIOS, controller card and drive attachments will find that an external drive may be an attractive answer in terms of time and money. If you have a half height drive bay available, but you are not sure about BIOS and controller card, you can buy a controller card that is designed to allow the PC or XT or AT use a 3.5" drive. An example is the CompatiCard series by Micro Solutions. This is a second controller card that will allow you to use various kinds of drives. You simply plug the 3.5" drive into the new controller card. If you decide on an external drive, I suggest that you check with companies like Micro Solutions, Manzana, and Sysgen. ****************************************************************************** * Jeutonne P. Brewer * * Associate Professor, English, U of North Carolina at Greensboro * * Greensboro, NC 27412 * * Telephone: (919) 334-5263 [office]; (919) 334-5384 [messages] * * Research: Linguistics: Sociolinguistics, including Black English and * * Lumbee English; computer terminology; language of technology * ****************************************************************************** From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: E-Style Date: Sun, 13 Aug 89 14:46:09 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 349 (662) Natalie Maynor has drawn our attention to the novelties of e-style, language used only in e-mail transmissions. I therefore would like to continue her work by reporting on the discovery of an e-lexicon. The last edition of Compuserve ONLINE MAGAZINE offers the following example of e-discourse, all of them gleaned from conversations on chat, e-mail, or other relay-type systems. Of special interest, I think, are the "emoticons," by which states of mind or gestures are encoded into text. B4: before BRB: be right back BTW: by the way CLUBBER, CLUBBERETTE: e-mailers CO: online conference CUL8R: see your later d/l: download FYI: for your information GA: go ahead (signal for other party to begin conversation in interactive conferences) GMTA: great minds think alike GD&R: grinning, ducking, and running ILY: I love you IMHO: in my humble opinion LOL: laughing out loud MORF: male or female MSG: message OTOH: on the other hand OIC: oh, I see POTS: pounding on table shrieking PROLLY: probably PUTER: computer REHI: hi again ROFL: rolling on floor, laughing RSN: real soon now TPTB: the powers that be u/l: upload WAEF: when all esle fails . . .: continued *xxxx*: asterisks around wor indicating emphasis _xxxx_: italicized word ALL CAPS: capitalized words for emphasis, all capitalized message signifies shouting. EMOTICONS. :-) smile ;-) smile with wink 8-) smile with glasses 8:-) glasses on forehead B-) smile with sunglasses :-& tongue-tied :-( sad face %-) staring at terminal too long or <-> wink From: jodonnel @ pennsas Subject: reading greeks Date: 11 Aug 89 21:55:34 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 497 (663) Just signed on to HUMANIST yesterday and find a discussion today, citing anterior discussion, that seems on internal evidence to deal with the ancient question whether the Greeks read silently or not.... The decisive article, if not already cited, is Bernard Knox in GREEK, ROMAN, AND BYZANTINE STUDIES for about 1968, demonstrating that the ability to read silently was present very early, scouting the much earlier article of J. Balogh, `Voces paginarum' (vintage 1926), claiming that St. Ambrose is the first silent reader ever as noted at Augustine Confessions 6.3.3 (and claiming that Augustine was a quick study, picking up the trick by Confessions 8.12.29). Joseph Mazzeo's long-venerated article on St. Aug. and the Rhetoric of Silence (Jour of History of Ideas c. 1960, reprinted in a volume of his collected essays) has some later references; perfectly clear that moving your lips and at least murmuring the words was an important part of the game until at least late middle ages, and of course well into modern times reading aloud was prescribed as healthful exercise. Underlying questions very Torontonian, long batted about by McLuhan, Havelock, and Stock. Is any of this non-redundant? From: James O'Donnell Subject: reading Greeks Date: 12 Aug 89 11:33:08 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 498 (664) If not too late, add refs.: ``For the middle ages, see I. Illich, ABC: THE ALPHABETIZATION OF THE POPULAR MIND (esp. for bibliography) and P. Saenger with a long article in VIATOR for 1982. But for Greeks specifically, Knox still the standard.'' From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Chaos and the Eighteenth Century Date: Fri, 11 Aug 89 21:47:55 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 351 (665) As part of my recent studies in literary didactic in the eighteenth century, I have authored a paper or two in which I touch on the application of chaos theory to non-systematic instructive discourse, especially that of earlier literary periods. I will send a copy of this and a related paper to anyone who sends me a stamped manilla envelope (postage for three ounces ought to do the trick). I will send a brief description of my work in this area via e-mail to anyone who sends me an e-mail address (although I've had a bit of trouble doing this into networks terminating with the suffix "edu." Prof. Kevin L. Cope Department of English Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803-5001 U. S. A. (504) 388-2864 (office) or (504) 766-2719 (home) BITNET: ENCOPE@LSUVM From: David Megginson Subject: Re: 3.347 LaTex, cont. (38) Date: Fri, 11 Aug 89 22:24:25 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 352 (666) As DTP programs become more sophisticated, TeX will become unnecessary. My DTP program (on the Atari mega) uses outline fonts on the screen and printer, kerns characters automatically (not with a kerning table but using the actual letter shapes), searches and replaces any combination of style, font or point size as well as text, allows any magnification up to 999%, and allows any function or any text macro to be assigned to a single keystroke. All that it seems to lack is widow/orphan protection (it has indexing and footnotes). I don't have the patience to download or learn TeX, any more than I want to learn Esperanto. From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: How is Humanist used. Date: Sun, 18 Jun 89 00:02:10 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 499 (667) Mostly I read it and forward selected messages to other people. This has resulted in at least a few new members joining the list because they too found some `use' in the messages. However, that seems just to say Humanist functions like some entertainment/news medium as a newspaper or magazine would. I have absorbed and reached conclusions about things like OCR from reading humanist. That may have led to the purchase of specific software (Omnipage), though I was evaluating the software through other channels as well. Perhaps, Humanist cast a deciding vote in some cases and thus serves as an voting member of my person decision making committee. I have learned some things about the humanities that I wouldn't have without Humanist. Certainly some sensitization as to the concerns of Humanists has become part of my knowledge at this point. From: "A. Ralph Papakhian" Subject: Re: 3.131 Humanist? Date: Sun, 18 Jun 89 22:32:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 500 (668) In regard to uses of HUMANIST: I have occasionally reposted items from HUMANIST to the Mail distribution list for the Music Library Association (MLA-L@IUBVM). While much of the HUMANIST postings are not directly relevant--some issues are of mutial concern: library use of cd-rom and other databases, difficulties with any character sets other than basic ascii, use of LISTSERV by humanists, new technologies for applications in the humanities (e.g. NeXT), and anything interdisciplinary that might relate to music. There is also some overlap with the MUSIC list that is distributed on BITNET from Finland. Frankly, I am finding that this is working out quite nicely since the subscriber base to each is quite different but sufficiently common so that when an item on one list is of interest to another it generally gets redistributed. My thanks and appreciation for all of your work on HUMANIST. Cordially, ***** **** *** **** MUSIC ** *** ** A. Ralph Papakhian, Music Library ** ******* ** LIBRARY Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 *** (812) 855-2970 ***** From: Malcolm Brown Subject: uses of HUMANIST Date: Mon, 19 Jun 89 14:09:45 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 501 (669) Willard, Like many others, I have been saving most of what comes down Humanist, appending what append to me to be relevant and/or useful infomation into text files. I will be using this corpus with text search systems, starting with the Digital Librarian on the NeXT machine. As we will shortly be undertaking some development work in this area, I will be using the Humanist text as a sample corpus. Eventually, I'd like to place the Humanist corpus in some public domain area so that anyone with network access could search it. best regards Malcolm Brown From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.131 Humanist? Date: Mon, 19 Jun 89 13:39:29 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 502 (670) Uses of humanist Most of my daily ration of humanist gets zapped after I've read it. Occasionally I will save a piece (typically bibliographies or other messages with a high information content, like the list of Humanist subscribers with their e-mail addresses). Very frequently when I see something that I think will be of interest to a particular colleague I either forward it (if he or she uses e-mail) or print it out and send it by campus mail. I know of at least one colleague who joined Humanist after receiving such messages from me. From: "Dr. Mike (asst director ACC)" Subject: Uses of HUMANIST Date: Tue, 20 Jun 89 14:18:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 503 (671) In response to your request for information on the uses of HUMANIST . . . As a humanist employed at our Academic Computer Center, I read HUMANIST daily and sort many of the messages into various folders, depending upon my own interests and those of my faculty colleagues. Among the topics I gather information on are the following: scanners, computer-assisted instruction, hypertext theory and applications, electronic text, etc. (approximately 20 in all). From time to time, I'll print out a folder and forward it to a colleague (who thereby gets not only the information but a sense of how an electronic bulletin board operates). Several of these humanists have taken our workshop on using BITNET, but the majority are content to have the occasional bouquets sent their way. If I were to stop the service, I suspect that some of them would overcome their inertia (or perhaps even their cyberphobia) and learn BITNET and HUMANIST for themselves. Hope you find this useful. Thanks for your contributions to computing in the humanities: through HUMANIST, through your work on the conference, and through the Humanities Computing Yearbook. Cheers, Michael Neuman, Director Center for Text and Technology 238 Reiss Science Building Georgetown University Washington, DC 20057 (202) 687-6096 From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: Date: 23 June 1989, 08:26:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 504 (672) You asked, as I remember, for how people are using Humanist. Let me count some of the ways. Electronic mail through Bitnet, in six months, has become my most important means of communication, as an editor, scholar, teacher, humanist. With e-mail, I send messages to fellow scholars around the world, most of whom I have met on Humanist. Humanist introduced me to the group of scholars who believe in using the memory, the calculative powers, and the speed of the computer to make our drudge work (from grading papers to charting influences to mapping ruins) quicker, more inventive, and more satisfying. It has also created a brother- and sisterhood of visionaries who see what the computer may do to make the world more of a global village (centered, as is appropriate, in Marshall McLuhan's university). Humanists are constantly redefining themselves and learning about what others are doing with similar tools. Because the medium of electronic mail is so fast, we must absorb information very quickly and put it to use quickly in what we do for a living. There has been no part of my life that has not been influenced by the medium of electronic mail and the forum of Humanist. I have had my consciousness raised, I have collected valuable reference material, I have talked to experts in many fields, I have joined worthy causes and have seen results, I have become friends with people I have yet to see. On a local level I have become a crusader for the goals of Humanist, and I have encouraged everyone in my discipline at least to find out what is going on. My colleagues have asked in wonder "How did you find that out so quickly?" or "Who told you that?" and they are starting to ask "How can I do that?" There is a fear of new technology, but there is also an excitement in discovery. I feel a little like my father, who trained pilots for World War I, though I am glad to say that Humanist is not dangerous. We are doing something on the edge of knowledge, discovering what it is we are doing as we do it, developing methodologies, sharing knowledge, trading information, having fun being creative because we have to reinvent ourselves as we work in a new medium. Roy From: [anonymous] Subject: Uses of Humanist Date: Mon, 26 Jun 89 23:51:16 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 505 (673) Re your query about the influence of HUMANIST: - 1) There is relatively little in the way of direct discussion of the fields which interest me professionally the most, ie., applied linguistics (French), second language learning, audio-visual technology for SLL and CALL. But I find that I am learning a great deal in a truly humanistic sense by listening in to the exchanges and debates on a range of subjects, even the more arcane ones (optical scanners, diacritics for Hindi - or was it Urdu?) - and learning from context the opaque language of computer-happy people (WYSIWYG, SMGL, etc...) I particularly enjoy the witty prose of some discussants (and miss Sebastian Rahtz - is that `h' in the right place? - and his down-to-earth, no holds barred comments). - 2) Have entered into private dialogue with other HUMANISTS in respect to some points brought up in open discussion, with great pleasure. Impressed by the courtesy and promptness with which people reply to inquiries by total strangers. In several cases, initial contact has led to protracted discussion and happy arguments, still ongoing. In one particular case, such a discussion led to a close, personal friendship, an odd situation on the surface since I have never met the colleague in question in person and am unlikely to do so. But the medium (as Gunhild ?) pointed out some time ago, seems to positively encourage more open communication between people of similar interests and/or personalities, and this kind of electronic relationship no longer seems odd to me at all. From: Philippa Matheson Subject: humanist--uses of Date: Thu, 29 Jun 89 02:20:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 506 (674) A brief note about using HUMANIST, as requested... I read it very much as I read a newspaper, to find out what others with similar interests are concerned about, and what they are doing (not necessarly the same things). I get valuable information about what is available on computer (such as foreign language dictionaries) and how to get it, and have on a number of occasions sent e-mail to other (unknown) humanists to follow up something they published that interested me. It supplies me with a network (in the social/academic sense of the word), and allows me to stay in touch with what is happening in various disciplines outside my own but related to it. This is particularly valuable for those of us who do academic research without a formal position in the academic hierarchy of a given institution. And yes, I pass along information from HUMANIST to friends and colleagues: I "clip" everything on computers for the deaf for someone at VOICE (for the hearing-impaired) Ontario; some archaeological submissions go to colleagues in the US and Greece, some items, of interest (intentionally or not) for their bearing on feminist issues or the use of words go to friends with whom I discuss feminism and language. I have also used it as a way to get a variety of responses to a moral/academic issue (in my case the dissemination of translations from Russian periodicals), which I think is one of the unique features of a computer journal. In conversation the interlocutors don't have time to mull the topic over before responding, and in traditional debates in newspapers or journals the response time is so long that the only issues which get much comment are ones about which a great many people feel strongly. HUMANIST provides almost instant, but not *too* instant, response, and is informal enough to elicit response from people who wouldn't bother writing to a printed journal. I am a little saddened by the discussions about citing submissions to HUMANIST in publications. I think you have set a good tone for HUMANIST, nicely balanced between informality and seriousness, and I don't mind the idea of treating contributions the way one treats semi- official academic correspondence (the scientific rubric of "personal communication"). But I'm afraid that once people think of HUMANIST as a vehicle of prestige and importance and wish to gain the concomitant kudos of figuring therein, fewer people will say less more pompously. I don't mean that the volume will decrease---on the contrary---rather that spontaneity will be replaced by judicious pontification. Perhaps this is just a general protest against things that grow up: I mourn the passing of restaurants in the same way, since as soon as I find one I like to go back to, it either goes out of business or becomes too elegant and expensive. All evolution is unsettling, and perhaps HUMANIST needs academic credibility to survive. But I like to think of the time spent by HUMANIST contributors in shaping their contributions as personal commitment to the ideas, rather than as something they do in a "publish or perish" vein. --- Philippa Matheson (amphoras@vm.epas.utoronto.ca) From: Gerd Willee 0228 - 73 5620 UPK000 at DBNRHRZ1 Subject: Date: 3 July 89, 17:26:35 MEZ X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 507 (675) As for your request concerning my use of HUMANIST: It has been the first time that I've distributed such texts to students, as it fitted very well into the course matter. We've discussed Amsler's ideas and have found out that they are quite close to the ones we've developed during the term. Sometimes I introduce information and ideas of HUMANIST material into my lectures without citing explicitly the source, just telling that others are thinking in such and such a way; in general I read the HUMANIST material according to whether the subject is of interest for me or not, sometimes I distribute issues to collegues, so that I need not tell them all the contents myself. Quite often I have the feeling of being drowned by the mass of information being delivered by HUMANIST, but that's the evident consequence of the variety of interests of those dealing with the humanities, that's what makes dealing with such a stuff so interesting. But as the material arrives in an oredered way, i.e. with naming the subject, and grouped a bit, one easily can live with this flood of information. In a total: I think HUMANIST being a very helpful institution. So thank you again for your help! Yours, Gerd From: HGREESON@LAUVAX01.BITNET Subject: New PRINTOM Database listserver information Date: Fri, 21 Jul 89 12:39 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 508 (676) "Interested in CD-ROM databases, computer-assisted instruction programs, expert systems, hypertext programs, library microcomputer facilities, online catalogs, orother computer systems provided by libraries for use by patrons? Discuss these issues with your colleagues across the country using the Public-Access Computer Systems Forum, a brand new BITNET list server. To subscribe: Tell LISTSERV @ UHUPVM1 SUB PACS-L your name. We welcome your participation and those of your colleagues in this open subscription list server. For further details, contact: Charles Bailey, Assistant Director for Systems, University Libraries, University of Houston TX 77204-2091 (BITNET Address = LIB3@UHUPVM1)." All the best, Hoyt Greeson (HGreeson@Lauvax01.Laurentian.Ca) Dept. of English Laurentian University Sudbury, Ontario P3E 2C6 From: Richard Goerwitz Subject: multiple copies DOS -> Xenix Date: Mon, 14 Aug 89 15:34:05 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 509 (677) Just in case there is anyone else out there who frequently dumps DOS files into his or her Xenix file system using "doscp," I am posting the following Icon program. It just allows one to pass all files on a DOS disc to a specified Xenix subdirectory. Nothin' fancy. Anyone who knows Icon will probably want to modify/extend it: procedure main(a) [remainder deleted] -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. DOS_TO XENIX. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: "old-spelling" texts Date: 14 August 1989, 08:58:48 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 510 (678) May I ask the general readership of Humanist to respond to the question that editors of "standard" works have to ask themselves: should the works of a writer of a remote time, written in his or her vernacular language, be reproduced for a modern writer in a form as close to the "author's intentions" as possible, or should the author's text be modernized in order to reach a larger audience? I am talking about authors as widely ranged as William James, Shakespeare, Goethe, Villon, Hawthorne. My question to the general readership of Humanist is "Which would you rather read, and why?" and my question to editors or specialized readers is "Which would you rather produce, and why?" Roy Flannagan From: grgo@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Greg Goode) Subject: "Nuclear Fiction" query Date: Mon, 14 Aug 89 16:15:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 511 (679) I have a question about nuclear fiction. Because of the spate of 80's nuclear fiction, I've been wondering when the FIRST such novel or short story was published. What do I mean by nuclear fiction? In this case, it would be the Post-apocolyptic story -- after the WWIII holocaust, the survivors struggle with the problems unique to this new state of the world: the collapse of society, rampant injuries, disease, fallout, human moral anarchy, depression, and the possibility of renewed hope and rebuilt civilization. Does anyone know when the first story of this type was published? Reply by E-Mail directly to the undersigned. --Greg Goode From: MCDOJK@QUCDN Subject: Uses of Humanist Date: Mon, 14 Aug 89 10:05:54 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 356 (680) In your recent batch of testimonials on the a/m subject, number 7 was anonymous so I cannot respond directly to number 7. Excuse me, then, for addressing you instead. 'Anonymous' says his specialty is applied linguistics and French CALL, and suggests he would like to speak to others so interested. If he is not already , 'anonymous' should get in touch with my colleague Greg Lessard at Queen's, who is doing very nicely in the same field (under our rubric of VINCI). I might add, since I have your eye, that HUMANIST reminds me of the old staff common room we used to have when humanities departments were smaller, teaching schedules were fixed across the week, and people from all departments would meet one another over coffee between classes. The proximity of lecturing/expatiating/teaching combined with respect for a wider, usually wiser, though relaxed audience, gave rise to a sort of common-room conversation that has since been lost in the business-like departments we now have. Long live your new electronic version of the old common room! From: David Megginson Subject: Re: 3.355 old-spelling texts? "nuclear fiction"? (54) Date: Tue, 15 Aug 89 08:14:17 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 512 (681) There are good reasons for using original spellings for any text from the eighteenth-century on. The specialist reader _wants_ to see those spellings, and the amateur reader appreciates the small (but enjoyable) challenge of mastering them. The only one who would prefer modern spellings is the poor, over-worked undergraduate, who would rather not be reading the book in the first place, and resents anything that prolongs the reading period. Of course, not all undergraduates feel this way, but those who don't fall into the 'amateur reader' catagory. Bettest wisches (just joking) David Megginson From: MORGAN@LOYVAX.BITNET Subject: RE: 3.355 old-spelling texts? "nuclear fiction"? (54) Date: Tue, 15 Aug 89 08:29:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 513 (682) In answer to the query about "old-spelling texts", I must say that as a medievalist, I prefer to produce the old spelling versions in Italian, with notes as necessary. The problems are somewhat less in Italian, however, than, for example, Old French. I would say, under such circumstances, that a side-by-side (old and modern) version might fill the bill. Even for languages which I know less well (e.g., German) when I look up older texts, I try for the side-by-side approach, since I enjoy seeing and playing with different orthographical and non- regularized forms. Maybe this is an occupational hazard, however, and you should seek responses from modernists! Leslie Morgan Loyola College Dept. of Foreign Langs. and Lits. (MORGAN@LOYVAX) From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Archaic/Modern Text Forms Date: Tuesday, 15 August 1989 0901-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 514 (683) Roy Flannagan requests responses on the question of how editors are to approach the issue of "original" (spellings, punctuation, formats, syntax, etc.) versus "modernized" forms of a given text. My own experience ranges from the obvious problem of biblical translations (which King James version would help you most?) to the equally vexing question of how to transcribe old (or even new) diaries and journals -- do I resolve abbreviations, correct spelling inconsistencies, modernize spellings, etc. The ideal, I think, is somehow to preserve it all. For the King James Bible, this involves an extensive apparatus of "variations" that have appeared over the centuries, all of which could be useful to persons attempting to identify quotations and allusions in the various literatures they are researching. For the diaries (as for ancient manuscripts and fragments), the non-standard and non-modern information is of potential value to persons studying a wide range of subjects from dialects and informal language patterns to acquired habits, spelling and punctuation evolution, and the like. Sometimes it is possible to "document" the edition by pointing out in the introduction that the original text consistently used "staid" where the edition has "stayed," or "publick" where the edition has "public," that "M." has been resolved to "Mr." or that "Aunt M." is filled out to "Aunt Mary" when it is absolutely certain that such an identification is correct. But usually, this sort of information needs to be encoded in some sort of textual apparatus. This discussion of how best to code "textual variants" has appeared on HUMANIST in the past, but needs continued attention until some commonly accepted standards emerge. Any progress, Michael Sp-McQ? If we want our programs to serve us well, the software developers need to be able to handle effectively this type of issue (e.g. searching the recorded variants to identify the target passage). Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Old works in New clothes Date: Tue, 15 Aug 89 11:37:41 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 515 (684) I must confess I am not one who felt great outrage at the colorization of films, and changing spellings in classic works strikes me as minor compared to that. What I think I'd find appropriate is that whatever changes are made, they be described in some detail in an appendix to the work. Intellectual freedom seems to me to greatly detract from its potential when it fails to make explicit all that it knows about how it is being exercised. Taking artistic license should be encouraged; concealing what license has been taken should not. From: "Guy L. Pace" Subject: old-spelling texts Date: Tue, 15 Aug 89 08:30:47 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 516 (685) Call me a purist, but I think that the original documents by such authors as William James and Shakespeare should be edited/transcribed with all the accuracy and faithfulness as is humanly (and computerly) possible. [deleted quotation]period vernacular also reflects the character of the time. Any editing for the modern reader, as I see it, would destroy the original beauty and artistic intent of the works. Just look at the mess created by the various versions of The Bible, with conflicting interpretations to boot. We also have a relatively recent example of translated Shakespeare in "West Side Story." Nice musical, strong dialog. Poor second cousin to "Romeo and Juliet." Besides, just think of the fun you'd miss when you assign Shakespeare to that group of wide-eyed freshmen, if the plays were all translated to the modern: ROMEO: Tibalt, you mangy alley-cat! TIBALT: Eat steel, Romeo! Something is lost. From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.355 old-spelling texts? "nuclear fiction"? (54) Date: Tue, 15 Aug 89 17:39:55 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 517 (686) re: Roy Flannagan's "old-spelling texts" I would prefer that enough of Shakespeare remained in old style spelling to keep the flavour, as it were, but would prefer "murther" as "murder" to avoid pressuring the readers to spend too much time with references. From: Willard McCarty Subject: old and new spellings of the Bard's words Date: 15 August 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 518 (687) Our attribution of "flavour" to old-spelled texts is an interesting phenomenon worthy of a psychologist's time, but I doubt that much could be made of it from a literary perspective. There are all sorts of problems with the significance of an old spelling, aren't there? -- including typesetting habits, transcriptional practices, and so forth. Still, anything that drives the reader to the OED has some pedagogical value, I suppose. The electronic medium offers the possibility of both, e.g., an old-spelled text that can be transformed, word-by-word, to modern spelling on request. I've seen this sort of thing done between a Middle English text and its Modern English translation. I realize that the editor of a printed edition is not helped by such marvels, but the student may if the facilities are available. Willard McCarty From: elli@wjh12.harvard.edu (Elli Mylonas) Subject: Re: 3.349 lexicon of e-terms (66) Date: Mon, 14 Aug 89 22:32:04 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 519 (688) a few quick thoughts on the electronic dialect that was posted from Compuserve's newsletter... It seems that the commercial nets have developed a different dialect than Bitnet and Usenet. Some of the acronyms and abbreviations that were posted are familiar to me (i don't use commercial nets at all-- cost too much! but i do read Bitnet and Usenet lists) but many of those are from the business world. FYI is one such. As for the smiley faces, it is sad but true that they do add to the communication, by interpreting what the writer meant. I would rather see it done by careful use of English. It is just like letter writing after all. One doesn't have to interpret what one has just said, to make sure that the reader knows it is ironic or angry. Perhaps the little faces would be more interesting if they were used to add to the meaning of the words that surround them, instead of just repeating the tone. BTW, (By the way) there are HUGE lists of the little :-('s, for those who are interested in collecting them. --elli Mylonas From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: Date: 15 August 1989, 09:26:14 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 520 (689) On nuclear fiction: It might not quite fit the definition, but Nevil Shute's *On the Beach* (1957) was the first novel I remember that dealt with a nuclear holocaust. Roy Flannagan From: Joseph Raben Subject: Re: 3.16 e-Freud? English? (45) Date: Tue, 15 Aug 89 16:48:31 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 521 (690) For e-text of Freud, try Randy Jones . From: elli@wjh12.harvard.edu (Elli Mylonas) Subject: Re: 3.352 twilight of TeX? (22) Date: Mon, 14 Aug 89 22:22:08 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 359 (691) I am not sure that DTP programs can really eclipse typesetting languages like TeX quite yet. The most sophisticated of the DTP programs can be used to produce very attractive layout, even layout that can be printed on a Linotron, so that it can be used to produce book quality materials. However, TeX and the other command-style systems often allow a macro capability that may be used to name formatting groups, and thus to change them globally later. One might respond that the ability to make global changes on style and formatting is similar, but then how do you tell the difference between the indented paragraph that is a long quote and the indented paragraph that is an example, for example? Another feature that is lacking in most DTP programs that i know of is the header file. This is a file that contains formatting information and macro definitions, that can be embedded at the top of several files. Or even at the top of a file that then embeds the several files that make up a document. I have not used TeX, although i am familiar with its conventions, but i have used Waterloo Script and Waterloo GGN GML extensively. What i learned is that *no* one who wants to be efficient and productive uses this type of language in its raw form, without formatting--not editing--macros. Also that there are still a lot of features that i long for on the Mac, when i am preparing long documents. To conclude, i think what we all really want is the power and elegant results of TeX combined with a friendly, late 20th century graphical user interface. (Word of Warning...see what happened when Interleaf Publisher tried to move their program to the Mac. Graphical interfaces alone will not suffice, they have to be well thought out, too!!) --elli From: Geoff Rockwell Subject: computers in undergraduate education? Date: Wed, 16 Aug 89 00:10:38 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 522 (692) I have been asked to get a sense of how large, publicly funded Universities, like the University of Toronto, are using computers in undergraduate education. What I need is a bird's-eye view of different Universities' facilities and programs, so that I can say "we should be doing this too". I have been asked to informally report, not on what should be done, but what is being done in similar institutions. I realize this is an enormous topic that few wish to do justice to in an e-mail note. I have been told I can call long distance and interview anyone who is interested in participating but doesn't have the time to write. If you can spare a moment please send your phone number directly to me and I will call you at your convenience. That way you need not write anything and I can take up as little of your time as possible. If you know of others who are better suited to answer such questions I would appreciate their e-mail address or telephone number. Thanks in advance Geoffrey Rockwell University of Toronto Computing Services rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (416) 978 4548 From: Willard McCarty Subject: Hypermedia 1.1? Date: 16 August 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 523 (693) Has anyone seen vol. 1.1 of the new periodical, _Hypermedia_? A report on Humanist would be appreciated by many, I'm sure. _Hypermedia_ reportedly costs $85 US per year for 3 issues. Willard McCarty From: psc90!jdg@dartvax.dartmouth.edu (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Opinions on 'The Universal Word' Multilingual Wordprocessor" Date: Wed, 16 Aug 89 13:12:52 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 524 (694) Has anyone on HUMANIST used "The Universal Word" by WYSIWYG Corp.? They bill it as "The Most Advanced Word Processor Ever Created. For IBM Personal Computers and Compatibles." That's quite a claim, given "Nota Bene," "Word 4.0," and "WordPerfect." They list the "Advanced Features" as follows (with abridgement): o The first & only true WYSIWYG, what-you-see (on the screen) is-what-you-get (on the printed page) o Flexibility to choose, change, and combine font sizes, styles, type faces, foreign languages and colors easily directly on the screen o Multi-window environment for multiple document editing and handling o Windows can be resized, moved or zoomed easily with simple key strokes o Unlimited number of windows can be opened o Superior editing capabilities (cut, copy & paste functions)... o Laser typeset quality on inexpensive dot matrix printers o Proportional spacing (screen/printed pages) o Full-featured, multi-lingual (supports all languages & accommodates the languages [sic] direction: right/left). Note: The multi-lingual package is optional and the available foreign languages and features are subject to the specific package chosen o Definition dictionary/thesaurus/spell checker o Command/menu driven o User friendly (easy to learn and to use) o Automatic justification (right/left/full/center) o Multiple tab & margin settings o Misc.: password; ASCII save; sets starting page #; ruler options.... While WYSIWYG Corp. does not seem to offer a toll-free number, at least they have a FAX number! They're located at 6520 Arizona Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90045 (Tel. 213-215-9645). --Joel D. Goldfield J_GOLDFI@UNHH.bitnet From: "M. R. Sperberg-McQueen " Subject: old spelling vs. modern Date: 16 August 1989 11:01:30 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 361 (695) My instinctive response to Flannagan's question whether one preferred original or modernized versions of texts was: "original, of course." But seeing a number of humanists weigh in on that side has made me contrary and reflective, so here are some reservations about using original spelling texts. The question of audience is all important. The original question was directed at the readership of Humanist, a group of people many of whom have made it part of their professional training to be able to read older texts with ease. But it's worth trying to recall how confusing those unmodernized texts can be to the untrained--rather than putting their difficulties down to laziness or stupidity. Consider the German word "Thon" for example. I considered it once for nigh on a week back in 1974 when it came up in a text I was reading. I was completely flummoxed by it: what the hell does that word mean? Dictionaries were no help. I asked several professors of German (by chance, all of them specialized in modern German literature) and they were equally perplexed. Well, the answer is obvious: "older" German (and this means pre-WWI) often uses "th" where modern German has "t". This example came to mind again this past spring when an undergraduate history student beginning a project on the development of German elementary education came to me for help with reading some secondary literature from the late 19th century. Same problem: she'd spent (wasted?) a good deal of time trying to look up a word beginning with "th." Said student may have been "poor" and perhaps "overworked"--but she was also diligent and intelligent. Not someone in whose way I want to put obstacles. Sooner or later someone like her (or me back in 1974) is going to have to be trained to deal with archaic spelling--and syntax and typefaces (Fraktur: the bane of the German student's existence). My experience has been, however, that professors don't bother to offer that kind of training, and students have to learn on their own--or quit. Is it beneath us to take fifteen minutes in a seminar to point out some basic differences between modern spelling and old? To give students exercises to help them learn to read Fraktur fluently? Or should they learn the hard way? As we did. That strikes me as being a good way to ensure the decline of student interest in older literature. The point I seem to be working my way around to is: if we are so enamoured of older spelling, the least we can do is to keep its decipherment from being an obstacle to everyone but us. I also found myself wondering what we trained readers get out of the older spelling. Willard, if I understood him correctly, suggested that "flavour" is not really much of an answer. How often is the original spelling actually significant? In prose, I would bet, seldom. (But I'm more than willing to be corrected on this point--can anyone provide examples where original spelling in prose really makes a significant--not a flavour-- difference?) In verse, sometimes, when a modern spelling ruins scansion. (Preserving dialect is altogether another question--not a question of orthography.) Still, I can think of two arguments for keeping to the original spelling: the desire to have precisely what the author wrote, and the wish to study orthographic and printing practices themselves. To take the second argument first: studying orthography and printing practices can obviously only be done on the basis of original spelling, and thoses scholars have the most legitimate need for original spelling editions--and they need the original editions themselves or facsimiles or VERY thorough critical editions. But these are not necessarily the form most suitable for people without a special interest in spelling and printing to use for reading and study. As far as the "precisely what the author wrote" argument goes: Too often it's forgotten that the typesetter comes between author and reader. I've read supposedly responsible scholars making arguments about where an author was from and what his ideology was on the basis of apparent dialect coloring in the spelling in the original editions of his books--ignoring the fact that the orthography may well have been the printer's, not the author's. And I know of one instance in which the spelling is obviously not the author's but that of the printer--in Paul Fleming's Teutsche Poemata of 1646, there are about 75 pages part way through the volume where the spelling becomes wildly Dutch like. It's a phenomenon interesting for the student of printing, but irrelevant for the student of 17th-century lyric. My instinctive answer is still "yes, I want to read texts in their original spelling." But I don't want to exclude other potential readers by insisting upon it; I don't want it used to mystify. And I don't want more value attributed to it than it actually has. (Sorry this has gotten so long. But then I didn't always make it to the bottom of the discussions of quantum theory.) --marian sperberg-mcqueen U15440 at UICVM From: Mark Olsen Subject: Job posting -- ARTFL, University of Chicago Date: Wed, 16 Aug 89 08:21:15 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 525 (696) ARTFL Project American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language *** Position Available *** PROGRAMMER The ARTFL Project is a joint University of Chicago/Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (France) project to make the Treasury of the French Language (TLF) database available to North American researchers and students. The TLF contains the full texts of some 2,000 works of French literature, history, and philosophy. ARTFL works very closely with the Center for Information and Language Studies (CILS) in developing full-text and information retrieval systems and is involved in a number of research projects concerning language and information processing. Position: Reporting to the Director of ARTFL, the PROGRAMMER is responsible for a wide range of computer programming and support functions. The PROGRAMMER is responsible for maintenance and development of the full-text retrieval system used by ARTFL, working closely with the design team of CILS; performs system maintenance to support computers used by ARTFL staff; directs student programming assistants; support and work with non-technical ARTFL staff and subscribers. The PROGRAMMER is encouraged to develop research interests in areas related to ARTFL and language processing. Qualifications: The PROGRAMMER must be familiar with UNIX and the C programming language. Interest in database design, natural language processing, and user interface design is important. Knowledge of a foreign language, particularly French, is not required but highly desirable. He/she must be able to work on large projects and carry them through to completion as well as work closely with the CILS programming team. BA required, graduate level degree desirable. Salary: $27,000 - $32,000 depending on experience. Competitive benefit package. Send resume, a sample of programs you have written, research interests, and salary expectations, by September 1, 1989, to: Mark Olsen (312) 702-8488 Assistant Director mark@gide.uchicago.edu ARTFL Project Department of Romance Languages and Literatures University of Chicago 1050 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637 USA E-mail submission of documents is encouraged. From: Subject: job announcement Date: Wed, 16 Aug 89 11:31:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 526 (697) Position Announcement Department of History Mississippi State University Position: The Department of History, Mississippi State University, seeks an oral historian with a research/teaching specialty in 20th century U. S. to serve as director of the John C. Stennis Oral History Project. The director will develop an oral history archives to supplement and enhance the John C. Stennis Collection deposited at Mitchell Memorial Library. Although the position does not carry tenure, the director will have rank in the Department of History. Some teaching of undergraduate and graduate students will be expected. Rank and salary are open. Position available January 1, 1990. Qualifications: Candidates should have the following: * the Ph. D. degree in history * training and/or experience in oral history * a teaching/research field in 20th century U. S. history * ability to write grants and willingness to engage in pursuit of extramural funds to support the oral history project * ability to teach undergraduate and graduate students in area of specialization Application: The Department welcomes nominations as well as applications. Women and members of minority groups are especially encouraged to apply. Send letters of application or nomination to Charles D. Lowery, Head, Department of History, Mississippi State University, P. O. Drawer H, Mississippi State, MS 39762. Screening will begin October 1 and continue until the position is filled. AA/EOE PLEASE POST/CIRCULATE Don Mabry "Professor, History, Mississippi State University "Historians have a Richer Present" From: "Guy L. Pace" Subject: NSFNET Date: Fri, 11 Aug 89 08:46:35 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 527 (698) [The following about NSFNet is for the Humanist interested in connecting to US Libraries. For more information, contact the Guy Pace at the above address. --W.M.] The National Science Foundation (NSF) network is available to those doing research in the sciences (and others interested in what's going on). Craig Partridge is managing the distribution of the INTERNET Resource Guide through NSFNET. As far as I can tell, there are no special requirements for joining NSFNET (obvious, since I'm on the list). Most of what is going on in the US in the sciences can be found on NSFNET. Since I'm only on the list for getting the resource guide (which I'm collecting for our Information Center), I don't have detailed information on all the discussion groups active on that network. However, some on our campus joined NSFNET just for the discussion and information on "cold fusion" when that topic was hot. The resource guide provides information on supercomputers available through INTERNET, as well as major libraries accessible through INTERNET. So far, that's as much as we have. There are more sections coming, though, and I expect it will be valuable. From: COM3RAE@CLUSTR.TRENT.AC.UK Subject: IT confusion. Date: 16-AUG-1989 17:36:04 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 528 (699) The recent discussion on the use of IT comes too late for me ... we at Trent Polytechnic have just advertised for applicants for posts as IT Co-ordinators (people to act as 'brokers' between various faculties and the central computing services). I arranged for an e-mail ad to appear on various bulletin boards (ADVISE-L, EDTECH, and NISS) using as a job title just: "IT Co-ordinator". Responses from the USA assumed that what we wanted were Instructional Technology Co-ordinators (what we in the UK would term CAL or CAI - Computer Aided/Assisted Learning (or Instruction)). IT (Information Technology) in the UK is taken to refer to Computing which relates more to users who need to process information using databases, spreadsheets, wordprocessors etc. rather than Computing which relates to hardware design, chip technology, machine code etc. It came as quite a surprise that computing acronyms differ across the pond! From: Willard McCarty Subject: bleak monotonous terrible silence Date: 16 August 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 364 (700) Humanists in the UK, Austria, and Germany complain that they have not received any mail from this seminar for the last several days. Anyone suspecting the reason (all's well in Toronto) might drop me a line so I can comfort the deprived. Curiously, e-mail from individual to individual does not seem to be affected. Willard McCarty From: "Stephen R. Reimer" Subject: Text query Date: Wed, 16 Aug 89 17:46:34 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 529 (701) If anyone has, or knows of, an electronic copy of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Troilus and Criseyde," I would appreciate hearing of it, as I am anxious to acquire one. Stephen R. Reimer Department of English University of Alberta SREIMER@UALTAVM From: Eslinger@UNCAMULT.bitnet Subject: Sanskrit CALL program Date: Thu, 17 Aug 89 15:24:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 530 (702) Does anyone know of a Sanskrit CALL program (first & second years of language) that is in good running condition? Lyle Eslinger U. of Calgary From: Steven J. DeRose Subject: Old spelling Date: Wed, 16 Aug 89 20:51:40 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 531 (703) I'd like to echo MSM's comment that the audience is very important -- surely those interested in diachronic linguistics should have the original spellings available, as should any other scholars for whom the spelling may matter. But for the untrained reader, whether a beginning student, or someone entirely unconnected with academia, it seems to me that a minimally modernized version does no harm. For example, if I were teaching a course in the area, I might choose to focus on structure and thematic issues, and wish to avoid taking time and trouble to explain spelling (beyond pointing out that I was ignoring it!). Someone made a suggestion to the effect that the best thing is to preserve the original as precisely as technology allows -- but surely this is not desirable; it would force us to facsimile reproduction of everything, including coffee-stains, etc. In most cases we don't have the 'original' anyway. So we must abstract from the manuscripts to a greater or lesser extent; perhaps modernizing spelling is simply another step of abstraction (is the new word "the same" as the old?). And the degree of abstraction which is appropriate, differs with the audience. Steve From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: old-spelling vs. modernized texts Date: 17 August 1989, 09:30:33 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 532 (704) Marian Sperberg-McQueen's response to the question about which text is best for which audience was good and appreciated. I think the objection to something like "murther" in English (the example always used) or "thon" in German is easily dispatched (though no editors that I know of do this) with a few comments about older spelling usage. When I tested a group of advanced undergraduates studying Renaissance epic with a final exam which consisted of a book of *Paradise Lost*, old-spelling together with some introductory matter and annotations (they were asked to query, add to, and correct the information given), they had very few problems with interpreting spelling. It is not hard to make "thir" equal "their," though a Miltonic spelling, "lantskip" for "landscape," might puzzle them without at least a marginal note. I think their stumbling blocks could be dealt with in one medium-sized paragraph in an introduction on how to read the text. So I would agree with Sperberg-McQueen, though very few editors tell their readers anything about spelling, capitalization, or punctuation: those matters have been considered to be too trivial for words, at least in the past. One more word about authorial vs. compositorial (printing-house) spelling or punctuation: I agree that the difference between the two hasn't been stressed enough. Luckily with Milton we have lots of holograph manuscripts from which we can establish that Milton preferred "anough" to "enough" or "sovran" to "sovereign." At the banquet which ended the ALLC-ACH conference in Toronto, a text of part of Milton's *Areopagitica* was set off in gold-leaf all around the immense common room. From my table I could tell (1) the copiest was accurately reproducing a very early text and (2) the early text seems to have been very close to Milton's spelling preferences. The computer, incidentally, makes it much easier to check the frequency of spelling or of punctuation-usage, and hence should in the future help the editor tell the difference statistically between the author's usage and that of the printing house. Thanks for all the good replies. Roy Flannagan From: Stephen Clausing Subject: "Thon" Date: Thu, 17 Aug 89 11:11:12 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 533 (705) I was not surprised to hear of Sperberg-McQueen's difficulties getting a straight answer regarding German "Thon". Actually, any competent Germanic Philologist would know the answer immediately. Unfortunately, language departments consist almost entirely of literature specialists who have little knowledge of philology and even less appreciation of it. We may need modernized spellings not simply for our students but even for our distinguished colleagues. I know many a literature specialist in my field who can barely speak Modern German, much less understand older forms. No doubt the same is true in other languages. I wish I could show my colleagues Sperberg-McQueen's e-mail message. Perhaps then they would understand why philologists exist. But of course, my colleagues don't read e-mail either. From: Ian Lancashire Subject: A casebook for English teachers Date: Thu, 17 Aug 89 09:52:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 534 (706) Readers of Humanist will be interested in a booklet that has just reached me. This gives a rare opportunity to peep over the shoulders of several teachers of computing-in-English-Studies courses as their semester unfolds. Teaching English Studies with Computers: An Informal Casebook, ed. David S. Miall (Cheltenham, College of St Paul and St Mary, July 1989), 60 pp., provides course outlines, student handouts, evaluations, and extracts from students' projects for English courses involving computing that have been given at Birmingham Polytechnic, the University of Leeds, and the College of St. Paul and St. Mary. This booklet will be especially useful to staff who want to introduce a computing element into their English literature courses but are unsure how to make a start. Much of the instruction concerns the use of Oxford Concordance Program, but there is also a section on a database management system named GRASS, and use is also made of EXTRACT, FAMULUS, CONCORD, ESTC, and STATUS. The booklet also offers helpful papers by Lynette Hunter of the University of Leeds ("Learning Methods and Course Design") and David Miall ("Implications for Learning"), to appear in fuller versions in an OUP collection of papers from the CATH conference at Southampton in December 1988. The price is 3 pounds sterling or $5 (US), including surface postage, and may be ordered from Administrative Officer Faculty of Arts College of St. Paul and St. Mary The Park Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL50 2RH UK From: Charles Bailey Subject: PACS Review, an Electronic Journal Date: Wed, 16 Aug 89 15:51:45 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 535 (707) Public-Access Computer Systems Review Announcement [The following announcement has been taken from the PACS-L ListServ discussion group, information about which appeared on Humanist recently. Inquiries should be directed to Charles Bailey, since I know nothing more about his plans for a new electronic journal than appears here. --W.M.] The Public-Access Computer Systems Review will contain short articles (1 to 7 single-spaced pages), columns, and reviews. PACS Review will cover all computer systems that libraries make available to their patrons, including CAI and ICAI programs, CD-ROM databases, expert systems, hypermedia systems, information delivery systems, local databases, online catalogs, and remote end-user search systems. All types of short communications dealing with these subjects are welcome. Articles that present innovative projects in libraries, even those at an early stage of their development, are especially welcome. Proposals for regular (or irregular) columns will be considered on an ongoing basis. There will be a section for reviews of books, journal articles, reports, and software. As a style guide, use Kate L. Turabian's A Manual for Writers (5th edition). If you are in doubt about whether your topic falls in the purview of PACS Review, consult my article: "Public-Access Computer Systems: The Next Generation of Library Automation Systems." Information Technology and Libraries 8 (June 1989): 178-185. The initial editorial staff of the PACS Review will be as follows: Editor: Charles W. Bailey, Jr., University of Houston Editoral Board: Nancy Evans, Carnegie Mellon University David R. McDonald, University of Michigan Mike Ridley, McMaster University R. Bruce Miller, University of California, San Diego The PACS Review will come out on a regular schedule. I will determine the schedule based on the interest you show in submitting articles. If desired, authors can retain copyright to their works by notifying the editor. The logistics of distribution of the Review will be worked out at the release of the first issue. Either individual articles will be sent as PACS-L messages or a table of contents will be sent and users will retrieve articles from the file server (at this point we do not have full documentation for the file server aspect of PACS-L). The PACS Review will have a volume and issue enumeration. It will be paginated. I hope PACS Review will be timely, lively, and thought provoking. I hope that it will complement the PACS-L conference, potentially resulting in a unique interaction between formal and informal electronic communications. I welcome your contributions to this experimental electronic journal. Please send all articles to me at LIB3@UHUPVM1. Your contributions will determine whether this journal gets off the ground or not. Let's see if electronic publishing of library journals has a future! --Charles Bailey, University of Houston From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Pricing of OPTIRAM's OCR Service Date: Wednesday, 16 August 1989 2314-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 368 (708) As many HUMANISTs will know, OPTIRAM AUTOMATION LTD has a very sophisticated OCR scanning capability with the ability to read handwriting with acceptable accuracy. What most of us did not know was how much it would cost. I sent sample pages xeroxed from my great grandfather's Journals (1898-1943) with a request for an estimate. The handwriting is fairly regular and in ink, so the external complicating factors were not unusual. I received a fairly prompt and appropriately detailed estimate from the office of F. Ibbotson, Director of International Sales. He apologized that the accuracy rate on this material would be less than their "usual 99%+" and would be closer to 95%, partly because of the plethora of proper names "not suceptible to dictionary checks." The estimated cost was US$3.25 per 1000 characters of ASCII output to tape or floppy disk. This would mean almost US$5 per full page in the Journal format. I currently have a student typing one of the Journals for US$7 per hour. He can average between 5 and 7 pages per hour. Thus to have OPTIRAM scan it would cost about 3 times as much, although it would probably be much quicker! In either situation, post-editing will be needed to correct typos and resolve problems. OPTIRAM codes unreadable characters between pointed brackets, and my student typist does similarly. Since I am paying for this project, the bottom line for me is to stick with manual typing. But I am happy to know the cost of the alternative, and thought some of you would want to know as well. I have no idea what OPTIRAM would charge for typed or printed material. (OPTIRAM, Glenroyd-La Rocque-Grouville, Jersey, Channel Islands via UK.) Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: "J. Harwood, 5-4764/3-3605" Subject: Computers and Students at North American Colleges and Universities Date: Wed, 16 Aug 89 20:36:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 536 (709) As colleges and universities become increasingly high-tech, some people are justifiably curious about how much technology (how many workstations, what kinds, how configued) a campus needs. I'd like to know what sort of ratio my colleagues find at their sites -- 100 students per PC, Mac, or PS/2? 50 per device? What's a satisfactory ratio now? And would anyone care to make a projection for the mid 1990s? From: MORGAN@LOYVAX.BITNET Subject: RE: 3.360 queries (101) Date: Wed, 16 Aug 89 20:58:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 537 (710) In response to request about computing facilities, if you recall Bill Oleske sent out a survey a short time ago. You might try asking him about the results of it (CLL6WFO@CMS1.UCS.LEEDS.AC.UK), in *Humanist* Vol 2 no. 923. Leslie Morgan (MORGAN@LOYVAX) Dept. of Foreign Langs. and Lits, Loyola College in Maryland From: stephen clark Subject: multiple personality Date: Fri, 18 Aug 89 13:25:55 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 538 (711) Does anyone out there know of any recent, respectable work on the phenomenon (or alleged phenomenon) of multiple personality? By respectable I mean (a) not by people with an axe to grind re paranormal studies and (b) not just by *philosophers* with an interest in the topic? Stephen From: Charles Ess Subject: SOVNET Date: Fri, 18 Aug 89 08:29:28 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 539 (712) Does anyone know how to contact the appropriate system administrator for more information on something called SOVNET? It was featured in a recent article in the _Christian Science Monitor_ and apparently functions something like HUMANIST, but with a more specific focus on Soviet studies. While accessible, according to the article, through BITNET, it also involves an hourly premium. I'm exploring this for my colleagues in political science and languages, and would appreciate any tips on how to pursue subscribing. Charles Ess Drury College From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Transformers Date: Friday, 18 August 1989 1504-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 540 (713) In preparing for a trip to Britain and Egypt in the next three weeks, I have attempted to find a small size and light weight transformer that can run a 110 volt portable on 220-240 volt power supply (the computer has no internal switch for this). After a large number of telephone calls to vendors in computer accessories, electronic supplies, and electrical parts, I have found no easy solution except to build my own. All that Radio Shack can offer is a "transformer" (really an intermitter, I am told, that cuts the current without actually transforming it) for hairdryers, razors and the like. In the past I have tried to run the computer with this device and found it completely unsatisfactory. In the past I have also used very effective but large transformers at the Oxford and Manchester Computer Centers. I would like my own smaller and equally effective box! Any advice about vendors of such a product (approximate prices, capacities, etc.) would be appreciated. Otherwise, I will try to build my own around a .75 KVA GE transformer box (about 3 inches by 3 inches by 6 inches, including the box). It will cost me under $20, plus assembly. PS. Despite several attempts to make contact with British colleagues in the past week or so, it seems that nothing is getting back to me from JANET. I don't know if my messages are arriving. If this reaches any of my British friends, I would appreciate it if you attempt a reply immediately. I am scheduled to arrive in London at 9:40 pm on 24 August (next week), BrAir. Thanks! Bob Kraft From: MTRILEY@CALSTATE.BITNET (Mark Timothy Riley) Subject: query: NISUS wp for Mac Date: Fri, 18 Aug 89 15:51:31 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 541 (714) I have been reading recent reviews in MacWorld and MacUser of the NISUS word processor. The reviews called it a text data base creator (or words to that effect). Has anyone on HUMANIST used Nisus? Can you give us a report? Mark Riley From: Paul Brians Subject: English Composition Date: Fri, 18 Aug 89 13:09:03 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 542 (715) Most of the conversation I've seen here has been about studying computer texts rather than creating them. Our new director of the Microcomputer Composition Laboratory at Washington State University (equipped with 50 Mac SEs, networked to IIs and hard disks, Laser- Writers), is looking for a forum to exchange ideas about the use of computers to teach composition at the college level. Do such folks lurk here; or is there another forum accessible by BitNet, Tymnet, or on CompuServe? Thanks for any tips. From: PROF NORM COOMBS Subject: electronic texts Date: Fri, 28 Jul 89 08:30 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 371 (716) [Apologies for the delay in publishing this message. It was mistakenly sent to my account on another machine and so languished unread for a time. -- W.M.] I would also support having a discussion on matters related to electronic texts. From my point of view as a blind scholar, they open research collections to my personal investigation without having to rely on or pay a human reader. So, along with the other problems and advantages, they will serve to open access to research to a limited but eager group of colleagues. Norman Coombs From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" Subject: Non-numeric Computing Conference Date: Fri, 18 Aug 89 08:40:08 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 372 (717) Fourth International Conference on Symbolic and Logical Computing October 5-6, 1989 Madison, SD 57042 U.S.A. The Fourth International Conference on Symbolic and Logical Computing is designed for teachers, scholars, and programmers who want to meet to exchange ideas about non-numeric computing. In addition to a focus on SNOBOL4, SPITBOL, and Icon, the Conference will feature presentations on other dangerously powerful computer languages such as Prolog, LISP, and C. KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Gene Amdahl, principal architect of the IBM 360, founder of Amdahl Corporation, Trilogy, Ltd, and Andor Systems. FEATURED SPEAKERS: Ralph Griswold, one of the creators of SNOBOL4 and the Icon Programming language. James Noblitt, linguist and creator of award- winning software. SCHEDULED TOPICS: Machine Translation, Object Oriented Programming, Expert Systems, Text Generation, Natural Language Processing, Instructional Games, Indexing, Computer-Generated Documents, Computer Code Generators, Processing Texts, Multilingual Word Processing, Text Search Strategies, Plagiarism Detection in Computer Programs, Programming in SNOBOL4, SPITBOL, Icon, Prolog, and C. Advanced registration (includes two lunches, coffee breaks, banquet, and one copy of the proceedings) is $150.00. Information and a registration form can be found on page C8 of the August 9, 1989, Chronicle of Higher Education, or contact Eric Johnson, 114 Beadle Hall, Dakota State University Madison, South Dakota 57042 USA Phone: (605) 256-5270 BITNET address: ERIC@SDNET From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Encoding Old Texts Date: Friday, 18 August 1989 0837-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 373 (718) I was surprised at Steve DeRose's objection to the idea that we should be paying attention to how to encode as much detail about the texts with which we deal as technology allows. While it is true, for the moment, that such attention is not desired for the majority of texts with which humanists deal, it is also true that for some texts (remember, I deal with fragmentary ancient papyri, among other things) virtually everything about a text and the material on which it is preserved may be a valuable clue to something else deemed important. (I was discussing the possibility of DNA analysis of ancient papyrus with a biologist friend the other day!) That can include coffee stains, which might indicate something of how the material was transmitted on the modern market. Steve's comment to the effect that the idea of digitizing all this material (or encoding it in similar detail) was somehow not desirable strikes me as wrongheaded in principle. No, I am not interested in digitized reproductions of all the King James Bible versions (someone else might be, for studying printing technology, for example!). But I surely want as detailed electronic reproduction as possible of the papyri on which I work, and indeed, of all non printed material (for paleographical work, checking decipherment, format, etc.). It seems to me that we need to establish the "rules and procedures" (what to "code" or digitize and how to do it) for the most difficult and inclusive cases, and then to establish the exceptions for the less difficult. To work the other way and only set up procedures for the easy stuff (e.g. printed materials) will simply create or increase what seem to me to be unnecessary divisions between various types of humanistic interest and specialization. My vote is for as inclusive procedures as possible, including the idea of theoretically digitizing it all, even if that may not actually happen for some time yet (I suspect that it will happen to a much larger extent than we presently imagine, in the future. When photography was invented, who would have suspected the extent to which microform is currently available?). Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: Steven J. DeRose Subject: Old spellings, clarification Date: Mon, 21 Aug 89 11:57:04 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 543 (719) [deleted quotation]meant in my last posting -- for which I plead the unoriginal excuse of hurried composition. I have no objection to encoding the details of particular manuscripts, even down to the slant of each letter, the positions of coffee stains, and whatever else. The point I was making was that for *most purposes* this is not the desired information. Certainly anyone working in papyrology, or working in other related areas, both wants and needs that level of detail. But as I meant to make clear, that is a question of audience -- "different encodings for different folks", to neometaphorize. I'll also take this opportunity to add a point which I meant to make in the previous posting, but omitted: that having things both ways is what hypertext is for. I should be able to view the "original" spellings if I want to, or (as I have been reminded) even a detailed facsimile of the original; yet I should be able to see a modernized or otherwise "enhanced" version as well. In a hypertext system, all the marginalia should be instantly available. For example, a student should have glosses and alternate spellings available, not just a pop-up inquiries but also as replacements in the text (say, choosing old or new spellings via a menu option). Similarly, a scholar should be able to view any variant manuscript at will, or several side-by-side with differences highlighted. In that world, all of the encodings we've been discussing are available, and each user can choose his or her own view(s) from the widest possible range of possibilities. Steve From: "Robin C. Cover" Subject: OLD-SPELLINGS Date: Sat, 19 Aug 89 15:41:12 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 544 (720) The discussion on retaining or modernizing "old-spellings" seems to have diverged in several directions since the original query. With this contribution, it will wander yet further... (1) Leslie Morgan rightly points out that most publication traditions do not force an editor to make an absolute choice whether to retain the archaism or to modernize it: marginal notes or footnotes may supply alternate readings if the editor wishes to modernize orthography. With hypertext, we may conceal at the immediate textual locus MANY such readings, as well as annotations of various kinds. (2) The "textual apparatus" mentioned by Bob Kraft moves the discussion in a different direction. Readings in a textual apparatus traditionally preserve witnesses that compete for antiquity, or authenticity or otherwise contribute to a modern understanding of the ancient evolution of the text. But usually the "readings" are designated by the editor as belonging to antiquity, not to modern creativity or demands for perspicuity/readability. Of course, modern editorial comments and emendations are also introduced into the app crit, but they are distinguished as such. (3) To introduce the notion of "transcription" is yet another issue, for it includes paleography and a host of more complex factors relative to the original document. Cuneiform texts (tablets, but also lapidary inscriptions and many other media) are customarily published in several formats because each format has its own scholarly purpose: (a) photographs, so that scholars may personally collate difficult readings, examine the scribal ductus, and so forth; (b) hand copies using line drawings and shading, where tablet features are simplified, but still represented in 3-D perspective; (c) "transcriptions" having the barest subjectivity: sign-by-sign algebraic representation of the graphic units, establishing only character-boundaries and identity of wedge-cluster; (d) normalization, involving various levels of interpretation, including resolution of word-boundaries, logographic, determinative and other non- phonological usages of the signs, etc. OK -- I won't inflict more of this on HUMANISTS who may still be reading. The point is this: even if we are interested in the *simplest interpretation* of an ancient text, dozens of factors may be involved in its textual representation. Shall we call all this "encoding?" (4) Now suppose we move to "coffee stains" and other features of original documents that are essential in the joining of textual fragments or of text restoration (papyri, clay tablets, leather). To speak of "encoding" is to press the term too far, it seems to me. Scholars make fragment joins by noting the fingerprint of rare trace-elements as determined by neutron bombardment of baked clay -- shall we record color and chemical composition of stone, leather, parchment as part of the "textual encoding?" All information about the physical medium of writing is important, of course, but should this be called (textual) "encoding?" (5) I finish with a instance which may find more sympathy among advocates of SGML: when "encoding" an ancient text (ephemeral or official), shall we account for ("encode") the two-dimensional position, stance, style and size of characters on the written text? This is *not* just a variation on the paleographic theme mentioned above (where paleography can assist in textual reconstruction), but an issue of document structure and content. A text's appearance on the original document *may* provide a clue to the author's understanding (or perhaps's the scribe's) of the document content. Are poetic lines shorter than prose lines? What does indentation mean at various loci? Why are some characters in larger size, or in alternative (archaizing) style? What do the different regions of "white space" mean? Why regions of cursive script in the middle, or end, of lapidary text? The discussion of "old-spellings" is useful, I think, in helping isolate the different roles that "markup" or "encoding" play in rendering various kinds of documents. SGML in a modern structure-editor or other authoring system makes sense because the author presumably knows why s/he wants to create such-and-such a textual object, and can apply a name to the object. Markup of recently-published texts is also relatively straight-forward, since we usually understand editorial and authorial conventions of our contemporaries. Markup ("encoding") of ancient texts presents numerous problems, not just tactically, but because we are imposing interpretations upon texts which may be inadequate or entirely incorrect. Robin Cover (no flames, please...."the Texas heat made me do it") From: Subject: Date: Mon, 21 Aug 89 10:48 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 375 (721) ACH has received the following books for review for the ACH Newsletter. If you are interested in reviewing any one of them, please contact Donald Ross at ross@mailbox.mail.UMN.EDU. Nancy Ide _______________________________________________________________________________ Dan Diaper [sic], ed., KNOWLEDGE ELUCITATION: PRINCIPLES, TECHNIQUES AND APPLICATIONS (Chichester: Ellis Horwood Ltd. a division of John Wiley, 1989) Sebastian Rahtz, ed. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE HUMANITIES: TOOLS, TECHNIQUES, AND APPLICATIONS (Chichester: Ellis Horwood Ltd. a division of John Wiley, 1987) David Anderson, ARTICFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND INTELLIGENT SYSTEMTS: THE IMPLICATIONS (Chichester: Ellis Horwood Ltd. a division of John Wiley, 1989) J. C. Gardin, et al. ARTICFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERT SYSTEMS: CASE STUDIES IN THE KNOWLEDGE DOMAIN OF ARCHAEOLOGY (Chichester: Ellis Horwood Ltd. a division of John Wiley, 1988) Bran Boguraev and Ted Briscoe COMPUTATIONAL LEXICOGRAPHY FOR NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING (London: Longman, 1989) A. J. Fourcin, G. Harland, W. Barry, and V, Hazan SPEECH INPUT AND OUTPUT ASSESSMENT: MULTILINGUAL METHODS AND STANDARDS (Chichester: Ellis Horwood Ltd. a division of John Wiley, 1989) From: LIBSSD@EMUVM1 Subject: Academe July-Aug 1989 Date: Fri, 18 Aug 89 20:56:57 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 545 (722) Most of the July-August issue of Academe, the bulletin of the AAUP, is devoted to articles dealing with "The Electronic Library." Particularly interesting reading is the lead article, "The Electronic Library and the Challenge of Information Planning" by Timothy Weiskel of Harvard. Selden Deemer (404) 727-0271 From: Diane Geraci Subject: Call for Papers IASSIST '90 Date: Fri, 18 Aug 89 12:45:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 546 (723) IASSIST Annual Conference: Call for Papers The International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) will hold its 16th annual conference May 30-June 3, 1990 in Poughkeepsie, New York at the Radisson Hotel. IASSIST is an international association concerned with the acquisition, processing, maintenance, and distribution of machine-readable text and/or numeric social science data. Founded in 1974, IASSIST includes among its membership social scientists, data archivists, librarians, information specialists, researchers, programmers, planners, and government agency administrators. The 1990 IASSIST conference has as its central theme "Numbers, Pictures, Words and Sounds: Priorities for the 1990s." This title reflects the ever-expanding universe of data types, as well as related hardware and software development. The Program Committee is now soliciting contributions in the forms of papers, proposals for panel discussions, roundtables, poster sessions, and workshops to be presented at the conference. All papers or proposals concerned with the generation, transfer, retrieval, storage, and use of machine-readable social science data will be considered. Papers that discuss issues and technologies related to non-numeric data are particularly encouraged. For more information contact: Sarah E. Cox-Byrne Data Archives Vassar College Library Box 20 Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 USA e-mail: COXBYRNE@VASSAR.BITNET Laura A. Guy Data and Program Library Service 3308 Social Science Building 1180 Observatory Drive Madison, WI 53706 USA e-mail: GUY@WISCMACC.BITNET Please feel free to pass this on to other individuals, or list-servers. Thanks. From: Jim Cahalan Subject: Composition Date: 19 Aug 89 09:32:28 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 547 (724) In response to Paul Brians' inquiry about an Email forum on computers in composition, I had found one listed whose address is COMPOSO1%ULKYVX.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU The only trouble is that after signing up several months ago, I've never received anything from them. They had described themselves as "a moderated weekly newsgroup for the study of computers and writing, specifically writing instruction in computer-based classrooms." If you get anything from them, please let me know. Perhaps I made some kind of mistake when I tried to sign up. Jim Cahalan, Graduate Literature English Dept., 111 Leonard, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA 15705-1094 Phone: (412) 357-2264 From: Diane Geraci Subject: BITNET/CSNET Merger Date: Mon, 21 Aug 89 09:39:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 548 (725) [The following has been plucked from the PACS-L discussion group, as usual without permission and with thanks. --W.M.] BITNET/CSNET Announce Merger and Formation of CREN Washington, DC, August 18, 1989: Two of the nation's leading academic and research computer networks announced today that final steps are being taken to merge their organizations. Ira Fuchs, President of BITNET, and Bernard Galler, Chairman of CSNET, jointly reported that the two networks, which together include 600 colleges, universities, government agencies, and private sector research organizations, will unite to form the Corporation for Research and Educational Networking, CREN. Galler, a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan, commented: "The aims of CSNET and BITNET--to support and promote the use of computer networks on campuses and within research organizations--have converged over the last several years. We believe that by bringing these two networks into a single organization, we will be able to provide better service to our network users and more effectively participate in the fast- changing national network environment." Fuchs, Vice President for Computing and Information Technology at Princeton University, sees the move as a strengthing factor: "The need for campus networks and the introduction of new technology make it necessary to build a common base of network services using the most progressive technology available. By eliminating overlap between our two organizations, we will become more efficient, and more importantly, we can take a stronger role in the the formation of the national education and research network. We can achieve this goal faster and at lower cost by leveraging the efforts of the two major academic networking organizations." The merger of CSNET and BITNET has been studied for more than a year by a planning group consisting of representatives from both networks. CSNET currently lists 145 institutional and corporate members, and BITNET 480 members. Together, the two networks cover all 50 states and 32 foreign countries, including Japan, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina. Both maintain gateways to EARN (European Academic Research Network), NetNorth (Canada), and the National Internet. The planning group's recommendations to merge were approved by the BITNET, Inc. Trustees and the Directors of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, operators of CSNET for the last five years. An information packet on the merger is being mailed to all members of both networks this week, with a ballot for BITNET members, who must approve the final legal steps under the provisions of BITNET By-Laws. In an advisory vote last winter, BITNET members approved the merger in principle by more than 90% of those voting. A gradual transition period is planned to bring together CSNET and BITNET services. CREN plans to continue use of EDUCOM and Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN) to provide technical and general management services to its members. EDUCOM President Kenneth M. King commented, "We are entering a particularly challenging period in the creation of an advanced national network infrastructure for research and education. CREN will play a major role in the future of these computer networks, which are becoming more and more important to the conduct of research and the quality of education. EDUCOM is pleased to have an opportunity to support the services and activities of CREN. " Frank Heart, Senior Vice President, BBN Systems and Technologies Corporation, said, "In keeping with its long involvement in the development of networking technologies, BBN is pleased to play a major supporting role in the evolution of BITNET and CSNET." The proposed CREN Board includes Fuchs and Galler; Douglas Bigelow, Wesleyan University, William Curtis, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research; David Farber, University of Pennsylvania; Suzanne Johnson, INTEL Corporation; Mark Laubach of Hewlett-Packard Corporation; Philip Long, Yale University; Dennis Ritchie, AT&T Bell Laboratories; Martin Solomon, University of South Carolina; Douglas Van Houweling, University of Michigan; and William Yundt, Stanford University. For more information, contact CREN, Suite 600, 1112 16th Street NW, Washington, DC, 20036; 202 872-4215. From: Brian Kahin 617-864-6606 Subject: MIT Communications Forum seminar Date: Sat, 19 Aug 89 19:04:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 549 (726) "The Electronic Library: Vision and Implementation" MIT Communications Forum October 26, 1989 2:00 - 6:00 p.m. Bartos Theater Bldg. E15 Lower Level 20 Ames St. Vinton Cerf, Corporation for National Research Initiatives Patricia Battin, Commission on Preservation and Access Steven Lerman, MIT Mark Kibbey, Project Mercury, Carnegie-Mellon University Gregory A. Jackson, Harvard Graduate School of Education John Garrett, Copyright Clearance Center Computer-enhanced access to information, low-cost mass storage, and the emergence of high-bandwidth networks are making feasible a new concept of the library. The "electronic library" has evolved beyond library automation to encompass profound transformations in scholarly communication, publication, and research -- and to represent a vision of an institution without walls and without circulating books. Realizing the vision of the electronic library will entail creating new institutions as well as transforming old ones. It will require resolving difficult technological, cultural, economic, and legal issues. This seminar will present visions of the electronic library, perspectives of user, publisher, and library communities, and strategies for implementation. For further information call 617-253-3144. From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.370 various queries (118) Date: Sat, 19 Aug 89 13:52:03 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 377 (727) re transformers (electrical) I would suggest looking at replacement power supplies. They are often cheaper AND easier to use than outboard tesla coils. Many replacements have voltage switches missing on originals. From: elli@harvunxw.BITNET (Elli Mylonas) Subject: Re: Nisus Date: Sat, 19 Aug 89 00:23:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 378 (728) I haven't used Nisus, but i have used Qued/M, the editor put out by Paragon, extensively. As i understand it, Nisus is a respectable word processor with the following exceptional features. Its files can be opened as text files by any other WP, because it stores information in the resource fork of the file, not in the data fork, so other programs cannot see it. I assume that if you then start saving it as a Word Perfect or MS Word file, that Nisus may be rather shocked when it tries to open it up again. Also, it contains the full power of Qued/M, and then some. This means that it has an editor that understands regular expressions, and in which you can create and store macros built out of these regular expressions. It has multiple clipboards, and can not only have multiple documents open at the same time, but can have macros that can operate on more than one at the same time (find something in on, then alter it and put it into another. My guess is that this is why they advertise it as a text-base. It has a good enough editor that if you set your file up right, you can perform good retrieval. I wholeheartedly endorse Qued/M, and use it freguently to tag text files. I don't know into what formats Nisus can export to, and it is not that well known or extensively used. That is for me a serious drawback, since i want the ability to transfer files around. And i am fairly sure that it doesn't have an plain-text way of representing format that is equivalent to RTF. Also, again, judging from Qued/M, the interface may be a tad bizarre and unMaclike. These people are clearly coming from the UNIX world, and build good tools, but hadn't yet realized why the Mac does standard interfaces the way it does. Open file dialogues and menu configuration is strange. Also, Nisus does not have styles like MS Word. It does have global search and replace on format characteristtics, but that isn't usually good enough for a large document. This is all i know about Nisus, i would very much like to hear more. If a text base is all you need, you might make do with Qued/M, which is a marvelous, if at times confusing program. The word processor, though, has not yet been proven in the field. From: Willard McCarty Subject: fording the ox Date: 21 August 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 379 (729) Dear Colleagues: I will be gone from my post from Thursday, 14 September, to Saturday, 23 September -- to Oxford, the New OED Conference, and a few libraries. Humanist will continue to operate during my absence, however, so you need not fear an interruption in your irregularly unscheduled broadcasting. Contrary to what you may have heard, I am definitely not going to France to put the fix to whatever monstrous contraption has been devouring all mailings from Humanist to all European Humanists. Other, more competent wits are currently bent to that task, and I wish them the speed and unforgiving power of gods. Meanwhile, carry on! Yours, Willard McCarty From: HUMM@PENNDRLS (Alan Humm Religious Studies U. of Penn) Subject: TeX/LaTeX vs DTP Date: Tuesday, 22 August 1989 1429-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 380 (730) [deleted quotation]Most things become obsolete eventually, but is to be hoped that when this happens to TeX, it will not be because it has been replaced by DTP. The problem, and perhaps the solution, lies in the fact that they are fundamentally different philosophically, each with its load of strengths and weaknesses. Because TeX (along with its children such as LaTeX) is a language, it acquires (a) portability, and (b) flexibility. This also means, however, that producing documents in TeX is closer to programming than anything else, and the people who like it best are usually programers or crypto-programmers (TeXies, if you will). DTP programs, in contrast, are application programs. Their strengths are ease of use and immediate feedback (visual). At present, their weaknesses do include lack of functionality, but Megginson is correct in pointing out that this may be a short-lived weakness. I suspect, however, that there will always be things that I (maybe not you) would like to do in my document which the DTP program will not permit but which the TeXie could write a program for. DTP is also plagued by the non-portability of page description information. It should also be noted that as DTP programs become more powerful, they also become more complicated to use. I suspect that such a program with capabilities similar to LaTeX would take similar time to master, although it may be less frustrating time. (It took me about 3-4 weeks to get to an advanced intermediate level in LaTeX.) If programs like LaTeX disappear, it will probably be in the wake of something like SGML, which is similar philosophically (which I suspect could be, and may even already be, implemented in TeX) rather than succumbing to a flood of DTPs. What we really want, and unless I am mistaken, will either soon or eventually get (I suspect soon) are DTP programs that generate the description language much in the way some implementations of TeX generate Postscript. You could format your document in the DTP application, and then if not satisfied, tweek it in the SGML or TeX or whatever. Alan Humm From: "Charles Bailey, University of Houston" Subject: EDUCOM '89 Date: Tue, 22 Aug 89 12:35:38 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 381 (731) [Again something borrowed from PACS-L with thanks. Should anyone have an electronic version of the EDUCOM programme, I would appreciate him or her sending it to me for the file-server. --W.M.] EDUCOM will be holding its annual conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan from October 16-19, 1989. Some sessions that may be of particular interest are: Pre-Conference Seminars Introduction to BITNET, 10/16, 8:30 AM-12:00 PM. Introduction to Internet: From the Campus to National Networking, 10/16, 12:30 PM - 4:00 PM. Advanced Use and Support of BITNET, 10/16, 12:30 PM - 4:00 PM. Sessions (I've included the names of any participants from the library community. There are other session participants as well.) Information Exchange: The Impact of Technology on Scholarly Communication, 10/17, 10:30 AM-11:30 AM. (Susan K. Martin) Interactive Technologies in the Classroom, 10/17, 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM. (Anne Woodsworth) Financing the Future: Who Will Pay?, 10/18, 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM. (Patricia Battin) Knowledge Management: A Collaboration of Academic Scholars, Librarians, and Publishers, 10/18, 11:45 PM-12:45 PM (Richard E. Lucier and Nina Matheson) Plans for Scholarly Collaboration: The National Research and Education Network, 10/18, 10:30 AM-11:30 AM. (Michael McGill, Moderator) SIGs MIT Project Athena, 10/17, 3:45 PM-5:00 PM (repeated on 10/18) Electronic Libraries: Mercury Program, 10/17, 3:45 PM-5:00 PM FOR MORE INFORMATION: CONF89@EDUCOM --Charles Bailey, University of Houston LIB3@UHUPVM1 From: Geoff Rockwell Subject: Re: 3.378 Nisus (50) Date: Tue, 22 Aug 89 13:05:27 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 382 (732) At MacWorld I picked up a demo copy of Nisus which I am sure they would send to those interested. My contact is Edwina Riblet Paragon Concepts, Inc 99 Highland Drive, #312 Solana Beach, CA 92075 (619) 481-1477 What interested me was the "Easy Grep" feature. Combined with a macro language one can do things like create a word type index or frequency list (I saw the first and was told the second could be done.) The latest release also has footnoting and endnoting which was not there before, making it a more interesting to the accademic. Finally it has a graphics layer that alows one to attach graphics to text so that the images float over the text anchored to the paragraph. As for importing, it seems to handle MS Word and MacWrite (import not export.) I am waiting for the real version before pushing it further. As an aside, at MacWorld I met two programers from Nisus who had taken jobs with other companies. Both spoke highly of what they had done (note the past tense.) Makes one wonder... Considering how quickly Nisus has matured from a code editor to a fully featured word processor, it is worth watching. Some word processors seem to rest on their laurels while others experiment. I suspect it has to do with the size of the user base that one must not alienate. Yours Geoffrey Rockwell From: David Megginson Subject: Usenet Date: Mon, 21 Aug 89 20:23:17 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 383 (733) There is a BITNET LISTSERV which will allow me to subscribe to Usenet conferences like MINIX-L or ATARI16. Where is it, and how do I subscribe from Toronto? Someone suggested a site named 'SCORE', but it was wide of the goal. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: digital reproduction of photographic facsimiles Date: 22 August 1989, 20:17:10 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 550 (734) It has occurred to the crew attempting to reproduce and encode Renaissance texts in English that our jobs would be rendered much easier and our encoding simplified if facsimiles of each page we record could be reproduced on "facing" pages in an electronic edition. Does anyone out there know how advanced, and how expensive, is accurate photographic reproduction of words on paper? Good enough or subtle enough photographs would presumably reproduce the entire page, possibly with chain-lines visible in the paper plus watermarks (perhaps enhanced by infrared photography), together with the coffee stains or pin or wormholes that a bibliographer might need as evidence. If the photograph were good enough and could be accurately standardized, then the digitized image would compensate for the incomplete encoding. You can't exactly encode a coffee stain, and the camera could be taught, within limits, how not to lie. Is anyone out there experience enough with digitizing facsimiles to tell us how far the technology has gone, and how much it costs? Roy Flannagan From: sdm@cs.brown.edu Subject: DTP Date: Tue, 22 Aug 89 23:38:37 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 551 (735) I give up. What does "DTP" stand for? Thanks, Scott [Editorial answer: I have assumed that DTP stands for "DeskTopPublishing". Any other ideas? This query shows that we should never assume that our acronyms are clearly understood by all. When you use an acronym that is not universally understood (being careful, of course, to define your universe), then say what it means at least once, preferably at the beginning of your contribution. Ok? --W.M.] From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 552 (736) DATE: Tuesday, August 22, 1989 - 12:15:09 MST FROM: John J. Hughes SUBJECT: Beta Testers for WordPerfect Add-On Zondervan Electronic Publishing, a division of the Zondervan Corporation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is looking for qualified persons to Beta test "Scripture Fonts," a new add-on font product for WordPerfect 5.0. Scripture Fonts allows WordPerfect 5.0 users who have EGA, VGA, or Hercules Graphics Card Plus or InColor video cards to enter, display, and edit Greek and Hebrew on-screen--complete with diacritical marks and vowels--and to print Greek and Hebrew on supported printers. Potential Beta testers must have the following hardware and software: 1. An IBM-compatible computer (XT, AT, PS/2) 2. A hard drive with at least 450K of free space 3. A 5.25-inch floppy drive or a 3.5-inch microfloppy drive 4. One of the following video adapters: (1) EGA, (2) VGA, (3) Hercules Graphics Card Plus, (4) Hercules InColor Card 5. WordPerfect 5.0 6. DOS 2.0 or later 7. Optional--one of the following printers: (1) Epson LQ 1500, (2) Toshiba P321SL/341SL, (3) IBM Proprinter, (4) Hewlett-Packard LaserJet +/II Potential Beta testers should know Hebrew or Greek or both languages. Beta testers will be required to sign a standard nondisclosure agreement with Zondervan Electronic Publishing. After being accepted as a tester and after signing the nondisclosure agreement, Beta testers will receive a Beta copy of the program and a printed manual. Beta testers will be expected to Beta test Scripture Fonts for at least 10 hours. In exchange for a written report concerning any bugs, inconsistencies, or suggestions, Beta testers will receive a free copy of Scripture Fonts when the program ships. "Written" reports may be submitted electronically via BITNET or CompuServe (CIS) to the electronic addresses below. The Beta test period will begin September 5 and will end September 22. HUMANISTs who are interested in becoming Beta testers for Scripture Fonts should contact John J. Hughes Product Manager Zondervan Electronic Publishing XB.J24@Stanford.BITNET CIS: 71056,1715 VOICE: (406) 862-7280 FAX: (406) 862-1124 --------------------------------END----------------------------------- From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.381 EDUCOM 1989 (58) Date: Wed, 23 Aug 89 19:39:49 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 553 (737) Can anyone provide infomation about MIT's Mercury project? Thank you, Michael From: "Charles Bailey, University of Houston" Subject: Forgery Conference Date: Wed, 23 Aug 89 10:05:15 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 554 (738) The Houston Conference on Forged Documents This conference, which is sponsored by the University of Houston Libraries and the Rockwell Fund, Inc., will occur on November 2-4, 1989 at the Houston Marriott Medical Center Hotel. The conference will examine the evidence of forged documents in institutional, as well as private, collections. Beyond an examination of a thriving business in historical forgeries, the conference will examine issues related to the credibility of document collections and their impact on scholarly research. It will explore protocols institutions may adopt in order to deal honestly and responsibly when forged documents are discovered. A brief outline of the conference follows: Keynote: Larry McMurtry Session I: Forgery Detection Session II: Interrelated Institutional Factors Session III: Tax and Legal Implications Session IV: Dealer/Donor/Institutional Relations Registration for the conference is $75 and attendance is limited to 200 people. A special rate of $65 per night has been arranged with the hotel. For further information, contact: Houston Conference on Forged Documents Special Collections University of Houston Libraries Houston, TX 77204-2091 From: "Charles Bailey, University of Houston" Subject: HyperClones for IBM Date: Wed, 23 Aug 89 08:02:07 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 555 (739) Good news for all you IBM PC users lusting after Apple's HyperCard. Two HyperCard-like programs are coming up. The first is Spinnaker Software's SplashCard, which is coming out in the fall. "SplashCard duplicates HyperCard's feel and functionality (including sound and graphics integration) and not only runs existing HyperCard stacks but generates Mac-compatible stacks." stacks." The second is Asymetrix's ToolBook: "A source close to the company indicates the package will provide a completely menu-driven, point-and-click, object-oriented development environment not unlike SplashCard. ToolBook uses a HyperCard-like page and book approach and will likely include animation, a draw module, the ability to incorporate graphics from a variety of sources, an English-like script language, and, best of all, script recording." Source: Eric Bender, "Programming for Nonprogrammers," PC World 7 (September 1989), 144. This is an interesting article that is worth reading. It's on pages 142-145. Also in this issue, a HyperPad tutorial (HyperPad is text-only): Jeff Walden, "An Introduction to Hyperpad Programming," PC World 7 (September 1989), 154-157. +----------------------------------------------------------+ | Charles W. Bailey, Jr. Phone: (713) 749-4241 | | Assistant Director For Systems BITNET: LIB3@UHUPVM1 | | | | University Libraries <<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>> | | University of Houston >>>>>>>>>>W<<<<<<<<<< | | Houston, TX 77204-2091 <<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>> | +----------------------------------------------------------+ From: "Charles Bailey, University of Houston" Subject: Internet Article Date: Wed, 23 Aug 89 12:35:19 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 556 (740) Since the start of our discussions on Internet, I've been looking out for an introductory article on this subject that might be of use to PACS Forum members. Well, I ran across one today: Perry, Dennis G., Steven H. Blumenthal, and Robert M. Hinden. "The ARPANET and the DARPA Internet." Library Hi Tech 6, no. 2 (1988): 51-62. Hope you find this useful. +----------------------------------------------------------+ | Charles W. Bailey, Jr. Phone: (713) 749-4241 | | Assistant Director For Systems BITNET: LIB3@UHUPVM1 | | | | University Libraries <<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>> | | University of Houston >>>>>>>>>>W<<<<<<<<<< | | Houston, TX 77204-2091 <<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>> | +----------------------------------------------------------+ From: "Charles D. Bush" Subject: Node Name Change Date: Wed, 23 Aug 89 14:22:03 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 557 (741) All VM/CMS applications at Brighan Young University (hence all BITNET users) have been moved from BYUADMIN to BYUVM. Please change all references in your mailing lists, name files, etc. from BYUADMIN to BYUVM as soon as possible. Mail sent to BYUADMIN before August 31st will be forwarded; but there is no guarantee after that date. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: full, flexible and compatible coding Date: Tuesday, 22 August 1989 2207-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 558 (742) Thanks to Steve DeRose and Robin Cover for helping to clarify the range of issues related to the not-so-simple query about "modernized spellings" (etc.). My not-so-secret fear is that insufficient attention will be given to these sorts of issues in the the text encoding initiative discussions, and that the available experience of projects such as TLG and the Duke Papyri DataBank and the various ancient inscriptions projects (e.g. Cornell, Princeton Institute) will not be exploited adequately. My hope is that a sufficiently comprehensive set of coding recommendations can be developed as early as possible, from which compatible subsets can be generated for the less complex situations. Yes, a "hypertextual" approach is the obvious way to get at all these varieties of wealth, but the links that make hypertext work will serve us best if they are as comprehensive and compatible as possible. My problem is only partly theoretical. We are working to complete the encoding of the massive textual variant corpus for the Old Greek Jewish Scriptural materials ("Septuagint). [deleted quotation]textual information will be possible (including some "modernization" of spellings in antiquity! probably also "archaizing"). We have developed a format that seems adequate for our needs at the moment, but if there is a better (more comprehensive, flexible, etc.) format on the horizon, we would be happy to test and use it, in the interests of greater utility/compatibility. What we don't want to be is out of step in CONCEPT (the details are more simple to adjust) with whatever might develop, if there is any way to avoid that. Bob Kraft, CCAT and CATSS (Comp.Asst.Tools for Septuagint Studies) From: "Matthew Gilmore, Special Collections GW" Subject: electronic ms. markup Date: Wed, 23 Aug 89 08:25:03 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 559 (743) Logging onto OCLC the other day (18 August) I received a message regarding some publications available from OCLC which HUMANISTs might be interested in. _Standard for electronic manuscript preparation and markup_ _Author's guide_ _Reference manual_ _Markup of mathematical formulas_ _Markup of tabular material_ Published by EPSIG (Electronic Publishing Special Interest Group) at OCLC and approved as ANSI/NISO standard Z39.59-1988. For more information or to order: call Lillian Moon 1-800-848-5878 (in Ohio 1-800-848-8286) ext. 6195. Matthew Gilmore LIBRSPE@GWUVM From: "M. Jessie Barczak" Subject: Willard McCarty re broadcasting Date: Tue, 22 Aug 89 12:28:39 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 560 (744) I think the correct word to describe HUMANIST network transactions is "narrowcast" since only subscribers to the network can communicate. "broadcast" means broadcast for anyone to pick up who has communication capability (as in radio or television). I knew my undergraduate studies in communication would prove useful some day! From: COM3RAE@CLUSTR.TRENT.AC.UK Subject: Re: 3.376 announcements and COMPOSO1 Date: 23-AUG-1989 09:34:51 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 561 (745) Responding to Jim Cahalan'n note about computers in composition... I too contacted COMPOSO1 some long time ago and heard nothing - then on 24th May 1989 I received from them a COMPUTERS_AND_COMPOSITION_DIGEST_3.2 . Its first item of information explained that there had been a hiatus in the distribution of the C&C Digest due to host hardware re-organization and change of employment. It went on to suggest that further C&C Digests would follow in the next few weeks - but I have had nothing! I too wondered if I had done something wrong but after your note I suspect that it is their problem - not ours. Maybe we should try the compiler of the C&C Digest that I did get, Robert Royar care/of the following address: R0MILL01@ULKYVX An article in the C&C Digest later on talked of a "Megabyte University" - co-ordinator: Fred Kemp, address: YKFOK@TTACS which looks as though it deals with similar topics/problems. Simon Rae: Trent Polytechnic Nottingham, UK. From: Richard Goerwitz Subject: TeX, SGML, etc. Date: Tue, 22 Aug 89 20:50:05 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 388 (746) This point has been made before, but it needs to be underscored: Writers are typically overburdened with concerns that are basically extraneous to their task of putting ideas into written words. The less they have to think about things like orphans and widows the better. TeX is to the writer somewhat as assembler is to the programmer: It permits very close control over details that simply don't concern the vast majority of peo- ple. From: Willard McCarty Subject: Humanist speaks again to the four corners Date: 24 August 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 562 (747) Reports from our colleagues in Norway, England, Germany, and Austria indicate that Humanist is again being received in Europe. Whether the missing issues will ever turn up I do not know and have no way of telling. Those who want to read what they missed should request the appropriate logbook(s) from the file-server according to the procedure outlined in the Guide to Humanist. Fortunately, these logbooks are now kept on a weekly basis, so it will not be necessary to fetch much more than is required. The first step should be to ask for the HUMANIST FILELIST, then to locate the logbook section and note the names of the files. I deeply enjoy the silence in my house before my children have arisen and after they go to bed (not often before I do anymore), but the silence enforced on our European colleagues is not to be wished for. Willard McCarty From: LIBSSD@EMUVM1 Subject: Hypermedia publishing info. Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 10:28:40 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 563 (748) [Again from PACS-L with thanks. --W.M.] Hypermedia ISSN 0955-8543 Published spring, summer, and winter. Subscription price for volume 1, 1989, to include postage and handling: 45.00 pounds/$85.00. Copies are sent by surface mail. All subscription orders, back issues, advertising and other enquiries should be sent to: Taylor Graham Publishing 500 Chesham House 150 Regent Street London W1R 5FA UK Editor is Patricia Baird, Department of Information Science, University of Strathclyde, Livingstone Tower, 26 Richmond Street, Glasgow G1 1XH UK. Selden Deemer (404) 727-0271 From: kl88a@electronics-and-computer-science.southampton.ac.uk Subject: Re: Latex v dtp. Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 05:17:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 564 (749) A quick note to reply to Alan Humms' comments. A package called the Publisher from Abbortex which runs on a Sun workstation has a double window interface; one has a series of tags within which you write, the other shows how the page will look. This can then be made to output the page description as SGML. It seems quite powerful and flexible (being able to cope with formulae etc) but I haven't really played with it much. From: Natalie Maynor Subject: COMPUTERS AND COMPOSITION DIGEST Date: Wed, 23 Aug 89 21:43:09 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 565 (750) I was surprised to read that some subscribers to COMPOS01 (?) were not getting the overwhelming amount of mail that I've been getting. The (?) in my sentence above is an indication that I can't remember the exact name of the list that I first subscribed to. It was silent for about a year, but then a flood of mail started -- from R0MILL01@ULKYVX. I have been inundated with it all summer -- long, long files. I think it is probably interesting mail, but the files are so long that I haven't had time to read them. From: Tom Thomson Subject: Broadcast, Narrowcast Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 08:34:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 566 (751) Perhaps it should be "multicast"? From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: "narrowcast" etc. Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 11:17:17 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 567 (752) I think the term "closed circuit" is the term historically connected with the manner in which Humanist is transmitted. I would tend to reserver an item such as "narrowcast" for tightly beamed signals which one could only intercept with proper equipment AND by being in the signal path. From: Oxford Text Archive Subject: dtp Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 18:19 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 568 (753) In my experience, DTP usually stands for damnable typographic practices (like 98 fonts in varying sizes in one paragraph) grouchily Lou From: john@utafll (John Baima) Subject: Note on 3.5" drives Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 14:54:44 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 569 (754) I have been out and about some so this note is a little late. I did want to make one more comment about installing a 3.5" drive. It is never necessary to replace the ROM BIOS chip except for bootable devices. If you needed to boot off of a 3.5" drive, then you would have to worry about the ROM BIOS. Otherwise, any necessary extensions to the BIOS can be done through software. That is the reason for installable device drivers. That was one of the big advances in DOS 2.0. Microsoft wrote DRIVER.SYS so that it would *not* be necessary to replace millions of ROM BIOS chips just to install 3.5" drives. If any dealer tells you that you must change your ROM BIOS chip for a non-bootable device, I would suggest that you find another dealer. John Baima From: David Megginson Subject: On reproducing photographs (137) Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 06:59:38 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 570 (755) I have heard this same request from other scholars, so I will answer directly to Humanist. The techology for reproducing a photograph on a computer is cheap and simple. My wife uses an Atari mega to produce an 8-page supplement to the United Church Observer, and we are experimenting with generating our half-tone repros from the computer rather than pasting on PMTs. The trick is to use a normal, cheap 400dpi (dots per inch) scanner on a large photograph, then shrink the image so that the effective resolution becomes 800 - 1200+ dpi. You will have a few problems with your project. First, even a semi- detailed 600dpi representation of an 8.5" x 11" page will occupy at least 4mb of computer memory. Secondly, there is no computer monitor that I have ever heard of which could display more than a tiny fraction of that page at once. Multiply 4,000,000 bytes by the number of pages that you want to reproduce, and let's hope for a small text or a large computer. Of course, in five years when personal computers have 64mb of RAM and gigabytes of disk storage, and most humanities scholars are still using MeSsyDOS, this message will seem quaint. David Megginson From: Michael Stairs Subject: digitized photographs Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 09:46:55 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 571 (756) Greetings, Roy asks if anyone is familiar with the state of digitization today. It is interesting that he should ask, as I attended a talk on exactly that topic last week. The talk was given by a firm who will sell you the camera, write the interface and place the final product on CD-ROM. All you have to do is take the pictures, and decide what you want to keep. What I discovered under all the commercial hype was that the technology though adequate for reproducing fine quality photographs of stills on the screen is not good enough to produce readable text on the screen, let alone water stains etc. It would be adequate for reproduction of maps though the names of cities would be fuzzy. The colours reproduced are brilliant but the resolution just isn't fine enough to discern small characters. The demo took place on an AT with EGA, Multisync monitor and a propriatory board that enhanced the crispness of the pixels. The company we talked to was not prepared to use the Mac II, with much higher resolution, as a platform. My impression is that with higher resolution all our dreams could become a reality, but not overnight. An interesting question just popped into my head: maybe the reason for their use of EGA over higher resolution video adapters was to hide the fact that the digitization process was not capable of higher resolutions using their camera. To sum, I regret to say that we may have to wait a little longer before the image on the screen is identical to that on the page. You can start planning for the day though... Michael Stairs Site Coordinator Centre for Computing in the Humanities University of Toronto 416-978-6391 STAIRS@UTOREPAS From: Terrence Erdt Subject: documentation on BITNET lists (136 lines) Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 12:49 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 392 (757) David Megginson inquired about two lists about which he had been unable to obtain information (Humanist vol. 3, no. 383)-- MINIX-L and ATARI16. Some Humanists may not be aware of the BITNET documentation that should be available on their local systems or that can be gotten from what are known as netservs. Since the computer support people on my campus generally are not very knowledgeable about the uses of networks such as BITNET and since they don't periodically update local files, I occasionally download some of the documentation available from netserv@bitnic, such as the lastest lists of nodes and listservs. Christopher Condon (bitlib@yalevm) has written up the basic instructions for doing this sort of browsing and searching around BITNET, as in "Bitnet for the Compleat Idiot," which is contained in one of the basic BITNET resource files. Besides a list of the listservs on BITNET, there is one containing ARPANET lists--again this is standard documentation that ought to be on one's local system, but that can be gotten from netserves, such as the one at BITNIC. To begin a quest for the files, you might want to try the interactive commands (of course you can send the messages via e-mail instead): (VM/CMS systems) TELL NETSERV AT MARIST GET BITNET USERHELP (VAX/VMS) SEND NETSERV@BITNIC "GET BITNET USER HELP" The file that provides a run down of BITNET lists contains the following information about the two discussion groups that David inquired about: INFO-ATARI Discussions of 8- and 16-bit Atari computers and related topics. Commercial messages and advertisements are not permitted. Archives are kept in several places in formats available to everyone; all digests are in the archives, and there is a separate program library. As described below, if you are on ARPANet/DDN you will probably find it more convenient to retrieve files from the archive on RADC-SOFTVAX.ARPA using FTP. If you are not on ARPANet/DDN, or are unable to use FTP, you will be able to retrieve files from archives distributed over several Bitnet hosts by sending mail (notes) to a program called LISTSERV. Files from RADC-SOFTVAX.ARPA are available by FTP. There are two directories under the anonymous account: one for atari8 and one for atari16. FTP to radc-softvax using login:guest and password:guest. To get the current list of available atari16 files do a 'get atari16/files.doc'. LISTSERV provides access to files for everyone who can send mail, independent of their location. On Bitnet messages should be sent to your nearest LISTSERV (the one from which you receive the info-atari digests); if your address is not on Bitnet, an address for file servers is given below. All mail sent to LISTSERV contains command lines. LISTSERV will respond by return mail. No subject is necessary in such mail. For more information send the command INFO The list_name for 16-bit Ataris is INFO-A16. The list_name for 8-bit Ataris is INFO-A8. These list names are used by Bitnet addressees for subscribing and unsubscribing and by everyone for obtaining back copies of news digests. The list_names for programs stored in the archives are PROG-A16 and PROG-A8. You can obtain copies of files from LISTSERV by sending a message in the specified format. To obtain a list of files in the file server, the command is INDEX list_name The command to obtain a specific file is GET list_name file_name for example, GET INFO-A16 87-00076 If you want to learn more, send the message HELP If you are on Bitnet you may add or remove yourself from the distribution list. The command to join the list is SUBSCRIBE list_name User_name The command to remove yourself from the list is UNSUBSCRIBE list_name If you are on ARPAnet (or gatewayed to it), your mail concerning 16-bit Atari information should be addressed to LISTSERV%CANADA01.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU. Mail concerning 8-bit Atari information should be addressed to LISTSERV%TCSVM.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU. Administrative messages should be sent to info-atari8-request@SCORE.STANFORD.EDU or info-atari16-request@SCORE.STANFORD.EDU. Moderators: (Un)Subscribing problems: Harry Williams 16-bit digest archives: Peter Jasper-Fayer 16-bit program archives: Richard Werezak 8-bit archives: John Voigt 8-bit program archives: Arnold de Leon . INFO-MINIX@UDEL.EDU Mailing list for the discussion of the Minix Operating System: a Version 7 Unix clone written for IBM Compatible PCs by Andy Tanenbaum (minix@vu44.uucp or minix@CS.VU.NL). This list is gatewayed to the BITNET list MINIX-L@NDSUVM1 which in turn is gatewayed to the USENET newsgroup comp.os.minix. Unofficial archives are kept on host SIMTEL20 as TOPS20 mail files named yymm.n-TXT, where n starts with one and increments by one into another file as each file reaches 150 disk pages. To conserve disk space, all the mail files in the archive, except for the current year, are individually compressed. The compressed files have the suffix -Z as part of the filetype field; they should be renamed to have the suffix .Z (uppercase Z) when transfered to a Unix system so the uncompress program will find them. The current month's mail is still kept in "MINIX-ARCHIV.TXT". The archives are stored in directory "PD2:". Archive files are available via ANONYMOUS FTP from SIMTEL20 for those with TCP/IP access to the Internet. Archives are also available from a number of other sources, including a mail server. Further information can be obtained by sending a request to INFO-MINIX-REQUEST@UDEL.EDU. All requests to be added to or deleted from this list, problems, questions, etc., should be sent to INFO-MINIX-REQUEST@UDEL.EDU. List Maintainer: James Galvin From: "Michael Sperberg-McQueen 312 996-2477 -2981" Subject: The Arcane TEI - a reassurance, I hope, for Bob Kraft Date: 24 August 1989 09:17:53 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 393 (758) For a week or so, I've owed Bob Kraft an answer to his query about how the TEI was coming along on recommendations for encoding textual variants--and now today comes comes his note confessing to a not-so-secret worry lest papyrology, epigraphy, and similar (dare I say 'arcane'?) disciplines not receive adequate attention in the TEI. Now I really must answer. Well, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, and I won't ask Bob to take it on faith that the TEI guidelines will be perfect on that, or on any other score. But this I can say: papyrology and so on are not being forgotten, and we will do our best to ensure that at the end of the day the TEI guidelines provide a sound, reliable, portable basis for "full, flexible, and compatible encoding" of papyrological, epigraphic, codicological, and paleographic information from coffee stains to archaic and archaizing spellings. How much of this will be pre-prescribed and how much will fall into the class of user-definable extensions can only be discovered in the course of work. But there are too many philologists involved with the project to allow such critical and challenging topics to fall by the wayside, and I think I can promise that they won't. Bob is right, too, about the need to develop a sufficiently comprehensive set of encoding guidelines that most individual applications fall out of the general set as subsets and special cases. That is precisely the approach we are taking, and that is why our topics include such a range of problems from those usually addressed by publishers and other information-industry types, through those of computational linguists, to those of traditional philologists, not-so-computational linguists, literary scholars, philosophers, and historians of varied stripes. The industrial concerns and the purely scholarly concerned have much broader overlap than is commonly realized, and no scheme addressing only one set of concerns will be as useful (or, I think, as soundly based) as one addressing the full range as far as possible. (Neither industrial organizations nor academic organizations seem to realize this; both seem distinctly uneasy at being yoked with the other, even metaphorically, in this project.) The logic of seeking out the most general and comprehensive cases first is also behind the planning of the project. The committee on text representation is focusing first of all on the most general problems common to a wide variety of texts (because they must set the basic framework for a generally applicable comprehensive encoding scheme). This means that some problems like those recently discussed on Humanist aren't in the main stream of work during the first cycle of work, but ensures that when they are taken up they will fit into a sound general framework. Equally important for the difficult tasks of encoding non-textual accidentals (like coffee stains) is the work of the committee on analysis and interpretation. During the first phase of the project (through June, 1990) this committee is focusing on linguistic issues, not because we are interested primarily or only in linguistics, but because as far as we can see linguistic encoding presents the most tightly constrained sets of interrelated demands on the expressive power of the encoding scheme. Linguistics, that is, seems to present examples of every kind of technical difficulty for an encoding formalism: multiple layers of analysis, each constrained by theory, which must interact cleanly in ways also constrained by theory. Sometimes the linguistic units nest and sometimes they don't; sometimes they are contiguous and sometimes they aren't. When we have encoding conventions adequate to these problems, I think the conventions needed to encode even very complex papyrological and codicological data will be far easier to create, since the techniques needed (co-indexing of non-contiguous segments, for example) will be well developed already. That doesn't mean there won't be problems. But the linguistic problems will create a firm basis for developing papyrological encodings. And, as advertised, the Text Encoding Initiative is interested in cooperating with projects involved in encoding corpora, to allow the draft guidelines to be tested before publication, and to receive feedback from people working in the field. Projects interested in such cooperation should contact the head of the steering committee (Nancy Ide, IDE@VASSAR) or one of the editors (C. M. Sperberg-McQueen, U35395@UICVM, or Lou Burnard, LOU@VAX.OX.AC.UK -- Janet readers will I hope know how to un-reverse that node-address). More reports on progress will follow after things calm down here. -Michael Sperberg-McQueen ACH / ACL / ALLC Text Encoding Initiative University of Illinois at Chicago From: sdm@BROWNCS Subject: Hieroglyphic Grammar Text Date: Wed, 23 Aug 89 21:53:37 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 572 (759) As I understand it, the standard introductory text for English-speaking persons wanting to learn to read Egyptian hieroglyphs is Gardner's "Egyptian Grammar," originally written in the 1920s. Simply due to its age, this book contains a number of errors. Do Humanists know of any more up-to-date introductory texts, possibly not in English? My first choice would be for a text in German, but information on any accurate text would be appreciated. Thanks, Scott Meyers sdm@cs.brown.edu From: Daniel Boyarin Subject: Dante project address Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 09:13:34 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 573 (760) Can a humanist out there send me the email address of the Dante Project at Dartmouth? Thanks in advance. Daniel Boyarin (Boyarin@TAUNIVM.Bitnet) From: bobh@phoenix (Robert Hollander) Subject: Re: 3.394 hieroglyphics grammar? Dante Project? (45) Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 19:03:34 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 574 (761) In rsponse to Daniel Boyarin's request for the Dartmouth Dante Project's address, I'd like to ask as many HUMANISTS as have Dante-involved colleagues to let them know we are available to them, gratis, if they have access to Internet; more than gratis via Telenet. To contact the DDP for a free subscription via e-mail: dante@eleazar.dartmouth.edu phone: (603) 646-2633 (dbadmin. is Janet Stephens). Thanks, Bob Hollander (DDP Director) From: N.J.Morgan@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.384 queries (137) Date: Fri, 25 Aug 89 05:23:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 575 (762) I had always thought that DTP meant discrete tribal practice, as in the common Scots phrase (you can hear it echoing through the tenement lined streets of urban Scotland to this day) 'Crivens, ma' mans awa forra dtp' Or have I misunderstood the vernacular usage ? Nicholas Morgan Glasgow From: TREAT@PENNDRLS (Jay Treat, Religious Studies, Penn) Subject: What does DTP stand for? Date: Friday, 25 August 1989 2334-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 576 (763) DTP stands for "dunamis tois pollois". (Translated: "Power to the people!") Regards, Jay Treat, Religious Studies, Penn From: DAniel Boyarin Subject: Maledicta Date: Sat, 26 Aug 89 15:16:58 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 577 (764) For all who are terribly interested in the subject of hate language etc. I hearily reccomend the journal Maledicta devoted to the subject. From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: BITNET and COMPUSERVE Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 22:13:39 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 578 (765) The psychology newsletter, a BITNET list, has announced that communication between BITNET or INTERNET and COMPUSERVE is easy and, at least for those sending from BITNET or INTERNET, free. This is probably new information to most list users, so I announce it to several lists. Here is the procedure for sending between the systems. To send from BITNET/INTERNET to COMPUSERVE: Compuserve IDs are numerical and contain a comma. To avoid confusing other e-mail systems, the comma must be replaced with a period. If your system can recognize a COMPUSERVE node, simply send your mail to (using my IDs as examples) 72310.3204@COMPUSERVE.COM Or, if your system cannot find this node, you must name the gateway, in the following manner: 72310.3204%COMPUSERVE.COM@SAQQARA.CIS.OHIO-STATE.EDU and your mail will go through. Sending from COMPUSERVE to BITNET or INTRNET may be accomplished by instructing the EsayPlex system to send into BITNET or INTERNET. For example, to reach me, you might try INET:ENCOPE%LSUVM.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU or a similar locution, depending on the nature of the receiving network. Good luck! KLC From: "Charles Bailey, University of Houston" Subject: Hypertext/Hypermedia Date: Fri, 25 Aug 89 09:19:08 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 579 (766) The MIT Press has published an edited collection of papers on hypertext/ hypermedia: Edward Barrett, ed. The Society of Text: Hypertext, Hypermedia, and the Social Construction of Information. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1989. I found the editor's earlier work, The Society of Text, to be of little interest; however, this new book contains several papers that look promising: Carlson, Patricia Ann. "Hypertext and Intelligent Interfaces for Text Retrieval." Hodges, Matthew et al. "Investigations in Multimedia Design Documentation." (Athena Muse system) Meyrowitz, Norman. "The Missing Link: Why We're All Doing Hypertext Wrong." Shneiderman, Ben. "Reflections on Authoring, Editing, and Managing Hypertext." Walker, Janet H. "Authoring Tools for Complex Document Sets." Stewart, Jacqueline A. "How to Manage Educational Computing Initiatives--Lessons from the First Five Years of Project Athena at MIT." Neuwirth, Christine M. "Techniques of User Message Design: Developing a User Message System to Support Cooperative Work." There are some other papers of note, which are reprinted from other sources, that I haven't mentioned. *One paper cites a source in HyperAge: The Journal of HyperThinking. Anyone seen this journal?* +----------------------------------------------------------+ | Charles W. Bailey, Jr. Phone: (713) 749-4241 | | Assistant Director For Systems BITNET: LIB3@UHUPVM1 | | | | University Libraries <<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>> | | University of Houston >>>>>>>>>>W<<<<<<<<<< | | Houston, TX 77204-2091 <<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>> | +----------------------------------------------------------+ From: SMITH@EDUCOM Subject: Hypertext/Hypermedia Date: Fri, 25 Aug 89 12:44:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 580 (767) A previous book by the MIT press and the same editor is enlightening: Edward Barrett, ed. Text, Context, and Hypertext: Writing with and for the Computer. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1988. Papers range from automated publishing systems and AI to document databases, and hypertext and the teaching of writing. Sheldon Smith SMITH@EDUCOM 609 520-3340 From: Geoff Rockwell Subject: Re: 3.385 announcements (138) Date: Fri, 25 Aug 89 09:41:51 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 581 (768) For those who are thinking of developing information applications (read HyperCard stacks), and would like to make the information available on both Macs and PCs, a company called "Level Systems, Inc" is working on a product called "Wild Card". This is supposed to compile HyperCard stacks into applications that run under Windows. For those who live and breathe HyperCard I saw a number of interesting products at MacWorld: 1) HyperTimon is a not yet released script editor and debugger for HyperTalk. It allows one to see multiple scripts, to step through a script, and provides better editing tools than the script editor in HyperCard. 2) Dialoger is a stack full of XCMDs that allows one to easily create dialog boxes without going near ResEdit. It allows one to create Dialog boxes that are modeless (ie they float over the stack as it churns beneath), and it allows one to easily combine art in the boxes. 3) Plus is an alternative to HyperCard and SuperCard. It is somewhere in between the two - slower than HyperCard, but faster than SuperCard. It allows one to have cards of any size, color, and multi font fields. It does not allow for more than one window as SuperCard does. Nor does it provide the object manipulation tools that SuperCard does. It is very much an extended HyperCard. As a final note to those in Ontario or Eastern Canada, Apple Canada is putting on a three day HyperCard workshop for participants from colleges and universities. Contact Nick Shusler at (416) 477 5623 for more info. Yours too long Geoffrey Rockwell From: "Robin C. Cover" Subject: KURZWEIL 5100 SCANNER Date: Sat, 26 Aug 89 01:30:18 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 397 (769) Kurzweil 5100 Scanner Today I spent three hours playing with the new Kurzweil 5100 scanner, and want to report cautious optimism. Actually, I'm trying to provoke Terry Erdt to fulfill his promise (HUMANIST #3.21) to provide a thorough review of the Kurzweil 5100, Accutext and Innovatic Software. The Kurzweil 5100 was impressive from the standpoint that it performed a task other scanners have not achieved in our tests: it could be trained to correctly read pointed Hebrew "characters" (text samples taken from the Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon) and allowed us to map the composite characters to upper-ascii positions or to unique (flagged) four-character string sequences. Other scanners we've tested are not so trainable, or would not track properly with sub scripted and super-scripted fonts of this complexity. We used the Kurzweil 4000 to scan a Greek-English lexicon (BAGD), but the 4000 will not handle pointed Hebrew very well. Other tests we conducted with the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary and similar multilingual lexica suggest that the Kurzweil 5100 holds promise for scanning multilingual texts. At $18,000, it costs about the same as three years of service contract on the model 4000. (Will that convince our administration? Anyone want to buy a cheap 4000?) The Kurzweil 5100 scans at 400 dpi, but will also process text scanned and imported from other sources (TIFF, PCX, IGF, RES). It will output processed text to (18) popular text or wordprocessing formats. Since processing is passed from the scanner to an IBM-PC (equipped with a board), the user has greater flexibility in configuring the system for batch operation and overall performance. One could scan during the day and process the scanned files at night. By contrast, the Kurzweil 4000 is limited by the fact that all hardware is internal to the unit, and there is no upgrade path. The 5100 supports most features of the 4000, but has software and user-interface improvements that should make fast work of scanning (automatic column recognition; auto page location [makes the "tablet" unnecessary]; "omnifont" recognition; duplex page collation; one-pass text-and-graphics scanning, recognition of point sizes 6-24; etc.). The critical point of interest for academic institutions (and HUMANISTS) will probably be the extent to which the Kurzweil 5100 can be pressed into service for multilingual scanning. I did not receive satisfactory answers to all my questions from the local support team. The scanner is said to support (8) modern "languages," but I think this has little relevance for our work: only one "language" may be selected in a single scanning operation. The 5100 features automatic "omnifont" recognition, which means it employs generalized feature extraction algorithms and is not constrained by the limitation of the Kurzweil 4000, which permitted a maximum of ten discrete fonts. We have found that the 4000's ten "fonts" (which we map to languages *and* print styles) are not enough for complex documents. During the training session on the 5100, unrecognized "characters" can be mapped to special user-defined names up to (4) characters long. If this means all 256 ASCII chars, with no practical limit (doubtful), the new Kurzweil provides more composite- or special-character positions than I'd ever care to train (millions!). But key assignment for several languages might not be difficult to manage: we could use a 1-character language code and 1-to-3-character mnemonic or transliteration sequence for the new character name. The header of the raw ascii output file contains information about font assignments, tabs, print styles, column dimensions and so forth. It's probably not meant for humans to look at (just programmers), but it can be read. Whether these data in the header and associated output files can be applied unambiguously with the flags *inside* the text file to yield customized markup for multilingual text -- looks probable and seems reasonable. I can't say more, but I'm praying. While I should not recommend purchase of a Kurzweil 5100 based solely on this limited testing, I certainly would recommend giving it further evaluation. Institutions looking for a top-of-the-line scanner or intelligent OCR software don't have much choice, though, since the Kurzweil 4000 is no longer available. Or...is Optiram a serious contender? The 4000 was a dead-end anyway: we uncovered software problems that Kurzweil would not (or "could" not) fix in the arcane spaghetti code. By contrast, the OCR software for the 5100 is written in maintainable C-code, and improvements are already being made. If anyone (Terry Erdt?) can obtain detailed and definitive answers to questions about multilingual applications [esp., the number of permissible 4-character assignments for "special characters"], I will be grateful. Perhaps we can form a lobby to encourage Kurzweil to support additional features in the OCR software and output formats. If anyone is using the 5100 for multilingual applications, please let hear your comments. Intelligent scanning technologies, it seems to me, hold the only realistic promise for retrieving our paper-bound literary heritage. Keyboarding works, of course, but it's too expensive. While we await the results of the Text Encoding Initiative to provide guidelines for descriptive markup of our texts, and mature authoring software for structured-editing, the technological bottleneck in data preparation is still scanning and intelligent character recognition. The Kurzweil 5100 appears to take us one step further toward that goal. Professor Robin Cover (bitnet preferable) Dallas Seminary zrcc1001@smuvm1.BITNET 3909 Swiss Avenue attctc!utafll!robin.UUCP Dallas, TX 75204 attctc!cdword!cover.UUCP (214) 296-1783(h) 824-3094(w) From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "The Universal Word" wp from WYSIWYG--follow-up query" Date: Fri, 25 Aug 89 11:16:07 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 398 (770) Since several of our mailers were upgraded over the past week, I may have missed a response to my Aug. 16th query about feedback on "The Universal Word" word processor from WYSIWYG Corp. Has anyone out there ever used it for multi-lingual word processing? Thanks. --Joel J_GOLDFI@UNHH.bitnet jdg@psc90.dartmouth.edu From: Subject: ROM BIOS and 3.5" Drives Date: Fri, 25 Aug 89 20:22 O X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 399 (771) 25 August 1989 Having recently returned from a long trip, I have missed the discussion on 3.5" drives except for John Baima's comment of 24 August that it is "never necessary to replace the ROM BIOS chip...." This, in my experience, is wide of the mark. First, to my knowledge it is only starting with DOS 3.3 (not 2.0) that 3.5" drives are fully supported. With versions below 3.3, there would be difficulty accessing a 3.5" drive, bootable or not, simply using DOS. I have recent experience with this. A year ago I purchased an AST Premium 286 with a 3.5 1.44MB drive as Drive B: (one of four drives). This was about two months before AST upgraded its ROM BIOS to support 3.5" drives. The 3.5 drive came with proprietary Bastech software, and the the drive's own (Toshiba) documentation explicitly recommended using this over the two primary DOS alternatives. The Bastech software was dealer-installed on the hard drive. It also proved to be copy-protected. Several months later, the hard drive expired. It was replaced under warranty, but my backup of the copy-protected Bastech software was no longer valid, as it required confirmation from a key disk, which had not been supplied by the dealer. I was now 5000 miles from the dealer with a non-functioning drive. I tried both the DOS 3.3 alternatives detailed in the drive and DOS manuals and other sleights of hand specified by our university computer people. They partially worked, but would not consistently access the drive. Eventually I obtained the original Bastech 3.5 driver diskette from the dealer to enable the drive to work. The dealer also said that he (and/or AST) would upgrade the ROM BIOS chip free of charge, as was their standard practice, which would have made DOS initialization possible and the Bastech software no longer necessary. I would have taken this route, had not the computer and the dealer still been 5000 miles apart. The point is, the ROM BIOS must support DOS extensions before they will work, at least consistently and reliably, regardless of whether the drive is bootable or not. Older BIOSes usually do not support 3.5 drives, and there is little DOS alone can do to remedy this. Proprietary software yes, but not DOS. It may be that the discussion on 3.5 drives leading up to Baima's response was on a different aspect, but it is my opinion, and experience, that his comments were not wholly accurate. John D. Hopkins (Hopkins@FINFUN.Bitnet) Tampere University, Finland From: GUEST4@YUSol Subject: Digitizing images of text pages Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 22:34 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 400 (772) I'm afraid this particular exchange leaves me baffled so far. I keep waiting for someone to ask: "Why would anyone want a DIGITIZED version of a photograph of the coffee-stained MS in question?" A very powerful system for producing and processing digitized images has lately been produced at Berkeley, and is being made available at very reasonable cost to academic institutions, museums, etc. in a version that inhabits SUNs and similar hefty Unix boxes. Reading the excellent advance literature that the developers send out, one quickly realizes that the whole POINT of such a technology is to be able to PLAY with the image in various ways. Now, show me a standard-issue humanistic old-text-freak who is itching to MESS UP the tell-tale information on his favorite coffee- or blood-stained incunabulum, and I'll show you a candidate for the funny farm. Or so it would seem... I must be missing something, or else, why don't all these eager hitech-watchers come to their senses, forget about waiting for the price of gigabits to come down, and content themselves with the far cheaper and sharper image of the humble familiar photographic copy? Sorry if this offends the "I must have my machine-readable text at any price" fringe of HUMANIST readers, for whom the Third World used to be regarded as simply a reservoir of low-cost keypunchers. One can't help wondering what Montaigne (not to mention Gandhi) might have said of such latter-day captains of the Humanities, post-imperialist division. Sterling Beckwith Humanities and Music, York University From: "Charles Bailey, University of Houston" Subject: CD-ROM Directory Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 15:17:06 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 582 (773) A very handy list of CD-ROMs has been recently published in CD-ROM Librarian. It organizes CD-ROM products by subject. The entries include product name, company name, price, brief description, and citations for *product reviews*. The article is: Ryan, Joe and Paul Philbin. "CD-ROM Databases Product Directory." CD-ROM Librarian 4 (July/August 1989): 24-32. This is really part I of a two part article. The next part will appear in the September 1989 issue. +----------------------------------------------------------+ | Charles W. Bailey, Jr. Phone: (713) 749-4241 | | Assistant Director For Systems BITNET: LIB3@UHUPVM1 | | | | University Libraries <<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>> | | University of Houston >>>>>>>>>>W<<<<<<<<<< | | Houston, TX 77204-2091 <<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>> | +----------------------------------------------------------+ From: Jerry Caswell Subject: Re: CD-ROM Hardware Poll Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 15:44:48 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 583 (774) The University of Vermont received a Toshiba CD player with a workstation on loan from UMI. Once the laser's lens had been cleaned, it gave very good performance during the months it was here. For the past year we have standardized on Philips products, the CM200 internal drive and the CM121 external drive. They have been quite reliable with good performance levels. While it is difficult to insert discs into the caddies, the public service staff loves the fact that the public can't extract the discs from the player. We have been able to purchase the external drive with CM153 controller card for $800. From: Alan L Claver Subject: CD-ROM Hardware Poll Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 16:44:08 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 584 (775) We've recently acquired two Toshiba XM-3200 series CD-ROM drives. I've found them generally well made and exceptionally fast. We have a mixture of CD-ROM drives currently (Philips, Hitachi, Toshiba XA) and it beats them all. The one caveat is the use of a CD-ROM caddy which is required. This is an external case for each CD-ROM, much as the hard case of a microfloppy. This are a bit expensive (25 dollars each) and are subject to breakage, etc. We are currently purchasing them from UMI for about 700 dollars. Be aware that the CD-ROM is not the only bottleneck for using CD-ROMs. Other hardware that can hinder performance is the hard disk speed (most CD-ROM access software uses the disk for temporary storage) and the display card (much of the access software use s l o w windowing techniques that slow to a crawl on MCDA or CGA). Service,unfortunately, is a joke. Vendors are not equipped to repair CD-ROM and invariably the drives must be returned to the vendor. Toshiba is running about 4-5 weeks for repairs and we end up doubling up CD-ROMs on existing equipment. Alan L Claver [865-7213 W-112 Pattee] From: IZIE100@INDYVAX Subject: RE: CD-ROM Hardware Poll Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 17:06:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 585 (776) We've mostly used Hitachis, and found them reliable. However they are the same generation as the CM100. Under the AMDEK LS1 lable we can get them for c. $600 from PC-Connection. We've gotten some to the newer SONY drives from oems. I like the disk caddys, but these faster drives don't seem to be as reliable. JJM IU School of Med Lib From: weinshan@cpswh.cps.msu.edu (Dr Donald J. Weinshank) Subject: Date: Mon, 28 Aug 89 17:14:47 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 402 (777) If I may, I would like to reopen the question of "computer ethics." Let me try to formulate the question this way: "Is there a rational and consensual basis for computer ethics?" The older I get, the more I feel the poignancy of this exchange in The Brothers Karamazov: "Is that really your conviction as to the consequences of the disappearance of the faith in immortality?" the elder asked Ivan suddenly. "Yes. That was my contention. There is no virtue if there is no immortality." Absent a consensual reality, on what basis can we construct a system of computer ethics for our students? Do we reduce ethical questions to the merely legal ones? If it ain't illegal, is it OK? Do we point to a series of mini-consensuses? The ACM says ...., and the MLA says ...., and the Department of Redundancy Department has published yet another statement of computer ethics. Are students to choose one ethics position from Column A and one from Column B as they see fit? Are computer ethics merely negative ("Thou shalt not..."), or are they also positive? Are there ethical statements which are unique to (or apply with special force to) the field of computing, or are they the general ones of "intellectual honesty, curiosity, an eye for detail, a respect for theory, and delight at discovery" (Miller quoting Ryle on 20 June, 1989). If computer ethics can be taught, then I have these questions: * Who is doing the teaching? People in the Humanities? Engineers? Computer Scientists? * What are the people who are teaching computer/engineering/scientific ethics teaching? * What texts? * What contexts: part of many courses or a separate required/elective course? Don Weinshank Computer Science Department Michigan State University East Lansing MI 48823 USA BITNET weinshank@msuegr.bitnet CSNET, ARPA weinshan@cpswh.cps.msu.edu From: James O'Donnell Subject: Scanning the future Date: 27 Aug 89 00:08:59 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 586 (778) Recent HUMANIST notes about Kurzweil developments suggest non-classicists may be interested in something in the APA Newsletter for August 1989 (and classicists will want to read it carefully, on the first page). Our standard bibliographical tool, L'Annee Philologique (hefty annual volumes indexing more or less everything a classicist might want to read [though not all s/he SHOULD want to read]), is going to be made machine-readable. This project will be many years in the making, with the first CD-ROM containing only the most recent 13 years of bibliography not due out until 1993. Of most interest and concern to me was this sentence: `The feasibility of input by optical scanning was tested and rejected in a pilot project funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation which demonstrated that scanners could not accurately interpret a multilingual text printed in multiple European typefaces like the APh.' This is gloomy news, for it means that they will be doing double manual entry -- 1965 technology, really. Gloomier because I assume that a Packard-funded pilot project would be pretty competent, pretty alert to state-of-the-art possibilities, etc. If THEY say no, it means NO. Do I understand, though, that the real problem is the MULTILINGUAL? I had thought we were approaching the point where some standard reference works (e.g., the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae) could be fed to a scanner and made accessible at a price less than an ayatollah's ransom. In fact, we must reach the point someday where it can be done for a cost more or less congruent to what the (admittedly limited) clientele is willing to pay for the result, or we risk having large bodies of important (but not VITAL) material fail to make the transition from print to digitation, whereupon it will eventually find the same fate that met those ancient texts that didn't make it from papyrus roll onto the high-tech codex. Short form of my query: how gloomy should we be? From: "Robin C. Cover" Subject: MORE (LESS) ON KURZWEIL 5100 Date: Mon, 28 Aug 89 10:37:51 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 587 (779) In light of conversations with Kurzweil technical support in Cambridge, I must further qualify the "cautious optimism" of HUMANIST posting 3.397 on the Kurzweil 5100. For some multilingual applications (*perhaps* accented Greek), the software may indeed hold some promise; that depends upon the ability of the user to overrule the software's intelligence in assigning arbitrary ascii values to regular characters and non-ascii characters [not clarified to me]. For pathological cases like pointed Hebrew, the software is much more limited: mappings of special characters [I would call "graphs"] to the encoded "four-character sequence" are apparently limited to "a few," not hundreds or thousands of instances. Having awakened from this dream "too good to be true," I set out upon a renewed quest for intelligent, accurate, trainable OCR software. It may be asking to much of industry to support the humanities outright, but is it too much to ask for a FLEXIBLE, generalized solution to optical character recognition? Robin Cover From: "John K. Baima" Subject: 3.5" drives one more time Date: Mon, 28 Aug 89 10:05 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 404 (780) I think that if Mr. Hopkins had bothered to find my original message or had asked me about it, he would have found that he had not tried my suggestion about 3.5" drives. Unless his DOS manuals are much different than mine, they would not have told him that his drive could be configured as an external drive. The one hint I have that he has not tried my suggestion is that he refers to his drive as drive B: and the 3.5" drive will never be drive A: or B: if it is configured as an external drive. Since he did get the drive to work without upgrading his BIOS chip (even if he did get stuck with copyprotected software), why should he think it *necessary* to replace his BIOS chip? I have an *old* XT clone. The date on my ROM BIOS is 10/16/84--quite a bit before 3.5" drives. The computer started life with IBM DOS 2.10. The controller is a total no name job, but the computer is just about a 100% IBM PC-XT clone. I have only ever found one game that would not run and that may have been due to my video card. The 3.5" drive works quite nicely. Sometimes it is drive E:, sometimes H:, depending on my CONFIG.SYS. If my suggestion about connecting a 3.5" drive which is inside the computer and using the internal controller does not work, I would be interested in knowing what the various models are. I still think that it is certainly true that a ROM BIOS upgrade is never necessary for non-bootable devices. John Baima From: "Patrick W. Conner" Subject: 3.400 digitized pictures, cont. (44) Date: Sun, 27 Aug 89 12:00:49 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 588 (781) Sterling Beckwith understands on one hand that the value of digitizing a text in its original form is to play with the image in various ways, but misunderstands on the other hand why an old-text-freak would be itching to MESS UP the tell-tale information on his favorite coffee-or blood-stained incunabulum. Sterling seems to think that codicologists and analytical bibliographers are more interested in product than process, when--in fact--such scholars have been involved in the processes by which texts came about since the days of Mabillon. The tell-tale information a codicologist uses to reconstruct these processes is much enhanced if one can shift the layers of evidence around, as it were, so that the coffee stain (by which is meant any stray mark of no likely relevance to the history of the text) is more visible. Digital image processing, I believe, allows just this. For example, the lower text on a palimpsest can be more easily read if the computer enhances all marks on the page which fall within the range of contrast identified with the lower text. Kevin Kiernan at the University of Kentucky is engaged in such work with the Beowulf manuscript. This does not imply that one cannot and does not return to the unmanipulated digitized version or even to a photograph, from time to time, and no one is interested in messing up information, but a static photograph of a manuscript or incunabulum has much less to offer than a high resolution digitized picture whose contrasts and colors can be manipulated in order to discover more about the processes which put various stains and scrapes on the foundation material. As a matter of fact, even the original has less to offer to a scholar with a magnifying glass than does a high quality digitized version on the right equiptment, because you cannot ordinarily privilege or marginalize categories of visual information (which is what digital image enhancment allows) in the rare books rooms of our great libraries. I assure you that very few humanists are chasing technology for its own sake. It certainly would be easier simply to use an ordinary photograph, and in many cases, all that is required to edit a text properly (once you've examined the construction of the manuscript or made collations of the incunabula), is to work with a microfilm or photograph. But in many other cases, the ability to deconstruct (!) and then reconstruct the physical history of the book via digital image processing is necessary to edit the text with which one is concerned or to comment significantly upon it. _ Patrick W. Conner West Virginia University From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: digitizing pictures and exploiting the Third World Date: 27 August 1989, 14:08:22 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 589 (782) Why should anyone want a digitized image of a coffee stain? Good question. Not many people do. But if the coffee were Nero's or Walt Whitman's, then at least the biographer could say that N&W drank coffee (or suppose the coffee stain was Mozart's as he worked on the Requiem?), or that, like Balzac, they were nervous when they wrote because they drank such strong coffee (forensic evidence on the original would indicate that). If the photographic image of a watermark, digitized and recorded in an image on a database, could save a scholar a trip half way round the world to the original, is preserving and then allowing access to the image through a service like BITNET. OK? On the question of exploiting the Third World in the buying of cheap labor for key-punching: I thought that photographing an image of the text would obviate at least part of the need for such labor. If scholars can scan and enter texts, possibly encoding them as they enter them, and if other scholars can then compare the texts with pictures of the texts, hightech devices may be used, yes, but no exploited labor enters into the process. Then where is the problem, morally or ethically? Roy Flannagan From: Ian Lancashire Subject: Digitized Pages of Text Date: Sat, 26 Aug 89 20:25:27 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 406 (783) One strong argument for distributing both transcriptions AND digitized images of literary texts is that they keep the transcribers honest. It's long been standard for thesis editions in some parts of the world to format image and edited text as facing pages. One notarious failure of existing text archives is uncertainty about the accuracy of its texts. (This is no slight at those archives, just recognition of a problem that begins with those of us who try our hand at editing machine-readable texts.) A second reason has to do with tagging. What the editor tags may well not be what the user wants tagged. Distributing the image along with the text allows the user to adjust the tagging to her/his own needs. The second meets a very serious need in modern English editorial work. Editors in English Renaissance studies, for instance, argue that word-spacing, kerning, broken typeface, and other aspects of the visual layout of a text are just as important as stage directions, speech prefixes, and running titles to understand the transmission of a text. Yet many people would object to tagging at this level of layout. Including digitized images of the pages we transcribe gives all users the option of editing the texts themselves. If we wish our text archives to meet the scholarly needs of the current (and next) generation, we will have to include digitized images of the copytext along with the transcribed text, as Roy Flannagan has implied. Coffee stains have nothing to do with the issue. From: David Sitman Subject: Listserv update Date: Tue, 29 Aug 89 13:36:20 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 590 (784) [David Sitman, our ListServ guru, has sent the following note about the troubles with mail to Europe. My thanks to the systems people in France for carefully preserving our mail on tape. --W.M.] Today I received a flood of HUMANIST mail which you sent on Aug 15-16. I assume that other European list members have as well. Here's what I've found out: A computer running LISTSERV in France was having trouble and all mail, or at least LISTSERV mail, passing through was stopped and downloaded onto tapes. The problem has been corrected, and they have started uploading the tapes. From: "Matthew Gilmore, Special Collections GW" Subject: articles worth reading Date: Tue, 29 Aug 89 19:34:43 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 591 (785) An article I just discovered which HUMANISTS might consider reading are: Loughridge, Brendan. "Information technology, the humanities and the library." Journal of Information Science 15(4-5), 1989. (I guess I won't submit my ms. to JIS.) Matthew Gilmore LIBRSPE@GWUVM From: GUEST4@YUSol Subject: RE: 3.403 optical scanners (77) Date: Mon, 28 Aug 89 23:38 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 592 (786) In reply to Robin Cover ("It may be asking too much of industry to support the humanities outright, but is it asking too much to ask for a FLEXIBLE, generalized solution to optical character recognition?") may I venture an opinion from the sidelines: Yes, it is asking too much to expect a solution to descend ex machina from the heavens, "industry", or even HUMANIST, without expending nay of one's own elbow grease. It may be asking too much of a certain kind of humanities colleague to admit music as part of the common intellectual enterprise. But if the kind of solution our colleague is seeking can be expected to emerge from anywhere, it will be from the research on the design of an optical MUSIC recognition system now under way, at McGill here in Canada, and elsewhere. Ever try singing any of that pointed Hebrew, my friend? From: GUEST4@YUSol Subject: RE: 3.405 digitizing pictures, cont. (85) Date: Tue, 29 Aug 89 00:56 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 593 (787) Now is obviously the time for all good humanists to write to their congressperson, and/or their friendly neighborhood Japanese businessman. To wit: Dear Military-Industrial Complex: Never mind if digital photography is still prohibitively expensive and unlikely to yield sufficiently high resolution for most purposes anyway; never mind that most of us aren't ever likely to need digital pictures of codices, and that some aren't even too sure how a plain (or infrared) photograph differs from a digitized image. Just support us by making this technology available for us all to play with -- absolutely free, on Bitnet, of course. We'll comb the foothills to find someone somewhere who is able to think up a use for it, however arcane. And just think of the savings in airfare to Cairo or Benediktbeuern, not to mention wear and tear on rare book librarians, when that priceless crumb of new textological information finally does emerge on HUMANIST, for all our fellow technophiles to peruse! ..."Then where is the problem, morally or ethically?" Where indeed. From: TREAT@PENNDRLS (Jay Treat, Religious Studies, Penn) Subject: Why would anyone want to digitize manuscripts? Date: Tuesday, 29 August 1989 0059-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 594 (788) It seems clear that if you want to publish one image of a manuscript on the page opposite its transcription, a well-done photograph (printed at exactly the same scale as the original, if you please) is vastly preferable to a computer image digitized at an inferior resolution of 300 or 400 dots per linear inch. But there are definite advantages to digitization... For example, it is easy to count the dots that make up a digitized image, in case you're interested in computing the average width of various letter-forms or comparing the patterns of papyrus fibres. A digitized image is also very easy to "cut up" in creative ways that would be more difficult to accomplish with photographs. We've started to play with this second approach here at Penn. If Bob Kraft were here he could explain it much better than I. But since he is in Cairo explaining it to fellow papyrologists, I'll try to present some highlights of a case in point. We digitized the photographs of two small papyrus fragments, both of which an editor had identified as belonging to the same Greek manuscript. We digitized both fragments at 300 dpi (dots per inch). Then we digitally "cut out" images of all the alphas in both fragments (alpha was the most common letter in these fragments) and "pasted" them into the same screen in order to make comparisons. Using ordinary graphics software, we could freely move each of these alphas (each about an inch wide, displayed at 72 dpi) and superimpose it over the remaining alphas. This procedure allowed us to compare the dimensions and the curvature of the pen-strokes. The alphas on each fragment resembled one another but differed noticeably from the alphas on the other fragment. (A comparison of the only other common letter produced similar results.) In a short time we were able to examine significant data to evaluate the claim that both fragments were penned by the same hand. And we didn't use up a grain of silver. Regards, Jay Treat From: Espen Ore Subject: Digitizing photos Date: Tue, 29 Aug 89 02:45:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 595 (789) The Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humaities and the Norwegian Secretariate for Registration of Photos are collaborating on a pilot project for a database containing digitized photos AND their reference data. We use Mac IIs with color screens (Apple's) and the Apple scanner. One preliminary finding is the rather obvious one that the resolution required depends upon the medium one uses for presenting the images. For an Apple monitor with 72 dpi resolution, scanning at 75 dpi is more than adequate as long as the monitor's capacity for showing shades of gray is utilized. (E.g. television has a rather poor resolution, but the enormous amount of possible colors a given pixel may have makes it possible to present very much information in one screen.) For printing we have used LaserWriter II NTs, and since this is a strictly monochrome output device it is important to scan at the printers full resolution (300 dpi), and to use a set of halftone patterns suitable for the separate photos. Espen S. Ore From: Richard Goerwitz Subject: frustrated? Date: Tue, 29 Aug 89 10:32:58 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 596 (790) Your note bespeaks frustration with optical character recognition systems. Do you see any solutions on the horizon? From: choueka@thunder.bellcore.com (Yaacov Choueka) Subject: Digitized images of text and a hypertext for the Talmud Date: Tue, 29 Aug 89 13:50:30 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 597 (791) I would like to present yet another argument in strong support of Ian Lancashire position for distributing digitized images of texts together with their electronic version, at least in certain cases and for some specific texts. I am now working with a graduate student at Bar-Ilan University (Ramat-Gan, Israel) on developing a hypertext system (on a SUN workstation) for the Talmud, THE text par excellence that really needs such a medium. We do have the Talmud on electronic media as part of the Global Jewish Database. We decided a long time ago however that besides displaying the text in "computer fonts" for searching, browsing, linking, and other hypertext functions, we are going also to give the user the option of looking at an image of the Talmud page he is interested in, rather than at its computer-generated counterpart. A printed page of the Talmud has indeed a very typical layout and graphical format, immediately recognizable by anyone who ever saw it even once, and the same basic format is kept in the myriads of different editions through which the Talmud went since it was first printed more than 400 hundred years ago. The basic talmudic text accupies a rather small rectangle (sometimes with a left or right "leg") and it is litterally surrouned by 10 to 20 different commentaries in typically different and characteristic fonts. A talmudic scholar would be much more comfortable looking at such a page (rather than at its computer-generated counterpart) since he is mentally tuned to its graphical layout and fonts. Of course there will be automatic links between the "Ascii" pages and the digitized images, so that clicking on a button will enable him to switch from one form to another immediately. The same type of solution will be adopted for additional hypertext systems that we are planning for other Rabbinical texts (e.g. Maimonides' Code, and similar codes of Jewish Law from the 13-16 centuries) that share the same basic format. By the way, there are about 5400 pages in the Talmud. I am not a classicist, but I am sure that there are some classic texts (Aristotle? Shakespeare?) with classical editions printed with a lot of annotations and commentaries, whose layout is familiar to the scholar studying these texts, and it is not far-fetched to speculate that the scholar may be more comfortable with the digitized image of the page (obviously, as mentioned before, the computer-generated page should also be available for clicking on words, etc.). Needless to say, if the text is put on the computer as a direct transcription from a handwritten manuscript, then it is simple intellectual honesty (specially since the technology is already here) to put a digitized image of the manuscript in the database, and to let the user decide for himself whether he agrees with the given interpretation. From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Computer Ethics Date: Mon, 28 Aug 89 21:31:18 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 598 (792) Since computers are the most general devices we have ever created and clearly computer software is really more like an extension to prior systems of writing (computer code is just writing that in addition to being able to say something can also cause an arbitrary machine or series of machines to do something), the question of what computer ethics should consist of is much like the question of what a theory of ethics should be for authors? What is it unethical to write? This seems to depend on what skills you are purporting to possess. For instance, it is unethical for certain professionals such as doctors or lawyers to write some things which go against their clients interests. A journalist has another set of ethics which seem to try to allow them to have either their publication's or the public's interests at heart--and writing which goes against either could compromise their ethics. (Writing which goes against some of society's ethics, but not their publication's ethics is of course a delicate matter of debate). I fear, faced with the general utility of software, the issue of what it is unethical to write is very thorny indeed. For instance, suppose you work for the military and are asked to write a program which will select targets for nuclear warheads in the event of war. It is probably quite ethical to write such a program in the service of your own country. However, in the interests of mankind it might be seen as unethical to create such a program. In these circumstances, I believe the answer I am driven toward is that it is largely only possible to equate unethical (yet legal) behavior of computer scientists in an employee role with plagerism or fraud, that is, claiming to have written software they did not write or writing software which they know will not perform as they claim it will perform. If it is written solely for personal goals, then the issue becomes largely a matter of whether the software's operation would violate any laws. While our society allows much freedom of speech, it doesn't allow as much freedom of action. These freedoms overlap in software, which is both an act of writing and an at least a possible instance of action should the writing execute. Does an author bear the responsibility for the acing out of his works, perhaps without his knowledge and by other entities outside of his control? Is it unethical to write instructions on how to do something unethical without yourself carrying through those instructions? Probably the law would say it is unethical if one had reason to believe that it was likely the writing of those instructions would lead to their execution--and not unethical if one didn't have such a belief. From: TREAT@PENNDRLS (Jay Treat, Religious Studies, Penn) Subject: Computer ethics Date: Monday, 28 August 1989 2342-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 599 (793) Don Weinshank asks, "who is teaching computer ethics?" My first class in computer science dealt with ethics. We used the following text: David G. Kay, _Programming for People_ (Palo Alto, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1985). Each chapter had generous listings of Pascal code--and ended by posing an ethical question relating to the use of computers. We discussed some of the ethical questions in class, and were encouraged to read all of them. This was the introductory class in computer science at Northern Arizona University, 1985. Regards, Jay Treat, Penn From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: The Essence of Computer Ethics Date: Tue, 29 Aug 89 08:20:40 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 600 (794) A recent grammo re-raises the question of computer ethics. Perhaps I missed the first discussion, but I'm afraid I don't know what this subject might be (nor does the grammo in question clarify this matter). What are the issues and problems being discussed? What are computer ethics? From: Tom Thomson Subject: heartless monarchs Date: Tue, 29 Aug 89 05:34:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 410 (795) I seem to recall Robert 1 (of Scotland) was buried without his; Douglas carted it off intending to take it to Jerusalem, but got no further than Spain? The Lothian branch of the Douglas family (the Red Douglas) commemorated this by having a heart as arms. However I may have all this wrong, it's a very long time since I learnt history in a Scots infant school ( = 1st to 3rd grades of grade school ? ) and the history taught to kids of that age is likely to be a bit adrift anyway. From: Paul Brians Subject: Library Forums Date: Mon, 28 Aug 89 09:48:31 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 411 (796) Does anyone know of forums for university librarians available through BitNet? Particularly one in which information about cataloguing is available? From: Willard McCarty Subject: name yourself always, please Date: 30 August 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 601 (797) Dear Colleagues: I have again had a request that all contributions from members of this seminar carry their names and not just user-ids. I think we all need or at the very least appreciate the sense that we are talking to a living human being and not to a code or electronic mask. This is especially true when messages are challenging, provocative, or even aggressive (though I would hope that the last kind remains rare). Thanks very much. Willard McCarty From: HANLY@UOFMCC Subject: re ethics in computing Date: Wed, 30 Aug 89 12:04 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 602 (798) There is a special list devoted to ethics in computing ETHICS-L Subscriptions are through the LISTSERV@POLYGRAF. I don't mean to imply that it is inappropriate to discuss these matters on HUMANIST I simply wish to provide information for those interested. From: Caroline Arms Subject: Internet and BITNET introduction Date: Wed, 30 Aug 89 13:21:51 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 603 (799) National Computing Networks (U.S.A.) The vision of the electronic library of the future is built on easy access to information resources across campus, across the nation, and even across the world. The last few years have seen an enormous development in general-purpose computer networks that link academic institutions around the United States and across the world. Several different networks have evolved from different origins, but efforts to develop a coherent strategy for the future are under way. For a more detailed description of the networks, see Campus Networking Strategies, an earlier volume in this series.[1] The national network that is probably of most importance in the long term for delivering electronic information to the academic community is the Internet, which supports high speeds and powerful services. BITNET is a less powerful, and less expensive network; it reaches many smaller institutions that have not been able to justify the higher budgetary commitment (for equipment and staff support) to connect to the Internet if the campus network is not immediately compatible. The number of institutions connected to these networks has been growing rapidly, and mechanisms are in place to maintain and upgrade services, speed, and reliability. These networks are now part of the academic infrastructure, general-purpose highways for transporting data. -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. networks of_info. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: JACKA@PENNDRLS Subject: DIGITIZING IMAGES Date: Wednesday, 30 August 1989 1359-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 604 (800) I have been reading with interest the last month of Humanist and have just one question and a small piece of information on digitized information. QUESTION: Is there anyone working on a standard for the file structure for digitized information? LEAD: Anyone interested in lower cost solution to digitized pictorial information ought to look at IBM's new AVC system. IBM has never been noted for writing good software, but in this case and with its accompanying hardware, I think, it may be an useful and affordable station for most humanists who cannot obtain the $100,000 to put together a fully imaging system. JACK ABERCROMBIE, ASSISTANT DEAN COMPUTING ( University of Pennsylvania ) From: Geoff Rockwell Subject: Re: 3.408 scanners and digitized images, cont. (213) Date: Wed, 30 Aug 89 16:15:27 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 605 (801) Vico's _New Science_ has a frontplate that is discussed in the introduction. The frontplate is Vico's atempt to represent his idea visually. He wants us to hold the ideas in our mind's eye all at one moment. The book unravels from there. My point is that any electronic version of the _New Science_ would be incomplete without access to the frontplate. This is especially true as the introduction is difficult to follow without the image. I mention this as a situation where images (without coffee stains) are usefull to Humanists. There is an alternative to digitizing images. One can store images on conventional videodiscs that are driven by software like HyperCard. With the appropriate board the videodisc image can be projected through a Mac II screen and captured. A 12 inch CLV disk can hold 108,000 images (TV quality) and/or 60 minutes of video. Capture would be done only when you want parts of the image for comparison or manipulation. Capturing images costs - color images take up space. A 512 x 256 pixel, 24 bit color image takes up around 400K. Storing 108,000 different images would take up 42 gigabytes without compression. For that reason pressing a videodisk is an attractive alternative. Yours Geoffrey Rockwell From: Tom Thomson Subject: Old and New Spellings, Thon Date: Wed, 30 Aug 89 15:19:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 414 (802) I find it rather amazing that people can find old spellings, or at least modern "old" spellings, hard to read. "Ton" or "Thon" in German, "anglais" or "anglois" in French, "almanac" or "almanack" in English, are all pretty obvious. I find no problem with them, and I'm certainly not a linguist. The German example is really amazing, certainly "th" as an older spelling for "t" was covered in high school in my day as otherwise it would have been impossible to attack almost any German literature at all (the text books used "t", but anything that counted as "literature" had to have been written by someone who had been dead for at least 50 years so would use "th"); even reading Wagner libretti gets one into that spelling pretty quick. So I very much liked Steven Clausing's note. Concerning FLANNAGA@OUACCVMB's remark on holograph manuscripts, some caution is neccessary. If anyone tried to deduce my spelling preferences by reference to my manuscripts they would reach a lot of wrong conclusions. Abbreviations may be used in a manuscript whose intended audience is author and typesetter (or secretary) only, with a convention that the latter will expand them. As for old spellings in one's mother tongue, surely a specialist in literaure (or in language) ought to be able to cope easily with spellings that differ from the modern accepted standard by nearly as much as those presented in excercise books every day to the average grade school teacher? That should take us back quite a few centuries in English, French, or Gaelic (and presumably in other languages too, but I haven't read enough to know). From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Moses Among the Dinosaurs, or, a New Subject for Source-Hunters Date: Wed, 30 Aug 89 08:37:01 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 415 (803) Over the weekend I hired a roofer who turned out to have Pentecostal inclinations and explained to me that my hot-tar covered roof was a signature of hell. Among various extraordinary notions advanced by this fellow was the claim that creationism and evolution could be reconciled within Biblical time--viz., that there were creatures in the past which are presently extinct but that periods like the Jurassic etc. occured within the last 6,000 years. He claimed to have evidence that Moses had either described or even seen dinosaurs. My questions, therefore, are: 1. Is this a widely diffused notion (part of "contemporary folklore") or is it an idiosyncratic opinion? 2. What might be the sources, Biblical or otherwise, for such a remarkable theory? 3. Have their been many other attempts to compress large-scale natural phenomena within the time limits of Christian history (here I refer to attempts which affirm the truth of scientific discoveries, not those, say, like Bishop Burnet's, which attempt to manipulate evidence, or those like those found in pamphlets in airport restrooms, which rely on sheer assertion or denial of evidence). Thank you. KLC From: N.J.Morgan@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.410 displaced hearts, cont. (22) Date: Wed, 30 Aug 89 09:37:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 416 (804) "Bruce had summoned all his lords and told them of his longing to go on a crusade. His body could no longer go; but he bade them chose a noble knight to bear his heart against the foes of God". Bruce died, and Douglas (having been chosen by his fellows) took the embalmed heart to Spain, where he fought with Alfonso XI of Castille against the "`Saracens' of Granada". Douglas died in March 1330; his bones were returned to Scotland for burial, as was Bruce's embalmed heart, which was buried at Melrose (the late King, however, was buried at Dunfermline). This is all cribbed from Ranald Nicholson, Scotland in the later middle ages (Edinburgh,1974). Nicholas Morgan Department of Scottish History University of Glasgow From: "A. Ralph Papakhian" Subject: Re: 3.411 forums for librarians? (17) Date: Wed, 30 Aug 89 01:05:30 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 411 (805) On Tue, 29 Aug 89 20:09:58 EDT you said: [deleted quotation] MLA-L at IUBVM is a forum which includes discussions/information about music cataloging in particular (among other music library related topics). The editor of the Music Cataloging Bulletin has seen to posting new Music Cataloging Decisions from the Library of Congress Music Section in a timely fashion in MLA-L. Much anguish about these decisions has also been expressed in the forum. In order to subscribe, send a mail message to LISTSERV at IUBVM consisting of one line: SUBscribe MLA-L Please do not send the subscrition request to MLA-L at IUBVM. Anyone interested in additional information about MLA-L can contact me at PAPAKHI at IUBVM. By the way, this MLA = Music Library Association (not the other ones--there are three MLA's I know about: Madras Library Association, Michigan Library Association, and Manitoba Library Association) Cordially, ***** **** *** **** MUSIC ** *** ** A. Ralph Papakhian, Music Library ** ******* ** LIBRARY Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 *** (812) 855-2970 ***** From: elliot%library@ucsd.edu (Elliot Kanter) Subject: Library Forums; Library catalogs on Internet Date: Wed, 30 Aug 89 03:49:00 gmt X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 606 (806) During my first day on the Humanist discussion list, I've noticed two messages wondering about access to academic/research libraries (and librarians) via Bitnet. There is in fact an electronic discussion forum, the Public-Access Computer Systems Forum (PACS-L). The subjects discussed -- hypertext, locally- mounted databases, online catalogs, access to information -- are wide ranging. PACS-L is based at the University of Houston, and was where I first heard of the Humanist forum. The operator of the system, Charles Bailey, can be reached at LIB3@UHUPVM1.BITNET. A major subject of discussion earlier this month was how (and how many) research library online catalogs could be accessed via the Internet. Quite a number of major ones do seem accessible. Both PAC_L and (reportedly) EDUCOM are accumulating a list. Washington University in St. Louis, for one, not only can be dialed into via Internet, but has set up a gateway menu to a variety of others. The University of California's MELVYL Online catalogk, is exploring the same option. The latest list I have seen include: Boston University, Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, New Mexico State University, Pennsylvania State University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Texas A&M University, the University of California (MELVYL), and the Universities of Delaware, Florida Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Notre Dame, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas. Of course many of these catalogs vary widely in scope, ease of use, command structure, terminal compatibility; not all are as open to open access as others. Some include journals databases as well a s standard library book catalogs. But the ultimate point is that growth of the Internet is tending toward erasing some geographic barriers to exploring the contents of a great many and varied research libraries. From: Johnfox@RCN Subject: Railroads Date: Fri, 1 Sep 89 10:16:28 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 607 (807) For research that I am conducting, would like to contact by e-mail individuals who have worked on railroads before 1980. Please respond to me directly: John Fox@TAYLOR.RCC.RCN.EDU. From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Flexibility of Emoticons Date: Fri, 01 Sep 89 13:45:09 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 608 (808) Natalie Maynor tells us that we may need to develop a set of diacritical marks to qualify the states of mind expressed via e-mail emoticons. Could this technique be extended so as to develop the equivalent of dialects (regional or otherwise) or accents in the transmission of e-mail? [Editor's note. A friend recently pointed out to me that debates are sometimes transcribed with indications as to how the audience reacted (thunderous applause). Evidently this is because the transcription would otherwise fail to communicate an important aspect of the event in question. An e-mail discussion is necessarily deprived of those signs we often give during a face-to-face event, such as impatience, anger, agreement, and so forth. These, my friend suggested, could be embedded in e-mail messages as stage-directions. Others, however, have pointed out that language itself, if properly employed, is enough. Is this so? Isn't it true that an e-mail discussion has conversational elements (unlike a letter, say) and so is a genre that requires something more than words -- as distinguished from metatextual commentary -- can supply? W.M.] From: Willard McCarty Subject: do dinosaurs compute? did Moses? Date: 1 September 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 609 (809) Ok, this is a fascinating topic, but have you taken a look at the volume of mail in this shipment of Humanist alone? Let's take this up elsewhere, and leave Humanist to computing in the humanities -- and to humanistic subjects that generate only a small amount of discussion (like displaced hearts). Consider the whistle blown, or the last trumpet blasted, depending on your brand of imagery -- and how much authority you wish to invest in your self-effacing editor. Willard McCarty From: "Robin C. Cover" Subject: RE: 3.415 MOSES & DINOSAURS Date: Thu, 31 Aug 89 08:47:47 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 610 (810) I have heard some bizarre theories among religious fundamentalists, but "Moses among the dinosaurs" is a new one. The roofer may be thinking of Biblical allusions to the Leviathan, which is now widely recognized as a mythological creature. Ugaritic myths from 14th century (B.C.E) describe the slaying of this seven-headed creature in terms that find remarkable reflex in biblical texts. The Psalms depict the Leviathan monster as multi-headed (Psalm 74:13-14), an anti-theocratic foe slain by God in high antiquity, history and in the eschaton. An excellent discussion on Leviathan as mythological is found in John Day, "The Alleged Naturalization of Leviathan and Behemoth" (=Chapter 2 in _God's Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea_; Cambridge, 1985) pp. 62-87. We also have depictions of the multi-headed monster in Mesopotamian iconography. As for modern "scientists" who try to maintain alternate (young) chronologies for the age of the earth, you might (if you're brave) draw a deep breath and look at the publications of the fundamentalist Creation Research Society. I can dig up the address for you. They have dozens of PhD's who publish on thermodynamics (the second law was introduced by fiat at the time of Adam's sin), molecular genetics, earth sciences, etc. I think their point of departure is a literalistic interpretation of biblical genealogies (which to most scholars are obviously compressed and stylized) and exploitation of anomalies in the geological record and in the biological world. As for radiometric and geological clocks used by most scientists to date the universe: these were pre-set by God so as to create the "illusion of age." (Right) The agenda reminds me of Emanuel Velikovsky, who could (willy-nilly) move a late biblical chronology by a several decades -- never mind thousands of secure data which lock in the chronology. But these early earth "creation scientists" have quite a popular following. They will even show you places in Texas where human and dinosaur footprints can be seen imprinted together in ancient mud. ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Re: [3.415 Moses and the dinosaurs? (35)] Date: Thu, 31 Aug 89 10:33:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 611 (811) An off-the-cuff response to creation and evolution. There is a creationist society at least in the UK, which produces much literature on the subject. Try the Warden of Rutherford House, Edinburgh, Scotland, for details. The classic attempt to state the position suggested by your pentecostal friend, I would have thought, would be the book *Omphalos* by Gosse (?c1850). He argued that, just as a tree created *de novo* must come complete with rings, and therefore *look* seveal years old, so must a world. Hence for all we can know to the contrary the Jurassic (and everything else) is but five minutes in the past! I believe it was quite influential in some circles. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: Moses and Dinosaurs Date: 31 August 1989, 10:53:13 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 612 (812) It would really be stretching it, but the Pentecostal gent might be using the "giants in the earth in those days" business of Gen. 6:4 as evidence of dinosaurs, unless maybe he is interpreting Leviathan (Jb. 3:8) as an early example of the Loch Ness monster, an aquatic dinosaur! Roy Flannagan From: Steve Mason Subject: Pentecostal Roofers and Biblical Dinosaurs Date: Thu, 31 Aug 89 10:16:36 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 613 (813) 1. In response to Kevin Cope's query: it may surprise many to know that, yes, the roofer's ruminations are quite representative of a major segment of our society. Such people are convinced that the scientific community has wilfully manipulated the data of evolution in order to justify an atheistic world-view. Not all of these people are roofers. The Creation Research Institute in California (where else?) admits only members with at least a MSc. You can prob ably find out more about this think-tank through your local chapter of Inter- Varsity Christian Fellowship. The Creationists might even send out one of their number for a public debate on your campus, with your most rabid evolution ist! (In such debates, they try not to invoke the Bible at all.) 2. I can't imagine the biblical data the roofer had in mind for dinosaurs in Moses' time. Could he have been thinking of the Book of Job (which fundies often consider very early, even pre-Mosaic)? In Job 40:15-41:34, of course, you have a vivid description of Behemoth/Leviathan, who sounds rather like a (Hannah-Barberian) dinosaur. 3. Finally, yes, there have been myriad attempts to reconcile prevailing scientific theory with traditional biblical dates. ("Without manipulating the texts"?? -- that is surely too much to ask of anyone. In my field, it is axio- matic that one person's obvious reading is another person's manipulation.) My personal favourite is the "ideal time theory", launched by Philip H. Gosse (1857), according to which God created the world a few thousand years ago, but made it look as if it had been around much longer (hence the fossils, etc.) Gosse used the analogy of Adam's navel. He must have had one, nu? But he got it without actually having gone through the birth process. So also the cosmos. Then there's the "gap theory", which posits an indeterminate time lapse between Gen 1:1 (the earth's beginning) and Gen 1:2 (God's creating of our world). Or the age-day theory holds that each of the creative "days" in Gen 1 represents a geological age (after all, "a day is as a thousand years"! -- 2 Pet 3). The real shame in all of this is that most fundies have a genuine, even passionate concern for the truth. Many of them read avidly but, alas, only in restricted veins. Since works of modern biblical scholarship are either unknown to them or appear to be pedantic and self-indulgent, the temptation is great to demonize the academic world as a bastion of unbelief. Especially in biblical studies, there is an urgent need for the academy somehow to engage the real word of Pentecostal roofers and other biblical dinosaurs. Steve Mason From: Geoff Rockwell Subject: Re: 3.415 Moses and the dinosaurs? (35) Date: Thu, 31 Aug 89 16:15:51 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 614 (814) _The Plain Truth_, which is commonly available around Toronto, often contains articles that come close to the opinions you mentioned. I know I have read about Biblical evidence for the upcoming apocalypse there. What is interesting is how people in different castes are exposed to different theories and opinions as acceptable truth. If you hang out in donut shops, never enter a library, and read the National Enquirer, you will find such opinions less remarkable. They are common currency. Marxist-Feminist thought appears, by contrast, unlikely, if only because it is taken seriously so infrequently. What is even more disturbing is the anti-intellectualism of certain papers and sub-cultures, that delegitimize any opinions that come from the egg-heads. The Toronto Sun regularly tells its readers how useless and out of touch academics are - hence there is no need to listen to their ideas. We are partly to blame because we in turn delegitimize and ignore intellectual movements that seems to far fetched to even criticize. How often do philosophers lower themselves to criticize religious fundamentalism? Look at the sarcasm in this note - have I anywhere suggested such opinions are worthy of careful reading? Is it a professional philosopher's job to deconstruct popular opinions? Yours Geoffrey Rockwell rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca From: F5400000@LAUVAX01.BITNET Subject: Did Moses give his pet dinasaur Dr. Ballard's? Date: Thu, 31 Aug 89 19:42 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 615 (815) Re Moses' pet dinasaur:(See inquiry by Kevin L.Cope) 1. The viewpoint you discovered stuck to your roof is far from new; since the mid-nineteenth century various people have tried to reconcile the Bible with scientific theory. I am not sure how many people would subscribe to it, but I have heard enough variations on this theme to be convinced there are indeed quite a few people who find it tempting. 2. Much of the evidence (and indeed the principle source of difficulty) is to be found in the first few chapters of Genesis, but the usual point of departure is to cite the Psalm text "A day of the Lord is like a thousand years" (an echo of this is to be found in the film *O God* if you look for it.) This then gets you off the hook about creation in six days. Mind you six thousand years does not really help that much, but at least it is a beginning and you can expand it with, "Well perhaps the Psalmist could not count in billions". [Your roofer must be a purist who sticks at six thousand.] Then you have a look at Genesis chapter one and you point out that there is a progression in the order of creation with humanity [described curiously enough in non-sexist language even in the Hebrew] as the culminating achievement. Frankly I do not think this approach will wash, but it is certainly a well-trodden path for those who would like to persist in their belief in the factual irrerancy of the Bible and yet are not willing to tell science to go and boil its head. (There are many difficulites, but a look at the order of creation will quickly show some of them, such as vegetation appearing before the creation of the sun, etc.) Your roofer has obviously read some exposition of this theory. Remember that for him, Moses is the author of the first five books of the Old Testament, so any description of a monster (e.g. Gen.1.21) could be read as a description of a Brontosaurus. Biblically, however, Moses' own experience of dinasaurs is a non-starter, for he was not one of the long-lived ancestors of the early period; his date of birth is firmly placed in the time of the Egyptian state (and if he wrote Exodus, surely he would know). 3. There have been attempts to argue that fossils are merely the remains of animals killed off in the flood Noah is associated with. John Sandys-Wunsch, Thorneloe College of Laurentian University (F5400000@LAUVAX01.LAURENTIAN.CA) From: Jim O'Donnell, Classics, Penn Subject: straying hearts Date: 31 Aug 89 01:05:46 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 616 (816) I commend to the attention of all sarcophagophiles a little booklet that should still be available through the gift shop at Westminster Abbey, `Who's Buried Where', edited and published by the late Fredrick Delaney, who is perhaps the only volunteer guide in the Abbey's history to speak with a pronounced Rhode Island accent -- a retired American postal worker, in fact, who spent many years in the Abbey fielding questions. His booklet ranges far beyond the Abbey and makes jolly, if ghoulish reading. (Of general interest, I add only that the last body buried in Westminster Abbey without cremation [except for the Unknown Warrior] was Baroness Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts [d. 1906]. And I'd be glad to know why Lord Nelson was buried in Cardinal Wolsey's sarcophagus.) Hearts (etc.) from that source: John Baliol, heart (plus bodies of 18 generations of descendants) at Brabourne, Kent. O. Cromwell, body at Tyburn, head now at Sydney Sussex Chapel, Cam. Thomas Hardy, body in the Abbey, but he left his heart in Dorset (Stinsford) F.J. Haydn, buried Vienna, skull kept in museum for 150 years, now reunited Simon de Montfort (1208-1265), buried in Worcester, but head, one foot, and both hands buried `elsewhere' Thomas More: head in Canterbury, body possibly in Chelsea Percy B. Shelley, cremated and ashes in Prot. cemetery in Rome, heart in Bournemouth. Voltaire: d. 1778, remains stolen 1814, heart only returned in 1864 (Pantheon, Paris) -- reading Le Rouge et le Noir, this actually makes sense Anne Boleyn: buried Tower of London, heart may be at Erwarton, Suffolk Edward II of England, d. 1358: buried Gloucester Cathedral, heart at GreyFriars, London Eleanor of Castile (d. 1290, wife of Edward I), body in Abbey, heart in Blackfriars, entrails (!) in Lincoln Cathedral Henrietta Maria (wife of Charles I of England), di. 1669, body in St. Denis, Paris, heart in Convent of Visitation at Chaillot Henry of Almayne (d. 1271), buried in Gloucester, heart in Abbey) Henry I of England (d. 1135) buried at Reading Abbey Berks., brain, eyes, and internal organs in Rouen Henry III (d. 1272), body in Abbey, heart in Fontrevault Abbey Henry V (d. 1422), buried Abbey, entrails in France (`body dismembered, boiled, bones and flesh returned to England for burial under his chantry chapel) Isabella of France (wife of Edward II), buried Grey Friars London, heart may be in Norfolk James II (d. 1701), entrails in France [in several places?!], heart at Chaillot, what was left in Paris James I of Scotland (d. 1437), body in Perth, heart originally in Jerusalem but perhaps now restored. Saint Margaret (d. 1093), body in Scotland, head last seen at Scotch College in Douay in 1785 Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary), buried Abbey in vault with Elizabeth, heart in lead box. Maria Clementina Sobieska, wife of the Old Pretender (d. 1785), body in St. Peer's (Rome), heart in another church in Rome Richard the Lionhearted, heart in Rouen, viscera in Chaluz, body in Fontrevault Robert Bruce body in Fife, heart at Melrose Abbey Further respondent deposeth not. From: (TOM=HORTON) Subject: Bruce's heart Date: 08/31/89 18:27:54 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 617 (817) More on the displaced heart of Robert the Bruce. According to an article on the front page of the Glasgow Herald on Aug. 17, Douglas gallantly went to the aid of some Spaniards who were trying to take a castle held by the Moors when: "He and his followers were surrounded by Moors and Douglas spurred into the attack, flinging Bruce's heart at the enemy and shouting that in death as in life he would follow him." Thankfully, it appears the heart was carried in a silver casket. I clipped the article (mainly about the celebration of the 659th (?!) anniversary of the battle) intending to send it to whomever originally enquired about this subject. But I've lost that person's name. Whoever you are, if you want the article, please send me your address. Tom Horton (Computer Science, Florida Atlantic Univ.) BITNET: HortonT at SERVAX From: David Megginson Subject: Re: 3.413 digitized images, cont. (72) Date: Thu, 31 Aug 89 08:51:09 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 618 (818) While Geoff Rockwell's proposal of small (600x600<) images might be useful for some fields, it would be completely useless for paleography or editing. The resolution of a microfilm is bad enough that it is nearly impossible to tell stains apart from text, and I'd guess that the resolution of a microfilm is something like 150 dots per inch (I may be way off). Any image of the printed page, to be useful, _must_ be many times larger than the screen. I'd suggest that displaying one square inch of a page filling the entire screen would be a good minimum for any serious work. Again, we run into the problem of storage, since a page at this size would occupy from 1-4 million bytes of memory. In a few years this will not be a problem, but perhaps that time has not yet come. David Megginson From: Subject: digitized images Date: Thu, 31 Aug 89 15:16:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 619 (819) I also can think of a number of good reasons for keeping the original image around, together with an encoded version of the text. In looking over the years for software to do just this thing, I have come up with a few places to look (though it must be said that Geoffery's idea about storing video images is very appropriate for certain needs). Recently a company called Kofax Image Products (3 Jenner Street, Irvine, CA 92718) came up with a product for manipulating images that claims a 15 to 1 compression ratio, meaning, I believe, that a 400 DPI scan of a 8.5 by 11 inch page would come down to app. 100k. They have hardware/software or software-only products that run under Windows. The software-only product is a mere $100. They had (or rather one of the Kofax people wrote) an article in a recent BYTE magazine (the issue escapes me, sometime this summer). The Kofax product has also been put together in a "image database" application by a firm known as ImageTech (1-800-451-7566) for app. $900.00. This solution allows one to put together an "image/document management system" similar to the ones the Japanese have been marketing for several years. (3M also sells the Toshiba system in this country under the name Docutron 2000). The difference is, as far as I can tell, simply cost. The Japanese systems tend to cost app. $100,000.00, whereas you could put together your own system for app. $15,000, including fast 386, optical storage, 400 dpi scanner, etc. I hope to have the ImageTech product to play with soon, and will report any results that I come up with. Jamie Hubbard (JHUBBARD@SMITH) From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Re: OCLC Text Markup documentation Date: Fri, 1 Sep 89 09:02:11 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 620 (820) These are the Association of American Publishers's guidelines. OCLC has taken over the continued dissemination and user group from AAP. That is to say, the guidelines are the same ones humanists may have heard of previously since they were issued a few years ago at the end of the AAP's Electronic Manuscript Project. From: D.Mealand@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: OCR costs Date: 31 Aug 89 12:57:52 bst X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 621 (821) Have just seen omnipage running on a mac2 with a mac scanner. Had not realised omnipage was soft not hardware. Has anyone comparative costs of Textscan/Textpert, Truescan, Kurzweil and Omnipage listing these under a)software b)scanning hardware c)total of a+b ? Only this way can a fair estimate of cost be made. Also does anyone know if any of these can operate with a good handheld scanner ? Omnipage set up as described above made a few errors it knew about and more that it didn't. Its failures on italic font improved when the contrast darker option was chosen. We didn't seem to find a means of correcting it while going along though it was displaying bits of text from time to time. (Documentation didn't arrive with it.) On clear print or typescript it didn't do badly but on complex bibliography e.g. columns from Religion Index One the error rate seemed unacceptable. The book index pages of NT Abstracts went quite well but f printed with a flourish caused no end of trouble. David M. From: TCFA002@UK.AC.UCL.EUCLID (on GEC 4190 Rim-C at UCL) Subject: Archeologia e Calcolatori Date: Tue, 29 Aug 89 10:34 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 622 (822) A new journal, with this title, is seeking contributions for its first issue. The deadline is November 1989. They are looking for articles, notes and news about the use of computers in historical archaeology (i.e. classical and post-classical). Any potential contributions should be sent to me in the first instance. Clive Orton Institute of Archaeology, University College London 31-34 Gordon Square London WC1H OPY email tcfa002@uk.ac.ucl.euclid From: George Brett Subject: Online Resources file Date: Thu, 31 Aug 89 17:07:19 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 623 (823) This file contains information that has been collected from various sources. It should help to locate resources on BITNET and the INTERNET. This is just a beginning. If you all have other sources or resources please let me know. This file is also available as an PC Outline, ThinkTank [MS DOS or Macintosh], or MORE (Macintosh) file which permits collapsed views of the file. If you are interested in such a file please let me know and we can arrange to send it to you. George H. Brett II, Asst. Dir. UNC Educational Computing Service ghb@uncecs.edu -- ghb@ecsvax.bitnet -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. NETWORK SOURCES. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: George Brett Subject: Online resources Date: Thu, 31 Aug 89 17:15:54 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 624 (824) Copyright 1989 -- George H. Brett II Higher Education ONLINE Resources in the 1990's Presented at Seminar on Academic Computing, August 1989 (Including annotations, questions, and other comments from the audience.) [see also NETWORK SOURCES on Humanist's file-server] -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. ONLINE SOURCES. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: MORGAN@LOYVAX.BITNET Subject: RE: 3.417 forums for librarians (95) Date: Fri, 1 Sep 89 09:15:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 625 (825) I don't know if they want it widely known, but Johns Hopkins in Baltimore also is accessible on line; its system is called JANUS. For information, contact the reference librarian. From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Forum for discussion of electronic texts Date: Thu, 31 Aug 89 22:21:52 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 626 (826) ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW DISCUSSION GROUP SUBJECT: ELECTRONIC TEXTS, THEIR CREATION AND DISTRIBUTION With the generous assistance of the University of Illinois, I am proud to announce the public opening of Project Gutenberg. The purpose of Project Gutenberg is to promote the distribution and creation of electronic texts. The electronic discussion group associated with the project has been inaugurated and tested over the summer and is ready to provide an arena for discussions of e-texts and other topics of related interest. You may subscribe to the discussion group by sending the following message to LISTSERV@UIUCVME.BITNET "SUB GUTNBERG YOUR NAME" You may use either the MAIL or TELL options for subscribing to the GUTNBERG discussion group. Further details will arrive with acknowledgement of the processing of your subscription. From: COM3RAE@CLUSTR.TRENT.AC.UK Subject: (Re: 3.360 queries) Review of Hypermedia 1.1 Date: 1-SEP-1989 13:55:32 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 627 (827) "HYPERMEDIA" (ISSN 0955-8543) Vol 1 Num 1 1989 published by Taylor Graham Publishing, 500 Chesham House, 150 Regent Street, LONDON, W1R 5FA, UK. Subscription rate: 45 pounds / 85 US dollars (to include handling, postage and surface mail), three issues per year: Spring, Summer and Winter. Editor: Patricia Baird, Department of Information Science, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XH, UK. Editorial Board includes: Robert Akscyn; Mercedes Caridad, Phil Chauveau, Blaise Cronin, Elizabeth Duncan, Leslie Hills, Ann Irving, J.T. Mayes, Barry McIntyre, Cliff McKnight, Ted Nelson, Jakob Nielsen, Roy Rada, David Raitt, David Riddle, Iain Ritchie, Randall Trigg and Nicole Yankelovich. To quote from the aims printed on the last page of the first issue, "HYPERMEDIA is an international journal designed to provide a focus for research and a source of information on the practical and theoretical developments in hypermedia, ..." Volume 1 Number 1 contains 5 articles; 4 reviews and 1 bibliography. The first two articles by the editor and Ted Nelson are essentially welcoming introductions to this new journal and take up just 5 of the small format (15.5 x 23 cm) pages. The following three articles begin to explore the journal's aim as stated above. "Hypermedia as an interpretive act" by Virginia M. Doland of Biola University, La Mirada, California explores the cognitive issues behind hypertext especially the idea that the 'links' inherant in hypertext systems are 'conceptually fixing', 'critical/ideological statements of value ...' and are assertions 'about reality which, accepted or not, does not leave the reader conceptually unaffected'. 'Hypermedia systems' she writes 'could create their own mystique, the glamour, flexibility and sheer slickness of the system could be mistaken for intellectual authority ...' (Similar fears I guess were voiced at the introduction of printed books, radio, TV, video, ...?) "Structuring knowledge bases for designers of learning materials" by Elizabeth B. Duncan of the University Teaching Centre, University of Aberdeen, UK describes ways a system (based on NoteCards on a Xerox 1186) can allow hypertext packages to be created without inhibiting the expert's expression of what he knows and discusses various 'link types' and index/browser/map formats. "Evaluating the usability of the Glasgow Online hypertext" by Lynda Hardman of the Scottish HCI Centre, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK looks at the use made of an existing hypertext system (one designed to give information to tourists/visitors to Glasgow, eg hotels, road map, shops etc). She comments on the various techniques used to present information, guide users around information, use of menus, use of 'shortcuts' etc. The reviews cover: INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA eds. Ambron & Hooper; TEXT, CONTEXT, AND HYPERTEXT ed. Barrett; HANDS-ON HYPERCARD by Jones & Myers and NEUROMANCER by Gibson. The bibliography, compiled by Jakob Nielsen of the Technical University of Denmark covers the literature available on hypertext and hypermedia in books, papers, journals, conferences and, inevitably, hypertexts - a good starting point for anyone wishing to find out more about this new format. My copy arrived through the post - I guess because I attended the HYPERTEXT II conference in York earlier this summer. I can't afford the time or money to subscribe but the first issue seems a useful one. Simon Rae, Trent Polytechnic Nottingham, UK COM3RAE@UK.AC.TRENT.CLUSTR or COM3RAE@CLUSTR.TRENT.AC.UK (from BITNET) From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 628 (828) DATE: Thursday, August 31, 1989, 22:27:24 MST FROM: John J. Hughes SUBJECT: Reviewers for Bits & Bytes Review The BITS & BYTES REVIEW is looking for qualified persons to write full-length reviews of IBM and Macintosh software. The BITS & BYTES REVIEW is published for academic computer users in the humanities and has an international readership. The BITS & BYTES REVIEW is seeking to involve more persons in reviewing software, so that a broader spectrum of interests is represented, a broader range of programs is covered, more programs are reviewed, and so that the publication appears on a more regular basis. Articles in the BITS & BYTES REVIEW are abstracted in INSPEC, Information Science Abstracts, and Software Reviews on File. Each volume of the BITS & BYTES REVIEW contains nine issues. Persons interested in writing software reviews for the BITS & BYTES REVIEW should: (1) Be involved in academic computing in one of the humanities disciplines at a college, university, or other institution of higher learning. "Involved" in this context can mean anything from "uses a computer for research and writing" to "writes computer programs." (2) Be an experienced computer user, not a neophyte. "Experienced" in this context does not mean "expert"; it means "knows how to use a computer and knows something about their many academic uses." (3) Have a sound knowledge of some basic types of programs, such as word processing, database management, and desktop publishing, for example, even if you predominantly use only one type of program in your work. (4) Have a reasonable understanding of how computers work. "Reasonable" in this context does not mean "almost as thorough as Peter Norton!" It means that you have a basic understanding of how computers do what they do. (5) Consistently read at least one or two major nonacademic computers publications per month, for example, PC Magazine, MacUser, PC World, Publish. (6) Be curious, teachable, and willing to learn. (7) Be able to express themselves clearly, concisely, and in an engaging fashion. (8) Be able to compare programs. (9) Be detail-oriented and able and willing to write detailed, thorough reviews, such as the ones that have appeared in the BITS & BYTES REVIEW since its beginning in 1986. (10) Be able to discern the academic potential of commercial programs. (11) Be willing to review commercial programs, as well as those designed predominantly or exclusively for academic use. (12) Be able to review programs in terms of their functions, features, and potential uses for academicians, while avoiding philosophical issues. (13) Be able to explain technical concepts in simple terms without being simplistic. (14) Be able to stay within assigned word-count/article-length limits. (15) Be able to set and keep deadlines. (16) Own an IBM-compatible or a Macintosh computer. (17) Be willing to have the editor of the BITS & BYTES REVIEW edit their submissions. (18) Send a Curriculum Vitae or a Resume to the editor and publisher of the BITS & BYTES REVIEW at the address listed below. If possible, please include a sample of your writing that shows your ability to write technical software reviews. A modest remuneration will be paid for each article accepted for publication. As needed, the BITS & BYTES REVIEW will supply new, full working copies of software to persons who qualify as reviewers and who enter into an agreement with the BITS & BYTES REVIEW to write a review. Reviewers may keep the software, as long as they supply an acceptable review on time. Please do not submit articles to the BITS & BYTES REVIEW without first contacting the editor. Persons not familiar with the BITS & BYTES REVIEW may receive a complimentary sample copy by contacting the editor. Interested parties should contact: John J. Hughes, Editor & Publisher Bits & Bytes Review 623 Iowa Ave. Whitefish, MT 59937 U.S.A. XB.J24@Stanford.BITNET CIS: 71056,1715 MCI Mail: 226-1461 Voice: (406) 862-7280 FAX: (406) 862-1124 From: SUSAN@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: Computer sessions at Kalamazoo Date: Fri, 1 SEP 89 12:42:57 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 629 (829) Scholars are invited to submit abstracts of papers to be considered for two computer sessions at the Twenty-Fifth International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 10-13 1990, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan. The organisers of the sessions are Professor Andrew Armour, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan; and Dr. Marilyn Deegan, CTI Centre for Literature and Linguistic Studies, Oxford University Computing Service, 13, Banbury Road Oxford OX2 6NN, e-mail Marilyn@uk.ac.ox.vax (this address from 1 October 1989). The sessions are: Computers at Kalamazoo I: Directions in Medieval Computing; Computers at Kalamazoo II: Research and Applications. All abstracts should include the following information at the top of the front page: Title of paper Name of author Complete mailing address Institutional affiliation (if any) of author Confirmation of 20 minutes reading length Abstracts must be not more than about 300 words in length, and they must indicate clearly the paper's thesis, methodology, and conclusions. Submission of an abstract will be considered an agreement by the author to attend the conference, if the paper is accepted. It is understood that papers submitted will be essentially new and have not been presented in public before. The organisers intend to have an IBM PC, a Macintosh, and an overhead projector available. Any other requests for audio-visual equipment should be made with the abstract. Abstracts must be submitted by 15 September 1989 to: Dr. Marilyn Deegan, Department of English, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, England, e-mail MFCEPMD@UMRCC.CMS From: GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK Subject: Spelling Date: Fri, 01 Sep 89 11:39:01 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 424 (830) I've been reading the debate on the issue of spelling with interest, but decreasing patience. Tom Thomson may feel that it is easy to tell that the German thon should be read as ton, but I can assure him that some of us find this a big hurdle to jump. He is, in fact, doing something that enrages humanists when done by computer experts. This is a common problem. Once one figures out what variable, CPU, RAM, VGA card, MIPS, memory paging, SGML, etc., mean or that one uses a mouse by moving it across the table so that the ball touches the surface, for example, it is all too easy to forget that others may not yet know these things, however trivial they may seem. And spelling is no different (although not necessarily so trivial, I hasten to add!). It seems to me that three points must be made. First, it is not clear who the audience of the texts is meant to be, and this must influence the choice of spelling. This is a point Willard and a couple of others have already made. If the audience is intended to be scholars then there may be no need to modernise spellings. But if the audience includes undergraduates, for example as part of a hypertext teaching package, then it may be a good idea to modernise spellings or at least include a critical apparatus (and what could be easier in hypertext?). Second (to agree with Bob Kraft), surely the advantage of the computer is that we don't have to choose between spellings when we encode; but we need software to help the reader decide which route to take--e.g. spelling of manuscript A, of the 1712 edition or of a modern spelling edition. Finally, I am surprised no one has pointed out that for some purposes it may be desirable to standardise spellings, for example, for concordancing. On the other hand, one might also wish to do a concordance on original spellings thus revealing patterns in how words were spelled. So, again, the ability to choose is important. (I appreciate that the term original spelling is meaningless, since it doesn't identify whose original spelling!) And what about historical documents? I am thinking less of those with varying spellings than of those which use substantial abbreviations, particularly those in medieval latin. Should those abbreviations be expanded? I would argue that they should, although again it should be possible to see the abbreviation used. This is an excellent application for a digitised or videodisc copy of the document, so that the reader can count minims and identify abbreviation squiggles for him/herself. Donald Spaeth Computers in Teaching Initiative Centre for History University of Glasgow From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: scanning and question data banks Date: Fri, 1 Sep 89 17:32:47 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 630 (831) We have a Mac II and an Apple scanner which we're going to use for a project to convert into machine-readable form the rather voluminous materials which generations of T.A.'s have developed for lower-division language instruction in Spanish. My questions: Can anyone report on experience using Kurzweil's DataCopy or Caere's Omnipage software, especially with regard to foreign language usage? Does anyone have suggestions for Mac software designed for setting up banks of questions for exercises and tests? Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Hypertext critical editions Date: Fri, 1 Sep 89 17:41:54 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 631 (832) Does anyone know of (printed) discussions of hypertext critical editions? I have to write a short lead-in article on textual criticism in the 21st century for an issue of Romance Philology <\emph> dedicated to the current state of textual criticism for the medieval Romance literatures. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.417 forums for librarians (95) Date: Sun, 03 Sep 89 12:17:37 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 632 (833) Did I notice a note containing part of the Feng and English translation of the Tao Te Ching? If so, could you tell me how to find out if the whole edition is available electronically? Thank you, Michael From: Pieter Masereeuw Subject: Wanted: Software for dictionary-editing Date: Mon, 4 Sep 89 22:49 MET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 633 (834) Is there anyone who knows of software for the production of dictionaries? Minimally, such software should - provide a flexible way to add and correct dictionary entries; - allow at least two alphabets; - generate output in a format that is suitable for other programss to operate on (e.g. for the purpose of printing). Better still, it should - be able to sort entries (with regard to language-dependent sorting rules (e.g. spanish ll and german umlaut)); - provide fast and on-line access to dictionary entries that were entered before, with the possibility to select entries in as many ways as possible (e.g. "give me all entries where 'good' is a possible translation" or "give me all entries where the phrase 'the act of' occurs in the definition); In the Faculty of Arts of our university, we need such software for the production of three dictionaries: - Dutch <-> Russian - Dutch <-> Modern Greek - Dutch <-> Italian Any information is welcome. Pieter Masereeuw University of Amsterdam The Netherlands (pieter@uvaalf.surfnet.nl) From: Hans Joergen Marker Subject: Re: 3.420 strayed hearts (125) Date: Mon, 4 Sep 89 08:21:48 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 634 (835) I haven't followed all of the misplaced hearts discussion, so this may be restating what have already been told. But anyway a misplaced heart that has not been mentioned recently is the heart of Barbarossa, who was burried somewhere in Italy, but has his heart in Kaiserpfalz in Goslar in Germany. Hans Joergen Marker From: Natalie Maynor Subject: Re Emoticons Date: Sun, 03 Sep 89 18:06:32 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 635 (836) In "Flexibility of Emoticons" Kevin Cope quoted something I said on another list (FOLKLORE). The HUMANIST posting, therefore, lacks context. Natalie Maynor From: Brian Whittaker Subject: Re: 3.414 old spellings, cont. (37) Date: Fri, 01 Sep 89 20:22:20 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 427 (837) The idea that original spelling, German typeset in Fraktur, and other archaisms are more appropriate for texts used in advanced courses while modernized texts are more appropriate at the introductory level has an initial appeal. However, on reflection, I am inclined to think that these features may be particularly useful at the lower levels. I was quite surprised that anyone who had studied German would have difficulty with Fraktur, but that may be because my high school German text was set in Fraktur. Students who encounter Tudor poetry in the original spelling for the first time in a third year course often have difficulty overcoming the impression that Spenser and Donne must have been *much* earlier than Shakespeare because their texts look much more archaic. One of the basic skills for any literature student surely is to be able to place a text on sight to its century and possibly its generation. If the student has not acquired the ability to tell a 1550 text from a 1650 text within the first few words and thus understand it accurately in terms of its cultural context, then the student is barely ready to *begin* the serious study of literature. Orthography and typography often provide the clues to dating the text within the first few words. One might even argue that the literature student who has reached the second or third year of a university literature programme without this skill is as handicapped as a student who has reached the same level in a music program without learning to recognize the key of a piece of music. The student who has reached a comparable level in German without reading Fraktur must be like a second or third year music student who cannot read the notes on the staff. If the objection is raised that these are linguistic rather than literary skills, we might ask how long our colleagues in the physical sciences protect their students from the encounter with mathematics. Perhaps the issue is not how late we should postpone the encounter with original graphology, including both spelling and typefaces, but rather how soon we can introduce it. Brian Whittaker Atkinson College, York University, Downiew, Ontario, Canada From: Brian Whittaker Subject: Re: 3.412 name please Date: Fri, 01 Sep 89 19:54:25 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 428 (838) Perhaps it would be worth adding to Willard's request that people identify themselves by name on messages a further request that people identify their institutions or, if there is anyone on the list without an institutional affiliation, their city and country. One of the values of this list is that it puts one in immediate contact with a far-flung group rather than the usual cluster of people one meets in the common room or at regional conferences. I am particularly interested in knowing when I am reading a message from a place where people might be working from a background in a different curriculum or a different set of cultural assumptions, or simply a different set of available resources. E-mail addresses are often too cryptic to give a clear sense of provenance. (It is easy to forget, however...) Brian Whittaker Atkinson College, York University Downsview, Ontario, Canada From: "Michael Sperberg-McQueen 312 996-2477 -2981" Subject: fraktur Date: 5 September 1989 17:36:35 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 429 (839) I do not know when all these people went to school that they learned German out of textbooks printed in Fraktur. But there doesn't seem to be much point in it to me. Fraktur is essential to anyone who wants to read older German printed matter, but it's certainly not in common use today, or for the last forty years. The only books in Fraktur I've seen published since 1945 are all photographic reprints, and most of my German friends under 40 avoid reading it. Brian Whittaker is right that knowledge of language change is important for specialists in literature, although many very bright people seem to make very good careers not caring much about linguistic change, and don't seem to miss it. But do we want Goethe and Shakespeare read only by specialists in literature? I don't. -Michael Sperberg-McQueen University of Illinois at Chicago From: Andrew Hawke Subject: Software for dictionary-editing Date: Tue, 5 Sep 89 06:45:32 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 636 (840) In reply to the following query: [deleted quotation] The only commercially available system I am aware of which meets at least some of the criteria you mention is the Compulexis Dictionary System. I read a review of it several years ago in _Apricot User_ or _16 bit computing_, but it is summarized in _Humanities Computing Yearbook_ 1988, page 162. It is available for the production of bilingual dictionaries, although the article I read described its use by Oxford University Press for the editing of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. I understand that it is quite expensive (approx. 20,000 pounds), but that may be for a specially adapted version. It is available on a number of machines, including AT-compatibles. Address: Compulexis Ltd., 'Moors Edge', Charlton-on-Otmoor, Oxford, England; phone: (086) 733 300/500. OUP can be contacted at Dictionary Department, Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, England. I would be very interested in any information you may obtain about this or similar products. Andrew Hawke University of Wales Dictionary of the Welsh Language, National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, Wales. From: Niko Besnier Subject: Dictionary software Date: Tue, 05 Sep 89 16:34:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 637 (841) Re. Pieter Masereeuw's query about dictionary-editing software: Bob Hsu (Linguistics Dpt, U of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822), has been developing over many years dictionary editing/sorting/compiling software. The software family, called LEXWARE, is extremely powerful and versatile, although a little time-consuming to learn. But it's worth it if your project is `large' enough. LEXWARE can custom-alphabetize, generate finder lists (i.e. generate Y-to-X listings from an X-to-Y dictionary), check cross references, generate sublists of entries matching or not matching specific patterns, and so on. LEXWARE has been used for many languages, mostly Austronesian and Amerindian languages, but there's no reason why it can't be used for more run-of-the-mill languages. I've been using it for about 10 years for a large-scale dictionary project for Tuvaluan, a Polynesian language, and have been extremely happy with it. Niko Besnier Dpt of Anthropology Yale University From: "Robert M. Ryan" Subject: Japanese Language Date: Mon, 04 Sep 89 17:03:12 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 638 (842) Does anyone have experience using Japanese on IBM PC's? I've been using the ATOK (ASCII to Kanji) software on a Toshiba J-3100 (the Japanese equivalent to the Toshiba 3200 in this country) and am looking for a way to get the same facilities on a standard IBM PC (or PS/2). Either hardware based or software based solutions would be of interest, but must support both the phonetic syllabaries (hiragana and katakana) and kanji. Ideally, a system that uses ATOK (or similar) interrupt driven software would be preferred. Any information would be greatly appreciated. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Robert M. Ryan (ST802200@BROWNVM) Brown University ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Lee Davidson Leeds (0532) 333565 Subject: Printed source for Low German story _Die Beiden (Beeden ??) Klaas_ Date: Tue, 05 Sep 89 16:06:59 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 639 (843) Can anyone give details of a printed source for a Low German story, possibly of Medieval origin, called _Die Beiden (or possibly Beeden) Klaas_ which may have been a source for Hans Christian Andersen's _Big Claus and Little Claus_ ? From: Christopher Stuart Subject: Gutenberg list? Date: Tue, 05 Sep 89 14:35:33 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 640 (844) Could someone repost information about the Gutenberg list? I tried subscribing through UIUCVME and was told that it didn't exist. Tell me I wasn't dreaming. From: sdm@cs.brown.edu Subject: Support for Hyperarcs? Date: Tue, 5 Sep 89 14:42:32 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 641 (845) Are any Humanists aware of any hypermedia systems that support hyperarcs, i.e., arcs (links) with more than one source and/or more than one destination? It is common to allow a single point (or region) in a node to have more than one arc going out of it, but that's not the same as having a single arc going from one place to, say, two places. For example, suppose you're reading a document and you notice that paragraph A says something, but later on, paragraph B says the opposite, and you'd like to link in a comment node N that points out the contradiction. Then you'd want to establish an arc that had endpoints at N, A, and B. Do any systems let you do this kind of thing? Thanks, Scott Brown University sdm@cs.brown.edu From: choueka@thunder.bellcore.com (Yaacov Choueka) Subject: Morphological analysis for Hebrew Date: Thu, 31 Aug 89 10:03:15 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 432 (846) Following is an abstract of a talk to be given soon at a meeting on Computational Linguistics in Haifa, Israel. I would be grateful for any information on the questions raised at the end of this abstract. Yaacov Choueka, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel. choueka@bimacs.bitnet Now visiting Bellcore, NJ, till 09/14, choueka@thunder.bellcore.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "MILIM" (WORDS) A complete and accurate morphological analyzer for modern Hebrew for a PC environment Yaacov Choueka (1,2) Yoni Neeman (2) 1) Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel. 2) Center for Educational Technology, Ramat Aviv, Tel-Aviv. As a typical semitic language, Hebrew has a rather complex morphology. A verb can be conjugated in several modes, tenses, persons and genders; causative pronouns can be suffixed and combinations of prepositions can be prefixed to the conjugated form, bringing the total number of morphological variants of one verb to a few thousand variants. Similar considerations apply also to nominal forms. No adequate natural language processing systems (such as spelling checkers, full-text retrieval systems, mechanical translation software, etc.) can be therefore developed for Hebrew without a morphological analyzer operating in the background. "MILIM" is a portable morphological analyzer for modern Hebrew developed for the PC environment. It accepts as input any string of characters and produces as output a complete and linguistically accurate analysis of that string, giving the lemma (=basic form, standard dictionary entry), the root and all relevant morphological attributes, such as (for verbs): mode, tense, person and gender, attached pronouns and prepositions, etc. If the given word has several possible analyses, it will list them all. Based on a carefully coded dictionary and a computerized version of the Hebrew morphology, MILIM will correctly recognize and analyze any linguistically legitimate entity, including "exceptions" and "irregular" cases. MILIM processes non-pointed Hebrew, and can recognize both grammatical spelling ("ktiv hasser") as well as "plene" one ("ktiv male"). It also recognizes common non-linguistic textual entities such as abbreviations, acronyms, proper names of places and people, etc. Its response time is immediate, and it requires less than 2 MB of internal and disk memory. A VAX/VMS version is also available. Questions: Is there such a package for English, that can be attached to any natural language processing system running on a PC or a VAX? I am not interested in suffix-stripping routines, stemming algorithms, approximate solutions, and the like. I am asking about the availability of a package that can be called from some specified operating system environment (much as "spell" is used in Unix), and given a string, will output its linguistically correct analyses, and specially a pointer to its dictionary entry (so that all of the information attached to this entry in any computerized dictionary - including word senses, quotations, collocations, etc.,- can then be made available), as in the following examples: saw--- 1. past of (to) see, transitive verb,... 2. noun, singular, ... 3. tr. verb ... 4. in. verb... . . saws-- 1. plural of saw, noun,... Obviously such a tool will be closely tied to a given dictionary and will be no more comprehensive or "correct" than its dictionary base, but that's OK. A good extra bonus can be some marking of the dictionary entries that will enable their grouping together into morphologically and semantically related "families" or "roots". The following different dictionary entries will be labeled for example as belonging to the same "family": computer, computation, computational, (to) compute, (to) computerize, etc... Note that this notion is not related in any way to synonymity: "calculation" will not be in the family just mentioned. I am also not interested in such products if they are proprietary or not available for purchase at a "reasonable" fee, or if they are strongly attached to one specific application. Is such a tool available now (or will be very soon)? Thanks! From: walker@flash.bellcore.com (Donald E Walker) Subject: ACL 1990 Call for Papers: 6-9 June 1990, Pittsburgh Date: Tue, 5 Sep 89 11:48:57 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 433 (847) CALL FOR PAPERS 28th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics 6-9 June 1990 University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania TOPICS OF INTEREST: Papers are invited on substantial, original, and unpublished research on all aspects of computational linguistics, including, but not limited to, pragmatics, discourse, semantics, syntax, and the lexicon; phonetics, phonology, and morphology; interpreting and generating spoken and written language; linguistic, mathematical, and psychological models of language; machine translation and translation aids; natural language interfaces; message understanding systems; and theoretical and applications papers of every kind. REQUIREMENTS: Papers should describe unique work; they should emphasize completed work rather than intended work; and they should indicate clearly the state of completion of the reported results. A paper accepted for presentation at the ACL Meeting cannot be presented at another conference. FORMAT FOR SUBMISSION: Authors should submit twelve copies of preliminary versions of their papers, not to exceed 3200 words (exclusive of references). The title page should include the title, the name(s) of the author(s), complete addresses, a short (5 line) summary, and a specification of the topic area. Submissions that do not conform to this format will not be reviewed. Send to: Robert C. Berwick ACL-90 Program Chair MIT AI Laboratory, Room 838 545 Technology Square Cambridge, MA 02139 USA (+1 617)253-8918 berwick@wheaties.ai.mit.edu SCHEDULE: Final papers are due by 16 December 1989. Authors will be notified of acceptance by 3 February 1990. Camera-ready copies of final papers prepared in a double-column format, preferably on laser-printer output must be received by 7 April 1990, along with a signed copyright release statement. OTHER ACTIVITIES: The meeting will include a program of tutorials organized by Dan Flickinger, Hewlett-Packard Research Laboratories, 1501 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA; (+1 415)857-8789; flickinger@hp.com. Anyone wishing to arrange an exhibit or present a demonstration should send a brief description together with a specification of physical requirements (space, power, telephone connections, tables, etc.) to Rich Thomason at the address below. CONFERENCE INFORMATION: Local arrangements are being handled by Rich Thomason, Intelligent Systems Program, Cathedral of Learning 1004, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA; (+1 412)624-5791; thomason@cad.cs.cmu.edu. For other information on the conference and on the ACL more generally, contact Don Walker (ACL), Bellcore, MRE 2A379, 445 South Street, Box 1910, Morristown, NJ 07960-1910, USA; (+1 201)829-4312; walker@flash.bellcore.com or bellcore!walker. PROGRAM COMMITTEE: Robert Berwick, David Israel, Karen Jensen, Aravind Joshi, Richard Larson, Paul Martin, Kathy McKeown, Martha Pollack, James Pustejovsky, Edward Stabler, Hans Uszkoreit, David Weir. From: Joe Stoy Subject: 3.420 strayed hearts (125) Date: Tue, 5 Sep 89 06:08:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 434 (848) Since you seem amiably disposed to let the "displaced hearts" discussion continue for another round or two, I hope you'll allow me to contribute my two penn'orth stimulated by the list quoted by Jim O'Donnell, which appears to play fast and loose with the heart of our Founder. When John Balliol died in 1268, his wife, the Lady Dervorguilla, had his heart embalmed (in honey, some say) and carried it around in an ivory casket -- she used to place it beside her at dinner, and treat it as though her husband were still presiding over the table. When she died (700 years ago next January) she was buried with his heart in her bosom, in the Cistercian abbey she had founded near Dumfries, called Sweetheart Abbey. J.R. Scott (1876) suggested that the heart was moved to Brabourne during the early fourteenth century, Sweetheart Abbey being in an insecure state through war and poverty. According to my colleague JHJ, "this is plausible, because Brabourne church had close connections with the Balliols, and a heart shrine of the period survives in it. It is not supported by any evidence, however, and B.J. Scott (... 1914 ...) states, albeit without giving any authority, that the Brabourne shrine was made for the heart of Aymer de Valence, who died in 1324." (Ref.: J.H.Jones, Balliol College: a history, 1263--1939; OUP 1988.) joe stoy Balliol College From: Willard McCarty Subject: research query Date: 5 September 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 642 (849) [Apologies for having sat on this query for several weeks. It was buried in a biography. --W.M.] Though an English Professor, I've become engaged with some colleagues from Computer Science in research to improve word-processing software. We would like to find ways to build a better spelling checker that would be rule-based rather than reliant on lengthy lists of words. As this project involves the application of artificial intelligence to the acquistion of English language, we are naturally interested in the points where linguistics and computer programing meet. We would be very interested in hearing from people who are doing research (or know of research being done) in linguistics or psycho- linguistics as they relate to artificial intelligence. Has anyone out there any experience in trying to subject grammatical and/or spelling "rules" to the exigencies of a computer program? Please address responses to TETRO@DALAC. Ronald Tetreault Dalhousie University From: Christian Koch Subject: Kleist texts? Date: Wed, 6 Sep 89 15:10 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 643 (850) A colleague of mine in the German Department is wondering if anyone has, or knows the location of, machine-readable texts of Heinrich von Kleist's LETTERS and POETRY. Thanks! Christian Koch Oberlin College fkoch@oberlin From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.431 queries (88) Date: Wed, 6 Sep 89 11:16:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 436 (851) You asked about links to multiple points in a hypertext environment. It's easy enough to manage this in a slightly ad hoc way in HyperCard using various windowing add-ons. Clicking on a link can bring up two (or more) windows of text or images; even without windowing add-ons, you easily display a dialog box with an indication of differnt points to link to, asking the browser to choose. Isn't the deeper issue one of how to systematically indicate in transparent fashion both the existence of links (one or many) and and of how to provide documentation for those links (of what kind: evidence, illustration, analogous thought, causal link, antithesis; author of link, etc.)? From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: query (3.431) re Japanese PC Date: Wed, 6 Sep 89 04:29:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 644 (852) If you mean the hard to find 5550 (or some such number) which is usually available only in Japan & has various clever imput modes for Japanese, the Language Lab at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign has two of them. Contact the Director, C. C. Cheng (at least he was Director 2 years ago), who is also Professor of Linguistics. Well, if I had read your posting a bit more carefully, I would have seen that really want this functionality on "a standard IBM PC (or PS/2)." It seems very unlikely that full Japanese functionality would be available on a standard PC, since entirely different input and display are required, though various compromises might be available. You might still want to contact C.C.Cheng. Goood luck. From: Subject: Japanese Word Processors for the IBM PC Date: Wed, 6 Sep 89 11:14 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 645 (853) The best (to date) Japanese word processor that I've seen for an IBM PC is EW Plus which is available from Information Technology Laboratory, Inc 280 Park Avenue, 4th Fl New York, NY 10017 (212/557-0179 Price: $895.00 Demo version available You will require an EGA or VGA adaptor (it also runs on a Toshiba 3100) and a hard disk. Although it will run on an XT, you get much better performance on an AT machine. There is support for a number of 9-pin and 24-pin printers, as well as the HP Laserjet II. Although I've only worked with the demo version, I think it is a very good program, intuitive to use, and supports hiragana, katakana and both JIS kanji sets. And you can switch easily to English as well. I believe that it is based on the popular EW word processor that is in common use in Japan, but retooled to support English as well. And, a big bonus! You can draw box characters as well! Sam Cioran McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 416/525-9140 (x7012) CIORAN@SSCVAX.MCMASTER.CA From: CATHERINE@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: displaced other parts Date: Wed, 6 SEP 89 10:30:47 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 646 (854) Speaking of displaced hearts and parts, an arcane item came up for sale at Sotheby's a while ago. It was a part of Bonaparte (some might say the bonus part...), which was brought to sale, presumably, by a *private* collector... Hope this is not too tasteless for fellow humanists; it falls in the strange but true category, and we humanists must not fear to face the truth where it appears. Catherine Griffin Oxford University Comnputing Service From: ZEITLYN@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: RE: 3.434 displaced hearts, cont. (39) Date: Wed, 6 Sep 89 13:18 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 647 (855) Another displaced heart... An early skirmish between German invaders and local Bakweri around mount Cameroon in Cameroon (West Africa) resulted in the death of a German officer. Since his troops knew that if they carried off his body they too would be killed, but also "knew" that the Bakweri would eat his heart they removed it and took it with them. The body was later recovered seperately, and I'm afraid I don't know if both were buried in Cameroon, or sent back to Germany for burial. In the 1950 Edwin Ardner worked with Bakweri, and when he commented on european stereotypes of africans as cannibals he was told "But you Europeans are even worse since you cut out (obviously to eat) the hearts of your fallen soldiers..." David Zeitlyn Wolfson College, Oxford From: N.J.Morgan@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.434 displaced hearts, cont. (39) Date: Wed, 6 Sep 89 03:55:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 648 (856) I have just remembered that Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco. Does this count ? Nicholas Morgan Department of Scottish History University of Glasgow Glasgow From: Rudolf WYTEK Subject: Re: 3.429 old spelling: Fraktur (29) Date: Wed, 6 Sep 89 09:58:34 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 649 (857) I'm from Vienna, Austria - native German speaker and reader and have the following comments to the FRAKTUR discussion: FRAKTUR is very seldom used nowadays, e.g. out of fun for an anniversary card, it's really of no importance today. A lot of older books is written in FRAKTUR and contrary to others I see that it is easily read by our students, only very dumb pupils in school have difficulties with it. Surely nobody writes in Fraktur. German was written by hand in 'KURRENT' and some elder people use it until today. 'KURRENT' is taught in school as part of arts education. All students of the humanities surely must be able to read 'KURRENT' fluently and that is much harder compared to FRAKTUR which is used only in print. But perhaps people in the USA have the wrong impressions about Germany (we know it for sure that Austria's picture is also mostly wrong), e.g. the very nice book of KATZNER, Languages of the World, prints the German example first in FRAKTUR and afterwards the 'translation' in Latin or Roman characters, like the Chinese or Kwakiutl example is written first in Chinese or Kwakiutl and afterwards translated into the USA readable form. So for German readers it's very funny indeed to see the same text twice on one page only with different fonts. FRAKTUR is no problem at all as long as you don't intend to use a scanner, the older printing types were of so unstandardized kind that it's nearly impossible to scan and translate (sensu Kurzweiletc.) older texts directly. From: Thomas Zielke <113355@DOLUNI1> Subject: Re: 3.429 old spelling: Fraktur (29) Date: Wed, 6 Sep 89 13:27:12 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 650 (858) Well, I totally agree with M. Sperberg-McQueen... the ability to read German fraktur types IS necessary, not only for linguists but also for all those actually willing to deal with German etc. history *seriously*. By the way, one really gets used to it, if one wants to, and it's not too difficult to learn. Let's be malicious: Do Humanists have to learn how to use a computer? Do they have to learn how to typewrite? To write at all? To read? Thomas Zielke FB 3/Historisches Seminar Universitaet Oldenburg Postfach 2903 D-2900 Oldenburg From: E910003@NJECNVM Subject: 3.429 old spelling: Fraktur (29) Date: Wed, 06 Sep 89 12:31 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 651 (859) subject: Fraktur in the recent past. Michael Sperberg-McQueen is certainly correct that very little since WWII has been put in fraktur. However, my interest is in the recent history of psychology, which includes of lot of German. I have recently run across the following things in fraktur that aren't likely to be in English: The New Yorker Volkszeitung (1877- ) Schwegler's History of philosophy in a prewar Reklam edition. v. Ueberweg's History of philosophie in 4 volumes reworked by Max Heinze from the turn of the century. the 1924 edition of Meyer Encyclopedic Lexicon I don't particularly like fraktur, but German is a vast source and more than an undergraduate degree seems to require it. I have a hard time seeing why fraktur should not be required in some way in an undergraduate German curriculum. Ed Haupt Montclair State College From: Willard McCarty Subject: Fraktur Date: 6 September 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 652 (860) I learned German first from an old fellow who had fought in the First World War, had duelling scars, and had us sing Lily Marlene usw. once a week. He insisted that we learn from a textbook printed in Fraktur, which we did with ease. We simply had no choice. We learned to love the German language -- along with the names of the scars. What indeed makes something difficult to learn? Computers, for example, so befuddle some people that they seem to lose all their native wit. Others take to them as fish to water. I also have difficulty grasping what's so difficult about Thon. To carry the discussion back to its original, it seems we should be noticing that an electronic edition of a work can easily have many forms -- new spelling, old spelling, Fraktur, Roman, original language, translation, etc. Even if technology is not now capable of providing us with screens that are decent to read from, even if it is absurd to talk of expensive gadgets replacing books, still the potential for instruction and reference is enormous. This is already being done, more and more competently every day. The point is a good one that for practical reasons someone interested in rooting around in older German materials simply has to read Fraktur. And know about things like Thon. Since it's so easy to learn such things, what's the problem? Willard McCarty From: Willard McCarty Subject: biographical supplements Date: 6 September 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 440 (861) The following two numbers of Humanist will contain the 22nd and 23rd biographical files. I apologize for having kept some of these since June. Those of you who were in Toronto then will have some idea why I have had little time to edit the raw biographies that new members send me. Since so many have accumulated -- 44, to be exact -- the editing I have done has necessarily been very cursory. For that I apologize as well. You will notice that some of these biographies have the marks of a new format. This format is requested in the initial message that inquirers get. It is intended to make the transformation of the biographies into SGML and HyperCard forms much easier. As many of you will know, Steve DeRose and others have been working on the biographies for some time with the aim of making them much more easily accessible by software. DeRose now has, he informs me, a much improved HyperCard stack for viewing these, and until this moment has had all of the biographies properly encoded. The stack and the encoded biographies will be ready for distribution shortly. Our plans to issue all of Humanist together with the biographies on CD-ROM has been suspended because of legal action by certain US universities against one or more companies for distributing their professors' work. The story I have heard is fragmentary but distressing nonetheless. It suggests that the universities want to make money from this work, over which they claim ownership. Perhaps someone else here knows the details better than I. In any case, what seemed to be just around the corner now appears to be much further off. Suggestions for going ahead with a CD-ROM of Humanist are welcome. Perhaps now is the time to think of including digitized pictures as well as text. From my perspective we form an interesting community. The CD-ROM might help us strengthen that community. Willard McCarty From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 441 (862) Autobiographies of Humanists Twenty-first Supplement Following are 22 additional entries to the collection of autobiographical statements by members of the Humanist discussion group. Humanists on IBM VM/CMS systems will want a copy of Jim Coombs' exec for searching and retrieving biographical entries. It is kept on Humanist's file-server; for more information, see the Guide to Humanist. Further additions, corrections, and updates are welcome. Willard McCarty Centre for Computing in the Humanities, Univ. of Toronto mccarty@utorepas 6 September 1989 ================================================================= *Aristar-Dry, Helen I have a Ph.D. in English Language and Linguistics from the U. of Texas at Austin, where I did a dissertation on syntactic reflexes of point of view in Austen's _Emma_. I am an Assoc. Prof. of English and linguistics at the U. of Texas at San Antonio; but currently I have a Fulbright lecturing/research grant to the U. of Tromso in Norway. My research interests involve primarily the syntactic and pragmatic analysis of literary narrative; thus, the paper I am giving at the Giessen conference on "Co-operating with Written Texts" in September is on Henry James' use of presuppositional constructions. Recently, however, I have become interested in computational stylistics. I have several of Austen's texts on disk (courtesy of the Oxford Text Archive) and am looking at them for use of non-anaphoric reflexives and past tense modals. Also, I hope to teach a course on computation and style here at Tromso next semester. ================================================================= *Barr, David Lawrence Professor of Religion, Director, University Honors Program, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio 45435; (513) 873-2661. Home Address: 206 Cambria Drive, Beavercreek, OH 45440; (513) 429- 9574 Born April 24, 1942, in Belding, Michigan; Married: Judith Kay Dunlap (1966); Two Children: Elizabeth Kay (1973), Nathaniel David (1976) Education: Ph.D. in Religion, Florida State University, Interdepartmental Program In Humanities, August, 1974. M.A., Florida State University, 1969. B.A. Ft Wayne Bible College, 1965. Travel: Turkey and Israel in the summer of 1986. Experience: Chairer, Department of Religion, Wright State University, 1980- 1986. Co-Director, Public Education Religion Studies Center, 1978-1985. President, Eastern Great Lakes Biblical Society, 1985-86; VP 1984-85. Associate Editor, Proceeding of the Eastern Great Lakes and Midwestern Biblical Societies, 1986- Co-Chairer, Bible in Ancient and Modern Media Group in the Society of Biblical Literature, 1987-. Memberships: Society of Biblical Literature; Catholic Biblical Association; American Academy of Religion; Eastern Great Lakes Biblical Society; Dayton New Testament Seminar; Society for the Study of Narrative Books: New Testament Story: An Introduction. Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1987. The Bible in American Education, a centennial volume prepared for the Society of Biblical Literature and published by Fortress Press and Scholars Press, 1982 (co-editor with Nicholas Piediscalzi). The Bible Reader's Guide, Bruce, 1970 (Co-author with James V. Panoch, Rodney Allen and Robert Spivey). Religion Goes To School: A Practical Handbook for Teachers, Harper & Row, 1968 (Co-author with James V. Panoch). Selected Articles: "The Fifth Gospel: The Book of Revelation as Good News," Adult Biblical Independent Learning Tucson: ABIL Foundation, 1989. "The Apocalypse of John as an Oral Enactment," Interpretation, 40/3 (July 1986): 243-56. "Elephants and Holograms: From Metaphor to Methodology in the Study of John's Apocalypse," Society of Biblical Literature 1986 Seminar Papers, Scholars Press, 1986: 400-411. "The Apocalypse as a Symbolic Transformation of the World: A Literary Study," Interpretation, January 38/1 (1984) 39-50. "The Conventions of Classical Biography and The Genre of Luke-Acts," in Luke-Acts: New Perspectives from the SBL Seminar, edited by Charles Talbert, Crossroads Press, 1983: 63-88, (co-author with Judith Wentling). "The Bible in Public Education Today," in The Bible in American Education, Scholars Press and Fortress Press, 1982:165- 97, (co-author with Peter Bracher). "The Drama of Matthew's Gospel: A Reconsideration of its Structure and Purpose," Theology Digest 24/4 (January, 1977), 349-359 (translated into Japanese in 1983). Reviews published in the Journal of Biblical Literature, Interpretation, the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, The Second Century, TSF Bulletin, and other journals. Papers read at meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature, Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas, Eastern Great Lakes Biblical Society, American Academy of Religion, and other societies. Work in Progress: Pursuing research on the social world of the Apocalypse, which has included a research trip to Turkey, with a view toward an integrated literary, historical, and social analysis of this important document. Have agreed to write a narrative commentary on the Apocalypse of John, to be part of a new series published by Polebridge Press, R. Alan Culpepper, general editor. "How Shall We Understand Matthew's Relation to Judaism? A Question of Method," a major essay being revised for publication. ================================================================= *Besemer, Susan P. INSTITUTION: SUNY College at Fredonia DEPARTMENT: Reed Library TITLE: Director of Library Services EMAIL: BESEMER@SNYFREBA PHONE: (716)673-3181 ADDRESS: 037 Reed Library SUNY Fredonia Fredonia, New York POSTAL CODE: 14063 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: I have been the Director of the Library at SUNY Fredonia for just over two years. Before that I was at the Butler Library at SUNY College at Buffalo for almost 15 years. I am interested in using computers to improve access to library information, and for my own use as a professional person. I started using microcomputers in the early 1980s when I learned WordStar on an old Heathkit computer. I taught WordStar to faculty and other people in classes and indiviually, enjoying that very much. I also bought my own Osborne I at that time and used it to compile a book (published by Greenwood Press) which lists interviews with visual artists which are recorded on film, video and audiocassette. Much to the amusement of some, I still use my Ozzie, and haven't moved up to a PC. ================================================================= *Bestul, Thomas Professor of English and Director, Humanities Research Facility, Department of English / University of Nebraska-Lincoln / Lincoln, NE 68588-0333; (402) 472-1813 I am a professor of English (Ph.D. Harvard 1970), a faculty member at Nebraska since 1968, a former Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and a medievalist, with special interests in manuscript studies, Anselm of Canterbury, the Latin devotional literature of the eleventh through the fourteenth centuries, and Chaucer. My own interest in humanities computing is in applications to medieval studies, especially databases and machine-readable texts. I am a participant in the project Sources of Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture, which will eventually exist in the form of a regularly updated database, as well as in printed form. The Humanities Research Facility at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln is designed to support all aspects of research in the humanities through the use of modern technology, particularly computing. As its Director, I take responsibility for staying informed of current developments to the extent I am able. My published scholarship is in medieval studies and has not dealt with computer applications. Two recent representative examples: A Durham Book of Devotions, Toronto Medieval Latin Texts 18 (Toronto 1987), and "Chaucer's Parson's Tale and the Late- Medieval Tradition of Religious Meditation" forthcoming in Speculum. ================================================================= *Blumenthal, Dr. Henry J. Dept. of Classics and Archaeology, University of Liverpool, P. O. Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX, U.K. My position is in Greek, till two years ago a separate department here, and most of my teaching is in Greek language and literature, but my research interests are primarily in Greek Philosophy, especially neoplatonism: lately I've spent most of my time on the Aristotelian commentators. Other interests: Comparative Philology and Homeric Epic. ================================================================= *Boggs, John (John C. Boggs, Jr.) Professor; Department of English, University of Richmond, Va. 23173; (804) 2898294; Home: 2883426 Degrees from Duke and Columbia. Teaching at U of Richmond since 1962. Principal interest in 20th-century British and American literature; special focus on Joyce and the Irish Renaissance. Also some background in 19th-century American literature, with focus on works of Melville. ================================================================= *Bryson, Tim INSTITUTION:University of Chicago DEPARTMENT:Divinity School TITLE:Ph.D. Candidate EMAIL:lsxlsls@uchimvs1 PHONE:312-324-6057 ADDRESS:5414 S. Ridgewood Ct. 3N, Chicago, IL POSTAL CODE:60615 COUNTRY:U.S.A. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH A.B. Harvard. A.M. Stanford/University of Chicago. I am presently (8/89) at the University of Chicago working at a dissertation on religious syncretism. I have used my IBM AT to advantage in this project not only for word-processing (Notabene) but for locating (Dialog) and organizing (NotebookII) bibliographical references. In addition I use Multi-Lingual Scholar to help me communicate in Bengali by mail with contacts in Calcutta. Recently I joined CompuServe and now Humanist which, if nothing else, will relieve the obsessional isolation of dissertation work. My academic specialization is modern Hinduism. But this academic interest stems from my previous experience as a monk first in a Japanese Rinzai Zen monastery and then in an Hindu Vedanta monastery. I seek to exploit computer technology ultimately as a tool for research and communication in the task of inter-cultural understanding at the deepest level. Right now all I have in mind are things like simply encouraging scholars in my field to use computers to help them find, organize and present their data; someday working on inter-active multi- media role- playing programs and relational databases such as the Apple labs are developing in San Francisco; and somehow encouraging the expansion of telecommunications networking within and beyond our cultural boundaries. ================================================================= *Cohn, Robert L. Philip and Muriel Berman Scholar in Jewish Studies, Department of Religion, Lafayette College, Easton, PA 18042 USA; 215-250-5182 I received the B.A. from Northwestern University and A.M. and Ph.D. from Stanford in Religious Studies and Humanities. My areas of teaching are in Hebrew Bible, Judaism and comparative religion. My research of late has focused on literary approaches to biblical narrative with articles on the Elijah-Elisha tales, a commentary on 1 Samuel, and ongoing work on images of the "other" in biblical literature. At the same time I am interested in comparative categories such as "sainthood" and "scripture" and I tend to approach Judaic phenomena from a comparative perspective. Currently I am teaching at Lafayette College and am affiliated with the Philip and Muriel Berman Center for Jewish Studies located at Lehigh University and serving the six colleges in the Lehigh Valley. Half of University and serving the six colleges in the Lehigh Valley. As part University and serving the six colleges in the Lehigh Valley. Part of my teaching, under the sponsorship of the Center, is at the other colleges in the consortium. The Center also sponsors seminars and conferences for the colleges and the community. My wife, Renee Cohn, is an attorney in Allentown, PA, and our sons, Gideon, nearly 6, and Michael, 2 1/2, amaze and delight us. ================================================================= *Corsi, Sandro Asst. Prof., Dept. of Art, Univ. of Wisconsin - Oshkosh, Oshkosh, WI 54901 USA; (414) 424-1238, or -2219, or -2235 Degrees Master of Fine Arts, 1986, and Bachelor of Fine Arts, 1984. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Employment Assistant professor of Art, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, 1987-current. Animation assistant, David Alexovich Animation, Chicago, IL, 1984-85. Free-lance illustrator, Rome, Italy, 1979-1983. Awards SIGGRAPH Conference Grant for Educators, ACM/SIGGRAPH, Boston, 1989. Research grant, University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh, Faculty Development Program, 1988. Mellon Fellowship, Center for Advanced Studies in Art and Technology, Chicago, 1985-86. Recent Exhibitions "Electronic Image Exhibition", St.Louis Community College, St.Louis, MO, 1989. Art Show The Arts & Technology II symposium, Connecticut College, New London, CT, 1989. "Q-Cu, Kunst und Medien" competition, Karlsruhe, Federal Republic of Germany, 1988. Art Show 1st International Symposium on Electronic Art, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 1988. Art Show SIGGRAPH'88 conference, Atlanta, GA, 1988. "Emerald City Classic VII" Nepenthe Mundi Society, Wichita, KS, 1988. First place award, computer-professional. "Art of the Computer", Euphrat Gallery, De Anza College, Cupertino, CA, 1988. Published work Credited for all the illustrations in: "Storia degli antichi astronomi", "Storia dell'astronomia moderna", "Storia dell'universo", 1984; "La Creazione", 1982; "Nasce l'uomo moderno", 1980. All of the above were originally published by Jaca Book, Milano, Italy. Other publishers included Winston Press, Minneapolis, in the US. Also credited for part of the illustrations in other books and periodicals. Aside from... To the above "formal" bio, I might add that I have a mixed academic background (having started out with physics, later moving on to a variety of other endeavours -- which culminated in a terminal degree in the Fine Arts), and an equally mixed cultural background, having lived in several countries before moving to the US in 1983. My main interests currently concern applications of computers in the visual arts -- ranging from the simulation of older media (paint programs) to the creation of altogether new interactive works. In the past I have worked in more traditional media (drawing, filmmmaking), as well as carrying on some theoretical research on the implications of digital media for the future status of the arts. Closely related to the preceding are my art-education interests. My job involves the creation from scratch of a computer art program. So far I've taken care of the bulk of the soft/hardware purchasing, and have developed and taught two courses. I'm now in the process of writing three more course proposals -- as well as constantly revising the existing sillabi. Outside of the arts... as an undergraduate I was exposed to some semiotics and linguistics, and occasionaly I've stuck my nose into communications. I have an especially keen interest in the social implications of new channels of communications, especially those (such as computer networks) that can combine broad- and narrow- casting, and allow active participation on the part of everyone involved. ================================================================= *Davis, John N. INSTITUTION: University of Victoria DEPARTMENT: Faculty of Law TITLE: Associate Professor and Law Librarian EMAIL: Bitnet: YYJDAVIS@UVVM Internet: YYJDAVIS@UVVM.UVIC.CA PHONE: (604) 721-8562 ADDRESS: Box 2300, VICTORIA, British Columbia POSTAL CODE: V8W 3B1 COUNTRY: Canada BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: I was born in Brant County in southwestern Ontario, and grew up on a dairy farm there. Classics were my passion in high school, where I managed to get 5 years of Latin and 3 of Greek. Before completing the honours computer science program at the University of Western Ontario, I left to do a law degree at the University of Toronto. After that, I articled, was called to the bar, and practiced law in Cayuga, Ontario for a year. Then, pining for academia, I returned to the University of Western Ontario for a degree in library science. After graduation, I went to the law library at the University of Manitoba. In my spare time there, I chaired the Faculty Association's grievance committee, and was contract administrator. Finally, after six winters in Winnipeg, I left for my present position. I have been here in Victoria just two years. My research interests are chiefly "historical" - I would not resent being called an antiquarian - focussing blurrily on legal writing styles, native law, and constitutional law. On the library side, I am constantly using computers. ================================================================= *Donaldson, Randall (Randy) INSTITUTION: Loyola College in Maryland DEPARTMENT: Foreign Languages & Literatures TITLE: Asst. Professor of German EMAIL: Donaldson@LOYVAX PHONE: (301) 323-1010 x2299 ADDRESS: 4501 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD POSTAL CODE: 21210 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH (ca. 100-500 words) I am trained in German language and literature (Ph.D., Hopkins, 1977), but was in college administration for six years, during which time I became very involved with computers both mainframes and PCs, but mostly PCs even as I lost touch with my primary field(s) of interest: literary criticism; nineteenth-century German literature; and German-American Literature. As I try to put my computer knowledge to work in resuming my scholarly research, my sense is that many of my German colleagues (in the Americas or in Europe) are simply not very involved with computers at least not as involved as my own local colleagues in Italian and Linguistics seem to be. I am very interested at the moment in the existence of or plans for a computerized bibliograpy(ies) on Germans in other countries in general and German-Americans in specific. I am also beginning a project on Goethean criticism in which I hope to use a concordance program (Oxford?; WordCruncher?) to examine Goethe's works for certain key words and constellations and would be glad to learn opportunities to obtain Goethe's work in machine- readable form. ================================================================= *Essa, Al Graduate Student, Yale University; Department of Philosophy, Yale University, P.O. Box 3650, Yale Station, New Haven, CT. 06520 U.S.A.; (203)865-5971 ================================================================= *Evens, Dan Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 1A7 I am a postdoctoral fellow, working on quantum field theory. My training has been in quantum mechanics, gravity and both special and general relativity, as well as the standard complement of math that a physicist absorbs in his career. My interests in computers have been mainly of a strictly practical problem solving nature, numerical integration, system modeling and such. My interests in philosophy have been mainly in a sort of dabbling in ethics and metaphysics. I am interested in the philosophy of science, and in particular the philosphy of the quantal nature of the universe. ================================================================= *Fischer, John Irwin INSTITUTION: Lousiana State University DEPARTMENT:English TITLE:Professor of English EMAIL:Enfisc@LSUVM PHONE:Office (504) 388-3023; Home (504)) 766-5816 ADDRESS:5034 S. Chalet Court, Baton Rouge, Lousiana POSTAL CODE:70808 COUNTRY:USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH I received my Ph.D. at the University of Florida in 1968 and have taught at LSU since that date. My interests include early eighteenth-century English satire, Swift's poetry, documentary scholarship, editing practices, and academic computing. I have some skill manipulating Ventura 1.1 and Nota Bene 3.0. I am a beginner at BITNET. My publications include _On Swift's Poetry,_ Florida, 1976; _Contemporary Studies in Swift's Poetry_ (co-edit),Delaware, 1981; and _Swift and His Contexts_ (co-edit), AMS, 1989. ================================================================= *Gall, Norman R. Graduate Student (PhD Candidate) Philosophy, York University, 4700 Keele Street, North York, ON M3J 1P3, 663-2901 My areas of research are primarily in the philosophy of mind and psychology with a decidedly Wittgensteinian slant. I am also interested in the status of so-called 'fringe science', i.e. parapsychology, etc. I am very skilled in the use, maintenance, and installation of medium to large Macintosh netowrks and interconnections with EtherNet backbones, and IBM (yuk) Token-Ring nets. I want to see what sorts of software tools can be integrated with new hardware schemes to provide researchers with the best systems possible. In addition, I collect all manner of public-domain and Shareware software. ================================================================= *Gilbert, David INSTITUTION: University of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign DEPARTMENT: School of Music. Division of Musicology TITLE: PhD Candidate EMAIL: U22006 at UIUCVMD BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH (ca. 100-500 words) Before coming to U of I to enter the MA/PhD program in musicology I was a systems analyst in Chicago. I also have an MA in library science from the Univ. of Chicago but I was only a librarian for six months (at the American Library Association). My main areas of study are 19th century France, the composer Hector Berlioz, and 19th and 20th century opera. My main computing interests are network applications (such as this one), bibliographic data bases and catalogs (I came to this list via PACS-L), and the design of user interfaces to such beasts. ================================================================= *Golan, Lew Achimeir 13, Tel Aviv 69126, Israel; tel: 972-3-427638 I am on the Faculty of Humanities at Tel Aviv University, in a dual capacity with the Diaspora Research Institute: (1) as an editor of academic papers, and (2) as a consultant on personal computing in general and Nota Bene in particular. However, my work in academia is more of a sideline to my work in (you should excuse the expression) the real world. I am a writer and creative director in several areas of communication -- marketing, advertising, training and education. I use desktop publishing (Ventura Publisher, Publisher's Paintbrush, H-P scanner, QMS 800+ Postscript laser printer) for much of my work -- producing academic journals for other research institutes at the university, and creating and producing ads and brochures for my commercial clients. I got into computing the way many other writers have done...moving from a manual Royal to an electric Praxis to a Kaypro 2X to a Tandy 1000 with two floppies to a Tandy 3000 with a 40-megger and a RAMpage 286 expanded memory. I write educational television programs that are used for teaching English in Israel's school system. I ghosted several textbooks for a professor in labor relations in the States. I attended the University of Chicago (which makes me a humanist in good standing from way back in 1948), and earned my degree in journalism at the University of Illinois. We (wife, four daughters) moved to Israel in 1970. We (wife, youngest daughter) moved back to the States in 1978. We (wife) moved back to Israel in 1986, leaving our youngest daughter at Indiana University. The pendulum has swung between some other extremes as well: I have been senior vice president and head of creative services at the world's largest marketing services agency, with hundreds of writers, art directors and other people reporting to me...and I have worked alone as a fulltime freelance writer. I have lived in a megalopolis...and I was a member of a kibbutz for five years. Still, one aspect of my life has remained relatively constant: I'm an incurable protester. In the 60's, I marched on Washington during the Vietnam war, and with Martin Luther King at Selma. Today, I march against the government's handling of the intifada, and against the actions of settlers on the West Bank. No, I didn't burn my draft card in the 60's. The army didn't want me in the first place, because I've been totally deaf since the age of 6. So I burned my library card instead. ================================================================= *Grycz, Czeslaw Jan INSTITUTION: University of California DEPARTMENT: Division of Library Automation TITLE: Chair, Scholarship and Technology Study Project EMAIL: CJG$UR@UCCMVSA.BITNET PHONE: (415) 987-5061 ADDRESS: Kaiser Center, Eighth Floor 300 Lakeside Drive Oakland, California POSTAL CODE: 94612-3550 COUNTRY: U.S.A. BIOGRAPHY: Involved with Scholarly Publishing since 1971, first at Stanford University Press, and - for the last thirteen years - at the University of California Press. As of July 1, 1989 heading up a project to provide electronic journal publication facilities at the University of California utilizing the MELVYL network as a distribution carrier. Interested, therefore, in SGML, object- oriented text tagging, and similar issues. Lecture and speak widely. ================================================================= *Hallheim, Arne Maint.eng., Adr. : PO Box 53, Universitetet, N-5027 Bergen, Norway; Phone: +47 5 212954; Fax : +47 5 322656 I'm working at Norvegian Computing Centre for the Humanities, located in Bergen, Norway. My work includes system-operation of our Local Area Network (appr. 30 pc's) and two SUN workstations. I also do some programming (Pascal/C). This is my first job after Technical College, electronics/micropros. studies. My interests are programs/technical applications that might be usefull for users in the Humanities. ================================================================= *Hancher, Michael Professor of English, University of Minnesota, 207 Lind Hall, 207 Church Street, S.E., Minneapolis MN 55455 USA; 612/625-3363 Author: numerous articles on speech-act theory, literary theory, literature and the law, and literary illustration; also a book on John Tenniel. Member: American Society for Aesthetics, Dictionary Society of North America, Linguistic Society of America, Modern Language Association of America. Current computing interests: mainly utilitarian (on-line catalog- , bibliography- and text-searching, listservers such as this, etc.). ================================================================= *Hansen, Tom Computing Resource Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 326 Adm., Lincoln, NE 68588-0496, (402) 472-5224 I'm an Urban Sociologist with a keen interest in computing and the humanities. I'm currently employed as a computer resource specialist with one of my more interesting and pleasurable responsibilities being our Humanities Research Facility. My major research interest is the development of tools to access widely distributed databases by individuals using microcomputers connected to a network. Anything that deals with HyperText and/or HyperMedia will also get my attention ================================================================= *Harris, Mary Dee Consultant in Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence in the Washington, DC, area.; Address: Language Technology, 2153 California St. NW, Suite 304, Washington, DC 20008; (202)-387-0626. Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, in English literature and Computer Science; dissertation: "Computer Collation of Manuscript Poetry: Dylan Thomas' 'Poem on his Birthday'" Research interests: interaction of metaphor and discourse structure, knowledge-based natural language processing, cognitive linguistic approaches to natural language processing Major publications: Introduction to Natural Language Processing (Prentice-Hall, 1985). "Dylan Thomas' Use of Roget's Thesaurus during Composition of 'Poem on his Birthday'," PBSA, LXXII, No. 4 (1978), 505-517. "Dylan Thomas the Craftsman: Computer Analysis of the Composition of a Poem," ALLC Bulletin, 7, No. 3 (1979), 295-300. "Poetry vs the Computer," Festschrift in honor of Roberto Busa, S.J., edited by Antonio Zampolli and Laura Cignoni, University of Pisa, Fall, 1987. "Analysis of the Discourse Structure of Lyric Poetry," CHum, forthcoming. [Presented at ICCH/1987, Columbia, South Carolina, April, 1987.] *****end***** From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 442 (863) Autobiographies of Humanists Twenty-second Supplement Following are 22 additional entries to the collection of autobiographical statements by members of the Humanist discussion group. Humanists on IBM VM/CMS systems will want a copy of Jim Coombs' exec for searching and retrieving biographical entries. It is kept on Humanist's file-server; for more information, see the Guide to Humanist. Further additions, corrections, and updates are welcome. Willard McCarty Centre for Computing in the Humanities, Univ. of Toronto mccarty@utorepas 6 September 1989 ================================================================= *Hatfield, Len I teach 19th and 20th century English Literature, critical theory, and speculative fiction at Virginia Tech. Phd. at Indiana University (Bloomington) on patterns of rhetorical authority in texts, including volumes of poetry by Robert Browning and Yeats, a Poundian Canto, and a section of Barth's LOST IN THE FUNHOUSE. Presently working on a book about didacticism, authority, and textual power in 20th-century speculative fiction called (tentatively) POWER/ KNOWLEDGE IN SF; as well as a monograph on the sf of Greg Bear; essays on Le Guin, John Barth, Yeats, and so forth. ================================================================= *Hawke, (Mr) Andrew INSTITUTION: Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru (University of Wales Dictionary of the Welsh Language) DEPARTMENT: Board of Celtic Studies, University of Wales TITLE: Assitant Editor EMAIL: ACH@UK.AC.ABERYSTWYTH.V on Janet (or via EARN/BITNET) PHONE: UK CODE + 970 623816 ext. 264 ADDRESS: National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, Dyfed POSTAL CODE: SY23 3BU COUNTRY: Wales, UK BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH (ca. 100-500 words) 1975-80 B.A. in Welsh Language and Literature (1st class hons.) at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. 1980-83 Research towards an historical dictionary of Cornish using an archive of computer-readable Cornish texts (the number of surviving texts from the pre-1800 period is such that it will be possible to include them all in the database. This is a long- term project which I am unfortunately not able to devote as much time to as I would wish. 1983- Appointed as Assistant Editor on Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru (the historical Welsh dictionary project of the University of Wales Board of Celtic Studies, which has been in progress since 1920). It corresponds roughly to the OED in scope, although very few citations are supplied for the 19th. and 20th. centuries, and, by necessity, much use has to be made of unedited manuscript sources. 40 parts (a - naf) have been published so far, the last 4 of which have been typeset directly from the dictionary database. Our hardware is fairly basic and comprises two non-IBM compatible '286 machines which are used for data entry, and a '386 AT-compatible with a 300M disc which is used for programming, typesetting and text retrieval. We use the typesetting facilities at Oxford University Computing Service via JANET and the computing centre of the local university college. 1985-8 spent developing and implementing a computerized typesetting system for the dictionary, including various lexicographical aids, such as bibliographical verification, date checking, etc. The use of this system has reduced the dictionary's typesetting costs by over 95%, and has resulted in greater consistency in the published work. It has also expedited bibliographic verification (each published citation has to be checked against the original source) by providing sorted lists of shelf marks for the checkers. I have been Chairman of the Celtic Texts Specialist Group of the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing for about 10 years, and I was invited to compile the Celtic languages section of the Humanities Computing Yearbook (2nd. vol.). My interests include computational aids for lexicography, computer typesetting software, text retrieval software, textual databases, encoding schemes, and C programming techniques (under MS-DOS and UNIX). I am particularly interested in problems concerned with processing texts in the Celtic languages (Welsh, Breton, Cornish, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx), and I would welcome any details of computer-readable Celtic texts. ================================================================= *Hesla, David H. I am an associate professor in the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts (the ILA) at Emory University. I'm a literary critic, with a certain acqiaintance with the history of ideas. I've written on Samuel Beckett, Wallace Stevens, the theory of tragedy, literary theory and criticism. ================================================================= *Howson, Charna K INSTITUTION: Indiana State Unoversity, Office of Research, Writer/Research Assistant EMAIL: GRDCKT at INDST, 812/237-3088, Room 121 Alumni Center, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN 47809, USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: In my capacity as Writer/Research Assistant for the Office of Research within the School of Graduate Studies at Indiana State University, I assist facutly and staff who are seeking external support for their research and creative projects. This assistance usually includes some editorial support and occasionally assistance with the actual proposal draft. In addition, occasional assistance is provided with drafts, edits, or revisions of journal articles. I hold a batchelor's degree in English Education and am completing a Master's degree in English also. Courses taught as a graduate assistant at Indiana State University include Composition, Basic Composition, and English as a Second Language. I currently teach general education courses one night each week at a local vocational college also; these courses include composition, business communications, human relations, and technical reporting. I am also a contributor to the MHRA Annual Bibliography. As you can see, the study and use of the English language is quite important to me. I look forward to joining your conversation group. ================================================================= *Inwood, Brad INSTITUTION: UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO DEPARTMENT: CLASSICS TITLE: PROF. EMAIL: INWOOD AT UTOREPAS BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH (ca. 100-500 words) Classicist with interests in ancient philosophy; computer interests mostly in wp and text retrieval, i.e. computer support for traditional research methods rather than new and intrinsically computer-dependent research. IBM-standard hardware is my preference. Strong enthusiasm for word processing in ancient greek, though I have always questioned how often Greek characters are needed i normal scholarly wp. Original Academicfont user, now going slowly over to Nota Bene. use TACT and WORDCRUNCHER on text bases extracted from TLG (Thesaurus Linguae Graecae) corpus. strong interest in accessing TLG under DOS. END ================================================================= *Jucquois-Delpierre, Monique INSTITUTION: Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet Dsseldorf DEPARTMENT: of Information science / Institute of Philosophy TITLE: Wiss.Ang. EMAIL: PHONE: 49 211 3114318 (Uni) // 49 211 750891 (home) ADDRESS: Otto-Hahn-Str. 131 Dsseldorf 13 POSTAL CODE: D 4000 COUNTRY: West Germany or EMAIL: Modelpi at BUCLLN81 PHONE: 32 2 6534486 ADDRESS: 21 rue des combattants La Hulpe POSTAL CODE: B 1310 COUNTRY: Belgium ================================================================= *Kanter, Elliot INSTITUTION: University of California, San Diego DEPARTMENT: Reference and Research Services Department TITLE: Bibliographer/Reference Librarian EMAIL: EKANTER@UCSD.EDU or .BITNET PHONE: 619-534-1263 ADDRESS: Central Library Reference Department University of California, San Diego La Jolla, California POSTAL CODE: 92093 COUNTRY: U.S.A. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH (ca. 100-500 words) I am a Reference Librarian and Bibliographer, with responsibity for selecting library materials, and providing consultations for library research, in Judaic Studies, Communication, and African History. In the past I have also been Bibliographer for Classical and Religious studies. I also coordinate computer assisted reference services in the social sciences and humanities. These services include both online literature searches performed by librarians; and journal abstract and index databases mounted on computer workstations that can be used directly by students and scholars (mostly CD- ROM-based systems). I am also currently chair of the advisory group on user services for the state-wide University of California MELVYL Online Library Catalog. In that area we are not only bringing into computer- readable form an increasing proportion of the collective holdings of the University of California. We are also exploring ways to provide gateways to online catalogs of research libraries throughout the Internet, and to make journal databases available through the same interface as the online catalog. Finally, I am very interested in following the discourse in HUMANIST as window on the evolution of electronic alternatives to the traditional tools of scholarship. My concerns here are to view emerging issues of new media of communication, and to be prepared for new areas where libraries can be of service to research in the humanities. ================================================================= *Kulas, Jack Department of Computer Science, Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83843 I'm an Asst. Prof. of Computer Science here at the Univ. of Idaho, with interests in Computational Linguistics and Artificial Intelligence. My Ph.D. is in Philosophy, and I have strong interests in the prospects and limitations of computers. I would be interested in joining the discussion group to keep my ties to the humanities alive. ================================================================= *Langley, Dr Frederick Lecturer in French, Department of French, and Computers in Teaching Initiative, Centre for Modern Languages, University of Hull. PHONE: 0482 465206 ADDRESS: Department of French University of Hull Cottingham Road HULL POSTAL CODE: HU6 7RX COUNTRY: ENGLAND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Born 8 March 1938. Higher education at King's College, Univerity of Durham (BA 1960), Magdalen College, Oxford (DPhil 1968). Lecturer in French, University of Hull since October 1962 (special interest: mediaeval French language and literature). My interest in computing is fairly recent, from about 1984. Since that time I have been engaged in the compilation of an Old French - English Dictionary, using a PC and the University's ICL mainframe. I have a general interest in computerized lexicology and in scientifically valid applications of statistics to literary and linguistic computing (I read a paper on SPSS as a lexicographical tool at the Toronto ALLC conference in June 1989). ================================================================= *Mason, Steve RANK: Assistant Professor DEPARTMENT: Division of Humanities INSTITUTION: York University EMAIL: SHLOMO@YORKVM1 MAILING ADDRESS: 217 Winters College, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Downsview, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3 TELEPHONE: (416) 736-5158/-2100, ext. 7021 BIOGRAPHY: Ph.D., 1986, U. of St. Michael's College, Toronto. Graduate work at McMaster, Hebrew University, and Tuebingen. Research areas: Judaism and early Christianity/New Testament. Projects: book on Flavius Josephus and the Pharisees in press with Brill; just completed "Paul's Chameleon Principle: his portrayals of Judaism for Gentile and Jewish Readers"; forth- coming, with Thomas A. Robinson of U. of Lethbridge: An Early Christian Reader (Canadian Scholars Press, 1990 -- a college text of primary sources); for 1990 Learneds preparing "Philo- sophia as a Group-Designation in Ancient Paganism, Judaism, and Christianity". Teaching: 2 years at Memorial U. of Nfld; beginning now 2-year appointment at York. Especially interested to hear from students of Josephus. ================================================================= *Morehen, John INSTITUTION: University of Nottingham DEPARTMENT: Music TITLE: Professor of Music E-MAIL: AMZJM@VAX.NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK PHONE: (0602) 484848, ext.2052 or 2097 (Office) (06077) 4252 (Home) ADDRESS: Department of Music University of Nottingham University Park, Nottingham. POSTAL CODE: NG7 2RD COUNTRY: United Kingdom BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: John Morehen received his undergraduate training in Music at Oxford University, and subsequently pursued Doctoral studies at Cambridge University. After a short period on the staff of The American University in Washington DC he returned to England, where he became Sub-Organist at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. He was appointed to the staff of the Music Department at Nottingham University in 1973, becoming Senior Lecturer in 1982 and Professor of Music in 1989. He has published many articles concerning computer-aided music analysis and music printing, and has addressed international conferences on these subjects in Canada, the USA, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. He interests in music analysis are chiefly concerned with polyphonic music of the sixteenth century. ================================================================= *Murphree, Wallace A. P.O. Box JS, Mississippi State, MS 39762, (601) 325-2382 I am an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Mississippi State University where I teach the standard slate of undergraduate courses in philosophy. My primary areas of interest are philosophy of religion (especially the problem of evil) and process philosophy; however, recently I have been working on a project in "numerical," categorical logic that, if successful, would subsume Aristotelian logic as one of its instances. (Doesn't everyone at some time or other feel the need to re-invent the syllogism?) ================================================================= *Noffsinger, John North Cross School, 4254 Colonial Avenue, Roanoke, Virginia, U.S.A.; (703)9896641 My colleagues and I are jointly engaged in teaching a Humanities elective to high school seniors. This class is organizeed chronologically (Greece through post-Modernism), and we have a commitment to cross-disciplinary approaches. My own training is in English literature (dissertation on the early novels of Charles Dickens). Since the end of my formal academic study I've developed an interest in religious themes in literature and would like through this exchange to explore such issues. I'm working on a project this year involving a study of sacred themes in literature, with an emphasis on Homer, Dante, and T. S. Eliot. My colleagues and friends in the Humanites class are Ann Fishwick, who teaches religion, and Shirley Johnson, who teaches art. We're all interested in breaking down traditional academic barriers and are striving to develop self-disciplined students who ask the Big Questions, who explore the ramifications of their answers, and who are not afraid to live with the Mystery. ================================================================= *O'Donnell, James J. INSTITUTION: University of Pennsylvania DEPARTMENT: Department of Classical Studies Philadelphia, Pa. 19104-6305 TITLE: Associate Professor EMAIL: JODONNEL @ PENNSAS (.UPENN.EDU) PHONE: 215-898-8734 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: b. Giessen, Ger., 1950, educ. Princeton (BA Classics, 1972), Yale (PhD Medieval Studies, 1975), taught Bryn Mawr, Catholic U. of America, Cornell; at Penn since 1981. pub. `Cassiodorus' (Berkeley, 1979), `Boethius, Consolatio Philosophiae' (Bryn Mawr Commentaries, 1984), `Augustine' (Boston: Twayne, 1985), articles in late antique intellectual history, fourth through sixth centuries. At present completing large-scale commentary on Augustine's Confessions. Generally interested in late antique and early medieval history and culture, with attention to methodological issues concerning the place of such studies in the post-modern enkyklios paideia (ut ita dicam). ================================================================= *Oppenheimer, Paul INSTITUTION: Thinking Machines Corporation DEPARTMENT: Customer Support TITLE: Applications Engineer EMAIL: peo@think.com (Internet) PHONE: (617)876-1111 ADDRESS: 245 First Street, Cambridge, MA POSTAL CODE: 02142 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH (ca. 100-500 words) I work as an Applications Engineer in the Customer Support Group of Thinking Machines Corporation. I was promoted to candidacy in the PhD program in Philosophy at Princeton University in 1981. ================================================================= *Ossar, Michael Professor, Department of Modern Languages, Eisenhower Hall, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506/USA, tel 913-532-6760 (work) & 913-539-2802 (home). I teach German literature at Kansas State University. Previously, I taught at the University of Pennsylvania (as a teaching fellow), at Swarthmore College (as a visiting lecturer), at Sweet Briar College, at the University of Freiburg (as a Lektor), and, last summer semester, at the University of Giessen (as a visiting professor). I studied at Cornell University, the University of Pennsylvania (PhD 1973 under Adolf Klarmann), the Freie Universitaet Berlin, and the University of Freiburg. I also have an M.S. in physics. My academic interests are: German literature of the Weimar period, expressionism, Kafka, Canetti, Celan, Broch, Musil, Adolf Muschg, German literature around the turn of the century (especially Austrian), Kleist, Goethe, Grillparzer, anarchism, literature and politics. Right now I am working on a book on anarchism and the writers of the Weimar period--an outgrowth of my book on Anarchism in the Dramas of Ernst Toller. I am increasingly interested by the psychology of Otto Gross, although I don't know a great deal about it yet. For some years I have been editor of a journal that deals with French, Russian, German and Spanish 20th century literature: Studies in Twentieth Century Literature. As far a computer babble is concerned, I would be interested in conversing with people who also use Nota Bene. My wife, Naomi, is working on a PhD dissertation on William Blake's notions of physiology and how they appeared in his poetry and art. I have two sons: Jacob, who is about to start graduate school to study philosopy and work on David Hume, and Joel, who is starting his second year at Macalester College. ================================================================= *Parker, Elliott INSTITUTION: Central Michigan University DEPARTMENT: Journalism TITLE: Assoc. Prof. EMAIL: BITNET: 3ZLUFUR@CMUVM Compuserve: 70701,520 Internet: eparker@well.sf.ca.us PHONE: (517) 774-7111 ADDRESS: Mt. Pleasant, MI POSTAL CODE: 48859 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH (ca. 100-500 words) My geographical area of interest is Southeast and East Asia. Before Central Michigan University, I spent 6 years teaching photography/photojournalism at Institut Teknoloji Mara in Malaysia, where I had spent 3 years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the 1960's. My most recent trip to the area was in 1984, first as a Visiting Professor in Singapore and then, 1985-6, on a Fulbright fellowship at the National U. of Malaysia. In general, I am interested in the mass media of Asia. In particular, I am currently writing articles on how women are portrayed in various language newspapers of Malaysia and Singapore and a descriptive profile of Asian journalists and the education they have received. I am also interested in how electronic networks might be used between Asia and the U. S. to facilitate scholarly discussion as well as the potential for development information exchange. ================================================================= *Peterson, Michael 114 Peck Avenue, West Haven, Connecticut USA 06516 I am a senior at Wester Connecticut State University who is majoring in Music Education. I am very interested in the use of computers in the field of music including sound wave generation and manipulation, and composition. ================================================================= *Pigman, G. W. III [Internet] [Bitnet] Associate Professor of Literature, California Institute of Technology; Caltech 101-40, Pasadena, CA 91125; 818-356-3601. My major area of research is Renaissance literature (English, Neo-Latin, French, Italian). I've been interested in computer typesetting for a number of years and have set my own book using troff (_Grief and English Renaissance Elegy_, Cambridge University Press, 1985) and helped colleagues set theirs. Currently, I am editing George Gascoigne's _A Hundreth Sundrie Flowres_ for Oxford University Press (I'm using TeX). I'm interested in ways in which computers can facilitate editing, especially producing a critical apparatus and establishing a database for lexicographical purposes. (I am also the system administrator for my division's Sun 4/280.) ================================================================= *Plotkin, Alec David INSTITUTION: Villanova University DEPARTMENT: Lacrosse TITLE: Mgr. EMAIL: 185422285@VUVAXCOM PHONE: 215-293-0594 ADDRESS: 65 Meadowbrook Rd. Wayne, Pa. POSTAL CODE: 19087 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH (ca. 100-500 words) Born 1966 in Philadelphia, Pa. Went to the Hill Top Preparatory School and graduated in 1985. Went to Wilkes College and majored in History. Did not like the area so I left. Went to Villanova University in 1986 and still Going in 1989. A Sr. Liberal Arts student who hopes to graduate soon. The Humanist list looked interesting so I subscribed. ================================================================= *Ponchuk, Arlyss Indiana University School of Nursing, Assistant Professor, 6310 Viking Ridge Road, Bloomington, Indiana 47408, USA I am a nurse and teacher of nurses. I was educated at the University of Michigan (1970), the University of Wisconsin (1975) and expect to receive the PhD in Educational Psychology from Indiana University in 1990. My research interests include gerontology, naturalistic inquiry (constructivist/interpretivist/humanistic research). I learned about this research paradigm from Egon Guba, who just retired from I. I've been influenced by Reason & Rowan's book called Human Inquiry, by Shulamit Reinharz and Graham Rowles's Qualitative Gerontology, and by Ulrich Neisser's Memory Observed. In the field of gerontology, I study long-term autobiographical memory, cognitive mapping, and the use of photography in research with the elderly. I graduate nurses how to be adult and gerontological nurse practitioners (an expanded role for nurses in which they apply their considerable nursing skill in addition to performing many tasks thought of as traditionally medical, eg: physical diagnosis and management of simple acute and stable chronic illness. ================================================================= *Talen Geisterfer, Leanne <21765LTG@MSU> Apartado 747-2, Santo Domingo, (809) 565-2649, Dominican Republic Although my academic preparation has been almost entirely in education (elementary, bilingual, adult, non-formal), my professional experiences have broadened my interests more generally to community development in developing nations. I have lived in Costa Rica and Spain, and have most recently spent 5 years in the Dominican Republic, as an educational consultant for a Dominican agency (ALFALIT) working in community development with an emphasis on education. Working with oppressed people (both Dominican and Haitian migrant labourers), has caused me to focus my attention on the social impact of different educational methods within the community setting. Several villages in the programme are attempting the implementation of versions of "transforming pedagogy" as proposed by Paulo Freire. I would be very interested in hearing from anyone else who has been working on similar projects. My work with Haitian labourers keeps me involved in human rights issues. Many of the Haitians are in the DR illegally and, fearing deportation, cannot denounce the mistreatment they receive. I am looking for ways to make contact with interested parties in the Dominican Republic, as well as anyone else who focuses in on the Caribbean and Latin America. I'm also interested in reading about what's on the minds of other humanists; perhaps a change of focus is in my future... ================================================================= *TeBrake, William H. INSTITUTION: University of Maine DEPARTMENT: Department of History TITLE: Associate Professor EMAIL: ras370@maine.bitnet PHONE: (207) 581-1907 ADDRESS: 170 Stevens Hall, Orono, Maine POSTAL CODE: 04469 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH (ca. 100-500 words) Though I received a Ph.D. in History from the Unviversity of Texas at Austin, 1975, my first university-level teaching was in Geography (Boston University, 1974-1975; University of Guelph, Ontario, 1975-1977). Since coming to Maine in 1977, I have been responsible for teaching Western Civilization, Medieval History at various levels and under several guises, and Environmental History. My first book, MEDIEVAL FRONTIER: CULTURE AND ECOLOGY IN RIJNLAND, was published by Texas A & M University Press in 1985. I hope to complete a book manuscript on the Peasant Revolt of Maritime Flanders, 1323-1328 by early 1990. I have been using computers for research and writing since I acquired an Osborne 1 in 1983; several years ago I moved over to IBM-compatibles. ================================================================= *Tetreault, Ronald Dept. of English, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3L 1M5 Canada; 902-424-3384 Ronald Tetreault is Associate Professor of English at Dalhousie University. He teaches and does research in the literature of the Romantic era and in literary theory. He directs the computer lab in the Department of English, used primarily by students for word-processing and electronic communications. ================================================================= *Vanderbeek, Kraig Computer Consultant, Humanities Research Facility, University of Nebraska - Lincoln I assist Graduate Students, Faculty, and Staff members, in the department of Humanities, with all aspects of computing on Micros, Mainframes, as well as the Kurzweil Optical Scanner. I am an undergraduate studying Computer Science and Architecture, specializing in Micro Computers. I am familiar with both IBM and Macintosh computers. ================================================================= *Webster, Sarah (a.k.a Sally) P. Syracuse University, Academic Computing, Services, Assistant Director for Instructional Computing; 120 Hinds Hall, Syracuse NY 13244-1190, USA; (315) 443-3807 I began my academic life as a philosophy major at the University of South Carolina. When I transferred to Duke University, I decided to major in mathematics. My BA and MA degrees are both in mathematics. For the next 20 years, I edited scientific papers, books, and NSF grant requests, wrote a novel which was rejected by 15 publishers, and worked as a "disk jockey" in a classical music radio station (for which I also helped raise money for many years). Ten years ago, I joined Academic Computing at Syracuse University as head of the technical publications unit and am now an Assistant Director. In the past five or six years, I have been a user consultant for faculty, students, and staff using electronic mail over national networks. I have also managed as many as 60 undergraduate students who worked as first-line consultants and 6 full-time consultants. Incidents of bad manners and illegal and unethical behavior with respect to computing and computing practices had accreted so much by last year that I began to ask the questions "After we make rules and have policies to deal with specific infractions, what responsibility do we (the institution) have to put these matters into a larger ethical context? Aren't such discussions part of a liberal education? Can we possibly leave out professional schools, such as management, public communications, and law (law students are some of the most persistent offenders!)? What about acts which are not proscribed but which many reasonable men and women would say are anti-social? How do we reconcile the impulse towards academic freedom and inquiry with the rights of others who are affected by anti-social and unethical computer acts?" I am convinced that none of these questions is new: only the technology is new. In addition to providing equipment and software, training and information, we are obliged, in my opinion, to ground the use of this information technology in once well-understood value systems. I say "once well-understood" because I have had disturbing conversations with grown ups who believe that if a piece of software is too expensive (by their definition), it is OK to steal it. To raise awareness of ethical and social issues surrounding the use of information technology, some of us at Syracuse (not all from Computing Services) have been taking a computer ethics workshop around to small groups. In addition, I am co-chairing a workshop on ethical and social issues and how institutions of higher education can address them at a national conference of computing user services professionals (SIGUCCS, Bethesda, Oct 1- 4). Furthermore, I have been asked to write about this topic for the CAUSE/EFFECT quarterly and to moderate a session about it at the CAUSE conference in late November in San Diego. In the meantime, I continue to discuss these issues with network users at Syracuse who misuse resources, harass other users, or break into other users' accounts. I am struck by the number of students who tell me that nobody else talks to them about right and wrong! My colleagues who are already on HUMANIST, knowing of my interests and activities, forward to me HUMANIST mail dealing with these issues. It occurred to me that I should join HUMANIST myself, particularly as I am likely to be concerned with the issues that HUMANIST members discuss. ================================================================= *Weston, E. Paige Assistant Reference Librarian and Assistant Professor, University Library, University of Illinois at Chicago, P. O. Box 8198, Chicago, IL 60680, USA; (312) 413-3045. I consider it the reference librarian's responsibility to make the emerging bibliographic technologies both accessible and acceptable to established scholars. I'm a humanist by training. I'm particularly interested in hypertext applications. Some day I hope to establish an Institute for the Study of Hypertext, and maybe be its systems librarian. It's a little peculiar writing this, having no idea for whom I'm writing. ================================================================= *Wytek, Rudolf Academic Computer Consultant, University of Vienna, Computer Center, Universitaetsstrasse 7 (NIG), A-1010 Wien, Austria, Europe; telephone: 043/222/436111/16 I am now 43 years old and since 1971 firmly established as consultant and lecturer at our computer center mainly in the fields of data analysis, statistics and FORTRAN-type languages. [deleted quotation]humanities-people feel more at ease with me than with technicians not knowing the simplest terms of the old sciences. Our institutes for historical and linguistic studies are very active and expanding their usage of EDP and so I think Humanist would be a great help to me. My university education is mathematical psychology and clinical psychology, I did some years of egyptology and my interests are of rather wide extent perhaps sometimes not so deep as they should be. ============================================================== 27 Yerkey, Neil Associate Professor, School of Information and Library Studies, SUNY at Buffalo, NY 14260; 716-636-3069 Education: BA University of Akron (Ohio), Speech Communication MSLS Western Reserve University (Cleveland), Library Science Ph.D Kent State University, Interpersonal and Organizational Communication/Computer Science Research. Interests center on the communicative aspects of library and information science, including development of people-oriented computer systems for storage and retrieval of information. Particular interest in scatter and overlap of topics (aging, education, library science) across machine readable databases in an attempt to develop effective retrieval methods of interdisciplinary subjects. Teach courses in information processing, indexing and abstracting, microcomputer data management (mostly dBASE), computerized bibliographic retrieval and services, and systems analysis. *****end***** From: Willard McCarty Subject: both horns are sharp, with body parts overhung Date: 7 September 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 443 (864) Dear Colleagues: This editorial is a short course the aim of which is to demonstrate some of the interesting characteristics of an electronic seminar. The immediate cause is the discussion on "strayed hearts", which has provoked the following opposed responses. On the one hand (from Bob Sinkewicz, sinkewicz@utorepas): "PLEASE could we have an end to the discussion of displaced hearts and stick to topics with at least some relevance to Humanities Computing." but on the other (from Daniel Boyarin, boyarin@taunivm): "...couldn't you perhaps just code the items so that people can skip over the ones that do not deal with computers. I actually find your subject headings sufficient to let me know which ones to skip. For me, the idea of a computerized netowrk of humanists is even more important than a network on computers in the humanities." Then, there's complaint leavened by wit (from Michael Ossar, klo@ksuvm): "It appears from James O'Donnell's message and from the strayed hearts discussion that the sun will never set on the body parts of the British Empire (nor on the debate about them)." As we've observed before, the electronic seminar is semiotically impoverished. What might well have been settled sublimally, by sounds and gestures, is forced into articulate speech. In my view, the fact that humanists are talking in this way is sufficiently well attested, so that we can now focus on what is being said. In terms of subject matter, Humanist's bailiwick is computing in the humanities, not life in general, not body parts in particular. The use of Humanist to ask non-computing questions, and so to provoke non-computing discussions and answers, remains interesting nevertheless, don't you think? So, from this I draw the lesson that body parts have had their day, that similar things should likely have theirs, but that we have to be sensitive to the point at which a discussion has lost its mandate and begun aimlessly to wander or otherwise to overtax the patience. Electronic discourse continues to fascinate me. I'm with Milton: a trace of our former state remains. If we don't engage in babylonian chatter, what other chance will we have to hear truth? From silence? From talk carefully regulated by the internal censor? Willard McCarty From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Fraktur: Wave of the Future Date: Wed, 06 Sep 89 22:35:45 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 653 (865) Fraktur is actively being taught in undergraduate curricula. I learned it in an elementary German class in 1977. The class was aimed at technical personnel and majors in the sciences. All agreed that the mastery of fraktur was essential to understanding the lineaments of German culture. I hesitate to feign the manner of Sebastian Rahtz, but I'd suggest that any computer that can't represent it ought to be deposited in the rubbish bin! From: Gerd Willee 0228 - 73 5620 UPK000 at DBNRHRZ1 Subject: FRAKTUR and scanners Date: 7 September 89, 10:24:48 MEZ X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 654 (866) re.: Humanist vol 3 No. 437 (9/6/89) Just to correct R Wytek: Scanners can deal with Fraktur, as we've seen in our experiences with some volumes of the Kant-Akademieausgabe. We have scanned one volume with a KDEM - with a fair success - some years ago, and at the moment we are scanning vol. 10 - 13 with OPTOPUS with still far better results. And the training in both cases was not too much work. Gerd Willee, University of Bonn, W-Germany From: "M. R. Sperberg-McQueen " Subject: archaic spelling & fraktur one more time (no hearts) Date: 7 September 1989 11:43:12 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 655 (867) Not to beat a dead horse, but: the problem with Thon (and one of the two reasons I chose that word as an example) and that makes it different from, e.g., "heirathen" is that, if you don't know about archaic spelling, with the best will in the world, you CANNOT look it up in a dictionary. The second reason I chose it was because I know two people, both diligent and, with all due modesty, fairly intelligent, who, as undergraduates, were puzzled by it--which is to say, they had not been told in advance by their instructors that they had to look out for such spelling irregularities as "th" for "t", interchanged "v" and "u", "ie" used for "i" (giebt) and so forth. (I think it's a bit much to expect undergraduate students of a second language to know enough linguistics to be able to deduce all of this on their own.) Once one has been told about "th" and "t", the secret is obvious (the classic response of Dr. Watson and the audience of Columbus' egg trick). But my own experience, and what I know of that of those who were graduate students (in German) with me and of my own graduate students (again, in German), is that it is pretty easy to finish an undergraduate B.A. in German at a good school in this country with neither a knowledge of older spelling nor the ability to read Fraktur. I suspect that, mutatis mutandis, the same could probably said for English, Spanish, Italian, French, etc. I think it's a shame: I think it's a sign of the general watering down of our curriculums when many undergraduate German departments think it inappropriate to teach undergraduates anything but 20th century literature. My point in my original note, however, was that this is the current state of affairs (in the US): most of us are NOT dealing with students who have Tom Thomson's type of training--that is, our students have not been encouraged (are not even given the opportunity to) read "older" literature, much less in the original spelling. And we have to take this into account when we make decisions about editing texts. Simultaneously--in order to keep this from being a vicious cycle (students only read modernized texts, therefore we only offer them modernized texts, therefore that's all they can read...) I think we who teach and love older literature need to take active steps to remedy the situation. We need to make a conscious effort to help students acquire the skills they need to read comfortably and fluently. And that's not going to happen if we keep saying "I can do it; it's easy; our students should have no problem with it." --I have been glad that this discussion was brought up by Flannagan; I've found the various responses interesting, particularly the informal data that it has produced indicating that starting off in Fraktur when you start German is not the insurmountable obstacle that many of the teaching methods specialists imply (for heaven's sake: they learn a whole new alphabet in Russian, and it's a reasonably popular language.) And the discussion has prompted me to put my money where my mouth is and to create a text of Lessing's Emilia Galotti that, I hope, will ease my students into 18th-century spelling: first two acts modernized, last three in Lessing's original orthography, my hope being that by act 3 they'll be involved enough with the plot line that they'll forge ahead and not be bothered by "seyn" and "giebt." (And clearly, the production of such a text is made easier by a computer. The ideal, I suppose, would be to have the software and printer that would allow you gradually to change from a standard roman font to increasingly fraktur like as the play progresses....) --marian sperberg-mcqueen univ. of illinois at chicago From: Hans Karlgren KVAL Subject: COLING Date: Wed, 6 Sep 89 18:34:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 445 (868) Dear Colleague, .... After twelve well-renowned international conferences arranged by the International Committee for Computational Linguistics and after an increasing amount of literature and local meetings dedicated to the topic one might assume that all of us who care would by now know exactly what computational linguistics is about. We don't. We do not only differ slightly on where we want to place the emphasis, the concept also evolves with each of us in the vague, successive way in which human language so intriguingly and so fruitfully keeps changing. Computational linguistics is what we make it. An international conference can be seen as a stimulus-response sequence. The initiators of COLING emit a stimulus to a wide community of people who probe human language - and such as do not know they - do and get a response we can only partially control. We set things in motion by announcing the conference, we can aim at an intended target area by filtering the contributions offered and we will not insignificantly guide the missiles underway by giving directions and hints to the authors/speakers and discussants. COLING is not a publishing service, impartially recording the best, in some predefined sense, of what is going on anyhow. It should help make things happen. As a consequence, we may well have to turn down offers of papers which in all objectivity are good pieces of scientific work. My endeavour as the chairman of the program committee is to encourage controversial presentations worthy of discussion. That is what I tried to signal in the little space available in the first announcement where we invite the public to present either a topical paper on some crucial issue in computational linguistics or else a very brief report, with software demonstra- tion, on some interesting ongoing project. What I tried to negate with that formulation was extensive project descriptions. I do respect large-scale experiments and I do support the demand that great efforts should be given to their documentation down to minute detail of procedure and storage format, to make repetition easier for verification and to avoid unnecessary duplication, but such accounts are utterly unsuited for oral discussion and should not encroach on the few hours we have available for multi-lateral documentation in Helsinki. The kind of papers I hope to see less of is the kind which is so common in many international conferences, COLINGs not excluded, where a reasonable project, based on sound (combinations of current) theoretical assumptions and claiming, plausibly justifiably, five per cent better performance in some dimension than current procedures, is described in great detail, rounding up with a little preview of the next version of "The System". Whatever the scientific merits of such projects - a few of them fall in a gap between knowledge-seeking research and usable applications - they cannot be meaning- fully presented in six pages, summarized in 15 minutes and evaluated in the same time quantum. It is incumbent on the author to lift up some crucial issue, if any, which is raised by the project and which is related to computational modeling; he should not just tell COLING what he is working on these days. What, then, is the core of the matter? I believe we all agree that computational linguistics is about computation and linguistics, with an emphasis on 'and'. The key concepts are computation, not computer, and linguistics, not language processing. We should therefore exclude papers, however good, about computation applied to lingustic material unless some linguistic insight is at issue or about computer support for linguistics unless the computational procedure has some no- trivial linguistic aspect. A great goal is to model computationally human linguistic behaviour as a manner to better understand how we speak and listen, write and read learn and unlearn, understand, store and restructure information. An ultimate question is to what extent these our most human activities can be reduced to mechanistic operations: by teaching machines we can recognize what in us is machine-like. Whenever we can mechanize something which seems deeply human, we gather urgent, often painful, knowledge about ourselves; whenever we fail, we may learn even more. It is not only in thermodynamics that the great failures mark the great advances. Computational modeling of human behaviour is a great goal. Some colleagues would say it is the goal. I think it is going too far to require that computational models of human behaviour must needs be valid as possible (future components of) models of the human intellect; that is a moot point of a rather remote philosophical nature since we can hardly ever verify claims about the similarity or analogy between our models and human "processing". One theme which I personally see as crucial in computational linguistics at this particular point of time is machine learning; cf. my portion of the summing- up-and-look-ahead session at COLING 88 in Budapest, subsequently published along with the other statements of that session in the Prague Bulletin No. 51, which was intended as a seed for COLING 90 and which I therefore recommend reading. Modeling learning is interesting in itself but modeling language user's learning and adaptation attacks one of the most salient features of natural languages and one which so far is conspicuously absent from invented languages: the intriguing feature that human users understand utterances and texts by means of knowledge about the language system and that such knowledge is successively acquired from the utterances and texts we understand. To get a relevant model for human linguistic competence we must teach machines to learn: to update their grammar and lexicon from the very texts on which they apply them, treating the texts as operands for the analyzers and simultaneously as operators that modify the analyzers. It is my belief that there are basic procedures, as yet poorly understood, which are common to language change over longer periods, language acquisition by an individual and the mutual adaptation between dialogue participants or the reader's adaptation to the author during and possibly merely for the purpose of the current dialogue or text. The important successful attempts to handle very large text corpora and huge lexical data bases might obscure this crucial issue and postpone its solution: I feel uneasy about some impressive analyses and syntheses based on sub-sub- subcategorizations of words and situations in some micro-slice of our world. Close-ups on some instances are indispensible in serious empirical research, but continued fact collecting and algorithm building does not necessarily bring us generalizable insights or generalizable procedures. The conclusion when we have succeeded in mapping some detail, which turned out to be more complex than we could imagine, should not always be to find resources, ours or somebody elses, for every other detail to be mapped with equal precision, but to model the procedure for such mapping. Details must be seen in a context and I believe that the most fruitful context just now is that of learning and adaptation. Now, artificial intelligence does study machine learning. But I expect that it is from linguistics, with its tradition of studying change and with an object which so obviously does not wait til the next autorized release before it changes, that a major break-through will come for linguistic adaptation and for learning at large. Why not at COLING? What I have said should not be taken to mean that I decline applied computational linguistics as worthy of discussion at COLING. I certainly do not. Applications can help us ask new questions, and the success and, even more, the failures in practical tasks gives us very valuable feedback, confirming and disconfirming our beliefs. But it should be clearly understood that application is not the ultimate test of the value of what we are doing: I think it is absurd to see, say, the needs for office automation as a justification for our study of human language. There are many good issues which emerge in applications, and catch our eye only there, but their implications for how we see language and computation have to be pinpointed. Here, the program committee can help the authors so that they dare focus on one crucial issue rather than describe their whole project. Thus, if somebody would have constructed an automatic translator, actually producing readable output when given arbitrary economic or technical prose, the world would not have become a very different place, although quite a few organizations would have run more smoothly: the insights gathered from trying to translate mechanically by mere dictionary and syntax provide us with essential knowledge translation, about language and hence about ourselves. In the case of machine translation, therefore, I would like to see papers illuminating some feature of the task of translating which they claim to be (un)programmable, rather than demonstrate how well their tool works. One particular field of application which I think deserve more attention from good computational linguists is that of documentation and information retrieval. Many good linguists are unaware of the great challenges of that field, and needless to say documentalists at large, including those who are advanced in using and designing computerized systems, are typically unaware of the linguistic issues, ignoring procedures which are known by linguists to be effective and unconscious about fundamental difficulties and impossibilities where linguists could help them canalize efforts to more rewarding ends. .... Hans Karlgren Program Committee Chairman Practical notes 1. Focus on some issue, and state which. 2. Say explicitly where you differ from predecessors (including yourself in earlier publications) and opponents. It is the for the author to write contrastively, not for the evaluators and other readers to run their mental compare programs to detect possible differences. 3. Cut out all details and technicalities which are not indispensible for your argument and add some simple examples. (Simple to all: only a small minority of COLING participants have anything like a native command of your language, even though that be English, and witty examples are typically lost on us). 4. Explain all technical terms and notations even though they seem elementary to you and your nearest colleagues. Readers are unlikely to recall precisely what you - or somebody else or the reader himself - wrote last year. And do not use abbreviations - their effect on total text length is negligible but the alienation effect on a reader is considerable, even when the abbreviations are explained: few "words" are so homonymous as acronyms, not to speak of temporary abbreviations. 5. Don't be provincial: Do not restrict your readership to those who have the same language of study or use the same scientific jargon, formal apparatus and software tools. All qualified COLING participants are certainly not familiar with, say, conversational English, Prolog or your group's favourite semantic representation, and you must have very good reasons if you want to spend part of your space allotment in teaching them. If you avoid cultural provincialisms in your presentation you are likely to find some of your best critics and future scientific dialogue partners among those who have a very different background - that is one of the points in addressing an international audience like COLING. .... *****end***** From: sdm@cs.brown.edu Subject: Rule-Based Spelling Date: Thu, 7 Sep 89 00:02:12 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 446 (869) This doesn't relate to spelling directly, but part of Donald Knuth's TeX research involved the development of a rule-based system for word hyphenation. At least one Ph.D. grew out of that work. As for spell checkers, I suspect that most are somewhat more sophisticated that simple word lists, i.e., they consist of root words plus valid prefixes and suffixes. Just out of curiousity, given the arbitrary nature of English spelling, what kinds of rules do you intend to use to avoid needing long word lists? Scott Brown University sdm@cs.brown.edu From: Subject: Japanese on an IBM PC Date: Wed, 6 Sep 89 22:45 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 447 (870) [deleted quotation] I'm not familiar with ATOK or the Toshiba J-3100 so I'm not sure of their capabilities, but one of the more interesting developments in Japanese capabilities on the normal PC is a small program called KANJIVIEW. At this point it just reads Japanese in several flavors including shift-JIS format (the most common format for microcomputers) but I've been told the author has plans to develop word processing capabilities. The author is: Steven W. Johnston 10344 Kenlee Drive Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70815 USA He can be contacted on Compuserve as user #73300,517 (now connected to the internet) and on GEnie as user S.JOHNSTON2. The program is shareware and is, I believe, available on Compuserve. Also Seiichi Nomura at Univ. of Texas, Arlington has written a short program in Turbo Pascal 4.0 that can read internet mail from Japan (JUNET mail is currently being distributed through Stanford mostly for Mac users). Jon LaCure Indiana University Library Bloomington, IN 47405 Bitnet : lacurej@iujade Voice : (812) 855-7511 From: Tom Ryan Subject: Another List about Literature Date: Fri, 8 Sep 89 10:13:40 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 656 (871) [Taken from the ENGLISH discussion group, now in Texas. --W.M.] Most of you already know of the list Literary perhaps, but I thought since it started up in the summer some of you might have missed hearing about it. LITERARY is a fairly active list that covers just about any literary topic. Recently there have been discussions of science fiction as a "respectable" literary genre, the writing of history, and feminist fiction. In addition, queries on individual authors and even occasional poems and short stories show up. To subscribe to Literary send the following message to Listserv@UCF1VM: "Tell Listserv@UCF1VM subscribe Literary your_name." Regards, Tom Ryan From: Charles Bailey Subject: CAUSE89 Conference Date: Fri, 8 Sep 89 13:18:51 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 657 (872) [Taken from PACS-L. Sorry, I don't know what CAUSE is an acronym for. I did, however, note this morning an interesting trick of language in a faded graffito on the side of an old building: "I need a cause". -- W.M.] CAUSE89 will be held from November 28, 1989 to December 1, 1989 in San Diego, CA. The theme of the conference is Managing Information Technology: Facing the Issues. Pre-conference seminars of interest include "Introduction to BITNET," "From the Campus to National Networking: Connecting to the Rest of the World," and "Information Technology and the Library: Combining Forces" (this last session is by Paul Willis, Director of Libraries at the University of Kentucky). The presentations are organized into tracks: Planning and Strategy Issues, Funding and Accountability Issues, Organization and Personnel Issues (relationship of libraries and computing centers), Policy and Standards Issues, Telecommunications and Networking Issues, Academic Computing Issues, and Applications and Technology Issues (expert systems, hypermedia, CD-ROM, etc.). For more information: CAUSE@COLORADO or (303) 449-4430. This conference is sponsored by the Association for the Management of Information Technology in Higher Education. --Charles Bailey, University of Houston From: Peter D. Junger Subject: Rule-Based Spelling Date: Fri, 8 Sep 89 11:29 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 449 (873) I assume that most modern spelling checkers use, at least in part, some variant on the Soundex algorithm. Being an algorithm it is rule based, but the rules would seem to be anything but the sort of rules that appear in an Expert System. On the other hand, I would also suspect that good spelling checkers use sophisticated pattern matching techniques, like those in Prolog, and there are some who think that those techniques do belong to the field of artificial intelligence. [sorry, I'm typing in a naturally stupid mailer and my hand slipped.] It seems to me that the real challenge is to create a program that can check the spelling of a word in its semantic context. Peter Junger--CWRU Law School--Cleveland, OH--JUNGER@CWRU--JUNGER@CWRU.CWRU.EDU From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: a last (?) note on old-spelling (and no mo' hearts) Date: 8 September 1989, 09:26:09 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 658 (874) Wouldn't it just be common sense to *tell* the reader of an old-spelling edition in whatever language how to navigate around the five or six difficulties a first-time modern reader would have? To confess: I was twenty-six before I discovered the difference between "foreword" and "foreward." My daughter, a very bright and articulate thirteen, wrote us this summer that there was "bumber to bumber" traffic from Gatwick to Lincoln. If someone had not pointed out the obvious to either of us, we might still be in the dark about spelling or usage. So anyone out there who is editing some text that is over 100 years old probably should tell his or her readers that it was customary to capitalize all important nouns but not verbs, or to put commas before dashes, or to use semi-colons and colons for roughly the same purposes. Doesn't that solve the problem? Thanks to all who have helped clarify our (not just my) thinking. Roy Flannagan (Professor of English, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701) From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.444 old spelling: Fraktur, cont. (116) Date: Fri, 08 Sep 89 10:40:32 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 659 (875) I referred this question to a German. His answer was that Germans don't deal with Fraktur, and haven't for quite some time, other than for those specific purposes which may require it for historical or ethnic study. He said all his textbooks for his entire education were post-Fraktur and that the average German never dealt with it at all. This appears! to be another instance of foreign language study being behind the times of the country originating the language. I am sure you multi-lingual Humanists each have your own story(ies) concerning some faux pas occurring where a conversation in a native land goes awry when a person who has studied to "perfection" but has studied the language as it was spoken in the past. My personal favorite is from an American Jew who studied years and YEARS to perfect her Hebrew and finally went to Israel. Her first question on arrival was "What time is it?" (she wanted to reset her watch to Israeli time) . . . of course some of you may have already figured out what this meant to the two men she asked. (Imagine Mae West saying, "Hiya boys, I wonder if you've got the time?") From: Fred Kemp Subject: Call for papers Date: Sat, 9 Sep 89 12:29 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 451 (876) WRITING THE FUTURE CALL FOR PAPERS SIXTH CONFERENCE on COMPUTERS & WRITING ******************************************************************** sponsored by THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY AUSTIN, TEXAS MAY 17-20, 1990 The May 1989 Conference on Computers & Writing continues to provoke lively and often computer-based discussion of the changes in writing and pedagogy which are being brought about by the increasingly widespread presence of computers in humanities classrooms. The Sixth Conference on Computers & Writing, to be held in Austin, Texas May 17-20, 1990, will provide an opportunity for participants to crystallize their thinking and extend the discussion to new issues-- and new voices. -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. COM_WRIT CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: old-spelling one more last time Date: 9 September 1989, 19:16:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 452 (877) Please don't tell me: I know the difference between forward and foreword and foreward, which isn't a word (but the whole mess still gives me as much trouble as judgment and theatre). Roy Flannagan From: "Jeutonne P. Brewer" Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 453 (878) A ROM BIOS upgrade is sometimes necessary to add a 3.5" drive to a computer. Because many people are now thinking about adding 3.5" drives to their computers, it is important to be aware of possible problems. John Baima stated, "I still think that it is certainly true that a ROM BIOS upgrade is never necessary for non-bootable devices." I disagree, based on my own experience. John Hopkins also reported problems. John Baima seems to have missed one point in my message and in John Hopkins' message. In our cases we were adding 3.5" drives to AT computers not XT computers. Also we were adding 1.44 meg drives. John Hopkins was correct in noting that "it is only starting with DOS 3.3 (not 2.0) that 3.5" drives are fully supported. With versions below 3.3, there would be difficulty accessing a 3.5" drive, bootable or not, simply using DOS." The driver.sys program added to DOS 3.2 and 3.3 was a way to provide a program in addition to DOS. For some of us isn't an adequate solution. I opted for a ROM BIOS upgrade after I had tried DOS versions 2.11 through 3.3 I had tried the driver.sys (or equivalent) programs I had tried two shareware programs that can be used instead of the driver.sys type programs. I had tried installing the drive as E, F, etc. as well as drive B I took out the six boards that I had installed in my computer so that I was working with the original setup. I had talked with the technical consultants at the computer manufacturer three times and tried the installation routines they suggested. It was clear by that time that a BIOS upgrade was a reasonable solution in terms of both cost and effort. That change took care of all problems. I have never run into any problem like that of adding the 3.5" drive. I have a FiveStar 286. It has run every program that I have tried to use. It is good to remember that no clone can be 100% IBM compatible unless it is an IBM computer. Note, however, that adding a 3.5" drive is not really a question of IBM compatibility in the sense that IBM PCs, XTs, and ATs didn't have 3.5" drives. From: Willard McCarty Subject: SOVSET' Date: 11 September 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 660 (879) Humanists involved with Soviet and Eastern European studies will likely be interested in SOVSET', an electronic network dedicated to these fields. (No, I don't know what the ' at the end of SOVSET' signifies, but then I cannot read Cyrillic.) SOVSET' provides conferencing (open or restricted), e-mail among members, and a data library that contains a series of periodical reports, some issued daily. The subject areas appear to be primarily in political science. SOVSET' has an hourly connect fee of $25 (in addition to communications charges) but no membership fee nor minimum connect time. SOVSET' is accessed through Compuserve, Tymnet, and Telenet. It has a Bitnet address, but this is apparently used only for downloading files whose existence you already know of. Perhaps some Humanist who has experience with SOVSET' can supply details. For more information, write the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1800 K Street N.W., Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 2006 U.S.A.; (202) 887-0200; Bitnet: support@sovset. Willard McCarty From: Tim Seid Subject: HyperCard paleography stacks (61 lines) Date: Mon, 11 Sep 1989 15:26:52 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 661 (880) I have submitted a series of HyperCard stacks I call Paleographer to be made available on the HUMANIST file server (hcpaleo hqx is a binhexed Stuffit file). [Editor's intrusion: the file is indeed called HCPALEO HQX.] Paleographer is intended to be an experimental prototype of a system for the analysis of scanned images of ancient manuscripts. It is a fully functional model with three basic procedures. After the process of scanning the manuscript and pasteing the images by sections onto the cards in the stack, the first step is to analyze each character individually. The primary aspect of this step is the circumscribing of the smallest rectangle possible around the character. If the character is a distinct unit without the crowding of adjacent characters, then this can be done automatically by simply clicking on it. Since I wrote this procedure in LightSpeed Pascal and made it an external command in HyperCard, the action takes only a second. The modulus, modular area, density, and compacted record of the pixels is then computed, all within a few seconds. If the rectangle can not be done automatically, then I provide a manual procedure in a close-up view with a dialog box for moving the sides of the rectangle in and out. When the data about the character has been recorded in a dialog box (leaf#, side, column#, line#, character#), it is then stored in a second HyperCard stack. The information on each character is stored on a single card maintaining a link back to the card holding the scanned image and to the exact coordinates on the screen. In the data stack, each character can be viewed as a binary graph and compared with another character. The comparison allows for the binary graphs to be superimposed. The fonts I developed for this purpose show where the two are different--one has +'s for on pixels and the other has x's--and where there are the same--when they overlap they form an asterisk. Another form of analysis is to compute the angle of the widest and narrowest stroke by dragging along the stroke. (I need an experienced paleograher to check this procedure.) There are fields also for recorded the character or its transliteration, what language it is, and if it is part of some "extratextual" unit such as a colophon, title, gloss, scholia, commentary, etc (these have not been fully implemented in my mark-up scheme). The third step is to create a transcription using an SGML tagging system. I provide the option of tagging to the level of character or to the level of line. I have written a number of external functions to speed up procedures and have used pull-down and pop-up menus. There is a main stack for keeping track of the projects in which each card represents one manuscript under analysis with a link to the image stack and data stack (.ms and .data). The system includes a help stack with examples and a chance to try out some of the procedures. I am providing these stacks as a way to encourage further development in this area. Besides the obvious problems in resolution and other factors that have been recently discussed on HUMANIST, I welcome suggestions and criticisms. The HyperTalk scripts are open, but at various stages of commenting. Let me hear what you think. Timothy W. Seid Religious Studies Brown University From: Willard McCarty Subject: Archives and Museum Informatics Date: 11 September 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 662 (881) I have just been sent a sample copy of _Archives and Museum Informatics_ (ISSN 1042-1467), a quarterly newsletter edited by David Bearman. Vol. 3.2 (Summer 1989) contains articles on the Computer Interchange of Museum Information, an initiative of the Museum Computer Network; and the use of MARC format by archivists. Regular features in this issue are: a listing of conferences; a calendar of activities; publications; news; software reviews; and a column on standards. Subscription is available for $40 US. For more information write Lynn Cox, Managing Editor, AMI, 5600 Northumberland St., Pittsburgh, PA 15217 USA; (412) 421-4638. Willard McCarty From: Ronen Shapira Subject: HELP IN PH.D. Date: Mon, 11 Sep 89 12:52:25 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 663 (882) Hello everybody I am looking for a university with a good program both in french studies and in history. I am trying to develop a Ph.D. research thesis dealing with the different uses and expressions of ideas such as liberte' and e'galite` during the period between 1830-1848 in france. My main idea is to try to create a sort of "ideological map" of the changes that occured during this period inside the different political associations and the ideological relationships between them, regarding the use of the above mentioned ideas. Part of the material was already published, and to use this I will appreciate the possibility to use such "things" as OCR and scanners. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Ronen1 at taunivm.bitnet ronen shapira Tel-Aviv snail mail: 8a Miriam Hahashmonait TEl-AVIV 62665 ISRAEL From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: E-Mail Addresses in Hungary Date: Mon, 11 Sep 89 08:37:21 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 664 (883) Are there any e-mail addresses by means of which one may directly and immediately express appreciation to the Hungarian government (for its recent actions) or, failing this, HUMANISTS in Hungary who might relay a grammo to the appropriate authorities? Thanks. KLC. From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Laptops, Again, On A Different Head Date: Mon, 11 Sep 89 14:20:15 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 665 (884) Has power supply been a problem in the operation of American (i.e., Japanese) laptops in European and British nations? I am concerned about the charging of battery packs as well as about operation per se. Is frequency a problem for the voltage/amperage converters (American current is 60 cps; not so European). KLC. From: COM3RAE@CLUSTR.TRENT.AC.UK Subject: Request for books on old roofs (esp. European). Date: 11-SEP-1989 17:17:56 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 666 (885) Try: The Development of Carpentry 1200-1700 (An Essex Study), pub. 1960, English Cathedral Carpentry, pub. 1974 and Church Carpentry, also pub. 1974, all by Hewett, C.A. They deal with the techniques of carpentry and woodworking used in old buildings (mainly churches, cathederals and barns) and develop a system of dating such buildings sometimes at odds with accepted academic beliefs. (See Observer Magazine 14th October 1979 p. 43 for brief article on Cecil Hewett.) Sorry I cannot respond to the original request for this information - it was a few months ago and I've deleted it, but I think it hailed from the UK. Yours, Simon Rae: Trent Polytechnic Nottingham, UK. COM3RAE@UK.AC.TRENT.CLUSTR (or COM3RAE@CLUSTR.TRENT.AC.UK from BITNET) From: Malcolm Brown Subject: Fraktur: a *true* story Date: Mon, 11 Sep 89 11:19:22 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 667 (886) Sorry to burden HUMANIST with yet another item on Fraktur (a dead horse is such an easy target...) Nietzsche's second publisher, a fellow named Ernst Schmeitzner, sent a copy of Nietzsche's Menschlisches, Allzumenschliches to Bismarck, a ploy to drum up interest in Nietzsche's books. It should be noted that Nietzsche insisted that his books be printed using latin letters, so that, as he put it, he wouldn't go blind reading his own works. Bismarck sent polite thanks to Schmeitzner, but remarked that a German book printed with latin letters was as unreadable as a French book would be it if were typeset using Fraktur. (!) Nietzsche, by the way, when he heard of this, wrote to Schmeitzner and said: "nun, geehrtester Herr Verleger, da haben Sie ja die grosse Handschrift des grossen Mannes. Trotz dem dass er so artig dankt, glaube ich, im Vertrauen gesagt, er wirft, wenn er wirklich im Buche liest, es an die Wand." Malcolm Brown Stanford From: K.P.Donnelly@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: Fraktur/Clo Gaelach Date: 11 Sep 89 09:31:58 bst X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 668 (887) An old style of print called "Clo Gaelach" was used for Irish Gaelic until about 1940. It is like Fraktur but different. Most young people in Ireland think it is horrendously difficult, and as a result lots of old editions of good books in Clo Gaelach are available very cheaply. In fact it takes about fifteen minutes to become so familiar with the Clo Gaelach that you don't notice whether you are reading it or modern print. The spelling revision, which also took place about 1940, causes a bit more trouble, but only a little bit - it was only a small spelling revision, and it often has the advantage of showing you the etymylogical derivation of the word, which might not have dawned on you previously. I think the Clo Gaelach looks rather nice, and it has the advantage in bilingual texts of making the structure more aparent to the eye. Does anyone know where Clo Gaelach fonts can be obtained for HP-Laserjet or Postscript printers? Kevin Donnelly, Edinburgh From: Willard McCarty Subject: the lure of desktop publishing Date: 12 September 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 457 (888) In the latest TLS, a Canadian colleague, Mel Wiebe (Queen's), writes about his experiences with editorial involvement in typesetting: "It has been our experience [in The Disraeli Project] that the apparent savings of this approach, which at first glance seem enormous, are in fact largely ephemeral, as they are achieved at the expense of the editors, whose time is diverted from the scholarly work they should be doing. Although this procedure enables the editors to maintain closer control over their materials, and thus presumably promote higher standards of quality, we look forward to a time when the benefits of editor-controlled typesetting can be combined with those that derive from having it done by appropriate professionals" (TLS, Sept. 1-7 1989, p. 945). Personally I sympathize with the frustration expressed in this letter, having myself had to do things I would not have been asked to do formerly -- because my editor knew that I had produced the article electronically and therefore could *easily* make the 1,583 changes required by his arbitrary bibliographical format. Being also an editor, however, I find myself having to control my indignation, because I also say the same thing, more or less. I must because I cannot afford to employ someone to do this work for me. The ambiguity gets even more interesting for someone who (like myself) has a little knowledge of graphic design, lettering, and book production and so can take pleasure in the act of laying something out and pushing the pieces around until they sing sweetly. The craftsman gets great pleasure out of having the tools in his hands, and allowing the inner idea to be seen. I got to thinking about these things when I had to write an introduction to the Tools for Humanists volume (produced on the occasion of the Dynamic Text Conference) and found myself describing the strong traditional elements that computing brings out in humanists. One of these is surely craftsmanship, and for that I am very glad. William Morris would hardly recognize the context, but like him I look forward to the day when (to paraphrase Moses) all of God's children are craftsmen, academics included. Can you imagine the effect a craftsman-like attitude would have on the production of scholarship? Perhaps, my beloved calligraphy teacher would have said, some elementary training in the arts of the book would do us book-makers a world of good. Perhaps if we weren't in such an insane hurry to produce mountains of immature work, we'd have the time to love more while making less. Some thoughts are tigers. Willard McCarty From: Jan Eveleth Subject: Re: 3.455 laptops? (68) Date: Tue, 12 Sep 89 11:19:12 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 458 (889) Laptops in foreign countries. Most currently made laptops have 110/220 volt conversion capabilities which are either automatic (power-sensing types) or involve flipping an internal switch either in the pc itself, or more likely, in the power supply. For systems with these built-in conversions, it is only necessary to get a plug adapter and not a transformer. For countries with reliable electric current (i.e., not subject to excessive surges or other degradations) there should be no problems operating these new portables. Older portables (pre-1988) are less likely to have the power conversion capabilities. The best means of protecting your portable is to contact the maker or a dealer directly and discuss these issues with them. Specifications sheets on the machines should indicate the conversion capabilities both for power supply and for hertz. An additional note of caution: If you are taking a printer abroad, check both hertz and power options on these as well. Printers tend to be less flexible when it comes to being "travel-ready". Jan Eveleth From: JACKA@PENNDRLS Subject: Date: Monday, 11 September 1989 1510-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 669 (890) Subject: ONLINE NOTES SEPTEMBER, 1989 Contents of this issue: CINEMA VIDEO-DISC PROJECT PLANS FOR CCAT and ASSISTANT DEAN'S OFFICE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA TIDBITS, Network notes for tyro to novice computer users taken from the files of JACKA @ PENNDRLS -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. ONLINE NOTE0989. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: MLAOD@CUVMB Subject: MLA Bibliography on tape Date: Tue, 12 Sep 89 08:47:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 670 (891) Spurred in large measure by the interest shown by correspondents to HUMANIST, the Modern Language Association will soon be prepared to offer the MLA Bibliography database on tape to interested institutions. We are currently looking for an institution to act as a test site, as well as those interested in receiving more information about the MLA Bibliography on tape. For additional information, please contact: Daniel Uchitelle Manager, Online & Special Services Modern Language Association 10 Astor Place New York, NY 10003 (212)475-9500 MLAOD@CUVMB From: Subject: Computer-Mediated Liberal Education Date: Tue, 12 Sep 89 08:44 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 671 (892) EDUCOM will sponsor a workhop, "Computer-Mediated Liberal Education -- on a Global Scale," in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Association of American Colleges, Saturday January 13, 1990 in San Francisco. The workshop will be a progress report -- and an invitation to participate -- in an innovative project to explore global problems, such as world hunger and appropriate uses of outer space. Outstanding teachers from a variety of disciplines and campuses will address these problems, and, using computer conferencing and networks, simultaneously demonstrate to their students the relevance of the disciplines -- and inter-disciplinary thinking -- to the world outside academe. For more information, contact workshop leaders Frederick Goodman and Edgar Taylor, faculty members in the School of Education, University of Michigan, at 313 763-6717, BITNET: USERCGEE@UMICHUM. From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Polyvalent Programs in French Early and Mid-Modern History Date: Mon, 11 Sep 89 22:08:38 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 460 (893) Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge offers a fine program covering many of the areas that Ms. Shapiro covers in her recent grammo concerning programs in 19th century French History and Culture. She could write to Carl Roider, Chairperson of the History Department, Nat Wing, Chairperson of the French Department, or Michelle Gellrich, Chairperson of the Compparative Literature Program, all at their respective departyments at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge. We have many new and established faculty members working in just the areas of study that Ms. Shapiro wants to emphasize. Oh yes --Baton Rouge is in Louisiana, America's Pelican State, and its zip code is 70803. Y'all come and learn! From: CZC7000 Subject: Literature of Explorations Date: Tue, 12 Sep 89 21:56:39 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 672 (894) [The following call for papers will certainly interest some Humanists. -- W.M.] I wonder if you and HUMANIST can be of help. At the next meeting of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS), to be held in Minneapolis in April, 1990, I am chairing a session entitled 'Literature of Explorations'. The latter term could be interpreted widely but the primary aim is the narrative account of travels made by voyagers in the 18th century. May I make a Call for Papers through HUMANIST? If so, submissions (title and a short description) may be sent to me at my e-mail address (CZC7@MCGILLA). I cannot promise acceptance, of course, but I am anxious to have as wide a selection of proposals as possible, and the programme for the conference has to be established well in advance. Those who make submissions should be members, or prepared-to-become members of the American Society for Eighteenth- Century Studies. Many thanks, Michael Cartwright, Department of French Language and Literature, McGill University, Montreal. From: Caroline Arms Subject: Re: User's Directory of Computer Networks Date: Wed, 13 Sep 89 07:46:31 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 673 (895) The directory of networks that is to be published by Digital Press is advertised (on the back cover of Campus Strategies for Libraries and Electronic Information) for publication in November. Whether they will meet that date I don't know, but the ordering information is probably valid. [The price is $50 US. --W.M.] The Matrix: Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems Worldwide John S. Quarterman Digital Press, 12 Crosby Drive, Bedford, MA 01730 Order # EY-C176E-DP 1-800-343-8321 Caroline Arms CA0L@andrew.cmu.edu Internet address CA0L@CMUCCVMA BITNET address From: Richard Goerwitz Subject: conjugialis, -e Date: Tue, 12 Sep 89 22:08:57 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 674 (896) Any Neo-Latinists out there know of any places where this word (conjugialis, -e) is used in place of the more usual conjugalis? I'm curious because it is listed in early modern lexica, and occurs in Ovid. I've not been able to find anyone using it in any early modern literature. -Richard L. Goerwitz goer@sophist.uchicago.edu rutgers!oddjob!gide!sophist!goer From: Steve Dill Subject: BITNET DEMONSTRATION/FUNDING Date: Wed, 13 Sep 89 08:38:44 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 675 (897) I am searching for a modest grant ($500) to pay some of the costs of a demonstration of BITNET to novice users. A panel of members of HUMANIST who are also members of the American Society for Eighteenth Studies must demonstrate BITNET applications (hands-on) to a group of ASECS members who quite possibly have never used a computer before. We may need to pay part of the costs of the computer or of a lab. If anyone has any suggestions, I am Steve Dill, UGA108@SDNET, or Dept. of English, Univ. of South Dakota, Vermillion, 57069. Much obliged From: Willard McCarty Subject: collaboration by network Date: 13 September 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 463 (898) Dan Updegrove (EDUCOM, in the U.S.) has written a quite useful paper on the application of electronic communications to academic work. I have suggested to him that with a few alterations it would be a good thing for us humanists to circulate among our colleagues, especially those who might be tempted into the fold of networked academics. He needs, however, some concrete examples of how e-mail has been applied with particular success to humanistic research and teaching. Would any Humanist who can tell such tales please send them to him -- and to me for my files, or better yet, to Humanist? I know I have asked a similar question before, but it was asked in a somewhat different context and so may not have elicited all the responses that would apply to Updegrove's paper. Dan Updegrove is updegrov@educom (on Bitnet). Once the paper is revised it will be made available on Humanist. Thanks very much. Willard McCarty From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Test & exercise data bases for the Macintosh Date: Thu, 14 Sep 89 17:00:49 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 468 (899) Our local Apple rep has very kindly passed on the following information about test & exercise data bases for instructional materials. I pass it on in the hope that (1) it may prove of interest to my colleagues on Humanist and (2) that some one of you may have some experience with the packages listed. I found the following information regarding test generation dbms on the Macintosh in Apple's online Macintosh software database. I seem to remember reading good reviews of LXR Test, however, I can't recall having examined it closely. I will look for some articles that might give some reviews and pass on the information to you. ------------------------------------------------------------ MicroTest III Test generator 512KE or larger Macintosh; external disk drive or hard disk drive; ImageWriter or LaserWriter. MicroTest III is a test generation system designed to simplify the tedious and time consuming task of creating printed exams. The question database is structured using a Book/Chapter organization and can contain up to 10,000 questions per test bank. Questions can be entered via preformatted screens for multiple choice, matching and true/false questions. A free format screen is available for other question types, including essay and short answer. Questions can be added, edited or deleted at any time. Graphics and multiple fonts can be included in the databank. Questions from a test bank can be exported from MicroTest to standard word processing files and formatted files can be imported into the program. Test banks can be stored either on a floppy or hard disk system. Users are able to create an unlimited number of question banks. Once the database is established, tests can be created by the computer selecting a specific number of random questions or questions meeting user-set criteria. A user can also select individual questions from a numbered grid while previewing the actual question text. Tests can include up to 250 questions. Personalized instructions and heading information can be entered and tests can be arranged to include several sections with separate headings. Up to three different test versions can be printed to discourage cheating. MicroTest will not split questions between pages and will print separate answer keys for each test version. $139 retail Chariot Software Group; 3659 India St., Ste. 100; San Diego, CA 92103; 619-298-0202 or 800-242-7468 Apple is not responsible for the contents of this article. Redgate Communications, Inc. is not responsible for the accuracy of product listings and descriptions. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Test-generation program Macintosh Plus or larger; 1 MB of RAM. Maketest is a test-generation program that conforms to and takes full advantage of standard Macintosh user interface features. Users can enter multiple-choice, true-false, fill-in and free-form questions (essay, matching, etc.); add, delete and edit questions; choose font, size, bold, italic, underlining, subscript or superscript formatting; specify the number of lines to be left blank after the question is printed; rank each question's difficulty level; create and assign a topic to each question; write and store notes about each question; paste in graphics from a clipboard; use a browser to select previously entered questions for viewing or editing; and more. $95 retail Mountain Lake Software, Inc.; 1041 Lake St.; San Francisco, CA 94118; 415-752-6515 Apple is not responsible for the contents of this article. Redgate Communications, Inc. is not responsible for the accuracy of product listings and descriptions. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- LXR-Test Complete testing system, including test generation, scoring and analysis Macintosh Plus or larger. LXR-Test combines graphics layout, word processing and database management functions to provide comprehensive item banking, test generation and scoring capabilities. A question editor permits a fill-in-the-form approach for entering a variety of test question types. Questions may contain pictures imported from other standard graphics applications. Each question in related to a testing objective and stored in a database for instant access in constructing tests. The program further provides for the tracking of item statistics and remedial training information on a question-by-question basis. Tests are generated by a point-and-click method or automatically by specifying the number of questions that are to be covered for each testing objective. The program is capable of generating multiple test versions by scrambling the order of questions and question alternatives. Additional features include: multicolumn layout for multiple-choice-question types, rulers and tabs, student response form, solution "box" for storing and printing detailed answers to each question, header/footer controls, global type change facility, user-assignable question and alternative numbering, "instant layout" capability for dragging a question from one position on a test to another, page break controls and more. $599 retail; scoring edition $399 retail; full edition $199 retail; teacher's edition Logic Extension Resources; 9651-C Business Center Dr.; Rancho Cucamongo, CA 91730; 714-980-0046 Apple is not responsible for the contents of this article. Redgate Communications, Inc. is not responsible for the accuracy of product listings and descriptions. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TestWright Instructional test generation, management and analysis Macintosh Plus or larger; 2 MB of RAM; hard disk drive; ImageWriter. TestWright is an instructional test generation, management and analysis application that is built on a relational database. It stores thousands of test items, creates and prints tests, provides both internal and spreadsheet entries of student answers, calculates scores, prints several types of test reports, does item analysis and stores and monitors essential test management information. TestWright provides security for tests and test items through password protection and controlled admission of users. Tests may include graphics and may be administered online. Items may be typed into simple forms or imported in several ways. Items may also be weighted. TestWright is available in two versions. TestWright 1 is a multiuser application that may be simultaneously accessed through eight different menus and from as many as four independent users on the same network. TestWright 2 is a single-user, multiaccess application. It may be used on only one computer at a time, but users may be admitted to eight different menus or forms of the application depending on levels of responsibility. Except for the mode of access, the two versions are identical. TestWright explicitly supports testing by objectives and both individualized and group testing. All test items are tied to instructional objectives, but objectives may be stated in terms of content, rather than in behavioral form. Tests prepared for administration to groups are treated differently from tests prepared for administration to particular individuals. This arrangement provides for the integrity of both test scoring and item analysis. $545 retail; multiuser (software for host and three guests) $245 retail; single user $25 retail; demo Preceptor Systems, Inc.; PO Box 3941; Frederick, MD 21701; 301-662-6883 Apple is not responsible for the contents of this article. Redgate Communications, Inc. is not responsible for the accuracy of product listings and descriptions. From: Thomas Zielke <113355@DOLUNI1> Subject: Microsoft WORD 5.0 Date: Thu, 14 Sep 89 18:36:46 CET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 469 (900) Dear HUMANISTs, as we're intending to invest part of our much too small budget into new software, I would like you to give me some information on WORD 5.0. Is it really as good as MS would like us to believe? What has changed compared to Version 4? Which functions did MS add? Is it faster than 4.0? If any of you has already acquired the new version, would you please drop a note concerning what you think of it, how you like it etc? Thank you, Yours Thomas Zielke Historisches Seminar Universitaet Oldenburg Postfach 2503 D-2900 Oldenburg From: Ruth Glynn Subject: Publisher's Type Foundry etc. Date: Thu, 14 Sep 89 10:42:33 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 470 (901) A little while ago Josef Wallmannsberger posted a message about PScript font generators. I don't remember seeing any comments on it (maybe those that were got swamped in the deluge of email after the French link recovered). I have just taken delivery of Publisher's Type Foundry (PTF hereafter). One use is to perfect via PTF's bitmap and outline editors existing fonts for ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Cyrillic for screen display; another is to use it to create bitmaps of one-off specials such as logos, special chemistry sorts etc. for both screen and printer fonts (PScript). In the case of the latter, Ventura will be the vehicle. Josef Wallmannsberger predicted 'major effort' in doing much the same via WORD. Unfortunately his suspicions are going to be confirmed -- not because the task itself is inherently difficult (it's great fun fiddling around with this sort of facility and PTF is easy enough to get used to), but because the PTF manual is worse than useless. In fact I'd say that it's one of the worst I have ever come across (and that's saying something). Not only do the instructions leave you high and dry after telling you how to prepare material for export, but many of the instruct- ions are plain wrong. This isn't helped by the fact that the Ventura manual doesn't fill the gap. I have wasted a fair amount of time trying every which way to get Ventura to recognize the external fonts, and still haven't discovered how to do it. Has anyone out there successfully edited files in PTF and imported them to Ventura for both screen and font? If so, please tell me the magic formula! Or is there a PTF equivalent to the Nace & Will-Harris *Ventura Tips and Tricks* book? If all else fails, I shall have to go on a course ... and maybe after that I'll write my own manual. Ruth Glynn Oxford Electronic Publishing, OUP From: Subject: SHORTFALL OF HUMANISTS Date: Thu, 14 Sep 89 00:19:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 471 (902) Willard has been very good about letting us all know about articles in TLS. I'd like to mention a piece on the front page of the Wednesday (9-13-89) NY Times about the coming faculty shortage in universities and colleges, and the small number of PhDs being prepared. The surprising discovery is that the shortage is not in sciences but in humanities, and the reason is the expected growth of enrollments. Can use of computing do you think be of any use is speeding students through the PhD (the time it now takes to get a degree is surely excessive)? Or what means can we use to meet the problems that we shortly be upon us? Jim Halporn -- Classical Studies/Comparative Literature, Indiana U. HALPORNJ@IUBACS From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.463 collaboration by network? (33) Date: Wed, 13 Sep 89 20:41:04 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 676 (903) Karen Smith, coordinator of Spanish language teaching at the U. of Arizona, has made very successful use of a system whose name escapes me to facilitate communication between instructors and students. She reports that it has made a measurable impact on student language learning. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.463 collaboration by network? (33) Date: Wed, 13 Sep 89 20:21:25 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 677 (904) Several etexts have been created by collaborative efforts of the members of the Gutnberg discussion group, and another is about to be started (if this fits the bill for your request, more information will be coming). The basic principle is that if all the members of an e-discussion group, such as Humanist, were to collaborate by creating a few pages per month, it would provide at least a book a week in the creation of an electronic library we all could use. Michael S. Hart (National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts) P.S. Whatever happened to the Rutgers-Princeton Distribution group? I haven't heard anything from them lately. From: Ian Lancashire Subject: Thomas Hardy's Poetry Date: Fri, 15 Sep 89 11:53:08 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 678 (905) A colleague at Toronto has expressed an interest in scanning Thomas Hardy's poetry, including the Dynasts. We would appreciate hearing from anyone who has an electronic text of his verse, or who is engaged on that project now. Thanks very much. Ian Lancashire Department of English University of Toronto IAN @ UTOREPAS IAN @ VM.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA From: djb@harvunxw.BITNET (David J. Birnbaum) Subject: Request for information Date: Thu, 14 Sep 89 17:14:54 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 679 (906) Would anyone who has a copy of the following please contact me by email: John Clews. Language Automation Worldwide: the development of character set standards. Harrogate, England. Sesame Computer Projects. 1988. British Library Research and Development report no. 5962. ISBN 1 870095 01 4. According to the OCLC database, it has not been catalogued in any library in North America. My email addresses are: djb@wjh12.harvard.edu [Internet] djb@harvunxw.bitnet [Bitnet] The Bitnet mailer here only understands old style addresses; please include one if possible. Thanks. --David J. Birnbaum, Harvard University From: E82 at PSUVM Subject: Thorn, Yogh, and MAC Date: 16 September 1989, 22:00:53 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 680 (907) I have a project, presently on the MAC SE, that involves adding the Middle English letter-forms "thorn" and "yogh" to the standard alphabet. We have done this but the result prints out very poorly, looking as if it has been produced on a dot-matrix printer even when a laserprinter is used. The MAC gives a message saying that it has to create a bitmapped font, before it prints. Unfortunately I am totally baffled by this situation. Would anybody perhaps have any advice (or maybe just sympathy?). Thanks! Carey Eckhardt Department of Comparative Literature Penn State - University Park From: Subject: Re-announcing a conference Date: Sun, 17 Sep 89 12:11 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 476 (908) There appeared in HUMANIST an announcement of the workshop EDUCOM is co-sponoring with Assn of Am Colleges in SF next January. I believe, however, that the note I had sent you had two letters trans- posed in an e-mail address, since Fred Goodman at UMich has had people report difficulty in reaching him. Would it be possible for you to run a correction? Thanks, Dan [Here is a corrected copy of the original announcement:] Computer-Mediated Liberal Education EDUCOM will sponsor a workhop, "Computer-Mediated Liberal Education -- on a Global Scale," in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Association of American Colleges, Saturday January 13, 1990 in San Francisco. The workshop will be a progress report -- and an invitation to participate -- in an innovative project to explore global problems, such as world hunger and appropriate uses of outer space. In this project, outstanding teachers from a variety of disciplines and campuses will address these problems, and, using computer conferencing and networks, simultaneously demonstrate to their students the relevance of the disciplines -- and inter-disciplinary thinking -- to the world outside academe. For more information, contact workshop leaders Frederick Goodman and Edgar Taylor, faculty members in the School of Education, University of Michigan, at 313 763-6717, BITNET: USERGCEE@UMICHUM. From: Brian Whittaker Subject: Re: 3.429 old spelling: Fraktur (29) Date: Fri, 15 Sep 89 22:24:38 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 477 (909) Michael Sperberg-McQueen wonders how ancient I must be to have learned to read Fraktur in high school. This was certainly not a pre-war experience (neither WWII nor the Franco-Prussian War). When I attendend secondary school in Toronto in the early 1960s the Grade 10 German textbook used throughout the province of Ontario was in Fraktur. When I did my undergraduate work in the late 1960s, roughly half of my German textbbooks were in Fraktur. While the curriculum was largely pre-1945 and heavily eighteenth and nineteenth century, the imprints were certainly post-1945. The only text in German that comes to hand at the moment is Goethe's Faust, edited by Witkoski in 1936; my copy is a 1949 imprint... still in print and, I believe, still the standard edition when I used it in the late 1960s... and it is in Fraktur. To expand (or possibly confuse) the discussion, I find I read German faster when it is set in Fraktur. I believe this has to do with recognizing words, as opposed to assembling strings of characters. I believe that in Fraktur the letters cluster into words more visibly than in Roman type. Handwriting poses other problems. In the late 1960s I had a clerical job one summer processing applications from secondary school teachers from abroad who wished to teach in Ontario. Roughly half of the handwritten correspondence from teachers and nearly all of the handwritten official documentation that came to us from Germany was in the old handwriting, which looks like vertical strokes of varying lengths at roughly a 75 degree angle with no curves at all. I forget the term used for this style, but prior to this expreience I had assumed it was a pre-1945 convention. As for the question of whether Fraktur is comprehensible only to specialists in advanced and arcane studies, I would add that in secondary school I was in a math and science program and at university German would have ranked third or fourth in my list of undergraduate studies, after English, French and possibly philosophy. This makes it all the stranger when I hear of students who are German majors and reach the upper years of their programmes without mastering Fraktur. Brian Whittaker Atkinson College, York University. From: Brian Whittaker Subject: Re: 3.443 no more hearts (62) Date: Fri, 15 Sep 89 21:30:46 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 478 (910) The question of the essential purpose of Humanist has arisen once again, this time on the occasion of the great heart hunt. It may be, to put the matter in good scholastic terms, that the essence of Humanist is to provide a forum in which to discuss computing in the humanities. I would like to suggest, if I may do so without giving offence to any, least of all to Willard, who is an excellent first cause in all things, that Humanist is not terribly successful as such a forum. This lack of success derives not from any lack of interest or skill on the part of the members but rather, I suspect, from the limitations of the medium. There is a serious need for an exchange of computer expertise on matters other than subjects like using spreadsheets for inventory control or computer graphics for sales presentations. We do need a forum for the exchange of *detailed* information about computer applications in the humanities. Unfortunately, brevity renders most technical items on Humanist too cryptic to be useful. To shift from the scholastic to the Witgenstinian and ask what *is* done successfully on Humanist, I would have to answer that the most replies and the most precise replies have been generated by questions not about laptop computers or OCR equipment by rather by questions like the one about translation of saints' hearts independent of their bodies. While some of these inquiries do not interest me, they are no more of a nuissance for me to skip over than discussions of how to mate a 3 1/2 inch drive to a type of computer I do not use... an issue which I assume is well covered in the many magazines and BBSs devoted to that type of computer. In any event, I would prefer to skim over what does not interest me rather than risk leaving out what does interest someone else. Brian Whittaker Atkinson College, York University. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Laptop Power Supplies Date: Thursday, 14 September 1989 2334-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 681 (911) In response to Kevin Cope's query about recharging battery packs in Europe, etc., I can offer a few notes that pertain to my early model HP Laptop that I have taken along with me on various excursions over the past three years. It has a built in, rechargable battery. The percentage of charge remaining in the battery is noted when the main menu screen is accessed. When I first took it abroad, I used a small "intermitter" (my word) obtained from Radio Shack for use with hairdryers, etc., to recharge the batteries. This approached worked, insofar as the batteries were recharged, but it threw off the relation between the actual charge left in the batteries and the point at which the computer would warn of "low battery!" and shut itself off. Indeed, after a few rechargings with the intermitter, I found the computer was warning "low battery!" when there was as much as 70% charge (or more) available. Successive chargings in the US have gradually made things more reasonable, but even now I get "low battery!" warnings when the available charge registers more than 50%. When I recharged the computer on real transformers overseas, this sort of problem does not seem to have multiplied as it did with the intermitter. I do not know the explanation -- the internal clock (built in alarm clock, etc.) does not seem to have been affected, for example. It seems to have something to do with how the battery recharging mechanism percieves what is happening. (This is another reason why I sought information on true lightweight transformers from HUMANISTS a few weeks ago. I finally built my own.) Bob Kraft From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Re: 3.469 Microsoft Word 5.0? (33) Date: Fri, 15 Sep 89 09:22:59 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 682 (912) MS WORD 5.0 is no longer the latest edition. 5.5 is the new entrant. I undersatnd that MS will be giving a $55.00 discount to new users and upgraders (where did that number come from?). --KLC. From: John Morris Subject: Discussion 3.469 MS Word Date: Fri, 15 Sep 89 19:12:51 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 683 (913) I have not used MS Word since version 3, and I had always found it clumsy to use, and less useful than seemed to be promised. Unless you have a special application requiring Word, I might be so bold as to recommend a word processor called Nota Bene which was designed specifically for scholarly word processing. Dragonfly Software (285 West Broadway, Ste. 600 New York City 100013-2204) offers group discounts to educational institutions. Another alternative might be Borland's Sprint, a powerful word processor for the budget conscious. From: John McDaid Subject: Computer test databases (Re:3.468) Date: Fri, 15 Sep 89 08:50 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 684 (914) I am sure that Charles Faulhaber has shared the information on Macintsoh test databse programs out of the best of possible motives; likewise, I am certain that fellow Humanists would only use such programs in the most, well, humanist way, but I still feel an obligation to at least place on the record my deep concern about such programs. It seems to me that the essence of the computer -- the message of this medium -- is indivudual empowerment and metacognitive revision. Here we have a technology which enables us, through hypertext, to externalize and refine the associative networks of thought -- to move upstream from linear text. It seems paradoxical to be talking about multiple choice questions from within such a paradigm. We need hypertexts, not hyperTESTS. While there are many practical reasons for standardized testing, we must at least be willing to admit that these are just that: practical. And if we are truly the leading edge of the computer revolution in education, it is our responsibility to apply this technology to those areas where practicality overwhelms pedagogy. Perhaps this the most telling criticism comes from Joseph Wiezenbaum: Yes, the computer did arrive "just in time." But in time for what? In time to save--and very nearly intact, indeed to entrench and stabilize--social and political structures that otherwise might have been either radically renovated or allowed to totter under the demands that were sure to be made on them. The computer, then, was used to conserve America's social and political institutions. It buttressed them and immunized them, at least temporarily, against enormous pressures for change. [Computer Power and Human Reason, p.31] From: Charles Ess Subject: Library Computing Resources Date: Fri, 15 Sep 89 19:23:41 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 685 (915) To: HUMANIST readers It seems that I keep getting put on committees...this one is to provide faculty input into the design of a new library facility. I am lobbying for a computer resources room to provide students and faculty access to research and tutorial materials, e.g.: Intermedia and other hypertext environment materials (Perseus, etc.); CD-ROM libraries, e.g. TLG, etc.; machine-readable texts available in other formats (disk, tape, etc); on-line databases -- from Dialogue and BRS to ARTFL and other more discipline-specific databases; telecommunications for email, collaborative research and teaching projects, etc. While we're dreaming: 1. What have I missed in attempting to determine feasible and productive uses of computer technology for the next few years -- in the setting of a medium-sized liberal arts college with strong professional concentrations in business, architecture, pre-med, and communications? For example, is there a justification for a scanner for entering text as well as images? 2. What suggestions do those of you with experience in setting up such labs and resource centers have regarding: a) space and other requirements for workstations, number of printers per given number of computers, etc. b) number of workstations appropriate for a day student population of 1150-1200? (Wordprocessing, business and scientific simulation, language, and architecture applications are fairly well serviced already by existing labs at other sites on campus. Off hand, I'm thinking of this place as providing relatively high-powered computing resources for relatively sophisticated research and tutorial applications -- _not_ as primarily another place to do wordprocessing and spreadsheets.) Also offhand: I'm inclined to argue for a network of Mac II's and IIcx's, running A/UX on an ethernet network and perhaps a secondary network of PC's -- driven by considerations such as: requirements for Intermedia, the virtual absence of Macintoshes elsewhere on campus, adequacy and cost- effectiveness of PC's for such things as Nota Bene, compatibility with other IBM labs. (I was also impressed with the Centre for Humanities Computing in Toronto!) HUMANIST readers may recall that I asked a similar question a few months back -- although that one was directed towards a humanities computing lab. It seems to me that this potential lab is somewhat different -- and so I hope once again to glean wisdom from the collective experience of HUMANISTS. Thanks in advance, Charles Ess Philosophy and Religion Drury College Springfield, MO 65802 (417) 865-8731 From: Mark Olsen Subject: Computng and the PHD. Date: Thu, 14 Sep 89 20:59:33 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 686 (916) If anything, computing slows down the PhD. I know of many people, myself included, who spent far too much time learning computers -- a constant task in an era of changing technologies -- and doing less consistent work in writing the dissertation. Data collection for large projects, writing software, learning methodologies that are not part of core subject areas, all contribute to slowing down the process. I suspect that the doctoral candidates who decide to make extensive use of computers, particularly outside of the tried and true methodologies, are going to have to master several areas of knowledge which will only increase the length of their studies. The payoff, in my opinion, is being closer to 'cutting edge' research methods and techniques, and being able to move into non-traditional academic employment more readily (if the much heralded shortage of artsie PhDs fails to materialize). The only general skill which will REALLY speed up the process is word-processing, but this is hardly a research method and is something that most doctoral candidates coming through can master reasonably quickly if they have not all ready. Keep'em away from computers if you want 'em to get through faster. Mark Olsen From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Re: 3.471 Computing & dearth of PhDs.... (24) Date: Fri, 15 Sep 89 09:24:35 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 687 (917) Let's not use computing (or anything else) to speed students through Ph. D. programs. This strategy is what led to the glut of Ph. D.s some years ago. Let's be more prudent, and not flood the market again. Learn from errors! From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Paleography Stacks Date: Thursday, 14 September 1989 2350-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 688 (918) Bravo to Tim Seid for his pioneering paleography work! Jay Treat and I did some manual mock-ups of similar procedures so that I could have something to show the accumulation of papyrologists at the recent Cairo conference. There was much interest in this direction of development, and I hope we will get some time soon to test in some detail what Tim has produced (are you listening, Jay?). Meanwhile, building on Tim's description, here are some things that I would like to see developed by using the available computational power: before the individual letters or letter combinations are clipped, the baseline should be clearly identified as a point of orientation; then the clipped portions can be analyzed automatically for degree of tilt from the baseline (this will be easier for some letters than for others, and rules for determining the tilt will need to be developed, of course); ratios of width and height will also be useful, and degrees of curvature on rounded forms. What I'm looking for, obviously, is a special sort of pattern recognition that can assist us to make initial judgments about what are more or less similar forms. Then the more time consuming detailed task of overlaying letter forms can be restricted to only the most promising examples. We will also need programs to determine "average" shapes, angles, etc., for any given hand. All in all, a very promising approach to an area of scholarly research that needs detailed, standard information for an immense amount of data. Thanks, Tim, for sharing your first steps with us, and keep up the good work! Bob Kraft From: "Tom Benson 814-238-5277" Subject: Re: 3.472 re:collaboration by network? (52) Date: Fri, 15 Sep 89 09:21:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 689 (919) For more than 5 years I've had all my classes working collaboratively through e-mail connections. Major papers are prepared with mainframe or micro word processors and handed in on paper; shorter (usually twice a week) discussion questions are answered to the class in general on e-mail. This means that (1) students show up for class prepared, because they have already discussed the readings in a preliminary fashion on e-mail, (2) everyone gets to contribute, because if they don't get into the class discussion they can contribute later, on e-mail, (3) "homework" is not just an ordeal handed in to the teacher, but part of an actual, ongoing discussion. For my own scholarly work, BITNET has been essential; a recent book on Fred Wiseman's films (REALITY FICTIONS: THE FILMS OF FREDERICK WISEMAN [Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1989]) was written collaboratively with Prof. Carolyn Anderson at UMass by exchanging drafts on bitnet. The existence of the networks (including local networks) has made an important difference to my teaching and scholarship. I am sure the same is true for many othrs on HUMANIST. Tom Benson Penn State University From: Willard McCarty Subject: collaboration by network Date: 13 September 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 463 (920) Dan Updegrove (EDUCOM, in the U.S.) has written a quite useful paper on the application of electronic communications to academic work. I have suggested to him that with a few alterations it would be a good thing for us humanists to circulate among our colleagues, especially those who might be tempted into the fold of networked academics. He needs, however, some concrete examples of how e-mail has been applied with particular success to humanistic research and teaching. Would any Humanist who can tell such tales please send them to him -- and to me for my files, or better yet, to Humanist? I know I have asked a similar question before, but it was asked in a somewhat different context and so may not have elicited all the responses that would apply to Updegrove's paper. Dan Updegrove is updegrov@educom (on Bitnet). Once the paper is revised it will be made available on Humanist. Thanks very much. Willard McCarty This is not my personal experience. One of the most famous examples of a successful collaboration carried out entirely by email is the book {\sl Common Lisp: The Language\/}, by Guy Lewis Steele, Jr. et al. Another is the Meade and Conway VLSI course in which chips designed in Cambridge by students were fabricated in California. I am doing joint work in philosophy with Ed Zalta of Stanford using a mixture of email and "talk" (realtime screen linking). Paul Oppenheimer From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.472 re:collaboration by network? (52) Date: Fri, 15 Sep 89 11:14:56 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 690 (921) The Rutgers-Princeton group, led by Marianne Gaunt, has an NEH grant for planning a machine-readable text repository. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Electronic communication" Date: Fri, 15 Sep 89 12:30:16 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 691 (922) On the subject of recent comments concerning collaborative efforts & electronic communication, there's an interesting product we've been testing here that creates an electronic conference. There's a menu-driven as well as a command driven option (both are included). We've found it very useful for student-to-student and student-to-instructor commu- nication. It runs in both UNIX and MS-DOS environments. I'm not sure yet what the possibilities of diacritical uses are beyond overstrikes on hardcopy (possible). The contact person here is: pearson@psc90.dartmouth.edu The name of the product is: Telectr (pronounced: "Telecenter"). --Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH) From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Laptop Power Gets Another Jolt Date: Mon, 18 Sep 89 21:49:39 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 692 (923) Bob Kraft's kind reply to my inquiry concerning laptops and power supplies for them raises another question. I've read in his letter and in other sources about battery packs (or chargers) have some kind of "memory" capable of recalling the last or even the average charge delivered to a laptop battery pack. Were a user, say, to charge a battery when 90% of the charge remained, according to these rather oracular sources, the batteries or the chargers (or both) would somehow remember only to deliver a 10% charge. This intellectual incorrigiblity on the part of power supplies could lead to clamaities--imagine running a battery down to nothing, then being able only to deliver a 10% charge, then finding a juicy book yearning to be annotated over the next several hours! Is there any way to train--or to untrain--these magical power sources? Or is there any truth to the legend of an intelligent battery or charger? Thank you. Kevin L. Cope. From: Subject: essential purpose of HUMANIST? Date: Tue, 19 Sep 89 08:11 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 693 (924) Brian Whittaker's note on this question is one I essentially agree with both in form and matter. A footnote: On the VAX system one can easily delete messages by using a 'D' while reading the topic of the message, or a message number. It is a handy tool in the form of life of e-mail scanning. Note also that unlike paper waste, discarded e-mail creates rather than consumes space; also, unlike paper waste, discarded e-mail produces no toxic by-products. So, please allow a thousand topics to flower--whether about wandering hearts or unhappy disk drives. ------------------ Sheldon Richmond From: Ken Steele Subject: Computers and Ph.D. students Date: Tue, 19 Sep 89 11:12:47 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 694 (925) I feel obliged to respond to Mark Olsen's assertion that computer technology is a great stumbling block for graduate students, a time-waster rather than a time-saving convenience. Yes, reading magazines, browsing e-mail lists, and experimenting with shareware all consume valuable time -- but we need feel no guiltier for these hobbies than past generations of scholars for their own leisure activities. We all have to weigh the costs and benefits of actual programming for ourselves. Word processing has indeed made the computer an academic necessity -- but if we all had to write our own software, most would still be using typewriters! (And if we had to design and build our own typewriters, we'd be using quill pens...). In the past, "harmless drudges" like Samuel Johnson compiled dictionaries, concordances, and editions of texts -- saving others immense amounts of time. Compiling the OED would not save me much time if I simply wanted to search for the first occurrence of a word in English, but as an end user I find it a priceless tool. Major efforts, like the development of huge textbases or sophisticated text retrieval software, will always cost the developers more time than it will save them -- but will be godsends to their end users. It IS possible to use the computer as a time-saving tool: wordprocessing and spreadsheets are only two examples. Consider also computerized library catalogues, DAI searches, or the CD-ROM OED and MLA: no-one questions the time- effectiveness of these tools. Commercial (or public-domain) text-retrieval software, when combined with prepared electronic texts, vastly accelerates research without costing the end user much time at all. What such software usually DOES cost, of course, is MONEY. The more academic programs which become widely available -- whether for recording student grades, compiling bibliographies, or searching texts -- the more scholars will find computing worth the effort. The more public domain software is released by universities -- like the University of Toronto's TACT -- the more scholars will find computing worth the price. Ken Steele University of Toronto KSTEELE@utorepas From: Ken Steele Subject: Nickel-Cadmium Batteries Date: Tue, 19 Sep 89 11:16:31 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 695 (926) Bob Kraft complains that his laptop computer reports "battery low" when as much as 70% charge remains. If these batteries are the nickel-cadmium type, he might find the answer in an article by Bill Howard called "Laptop Survival: Tricks, Tips & Traps" in the October 1988 issue of _PC/Computing_. Under "miscellany" on page 92, Howard says: Bring an extra battery if you'll be away from a 110- volt power supply for an extended period. They're $50 to $100 . . . If your batteries are nickel-cadmium, try to run them all the way down before recharging. Nickel cadmium batteries develop memory; if you only discharge them half-way, they'll begin to give out halfway through their normal charge times. The situations sound similar, although I'm no computer techie. Ken Steele University of Toronto KSTEELE@utorepas From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.479 omnium gatherum: WORD, tests, PhDs, etc (268) Date: Tue, 19 Sep 89 16:54:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 696 (927) John McDaid misses the point about the use of test/exrecise data bases. What we are trying to do is put in machine-readable form the large mass of materials which our T.A.'s use for handouts and quizzes in first and second-year language classes. I readily agree that this is not revolutionary. It is intended to be pragmatic, to make use of computer technology at a level appropriate to our facilities and expertise. I would love to be at an institution which would allow us to deliver sophisticated computerized language instruction, but I am not. In the first place, we have no computer laboratories; in the second, the available software for language teaching--particularly in relatively robust form--leaves much to be desired. In the meantime, we can use state-of-the-art technology to scan materials into a data base and desktop publishing to get them out. In the process we will have introduced our graduate students to some basic concepts of data base design and have made their lives a little less hectic. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Ph.D. candidates & computers" Date: Tue, 19 Sep 89 09:46:15 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 697 (928) I concur with Mark Olsen that computers, outside of their word-processing function, are likely to slow down the progress of Ph.D. candidates sig- nificantly in terms of "TITO" ("Time in, time out"). However, the computer may also allow a type of research and completeness of analysis that would have otherwise been impossible for the lone scholar. I believe that any dissertation advisor must weigh carefully her/his perception of the candidate's self-discipline and the nature of the project before waving off the energetic youth with a brilliant idea from the proposed work even though it might take an "extra" year or two. Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH) J_GOLDFI@UNHH.bitnet From: Geoff Rockwell Subject: Re: 3.474 queries (100) Date: Tue, 19 Sep 89 17:35:24 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 698 (929) About the creation of letters for the Mac. There are two types of fonts for the Mac. Bit-mapped fonts are used for the screen and, being bit-maps, they do not scale well. Think of a bit-map or screen font as a matrix of black dots From: Amanda Catherine Lee Subject: Re: Fraktur Date: Tue, 19 Sep 89 23:22:27 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 699 (930) I know I came in late on this discussion, but honestly, what's the problem? Fraktur is simply not that difficult to read, providing the reader has some knowledge of the language. I am working on my master's in German and freely admit I was never required to learn to read Fraktur, but if the need arises, I am able to understand it just fine. Granted, the need must be dire, because I don't enjoy the headache that comes from the eyestrain, but, like it or not, many of the works necessary for my studies are only available to me in Fraktur (in other words, if the books have been reprinted since they quit using Fraktur, our library doesn't have them). From: db Subject: Re: 3.478 essential purpose of HUMANIST? (was no more hearts) Date: Wed, 20 Sep 89 08:45:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 700 (931) Hear Hear! Daniel Boyarin, Bar-Ilan University From: AEB_BEVAN@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK Subject: Clews "language Automation Worldwide" report Date: 20-SEP-1989 16:39:20 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 701 (932) I'll pass on to John Clews the comment from David Birnbaum that the "language Automation" report appears to be unavaillable from US Libraries. By the way, does this mean that US academic library budgets are as short of funds as UK libraries? Or that American libraries need special reminders to obtain non-US originating research documents? Edis Bevan Open University, UK. aeb_bevan@UK.AC.OPEN.ACS.VAX (JANET) From: AEB_BEVAN@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK Subject: Thorn and Yogh at Penn State Date: 20-SEP-1989 17:07:13 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 702 (933) One possible help for the team at Penn State looking at ways of putting Middle English letters into the 'standard alphabet' might be the company "Ecological Linguistics" PO Box 15156 Washington DC 20003 . They have a reputation for searching out obscure font sets. When printing from a MAC you need to ask a number of questions like are you using resident or downloadable fonts. There will be a difference between imagewriter and laserwriter fonts for example. There are a lot of MAC orientated books that discuss the fonts problem. I found Robert Eckhardt's book "The Fully Powered MAC" (Brady, New York 1988.) a good basic introduction. He references a two volume comprehensive work called Lasersampler II as the best follow up. (Lasersampler, MacTopography, 702 Twinbrook parkway, Rockville, Md 20851 Tel (301) 424 1357. ) I havent myself seen the Lasersampler so I have no personal comments on it. By the way if anyone knows of a Lithuanian font for the MAC Id be glad to hear of it! Edis Bevan Open University UK. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: PhDs and Computers Date: Wednesday, 20 September 1989 2203-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 703 (934) I suspect, and hope, that my PhD students and recent graduates do not share Mark Olsen's cynicism about the value of using computers in PhD dissertation research and production. As Mark admits, the word/text processing aspect has been of immense help, and some of them have used only that. But others use the computer for access to and manipulation of data that would otherwise be inaccessible and/or intransigent. Of course, the fact that large bodies of electronic data are available for the study of ancient (especially Greek) texts is a major factor, but there are other fields in which similar conditions exist (e.g. French literature, as Mark well knows). Whether the use of computers will actually speed up anything for these students (beyond the actual dissertation preparation mechanics) is a discussable point, but I am sure that the types of topics that they can choose and the manner in which they can research those topics will change. If the student chose certain types of pre-computer topics and then used computers intelligently in the research, the entire process would probably be accelerated. But what happens is that new types of topics are chosen (that would not have been attempted without computers), and the same amount of time is used to research and prepare them. So the payoff is less in speed of execution of the project than it is in the definition of an executable project itself. For the new PhDs who have prepared their dissertations on computer, the time and effort factor for moving from dissertation form to published form should be significantly reduced. That is in itself a tremendous boon! Kevin Cope is cynical in another direction -- if the PhD process is sped up, we will recreate the horror of overproduction that has haunted us recently. Ah, Kevin, don't you believe the new prophets of doom who say that we will soon have a desperate shortfall of qualified teachers (I'm due to retire in 2002!)? I wonder how many of the PhDs we produced in the years when there were insufficient teaching opportunities will want to still be considered if and when the market does open up more widely? I know a few who would fit that category. I wonder if the analysists take them into account? Bob Kraft, Professor of Religious Studies From: Subject: Query on German Poetry Date: Mon, 18 Sep 89 09:53 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 704 (935) Can anyone tell me the source of the following line (and where the break in the poetic line occurs)? Nah ist, aber schwer zu begriffen, Gott. The poet Michael Hamburger, if I remember, translates the line quite nicely: Close at hand, but difficult to grasp, is God. Thanks. Mike Neuman Georgetown Center for Text and Technology Georgetown University Washington, DC 20057 (202) 687-6096 From: "Norman D. Hinton" Subject: An Answer and a Query Date: Tue, 19 Sep 89 10:03:14 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 705 (936) ANSWER : Thorn and Yogh on the MAC SE There are two ways to do this: 1) go into your System Fonts and create thorn and yogh at (this is important) 4 TIMES THE POINT SIZE THAT YOU WANT. (e.g. if you use 12-point type, create a 48-point thorn/yogh). This is necessary because the Mac bitmaps at 72 dots and then condenses to get the character, 2) look into the software package titled "fontographer", which allows you to create your own normal-sized char- acters in the Postscript font inventory. I believe Fontographer is sold by ALTYSIS. QUERY: a colleague in History is looking for historical demographic databases. I know of the Rutgers medieval db, but I believe there are others. We could use standalone PC software (Ms-Dos) or a main- frame package. The Db does not have to be medieval. Norman D. Hinton, Dept of English, Sangamon State University, Springfield, IL 62794-9243 Bitnet: SSUBIT12 @ UIUCVMD PLATO: hinton/ssu From: Elsie Bailey Subject: Question for British subscribers Date: Tue, 19 Sep 89 12:19:10 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 706 (937) I am still acting as the liaison for our teachers until we become a little (?) more organized. Question from one of our literature teachers: In reading "Jane Eyre" my class is wondering why Rochester didn't just leave his wife. We are interested in knowing the British divorce laws in the 1840's - 50's. Leslie Shaver Definitely sounds like a change in times and outlook to me. Also excuse my not underlining the title to a book. I haven't mastered that yet. Ludicrous, isn't it? Elsie Bailey From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Request for information on 'Sc'enario'" Date: Tue, 19 Sep 89 09:51:22 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 707 (938) Does anyone on Humanist use or know of someone who uses the authoring system "Sc'enario"? I had heard that a department at McGill University might be.... I'm looking specifically for a supplementary utility program called "BCDADJ" that allows the authoring system's interactive video program to be used on an AT compatible computer. Thanks, Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH) J_GOLDFI@UNHH.bitnet From: AMR06@DK0RRZK0 Subject: Montesquieu Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1989 15:07:22 CET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 708 (939) The international Montesquieu Society is planning to start a current bibliography on the works and life of Montesquieu. Please communicate information on recent books, articles, work in progress etc. to the following address and inform collegues who might be interested. Societe Montesquieu c/o Hans-Christoph Hobohm Romanisches Seminar Universitaet zu Koeln Albertus Magnus Platz D 5000 Cologne 41 FRG or : AMR06 @ DK0RRZK0 Thank you From: Hilde Colenbrander Subject: Wordprocessing software for manuscripts Date: Wed, 20 Sep 89 13:20:20 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 709 (940) A colleague of mine is looking for evaluations of the software package *Manuscript Manager: APA Style*. I am not familiar with it, but understand that it is published by Pergamon as part of the Pergamon Psychological Software series. According to the manual, Manuscript Manager 'is approved as the official software version of the American Psychological Association style for manuscript preparation based upon the APA Publication Manual'. The package requires an IBM PC or compatible with 512K memory. It is 'designed for persons who write or type journal articles, book chapters, books, dissertations and other kinds of manuscripts that must conform to the stylistic rules' of APA. Would anyone who has used Manuscript Manager care to comment on it here? Thank you very much. Hilde Colenbrander Data Library University of British Columbia Vancouver From: Lou Burnard Subject: Text archivist job Date: Tue, 19 Sep 89 18:44 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 483 (941) Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies Aboriginal Studies Computer Text Archive Applications are invited for a 3-year Fellowship. "The Fellow will establish a permanent repository for machine- readable data files (MRDFs) and supply copies of materials to Aboriginal and Islander communities and other researchers. The Fellow will create an environment for processing MRDFs, making them accessible and usable, developing research tools, such as dictionaries using lexicographic techniques. It is anticipated that the archive will be created on a Macintosh with access to other larger systems. The appointee will have an extensive knoweldge of computer archiving, with skills in programming and relevant systems management. Extensive knowledge and experience in Aboriginal studies is essential as is an understanding of anticipated research processes in one or more disciplines as they would relate to such an archive. --------------------- Salary will be in the range A$31,259 to A$36,612, depending on qualifications and experience. Further details can be obtained by contacting Dr. K. Palmer, Director of Research, at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra; tel. +61-62-461161, 497310(Fax). Written applications, including the names, addresses and telephone numbers of three referees should be directed to: The Principal AIAS GPO Box 553 Canberra ACT 2601, Australia. Closing date: September 30th, 1989." Comment: Persons interested who do not feel qualified because of lack of experience in Aboriginal studies are nevertheless encouraged to make contact. Posted by David Nash From: Willard McCarty Subject: Return and report Date: 24 September 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 484 (942) I have just returned from Oxford, where I attended the New Oxford English Dictionary Conference and used a few of the splendid libraries there. The mailing from Humanist that will shortly follow is somewhat of a jumble, for which I apologize. Unfortunately jet-lagging or simple exhaustion kept me from Humanist longer than I had anticipated, so the mail has piled up and has had to be handled in rather more of a hurry than usual. Since a driving need to plunder the libraries in the short time I had kept me from attending all of the Conference, I am in no position to report on it fairly. I trust some other Humanist will do that for us. All reports and my somewhat limited experience agree, however, that it was very successful and well attended by North Americans as well as Europeans. The organizers' wisdom in arranging for this conference to alternate between Waterloo, Ontario (where it had exclusively been held up to now), and Oxford, U.K., has been more than adequately demonstrated. Of the papers I heard at the Conference or read in the Proceedings, those by Donald Walker ("Developing Lexical Resources"), Martin Kaye ("The Concrete Lexicon and the Abstract Dictionary"), and Frank Tompa ("What is [tagged] text?") interested me in particular. Others may have a different selection. Of the ones I have noted, I was especially engaged by Walker's. His discussion of the "ecology of language, that is, the relation between particular uses of language and the contexts in which they occur" (p. 15) has some non-trivial implications for the relationship between theories of literary allusion and the work of the Text Encoding Initiative, for example. During the Conference, members of the TEI met at some length, and I had the opportunity to discuss its work with them. I learned that since the infrastructure of the TEI has been set up, its members are now welcoming vigorous discussion on all matters related to the markup of texts, literary and otherwise. Those of us computing humanists who care about what tools we may be given to handle the texts we love would be well advised to get involved, even if only as a participant in electronic discussions on the subject. For more information, contact Michael Sperberg-McQueen, U35395@UICVM, who I trust will refresh our memories about what kinds of involvement are possible. Willard McCarty From: Jan Eveleth Subject: Bibliographies Date: Thu, 21 Sep 89 15:17:52 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 710 (943) My limited experience with bibliographies has been infrequent and my reaction to available products mixed. I've seen Ref11, Notebook, and a contrived marriage between WordPerfect and WordPerfect Library which have all claimed to offer solutions. None seems to adequately address the complex bibliography needs of many humanities researchers. If others would share their experiences with electronic bibliography options, I'd be grateful. Although I've listed only pc products above, I'm equally interested in Mac alternatives. Information about bibliography software in development would also be appreciated. Jan Eveleth From: Richard Goerwitz Subject: Masoretic Text -> RSV Date: Thu, 21 Sep 89 23:02:58 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 711 (944) This message was originally submitted by goer@SOPHIST.UCHICAGO.EDU to the HUMANIST list at UTORONTO. If you simply forward it back to the list, it will be distributed with the paragraph you are now reading being automatically removed. If you edit the contributions you receive into a digest, you will need to remove this paragraph before mailing the result to the list. Finally, if you need more information from the author of this message, you should be able to do so by simply replying to this note. ----------------- Message requiring your approval (10 lines) ------------------ Does anyone have on hand a list of equivalencies between Hebrew and English or other vernacular translations; that is, does anyone have a list on hand of what verse in the former corresponds to what verse in the latter (either in toto, or just where they differ)? -Richard L. Goerwitz goer@sophist.uchicago.edu rutgers!oddjob!gide!sophist!goer From: Steve Cisler Subject: Public Access/Cultural Diversity Date: Fri, 22 Sep 89 09:53:57 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 712 (945) California State Library is trying to help public libraries improve services to their increasingly diverse ethnic populations, specifically American Indian, Hispanic, Black, and Asian/Pacific . One aspect of this is the use of computers directly by members of these groups. We want to contact people who have had experience with such uses, or who know about such projects. Send electronic mail to: Steve Cisler Apple Library sac@apple.com -or- Contact by phone: John Jewell, California State Library (916) 445-4730 From: E989003@NJECNVM Subject: Supercomputers Date: Sun, 24 Sep 89 12:24:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 713 (946) My college is considering joining JVNC, a supercomputer consortium. The opportunities for math and the sciences are fairly obvious, but what could a humanist do with a supercomputer? From: "Charles Bailey, University of Houston" Subject: Computer Viruses Date: Wed, 20 Sep 89 18:02:04 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 714 (947) I've just read an interesting paper that was jointly distributed by the United Educators Insurance Risk Retention Group and the American Council on Education called "Computer Viruses: Legal and Policy Issues Facing Colleges and Universities." For those of you with public-access computer systems in your libraries, this paper contains the warnings: "Someone damaged by a computer virus may seek to recover compensation in a civil lawsuit--and may seek a defendent with 'deep pockets'." (p. 6) "Although these principles are notoriously difficult to apply in any given case, a college might be held responsible for the negligence of a staff member (or a student, working part-time) in promulgating a program known to contain a computer virus if the employee's job involved distributing the program to others or supervising the network on which the virus spread." (p. 8) "As in all of its affairs, the college has an independent obligation to use reasonable care to protect others from forseeable harm. Even if the perpetrator of a computer virus were someone for whose acts the college could not be held vicariously responsible, a college might still be found liable on the ground that, in its role as operator of a computer system or network, it failed to use due care to prevent forseeable damage, to warn of potential dangers, or to take reasonable steps to limit or control the damage once the dangers were realized." (pp. 8-9) The paper outlines some steps universities can take to protect themselves. I got a routed photocopy of this paper and I don't know if it is is available upon demand; however, the address on the paper is: United Educators Insurance Risk Retention Group, Inc. Two Wisconsin Circle Suite 1040 Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815-9913 (301) 907-4908 From: CCNEWS EDITOR Subject: CCNEWS Articles Abstracts (Vol. 2, No. 29) Date: Fri, 22 Sep 89 17:55:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 715 (948) [The following is a sample issue for your information. For more, contact the publisher directly or simply subscribe. -- W.M.] Volume 2, Number 29 Editor: Wendy Rickard Bollentin September 22, 1989 EDUCOM ************************************************************************* CCNEWS Articles Abstracts, a service of EDUCOM, provides campus computing publications specialists with updates on articles and other materials currently available in the CCNEWS Articles Archive. To obtain an article from the archive send an interactive message or mail to: LISTSERV@BITNIC containing GET Filename Filetype. The Filename and Filetype is cited just beneath the article. Contributions to the articles database are welcome. Please send straight ASCII text (graphics are welcome and should come at the end of the article for those equipped with the proper software), 75 word wrap, ragged right, double space between paragraphs, and no tabs. Please include the following copyright information: Name of article; name of publication; volume, number, and date of issue; name of author or editor; and email address of author or editor. The CCNEWS newsletter is published bi-weekly by EDUCOM, and focuses on issues related to writing, editing, design, and production of computing newsletters and other publications. To subscribe send an interactive message or mail to LISTSERV@BITNIC containing: SUB CCNEWS FirstName LastName - Institution. Contributions to the Articles Archive and the CCNEWS Newsletter should be sent to CCNEWS@EDUCOM. [The titles of articles in this issue follow. The brief descriptive text has been deleted. --W.M.] "Protect Yourself From Viruses on the Macintosh," by Daniel C. Carr, _Connect_, NCSU Computing Center, North Carolina State University, DANIEL@NCSUVM.BITNET "Disinfectant Helps Stomp Out Macintosh Viruses," by Daniel C. Carr, _Connect_, NCSU Computing Center, North Carolina State University, DANIEL@NCSUVM.BITNET "MIPS: Meaningless Instructions Per Second?" by Billy Barron, University of North Texas VAX System Manager, BILLY@UNTVAX From: SUSAN@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: ALLC-ACH Conference 1990 Call for Papers Date: Fri, 22 SEP 89 15:59:13 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 716 (949) CALL FOR PAPERS ALLC-ACH90 'THE NEW MEDIUM' 17th International Conference of the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing 10th International Conference on Computing in the Humanities 5 - 9 June 1990 University of Siegen, Federal Republic of Germany Papers are invited on all aspects of computing in linguistics, ancient and modern languages and literature, and humanities disciplines such as history, philosophy, art, archaeology and music which have methodologies in common with textual computing. Authors should send 6 copies of a 1000-1500 word abstract of their proposed papers to the Conference Organiser Professor Dr Helmut Schanze ALLC/ACH Conference Universitat Gesamthochschule Siegen Postfach 101240 D-5900 Siegen Federal Republic of Germany Telephone: (0271) 740-4110 E-mail: ANGST@DSIHRZ51 (BITNET) by 1 NOVEMBER 1989. Acceptance notice: 1 February 1990 Early registrations: 1 April 1990 Details of proposed software demonstrations, poster sessions or session themes, should also be sent to the Conference Organiser by 1 November 1989. International Programme Committee: Paul Bratley (Universite de Montreal) Paul Fortier (University of Manitoba) Jacqueline Hamesse (Universite Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve, Programme Committee Chair) Susan Hockey (Oxford University) Nancy Ide (Vassar College) Randall Jones (Brigham Young University) Robert Oakman (University of South Carolina) Helmut Schanze (Universitat Siegen, Conference Organiser) Antonio Zampolli (Universita di Pisa) -------------------- [A copy of this announcement will be kept on the file-server, s.v. NUMEDIUM CONFRNCE. It may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Willard McCarty Subject: new topical collections Date: 24 September 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 717 (950) Most of you will be aware that from time to time I group together submissions from Humanists into topical collections and place them on the file-server. These are named "title TOPIC-n", where "n" is the volume number. The following are new. ACADEMIC TOPIC-1 the academy and its concerns; sometimes to overlaps with FORUM. ACADEMIC TOPIC-6 BIBSYS TOPIC-2 bibliographic systems and to concerns. BIBSYS TOPIC-3 EMAIL TOPIC-2 nature and use to of electronic mail. ETEXTS TOPIC-3 FORUM TOPIC-4 arguments on to divers subjects. FORUM TOPIC-5 HARDWARE TOPIC-5 mostly on the design to of computing hardware as imagined HARDWARE TOPIC-6 by humanists. HUMCOMP TOPIC-4 humanities computing to in general. HUMCOMP TOPIC-6 SCANNERS TOPIC-6 optical scanning and to scanners, including software. SCANNERS TOPIC-7 These collections are not substantially edited, and the topical filing I do is sometimes rough-and-ready. For the imperfections I apologize; for the contents see the authors concerned. Willard McCarty From: Mike Roch Subject: Laptop power supplies. Date: Fri, 22 Sep 89 12:06 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 718 (951) The problems of fully recharging laptops' batteries may be due to the 'memory effect' experienced with some types of rechargable batteries. Such batteries apparently charge less efficiently when not fully discharged. Deliberately letting the batteries run down completely removes this effect and (allegedly) increases battery life. This information was given in a supplement to a UK computer magazine, 'Personal Computer World', in August 1989. Also described was a memory resident program called 'Battery Watch' which acts as a guage of charge remaining. Another facility of this program is 'deep discharge' which allows you to run down your batteries as fast as possible. The UK distributor is Softsel (01-568 8866) and its price is 34.50 pounds. Mike Roch From: RREINER@YORKVM1 Subject: Re: Laptop batteries Date: Fri, 22 Sep 89 11:21:28 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 719 (952) I can confirm the suggestion that fully discharging nickel-cadmium batteries will restore their capacity to deliver a full charge. It may be neccessary to discharge them several times to do it. In order to discharge them fully, the following technique is reccomended: leave the machine running some disk-intensive process until the power fails. Wait half an hour, and do it again. Repeat until the machine cannot be turned on at all after a half-hour wait. Here is a batch file that can be used as the disk-intensive process required: Rem DISCHARGE.BAT: for discharging laptop batteries echo off cls :TopOfLoop dir a: dir b: Goto TopOfLoop Rem DISCHARGE.BAT ends If your computer does not have two floppy drives, this will of course need to be changed. Richard J. Reiner BITNET == rreiner@vm1.yorku.ca InterNet == grad3077@writer.yorku.ca CompuServe == 73457,3257 From: SIRC@vm.utcs.utoronto.ca Subject: Re: 3.471 Computing & dearth of PhDs.... (24) Date: Fri, 15 Sep 89 10:43:40 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 720 (953) there are four people at this workshop. simon is a people too. From: James O'Donnell Subject: Manuscript Manager Query Date: 22 Sep 89 11:36:02 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 721 (954) If Amer. Psych. Assoc. style is the desideratum, you should at least look into Nota Bene, which comes with several optional style sheets, including one for Amer. Psych. Certainly a high-powered word processor (I think of it as my Maserati, while WordPerfect is my Volvo), and might be more widely used and supported than something more specialized (though, as with Maseratis and Volvos, WordPerfect is still more widely used). From: "M. R. Sperberg-McQueen " Subject: German quotation Date: 22 September 1989 18:45:41 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 722 (955) The lines inquired about are the opening lines of Friedrich Hoelderlin's poem Patmos; my pocket version of Friedrich Beissner's edition has a slightly different wording, and the line breaks as follows: Nah ist Und schwer zu fassen der Gott. I don't see anything in Beissner's notes to the poem indicating textual variants to those first two lines, but it's certainly possible that there are some. --Marian Sperberg-McQueen Univ. of Illinois at Chicago From: Michael Ossar Subject: Query on German poetry Date: Fri, 22 Sep 89 14:39 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 723 (956) I believe Mike Neuman's inquiry refers to the beginning lines of Friedrich Hoelderlin's "Patmos," which read: Nah ist Und schwer zu fassen der Gott. Wo aber Gefahr ist, waechst Das Rettende auch. These lines are alluded to, by the way, in Paul Celan's "Tenebrae": Nah sind wir, Herr, nahe und greifbar. Gegriffen schon, Herr, ineinander verkrallt, etc. See also Psalms 34:9, 145:18. Michael Ossar Kansas State University (mlo at ksuvm) From: Michael W Jennings Subject: Re: 3.482 queries Ger. poetry, software, Brit. law, etc (162) Date: Sat, 23 Sep 89 16:12:25 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 724 (957) The line should read "Nah ist / Und schwer zu fassen der Gott." It is the first line of Friedrich Hoelderlin's poem "Patmos." Mike Jennings German Princeton University mwjennin@pucc From: db Subject: Re: 3.482 queries Ger. poetry, software, Brit. law, etc (162) Date: Sun, 24 Sep 89 07:25:14 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 725 (958) This is a tangential answer to the question on a wordprocessor for APA style. I know nothing about that software, but Nota-Bene does a lovely job with the APA style-sheet; perhpas it is not as detailed as the other one. Daniel Boyarin Bar-Ilan University From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.482 queries Ger. poetry, software, Brit. law, etc (162) Date: Fri, 22 Sep 89 12:56:37 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 726 (959) Historical demography The most sophisticated use of U.S. census materials I know is The Great American History Machine by David Miller, Carnegie- Mellon U. Manfred Thaller (thalle@DGOGWDG1.BITNET) has developed kleio for MS-DOS machines as an all-purpose historian's workstation; and I believe that he has a good bit of demographical data available with it. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: Ronen Shapira Subject: ph.d. and computers Date: Thu, 21 Sep 89 22:09:59 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 727 (960) i must say that i am puzzled by the postings that rcommended against the use of commputers in ph.d, maybe because i am thinking about such a thesis. the qustion i have is weather this recommendation is for any use of computer or just for getting to much involved with them? that is, what about using existing databases, software and hardware without trying to develop knew ones? it seems to me that the recommendation against the use of computers can apply to any research done with them in humanities. one cam always say that mastering the knew techniques consume precious time that could be used for more "fruitus" activities. ronen shapira tel aviv From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Predictions Concerning the Shortage of Huamnists Date: Fri, 22 Sep 89 08:31:03 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 728 (961) Mr. Bob Kraft wonders whether or not I believe the predictions that humanists will be in short supply in coming years. My answer is yes and no. Yes there probably will be a shortage, but no, it probably won't be as serious as predicted. Mr. Kraft will surely recall that the overproduction of Ph.D.s in the 1960s and 1970s resulted from predictions of an expansionist market. Isn't it wiser to aim for a steady, regular supply than to waver between over- and under-supply, over-exploiting every opening or grieving over every shortage? As for persons who might want to return to the academy: I've directed the work of several dissertations of persons who are well beyond the normal graduate school age (persons in their 40s and 50s). I've never found that academics welcome these people (or persons who have been out of the academy for any time). Rather, these persons are usually met confronted with age, culture, class, and ideology discrimination of the worst kind. The most serious offenders are against older students are generally younger scholars who present themselves as social activists or reformers. From: Brian Whittaker Subject: Re: 3.481 responses: phds, batteries, fonts & more (345) Date: Fri, 22 Sep 89 10:47:22 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 489 (962) A D D I N G C H A R A C T E R S T O M A C I N T O S H F O N T S The Macintosh is probably the easiest computer to use for the development of new fonts or for adding exotic characters to existing fonts, since the MAC treats all output to screen or paper as graphic output. That is, the computer *draws* everything, including letters and numbers. This is why Apple has never marketed a daisy-wheel printer for the MAC. This approach makes it relatively simple to add a new letter or even have assign a key to display and print a logo or picture. There are at present three major categories of font in use with the Macintosh, bit-mapped, Bitstream and Postscript. Bitstream fonts are used chiefly with middle-range printers, including ink-jet and modestly priced lasers; as far as I know, there is no easy way for a user to create or modify a Bitstream font. Bit-mapped fonts are used for the output to the screen and to dot-matrix printers (Apple Imagewriter I and II, Imagewriter LQ); bit-mapped fonts for the MAC are conventionally named after cities, hence GENEVA, NEW YORK, CHICAGO, BOSTON. Postscript fonts are used mainly for output to Postscript-compatible laser printers or to the high-resolution printers used by large printing houses; Postscript fonts are derivations of the type faces we are familiar with from books and magazines, and have traditional names like Times, Helvetica, New Baskerville, Bookman. FONTASTIC, from Altsys corporation, is the best-known program for editing bit-mapped fonts, and may be used for adding new characters or creating an entirely new font. I believe the price is around a hundred dollars. The display for working on a character is similar to the enlarged display available with most "paint" programs, and the user is able to build the character using a limited palette of line-drawing tools and by adding and deleting individual dots. One characteristic of the way the Macintosh prints text is that when set to "Best" quality printing it seeks out double the size of type selected in the word processor and reduces the characters to half height and half width, thus printing the letters with four times as many dots of one quarter the original size, for a significant gain in resolution. Thus if you format text in 12pt New York, the computer will print it using 24pt New York shrunk to one- quarter size; if the double-size font is not in the system, the output will be in poor quality 12-pt. This is the way the Imagewriter I and II work; the Imagewriter LQ works in a similar fashion, but uses triple-sized fonts for even higher resolution. Another consequence of this system is that the individual characters in the double-sized font must be exactly twice as wide as the corresponding characters in the primary font ("a" in 24pt New York must be exactly twice as many dots wide, including the space before and after, as "a" in 12pt New York, otherwise the correspondence between the length of the line of type on screen and in the printout will break down, with consequent chaos in word-wrap and hyphenation. Simple mathematics shows that a set of fonts developed with this double-size correspondence will not work well on an Imagewriter LQ, which requires a similar correspondence for triple-size characters, nor will a set of fonts developed for the LQ work well with the Imagewriter I and II. FONTOGRAPHER, also from Altsys, is the best-known program for editing Postscript fonts on the Macintosh. It works like the "draw" programs, allowing the user to manipulate an enlarged graphic on the screen, then storing the result as a mathematical fomula, such as centre point and radius for a circle, rather than recording the location of each individual dot. This method produces a character that can be easily scaled up or down, So it is only necessary to develop one character set, whereas with bit-mapped fonts, a separate character set must be developed for each size. However, since most Macintosh screens display bit-mapped fonts, it is generally necessary to develop a set of bit-mapped display fonts to correspond to the Postscript printing font in order to maintain correspondence between display and output. (There are typesetting programs that allow the user to define the format of the printout independently of the appearance of the screen, but people usually buy Macintoshes because they like a reasonably accurate on-screen preview of what the final product will look like.) Beyond these mechanical considerations, there are more interesting design criteria, but I fear this message is rather long already. I have developed Old English characters (thorn, eth, yogh) as well as a few usefull extras, like a one-pixel space for aligning things precisely, for the sizes of the New York typeface distributed by Apple (9, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 24 and 36pt) as well as full character sets for 28 and 40pt New York, to make it possible to print 14 and 20pt. in "Best" quality. I am considering doing the same for 48, 56 and 72pt. New York to make "Best" quality printing possible in 24, 28 and 36pt. I am quite willing to share the results of my labours if there is any interst. (Having argued last week for the place of scholarly, non-computer messages on Hunamist, I thought perhaps I should do penance by contributing something on the technical side.) Brian Whittaker Department of English, Atkinson College, York University Downsview, Ontario. From: DONWEBB@CALSTATE (Donald Webb) Subject: Fraktured hearts, etc. Date: Sat, 23 Sep 89 02:51:51 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 490 (963) [The following has been extracted with permission from a personal note to me. Any further discussion on e-mail would be welcome by many, I'd guess. --W.M.] [You] "an e-mail discussion has conversational elements (unlike a letter, say) and so is a genre that requires something more than words -- as distinguished from metatextual commentary" You've neatly summed up a phenomenon that has been noticed by many if not all regular users of e-mail, namely, that it can communicate more powerfully than a letter, though perhaps less so, or in other ways, than a telephone call. Why should this be? Because e-mail transmits enormous amounts of information very quickly and at low cost. Indeed, quantity and speed depend largely upon the sender's writing and typing skills. The reply time can be so short that, as you and others have noted, e-mail can become qualitatively different from postal correspondence, despite superficial similarities, and take on characteristics of an oral conversation. To quote a colleague with whom I've discussed the subject: "In the case of surface mail, given the time lag, ideas tend to ripen, grow, perhaps change, so that when the subject is taken up again, it may wander off in quite a different direction then that taken at the beginning. With e-mail, you can stick to the main path, any deviations are done consciously, voluntarily. This is how e-mail ressembles conversation: immediate feedback." If you'll permit an analogy, e-mail is to a conversation as letter mail is to a formal address or speech delivered to an assembly. What does an oral conversation have that e-mail does not? Tone of voice and body language. "Emoticons," as well as innovative punctuation and metacommentary, are attempts to supply in visual shorthand emotional overtones that are handled perhaps more at length in postal correspondence or omitted altogether. The point of this discussion is obvious to many but not, I think, to all. It is quite appropriate to use e-mail as a quick and cheap means of sending formal communications, such as memoranda, letters, papers, announcements, computer programs, etc. But those who restrict themselves to that are missing a lot. While the telephone may have supplanted written correspondence to a large extent, e-mail has revived it with a vengeance. It will be interesting indeed to see how the genre develops. Don Webb (DonWebb@CalState) From: Eldad Salzmann +972 3 472406 Subject: Hanging NB; Shortcomings of the ordinary PC Date: Sun, 24 Sep 89 20:31:25 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 729 (964) Recently I've discovered a strange behaviour of NB on a Toshiba 1200 laptop: after a friend of mine stored files written with NB 3.0 and called them back to screen (files which were stored on another day were called as well), the computer halted and we had to reboot in order to continue working... Needless to say, there was nothing to do but to resort to word processors other than NB. The computer in question is, as I already noted before, a Toshiba 1200, with 20Meg hard disk and a 3.5" drive, with a connection to a 5.25" drive. It has 640K of RAM. Has anyone encountered a similar problem? Willard has mentioned in this respect NB's inability to define large portions of text. In my opinion this is indeed related to hanging of the computer from time to time, but I don't exclude other reasons as well. Yet, the problem *I* mentioned apparently doesn't stem from this shortcoming of NB, since it's a matter of even a small file which is CAlled to screen after it has been STored and from that moment on the computer is stuck. The problem I was trying to allude to (as I see it) is related to a "bug", so to speak, which lies with this laptop (Toshiba 1200), and this is what I am trying to verify with the help of other members of our list. We can well widen the scope of the discussion to include the question of how well the ordinary PC is capable of coping with the needs of our daily programs (programs like NB, WordPerfect etc.) in terms of memory, etc. We are all aware of DOS's ability to address only 640K of RAM. Has anyone tried to overcome this barrier? If we are put it bluntly, is there any "generic" way to make NB or other wordprocessors (or any other program, for that matter) capable of using extended or expanded memory? I know Lotus is capable of accessing more than 640K, but as I heard it is then much slower than when it uses the ordinary maximum portion of the RAM (i.e. 640K). I have already read (although I can't remember for sure whether it was on the NotaBene list as well) about someone who tried to work with Carousel together with NB and ran into problems (the program got stuck...). Are there any other circumventions to cope with the limits imposed on us by the (forgive me...) obsolescent DOS? Shlomo Aronson, with whom I'm building a textbasing mechanism based on NB, has urged me to send this letter to Humanist following problems he had encountered (meagre memory left for NB, slowness of the ordinary PC XT computer etc.). Maybe others have already thought about the above problems (and, which is more important, came up with any solutions). I thus hope my letter can trigger some interesting thoughts and discoveries. Eldad Salzmann ------=------ P.O.Box 53160 Tel Aviv 61531 Tel: 972-3-472406 Israel Fax: 972-3-5446090 From: RHG at PSUVM (Robert H. Gannon) Subject: Request for research ideas Date: 22 September 1989, 14:24:02 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 730 (965) To: L-ENGL I need some research tips. I'm looking for something that would seem to be easy to locate, but for some reason remains illusive. I need something that shows the half dozen top reasons people put off going to the doctor. I can guess--denial, lack of time, distrust of the profession, money, and so on--but I need something with some evidence attached. I've done the obvious--talked with the AMA, searched the large data bases--but nothing seems to jell. Any ideas? From: LNGDANAP@UOGUELPH Subject: translation query Date: Mon, 25 Sep 89 18:44:57 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 731 (966) Could someone supply the correct French term for "computer conference"? Is te'le'confe'rence limited to video and videotext conferencing? Many thanks. From: "Michael Sperberg-McQueen 312 996-2477 -2981" Subject: Text Encoding Initiative -- how to lend a hand Date: 25 September 1989 17:17:04 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 492 (967) In his report from Oxford, Willard mentions the Text Encoding Initiative, observing--quite correctly--that it welcomes participation in the effort at all levels and hoping for a description of the levels of participation possible. How could we refuse such an invitation? LEVEL ZERO: Subscribe to TEI-L @ UICVM TEI-L is a Listserv discussion list (just like Humanist) concerned with text encoding in general and the TEI in particular. To use it, you need to know only how to use your local electronic mail facilities to send and receive messages--which, as a good Humanist, you already do. Use them to send a message to the address (mutatis mutandis) LISTSERV @ UICVM. The message you contain will be processed by the LISTSERV program itself, rather than any human agency, and so must conform to the following strict syntax: SUBSCRIBE TEI-L XXX In place of XXX you should write two or more words by which you wish to identified on messages you send out. Thus, for example: SUBSCRIBE TEI-L Emmanuel A. Smorgasborg ListServ won't care what name you use--though other subscribers might. It is customary to use your own name. If you want to see who else is currently subscribed, send another message which reads: REVIEW TEI-L LEVEL 1: AIR YOUR VIEWS ON TEI-L TEI-L has been set up to enable you to raise specific questions about text encoding problems and to provide a channel for discussion about (for example) what can or should be tagged in text, and what cannot or should not. We see it as a subdivision of HUMANIST--though deplorably short of Willard's. If you are worried about a specific problem, whether it be literary allusion or the encoding of coffee stains on a papyrus, we want you to expatiate first on TEI-L. LEVEL 2: ENLIST! As you probably know by now, the TEI has four working committees, each of which is responsible for producing a draft set of guidelines by early next year. That work will involve significant amounts of effort in drafting and reviewing, quite apart from the intellectual demands involved in proposing tag sets for the whole spectrum of scholarly research which is the TEI's brief. Volunteers to read and comment in detail on drafts proposed for a specific area are particularly needed. The four committees and the subcommittees with which they are beginning their work have been described before on Humanist. To refresh the collective memory, however, we recapitulate below. Committee on TEXT DOCUMENTATION: tags for identifying the source (copy text) of an electronic text, tags for bibliographic identification of the electronic version itself, and other text-level labeling. No subgroups. Head: C. M. Sperberg-McQueen, U35395 @ UICVM or U35395 @ UICVM.UIC.EDU Committee on TEXT REPRESENTATION: tags for representing texts and textual features for which typographic or manuscript conventions exist. First targets: common text types, alphabetic languages (notably those of the EEC, Hebrew). Head: Stig Johansson, H_JOHANSSON%USE.UIO.UNINETT @ CERNVAX or stig @ norunit Subfields: Character sets and transliteration schemes (Steven DeRose, Summer Institute of Linguistics, D106GFS @ UTARLVM1) Literary texts, including epic, poems, novels, drama (Elli Mylonas, Harvard University, Project Perseus, ELLI @ HARVUNXW) Historical sources and other structured texts, including apparatus criticus, data representation (Manfred Thaller, Max-Planck- Institut fuer Geschichte, Goettingen, MTHALLE @ DGOGWDG1) Technical, scientific, and office documents (Roberto Cencioni, Commission of the European Communities, Roberto_Cencioni_EUROTRA_CEC @ eurokom.ie) Corpora of linguistic samples like the Brown or LOB corpora (Stig Johansson, University of Oslo, see addresses above) Philosophical texts (Allen Renear, Brown University, ALLEN @ BROWNVM) Religious texts (Robin Cover, Dallas Theological Seminary, ZRCC1001 @ SMUVM1) Problems common to many text types (David Chesnutt, University of South Carolina, N330004 @ UNIVSCVM) Committee on TEXT ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION: tags for information of interest to research but for which no specific typographic or manuscript conventions are well established. First target: linguistic tagging at sub-sentential level. Subfields: Phonology (William Poser, Stanford, poser @ crystals.stanford.edu) Morphology (Steven Anderson, Johns Hopkins, anderson @ cs.jhu.edu) Dictionaries (Robert Amsler, Bellcore, amsler @ flash.bellcore.com) Lexicon, esp. tagging of running texts at lexical level (Robert Ingria, BBN) -- these may function as a dictionary / lexicon subcommittee headed by Amsler and Ingria Syntax: tags for delimiting phrase structures etc. (Mitch Marcus, Pennsylvania, mitch @ linc.cis.upenn.edu) Committee on METALANGUAGE and SYNTAX ISSUES: specification of the exact form of SGML to be used in the TEI guidelines, and development of a metalanguage for the formal description of encoding schemes. No subcommittees. Head: David T. Barnard, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont., barnard @ qucis.queensu.ca If you want to help, you should first check the list above to see which committee is of most relevance to your interests and expertise and then get in touch with the contact person named there. (A fuller form of this list, describing the current overall organisation of the TEI project and specifying responsibilities and contact persons for all of its committees and subcommittees, will be available from TEI-L and also from the Humanist Fileserver). If the list doesn't help, then please get in touch with the nearest Editor or Committee Head. If you have already tried to get involved with the TEI and heard nothing, please bear with us for a while. You should hear from someone very shortly. In closing -- The TEI is an undertaking of the textual computing community in general, not of a small coterie. Its results will be only as good and complete as the work of that community makes possible. And the areas best developed in the encoding guidelines produced by the TEI will be those which have attracted the most work. -Michael Sperberg-McQueen, Lou Burnard Editors, ACH / ACL / ALLC Text Encoding Initiative University of Illinois at Chicago, Oxford University Computing Service From: James O'Donnell Subject: nature of e-mail Date: 24 Sep 89 16:58:49 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 732 (968) 1. E-mail also makes possible a new kind of community, the way writing made it possible for Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, and Christians of antiquity for create communities bound together over wide territorial areas of a kind that had been impossible without writing. 2. The advance of technology is ever more angelic: the other participants on HUMANIST appear to me as pure, disembodied intelligences. 3. True of e-mail generally and not just HUMANIST: this is not an activity anybody would ever get involved in (to put this as crudely as possible) as a way to meet girls. That is worrisome. (Unless there is a net called FEMINIST whirring away somewhere I don't know about: I hope so.) From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: Date: 25 September 1989, 09:35:26 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 733 (969) What is different between e-mail and correspondence on paper *and* oral communication is its intimacy and its anonymity. The writer can be in pajamas or nightgown, up in the middle of the night or in the early morning, at home or at the office, and the reader can't *see* him or her. It is hard for the writer to be hypocritical (I think) because there is no viewer to play off of or play up to. If I write for a large e-mail audience like Humanist, I have to purge egocentrism and practice self-effacement, and I have to watch what I say, but I still can say something any time I feel like it and whenever I am within reach of a modem. Anonymity can equal honesty, under some good conditions, and being in one's home or even in a semi-private office tends to make one relax and talk freely. If I write something for Humanist, yes, I am conscious of being in something like an auditorium, but perhaps in an auditorium where the lecturer and the auditors are both permitted to be naked, but that is all right, because noone can see anyone else. Cheers, Roy From: Geoff Rockwell Subject: Re: 3.490 nature of e-mail (62) Date: Mon, 25 Sep 89 11:38:20 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 734 (970) The Next mail software offers the possibility to add voice tags to e-mail, giving it the convenience of mail (the recipient does not have to be there to recieve it) and the subtleties of voice. I say this not having used the voice mail capabilities, has anyone used such a system? How does the combination of text and voice change the character of the communication? Is the extra hardware and storage needed worth it? Yours Geoffrey R. rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca From: Subject: Lithuanian (and other) fonts for the Mac Date: Sat, 23 Sep 89 15:37 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 735 (971) Paul Rapoport of the Dept. of Music at McMaster (and also an amateur linguist) has created one of the most complete sets of fonts for a wide variety of languages on the Macintosh. Included in his modestly priced font pack is Lithuanian. Contact him at: RAPOPORT@SSCVAX.MCMASTER.CA Sam Cioran From: db Subject: Re: 3.485 queries (107) Date: Sun, 24 Sep 89 23:21:37 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 736 (972) Dragonfly Software is due to come out with a very powerful bibliography tool in the near future. It will allow the entry of bibliographical data in a standard form (including a comment field), and then retrieval in various ways including bibliographies fully formatted according to several style sheets. From: Willard McCarty Subject: e-mail and Humanist Date: 26 September 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 737 (973) The following collection of notes wanders from consideration of e-mail in general to observations about Humanist in particular. Evidently some of us feel the cold sting of puritanical seriousness in my exercise of editorial authority, when I told those who like to talk about displaced parts that they have said too much. The Puritan way has its virtues, but these I don't want to assert at the moment. I think something far more interesting is involved. One of the most delightful aspects of Humanist is surely the exercise of wit. Pure exchanges of *information* would bore us all, or most of us. Exclusively serious argumentation would, I think, lead to a deadly combination of hardened egos and terminal depression. The leavening of wit, and the fresh winds of chance that apparent irrelevance allows, are the stuff of life, no? I keep thinking that fundamentally we lack a clear understanding of how meaning arises from discourse, and with heads muddled about such a basic issue we tend to misunderstand how a phenomenon like Humanist really works. Some of us (a moment of silence for the departed Rahtz) want no control whatsoever; some of us would take a much sterner hand to those who run on beyond the bounds of what will compute. I maintain that to strike for the middle ground is not really just or even primarily a compromise, rather an exercise of the ancient instinct to impose structure on what is beyond structure. The trick is to do so without falling fatally in love with the structure, to derive from that structure what it can give, and when it can give no more to abandon it for another. The solution is, in my mind, to exercise mindfulness about what we're doing. As several people have noted, we are semiotically impoverished, having no sight beyond the alphabet, no hearing, no sense of smell. We're also constricted by the tolerance of our membership for large volumes of mail that individuals may happen to have no use for. So, your editor's job is occasionally to supply the lack of a rude noise or two and a few nervous twitches on behalf of those who cannot handle quantities of mail that lie outside our explicit mandate. I suspect that anyone who does not like supposedly irrelevant wit will quit Humanist rather quickly. But very large numbers will surely resign if Humanist becomes a playground where the play has no serious aspect and useful information is obliterated by sportful noise. No one has charted this course before. We can do whatever we like. I listen constantly for intelligent suggestions. Willard McCarty From: John McDaid Subject: Re:3.493 (H)e-mail Date: Tue, 26 Sep 89 08:22 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 738 (974) In 3.493 (nature of e-mail, cntd) James O'Donnell writesI [deleted quotation] I'd like to take his second point first. One might hope that by "girls," O'Donnell is not referring to female minors but rather "women." A semantic critique, perhaps, but how seriously does this encourage us to take the point? Imagine the "opposite" case, a HUMANIST wondering if her colleagues use the medium as a way to meet "boys." Ack. By rephrasing to avoid gender/preference stereotypes, O'Donnell might be saying that e-mail is not an activity anybody would ever get involved in as a way to meet potential friends and/or sexual partners. If he is indeed saying that, then he is ignoring much of the information from MINITEL and has never spent time on the commercial network CB channels or RELAY. I have anecdotal evidence of a couple who met over RELAY, developed a relationship although they were 400 miles apart, and now live together in Boston. (Hi Marty. Hi Ron.) I do not presume that such examples are the rule, but I take issue with O'Donnell's gen(d)eralization. His tacit opposition of HUMANISTS and FEMINISTS is something I can not imagine civilized persons condoning. To take his first point second: to treat electronic communications as the emanations of "pure, disembodied intelligences" is to ignore everything we know (or think we know) about rhetoric. The presentation of self is always a process of employing interface-specific rhetorics. To lose sight of this is to fall prey to the numbing of awareness McLuhan warned us about: we fail to see a new medium as a medium because it is environmental. Such uncritical responses to new media leave us most at risk for being shaped by the technology rather than the other way around. Rather than ever more "angelic," one would hope that technologies will be ever more "human." -John McDaid From: "Norman D. Hinton" Subject: E-mail in classes: e-mail characteristics Date: Tue, 26 Sep 89 16:18:26 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 739 (975) 1) in response to the query about e-mail in classes: for the past 17 years I have been involved with Computer Assisted Instruction on the PLATO system, and I have used what PLATO calls "notesfiles" for extended class discussion on several occasions. There is a "Yogi Berra" factor: if they don't want to use it, you can't make them, or at least you won't get good results. But one spectacular success is probably worth talking about in context of the request. It was an Intro to Linguistics class: since I had a number of CAI lessons that were required, the class took advantage of the E-Mail/notesfile. One student was the sort that simply does not talk in class: he sat there looking glum most of the time. But when the E-Mail facility became part of the class, he blossomed: his opinions on linguistic problems, and the depth of his study became apparent to me and to the other students. Before long they were asking him questions about dif ficult concepts, both in and out of class. Oddly enough, his class behavior changed very little: he would answer a direct question, but grudgingly and in as few words as possible. But his E-mail style grew more and more animated and even spritely. By the end of the term, we all knew that he was one of the best students in the course. 2) E-mail behavior: again, from years of experience on PLATO, I have seen a lot of mail. Besides the "notesfiles" (the rough equivalent of a Bitnet discussion group), one can receive individual E-Mail ("psersonal notes, or "pnotes", in PLATO parlance), and one can "talk" in real time with another user. In general, I would say that E-mail can sometimes lend itself to rather sweeping personality changes: not only for the good, as noted above, but for the bad. It is much more common for E-mail correspondents to be grumpy and ill-tempered than in any other kind of communication I know: to my horror, I have seen myself doing it from time to time. Also, as has been noted in HUMANIST, one's correspondents take on a sort of electronic personality. Meeting a PLATO correspondent in person is sometimes quite a shock. I find that PLATO writers often write much better in E-mail than in other communication forms, albeit in a some- what compressed and telegraphic fashion. Finally, contrary to a previous HUMANIST note, one can, in fact, meet girls. I have not (being happily married for rather a number of years), but I know of several occasions in which personal notes, writing in notesfiles, and "talk"ing, couples have become engaged and gotten married (though I must note one occasion upon which, when meeting face to face, the boy and girl didn't like each other after all.) From: LNGDANAP@UOGUELPH Subject: The nature of e-mail and/or naked Humanists Date: Tue, 26 Sep 89 18:11:52 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 740 (976) Responding as a Humanist of the female gender to James O'Donnell's plaint about not meeting "girls" on this forum: there is not, to my knowledge a subterranean "Feminist" discussion group, and I would be sad if there were a need for such a separatist discussion. There is, however, something daunting about the HUMANIST discussion, speaking strictly for myself, insofar as people seem to feel a need to be "serious"! Which translates into neutral discussions of hard/software and a puritanical grumbling concerning the more free-wheeling, very humanistic discussions such as the one about Fraktured Hearts, or an earlier discussion of the linguistic dynamics of e-mail, which seems unfortunately to have died out.. I agree with Roy Flannagan's comments on the same subject, although I'm not about to describe my state of dress or undress while writing this. The image of Humanists being in a less than formal state because of the medium of the message is one that strikes me as accurate. I hope there is room in this discussion for both the technies and the dreamies (forgive the term), that we may both discuss technology and also, as humanists, allow free rein to the inspired meanderings of the intellectual muse.... From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Re: [3.478 essential purpose of HUMANIST? (was no more hearts)] Date: Tue, 26 Sep 89 13:58:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 741 (977) I'd like to support Brian Whittaker's point. Humanist is surely invaluable in invoking the assistance of a far greater number of colleagues than otherwise available in ferreting out obscure bits of information. For that reason, I was a littl sorry that Moses' dinosaurs got so swiftly squashed, though I fully appreciate Willard's dilemma as editor. I do though much appreciate the policy of putting long announcements on the listserver, which surely gets the best of both worlds. Could not a massive amount of mail in response to a particular item be treated likewise? Meanwhile, Thank you Willard for the hard work. [You're welcome, but as someone else said, my burden is light..... -W.M.] From: Donald Spaeth 041 339 8855 x6336 Subject: Shortfall of humanists (3.471) Date: 15 September 1989, 10:54:20 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 742 (978) Ah, this looks like a subject which will run and run, so I think I'll get my two cents worth in now! I've heard this canard about the imminent shortage of humanists before (i.e., in years past), but the rumours haven't been fulfilled. It's wort nothing that there is a large backlog of Ph.D.s who are not employed as academics, some of whom have hung on in the hope that new jobs would materialise. Universities have gotten out of the habit of hiring people who take too long to get a job or hold too many temporary posts, but this may have to change. On the point that is perhaps more controversial--namely whether the computer can speed up Ph.D. acquisition--I doubt it. In fact, the tendency may be in the opposite direction. The entry of data into databases/text retrieval packages is time-consuming. The availability of computer techniques is likely to encourage graduate students to take on projects which they never would have dreamed of in the past, and which would have been considered the proper reserve for mature scholars or to be impossible. Worse, it is all too easy for the student to waste months/years keying in data, happy in the knowledge that s/he is accomplishing something, but without any clear idea of how the data will be used. Computers may not have invented blind alleys but they have made them longer. And many supervisors do not have the experience themselves to help. I'm not sure I accept the premise that Ph.D.s take too long to acquire. If they do, it is the result of higher expectations combined with the poor job market. U.S. theses are expected to be books, showing awareness of a scholarship in the field and contributing new insights. Ideally, the student will finish with the first draft of a publishable book and several articles, essential for the first job and eventual tenure. Historically, theses aimed lower; they were thorough expositions of a subject, often containing large amounts of descriptive material with little analysis. This tradition has hung on longer in Britain. There's nothing wrong with the latter approach; but departments may find it difficult to modify expectations (lower standards, they will say). Donald Spaeth CTI Centre for History University of Glasgow From: Donald Spaeth 041 339 8855 x6336 GKHA13 at GLA.CMS Subject: 3.478 essential purpose of HUMANIST Date: 20 September 1989, 10:37:36 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 743 (979) My views are diametrically opposed to those recently expressed by Brian Whitaker. I find HUMANIST most useful when it enables the exchange of technical information, on such subjects as OCR and laptops, and least useful when it degenerates into an exchange of matters (e.g. hearts) entirely unrelated to computing. As a alleged expert in humanities computing, I find that communication of information is the greatest problem. I never trust the word of a computer salesman and can't try everything out myself. I find the accumulated experience expressed in HUMANIST very useful, therefore. So I think Humanist is succeeding here. A read-through of the discussion of markup earlier this year disproves the belief that a bulletin-board cannot enable in-depth discussion of technical issues. Yes, it is easy enough to skip over references to hearts, and I'm prepared to live with that as a second best solution. But, I believe a line must be drawn somewhere and fishing expeditions for material entirely unrelated to computers seem to me to be beyond the pale. If there is a demand for such a service, surely it should be formed, perhaps administered by some other willing humanities computing buff. Donald Spaeth University of Glasgow BITNET/EARN: D.A.Spaeth at GLASGOW.AC.UK JANET: D.A.Spaeth at UK.AC.GLASGOW From: "Vicky A. Walsh" Subject: Re: 3.488 PhDs, computers, humanists (56) Date: Tue, 26 Sep 89 12:28:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 497 (980) Since my dissertation would have been impossible, not merely more time consuming, without a computer, I will add my voice to those encouraging more creative use of the computer to do things not doable before, and not to be discouraging students who may come up with something we haven't thought of yet. Vicky Walsh UCLA Humanities Computing From: N.J.Morgan@VME.GLASGOW.AC.UK Subject: Divorce, PhDs and jokes Date: Tue, 26 Sep 89 08:18:41 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 498 (981) Divorce was carried out either in ecclesiastical courts (which did not permit remarriage) or by private Act of Parliament (which did, but which were slow and very expensive) prior to 1857, and the passing of the Matrimonial Causes Act, which allowed for proceedings by judicial process. The grounds for divorce were adultery, desertion or cruelty - 'a husband could obtain divorce for adultery, but a wife only for adultery with cruelty or desertion'. This all cribbed from D M Walker's Oxford Companion to Law (have you not a copy in North America ?) More to the point the availability or otherwise of legal process would have been secondary to social considerations - the characters were well aware of the law, even if this one class of students were not. Olsen is quite right on PhDs, and as I understand it (he was in Glasgow at the weekend) did not mean that computers were a 'bad thing', nor that consulting available texts or datasets was a 'bad thing', but that for the student who is working from scratch, learning principles of database design (or whatever) in addition to computational techniques places an undue burden on their research. One additional observation based on experience here is that it is hard to find an examiner who is prepared to see what merit such work has added to the thesis. And finally on displaced hearts etc. - do I take it that the draconian section of Humanist's readership are now banning jokes ? % Nicholas J Morgan % % Department of Scottish History % % University of Glasgow % Where's the rest ??? % Glasgow % % G12 8QH % From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: Mac fonts Date: Tue, 26 Sep 89 04:57:48 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 499 (982) A recent contribution detailed some aspects of Macintosh fonts, with emphasis on the tools for creating or modifying a font (to support another (natural) language, for example). I think a couple of points would provide a useful addendum for the many folks subscribing to Humanist with modest aquaintaince with the Macintosh: * Apple distributed fonts, in particular the fonts distributed since the introduction of their LaserWriter printers (e.g., the serif fonts Times, Palatino, New Century Schoolbook, sans serif fonts Helvetica and Avant Garde, and Courier typewriter-style), provide support for Western European languages. By default in systems distributed in the US, diacritics are on "dead keys" so that the diacritic is typed before the vowel (option-u followed by a yields an a with umlaut on screen and on paper); c-cedilla, ene, sz, and alternative forms of quotation, question and exclamation marks are single keystrokes which appear properly on both screen and paper with no additional effort. (Incidentally, these character sets also include proper opening and closing quotation marks in addition to typewriter-style dual-purpose, ellipsis dots as a single character, en- and em-dashes.) * The distinction between Imagewriter or bitmapped fonts, and Laserwriter or Postscript fonts is important, but from a strictly users' point of view often matters little. Because Postscript fonts require a corresponding bitmapped version to display on the screen, they can in fact be used to print on Imagewriter (dot matrix printers); printer drivers will cull the bitmapped fonts from your system. Postscript laser pritners are likewise capable of printing any font displayed; if the Postscript description is unavailable, the font will be printed as bitmapped graphics. The results are generally no worse than the corresponding Imagewriter output, and with the printer's option set for smoothing, output can be sruprisingly good. The net is, that while best quality is obtained by matching font types to the intended printer you can use either font with either printer for useable output and if a font you need is available in only one format, go ahead and use it. * If the default dead key and option-key scheme is inconvenient (for example, if you touch type on a German keyboard with sz and umlauted vowels on the keyboard, or a French "azerty" keyboard layout) it is possible to use a wide variety of "international" systems with alternative keyboard layouts. Because fonts and keyboard layout are all functions of the Mac operating system, no other changes are required in your software. (However, date and time formats and alphabetical sorting will be altered along with the keyboard; a few applications may ignore or make assumptions about these international resources and thus become confused on these matters when you switch to another "nationality.") [* If, however, you are one of those bi-lingual-typists who would like to flip back and forth bewteen two different keyboard arrangements, the Apple-supplied scheme will not help much. You might want to use Dartmouth's Alternate Keyboard resource which allows you to switch between different keyboard layouts (here "keyboad layout" includes the entire string of events from key presses to internal character representation, so allows you to move or create new "dead key" combinations as well as interchange the positions of printable characters). Right now we have standard French, German and Spanish keyboard layouts, and three alternative layouts for Russian. The Russian layouts are designed to work with a commercial laser Cyrillic font, which of course we do not supply.] * For alphabetic languages *other than* Western European, there are literally hundreds of fonts - many of them public domain, others costing up to $150 - available. Many fonts exist for Greek (ancient and modern), Cyrillic languages, Korean, and a number of South Asian languages. A properly constructed font will work with virtually any Macintosh application which supports fonts: essentially all word processors and other text tools, as well as most grpahics programs. However, a font will not automatically reverse the direction of writing, so that Hebrew and Arabic require, in addtion to appropriate fonts, specialized software (assuming you are unwilling to type backwards!). This particular fault may be corrected in rumored future versions of the Mac operating system. * Non-alphabetic languages such as Chinese and Japanese require, pretty obviously, more than a font. This is a topic for another contribution. From: "David Owen, Philosophy, University of Arizona" and . The price will be around 100 pounds sterling, though discounts will be available for members of some organizations, as will site licenses. The texts will be available in both IBM and Mac formats, and will be held in plain ASCII with minimal markup. The project was initiated by Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who also did the scanning. The release of these texts is most welcome, and comes after some years of uncertainty among those scholars in the history of early modern philosophy about the status of proposed (and perhaps actual) electronic versions of the Selby-Bigge Hume. If I scanned a copy of the Selby-Bigge , or even a portion of it, for my own use, would I be in any copyright violation? Would it differ from making a photocopy so that I could use the wider margins for textual notes? Could I pass a copy of the resultant electronic text on to friends for no charge, or perhaps charging only for the "added value"? With the release of these texts by OUP, all these issues become moot, at least insofar as the Selby-Bigge Hume is concerned. There is some possibility that OUP may release as well a straight ASCII version of the fourth edition of Locke's , edited by Nidditch. This project was initiated by Richard Malpas, of Oxford University, who wanted the text available online for study by Oxford philosophy undergraduates. The text was scanned by the Oxford University Computing Services. The release of this text is much desired by Locke scholars, and is likely to whet their appetite for something more substantial. The printed Nidditch edition, though using the fourth edition as the base text, contains all the variants from the first through the fifth edition, and is thus an invaluable tool for Locke scholars. The possible release of the straight fourth edition raises the question, when can we have an electronic version that contains all the variants in Nidditch? The problems here transcend the technical problems of scanning and the legal problems of copyright. It is a comparatively simple matter to create a straight ASCII text of a single edition. But how to encode the variants from five editions? Not only is there little agreement on how to flag the variants, there is the thorny conceptual problem of how to structure the electronic text so as to include all the variants. The result will not be a simple text, but a complex textual database. The Text Encoding Initiative, sponsored by the Association for Computing and the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities is addressing these issues, but it will be sometime before they are resolved. Similar issues arise with respect to Hume. Under the editorship of David Norton, Tom Beauchamp and Sandy Stewart, Princeton University Press will publish the first critical edition of Hume's works. The , the two and the are well under way. Naturally enough, those working on these editions are using computer tools. So by the time Princeton publishes the printed critical editions, electronic versions of those texts will already be in existence. One can only hope that the electronic versions will be released at the same time as the printed versions, but such a move would be unprecedented and publishers are understandably nervous about its effect on book sales. In my opinion, the co-release of electronic and printed versions would enhance rather than detract from book sales. Anyone who has spent any time in front of a computer screen will agree that that is not the way one reads a book! Princeton will need encouragement from all scholars in the area. In another development, Mark Rooks, of Context Editions, Route 2, Box 383, Pittsboro, NC 27312 (919-542-4411) has announced the release on November 1, 1989, of electronic versions of the works of Locke, Berkeley and Hume, with those of Hobbes and Mill following within the month. Context is using public domain texts to avoid copyright problems, and is bundling the texts with Folio Views text searching software. The price is astonishing. Context plans to charge $39.95 for the works of the first philosopher ordered, and $29.95 for subsequent philosophers. The works of Hume, for instance, will include the , the , the , the and the . And the package of disks received will include the software to search those texts once installed on a hard disk. Context has done their own scanning and proof reading, and all the texts are already indexed for use with the searching software. The minimum configuration required is an IBM PC compatible with 512K RAM and a hard disk. For $100, one could have electronic access to all the main texts of Locke, Berkeley and Hume. A year or two ago, I would have disapproved of Context's effort. Why use antiquated and possibly corrupt texts when the REAL thing will soon be available? On reflection, the answer is obvious. Context's texts are available now, and they are affordable. An antiquated text on one's computer and a copy of Selby-Bigge in hand is a better alternative to Selby-Bigge in hand on its own. Scholars will probably buy Context's offering now, Oxford's Selby-Bigge next spring, and Princeton's critical edition as soon as it is available. Others will buy nothing but Context, or just Selby-Bigge. The point is that three different electronic versions of Hume or Locke, with wide price differentials, will appeal to different markets with different purposes. Perhaps teachers will use the Context editions for classroom use. There are many who will buy the Context editions at $39.95 who would think twice about paying 100 pounds sterling for OUP's Selby-Bigge edition. But having bought it, perhaps they will become convinced of the value of text processing and go on to buy the Selby-Bigge version, or even the Princeton one when, and if, it appears. One thing is sure; the availability of electronic texts in philosophy is likely to change the habits of philosophers in the 1990's as much as the availability of word processing did in the 1980's. David Owen, September, 1989 From: Willard McCarty Subject: Greek query Date: 27 September 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 744 (984) A colleague of mine here in Italian cannot find the sources for two Greek quotations. If you have any clues, we'd be grateful for them. Here are the mysterious quotations: oudei's prosaito-^n e-ra'the- broto-^n (attrib. to Menander but cannot be found in his works or pseudo-works) tu'po-n metabolai' ou' te aphrosu'ne-n aphairou^ntai, ou^te phro'ne-sin dida'skusi (attrib. to one of the 7 sages) Here e- means eta, o- omega, and accent follows the letter. Thanks very much! Willard McCarty From: D.Mealand@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: Magee,Burnyeat & Plato Date: 27 Sep 89 11:53:14 bst X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 745 (985) A year or two ago I saw an excellent TV discussion on Plato between Brian Magee and M.F. Burnyeat. I showed the video of this to my students once and then dutifully wiped it. The text came out in print from BBC. Sadly I have lost the title of the book. Much worse I can't find it filed under Magee in any reference work I have used. I KNOW the book exists, Please can any reader of this BB tell me the title. (It isn't the earlier series Men of Ideas). David M. From: Michael W Jennings Subject: Re: 3.495 e-mail and Humanist (209) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 08:54:43 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 746 (986) In his discussion of wit, Willard uses the term "terminal depression." Is this a technical term? Does it affect users or the terminals them- selves? What are its symptoms? References to any scholarly research on the topic would be appreciated. Mike Jennings Princeton University From: Al Essa Subject: Logic Font Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 09:57:16 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 747 (987) Can anyone recommend a font for logic symbols on the macintosh? Thanks, Al Essa From: Jody Gilbert Subject: request re: computer assited textual analysis Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 11:53:54 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 748 (988) A portion of my English thesis is going to deal with computer-assited analysis of texts. I would appreciate names of programs and the systems they run on, brief descriptions and reviews of said programs, and references to more extensive articles on such programs in general or specific. I am interested in programs that run on any system, micro, mini, and mainframe and programs that do or assist ANY sort of textual analysis from simple or not so simple searches like _Sonar_ and _Gofer_ through spell checking and grammar checking/analysis programs to programs that do sophisticated liguistic and rhetorical analysis. Thanks in advance Jody Gilbert Simon Fraser University USERDOG1@SFU.BITNET From: C. David Perry Subject: Folklorists and Electronic Publishing Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 06:19:27 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 749 (989) For a presentation at the American Folklore Society, 20 October, entitled "University Presses and Computer-Assisted Publishing" I would like to receive the experiences of persons working in folklore--or some folklore-related area--who have used the computer in preparing a project for publication by a university press. A few examples of the kind of thing that I am interested in: Preparing the manuscript on word processor and supplying the disks to the publisher Using a desktop publishing package to prepare camera-ready copy for the press Using a data base to prepare a discography or bibliography, which the press was then able to make use of in preparing the publication Putting together a video disk with mixed images and text I will also accept horror stories ("I gave them disks ready for typesetting, and they said, 'What do I do with these?'"). Please reply by mail directly to one of the addresses below. If the responses warrant, I will digest for the net. David Perry University of North Carolina Press carlos@ecsvax.bitnet carlos@uncecs.edu udpery@unc.bitnet Box 2288 Chapel Hill, NC 27515 (919) 966-3561 From: Osman.Durrani@durham.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.482 queries Ger. poetry, software, Brit. law, etc (162) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 11:38:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 750 (990) [deleted quotation]First two lines of version 1 of Hoelderlin's poem 'Patmos' (January 1803). There are three subsequent versions of this text; the last fragment begins >Voll Guet ist; keiner aber fasset / allein Gott.< From: "Guy L. Pace" Subject: NB troubles, DOS Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 10:29:23 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 751 (991) I felt the need to respond to Salzmann's complaint/query: [deleted quotation] You may need to look at the number of memory resident programs loaded, in addition to DOS. While you have 640K available when you turn it on, once booted, the system be only have as little as 400K. This may put a crimp in NB's style. [deleted quotation] Actually, I don't think there is a "bug" in your laptop. It could be that NB is looking for something the laptop does not have, or the installation of NB is incorrect for your hardware (like it thinks you have more memory to play with, or another disk drive available). [deleted quotation] DOS really is limited to 1MB of memory. However, between 640K and 1MB is reserved for special purposes like video, memory paging. The problem isn't current hardware or current software. The problem is the requirement for DOS to meet the needs of the lowest common denomenator. The memory limitation is imposed on DOS by the 8088/8086 family of microprocessors. The 80286, 80386 and on can directly address more memory, however, with DOS they cannot. An attempt at getting past the 1MB limit is OS/2. But, OS/2 needs 2 to 4 megs of RAM just to boot up. The only hope of getting a cheap DOS that can use more than 640K is if the 8088/8086 microchips die off (that means abandoning your XTs) and DOS can be upgraded to handle the 80286 and 80386 instruction sets. [deleted quotation] When using additional memory, 123 runs _much_ faster than if it were swapping to disk. What it all means: Software is getting too large and sloppy (I used to handle 100+K files on a 64K, two-floppy CP/M system with no trouble). To most of the HUMANISTS, this only means the software they are getting is inefficient. To me, this means hours on the telephone helping customers resolve problems created by large inefficient programs operating on systems with limited resources (memory, hard disks, etc.). OS/2 is not necessarily the answer. An operating system should not be ten times larger than your application, and should not take up more resources than are available in an off-the-shelf system. We're at the mercy of the industry. Until the industry kills the XT, and rewrites DOS for larger memory models, we're stuck with what we have. That doesn't mean that new or better ideas aren't just around the corner. Several have been discussed on HUMANIST and the industry news. The changes in the next six months will be interesting to watch. Keep an eye out. Now, if I can just get down off this soapbox without tripping, and me with acrophobia! From: Subject: Mac fonts Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 11:24 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 752 (992) I have recently heard of a package of many Mac fonts for the Soviet Georgian alphabet. I can track down further info if there is interest. John Burt Brandeis University From: Amanda Catherine Lee Subject: JODONNEL about e-mail Date: Tue, 26 Sep 89 21:00:37 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 753 (993) In reply to his comment about the nature of e-mail: If there isn't a net called FEMINIST, it looks like one needs to be created! Especially since it appears some subscribers to HUMANIST assume the -MAN- part of the word excludes those of the opposite sex. Rest assured, there are a few female humanists out there, and we are EVEN capable of handling a computer. Even so, I doubt any of us will be interested in playing the dating game with Mr. O'Donnel after his asinine remark. Amanda C. Lee ALEE@MSSTATE From: sdm@cs.brown.edu Subject: Feminist discussion groups Date: Tue, 26 Sep 89 22:43:28 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 754 (994) I don't know what kinds of discussion groups exist on Bitnet, but Usenet certainly has newsgroups for things like feminism. A sample: soc.feminism soc.singles talk.rape soc.women alt.sex soc.men There are zillions of others. Scott Meyers Brown University sdm@cs.brown.edu From: "Tom Benson 814-238-5277" Subject: FEMINIST discussion group Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 09:18 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 755 (995) In response to speculation about whether there is a feminist discussion group on the network. Yes, actually, there is. It has been in existence for some years, and is currently moderated by Heather Emanuel (hxe@rayssd.uucp). Tom Benson Penn State From: lang@PRC.Unisys.COM Subject: nature of e-mail Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 08:48:39 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 756 (996) James O'Donnell writes: [deleted quotation] I'll ignore Prof. O'Donnell's sexist bent here, but I can't let his contribution pass without making a few comments of my own. The claim that electronic mail is not used as a forum for socializing, or of socializing whose principal intent is meeting girls (or boys, for that matter), is just plain wrong. I personally know several people who have formed significant relationships with e-mail correspondents whom they originally "met" electronically. Perhaps O'D just doesn't know what he's missing! The simple fact is that electronic communication, including both e-mail and electronic bboards such as USENET newsgroups, is a very viable forum for forming friendships and "relationships" (for the right sort of person). Also, if O'D is looking for "a net called FEMINIST", he should look into the soc.* USENET newsgroups, including soc.singles, soc.feminism, soc.couples, soc.singles, soc.men and soc.women. --Francois Lang From: Ken Steele Subject: In the privacy of your own home... Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 10:05:47 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 757 (997) Surely the ability to correspond in whatever state of (un)dress one desires is not new with electronic mail. The telephone, the typewriter, and the quill pen all share that virtue (vice?). Many Humanists no doubt compose their contributions in the same word- processor they use for more conventional publications (certainly I do). E-mail correspondence can be carried on between two parties who have never met face to face, but I have often been in that situation when writing conventional letters too. The revolutionary element of e-mail, it seems to me, is that reasoned, well-written correspondence can now be transmitted with the speed of a telephone call. The nature of my correspondence has not changed, but its frequency has. Kentucky is now as close as Etobicoke (or vice-versa, for many of you). Moderated electronic forums such as Humanist are essentially, whether we like it or not, a new form of scholarly journal. Back issues are preserved in at least one repository, and a global readership is developing. One difference is the immediacy with which submissions are published: there are no typescript, proofs, binderies, or distribution routes. More crucial is the immediacy of response: all readers are potential contributors, and because a single function key addresses and mails a reply, the readership is more active than that of more conventional journals (compare the circulation figures with the letters pages of the _Times Literary Supplement_, or _Shakespeare Quarterly_). Perhaps the speed, ease, and affordability of e-mail are its primary differences: the trouble of hard copy, envelopes and stamps, coupled with the lengthy delivery time, discourages me from responding to most publications in writing. Ken Steele University of Toronto P.S. Why do so many people dislike reading books on-screen, anyway? I find it easier than reading from bound books, as well as considerably faster. Perhaps I'm just part of a new generation whose attention span is greater when its attention is directed toward an electronic box? From: Ken Steele Subject: Purposes of Humanist Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 10:02:08 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 758 (998) Donald Spaeth's enthusiastically pro-technical argument for the purposes of Humanist requires, I think, an equally emphatic rebuttal, if supported only by my own limited eloquence and experience. I do NOT subscribe to Humanist to find answers to technical computer problems; computer dealers and the University of Toronto Computing Services are generally a better resource. I cannot believe that the majority of Humanists subscribed in order to learn about the installation of Macintosh fonts or a three-and-a-half-inch drive. This sort of information is available with full colour illustrations on every newsstand, in a mountain of computing magazines for almost every specialty. (Granted, scholars requiring Old English fonts, or scanners for Renaissance secretarial hand, will have unique needs which can best be addressed here, but surely this qualification does not apply to diskette drives or lithium batteries!) I find Humanist both most interesting and most academically relevant when discussions focus on our primary disciplines, rather than the hardware we use in them. Humanist connects specialists in many fields, and allows thoughtful discussion of philosophical and political issues, instantaneous announcements and reports, and an extremely powerful global "Notes & Queries," in which we have obtained immediate answers about obscure quotations, biblical dinosaurs, and dislocated hearts, to name only a few. It is inevitably necessary to limit the public discussion of any given subject, but Humanist should NEVER consider limiting the range of such discussions! I admit, I find technical inquiries easier to answer than academic ones, probably for the same reasons I often find myself reading _PC Computing_ rather than _Shakespeare Quarterly_. But I think this tendency to focus on hardware illuminates another current subject of contention: Ph.D. theses (and faculty publications, for that matter) take longer when the focus shifts from "HUMANITIES computing" to "humanities COMPUTING." I, for one, would like to see more electronic discussion of academic issues in general, politics, history, philosophy, literature -- and hopefully I can muster the confidence to participate in them, too. Lists such as ENGLISH and LITERARY are strangely silent -- is e-mail ill-suited for such discussion, or are the subscribers to these lists too few? Perhaps I'm misinterpreting the essential purpose of Humanist, or the priorities of Humanists. Doubtless I am overstating my feelings on the matter: I confess that I have read through most of Humanist's technical discussions with at least as much interest as I read through the endless "Uncertainty" discussions. I am very impressed with Humanist in its current form, and with Willard's laborious work as moderator -- I am not advocating change, I am objecting to it. Somehow, I cannot help but feel that technical issues are peripheral, transitory, eternally obsolescent, like the computer technology on which they are based. An electronic academic forum, it seems to me, fulfills its best destiny when used as an electronic medium for ACADEMIC discussion, rather than an electronic medium for ELECTRONIC discussion. I suspect that no Humanist would disagree with me; I hope that I have misunderstood Donald Spaeth's comments. Hopefully I've just been wasting my "e-breath." Ken Steele University of Toronto From: Willard McCarty Subject: objection Date: 27 September 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 759 (999) Although I appreciate Mr. Steele's appreciation of my work on Humanist, I must object to the term "laborious", indeed to all the allegations that I am suffering under some intolerable burden. This is simply not so. My survey, taken informally at The Dynamic Text Conference, revealed that most Humanists have an altogether inflated notion of how much work I actually do. May I suggest without offense that Humanist is like a small infant -- requiring regular attention, not hard work, and repaying the minor tasks manyfold? Perhaps one day, like many mothers I know and have known, I'll want to get out of the house, but right now I'm enjoying my maternity leave. So, please, no more talk of burdens. If this were onerous, I'd quit. Willard McCarty From: "Stephen R. Reimer" Subject: BYTE on HCY Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 00:15:41 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 760 (1000) In case Willard and Ian haven't seen it yet, I thought that I would mention that there is something of a review of the _Humanities Computing Yearbook_ in the October issue of _BYTE_ (pp. 360, 362) by Hugh Kenner. Calling it a "review" is something of a misnomer: it is mostly made up of reflections on the current state of humanities computing using the _HCY_ as its basis, but it does include some very favourable comments on the book itself as well. I thought that it was rather nice to see, in a journal with considerable non-humanistic readership, some acknowledgement of humanities computing (it has been quite a few years since _BYTE_ last did an issue on computing in the "arts") and, more particularly, of the very significant contribution which the _Yearbook_ has made. Stephen Reimer University of Alberta From: AEB_BEVAN@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK Subject: World Sacred Literature Trust Date: 27-SEP-1989 11:36:19 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 761 (1001) INTERNATIONAL SACRED LITERATURE TRUST The following is an extract (reproduced without permission) from the weekend section of the UK national newspaper The Guardian (23-24 Sept). written by Elizabeth Heron. @A revolution in religious publishing is being fomented in the unlikely setting of an annexe of Manchester polytechnic. this is no palace coup. Its direct effect will be to make available in English authorised translation the sacred books of every major world religion, including for the first time the Quran and the Orthodox Bible, as well as collections of the oral traditions of indigenous Australians, Africans and Americans. Its future impact on our understanding of culture, on religious and anthropological scholarship and the religions themselves is unquantifiable. Launched at the United Nations by the Duke of Edinburgh it has poet laureate Ted Hughes as chief literary adviser, Harper and Row as publishers and the sanction of the Orthodox, Nestorian and Coptic churches as well as Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Sikh and baha'i organisations, with the Muslim world league ana Jewish religious publishing trust about to sign up. Its origins are (that) .. three years ago the World wildlife fund for nature launched an initiative to mobilise grassroots conservation projects by highlighting the many environmental injunctions scattered in sacred texts throughout the world. with a network of 60,000 religious groups it also drew attention to the lamentable state - or lack - of translations available to advance the argument. Martin Palmer, a specialist on world culture and consultant to the project, decided the problem should be turned on its head an set up the International Sacred Literature Trust to develop high quality English translations of religious classics. The guiding principle is that the choice of sacred texts and manner of translation be determined, not by scholars, translators or publishers but by the religious bodies themselves." The article the goes on to discuss particular issues such a literary quality, the position of Muslims on the Quran, the particular problems of the Orthodox bible(s), the challenge of the representation of the Jewish traditions, and the native peoples programme. This last reflects most closely the conservation ethos of the originators of the project. Revenue from translations will be siphoned back to the peoples concerned to help them fund their political battles for survival. The article makes NO mention of machine readable texts, talking throughout about "the printed word" or "records in a written form" A lot of questions spring to mind after reading this article. For example: Are HUMANIST members involved in this project - if so could we have more up to date details? Is the project in fact aware of the potential of machine readable texts? If not is there an initiative HUMANISTs could or should take to educate and support the trust in efforts to make the texts available in such forms? This might include making the original language versions available machine readable, and linking these to scholarly translations and commentaries. What happens to the classical religions of antiquity, or the records of more recently defunct religious traditions such as the Lithuanian native religion that was the last active pagan faith in Europe? Any comments? Edis Bevan Open University, UK From: iwml@UKC.AC.UK Subject: happy.new.year Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 12:37:09 +0100 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 762 (1002) Greetings and a Happy New Year on Yom Kippur! Ian Mitchell Lambert AIBI Network CSEC(UK) Department of Theological and Religious Studies University of Kent at Canterbury From: Daniel Boyarin Subject: Re: 3.496 Ph.D.s and more about Humanist (107) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 09:09:48 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 763 (1003) To Donald spaeth, It seems to me that you ought to be willing to live with a second-best solution for you (really a minor inconvenience) so that others can have something that they benefit from. If you like you can think of it as an experimental use of computers in the humanities in its own right. From: Stephen Clausing Subject: Ph.Ds and jobs? (17 lines) Date: Tue, 26 Sep 89 23:03:11 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 764 (1004) As an Assitant Professor at a university (Yale) that categorically denies tenure to junior faculty, I too am interested to see if jobs in the Humanities will soon start sprouting like wild flowers. However, I am more concerned with the job market at hand, particularly since I will once again begin the annual trek to the MLA (Modern Language Association) conference in search of a job. HUMANIST is a forum of Humanists in Computing. My question to all of you is: are there actually jobs for such people? I don't mean administrative positions, I mean faculty jobs. My experience with the field of Languages and Literatures has been that the vast majority of jobs in that area are for literature specialists. At best, reference is made in the job description to "experience with CAI", usually as the 6th of eight desirable qualifications. Maybe I am trekking to the wrong conference. Is there anything else out there or is this just a hobby for tenured faculty? What can a computer programmer with a Ph.D. in some field of Humanities actually do? From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: OFFLINE 25 Date: Tuesday, 26 September 1989 2104-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 507 (1005) <> guest columnist Robin Cover [[There are many things that could be reported in OFFLINE at the end of this very short and full summer (including the misprint in the header to the previously published column, which should read "24," not "23"). I recently returned from a papyrological conference in Cairo at which there was opportunity to demonstrate the magic of the IBYCUS Scholarly Computer searching the Duke Papyri Data Bank CD-ROM as well as the Thesaurus Linguae Grecae CD-ROM to many people quite unfamiliar with such technology. Some discussions on the use of computerized (digitized) images for paleographical research, on the one hand, and of data base compilations of prosopographical information from the papyri, on the other, also took place there. The various pieces of regular and electronic mail that awaited my return included numerous items of potential interest for OFFLINE readers, from the announcement of new or improved hardware releases to relevant software developments and new electronic texts and data sets. But with the annual November meetings of SBL/AAR/ASOR approaching fast, it seemed most appropriate to devote this column to a preview of some of the computer-related aspects of the Anaheim scene. For those of you who are able to attend, and who can take advantage of the information and expertise available at those sessions, some of the new developments can be seen and discussed in person, along with the old. Thus I asked Robin Cover, co-chair (with Alan Groves) of the Computer Assisted Research Group of the SBL, to provide us all with an overview of the activities and interests of CARG, with a specific eye to the Anaheim meetings. Robin agreed to this request, and his contribution follows. Please check it all out for yourselves on 18-21 November in Anaheim!]] In the first part of this column I will offer a summary description of the current goals and activities of the Computer Assisted Research Group (CARG). In the second part, I will suggest areas in which CARG might provide additional computer assistance and service to the Society of Biblical Literature. Readers interested in helping enrich our vision for the use of computers in individual research and within the Society's corporate activities are invited to respond in writing. In the most general terms, CARG's primary task has been to promote the use of computing technologies in the professional and scholarly work of SBL members. The specific activities of CARG have never been guided by a canonical "mission statement," at least to my knowledge. Rather, several factors have contributed to CARG's historic maintenance of a flexible identity. (1) CARG has no permanent base of funding, but has employed adaptive strategies for its financial existence. Contributions from the SBL and from private donors are deeply appreciated, but funding based upon good will renders CARG's program contingent upon uncertain economies and fortunes. (2) CARG pursues its goals in relation to the rapidly-evolving role of "academic computing" centers in colleges, universities and seminaries, where institutional support for humanities computing is highly variable. While CARG cannot duplicate every function of an institutional "Academic Computing User Services" department, we do attempt to assist in some domain-specific problems encountered by biblical and classical scholars. (3) CARG has attempted to meet the needs of a highly diverse group of interested scholars -- scholars having widely divergent computer literacy skills and widely divergent computing applications. Adding to this complexity the impact of periodic computer hardware revolutions, we find no shame admitting that CARG's goal is a moving target. The Annual Conference of the SBL/AAR is the locus of CARG's visible activity, though a steering committee maintains electronic mail discussion throughout the year. On an annual basis, we attempt to identify technological developments (hardware or software) which have lead to applications that are "ripe" for promotion among the SBL constituency. In the main CARG session (usually on Saturday of the Annual Meeting), we invite two or more individuals to discuss these new applications in terms of their own research, and if possible to demonstrate visually the results. These invited lectures are meant to capture the imagination of scholars in biblical and classical research, and to help them visualize the new computer applications in related areas of study. At the upcoming Anaheim meetings, for example, we have invited three scholars to speak on the general theme "Scanning Technologies and Archives in Humanities Computing." Terrance Erdt (Villanova University) will speak on "Scanning and Character Recognition, New Tools in Humanities Computing;" Theodore Brunner (University of California, Irvine) will speak on "Machine-Readable Text Archives for Classicists: The Thesaurus Linguae Graecae Project;" Robert Kraft (University of Pennsylvania) will speak on "Text Archives: Why you Can't Find/Use the Texts you Need." A second part of the main CARG session at the Annual Meeting is dedicated to reports on recent or ongoing computing activities at academic institutions. Institutional research and development often requires several years for the introduction of a mature computer product or for a major work of data preparation. The report session provides an opportunity for institutional representatives to describe databases and programs that are available for public use, to announce new research endeavors, to solicit cooperative working arrangements with other institutions, etc. This November in Anaheim we hope to hear reports from or pertaining to the following institutions and projects: Biola University (Virginia Doland and Don Wilkins: CAI Software for Biblical/Classical Greek); Harvard University (Greg Crane and Elli Mylonas: PERSEUS Project; Richard Saley: Photogrammetry Project); Johns Hopkins University [with Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion] (Stephen Kaufman: Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project); Hebrew University, Jerusalem (Emanuel Tov: Computer Assisted Tools for Septuagint Studies [CATSS]; Michael Stone: Armenian Inscriptions Data Base); Manchester University (Tony Smith and Gordon Neal: Greek Syntactic Parsing Project); Maredsous Centre: Informatique et Bible (R. F. Poswick: Maredsous Biblical Databases); Oxford University (Susan Hockey, Lou Burnard: Oxford University Computing Center and Oxford Text Archive); Packard Humanities Institute (David Packard, Wilkins Poe: Greek & Latin Texts [with Micro-IBYCUS]); Princeton Theological Seminary (Richard Whitaker [also with Claremont Institute for Antiquity and Christianity] with Jim Roberts: [Electronic] Hebrew Lexicon Project; and with James Charlesworth: Qumran Machine-Readable Texts); Summer Institute of Linguistics (Steve DeRose: CELLAR [Computing Environment for Linguistic, Literary and Anthropological Research]); University of California at Irvine (Theodore Brunner: Thesaurus Linguae Graecae Project); University of California at Los Angeles (Giorgio Buccellati: Computer Aided Analysis of Mesopotamian Materials; Andrew Dyck, Bernard Frischer: Classicist's Workbench); University of California at Santa Barbara (Randall Smith: CD-ROM Retrieval Software for Textual Research); University of Pennsylvania (John Abercrombie, Alan Humm, Robert Kraft, David Louder, Jacqueline Pastis, Jay Treat, David Rech: Center for Computer Analysis of Texts [CCAT]); University of Sheffield (David Clines: [Electronic] Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew); University of Stellenbosch (Walter Claassen: Research for Computer Applications to the Language and Text of the Old Testament; Johann Cook: Syriac Peshitta Project); University of Toronto (John Hurd, Trinity College: Center Coordination, Software Library); Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam (Eep Talstra: Werkgroep Informatica [Hebrew Bible Syntactical Analysis]); Westminster Theological Seminary (Alan Groves: Westminster Computer Project [Hebrew Bible Morphological Parsing]); Wooster College (J. Arthur Baird: Computer Bible Project). CARG supports other computer-related activities in specially designated CARG Demonstration Rooms during the Annual Meeting. These scheduled demonstrations and tutorials serve the personal computing interests of SBL/AAR members. Commercial software developers, academic institutions and hardware companies are invited to schedule 30-minute demonstrations of their academic product at no charge. These small-group demonstration sessions are used to introduce new products and sometimes to provide personalized support. Late-afternoon discussion sessions focus on common problems of text- or word-processing -- frequently the problems of data conversion, document markup, file formats, multi-lingual wordprocessing (foreign-character fonts), concording, text retrieval and desktop publishing. These discussion forums permit computer users collectively to register their complaints and wish-lists with the software developers present. The CARG Demonstration Rooms also contain literature tables for promotion of academic software and provide a meeting place for computer user-groups and special-interest groups. The CARG Steering Committee hopes that the current program supplies vital computer-related information and assistance to members of SBL/AAR who may otherwise be un-supported or under-supported by their own institutions. We recognize, however, that CARG could provide assistance and leadership in other areas of computer technology relevant to the scholarly and professional work of SBL members. In the following paragraphs I will identify two broad computer-related concerns which I feel could be formally addressed by the Society through the help of CARG and/or other groups. Perhaps no aspect of computer technology has affected scholarly research more dramatically than the international academic networks (BITNET, CSNET, Internet, NSFnet) which permit rapid communication and data sharing. Electronic networking permits scholars on different continents to work on collaborative research projects almost as easily as they might if located at a single institution. The administrative offices of the SBL and AAR are now connected electronically via BITNET, so that business communication can be conducted over the networks as well. If these electronic networks are in place, why is a majority of scholarly communication still confined to paper? (I would include the FAX technology as a category of paper communication, since data sent over FAX is characteristically just printed on paper, not delivered to the recipient in editable machine-readable format.) Two major barriers stand in the way of the full democratization of scholarly networking. The first is education and training: electronic mail and networking services are sometimes not adequately promoted or supported by institutions which have these resources, particularly within humanities departments. CARG could help in education and training, and indeed, I began a joint effort with AAR members this summer (plans initiated by Lewis Lancaster and Andrew Scrimgeour) which may result in useful documents on academic networks. We must demonstrate that e-mail communication and networking can be integrated into the electronic scholarly workspace as easily as wordprocessing. A far more serious barrier to networking, I suspect, is that too few members of SBL/AAR have institutional access to network resources. Large research universities, doctorate-granting universities and comprehensive colleges of course support BITNET, Internet and other research networks. But a significant number of SBL/AAR members belong to smaller liberal arts colleges, professional schools and seminaries which do not support the academic networks. In other cases, institutional networking resources may be under the control of engineering schools or computer science departments, and thus not readily accessible to departments of religion where SBL/AAR members work. CARG may be able to coordinate assistance at various levels for SBL/AAR members who face these "access" difficulties. Of several research networks that might be designated as the "recommended" (or official) network for SBL/AAR, BITNET and Internet are the most prominent candidates. BITNET (now merging with CSNET under the auspices of a new Corporation for Research and Educational Networking [CREN]) is currently the network of choice for most humanities scholars, and would probably be the easiest for SBL to adopt. The popularity of BITNET among humanities scholars is due, in large measure, to the fact that institutional membership fees (fixed annual fees, determined by E&E budgets) are very reasonable and that fees are based on access-only. On BITNET, no per-usage fees may be passed on to end users. The Internet is a more modern, high-speed network which supports gateways to BITNET; its installation and support is more expensive, and per-usage fees sometimes make it financially inaccessible to humanities scholars. In a subsequent article I may survey academic networks more broadly, indicating the hardware/software requirements for each and the respective fee structures. I visualize that SBL/AAR could play an intermediary role (perhaps jointly with the APA and related societies) with the BITNET administration in helping medium-size and smaller institutions overcome obstacles to acquisition of BITNET membership. With dramatic decrease in the costs of data storage and electronic publication (especially CD-ROM) and increasingly powerful microcomputers, information management specialists are faced with the problem of comparatively crude, antiquated and otherwise inadequate software. Humanities scholars likewise confront multiple difficulties in the use of electronic tools to create, publish and maintain their written research: (1) inadequate support for multi-lingual authoring and text processing; (2) lack of clear standards for use of foreign-language character sets and fonts; (3) incompatibilities between file formats used in commercial software packages, and inadequate file-conversion utilities; (4) inadequate software support for management of document formats required in various publishing houses; (5) personal desktop-publishing software, or publishers' electronic typesetting software which actually corrupts data from the standpoint of information retrieval. When the work of the international Text Encoding Initiative is completed (1990-91), we may hope for clearer standards and for the compliance of software developers who are committed to serving the academic community. In the interim, we cannot expect quick solutions to these problems, either from the business world or from the special efforts of humanities computing initiatives. On the other hand, the existence of an affiliated "Scholars Press" gives the Society of Biblical Literature a unique opportunity to support emerging standards and to develop goals for an electronic publication division which makes scholarly research available in machine readable format. The SBL would be in a position to set high ethical standards for the protection of intellectual property contained in its scholarly document archives. A few examples are offered below. First, the Society could encourage or require the submission of all major work in electronic as well as paper format, whether academic or administrative data. Microcomputer diskette may be the preferred medium, although simple and standard means are available for mailing binary data in encoded format (uuencode, binhex) over the electronic networks. Encouraging the submission of electronic data will serve to heighten our collective awareness of several vital facts. Of foremost importance: the goal of simply printing information on paper must now be understood as a shortsighted, inferior goal. With some rare exceptions (ephemeral data), any information worth typing and printing on paper is probably worth preserving in machine readable format: for subsequent editing, for information retrieval, for archiving. Similarly, preserving electronic data files and submitting information in electronic format to others will constantly remind us that highly proprietary ways of managing information are usually counter-productive to our research goals. Data submitted to the Society or Scholars Press in electronic format may or may not be of immediate benefit, but it should all be archived for use in future years. A second goal of the Society could be to promote standards (including recommended hardware and software choices) which optimally support our long-range electronic information retrieval objectives. Brief reference was made above to the international Text Encoding Initiative. To judge from the preliminary efforts of this initiative and from inertia in the broader electronic publishing industry, it now appears highly probable that a form of descriptive markup (e.g., SGML = Standard Generalized Markup Language) will be recommended, at least as a standard for document interchange. As an ISO standard, SGML is being required by several government agencies, and is receiving broad acceptance in the publishing and information science industries. Descriptive document markup is a strategic choice, for it permits document content and document structure to be represented independently of document "appearance." The traditional fixation on "document appearance" (viz, the printed page) has usually worked to the detriment of other scholarly concerns, especially electronic publication and information retrieval. More than once in recent years, prestigious publishing firms have thrown away electronic typeset tapes and kept the lead printing plates -- with obvious consequences for electronic publication of that data. Robert Amsler has spoken of getting paper printout as a "transient joy," and Ted Nelson (father of "hypertext") has described "getting on paper" as a shortsighted obsession. Of course, electronic publication will not replace paper publication for many genres of scholarly productivity. But we must begin to believe that authoring, typesetting or electronic publishing schemes which corrupt or obscure information content are inadequate tools, antithetical to our other goals of communication and research. The Society can assist the progress of scholarship by supporting the ideals and standards of the Text Encoding Initiative or other agencies which have clearly articulated the inadequacy of current document processing and publication methods. A third kind of support by the Society would be to specifically target selected publication projects for simultaneous print-copy and electronic-copy formats. I have met on two occasions with the SBL group which is producing the multi-volume anthology series "Writings from the Ancient World." Scholars on this translation team have agreed in principle to the publication of machine-readable editions of these texts along with the bound volumes. Other SBL publication series might be selected for similar treatment, particularly where scholars find it highly desirable to search, concord or index the machine-readable text data. A fourth type of support would be for SBL to sponsor or subsidize software development for particular humanities computing applications that present special problems for scholars in biblical and classical studies. A review board could be set up to referee competitive proposals for funding; recommendations from the review board could be made to other granting agencies which support the software development. Political or legal obstacles may prevent achievement of this goal, but perhaps not. For example, computer applications used by textual scholars in the SBL/AAR arena are usually demanding in that they require a level of multi-lingual support not anticipated by designers of operating-system software (Macintosh Script-Manager notwithstanding). It appears that Donald Knuth's new implementation of TEX and Version 7.0 of Apple's Macintosh operating software may provide more robust font support for selected applications, but what about font support (screen and printer fonts) for some of our popular, standard DOS applications? I know of no full- featured DOS wordprocessor (e.g., Nota Bene, WordPerfect, Microsoft Word) which provides native support for pointed Hebrew and accented Greek in Adobe PostScript. It's not obvious that PostScript support in these cases would be commercially feasible. On the other hand, many needs of scholarship are met through funding of "commercially infeasible" projects, and foundations exist specifically for these purposes. Even if the example offered is problematic, I can visualize other applications for which SBL/AAR subsidy might make a significant difference in solving an annoying humanities computing problem. Anyone wishing to contribute to the formation of the goals of the Computer Assisted Research Group is invited to respond in writing with pertinent suggestions. I will present all recommendations and requests to the CARG Steering Committee in our e-mail forum or at the Annual Meeting in November. If you have a special need in your own computer applications, and feel it would constitute a common problem among SBL/AAR members, please let me know. Professor Robin C. Cover Program (Co-) Chair, Computer Assisted Research Group Assistant Professor of Semitics & Old Testament Dallas Theological Seminary BITNET: zrcc1001@smuvm1 UUCP: attctc!utafll!robin attctc!cdword!cover attctc!txsil!robin FAX: (214) 841-3540 MCI: 332-1975 SNAIL: 3909 Swiss Avenue Dallas, TX 75204 VOICE: (214) 296-1783 [h]; 824-3657 [w] From: O MH KATA MHXANHN Subject: Magee's book Date: Thu, 28 Sep 89 01:39 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 765 (1006) [deleted quotation] Magee, Bryan The Great Philosophers, An Introduction to Western Philosophy ISBN: 0563205830 BBC Books London 1987 352 pages W. McCarthy CUA Washington, D.C. From: RHG at PSUVM Subject: Re: L-ENGL 1.25: text analysis Date: 28 September 1989, 13:15:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 766 (1007) I once put together a program I called the Gannon Boredom Scale, which would, when fed a piece of nonfiction, would give a readout on a scale of one to one hundred how boring it is. It was in PL/1. It simply counted such things as sentence length, commas, cliches, inactive verbs, sentences beginning with "There," and so on--a total of aboout two dozen, as I remember. I never quite finished. I lost interest, and other, more sophisticated programs were coming along. Somewhere in my archives, however, I still have the original program. If you want me to send it to you, give me the word. Rob Gannon Penn State, University Park PA 16802 From: krovetz@UMass Subject: morphological analyzer for English Date: Thu, 28 Sep 89 16:38 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 767 (1008) Professor Choueka recently asked about the availability of morphological analyzers for English. There is one that is part of the Alvey toolkit, which also includes a GPSG parser, grammar, and lexicon. The toolkit is written in Common Lisp and costs 500 pounds for academic use. The following article describes the morphology component: Ritchie G., Pulman S., Black A., and Russell G., ``A Computational Framework for Lexical Description'', Computational Linguistics, Vol. 13, No. 3-4, 1987 You can obtain more information and an application form by writing to: Artificial Intelligence Applications Institute University of Edinburgh 80 South Bridge Edinburgh EH1 1HN U.K. ph. 44-031-225 4464 -bob krovetz@cs.umass.edu From: Lew Golan Subject: Happy New Year Date: Thu, 28 Sep 89 09:20:10 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 768 (1009) [deleted quotation] While I appreciate the sentiments and mean no offense, I think most of HUMANIST's Jewish subscribers would prefer to celebrate the new year on Rosh Hashana rather than on the day of atonement. From: Lou Burnard Subject: free text retrieval systems Date: Thu, 28 Sep 89 10:17 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 769 (1010) Just to let the world know that Free Text retrieval Systems: a review and evaluation Bain,Bland,Burnard,Duke,Edwards,Lindsey,Rossiter and Willet Taylor Graham 0 947568 42 5 is now available from your local book shop. It contains the results of a detailed evaluation of three major mainframe text retrieval systems (Basis, BRS-Search, Status) carried out by a work group of the UK's InterUniversity Software Committee during 1988. Each system was benchmarked against about 60 tests, using a set of trial datasets including a Shakesperean play, a book of Homer (in Greek) and - yes- a collection of Humanist mail messages! Please form an orderly queue. Lou Burnard (who is *still* not getting any royalties.) From: David Owen Subject: RE: 3.506 Ph.D.s (50) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 21:11:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 771 (1012) I would like to answer the question about "are there jobs for people in humanities (languages, in this specific case) and computing with a resounding yes. Both I and a couple of colleagues here are working hard, with the full support of the department, division and college to incorporate computing into the undergraduate curriculum bit by bit. Admittedly, the students already use the computer lab facilities for other courses; but with new equipment, as well as a conventional language lab, and a two year language requirement, we are getting plenty of business. I think (from what I hear) that this is in general true of a number of colleges (note, colleges, not universities) whose names I will not take in vain. Have you been looking at the smaller colleges, if you are interested in continuing with computing and language? Leslie Morgan Dept. of Foreign Langs. Loyola College Baltimore, MD 21210-2699 (MORGAN@LOYVAX) From: Paul Brians Subject: Tenure for Computer Experts Date: Thu, 28 Sep 89 08:13:38 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 772 (1013) Daniel Boyarin asks whether computer expertise can lead to tenure-track hiring. Here in the English Department at Washington State University we have just hired a composition/computer expert, largely on the basis of her computer knowledge, to run our composition laboratory. What is unusual about the position is that it IS tenure-track. The faculty has agreed to consider research in computer-aided instruction and even programming leading to useful applications in our field as the equivalent of the sort of research we more often evaluate. This was a big step for us, and I suspect, rather unusual. It should be noted that ours has been--by and large--a rather stuffy and traditional department, not prone to wild experimentation. From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.504 Humanist (109) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 17:43:23 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 773 (1014) I find HUMANIST both amusing and useful. Lost hearts became tedious after a while, and I do indeed use it for technical information. If you're not a true tekkie and don't read the computer journals, it becomes extraordinarily difficult to answer even very simple questions. To suggest that I work my way through the labyrinthine procedures of our local computer center staff to find out about Mac fonts is to ignore the reality of the way many (most?) faculty members work. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: WARMCN@AC.DAL.CA Subject: Academic Vs. Electronic Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 23:19 ADT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 774 (1015) I couldn't agree more with the comments by Ken Steele on why Humanists use e-mail and computer discussion groups. I am not particularly interested in the technical subjects but long for more academic discussions (isn't Schopenhauer right about the World as Will and Representation?). I also wonder about the silence of ENGLISH and LITERARY. I sent a message to the former about a week ago but never saw it again. Did something go wrong with the transfer of the discussion group to its new base in Texas? From: Natalie Maynor Subject: HUMANIST/James O'Donnell Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 19:01:30 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 775 (1016) Several weeks ago, when Willard posted his comments on the purposes of HUMANIST, I wrote a response, which apparently got lost. Since the debate continues, I'll repeat it -- not because it is especially profound but because I want to put in my vote on behalf of a forum for non-technical discussion. The following is a "screendump" of what I sent to HUMANIST on September 8: Bob Sinkewicz: "PLEASE could we . . . stick to topics with at least some relevance to Humanities Computing." Daniel Boyarin: "For me, the idea of a computerized network of humanists is even more important than a network on computers in the humanities." What this says to me is that another list is needed -- something I've been thinking for quite a while. Although I agree with Daniel Boyarin, I believe that HUMANIST should continue to fulfill its stated mission. Is there anyone out there willing and able to start a separate list for general topics of interest to humanists? My guess is that most of us would subscribe to both lists. How easy it is for me to sit here and make such a suggestion, knowing that I have neither the technical knowledge nor the mechanical means of doing so myself. :-) Natalie Maynor English Department Mississippi State University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (End of note previously sent.) On another subject, did I misinterpret James O'Donnell's comments about "meeting girls"? I thought he was lamenting the fact that HUMANIST seems to be dominated by males (which is not, of course, the fault of HUMANIST itself -- it's the fault of us "girls" for not being more vocal). In a discussion of gender and e-mail on the "Communication and Gender" hotline of COMSERVE, I mentioned HUMANIST not long ago as the one exception to my observation of roughly a 50-50 gender split in the use of e-mail. BTW, I would find the use of the word "girls" offensive if I had not thought that James O'Donnell's choice of the word was a joke. I think he said something about putting it "crudely." Maybe I have misinterpreted completely. If so, the flames should continue. Natalie From: Donald Spaeth 041 339 8855 x6336 Subject: Essential purpose of HUMANIST Date: Thu, 28 Sep 89 11:04:34 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 776 (1017) Hmmmmm! The current debate on HUMANIST's purpose reveals one interesting characteristic of email debates which I have noticed before--they tend to involve contributions put in black-and-white terms, even more so than is usual in academia. In this case, the debate started (as I recall) when Willard reminded us of what he saw as HUMANIST's purpose. Brian Whitaker opined that he quite liked discussions on displaced hearts but found technical discussions boring and superficial (I paraphrase shamelessly!). I took this opportunity to put the opposing point of view, defending the right of technical discussions to continue and supporting their value, while commenting that I find discussions of such matters as displaced hearts to be out of place. So one intolerant statement produced another (mine). If we were in the same room we would not only be dressed but at one another's throats. Or wouldn't, because physical presence brings into play social means of restraint which are lacking with email. I do not believe that technical discussions are the ONLY legitimate subject for HUMANIST. Heaven forfend! One lesson from the discussion so far (one which we already knew) is that different people get different things out of HUMANIST, and this is as it should be. I will now destroy the effect of these words of temperence by trying (vainly, I know) to have the last word! In my opinion, there is only one very weak limit to the discussion area of HUMANIST; matters should have something to do with the promotion of the use of computers for teaching or research in the humanities. (I.e., something more than the fact HUMANISTs must use a computer to read the b-board!) I do have a pet peeve, namely "fishing expeditions". These occur when someone uses HUMANIST to ask a question which in earlier days they would have answered by spending half an hour doing a little research in the library. There is a delicate balance here. Sometimes queries would take months/years to answer, because the information is not directly accessible. But other times, resort to a reference work or standard work in the field would have produced the answer quickly. These trawls can be fun. I am happy to read them or skip them as the spirit moves me. But I do not believe that they have a RIGHT to publication. In this case, I am prepared to accept Willard's judgment about whether they should be included or not, dependent upon his own workload; I am happy to hear that HUMANIST does not add greatly to this. Donald Spaeth ("Don") CTI Centre for History University of Glasgow From: jodonnel at pennsas Subject: slow-motion replay Date: 27 Sep 89 21:51:40 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 777 (1018) Two nights ago, 10 p.m., fully clothed. `Let's see, what I want to find is a concise way of pointing out that HUMANIST's participationship and, in my limited experience, e-mail generally, is a world in which women are numerically underrepresented to a substantial degree. This is not a good thing, because it does no good to liberate (or try to liberate) formerly repressed/downtrodden/discriminated-against segments of the population to the point where they achieve equality of opportunity and participation in the OLD technologies, if the middle-aged white guys (such as myself) have in the meantime taken control of a new technology which will leave them with unchallenged control of the REAL instruments of power in a society.' So I tried drafting something like that. Sounded preachy and verbose: e-mail should be pithy and lucid, suggestive rather than didactic. `Let's try', I thought, `for something a little humorous, perhaps even ironic. Now I know people who join exercise clubs to meet people of the opposite sex (I don't), and do volunteer work to meet people of the opposite sex (and I don't), and in general know lots of people who do lots of otherwise honorable and interesting things at least in part to get to meet people of the opposite sex. Pretty clear that this doesn't work if the opposite sex is underrepresente `So let's try this: ``... not an activity ... to get to meet girls.'' Not bad, but people are pretty sensitive nowadays, so I'd better make sure I include something to make it CLEAR that I am speaking ironically, that I don't share the attitude I am satirizing. I'll put in a parenthesis, something like (`to put it as crudely as possible'): that way nobody will mistake my intent.' *************** End of slow-motion replay. My apologies to those who got my point the first time around for going into it again at this tedious length, and my thanks to those who e-mailed privately to say they got it the first time. Sheesh! From: Brian Whittaker Subject: Re: 3.496 Ph.D.s and more about Humanist (107) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 89 17:30:41 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 512 (1019) Macs and Stylistics I would like to mention what appears to be something of a paradox and to pose a question. Most of the language and literature people of my aquaintance who use Macintoshes chose this particular system in part because it seemed close to their prior work habits: the Mac screen looks more like a book page than does an IBM screen, the graphic interface encourages the interplay of words and diagrams as in a notebook or on the blackboard, and the way the Mac displays text as pictures of letters that can be modified or replaced with simple software makes it adaptable to a wide variety of languages. To many of these people the "look and feel" of the DOS system often seems to reflect the habits and thought of the engineer. (Let me say parenthetically that I do not wish to start a discussion of whose computer is better or of the differences and similarities between literati and engineers. I am simply making an observation about the nature of the appeal of the Macintosh to at least some humanists.) The surprise, then, is that when software for analysing language and style is mentioned by name on HUMANIST, the specific programs are usually Unix or DOS. Or rather, I know enough about programming to understand that it is much easier to write text searching and sorting routines for those systems than it is for the MAC; I have worked through a part of Nancy Ide's splendid book _Pascal for the Humanities_ and have learned how much extra code (and tribulation) is required to turn her utilities into Macintosh style applications or desk accessories. Nonetheless, the task is by no means impossible, even for the weekend programmer. Now the question: is anyone doing linguistic or stylistic research using the Macintosh for lexical or syntactic analysis? If so, what software are they using? I am aware of a GREP desk accessory, another searching and sorting utility named _Gopher_, and a text editor named _QUED/M_ with its sibling word processor named _Nisus_, both of which have GREP functions built in. Are these the tools to be explored and adapted, or are there others which are more appropriate? Brian Whittaker Department of English, Atkinson College, York University Downsview, Ontario, Canada. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: the value of querying Date: 29 September 1989, 14:07:19 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 778 (1020) Sorry, Don, but I still like the process of filing an open-ended query on Humanist. Because I am lazy? No: because the readership of Humanist is so wide-spread one never knows what they may come up with. And some members know of databases others of us have never heard of. Here is a case in point. A graduate student friend of mine is finishing a dissertation on the legend of Mary Magdalene (conflated with that of "Mary the Egyptian") culminating in Shakespeare's *Pericles*. Any last-minute suggestions to her out there from scholars interested in medieval legends, the origins of the Queen of the Gypsies, Donatello's wretcheddly beautiful hag? Sorry, Don, again, but I would like to learn things from the discussion I haven't gotten so far from reference works I've been exposed to. Roy Flannagan (not nude and not at ten pm) From: AEB_BEVAN@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK Subject: Origins of the Virgin Birth Date: 29-SEP-1989 17:22:39 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 779 (1021) Was there a mistranslation? I've got a query on the origins of the Virgin Birth as a theological concept in Christianity. I read some while back -and can't now locate the references - that the phrase used in the prophecies of the Messiah referred to a woman who conceived without first having a period: i.e., who conceived at her first ovulation and therefore had never been 'polluted' by menstrual blood. The Greek, Latin and subsequent translators of the Bible translated this word or phrase as Virgin in the modern sense of virgo intacta. Given that women were married off at very early ages, conception at the first ovulation was a social as well as a biological possibility in the Israel of Christ's time. The references I am trying to trace go on to argue that being a son 'of an undefiled woman' was a pre-requisite for a certain kind of mystic leader at that time, and that Christ would not have been the only person making a claim to such status. The chances of such a birth might have been within an order of magnitude of the chances of someone being born the seventh son of a seventh son. Can Humanists give me any pointers to tracing the references or make any comments on the claims as outlined here? Thanks for any help. The idea is batting around our electronic common room over here... Edis Bevan Open University, UK. From: JQRBH@CUNYVM Subject: computing course? Date: Fri, 29 Sep 89 17:05:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 780 (1022) I am teaching, for the first time, an experimental course in writng about computers (chiefly social issues), and would like to share experiences with anyone else trying something similar. In particular, I'd like to know about any good software and any experiences with collaborative writing. Joseph Raben From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.512 stylistic Macs? (55) Date: Thu, 28 Sep 89 20:52:23 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 781 (1023) One of my colleagues, John Polt, has written a pascal program for the Mac which analyzes the stress patterns of Spanish verse (at 23,000 l. per hour on a Mac IIcx). The real problem is getting the texts in machine-readable form. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: Stephen Clausing Subject: stylistic Macs Date: Fri, 29 Sep 89 11:46:25 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 782 (1024) In answer to Brian Whittaker's observation that most text analysis programs run on DOS or Unix, not the Macintosh, it is true that programming on the Macintosh is considerably more difficult than for other systems. It is also true that the final results are superb. Furthermore, the expertise needed is not nearly so much as might appear at first glance. An alternative is to use hypercard which gives the programmer access to the Macintosh interface with a minimum of effort, though there are limitations and problems with hypercard and other such authoring systems. I am currently working on a universal morphological parser for the Macintosh which will fill some of the text analysis gaps on the Macintosh. I expect to have a somewhat limited, but working version of this available by Jan.1 and will post a notice on Humanist to that effect at that time. Anyone who is interested will be able to play around with that program. From: Geoff Rockwell Subject: Re: 3.512 stylistic Macs? (55) Date: Fri, 29 Sep 89 18:40:25 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 783 (1025) I have been bothering people at Apple about the need for better text tools on the Mac. The only tool I know not on the list of Mr Whittaker is SONAR, a very expensive text retrieval package designed for law firms with large budgets and lots of correspondance. A friend who works for Apple suggestively asked me for a list of things accademics would like to see in a text tool, because, I suppose, he is consulting with someone who is about to release a wham-dinger. I immediately said "cheap", at which point I got the Apple blank look that they are trained to give when someone complains about the cost of Mac computing. I hope to get more information about this forthcoming product. (Could it be the Mac version of WordCruncher promised for January?) On the same note - has anyone created XCMDs or XFCNs for HyperCard to index text in HyperCard. I want to apply for help creating such resources and I do not want to reinvent the wheel. Is Dartmouth, for example, hiding such goodies from the resourceless few? My idea is a set of resources that would index all the text in one or more background fields and return the locations of indexed items later. Tex only indexes texts outside of HyperCard. Yours Geoffrey Rockwell rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca From: bobh@phoenix.uucp (Robert Hollander) Subject: Re: 3.511 Humanist and e-mail (206) Date: Thu, 28 Sep 89 20:58:39 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 784 (1026) Even more middle-aged than O'Donnell, and once something like his teacher when he was a youth, I'd like to assure everyone and the offending (to some) Prof. O'D that (1) he is an exceptionally intelligent person, (2) he wouldn't offend ANYone without urgent cause, (3) I did take him to be speaking in wise that Isidore of Seville would characterize as "allegorical" (ETYM. I, xxxvii, 22) and the rest of us as "ironic." Peace. From: John McDaid Subject: O'Donnell Date: Thu, 28 Sep 89 21:46 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 785 (1027) James O'Donnell, in self defense, writes: Not bad, but people are pretty sensitive nowadays, so I'd better make sure I include something to make it CLEAR that I am speaking ironically, that I don't share the attitude I am satirizing. I'll put in a parenthesis, something like (`to put it as crudely as possible'): that way nobody will mistake my intent.' Well, that "explains" the content of the sentence about meeting girls. It leaves hanging the "unless there is a net called Feminist." Even if you "hope" there is, it still seems oppositional, and does not seem to fall within the protecting umbrella of your parenthetical insulation. I am sorry to belabor the point in spite of your world-weary "sheesh," but how acceptable would reference to ethnic group or sexual preference issues be, even if cloaked in the mantle of Parenthetical Irony? Geez, he said, grinning ironically, the problem with HUMANIST is that there aren't enough FOOs. (Fill in exclusionary term of choice.) I agree that e-mail is a medium currently governed by brevity. But that lays an even stronger rhetorical burden on the writer. Pithy concision at the expense of clear communication is no virtue. -John McDaid From: Steven J. DeRose Subject: Announcement Date: Fri, 29 Sep 89 15:57:02 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 786 (1028) Although the following is not a consequence of "meeting" via e-mail, it would be fair to say that a large share of what comes after "meeting" *was* substantially aided by e-mail, esp. given the distance involved. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ST901187@BrownVM.Bitnet and texbell!txsil!steved.uucp along with their families announce their engagement The wedding is planned for January 20, 1990, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois Laurie R. Fields Steven J. DeRose * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From: Subject: LYNNE CHENEY AND THE HUMANITIES Date: Fri, 29 Sep 89 11:02:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 516 (1029) Some more on the great Ph.D. shortage. On the Op-Ed page of the NY Times Thursday, September 28, Lynne V. Cheney (the bete noire of the MLA) has a piece called "The Phantom Ph.D. Gap" in which she replies to the prediction that there will be a faculty shortage in humanities and social sciences. She finds the notion of a shortage ridiculous. She suggest all those "39,000 holders of doctorates who are working outside the academy as well as thousands more who now work at colleges and universities part- time" will be eager for the openings. This argument, to my mind, is itself foolish. It assumes that those Ph.D.s who have found employment outside academe and have gotten solid salaries and seniority will be happy to return to the status of untenured beginners at beginning salaries, and that the universities and colleges will give up their demands for publication by employing individuals who have for the most part been occupying themselves and honing their skills elsewhere. But her major suggestion is to reintroduce the three-course load. Remember that famous time of the so-called "three-course load." I remember it well from the 50s. The so-called "three- course load" was in fact five courses. The lovely "two-course load" of myself and my colleagues now is in fact usually three, when you throw in the tutorials and other little fringes that colleges and universities demand. And she concludes with the notion that all us folks really would prefer to teach and do no research. I only know that at different points in one's career one does different things, but that those "good" teachers I have known who never did anything else, soon began to give the same lectures now dull with repetition and use the same tired lesson plans that I so despised in some of my undergraduate classics teachers (at Columbia no less!). I hope some of you get a chance to read Cheney's piece and send along your comments. James W. Halporn, Classics/Comparative Literature Indiana University, Bloomington HALPORNJ@IUBACS p.s. Cheney is Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Marking Variants Date: Thursday, 28 September 1989 2201-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 517 (1030) The proliferation of electronic lists frustrates me in the same sort of way that the proliferation of special interest scholarly groups at professional conventions frustrates me -- I like to have an idea of what is going on at large, and not be pushed into various corners ("an expert is one who knows more and more about less and less until ultimately she/he knows everything about nothing!"). So I am responding to a group of related notes picked up from HUMANIST and GUTNBERG and the Princeton-Rutgers Center lists pertaining in various ways to the matter of coding textual variants. There have already been some contributions to this discussion on HUMANIST, and interested parties who did not see them might want to review them. My own involvement with the issues is more than peripheral -- one aspect of the "Computer Assisted Tools for Septuagint Studies" project is to encode all published variants to the Old Greek Jewish Scriptures ("Septuagint"), and the NEH has seen fit to provide some new funds for the project to finish that task during the next two years. The Center for Computer Analysis of Texts also included samples of various approaches to encoding textual variants on the CD-ROM #1 produced by the Packard Humanities Insitute in 1987, including the Latin Vulgate Bible with variants as encoded under Wilhelm Ott's direction at Tuebingen. In these connections, we at CCAT/CATSS have developed various software approaches to the task of collating variant texts and recording the variants. Wilhelm Ott and his TUSTEP package has done similarly, especially with an eye to hardcopy output. Doubtless there are other utilities aimed at the same sort of goals. It seems to me that such developments may in some situations provide a lever to break the seeming impasses concerning availability and distribution of electronic texts. If I have access to two or more variant electronic forms of a given text (e.g. Shakespeare), and I prepare a new e-edition that includes the variants of them all, have I not overcome the problem of possible challenges regarding copyright, etc.? And have I not created a basis from which standard software can recreate whatever form of the text I choose? One way to free up the availability and circulation of texts may be attack head on the problem of encoding variants, rather than to view the existence of variant texts as an obstacle or frustration. As an example, I will take the three forms of Shakespeare's first sonnet that were circulated on GUTNBERG by Michael Hart. This is a simple variant recording format, similar to that used for the Latin Vulgate. Other situations are more complex and may require other formats. Although I did not prepare this example automatically, I could have done so. I can also use it as a base from which to recreate any of the original forms, or something new built on their bones, largely automatically. The lawyers will correct me if I am wrong, but I think copyright is no longer an issue with this approach, except perhaps my rights as creator of the new form! Sonnet I (Q= Quarto 1609, G = Globe, R = Rath 1989) [deleted quotation] That {(no indent) R} thereby beauty's {-ies Q} rose {(ital) Q; Rose R} = = might never {neuer Q} die, But as the riper should by time decease, His tender heir {heirs Q} might bear {beare Q} his memory. {; Q; : G} ... ETC. Bob Kraft (CCAT/CATSS) From: K.C.Cameron@EXETER.AC.UK Subject: TEX problem Date: Sat,30 Sep 89 19:01:52 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 787 (1031) I am finding it impossible to number lines of prose, discounting headings, using TEX. I am also looking for an *easy* way to place prose variants in continous text at the bottom of the relevant page. I am sure someone has the answer and I should appreciate it if it could be shared with me. Keith Cameron University of Exeter (UK). From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: FTP Transfers Date: Sat, 30 Sep 89 18:51:51 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 788 (1032) Here's a problem that has appeared on several lists but which is especially crucial for HUMANISTS who must use large files. Could someone offer a simple, step by step, and most of all intelligible explanation of FTP transfers? What are FTP sites? How does one access them? What commands must one issue? How does one find, explore, and analyze the directories of these knowledgte caches? In short, how is it done? From: Steve Dill Subject: BITNET DEMONSTRATION/FUNDING Date: Thu, 14 Sep 89 08:55 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 462 (1033) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date Wed, 13 Sep 89 08:38:44 CDT [deleted quotation]Subject BITNET DEMONSTRATION/FUNDING I am searching for a modest grant ($500) to pay some of the costs of a demonstration of BITNET to novice users. A panel of members of HUMANIST who are also members of the American Society for Eighteenth Studies must demonstrate BITNET applications (hands-on) to a group of ASECS members who quite possibly have never used a computer before. We may need to pay part of the costs of the computer or of a lab. If anyone has any suggestions, I am Steve Dill, UGA108@SDNET, or Dept. of English, Univ. of South Dakota, Vermillion, 57069. Much obliged From: Randal_Baier@ub.cc.umich.edu Subject: 3.494 NB bib utility (41) Date: Sat, 30 Sep 89 17:45:40 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 789 (1034) This kind of software is already available. It's known as ProCite and comes in both MS-DOS and Macintosh formats. I don't know how Dragonfly will compare to ProCite, but that program has been around for some time and has many users in North America. From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Volume Ph.D.s, Teaching Loads, and THE SHORTAGE Date: Fri, 29 Sep 89 21:49:40 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 790 (1035) As a curious phenomenon, a conservative academic, I have no trouble at all agreeing with the infamous Lynn that most people would rather teach than research and that the Ph.D. shortage is trumpery (I've expressed this view before). I disagree with the claim that all persons in the humanities ought to be teachers, or that all ought to be researchers. I'd be happy with a one-course load and plenty of research expectations, but others would be happy doing no research and teaching all day. The notion that everyone ought to do the same thing is one unexpected consequence of the old 1960s egalitarian mentality. And, as is often the case, this kind of naive egalitarianism turns into a kind of totalitarianism. I'll even say it baldly and brutally (this ought to get some converstaion going): I believe that a class structure in the academy is a good things, as long as it results from choice and merit. People have the right to be different from one another; only Peter, Paul, and Mary look the same. KLC. From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.516 the PhD gap (51) Date: Fri, 29 Sep 89 22:25:31 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 791 (1036) While we are on the subject of PhD unemployment, I noted in a new publication that the University of Illinois employs over 25,000 - but that only 10% of these were faculty, and, of course, they are not all PhDs. From: Donald Spaeth 041 339 8855 x6336 Subject: Shortfall of humanists (3.471) Date: Fri, 15 Sep 89 11:28:56 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 792 (1037) Ah, this looks like a subject which will run and run, so I think I'll get my two cents worth in now! I've heard this canard about the imminent shortage of humanists before (i.e., in years past), but the rumours haven't been fulfilled. It's wort nothing that there is a large backlog of Ph.D.s who are not employed as academics, some of whom have hung on in the hope that new jobs would materialise. Universities have gotten out of the habit of hiring people who take too long to get a job or hold too many temporary posts, but this may have to change. On the point that is perhaps more controversial--namely whether the computer can speed up Ph.D. acquisition--I doubt it. In fact, the tendency may be in the opposite direction. The entry of data into databases/text retrieval packages is time-consuming. The availability of computer techniques is likely to encourage graduate students to take on projects which they never would have dreamed of in the past, and which would have been considered the proper reserve for mature scholars or to be impossible. Worse, it is all too easy for the student to waste months/years keying in data, happy in the knowledge that s/he is accomplishing something, but without any clear idea of how the data will be used. Computers may not have invented blind alleys but they have made them longer. And many supervisors do not have the experience themselves to help. I'm not sure I accept the premise that Ph.D.s take too long to acquire. If they do, it is the result of higher expectations combined with the poor job market. U.S. theses are expected to be books, showing awareness of a scholarship in the field and contributing new insights. Ideally, the student will finish with the first draft of a publishable book and several articles, essential for the first job and eventual tenure. Historically, theses aimed lower; they were thorough expositions of a subject, often containing large amounts of descriptive material with little analysis. This tradition has hung on longer in Britain. There's nothing wrong with the latter approach; but departments may find it difficult to modify expectations (lower standards, they will say). Donald Spaeth CTI Centre for History University of Glasgow From: Martin Ryle Subject: RE: 3.516 the PhD gap (51) Date: Sat, 30 Sep 89 11:26:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 793 (1038) James Halporn implies that only research can save teaching faculty from offering "the same lectures now dull with repetition." He is not describing good teachers gone bad, but lazy incompetents. I suspect we all have known colleagues who were well published but whose class lectures have not been upgraded in years. Three preparations and eighty-plus students per semester leaves little spare time for scholarly writing, if one attempts to make each class period fresh, requires writing of the students, and uses essay tests instead of multiple-guess. I make no claims that research and publishing are necessarily antagonistic to teaching, but only that teaching is a demanding, scholarly, and respectable activity that publishing scholars have no cause to denigrate. Martin Ryle Profesor of History University of Richmond, Virginia From: MCCARTY@vm.utcs.utoronto.ca Subject: job in the history of science Date: Sat, 30 Sep 89 09:36:18 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 521 (1039) HISTORY OF SCIENCE Tenure-track Assistant Professor position starting Fall, 1990 in History of Science along with regular teaching responsibilities in an interdisciplinary Humanities Program. Ph.D. must be complete by September, 1990. Prefer interest in philosophy of science and specialization outside of U.S. history. Publications and teaching experience will factor in selection. Application deadline: December 1, 1989. Send letter of application (non-citizens must include current visa status), cv, and letters or recommendation to Professor Robert Mennel, Chair, History of Science Search Committee, Department of History, Horton Social Science Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824. Women and minorities encouraged to apply. UNH is AA/EEO Employer. From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.517 marking variants (78) Date: Fri, 29 Sep 89 22:19:38 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 794 (1040) I checked with Prof. Rath on Bob Kraft's suggestion on an e-text of variations. He said he did not know how any copyright issues could arise concerning Shakespeare, at least authentic language versions, since so many variations appear in the Variorem. I suppose that is why Oxford put out the modern language edition, among other reasons for the advantage of copyright protection. I had thought only that part of a book which was original was protected, as in the comments make about Shakespeare. Michael From: "Stephen R. Reimer" Subject: Canadian Copyright and Special Media Date: Fri, 29 Sep 89 21:48:18 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 795 (1041) I am curious whether the situation of the Canadian National Institute of the Blind with regard to copyright might have implications for the making of electronic versions of texts and other "academic" uses of copyright materials in Canada. An article in the this month's issue of the Canadian Library Association newsletter, "Feliciter," tells how CANCOPY--the national photocopy collective--(after prodding by the Writer's Union of Canada) tried recently to collect a royalty fee from CNIB for their "Books on Tape": CNIB refused and challenged CANCOPY's right (and that of the Copyright Act itself) to limit access to information when no "commercial usage" is involved (that is, as a letter by Helen Perry of the CNIB is quoted as saying, "a use that neither creators nor publishers in Canada seem to have any interest in pursuing commercially"; another CNIB official, Barbara Freeze, is quoted as saying, "We are not in any way competing with the creator's market"). CNIB is now awaiting CANCOPY's response to this letter. I quote the article at greater length: Marcel Masse, minister of communications, stated in a letter to the CNIB, that the revised copyright act "will seek to ensure that an equitable balance is struck between the rights of creators and the needs of users to have quick and easy access to copyright materials." Masse added that the 1985 report of the parliamentary subcommittee on the revision of the copyright, entitled, _Charter of Rights for Creators_, recommended the law "should permit the production of special media materials without the authorization of the copyright owner but with royalty payments to be established by the Copyright Board." Masse went on to say that the government responded by endorsing the idea of the exception, and also stated that "a full exception should be provided without any obligation to pay royalties." Now I don't know that "endorsing the idea" has any force in law, but it would appear to this decidedly no-expert-in-law that there is a suggestion here that "special media" versions of texts, used for non-profit purposes, might be (or might by amendment of the Act be about to become) possible with no permission and no royalty. Perhaps Canadian Humanists interested in the question should write to Marcel Masse and to their own MPs to ensure a) that such an amendment is passed, b) that the wording of it does not exclude machine-readable texts used for research, and c) that other non-commercial, "academic" uses of copyright material be granted similar exemption. Then, while we're writing to our MPs anyway, we could mention the lead article on the front page of this month's "Feliciter," on the effect of the proposed Federal Sales Tax (which is to be applied even to books and journals) on libraries and educational institutions (which are already suffering from cuts in federal funding). The article does not mention, but I will, the effect on Canadian academics: is it time to start lobbying for a special Income Tax exemption for professorial expenses? Stephen R. Reimer Department of English University of Alberta Edmonton From: Willard McCarty Subject: new on Humanist: a "Notes & Queries" column Date: 30 September 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 796 (1042) Dear Colleagues: A few months ago Humanist began publishing queries with no obvious relationship to computing. Personally I have found this an interesting development; several of the queries and their responses have intrigued and amused me. Some of us, however, find these non-computational "notes and queries" to be obnoxious. As I recall, one member recently proposed that the exchange of technical information remain as Humanist and another seminar be created for the more philosophical aspects of computing in the humanities and for the non-computing applications of e-mail. I can readily understand why someone would be annoyed by some or even all of the non-computing messages (again, I am not). At the same time, I think it is profoundly alien to the humanistic spirit to banish all but technical information from a seminar called Humanist. From the very beginning Humanist has been concerned with social and intellectual issues that arise from the application of computers to the humanities. In fact it became in part a technical information exchange in much the same way as it has become a pond for these generally humanistic fishing expeditions -- by the wish of some of the members. Humanist was not, however, created in order to trade information, rather in order to discuss ideas. I am certainly not opposed to the exchange of technical information, but I hasten to point out that someone who asks about displaced hearts or the authorship of some obscure popular poem is being no more lazy than someone who wants to know if any of us have heard of a Nota-Bene-to-LaTeX translator. Obviously we have a problem, have always had a problem with sticking to the very broad set of topics that define Humanist. We have been here many times before, some of you will be thinking. As the one person responsible for worrying about the survival of Humanist, when a choice has to be made I must choose to limit our scope to topics having somehow to do with computing in the humanities. Nevertheless, as someone pointed out, the very use of an electronic seminar to conduct research is an interesting phenomenon, in these pioneering days worthy of our support and encouragement. So, what I propose is this: daily to gather the non-computing "notes and queries" into one number of Humanist, label it "Notes and Queries", and publish it as often as the volume of mail requires. One Humanist proposed to me that this invariably be sent as the last message of each daily batch. That certainly can be done, but I must point out that messages are not always received in the order they are sent from Toronto. (I think a network algorithm sends small ones before big; in any case, I have been told that European Humanists seldom receive issues in numerical order.) If you have strong opinions, let me know. In any case, if you are strongly opposed to non-computing matters, simply delete any message whose subject line reads "Notes and Queries". Willard McCarty From: F5400000@LAUVAX01.BITNET Subject: Virgin Birth Date: Fri, 29 Sep 89 20:29 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 797 (1043) Re the Virgin Birth. One should distinguish between the Hebrew Bible (=Old Testament) passage and the story as told in the New Testament. The one passage which *may* prophesy the birth of a child from a virgin is Isaiah 7.14. The best thing to do here is to consult a standard commentary, e.g. O. Kaiser, *Isaiah 1-12* (Old Testament Library Series), SCM Press. Personally I do not think this passage refers to the birth of a deliverer. For the New Testament passages, apart from commentaries on Luke and Matthew, see Raymond Brown, *The Birth of the Messiah* which will at least give you a start. Beware: the list is long. John Sandys-Wunsch, LAUVAX01.LAURENTIAN.CA From: Donald Spaeth 041 339 8855 x6336 Subject: 3.478 essential purpose of HUMANIST Date: Wed, 20 Sep 89 10:37:36 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 798 (1044) [The following note was delayed in its publication because it was sent to mccarty@utoronto, a seldom used account. --W.M.] My views are diametrically opposed to those recently expressed by Brian Whitaker. I find HUMANIST most useful when it enables the exchange of technical information, on such subjects as OCR and laptops, and least useful when it degenerates into an exchange of matters (e.g. hearts) entirely unrelated to computing. As a alleged expert in humanities computing, I find that communication of information is the greatest problem. I never trust the word of a computer salesman and can't try everything out myself. I find the accumulated experience expressed in HUMANIST very useful, therefore. So I think Humanist is succeeding here. A read-through of the discussion of markup earlier this year disproves the belief that a bulletin-board cannot enable in-depth discussion of technical issues. Yes, it is easy enough to skip over references to hearts, and I'm prepared to live with that as a second best solution. But, I believe a line must be drawn somewhere and fishing expeditions for material entirely unrelated to computers seem to me to be beyond the pale. If there is a demand for such a service, surely it should be formed, perhaps administered by some other willing humanities computing buff. Donald Spaeth University of Glasgow BITNET/EARN: D.A.Spaeth at GLASGOW.AC.UK JANET: D.A.Spaeth at UK.AC.GLASGOW From: Willard McCarty Subject: missing issues of Humanist Date: 1 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 799 (1045) Eric Nye has pointed out to me that Humanist 3.464 through 3.467 are missing from Humanist's logbooks. I presume that no one received these numbers. In any case I am at a loss to explain the problem and apologize for any contributions that may thus have disappeared into the void. Willard McCarty From: LNGDANAP@UOGUELPH Subject: Date: Sat, 30 Sep 89 22:21:47 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 800 (1046) Re "Notes and Queries" - that is an *excellent* idea, an ideal compromise. Losing the asides, even in reference to meeting "girls", would end up in a very dry HUMANIST.... Dana Paramskas From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Humanist introspections Date: Sat, 30 Sep 89 23:01:33 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 801 (1047) I find Humanist most useful when it doesn't spend its time discussing whether Humanist is useful. From: "Richard C. Taylor" <6297TAYLORR@MUCSD> Subject: Notes and Queries Date: Sun, 1 Oct 89 13:18:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 802 (1048) Your suggested procedure for humanists' non-computing notes and queries certainly seems to put non-techies in their place. Why not do the same for the techies and create a single file for technical notes and queries which are beyond the interest of the non-expert and non-programmer? It might be called "Technical Notes and Queries" while the other might be called "Humanities Notes and Queries." That way some of us with time or desire to sort through all the Technical queries might also delete them easily and devote our precious time to just what we prefer at the moment. Dick Taylor Philosophy, Marquette University From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "The Ph.D. gap & teaching loads" Date: Sun, 1 Oct 89 16:04:47 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 803 (1049) I appreciate Martin Ryle's recent, pithy comments about course activities, teaching & research expectations. Having taught for 7+ years at a state college where the usual teaching load is 12 semester hours, I must concur that Martin is on-target with his observations about three (or often four) preparations evaluation of essay-oriented examinations and similar student materials absorbing much time that would otherwise be spent on research by the energetic scholar. If one regards one's scholarly research activities, including the technical part (playing around with various computer gadgets, trying to program and author courseware, etc.), as also an important "hobby," this precious "free" time still seems well spent. However, I would recommend that all colleagues in search of the ultimate computer-based solutions to various literary and pedagogical problems of better preparing our students read Honor'e de Balzac's _La recherche de l'absolu_ (1834) ("The Search for the Absolute"). Best wishes, Joel D. Goldfield J_GOLDFI@UNHH.bitnet From: Jim Cahalan Subject: course loads Date: 01 Oct 89 16:48:27 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 804 (1050) In reply to Lynne Cheney and James Halporn about course loads, may I note that faculty at many schools (such as mine) where the teaching load is often four courses in a semester would love to have Cheney's three-course load imposed on them? Many may also have difficulty, in this light, sympathizing with Halporn's lament that his two-course load is really three when you throw in tutorials, etc. Jim Cahalan, Graduate Literature English Dept., 111 Leonard, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA 15705-1094 Phone: (412) 357-2264 From: Willard McCarty Subject: can computers help? Date: 1 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 805 (1051) In view of the teaching loads referred to above, what is the current opinion of informed Humanists on whether or not computers can help *in the long run*? Many of our labs are old enough now to be demanding a significant amount of hardware support and replacement. In some universities it is difficult or impossible to get the administration to pay for such ongoing costs, which then must come from departmental budgets. The newness of computing applications has worn off, and with it the extra excitement and pedagogical attention. Are we now seeing that computers give us even a limited hand with teaching that is cheaper than a freshly minted Ph.D.? Willard McCarty From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Re: Copyright thoughts Date: Sat, 30 Sep 89 21:12:48 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 526 (1052) There are two cases of copyright to consider. First, is the work you are dealing with under copyright protection or not? If it is protected, then copying more than an insubstantial amount by whatever means is a violation of copyright. It may not be challenged if such copying is solely for academic research--but if you try to sell the materials or you derive economic benefit from the materials in some way---they'll come after you. The more money, the more they will try to figure out a way to get some of it. If the work is NOT protected, and the copying is by means of using a computer to lift the words someone else typed in without typing them in directly yourself, then the issue becomes tricky. Such situations are relatively new to the law and without hardly any case law. Let's take a for instance. Once upon a time, OCLC was the Ohio College Library Consortium. It was a Cooperative venture between hundreds of libraries and hundreds of library acquisition staff keyboarded entries into the merged OCLC system. Then, some of the member libraries decided they wanted to put up their own electronic catalogs and asked for an electronic copy of the entries corresponding to their library's holdings. OCLC said no, you can't take the records out of our system and keep them yourself. These records are owned by us. They are the basis for our revenue. You will have to retype your records into the computer yourselves..... The case here involves information which in and of itself isn't subject to copyright individually. The bibliographic details of a book title, author, publisher, etc. are not themselves protected. What was being protected was the entire database. Significant subsets of the database were likewise protected. Anyway... what I'm trying to say here is that use of electronically captured information is a tricky thing for which they law hasn't yet figured out all of the ramifications. Turning to the second case: Data entry directly from a work out of copyright is 100% free and clear. Nobody can prevent you from typing in the words, photographing the pages, etc. of anything whose copyright has expired. However, if what you are copying from is some copyrighted interpretation, updating, revision, new edition, etc. of the original work--it may be subject to its own copyright protection (i.e. to assure the profits of the publisher and the new editors/compilers/revisers/interpreters, etc.). The clear test is to ask yourself whether anyone currently claiming copyright in the work you are taking information from contributed their own intellectual effort to the piece of the product you are taking for your own use. Certainly just interleaving three or more copyrighted objects doesn't undo the original copyright. (Try selling a tri-lineal text, with every 3rd line from each of three current best selling novels and see what happens!!!) Shakespeare obviously is not in copyright. Editions and interpretations of Shakespeare could clearly be in copyright under some circumstances. From: Wujastyk (on GEC 4190 Rim-D at UCL) Subject: TeX line numbering Date: Sun, 1 Oct 89 11:03 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 806 (1053) I assume from your recent HUMANIST message that you have given up on TEXTED.TEX and EDMAC.TEX, which do all the things you need. I am sorry I never got back to you about these. I ran the example you sent me, and it worked perfectly, so I couldn't see the problem myself, and I gave up. I am continuing to refine EDMAC, and I know John Lavagnino was intending to add some more bells and whistles this summer. So if you want to have another shot at it, let me know. I have reformatted the macros using Mittelbach's excellent DOC.STY macros (see latest TUGboat), so they are easier to read and understand. They are also the only thing around at present that will do what you want. Best wishes, Dominik Wujastyk From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Free Text Retrieval Systems Date: Sat, 30 Sep 89 22:53:03 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 807 (1054) Wow! Quite a bargain. I know people who have paid many thousands of dollars for things like BASIS and BRS and in England they give them away for free! ..... :-)))) From: nsabelli@ncsa.uiuc.edu (Nora Sabelli) Subject: reply to a request for information on FTP Date: Sat, 30 Sep 89 21:38:30 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 808 (1055) I hope this reply to a recent request is intelligible. If not, please discard it... [deleted quotation] FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is one of a series of commands available to access one computer from another, irrespective of where the computers are located. For this to happen, the computers have to be connected (networked) following special 'protocols' (i.e. commonly understood ways of encoding information). The particular protocol that can be used is called IP (Internet Protocol). TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocols of the IP) connections differ from Bitnet ones in that with TCP/IP you can logon remotely to a machine, not only send mail. In order to use FTP to transfer a file you need to have access to accounts on both machines. Typically, TCP/IP networks run at very fast speeds (at least faster than Bitnet and phone lines) and this makes their use for file transfer convenient. Groups of networks which use IP comprise the Internet; NSFnet (the National Science Foundation network) is one if the Internet networks; ARPAnet is another. Your campus may be connected to Internet, or can become connected (equipment and software are needed). If your campus is connected, and has a local area Ethernet network, you can connect a microcomputer to the Internet provided your micro has an ethernet card and the right software. The two commands you need to make use of all this are TELNET (to logon to a computer on the Internet) and FTP (to transfer files between computers). You need to be able to identify the computer you want to access with either an official name, or with its o-ficial address (which is always safer). For example, the Cray X-MP at NCSA is called ux.ncsa.uiuc.edu (the ux machine located at NCSA which is at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, an educational institution) or 128.174.10.46 (which says exactly the same thing, except that '46' is the machine name and '128' is the type of institution, but where would we all be without such inconsistencies?) How do you find the correct machine name and address? If your campus is connected to the Internet, the computer center should be able to tell you; there are tables maintained by every 'node' on the network. Once you a) know the correct address and b) have the account number and password for the remote computer, things become easier. The flavor of FTP commands is Unix-like, and once you enter the FTP command itself you have HELP. The commands you need to transfer text files are: GET, PUT and DIR (for the remote directory of files). Each machine's FTP program uses different words to reply, the following example is very general: you FTP ux.ncsa.uiuc.edu remote machine enter account/name/ you (your account on the remote machine) remote machine password needed you (your password) remote machine command: you directory remote machine command: you get filename.remote filename.local remote machine command: you put filename.local filename.remote remote machine command: you help remote machine command: you quit You can change directories (with the command cd), delete files, change the file transfer mode to binary, etc. But I hope this has made clear the process of transfering files. Many groups offer files for transfer to everybody that wants them; in that case you don't need an account on the remote machine. These machines are used for 'anonymous FTP' and you use 'anonymous' for the account and your name as the password. From: Subject: ftp file transfers Date: Sun, 1 Oct 89 00:38 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 809 (1056) [deleted quotation] The problem is that there isn't such a creature. FTP works with a variety of different computers and operating systems and transfers all kinds of different files. The permutations become nearly endless. The best bet is to pick a useful site such as the military archives at SIMTEL20, and try to figure out how to get files from there. Unless you have a local guru this will probably require some trial and error. Also, the knowledge gained may or may not be of help at the next site encountered. Other possiblities are um.cc.umich.edu (35.1.1.43) or cseg.uark.edu (130.184.64.202), both have lots of pd software for microcomputers. I'd be glad to send anyone a help file from SIMTEL that can get you started in the marvelous world of tenex, hash, bget, ebcdic, and 36-bit words with four zero filler bits. Jon LaCure Bitnet : lacurej@iubacs Arpanet : lacurej@gold.bacs.indiana.edu Voice : (812) 855-7511 From: NMILLER@TRINCC Subject: Date: Sun, 1 Oct 89 15:40:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 529 (1057) John Sandys-Wunsch is certainly right about the Virgin Birth: the list of commentators is long. But what intrigues me is that the question keeps popping up (on Rosh Hashana yet!) long after one might have assumed that --in scholarly circles at least--it had been put to rest. Are we now going to be reading the old arguments about the difference between _alma_ (young woman) and _b'tula_ (virgin), etc.? Please: enough is enough. Norman Miller Trinity College From: MTRILEY@CALSTATE (Mark Timothy Riley) Subject: RE: 3.525 PhDs, teaching loads -- and computers? (81) Date: Mon, 2 Oct 89 16:43:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 530 (1058) I find that computers give *no* help in teaching the usual undergrad class, other than my not having to retype tests in their entirety when I want to change one question. In the humanistic disciplines (versus CAD classes for example) computers here have no role. Mark Riley California State University, Sacramento From: bobh@phoenix.uucp (Robert Hollander) Subject: Re: 3.523 Notes and Queries (something new, 131) Date: Sun, 1 Oct 89 19:27:57 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 810 (1059) Willard, as a subscriber who finds a variety of things on HUMANIST of interest, and who similarly finds some materials of a technical and some of a non-technical kind without relevance to my own interests, I find myself urging you to go ahead with your (as usual) sensible plan: gather "notes and queries" when you can (for easier zapping for those who would zap), but keep HUMANIST as varied as it has been. I continue to find this variety a strength rather than a weakness, and am a bit surprised at the single-purposed complaints by both sets of complainers, tekkie and non-tekkie alike. BobH From: N.J.Morgan@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.523 Notes and Queries (something new, 131) Date: Mon, 2 Oct 89 09:00:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 811 (1060) Although only a cupboard full of books (remember those ?) divides Spaeth and myself, I though I would answer his points in this broader forum. I'm a great hearts man, and Humanist does seem to offer a unique opportunity for such red herrings as these to be cast and pursued at great speed, and often with stimulating and humourous results. Despite this I would go further than Spaeth and say that it is profoundly unscholarly to think that rigorous and systematic research can be sustained be seeking answers to general queries that can clearly be answered in any half-decent library. And to think that this is the way that dissertations can be written - oh dear ! But then Spaeth says he likes Humanist for its *hardcore* content, disc drives, NB, OCRs etc - information is the word he uses. Well, fellow humanists - where is it (the information, not the beef) ? I see a lot of comment, a lot of opinion, and often considerable *hardcore* nonsense, but information, clear and true, seems in short supply. Particularly disturbing is the extent to which individuals with institutional or personal axes (axis ?) to grind dominate the list with assertions in favour of or against this or that... Actually, its not disturbing, its good fun (particularly when you can put the right axe to the right person, so to speak), but information, Don, it ain't ! %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % Nicholas J Morgan % % Department of Scottish History % % University of Glasgow % Where's the rest ??? % Glasgow % % G12 8QH % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% From: DONWEBB@CALSTATE (Donald Webb) Subject: Re: "Purposes of Humanist" Wed 27 Sep Date: Mon, 2 Oct 89 16:25:02 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 812 (1061) Right on, Prof. Steele! I think you've spoken for a lot of Humanist subscribers... And I'm glad that the Humanist family, though it may occasionally resemble a passel of kids, does not pose an onerous chore on you, Willard. They -- we -- do have our moods, though, don't we?! Having raised half a dozen or so children, I sympathize with you and empathize with your efforts in nurturing such a large "family." Regards, From: Subject: PH.D.s, etc. Date: Mon, 2 Oct 89 00:24:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 813 (1062) Poor Jim O'Donnell and me! Somehow I guess we haven't really learned how to send messages on BITNET to satisfy the HUMANIST audience. We end up being told we've said things we haven't said. But the deconstruction of messages is the thing these days. If I gave the impression that I think all those who like to teach are not scholar-researchers, I apologize. If I gave the impression that I am bitching about a two-course load, I apologize for that too. I thought I was commenting on Cheney (whose support from some of the HUMANIST members makes me think of the old joke about various peoples: if you have one of them for a friend, who needs enemies?). So let me leave it now by suggesting perhaps a book, Wayne Booth's *Vocation of a Teacher* (I may, in typical scholarly fashion, have gotten the title slightly wrong). In that book Booth wrestles with a lot of the issues we have been discussing. As for the techniks and non-techniks in HUMANIST, I think that both groups can be satisfied without setting out special categories. Even technical mags like PC Week and PC Magazine have gossip columns and commentators, and the Newsletter of some of my scholarly societies do carry computer news. Jim Halporn, Classics/CompLit Indiana U. (HALPORNJ@IUBACS). From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Teaching, course loads, computers, 'freshly-minted' Ph.D.'s" Date: Mon, 2 Oct 89 00:40:59 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 814 (1063) The past few messages about teaching, computers, etc., certainly inspires me to ponder how many of us Humanists balance our teaching, including expected concomitant activities, and our research & development work with computers. I wonder what the rough percentage is of those with various semester-hour loads and rough amount of work with computers for our own research and for courseware development or evaluation. How many colleges & universities actually have humanities departments with full-blown computer-managed instruction (CMI) and computer-aided testing (CAT)? From my attendance at various conferences (CALICO, ACH/ALLC, Northeast, MLA, ACTFL) and visits to institutions progressive in CAI, it seems to me that most have "home-grown" systems and that only a very, very few have an arrangement where the foreign language instructors, for example, can rely on a computer center for adminstration of tutorials and testing outside of oral proficiency and essay evaluation. At best, in most institutions where a creative use of CAI in the humanities is in place, there are a few good programs for writing (complex wordprocessing environments with various utilities, e.g., "Syst`eme-D") or specific tutorials, relatively rarely for testing, and few faculty developing courseware that ventures forth from experimental class applications. Some of the military academies, the University of Delaware, Brigham Young University and a few others are notable exceptions. One might also think more broadly of institutions using the PLATO system and its 10's of thousands of hours of CAI. Yet it is precisely the individual instructor's acumen and brilliance of pedagogy that would guide her/his individual students toward mastering the specific course material. I won't lengthen this message with ruminations about what types of encouragement and support are necessary in universities to support innovative courseware development by their most innovative faculty. I suspect that Dana Paramskas, Stephen Clausing, David Bantz, Willard, and many others will have something to add on this subject. Suffice it to close with the thought that "freshly-minted" Ph.D.'s of all denominations who possess the energy, administrative skills, creativity and daring (especially in the face of unstable tenure requirements) to evaluate, adapt, design and implement software that will guide students efficiently during study time will be doing far more, practically and idealistically, then any instructor or team trying to create an android tutor! --Joel D. Goldfield J_GOLDFI@UNHH.bitnet From: Mikeal Parsons Subject: STORYTELLING MOVEMENT? Date: Mon, 2 Oct 89 09:54 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 815 (1064) A colleague of mine in Oral History is interested in tracing the development of storytelling in American popular culture. Her thesis is that storytelling has experienced something of a resurgence lately, perhaps as a backlash to the pervasiveness of technology. She is searching for some "hard data" which might prove (or disprove) what is now only an intuition. Any help? Mikeal C. Parsons Baylor University BITNET: PARSONSM@BAYLOR From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: Summer in London Program Date: Mon, 02 Oct 89 12:08:54 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 816 (1065) Frequent E-List correspondent KEVIN L. COPE would like to announce his participation in and solicit applications for the LSU Summer in London Program. Offering a full range of courses from lower undergraduate to full graduate classes, the program is housed in lovely Goldsmith College of the University of London and runs from July 9 - August 11, 1990. Faculty come from English, Art History, and Theatre departments, but can assist students in several disciplines. Write to Kevin L. Cope, Department of English, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, U. S. A., or to Academic Programs Abroad, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70803. Requests for more information may be filed directly via e-mail with the director of academic programs abroad at LSU, Prof. Stephen Cooper. His e-address: ABCOOP@LSUVM. From: Daniel Boyarin Subject: Origins of virgin birth Date: Mon, 2 Oct 89 13:23:25 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 817 (1066) Yes, indeed there has been a mistranslation, but not the one you suggest. The Hebrew means merely a "young woman," and no more. There may have been such a belief as you suggest but it is not warranted by the biblical usage of Isaiah, which only means a nubile young woman will give birth. Daniel Boyarin, Deopartment of Talmud, Bar-Ilan University From: Steve Mason Subject: Who is/was a virgin? Date: Mon, 02 Oct 89 14:14:35 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 818 (1067) In reply to Edis Bevan's query: The study of the virgin birth that you seem to have in mind is Geza Vermes, (SCM, 1973). He has an excursus entitled "Son of God and Virgin Birth", in which he argues along the lines you have suggested. He points out that according to both the Mishnah and Tosefta (earliest rabbinic writings), a virgin (bethulah) is one who "has never seen blood even though she is married". Noting that the common Greek term for "virgin" could be used with similar elasticity, Vermes proposes that the original story about Jesus' unusual birth was transformed into a story of miraculous birth. Although the data cited by Vermes are clear enough, it is hard to see how this scenario could account for the origin of the virgin birth story. The prob lem is that the story seems entirely unknown to the earliest Christian writers (Paul and Mark) and even some of the later ones (John). It appears only in two of the later Gospels (Matthew and Luke), in two very different versions, and even in those Gospels the story has no function; the infancy narratives are not mentioned in the sequel. All of this suggests that the notion of Jesus' virgin birth entered the developing Christian tradition only toward the end of the first century. Steve Mason Division of Humanities York University, Toronto From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.530 computer-assisted instruction (20) Date: Mon, 2 Oct 89 20:42:11 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 819 (1068) Second the motion. We are using computers primarily as repositories of machine-readable texts in order to print those texts out for distribution to classes. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: "Leslie Z. Morgan" Subject: RE: 3.533 Notes and Queries (96) Date: Mon, 2 Oct 89 21:02:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 820 (1069) I would like to comment on two items recently appearing in the *Humanist*. First, about the possible resurgence of storytelling: how about rap music as evidence? The small amounts I have heard seem to hold stories. Secondly, about time, teaching and computing. Since time is limited, and in foreign language best used (I believe) in oral, communicative interaction, it seems reasonable to program the CAI, spell-checking, etc. functions onto the computer, while we are learning snazzier stuff like Video-disk interaction, etc. The kids love it- but not in overdoses, just like anything else. The same is true of a reasonable language lab program: they can practice comprehensi on at their own speed. Thus, not only do we not have to type a whole test over to re-do a question, we can also send students to practice irregular verbs, learn vocabulary, etc. Why not? But, again, moderation is a key, as is also the primary importance of the instructor. Leslie Morgan Foreign Langs. Loyola College Baltimore, MD (MORGAN@LOYVAX) From: "Norman D. Hinton" Subject: CAI Date: Tue, 03 Oct 89 10:17:41 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 821 (1070) I'm sorry to hear from Professor Riley that his department has been unable to find useful CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction) materials for the Humanities. Here at Sangamon State (an Illinois state University in Springfield, named for the county which in turn is named for an Indian tribe) we have the PLATO system, and we do in fact use CAI in a variety of courses. For instance, in our introductory Colloquia (one undergrad, one grad) we use, *inter alia* --a lesson on MLA footnoting and bibliographical style --a lesson on the dates of literary works --a lesson on using the library --a lesson on vocabulary for English students (word-formation, word roots, etc.) --a lesson on reading "Leda and the Swan" and various others. These materials were written by me and by some of our students. In my Chaucer course I use 5 lessons on Chaucer's Middle English which I wrote, plus a simulation "game" on running a late medieval manor which was written by two people on PLATO at the University of Ilinois In History of the English Language I use a variety of lessons, some written by me, some written by linguists at the U. of Illinois, on such topics as Grimm's Law, the Great Vowel Shift, American dialects, et. al. I should say that I was already a tenured full Professor when I began to learn to program, and that SSU has been hospitable to faculty who develop computer materials for teaching. I know this is luck, but it also took a lot of arguing and memo writing: a past VP for Academic Affairs, a historian, held that humanists had no business with computers. He is no longer here, however. I must admit that out in the great commercial world of CAI software there has been little to like for college/university level humanities. But programming is the most fun you can have with a computer, and the most rewarding ! (I also program a lot of my own research databases, test analysis, etc., and have been using the results in scholarly papers for about 10 years.) From: DONWEBB@CALSTATE (Donald Webb) Subject: discontent with no place for computers Date: Tue, 03 Oct 89 13:42:46 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 822 (1071) My friend and officemate Mark Riley is all too right in saying (Mon 2 Oct) "In the humanistic disciplines (versus CAD classes for example) computers here have no role." ... I would add only two things: first, neither of us is content with that state of affairs. Second, our campus does have two offices that use computers extensively: the Assisted-Devices Center and the Computer Access Center, both of which work, in different ways, with students who have visual, auditory or motor-skill impairments. Don Webb (DonWebb@CalState) California State University, Sacramento From: PROF NORM COOMBS Subject: Value of Humanist 10 lines Date: Mon, 2 Oct 89 20:16 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 535 (1072) I am one who wants to add his voice to support the excellent manner in which Willard is operating humanist discussions. I belong to quite a few discussion groups but none as valuable nor as interesting as Humanist. Most are more specialized and serve significant purposes. However, Humanist not only carries a wide variety of interesting discussion by fascinating people, (wish I had the time and energy to communicate with and get to know many, many more), but Humanist frequently drops undreamed-of gems of information both of a general and of a professional nature into my mail box. I have learned important and valuable tid bits. The titles are helpful and extremely time saving. Norman Coombs [Although I am pleased to read such praise as Professor Coombs bestows above, it is not clear to me exactly what I have to do with Humanist that makes it enjoyable and worthwhile. Furthermore, editing it is enough of a reward that I really don't know what to do with other rewards. Please keep them! I wonder why it is that people think Humanist is so much work (does the screen sweat?), and why it seems that Humanist's quality is my doing -- when so obviously the intelligence and wit of the membership has the overwhelming role? Humanist's success is evidence of something far more important than one person's editorial skills: it attests, I think, to our own need for a community and our capability of maintaining one, and it witnesses the growing maturity of our common field -- even if it isn't a "discipline" like history or classics. Comments? --W.M.] From: Harold Wilson Subject: Plotinus Date: Mon, 02 Oct 89 19:38:17 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 536 (1073) I have been unable to find Plotinus in the machine readable Oxford Archive. If anyone knows of other likely sources, I would appreciate hearing of them. From: Robert Kirsner (213) 825-3955 Subject: Re: 3.533 Notes and Queries (96) Date: Tue, 3 Oct 89 01:34:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 823 (1074) An interesting aspect of virgin birth is explored at the conclusion of Walter J. Miller Jr.'s novel A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ, which -- I believe-- every humanist ought to have read. From: DONWEBB@CALSTATE (Donald Webb) Subject: Query on French immersion courses Date: Tue, 03 Oct 89 13:42:46 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 824 (1075) (1) "Immersion" French courses in France or Canada. I'm passing on to the membership a request from a colleague in our School of Education who has asked me about "immersion"-type French-language courses for adults in France or Canada. Apparently he'd like to gear up for an eventual visit to his wife's relatives in France. He mentioned preferring something like Cuernavaca's program in Spanish, where, he says, the students take classes for several hours a day and live with families. I told him he could ask the French and Canadian consulates in San Francisco, but it occurs to me that my Department (Foreign Languages) would also like to have this information, since it's of general interest. Please reply directly to me. If I receive several replies I'll post them. Thanks in advance for your help! Don Webb (DonWebb@CalState) California State University, Sacramento From: Willard McCarty Subject: the unbearable unity of Humanist Date: 4 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 538 (1076) After consulting with my colleagues on Humanist's editorial board, I have again come to the conclusion that a partitioning of our seminar into two or more potentially non-communicating parts would be exceedingly unwise. Humanist's special genius lies in part in the lack of such partitioning, in the mixing of technical and non-technical discussions. Computing in the humanities itself is like that, of course. We will have to see how well "Notes and Queries" works out. I would certainly welcome private expressions on this matter, but I think that public discussion of it needs a rest. Perhaps I may be forgiven for cultivating discussions about Humanist itself, but I take the point urged by Bob Amsler and others, that Humanist is most useful (to them and, I suspect, many others) when it isn't talking about itself. Willard McCarty From: Brad Inwood (416) 978-3178 INWOOD at UTOREPAS Subject: e-Plotinus Date: 4 October 1989, 08:40:06 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 825 (1077) the simplest way to get a well verified electronic text of plotinus is to access the thesaurus linguae graecae data base. there are various ways of doing that, depending on your hardware setup and budget. brad inwood From: F5400000@LAUVAX01.BITNET Subject: Electronic textbooks? Date: Wed, 4 Oct 89 20:01 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 826 (1078) I have just had the discouraging experience of finding out a textbook I was using in a correspondence course has gone out of print. I am sure most of us have endured this at one time or another. Might it be a reasonable idea to urge publishers to keep a backlog of machine readable texts of textbooks which (for a fee naturally) academics could access when the hardcopy form is not available? John Sandys-Wunsch F5400000 @ LAUVAX01.LAURENTIAN.CA From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: TLG CD-ROM Resources Date: Wednesday, 4 October 1989 2002-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 827 (1079) In response to HUMANIST queries from Willard (himself) McCarty and Harold Wilson regarding ancient Greek texts, I spent some time at the local IBYCUS Scholarly Computer with the TLG CD-ROM this morning. In case these issues have not yet been solved, (1) Plotinus Enneads is on the TLG CD-ROM -- contact Theodore Brunner and his staff at TLG (U CAL at Irvine) = TLG@UCI.BITNET. (2) The two unidentified quotations mediated through Willard were slightly different from what I take to be their sources on the TLG disk -- oudeis prosaitwn bioton hraqh brotwn is in Euripides Frgs.322 topwn metabolai oute fronhsin didaskousin oute afrosunhn afaireontai is in Libanius Frgs.88.40ff. These were not difficult to locate by searching all of the TLG greek texts asking for the least problematic portions of the root words (e.g. find both prosait and brot, find both afrousun and afairoun). I let the machine run while I did other things. It goes through the entire corpus in about 45 minutes. I spent a LOT of time doing such searches for attendees at the Cairo Papyrological conference last month, with excellent results as well! Bob Kraft (CCAT) [On behalf of my Italian colleague, thanks to Bob Kraft and to another Humanist, William McCarthy, for locating the two quotations in the TLG. My colleague looked there as well but somehow didn't have such success. Wonderful thing, the TLG. It is especially wonderful for untrained renegades like myself, who can by such means steal into the otherwise impregnable preserve and grab the goods. The effects on classical studies may be quite interesting, quite surprising to some, yes? --W.M.] From: WARMCN@AC.DAL.CA Subject: Computers and Undergraduate Instruction Date: Tue, 3 Oct 89 21:22 ADT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 828 (1080) I was struck by a comment made by Mark Riley that "computers give *no* help in teaching the usual undergrad class." I use a mainframe conferencing system known as COSY in a class I teach on comedy and satire. It resembles an e-mail discussion group except that it is locally based and only members of the class participate (it can be opened to other local users). Somebody described the system as the classroom without walls because discussion can occur 24 hours a day everyday. The students, even the most computer-paranoid, generally end up loving it. Moreover, it is easy to learn. I think that it is an excellent undergraduate teaching tool. David McNeil, Dalhousie University (WARMCN@AC.DAL.CA) From: Stephen Clausing Subject: useful CAI Date: Wed, 04 Oct 89 11:37:56 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 829 (1081) I have been surprised at recent comments from various sources that they have been unable to find suitable CAI materials. I admit that all existing CAI (including my own) is limited, but it is a fact that many universities do use CAI quite successfully. At the risk of sounding sarcastic, if someone has not yet found suitable CAI than that someone has not looked hard enough. I find it difficult to believe that the work of the last 5 years of so many people has been in vain. I suggest that the doubters of CAI take a look at an issue of "Wheels for the Mind", a listing of work done and being done in CAI for the Macintosh. Another source would be the software catalog from Kinko's Academic Courseware Exchange (free at your local Kinko's shop). Try writing to NCRIPTAL at the Univ. of Michigan and asking about the winners of their national software competition. Take a tour of the computing facilities at Brown or Dartmouth, just to name two that I am very well acquainted with, and you will see ample use of CAI. From: SVAF524@UTXVM.BITNET Subject: Foreign Language Study and CAI Date: Wednesday, 4 October 1989 4:16pm CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 830 (1082) I would like to add two points to the discussion of CAI and teaching in the humanities. First, after reading Leslie Morgan's comments, I would like to add that there is a significant body of foreign language learners/ students for whom, even at the earliest stages of language instruction, oral skill is not the primary goal. The needs of these folks are met in courses such as "Russian for Reading" and the like. Computer-based text delivery has some potential in such courses, I think. Second, I would observe that much of the available computer software to support language instruction is, in the final analysis, merely the mechanization of traditional language learning tasks: vocabulary flash cards, verb drills, etc. There are some exceptions, but they are rare. One less traditional, computer-based task which comes immediately to mind would be the use of e-mail facilities to give our students contact with speakers of the language which they are studying. --Pete Smith, UT-Austin From: "DAVID STUEHLER" Subject: Supercomputers again Date: 1 Oct 89 16:32:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 541 (1083) A few days ago I posted an extremely brief query about the use of a supercomputer in humanities computing. Although too short, the question was serious. (I did receive one answer.) The administration of my college, Montclair State College in New Jersey, is considering joining the John Von Neumann supercomputer center as a full member of the consortium. This will entitle us to free training for faculty and many hours of CPU time on the supercomputer. A number of questions arise. Membership is expensive and the money could perhaps be put to better use in support of academic computing. I understand that JVNC is experiencing problems, political and financial, and that several universities have withdrawn. Any information anyone may have on this would be appreciated. We are a "teaching college" although faculty research is encouraged if not positively required. Those in favor of our participation in JVNC envision it as experimental--as supercomputer technology becomes more and more important in our society and the need to understand this technology moves down to the undergraduate and perhaps even secondary school levels, we will lead the way in curriculum development. It all seems a little too abstract to me. Finally the most interesting question. Although JVNC is supported by the NSF, which does not recognize most of what we do as "science," I suspect that ways could be found to use the supercomputer. Once in the door, what would a humanist do with it? What worthy projects have been put aside because available computer resources were insufficient? David Stuehler E989003@NJECNVM From: LNGDANAP@UOGUELPH Subject: Notes and Queries Date: Tue, 03 Oct 89 22:19:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 831 (1084) Some lighthearted textual analysis. In the past few weeks, the two genteely contending factions have been labelled: technies (and non-); techies (and non-); tekkies (and non-); techniks (and non-). Is there a semiotician out there to interpret? From: PROF NORM COOMBS Subject: British external degrees?? 5 lines Date: Wed, 4 Oct 89 11:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 832 (1085) I have a frined with a US undergrad degree, major political science. Now lives in Israel. He would like to pursue graduate work probably in education. I understand that U. London and other British universities have extensive offerings in external degree programs. Please send me address: paper or electronic. nrcgsh@ritvax From: "Patrick W. Conner" Subject: 3.541 supercomputing the humanities? (46) Date: Thu, 5 Oct 89 02:18:46 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 833 (1086) I took a course in supercomputing such as David Stueler describes, because I thought supercomputing might be the next frontier in humanistic computing. What I discovered was that I didn't have the time or expertise to prepare the CRAY to do what I'd like to have done. I think that, for us, the promise of supercomputing lies in the tremendous ammount of memory available and speed of access, but to make use of those, we need a body of texts available to the machine unlike any yet available. What we need is a supercomputer with access to all of the texts to be named in the Rutger's Inventory project, wherever they may be. Then, using the supercomputer, you define the texts which interest you, and you ask the machine to generate the data from that set of texts. After that, I suspect that you would download the generated data to a local mainframe and continue your project in the manner appropriate to the study. I may be all wet, but I think that those of us who are not willing to become supercomputing engineers will have to wait for the engineers to get around to setting things up for us, just as we did (and are doing) with pre-super computers. - --Pat Conner From: "Guy L. Pace" Subject: Supercomputing in the humanities Date: Thu, 05 Oct 89 09:53:57 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 834 (1087) In response to David Stuehler's request for information on the John von Neumann National Supercomputer Center, I have just a few comments and recommendations. The center has four supercomputers and four VAX 8600's (two on VMS and two on Ultrix). So, as far as computing power is concerned there is plenty. As a potential user of the center, your first question should be: What applications are available on the supercomputers? What applications are available should help you decide whether the center can meet your computing needs. JvNC does have user consultants, applications consultants and research scientists on staff. If the applications support your "non-science" programs, contact one of the applications consultants and discuss specific tasks and research. I suspect the "hard science" folks will get the most from using the supercomputer center. Putting a text data base in a supercomputer seems equivalent to using the M1 ABRAMS tank for swatting flies. From: D.Mealand@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: Plotinus Date: 05 Oct 89 11:34:16 bst X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 835 (1088) Someone on this bb asked for e-Plotinus.... Plotinus is on the TLG compact disc. Anyone with an Ibycus or within travelling distance of one will find it quick at searching Plotinus or most other Greek authors. There are also other programmes for searching the compact disc from a pc or a mac I believe. David M. From: H J Blumenthal Subject: Re: 3.536 e-Plotinus? (15) Date: Thu, 5 Oct 89 12:35:17 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 836 (1089) Subject Plotinus. Haven't answered directly as e-mail address of enquirer doesn't tell me - ignorance ? - which side of the Atlantic he's on. Suggests he gets on to TLG at Irvine, CA who have Plotinus on their database. I'd also like to hear from him what he's doing. Henry Blumenthal, Liverpool, UK From: dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca Subject: Computer-assisted speech analysis Date: 04 Oct 89 20:40 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 545 (1090) I'm posting this for a friend, and hope to demonstrate how useful Humanist is in this regard. He would like to perform some computer-assisted spectrographic real-time speech analysis (at least I *think* that's what he wants). Apparently there is a DOS package that will do this, but he would prefer Mac software if at all possible. What's required, as I understand it, is a hardware/software combination which will allow voice sampling and will display a spectrogram of the sample on the computer screen. I seem to recall having seen something somewhere about a MacRecorder being used for this purpose, but can't recall where. Can anybody help? David Graham dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca Memorial University of Newfoundland (...)munucs!dgraham From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.542 Notes and Queries (37) Date: Wed, 4 Oct 89 21:19:43 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 837 (1091) Re tekkie, techie, technik. You don't need a semeotician so much as a historical linguistic. We've got two competing suffixes, one of which has deep roots in English while the other owes its popularity to sputnik, thence beatnik, and so on down the line. Tekkie vs. techie is simply phonetic vs. etymological spelling. Which will win out? Like any good linguist, I refuse to prognosticate. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.542 Notes and Queries (37) Date: Wed, 4 Oct 89 21:20:32 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 838 (1092) Read semiotician and historical linguist. From: DONWEBB@CALSTATE (Donald Webb) Subject: Techkknik(ie)s? Date: Wed, 04 Oct 89 20:23:41 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 839 (1093) Techies? Technies? Tekkies? Techniks? Techkkniks? Can even a semiotician (semioticist? semiotekkie?) interpret this? How about an emoticon (vocaticon?), e.g. :-!?)... But perhaps reserved to those, uh, whatever they call themselves, who smoke cigars... Any more ideas? From: Subject: TECHIES AND TECHNIKS Date: Thu, 5 Oct 89 00:16:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 840 (1094) In reply to LNGDANAP@GUELPH (sorry, I didn't catch your name or institutional connection), those who use "niks" are probably over 40, New Yorkers, and users of what Leo Rosten calls "Yinglish." (Rosten's latest book "The Joys of Yinglish" is reviewed in the NY Times Book Review, 10-8-89, p. 11). Those who use "ies" are probably under 40, TV addicts, and in- fluenced by the California Valley Girls. Jim Halporn, Indiana U., a "nik-nik," or possibly "nudnik." HALPORNJ@IUBACS. From: Paul Brians Subject: Nuclear Texts & Contexts newsletter Date: Thu, 05 Oct 89 09:21:01 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 841 (1095) I'll see how far the N&Q section of HUMANIST can be stretched: I publish a newsletter (in PageMaker on the Macintosh) entitled "Nuclear Texts & Contexts," which is the official publication of the International Society for the Study of Nuclear Texts and Contexts," and which covers nuclear issues in language and literature (fiction depicting nuclear war, nuclear thrillers, defense analysis language theory, the rhetoric of "nuclearism," etc. It strikes me technically-oriented humanists such as use this board might be interested in our work. The latest issue features three book reviews, several bibliographies, and an article by a Romanian scholar on nuclear war themes in Eastern European science fiction. For subscription info write William Scheick, ISSNTC Treasurer, 9901 Oak Run Drive, Austin, TX 78758-5547. A year's subscription of 2 issues plus the membership directory is $5 ($6 for foreign mail), $1 each for back issues. From: Maurizio Lana U245 at ITOCSIVM Subject: electronic text of Claudianus Date: 6 October 89, 17:43:20 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 842 (1096) I'm searching for an electronic text of Claudianus: does anyone know of it? Thank you. Maurizio From: "Kevin L. Cope" Subject: The Discourse of Slogans, or Roll Out the Banner Date: Fri, 06 Oct 89 12:28:29 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 843 (1097) Howdy! I'm a HUMANIST who is contemplating the purchase of a laser printer. My occasional administrative duties involve the production of banners using programs like BANNER.COM (which generates continuous banners on printers using perforated, fanfold paper). Is there any way to generate a banner using a laser printer? Or does such a printer print separate pages only? Which printers are best when it comes to rolling out the banner? From: AMAURY DA GAMA BENTES Subject: discussion items Date: Fri, 06 Oct 89 18:25:10 EXP X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 844 (1098) As a new member of HUMANIST I'd like to introduce myself to all of you. I'm a sociologist dealing, at present, with Urban Planning. My thesis is on the use and possibilities of Informatics in this area. I would be very happy if any of you could contribute with suggestions, data or information about books, works or researches on this subject. Well, I'm very interested in Desktop Publishing as well. Mail and inter- active messages are welcome. According to the List owner I am the only member from the southern hemisphere. Waiting for "northern" messages A.Bentes [Mr. Bentes is in fact the first Humanist from South America (Rio de Janeiro, Brasil). Because e-mail from beyond the seas has proven too expensive for our former Humanists from Australia and New Zealand, Mr. Bentes is also now the only one from the southern hemisphere -- unless I've overlooked someone. --W.M.] From: MTRILEY@CALSTATE (Mark Timothy Riley) Subject: RE: 3.540 computer-assisted instruction (80) Date: Fri, 6 Oct 89 13:40:51 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 548 (1099) I certainly am delighted to hear about all the universities with infinite computer resources. I presume you all who talk about the value of CAI have students who possess computers, teach at campuses with many available available terminals, and don't mind putting students who own no computers to a lot of trouble. We've had PLATO here for almost 20 years--and there is great stuff on PLATO, even for Latin! So, I can assign my classes work on PLATO: let's see, 10 terminals for a school of 25,000 and Latin classes of 50+ total. Maybe they'll have to wait in line only an hour or so. Of course everyone knows a 10,000 dollar terminal is much better than a 10 dollar notebook which every student can own for himself. (That comment is sarcastic.) In short, CAI is great in theory, but useless in reality, at least in the reality of large public institutions. Until computers are as commonly owned (better--until the same brand of computer is commonly owned) as typewriters, I'll not even try to make computer assignments. God knows the engineers have trouble enough and they *must* use computers. Mark Riley, Classics, CSU Sacramento From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: speech-analysis Date: 5 October 1989, 20:20:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 845 (1100) I remember at the NeXT computer demo in Toronto the ability to record speech, see its spectrum represented graphically, and modify it. Roy F. From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.545 speech-analysis? (31) Date: Thu, 5 Oct 89 20:56:55 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 846 (1101) Try the NeXt machine, which comes with a built-in wave-form analyzer. Also, if I remember correctly there has been some work done at Yale (Linguistics) using DOS. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: Eric Keller Subject: Spectrographic speech analysis on the Macintosh Date: Fri, 06 Oct 89 08:22:49 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 847 (1102) Computer-assisted spectrographic speech analysis is indeed possible on the Macintosh. However, without a fairly massive investment, it will not be in real-time. For around US$140 street price, one can buy a MacRecorder 8- bit A/D device that plugs into any Macintosh. The program that comes with the device makes very pretty spectrograms, but does not permit manual scoring directly from the spectrograms. To do manual scoring in a much more powerful environment, people can buy Signalyze for US$250. The program reads MacRecorder files (as well as MacAdios, sound resource and ASCII files), and it can save numeric values directly from points in the spectrogram where the user clicked. I happen to be the author of the program, and I'll gladly send more detailed information about it to whoever requests it. Eric Keller Universite du Quebec a Montreal From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.545 speech-analysis? (31) Date: Fri, 6 Oct 89 06:07:10 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 848 (1103) MacRecorder and SoundEdit will provide a display of input speech, and has some tools for mamnipulating the display. The basic design of this combination, however, is for easy and inexpensive recording of sound, not analysis. Lish Huggins at Dartmouth has a hardware/software package "MacScope" which will turn the Mac into a very sophisticated oscilloscope with a battery of analysis tools; microphone input is one of the standard modes supported. This program is the recipient of the EDUCOM/NCRIPTAL award for best physics software, 1989. From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Supercomputing for humanists Date: Thu, 5 Oct 89 21:04:04 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 550 (1104) I find it surprising that I can disagree with both authors of the recent supercomputer messages (Patrick Conner and Guy Pace) even though it might be supposed they were themselves in disagreement over sueprcomputer use. First, using a supercomputer for data transfer isn't very sensible. Supercomputers `crunch' things they keep internal to their memory. They in fact may not be that good at data transfer since they depend on their I/O (input/output) capabilities--which often are no better than many conventional computers. ---- However, to claim that there are no `text' tasks which a supercomputer could improve on is much more irritating and reflects a numeric bias I dislike. Here is a text calculation that might consume a lot of cycles. Suppose you wanted to output every collocation in a text whose frequency as a collocation was at least one quarter of the frequency of the least frequent isolated word in the collocation. Or, suppose you wanted to find the average distance in words between all reoccurrences of words in a text? (That is, in the last sentence the words `words' and `in' reoccur at distances of 5 and 7 from their previous occurrences). Admittedly these aren't `really' nasty calculations, but if one decided to explore something like a authorship characteristics of a set of texts, in which you wanted the answers to which pairs of texts had the most similar such statistics and then wanted that to be graphically plotted in real time.... I think the supercomputer's nanoseconds would be suitably occupied. From: 6vannoot@violet.berkeley.edu Subject: Re: 3.470 PScript fount generation (53) Date: Thu, 5 Oct 89 22:11:26 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 551 (1105) With the help of a student I have used Publisher's Type Foundry to produce an acceptable Devanagari Sanskrit font that works quite well as a screen font and produces superior printed text on a HP Laserjet II. But I echo Ms. Glynn's sentiments: the manual needs a great deal of revision. We started from scratch with an inexpensive scanner about seven months ago and it has taken all that time, as well as perhaps 60 calls to the ZSOFT developers to get to where we are now. They were very helpful, and on occasion had to rewrite their code to accommodate our demands. We are now working on a less complicated Hindi alphabet and my associate has also developed a beautiful Bengali alphabet. The screen appearance is a little grainy on a standard EGA board, but should improve if you invest in a higher resolution monitor. I am also using Ventura Tips and Trix and find it intractable at best. I am looking forward to your manual. Feel free to get in touch with me about specifics. It is mainly a matter of getting hold of the right filters. From: LNGDANAP@UOGUELPH Subject: Notes and queries, bis Date: Thu, 05 Oct 89 21:04:29 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 849 (1106) Te(ch)(kk)....s (insert variables at will). Yes, but *why* 1) the diminutive; 2) why does *this* particular word attract so many variations? Maybe I'm looking for a sociolinguist or a psycholinguist? From: Robert Kirsner (213) 825-3955 (Department of Subject: (COPY) 3.546 Notes and Queries (96) Date: Fri, 6 Oct 89 11:26:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 850 (1107) CHEEK-IN-TONGUE DEPT. Actually, I'm all in favor of actively expanding the use of -NIK to support a much-needed semantic distinction between 'sincere, genuine', versus 'non-genuine, false', coded by the suffix. We could, for example, initiate a distinction between, say, "Christian" and "Christ-nik," where the latter burn down abortion clinics and protest the latest Hollywood productions, while the former (like Mother Teresa) have better things to do (and thereby ultimately are awarded Nobel Peace Prizes). Extending the analogy, we find that most language departments are populated not by people interested in Language, but rather by "Lit-niks", who subdivide further into Goetheniks, Shakespeareniks, and so forth. The Goethe-nik distinguishes him-, her-, or itself from the true Goethe scholar by a heightened sense of territoriality: "Keep your cotten-picken' hands off MY Goethe". An interesting question is the competition between the suffixes -NIK and -OID, the latter indicating greater deviance from a model or prototype. A slavish follower of Chomsky could thus be designated a Chomskynik, but someone who innovates to some degree would be a Chomskyoid. From: Oxford Text Archive Subject: teckease Date: Fri, 6 Oct 89 18:09 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 851 (1108) LNGDANAP@UOGUELPH asks about the significance of the term variously spelled technies (and non-);techies (and non-); tekkies (and non-); techniks (and non-). I believe the best place to look for a source for the term is in the incomparable Ted Nelson's incomparable `Literary Machines' which has a large chunk about the difference between `techies' and `fluffies'. The semiotic interest in the variant spellings seems to be all bad. 'technies' are clearly tiny technologists; tekkies have the terrible double K (remember when people used to talkk about Amerikka and South Afrikka?) and techniks are clearly only a step away from aparatchiks. As someone or other said to me in the middle of a very odd lecture on interactive fiction once, "I guess the world is divided into two sorts of people - those who think the world is divided into two sorts of people - and those who don't" Count me in with the second lot. Lou Burnard From: Willard McCarty Subject: The Art of Being Ruled Date: 6 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 852 (1109) In the TLS for Sept. 22-28, Julian Symons reviews Wyndham Lewis' The Art of Being Ruled, originally published in the 1920s but recently reissued with the addition of 13 "delicately menacing illustrations" by Black Sparrow (Santa Rosa, CA, USA). "The basic premiss ... is that our thoughts, beliefs and social actions are ordered less by politicians than by technical developments achieved through mass production, and the influence exerted on all of us by what are now called the media". This sounds very much like the sort of book many Humanists might find interesting. "The developments Lewis saw in the 1920s, what [the editor of this edition] calls `a false rhetoric of individualism' masking a group identity of minds ordered by the propaganda fed from a hundred different sources, are much advanced today. More than sixty years after its publication, this book remains the most valuable guide available to the cant and absurdities of the attitudes about sex, race, "elitism" and "prejudice" prevalent in liberal Western society, and to their basic meanings" (1024). Lewis' book may, of course, have nothing whatever to do with computing. Willard McCarty From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.548 computer-assisted instruction, cont. (33) Date: Mon, 09 Oct 89 13:39:53 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 553 (1110) re: Mark Timothy Riley's nega-mega-comments. And of course we all know that a computer can be purchased for less than the cost of the books one buys during a college career, and the books can be put on disk and carried in one's pockets. The same computer can also be used for a terminal, so the university needs only provide the access ports and/or modems. From: Mark Olsen Subject: Date: Sat, 7 Oct 89 09:44:04 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 853 (1111) There are few applications in the humanities that require the cost and power of super-computing facilities. These machines are, in my opinion, best used for very complex calculations representing physical processes. Most humanities applications can be run very adequately on surprisingly small systems. Robert Amsler proposes the following tasks might warrant super-computer applications: Suppose you wanted to output every collocation in a text whose frequency as a collocation was at least one quarter of the frequency of the least frequent isolated word in the collocation. Or, suppose you wanted to find the average distance in words between all reoccurrences of words in a text? (That is, in the last sentence the words `words' and `in' reoccur at distances of 5 and 7 from their previous occurrences). I do work on collocations of common words, such as 'femme', in the ARTFL database (120 million words), using a SUN 3/50 work station. The important thing is not processing power, but sophisticated software and indicies of the full texts. There are several such systems, such as PAT and ARTFL's search engine, which would allow a user to perform both types of analysis proposed by Amsler on workstation class machines in reasonable amounts of time. We are currently running the production version of ARTFL software -- PhiloLogic -- on a Sun 4/110 with 1.2 gigabytes of magnetic disk. This allows high speed searching, including collocation searches, of the ARTFL database. The Sun's performance does not degrade even with half a dozen users performing very large searches on the database at the same time. A Sun in that configuration is worth well under $20K, including disk. We have found that workstation and small mini-computers are sufficiently powerful for very large full-text applications. Mark From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.550 supercomputing the humanities, cont. (47) Date: Mon, 9 Oct 89 07:28:23 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 854 (1112) <> This task is almost certainly bound by the input of large quantities of (text) material, rather than computation per se. If it isn't very important to get the answer in seconds rather than hours, it might even be more efficient overall to do the calculation on a PC. From: "Vicky A. Walsh" Subject: Re: 3.543 supercomputing the humanities, cont. (64) Date: Mon, 9 Oct 89 12:20:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 855 (1113) I can't believe how nervous some of you are about supercomputing. It is only a bigger faster box. U of Minn has a concordance program that runs on the Cray, e-texts can be easily transported there as needed, would you really rather wait 45 minutes for TLG output as Bob Kraft recently mentioned or would you prefer truly interactive access? There are data base programs now available on the Cray and probably soon a lot more. I know if you just ask what applications are available from the center consultants you will not likely get a satisfactory answer; they rarely hire people who have any knowledge of text based applications; so you shouldn't give up. Ask them to contact Cray or other universities to see what's being done. I know there are not really easy to use solutions there yet, but there won't be if we don't keep asking. Vicky Walsh, UCLA From: D.Mealand@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: Printing from Duke Greek Date: 09 Oct 89 10:19:40 bst X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 555 (1114) When I wish to find texts in Greek I can use Ibycus, when I wish to write articles citing Greek I can use that or a wordprocessing package like vuwriter. For Greek display on screen using other programmes one can use the Duke font (ega etc only). But does anyone have a font to print the Greek from the Duke Greek screen font. Please don't suggest I use another wordprocessor. What I need is something which is programme independent so that I can run any programme I like and display text in Greek using the Duke font AND then print out an equivalent display on hardcopy. In other words I wish to be able to get out of an epson lq1500 or a laserprinter a font which has all the normal ascii set up to decimal 128 and then gives me the correct Greek character to match the Duke Greek set in place of whatever the printer would print for decimal 140 141 etc or whatever. David Mealand From: "Charles Bailey, University of Houston" Subject: VIRUS THREAT THIS WEEK Date: Sun, 8 Oct 89 11:44:39 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 856 (1115) ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- According to an article in the New York Times today (Peter H. Lewis "Friday the 13th: A Virus Is Lurking") on page 12 of the Business Section, a virus known as the Datacrime or Columbus Day virus will become active on Thursday. Then: The real damage will be done on or after the following day--Friday the 13th--when the virus will erase the "boot" sector, or file allocation table, the the victim's hard disk. Without that sector, there is virtually no way to get access to the information stored on the disk. To regain control of the computer, the user would have to re-format the hard drive, destroying all its files. From: Robert Kirsner (213) 825-3955 Subject: please post Date: Sat, 7 Oct 89 19:27:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 857 (1116) PLEASE POST! PLEASE POST! PLEASE POST! PLEASE POST! PLEASE POST! AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR NETHERLANDIC STUDIES FIFTH INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE ON NETHERLANDIC STUDIES JUNE 19-22, 1990 LAST CALL FOR FOR PRESENTATIONS AND PAPERS The AANS is pleased to issue the last call for papers for the Fifth Interdisciplinary Conference on Netherlandic Studies, which will take place June 19-22, 1990 at the University of California, Los Angeles. The organizers wish to emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of the Conference. Presentations must be based on original, unpublished research and should be no longer than 20 minutes; selected papers will be published in the series PUBLICATIONS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR NETHERLANDIC STUDIES. Please send the text of your contribution or a 250-word abstract by December 1, 1989 to: Program Committee, ICNS5 - 1990 UCLA Netherlandic Studies Program International Studies and Overseas Programs 11250 Bunche Hall University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 90024-1487 USA FAX: (213) 206-3555 The conference is being coordinated with a special symposium by the J. Paul Getty Museum on illuminated Burgundian manu- scripts, June 22-24. This symposium will be held locally at the museum and at the Huntington Library. Information on housing and registration for the Getty symposium will be forthcoming. PLEASE POST THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IN YOUR DEPARTMENT OR INSTITUTE. IF YOU WISH TO BE CONSIDERED, PLEASE *SEND AN ABSTRACT* AS INDICATED ABOVE. From: Charles Ess Subject: 3.5" Sysgen; graduate school Date: Fri, 06 Oct 89 20:14:42 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 557 (1117) 1. For those who _may_ be interested in 3.5" drives for computers they may or may not own -- the gorgeous but expensive external Sysgen drive worked in my Zenith 158. Sort of. It turns out that any calls to either the A: or D: drives (internal, external floppies, respectively) now further send an interrupt signal through LPT1, so that my dot-matrix printer burps... Sysgen technical support eventually returned calls, and proposed two hypotheses: (a) conflict with another add-on card, or (b) incompatibility with Zenith DOS. Removal of the add-on card disproved (a). I'm not sure how to test (b) -- and so I have defaulted to the simple, if inelegant solution of turning the printer off when I'm not using it. Of course, the vendor assured me that the Sysgen drive would work perfectly with the Zenith. Moral: let the buyer beware -- and check for the friendly sorts of advice I received from over a dozen humanist readers who responded to my initial query on this allegedly irrelevant and uninteresting topic. 2. Another sort of query which has generated very useful response in the past regards recommendations for graduate schools. Let me ask along these lines. One of our students is interested in graduate school in philosophy, with an emphasis on political philosophy. While I believe I have a good feel for philosophy graduate programs in history of philosophy and continental thought (though any additional information along these lines would also be welcome) -- I have little sense for graduate programs with an emphasis on political philosophy. Any suggestions? 3. The Indigo Girls sing: There's more than one answer to these questions Drawing me in a crooked line And the less I seek my source in some security Closer I am to find... I, for one, am pleased that HUMANIST remains somewhat ill-defined -- it seems more useful and interesting that way. With continued gratitude, Charles Ess Philosophy and Religion Drury College Springfield, MO USA 65802 From: Lew Golan Subject: notes and queries: -NIK Date: Sun, 08 Oct 89 07:22:14 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 558 (1118) Robert Kirsner suggests using the suffix "-NIK" to denote a non-genuine whatever. No way. To quote Leo Rosten's definition in "The Joys of Yiddish": ---------------- -nik -nick Pronounced NICK. A suffix, from Slavic languages. This multipurpose syllable converts a verb, noun or adjective into a word for an ardent practitioner, believer, lover, cultist or devotee of something. Thus, a nudnik is someone who nudzhes or pesters. An alrightnik is someone who has done so well that he is prosperous. We are all familiar, of course, with beatnik and peacenik. The New York Times recently referred to Bachniks, and a friend of mine, dieting, wailed that it was especially hard for her because at heart she was a noshnik. -Nik lends itself to delightful ad hoc inventions. A sicknik would be one who fancies sick or black humor. A Freudnik would be an uncritical acolyte of the father of psycholanalysis. And recently homosexuals began to refer to heterosexuals, with some amusement, as straightniks. ----------- Quite a few kibbutzniks would also quarrel with Kirsner's definition. What's wrong with the perfectly good prefix, "pseudo," which the American Heritage Dictionary defines as "false; deceptive; sham"? Lew Golan Tel Aviv University From: Willard McCarty Subject: books of interest Date: 10 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 858 (1119) The TLS for September 29 -- October 5 contains reviews of two books possibly of interest to Humanists. Roger Penrose, The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning computers, minds, and the laws of physics (Oxford, 1989) undertakes the refutation of "strong AI" from the fundamental principles of science. Strong AI rests on the idea that, as Daniel C. Dennet puts it, "a computer could be conscious -- or equivalently, that human consciousness is the effect of come complex computation mechanically performed by our brains" (p. 1055). Penrose attacks what Dennett, the reviewer, calls the "Cathedral of Science", i.e. the largely unexamined structure of thought that most scientists use without examining in detail. "No Church," Dennett comments, "has ever enjoyed a more entrenched or authoritative orthodoxy, an empire that expands with daily discoveries and protects itself from swift change by the distributed, mutual myopia of its adherents." Students of medieval history may wish to challenge this remark, but the review, like the book, is itself challenging. Both are preoccupied with a question that has often surfaced here in another form: can computers offer us anything which is genuinely new? The Uses of Experiment: Studies in the natural sciences, ed. David Gooding, Trevor Pinch, and Simon Schaffer (Cambridge, 1989), addresses the philosopher of science, and thus all who think philosophically about science, with the aim of clarifying the importance and character of the experimental method. It counters "what we may term the Athenian heresy that used to afflict philosophers -- the assumption that experimentation was a menial task in the service of high-minded dialectic" (1057, Brian Pippard). This is an attitude with which computing humanists should be very familiar! The book deals in part with what Thomas Kuhn brought to our attention in his work on scientific revolutions: the complex historical process by which a new paradigm for scientific work replaces an old one. Pippard, the reviewer, quotes Max Planck: "A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents..., but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it." Two other quotations from the review, both Pippard's, are worth repeating. "It may seem," he comments, "that modern physics challenges our deepest assumptions about the reality of the material world; so it does, but now by raising new questions additional to those that have troubled philosophers from earliest times. These questions remain unanswered and probably unanswerable, and the contribution of physics is principally to enhance our disquiet by eliminating certain answers that formerly might have soothed our doubts." The other quotation illuminates the role of Humanist in the world of computing humanism: "Scientists stumble towards consensus, confident that there will always be rebellious intellects to stop gross errors becoming unchallengeable beliefs." Willard McCarty From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "New Meanings for ANSI Humanists. An Abbreviation Key to the Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 17:13:22 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 859 (1120) behavior of computers" Dear Humanist Colleagues, Have you ever wondered what the ANSI Assembler Standard really means to computer users? The following list was sent to me recently. I now understand why certain mysterious disasters may occur when one uses the wrong macros or obscure abbreviations. I have added a few for additional clarification. Cordially submitted for your (dis)approval, Joel D. Goldfield Associate Professor of French Plymouth State College (NH) From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Additional important ANSI abbreviations" Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 17:19:03 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 860 (1121) ADDITIONAL "ANSI" ENTRIES TO FILL PART OF YOUR SCREEN PBT: Pause and Break Tape UBC: Use Bad Chip PCL: Pull Cables Loose VDP: Violate Design Parameters POS: Push Over Stack VMB: Verify and Make Bad QWF: Quit Working Forever WAF: Warn After the Fact QVC: Question Valid Command WSG: Write to Smoke Generator RCC: Rotate Chip Counterclockwise XHC: eXit Here to Crash RCS: Run in Circles and Scream XID: eXchange Instructions with Data RWD: Read Wrong Deivce XPP: eXchange Personality w/Programmer SCE: Simultate Correct Execution YII: Yield to Irresistible Impuse SDJ: Send Data to Japan ZAM: Zero All Memory SUI: Superfluous Unneeded Instruction TTC: Tangle Tape and Crash From: Willard McCarty Subject: what is current hardware outside N. America? Date: 10 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 861 (1122) I am very interested to know what Humanists outside N. America consider to be current hardware. By "current" I mean what ordinary scholars are likely to have themselves and what is likely to be found in classrooms and wordprocessing labs -- not the latest gear to be found in Byte. (About two months ago I saw on the cover of one such magazine the somewhat amazed declaration: "Workhorse 12MHz AT-clones still productive". I'm glad to hear this!) Are Apple IIs or their equivalents, for example, still in widespread use? 8086/8-based machines? Willard McCarty From: "John Morris, Univ. of Alberta" Subject: Columbus Day Virus Date: Mon, 09 Oct 89 23:14:19 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 862 (1123) I am interested in more information on the virus mentioned by Charles Bailey: Does anyone know which systems the virus is likely to attack? Does anyone know how it is thought that the virus is piggy-backed into a system? I have also noticed something rather peculiar in recent days. My hard disk management package allows me to see which files have the "hidden" bit turned on. After a careful search of all the directories on my hard drive, I can only account for five hidden files. The DOS CHKDSK command, however, informs me that I have six hidden files. Does anyone else have extra hidden files? Perhaps it is just a burst of paranoia on my part, but I thought it might be worthwhile to poll other HUMANISTS just the same. And if anyone can explain the extra hidden file, I would be most grateful. From: Oxford Text Archive Subject: texts wanted Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 14:39 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 863 (1124) Research Student, Scottish, little prev. exper., seeks computer readable text of MALORY. Professor, distinguished, Texan, seeks ditto of following prose writings of ROBT. GREENE: Mamillia, Arbasto, Menaphon, Morando, Planetomachia, Euphues his Censure, Orpharion, Mirrour of Modestie, Ciceronis Amor, Gwydonius, Philomela, Penelopes Web, Alcida, Pandosto, Perimedes the Blacksmith Any info on concordances to Greene's prose would also be useful. Please reply direct to ARCHIVE @VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK From: Michel LENOBLE Subject: Arabic text processing package?? Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 17:48 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 864 (1125) A colleague of mine is looking for a text processing package able to deal with Arabic, and possibly with arabic and french or english. The problem is wider than purely sofware since both video display units and printers should be adapted too. All advise, suggestions and information welcomed. Michel Lenoble E-Mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca From: (Robert Philip Weber) WEBER@HARVARDA Subject: Query regarding Zipf curve Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 01:18:36 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 865 (1126) Many years ago Zipf showed that in naturally occuring text there were relatively few words that appeared frequently and many words that appeared infrequently. Where was this work published? Has this work be updated for English (American)? If so, could you please give me the right citations. Many thanks. Robert Weber --------- Robert Philip Weber, Ph.D. | Phone: (617) 495-3744 Senior Consultant | Fax: (617) 495-0750 Academic and Planning Services | Division | Office For Information Technology| Internet: weber@popvax.harvard.edu Harvard University | Bitnet: Weber@Harvarda 50 Church Street | Cambridge MA 02138 | From: Daniel Boyarin Subject: Re: 3.545 speech-analysis? (31) Date: Mon, 9 Oct 89 17:10:28 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 866 (1127) Dr. Malkah Yaeger at Ben Gurion University Linguistics does that kind of work and she will know about any software. Her email address is kfaf100 at bgunos. From: Michel LENOBLE Subject: RE: 3.545 speech-analysis? (31) Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 17:17 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 867 (1128) Montreal, le 10 octobre 1989. I would advise you to contact Professor Laurent Santerre working at the Linguistics Department, Case Postale 6128, Succ 'A', MONTREAL (Quebec) - CANADA - H3C 3J7. (Universite de MoOntreal ntreal). I think he might be of some help to you. I don't thing he has any E-mail address. Just try - good luck Michel Lenoble LenobleM@cc.umontreal.ca From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.555 printing from Duke Greek? (28) Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 09:56:16 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 555 (1129) Please don't be annoyed at my responding to a slightly different question than intended, but D.Mealand's request expresses an important need not always recognized as such: independence of application software from support for various languages. If support for a wide range of languages is anticipated at the system level by providing for system support of arbitrary fonts and dead keys, alternative schemes for keyboard input, string comparison, and the like, applications may automatically gain multi-language capability without explicitly supporting them. Users gain multi-language capability for arbitrary applicaitons by obtaining suitable fonts. Unfortunately for humanists, such system support is totally lacking in most environments, notably MS-DOS. Limited multi-language support has always been part of Apple's system software for Macintosh, and is increasingly well-supported (through what Apple calls the Script Manager portion of the operating system versions since 1987). Postscript printers, likewise may provide support for multiple languages by separating the font from the print engine and communications portion of the printer. Despite the use of Postscript in the NeXT machine, however, NeXT has so far failed to provide even the limited support for multiple languages the Macintosh supported six years ago: system software currently only supports a very limited extended ASCII set of characters; there is no way to enter a diacritic for example. --- D.Mealand@EDINBURGH.AC.UK wrote: ...What I need is [support for non-Roman language texts] which is programme independent so that I can run any programme I like and display text in Greek using the Duke font AND then print out an equivalent display on hardcopy. In other words I wish to be able to get out of an epson lq1500 or a laserprinter a font which has all the normal ascii... [and] Greek ... --- end of quoted material --- From: "[DCGQAL]A0234" Subject: [DCGQAL]A0234!Bibliographic Database Progra Date: Mon, 9 Oct 89 16:19:46 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 868 (1130) In reply to the questioner who wanted to know about software that deals with bibliographic information as a database to be incorporated into word processed files, I have recently been addicted to a program on the Macintosh called End Note [Niles and Associates, Inc., 2000 Hearst St., Berkeley, California 94709, USA]. At something around $100, this program is very useful. It provides a Desk Accessory version and a fuller standalone program for creating and managing databases of bibliographic citations and references. These can be copied and pasted into word-processed documents as needed. After the document is finished, EndNote will format the document (given that it has been prepared in any of a number of standard w-p programs) in a variety of styles, specific to the requirements of, say, the MLA, Chicago Manual of Style, APA, JACS, Nature, Science, etc. It also supports various import and export capabilities; while a companion program (EndLink) supports the creation of local bibliographic databases from online searches of larger sets (DIALOG, OCLC, MEDLINE, etc.) The program has functioned perfectly in my application, and it may be of interest to other HUMANISTS. Cordially, Chet Grycz Scholarship and Technology Study Project ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Czeslaw Jan Grycz | BITNET: To: CJGUR@UCCMVSA.BITNET University of California | AppleLink: A0234 Kaiser Center, Eighth Floor | MCI Mail: 345-0354 300 Lakeside Drive | Oakland, California | Phone: (415) 987-0561 94612-3550 | From: Daniel Boyarin Subject: Re: 3.550 supercomputing the humanities, cont. (47) Date: Mon, 9 Oct 89 17:26:44 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 869 (1131) How about automatic collating of variations in fifty manuscripts of a text? with many passes to make sure that mistakes weren't made because of different ordering of materials or large skips etc. From: "A. Ralph Papakhian" Subject: Re: 3.554 supercomputing the humanities, cont. (92) Date: Mon, 9 Oct 89 22:24:53 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 554 (1132) On Mon, 9 Oct 89 21:44:37 EDT you said: [deleted quotation] Vicky Walsh's comments are extremely significant. Somehow it's tremendously important for physicists to get computing results quickly but humanists must be patient. A follow up is the still inadequate support for multi-lingual text databases on mainframes (including library databases and catalogs). One factor is the market place (too few humanists are INSISTING on multi-lingual capabilities and an insufficient market exists for paying for development costs). Another factor is the simple historical fact that computers (especially mainframes) are attuned to number crunching instead of text crunching. This is NOT and CANNOT be a technical problem (many similar technical problems have been solved). We continue to face a political/economic problem. If HUMANISTS' needs, in terms of text processing, were recognized as being as significant as say vector processing for physicists, we would be seeing products providing these necessary services. Trouble is that powers at be do not see thorns and haceks and breves, etc. and word and text processing as needy causes (not to mention music or art images). Are they worthy causes? Or should we count on a SUN with six users adequately processing one database? Cordially, ***** **** *** **** MUSIC ** *** ** A. Ralph Papakhian, Music Library ** ******* ** LIBRARY Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 *** (812) 855-2970 ***** From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: supercomputing jousting Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 08:22:25 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 870 (1133) There is an argument I recall that makes me question whether anyone should be allowed to say, ``These machines are, in my opinion, best used for very complex calculations representing physical processes.'' The argument is that `best used' is a subjective judgement based on prior bias. Just because physical scientists have numeric problems that need supercomputing capabilities, they have decided that people without such a requirement ought not to use their toys. This is equivalent to saying that the poor wouldn't know what to do with haute cuisine, penthouse suites and yachts and that they shouldn't be concerned about such things anyway. I remember the Sociology Dept. at the University of Texas issuing a memo which chided students who were using the computers to type in their dissertations for misusing valuable scientific computing equipment for non-scientific work. It began with the sentence ``Somehow some individuals have discovered how to use the computer to type in text.'' Well... that was before someone invented word processing and a whole new market opened up. I also remember a story of the Cray at Bell Labs that remained idle because nobody could afford to pay for the computing time on it. A 10-megabuck machine sitting there with nothing to do because someone set up a charging algorithm to price its valuable computing cycles so high that in turn NOBODY had calculations that were THAT much in need of supercomputing cycles to perform. There are two reasons people create supercomputers. The first is that they know of classes of problems in the world which they believe they know how to compute (i.e. software exists) and for which the supercomputer (a new hardware design) would do the tasks far faster than ordinary computers. The second is that they know of techniqies for building hardware that will do something really really fast and leave to the world the task of discovering whether this hardware will spur software writers to come up with algorithms to make use of its new capabilities. This interaction between hardware and software is a vital force in computer science. It leads to discoveries of deficiencies in existing hardware that can then be corrected by the engineers. In my experience humanists tend to think up tasks for computers which cover the whole spectrum between trivial and impossible. Scientists, being more practical, tend to think up extrapolations of their existing techniques and only ask designers to make faster versions of their older computers. -- (Incidentally, whether you consider co-occurrences an I/O problem of not depends on how you program the machine. On a Connection Machine you'd put one word in each processor and do everything in parallel. The trick is maximal use of whatever parallelism one has available on whatever type of supercomputer.) From: "[DCGQAL]A0234" Subject: [DCGQAL]A0234!Electronic Journal Pilots Date: Mon, 9 Oct 89 16:16:49 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 563 (1134) The Scholarship and Technology Study Project (STSP) has been established as a unit of the Division of Library Automation at the University of California, Office of the President. Its mandate is to provide electronic publishing capabilities within the university, using the existing MELVYL network as a carrier for electronic resources. In addition to providing database resources, such as the MELVYL bibliographic database, MEDLINE, CURRENT CONTENTS, etc., we wish to mount pilot electronic journals which could, inter alia, provide empirical data about their use, acceptance, procedures, and characteristics. Such data might be of value to institutions who might wish to mount their own journals, or to establish an electronic publishing capability alongside (or within) existing print-based publications groups. The subject of electronic journals most often yields conservative reaction. Barriers, both technical and psychological, are manifold. Yet, various pressures seem to indicate that the times are ripe for another experiment in electronic journals publication. A larger group of scholars is now comfortable with computer use in research. A growing number of textual databases are available and widely consulted. Scholars are increasingly involved with computer methods and strategies in their humanities research. There exists a crisis of considerable magnitude stemming from the pricing policies of a relatively small number of commercial journals publishers, currently supplying univerisity communities with scientific journals. To be sure, this latter crisis is largely confined to the Sciences. The ramifications of similar commercialism in humanities publishing are that a number of specialized disciplines are finding it harder and harder to publish in traditional print form. One effect of publishers looking only "to the bottom line" is that economic viability frequently conflicts with specialization, and the lack of publication channels for certain fields threatens the lifeblood of scholarly exchange in those disciplines. "Electronic Journals" are decidedly different from electronic dialogues of the kind that take place in this forum. The implication is a greater degree of formalism, considered thoughtfullness, and procedural standards. These characteristics exist comfortably in the print media which has had a 500-year gestation. The application of such standards to the electronic medium will not be an easy one. My own background includes 17-years in traditional scholarly publishing: first at Stanford University Press, and, for the past 13-years, at the University of California Press. So, I come to my new task with some diffidence, but with a certitude that electronic modes of communication are becoming more mature and common within scholarly circles. I am eager to participate in harnessing the new medium to scholarly requirements. Towards that end, I solicit any conversations on the topic that may be of interest to my fellow HUMANISTS. Our definition of electronic journals includes an assumption that maximal use will be made of electronic communications and pathways in the submission, review, editing, and publication of such journals. We are endeavoring to put together a "Scholar's Toolbox" which will be a collection of software programs to assist the scholar in tagging, preparing, submitting, and accessing electronic journal articles. We've identified two extreme "models" or forms for electronic journal publication, and at least one hybrid. Model 1 - Fully-Reviewed: The one closest my heart is the fully-reviewed electronic journal. In this model, submissions are to be received by the Editor, and routed electronically to peer reviewers, who would conduct a traditional anonymous exchange with the editor, and - through the editor - with the author, until an article was found worthy of being granted an "imprint" and be actually "published." In the implementation of this model, a bibliographic citation indicating the submission of an article would be mounted on the system within 24-hours of submission. The bibliographic citation would provide, in addition to standard bibliographic data, a "status indicator" which would inform readers of the appropriate stage of the review process, in which an article was to be found. Upon satisfactorily passing through the review process and being judged "publisheable," the full-text of the article would be attached to the bibliographic citation, making it available to researchers. The model takes many of the established quality-control and gatekeeping functions established for print, and transferrs them (perhaps unsympathetically) to the new medium, preserving anonymity, editorial boards, and an institutionalized granting of an "imprimatur" to the published work. Model 2 - Post publication review Although it has many apparent difficulties, the second model takes slightly greater advantage of the additional powers of an electronic medium of exchange. Under this model, we plan to release the full text of all submissions. Functionality would be provided in the database for at least two levels of annotation: casual, and "inspected." Casual annotations and comments could be appended by any reader, and would be included with the article for all future readers. "Inspected" annotations are ones which the author has reviewed, and found sufficiently compelling to include in the authorized text of the article. Additionally, one would like a facility to send blind comments directly to the Editor, to the author, and/or to an earlier reader who may have appended a comment to an article file. Model 3 - Mounting Electronic Versions of Print Journals The third model sounds unexciting compared with the first two, but it permits experimentation with a number of not insignificant issues having to do with converting typesetting files to generically tagged format, dealing with citational problems, addressing image reference and delivery issues, and the like. I would be eager to hear from any HUMANISTS who would like to participate in these projects as reviewers, authors, catalysts, or commentators. Cordially, Chet Grycz Scholarship and Technology Study Project ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Czeslaw Jan Grycz | BITNET: To: CJGUR@UCCMVSA.BITNET University of California | AppleLink: A0234 Kaiser Center, Eighth Floor | MCI Mail: 345-0354 300 Lakeside Drive | Oakland, California | Phone: (415) 987-0561 94612-3550 | From: LNGDANAP@UOGUELPH Subject: Computer-Assisted Instruction Date: Mon, 09 Oct 89 21:37:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 871 (1135) As several Humanists have pointed out, CAI is only the latest in a long line of teaching aids, starting no doubt with the invention of the clay tablet; teaching and learning properly occur in the interaction between instructor and student, augmented, it is to be hoped, by the latter's attempt to get hands-on experience in the field of study. However, CAI is a *powerful* teaching aid, and even in its less palatable manifestations (page turners, yes/no questions, etc) has been shown at the very least to do no harm. There is something fascinating to students about interacting with computerized learning materials, no matter how paltry we supposed experts deem these materials to be. It is true that there is precious little in *commercial* CAI that rises above the mundane (with some splendid exceptions, such as the one cited by Joel Goldfield - Syste'me d, for French) and the large majority of exceptional programs are not those destined for the Humanities. But can that not also be said of commercial textbooks? How many of us are fully satisfied with those available (unless, of course, we have authored them)? And how many of us slave over hand-outs, supplements, in whatever medium, so that our students may have something ressembling adequate learning materials? Yet we do not condemn the textbook publishers out of hand. There is an analogous situation in the field of CAI - a great deal of in-house work, ranging from the simple to the complex, but all designed or perhaps customized by specific instructors for a specific group of students. I would quarrel with the Humanist who said that he had had to learn to program in order to create CAI materials on PLATO. This statement leaves the impression that instructors *still* have to learn, painfully and at length, some programming skills. PLATO is an *authoring system* NOT a programming language, and there's a great difference between the two. An authoring system allows the non-programmer to create materials (pedagogical or otherwise) without having to learn to program. In this way, much in- house CAI is being developed. At Guelph, for example, we have two homegrown systems, a videotext authoring program called VITAL which is used extensively in the sciences, and a conferencing system called CoSy, cited by another Humanist. An off-shoot of Cosy (called T-Cosy...um..) is dedicated to pedagogical uses ranging from student/instructor contact, to delivery of and comment on assignments and delivery of course materials. Perhaps my colleague and fellow Humanist Stuart Hunter, one of the pioneers in this area, would be willing to describe the use of T-CoSy for English. In the field of language learning, which is the only one I can claim to be reasonably familiar with (obviously not the English language - to wit one split infinitive and one dangling preposition in the same sentence!) authoring systems such as MicroScope, MacLang, PROMPT, to mention three very different ones, allow the instructor to custom-design language- learning materials. At Guelph, we have resident in our Language Learning Centre (fashionable reincarnation of the former Language Lab) tutoring programs (CLEF, for beg-interm. Anglophones learning French; EGAPO, for Francophones and advanced Anglophones needing remedial help), PROMPT (authoring system for French, English, Italian, German and Latin, limited to cloze or multiple choice, but quite effective in the hands of a competent instructor). I am working on a pedagogical parser which hopefully will pick up the basic morpho-syntactical errors produced by the typical Anglophone writing in French, as well as collaborating on an interactive videodisc using French Canadian culture as a reference point for language learning. Elsewhere, there are many different types of programs which have been or are in the process of being developed: interactive "dialogue" games using AI techniques, such as the French and Latin programs created by George Mulford and Gerry Culley at Delaware; communicative activity programs such as Graham Davies' DEAUVILLE; text-reconstruction programs such as John Higgins' QUADTEXT; even authoring systems for interactive language games (Roger Kenner). In short, there is much being done; the problem is finding out who is doing it and where. Most of the programs cited began as (and many remain) in-house research projects launched by one or more faculty members; often there is collaboration between several institutions. I would also take issue with the notion that one can only make use of CAI if splendidly equipped with all the lastest hardware and that in great quantity. We started out with two machines, did some creative scheduling, and built up from there. No networks, no servers... even today we only use stand-alones. For word processing in all the languages that we offer, a college edition of WP, two IBM's and a printer seem to suffice for the moment for our 500 or so students. Note: the language lab staff does the printing out from diskettes handed in by the students... if you don't want to replace your printer(s) every few months, don't let students near it (them)! The College of Arts will shortly open a 20-position computer lab which includes both IBM's and Macs, but I expect that the special needs of second language students will still be better met by the language lab staff. As a reviewer for some CALL journals (Computer-Assisted Language Learning), I am amazed at the number of very small institutions, without access to much funding, which are turning out CAI materials. Very often they re-invent the wheel, true. But I, for one, have no objections to wheel-reinvention. At least the wheel in question is being reinvented with a specific car, specific road conditions, and specific purposes in mind. From: Stephen Clausing Subject: CAI woes Date: Mon, 09 Oct 89 22:39:27 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 872 (1136) I can sympathize with Mark Riley's plight that his university does not have adequate computing facilities for CAI applications. But I believe his original remark was to the effect that he had not found suitable CAI materials. Surely it is not the fault of CAI that his university cannot make use of such matter. Blame should be laid at the feet of the local administration for not supplying the necessary hardware. I am afraid all of this only proves that "large public institutions" are sometimes more large than great. From: Daniel Boyarin Subject: Re: 3.546 Notes and Queries (96) Date: Mon, 9 Oct 89 17:14:57 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 873 (1137) Re Charles Faulhaber's comments: the nik suffix certainly does not owe its popularity to sputnik. Beatniks were around before sputnik. From: Daniel Boyarin Subject: Re: 3.552 Noteniks and Queryoids? (121) Date: Mon, 9 Oct 89 17:29:34 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 874 (1138) Let's get it straight. -Nik is a Slavic derived Yiddish suffix which means `one who belives in/adheres to something'. Thus in Modern Hebrew which has borrowed it from Yiddish, a member of the Mapam party is called a mapamnik. There is nothing derogratory about the suffix in Yiddish nor in the Yiddishism in English viz:. beatnik. From: Robert Kirsner (213) 825-3955 Subject: New entry for -NIK lexicon Date: Mon, 9 Oct 89 22:38:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 875 (1139) This is just to report that an Anthropologist friend of mine, upon discovering that a woman friend of his, a psychologist, had just lead a Buddhist meditation retreat, remarked. "But I didn't know that she was a sit-nik." This is an interesting example because (a) it DOES demonstrate the slightly pejorative flavor of -NIK which I tried to suggest for Goethe-nik, etc., and (b) in combination with the verb 'sit', used in the American Buddhist literature to refer to zazen, sitting meditation, as in the expression 'Sit hard!', i.e. 'Mediate well, don't space out.' As Don Forman said: "Data! They are speaking it (sic) all around us!" (OK. The rest of you can go back to Walter Benjamin's Theory of Dandruff.) From: Rudolf WYTEK Subject: Query about Hapsburg burial sites Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 12:26:24 MEZ X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 876 (1140) I ask the following question on behalf of a student of history, who has just learned to use our computer and would be very glad to exemplify the good use of computers in the humanities: He has to do in his doctoral thesis a thorough research about all dead members of the Hapsburg families and their burial sites in Austria and all other foreign countries (e.g. Switzerland, Italy,. Germany, Spain, USA, Czechoslovakia etc.) Does someone out there have yet such a file which he could make usable for him? All kind of help or information would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks, RWY. From: "David G. Durand" Subject: Short Comment RE Ted Nelson and Techies... Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 13:07 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 877 (1141) Nelson actually used the term "technoids". The terms "technoid" and "fluffy" were intended as unflattering nicknames to refer to those who would arbitrarily restrict their interests either to the "real world" of technical matters or the "real world" of cultural matters. His contention being that what are needed are more humanists who understand technology and more technologists who have a humanistic education. I tend to use the term technoid to refer to anyone with a mainly technological backround as in "I am a technoid, but I'm getting better." I use the term "real technoid" in something more like the original sense intended by Nelson. For the record, Nelson's suggestion for a label for the properly balanced individual is "systems humanist." I find that term quite unsatisfactory, so perhaps we Humanists can find a better self-labelling? From: NMILLER@TRINCC Subject: Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 16:31:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 878 (1142) Lew Golan is certainly right in nixing -nik as a suffix denoting someone who isn't what he says he is. But I'm not too happy with pseudo; it's a bit heavy and anyway worn around the edges. I propose instead a new word that will give -nik a deserved rest but which draws from the same bottomless well. The word is "shtik" (piece}. A shtik ferd, for instance, means something of a fool. Adding a diminutive suffix gives us a shtikl ferd, a bit of an ass (English is obviously derived from Yiddish.) Shtik has the great advantage of being (you should excuse the expression) context-sensitive. A shtik doktor would mean a young physician, perhaps an interne, but definitely a doctor. Sociologi- cally speaking, this is a linguistic indicator of non-crystallized status with age and occupation calling for different degrees of deference. But a shtikl doktor is the kind of doctor most of us are, Ph.D.'s nebekh. As the anxious mother asked her son: "By me you're a doctor, but tell me, by the doctors are you a doctor?" That's the basic idea. I leave it to others to come up with appro- priate expressions for computer columnists (especially those with Ph.D.'s who "make comfortable livings", etc.) and computer salesmen. ***************************************************************************** * * * Az Got zol voynen oyf der erd, Norman Miller * * voltn im di mentshn di fenster NMILLER@TRINCC * * oysgeslogen. Trinity College * * Yiddish proverb Hartford, Ct. 06106 * From: Steven J. DeRose Subject: Zipf's Law references (~100 lines) Date: Wed, 11 Oct 89 13:26:46 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 566 (1143) In reply to Robert Philip Weber's inquiry re. Zipf's Law: There is some current literature on this for English and other lgs. For example: - - - - - - - Burton, N. G. and J. C. R. Licklider. 1955. "Long-Range Constraints in the Statistical Structure of Printed English." American Journal of Psychology (68): 650-653. Card, William and Virginia McDavid. 1966. "English Words of Very High Frequency." College English (27): 596-604. Carroll, John B. 1967. "On Sampling from a Lognormal Model of Word-Frequency Distribution." In Kucera and Francis (1967): 406-413. Carroll, J. B., P. Davies, and B. Richman (eds.). 1971. The American Heritage Word-Frequency Book. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co./ Boston: Houghton - Mifflin. Church, Kenneth W. 1988. "A Stochastic Parts Program and Noun Phrase Parser for Unrestricted Text." Proceedings of the Second Conference on Applied Natural Language Processing. Association for Computational Linguistics: 136-143. Condon, E. V. 1928. "Statistics of vocabulary." Science (67): 300. Cover, Thomas M. and Roger C. King. 1978. "A Convergent Gambling Estimate of the Entropy of English." IEEE Transactions on Information Theory (IT-24, 4): 413-421. Damerau, Frederick J. 1971. Markov Models and Linguistic Theory: An Experimental Study of a Model for English. Janua Liguarum Series Minor, vol. 95. The Hague: Mouton. Dewey, G. 1923. Relative Frequency of English Speech Sounds. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Cited in Condon (1928). Jakobson, Roman (ed.). 1961a. The Structure of Language and its Mathematical Aspects. Proceedings of Symposia in Applied Mathematics, vol. 12. Providence, Rhode Island: American Mathematical Society. Jakobson, Roman. 1961b. "Linguistics and Communication Theory." In Jakobson (1961a): 245-252. Kucera, Henry and W. Nelson Francis. 1967. Computational Analysis of Present-day American English. Providence, Rhode Island: Brown University Press. Mandelbrot, B. 1961. "On the Theory of Word Frequencies and on Related Markovian Models of Discourse." In Jakobson (1961a): 190-219. Miller, George A. and Noam Chomsky. 1963. "Finitary Models of Language Users." In R. Duncan Lee, Robert A. Bush, and Eugene Galanter (eds.), Handbook of Mathematical Psychology, vol. 2: 420-491. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Miller, George A. and Edwin B. Newman. 1958. "Tests of a Statistical Explanation of the Rank-Frequency Relation for Word in Written English." American Journal of Psychology (71): 209-258. Miller, George A., E. B. Newman, and E. A. Friedman. 1958. "Length-Frequency Statistics for Written English." Information and Control (1): 370-389. Shannon, Claude E. 1948a. "A Mathematical Theory of Communication." Part I. Bell System Technical Journal (27): 379-423. Reprinted in Slepian (1974): 5-18. ________. 1948b. "A Mathematical Theory of Communication." Part II. Bell System Technical Journal (27): 623-656. Reprinted in Slepian (1974): 19-29. ________. 1951. "Prediction and Entropy of Printed English." Bell System Technical Journal (30): 50-64. Zipf, George Kingsley. 1935. The Psycho-Biology of Language. 2d ed. Reprinted 1965, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. ________. 1949. Human Behavior and the Principle of Least Effort: An Introduction to Human Ecology. 2d ed. Reprinted 1965, New York: Hafner Publishing Company. - - - - - - - I discussed Zipfian relations in my dissertation; the bibliography there lists more sources, and the text explores the application of Zipfian models to certain lexical phenomena other than word frequency, such as parts of speech, collocations, etc. The diss is: DeRose, Steven J. 1989. "Stochastic Methods for Resolution of Grammatical Category Ambiguity in Inflected and Uninflected Language." Doctoral dissertation. Providence, RI: Brown University, Department of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences. SJD From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.562 supercomputing the humanities, cont. (142) Date: Wed, 11 Oct 89 11:11:08 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 879 (1144) I have been watching the remarks on humanistic supercomputing go by . . . and find it difficult to understand why no Humanist has brought up issues such as "The simplest human language is far more complex than the maximal physics or electronic questions we have yet to ask." The problem is not, in one sense, that Humanists do not have a subject worthy of supercompute or that they will never learn how to ask the questions worthy of such and such effort to compute, but that they have not yet learned to ask queries in such a manner as to be applicable to supercomputing. P.S. When they do, another issue will arise, similar to that raised in a series of monolithic scenes in 2001. From: Willard McCarty Subject: supercomputing unrest Date: 11 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 880 (1145) Someone (I forget whom) wanted to know why so many Humanists expressed fear or at least unease at the idea of supercomputing, because after all a supercomputer is just a larger and more expensive version of what most of us are now using to read our mail, and so forth. I think there may be two answers to this question. The first is that supercomputers, because of their powers and increased physical inaccessibility, have that old spooky quality that we used to attribute to mainframes, once we started using that term. The second is that the purchase of a supercomputer means a huge subsidy to particular kinds of research that in fact are conducted by a relatively tiny percentage of the academic population. In times like these, when many departments are forcing their shrinking membership to pay for stationery, telephone calls, and so forth, and when libraries are being forced to cut serials subscriptions radically, it may strike the observer as strange for tens of millions of dollars to be sunk into a supercomputer. It may seem especially strange if, as witnessed here, the question seems to be, "How can we use this computer?" and not "What sort of computer do we need?" The anxiety that may swirl around the purchase of one of these devices may indeed get translated into security systems and other such things that inspire less confidence in the hearts of humanists. We are getting familiar with the fact, once made so much fun of in computing centres, that microcomputers, being small, affordable, and on our desks, can be made to have a human face. The supercomputer, however, is impossible to touch (unless you're important) and not particularly easy to reach in any other way. The impression of the humanist is likely to be that he or she has been put into a time-warp and is back in the bad old days. Is it also not true that supercomputers are designed to be super-fast only for particular kinds of operations, and that these are numerical? Willard McCarty From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.560 queries (123) Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 21:04:49 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 881 (1146) Arabic text processor. Try Multilingual Scholar Gamma Productions, Inc. 710 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 609 Santa Monica, CA 90401 (213) 394-8622 Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: "Richard C. Taylor" <6297TAYLORR@MUCSD> Subject: Multi-lingual wordprocessor Date: Wed, 11 Oct 89 00:01:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 882 (1147) Michel Lenoble asked about Arabic wordprocessors with English and /or French capability. Another person (sorry but I deleted that message already) about Greek fonts. Well, I've worked a bit with "Multi-Lingual Scholar" from Gamma Productions, Inc., 710 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 609, Santa Monica, CA (ca.$300-$350) and it seems to work pretty well. It does all European languages, Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Russian and intermixes them even on a single line. I use it with some fairly unimpressive hardware: Zenith Z-158 PC/XT with harddrive and an old reliable Epson FX-80 printer. Some utilities for conversion to and from other wordprocessors are also provided. Pages can be exported to other wordprocessors and ASCII texts (as well as some others) can be imported. For anyone interested, I'd suggest writing to Gamma for a demo disk. [Since its screen mode is CGA or better, this program also works well with laptops such as Toshiba and Sharp. I couldn't get Radio Shack or Zenith 183 laptops to load, though I am not sure why. Requires 640K to run.] Dick Taylor Philosophy Dept. Marquette University "6297TAYL@MUCSD" and Humanities Institute UW-Madison From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.560 queries (123) Date: Wed, 11 Oct 89 05:37:25 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 883 (1148) AlKaatib 1.3 is in regular use at Dartmouth. Easter Language Systems 37 West 300 North Provo, Utah 84601 USA phone 801-377-4558 We use the Mac version which requires no modifications or additional software to Mac or printer; they also make a PC version (at 3X the price!). Laser (Postscript) fonts also available. --- You wrote: ...looking for a text processing package able to deal with Arabic, and possibly with arabic and french or english. The problem is wider than purely sofware since both video display units and printers should be adapted too. All advise, suggestions and information welcomed. --- end of quoted material --- From: John Morris Subject: Further to the virus Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 15:13:04 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 884 (1149) Despite the risk of intercontinental e-laughter, I confess that in a fit of uncontroled cuteness I labeled my hard drive. This accounts for the mystery hidden file mentioned in my previous message on the virus. I have since reset my system clock to Thursday and Friday the 12th and 13th, and nothing untoward happened. Nonetheless, more information on the Columbus Day virus would be appreciated. From: Ken Steele Subject: Communicable e-diseases Date: Wed, 11 Oct 89 08:52:13 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 885 (1150) The popular media have been making the usual mountain out of a viral molehill, although a number of more thorough articles have noted that the "Columbus Day" virus is not expected to be widespread at all. Since the one thing that is clearly known about the virus is its trigger date, which it will determine no doubt from the system clock, doesn't it make sense to simply postpone personal disaster by turning back the system calendar a month? Such "Data Savings Time" would give the concerned user a month to back-up data, and to assess the local impact of the virus. If after a month, no fatal cases are reported in Canada, or even in Toronto, I will certainly no longer be concerned about my own system. On the other hand, if all of BITNET is wiped out overnight, I'll have to find that anti-viral program IBM released this week. This may not reach HUMANIST members in time to help, and it may be too simple-minded a solution, but it seems adequate for my own data security needs. Ken Steele University of Toronto From: Thomas Zielke <113355@DOLUNI1> Subject: SOUNDEX Date: Mon, 09 Oct 89 16:45:15 CET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 570 (1151) Dear Humanists, I'm looking for a version of the SOUNDEX algorithms which should be fit to handle German language. If somebody reading this should happen to have one, whether written in REXX, BASIC, dBase or whatever, even if it's simply a verbal description, I would be very glad and happy if s/he could send me a copy. Thank you. Thomas Zielke Historisches Seminar Universitaet Oldenburg Postfach 2503 D-2900 Oldenburg From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.564 CAI blues, cont. (131) Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 21:19:15 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 571 (1152) Until it is at least as easy to prepare or find CAI materials as traditional ones, most of us are not going to find the investment of time worthwhile unless there is a significant trade off. To say that computerized materials "do no harm" is to tell me that one is more interested in the process than the result. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.563 electronic journals? (131) Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 21:14:18 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 572 (1153) This is probably a good place to bring up the PRIMA project of the Research Library Group, one of whose functions is to bring materials which have traditionally not received much bibliographical control into the scholarly workplace. I mention it here because one of the PRIMA pilot projects is a data base of work in press, i.e., articles which have been accepted for publication by scholarly journals but which have not yet appeared. MLA is collaborating on the project, and I have just seen a news release indicating that women's studies will also be added. The data base can be accessed via RLIN. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: John Bradley Subject: Wanted: someone with SGML experience Date: Thu, 12 Oct 89 18:06:48 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 573 (1154) After many years of knowing only in a general way what SGML is all about, events here are requiring me to know more. If someone out there has a little time, I'd like to electronically talk to them about some SGML basics. I'd prefer not to correspond via HUMANIST -- I don't think my questions and concerns are of general interest. However, if you have experience with SGML texts: both encoding and parsing, I'm sure you could help me out. Please send any offers of assistence to either Bradley@vm.utcs.utoronto.ca or bradley@utorvm.bitnet Thanks, in advance. .... john bradley From: Oxford Text Archive Subject: Date: Wed, 11 Oct 89 15:52 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 886 (1155) News from the Oxford Text Archive ---New catalogue now available--- A new edition of the Text Archive Shortlist is now available. The list is now being produced using SGML-conformant software, and is therefore being distributed in tagged form. A brief prefix has been added to the file explaining the tagging scheme used. The information in the file has been updated slightly and includes all deposits up to September 1988. Alan Morrison has started work on updating the Text Archive database with more detailed information about the texts, in particular their originals and copyright status. We hope to include this information in the next edition of the Shortlist. The new catalogue can be sent by e-mail or downloaded from the fileserver as usual. In extremis, we can even send you a copy on paper. [The shortlist is en route from Oxford by e-mail but has not at this moment been received. When it has been placed on the file-server I will make the appropriate announcement. --W.M.] --- Institutional Licencing?----- Following up a suggestion of Marianne Gaunt's, we are experimenting with an alternative to our current method of text distribution. The basic idea is that an institution (for example your local university library or computer centre) contracts with us to look after a reasonably large number of texts for local use only. In return for an annual fee (the figure we are considering is #1000), the institution receives regular updates on what we have available, and is entitled to order up to (say) 100 Mb of text from our list annually. Texts must be held centrally in a secure filestore, and a responsible person from the institution must undertake to control access to them in line with our usual conditions of use. It may not be possible, for copyright reasons, to make all the texts in the Archive available in this way - and clearly we could not do this with any text without consulting with its depositor. However it offers us and (we think) the scholarly community several clear advantages. So far, this remains a largely experimental notion. We are however currently negotiating with one large US University and a smaller US private college, both of which have expressed satisfaction with the proposed arrangements. The views of Humanists on the matter would be, as ever, of interest and importance... Lou Burnard Alan Morrison From: Alan Bundy Subject: RA Post in AI Dept at Edinburgh Date: Wed, 11 Oct 89 13:19:20 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 887 (1156) Department of Artificial Intelligence University of Edinburgh RESEARCH FELLOW (Mathematical Reasoning) Applications are invited for an SERC supported post, tenable from 1st January 1990, or on a mutually agreed date. Appointment will be to September 30th 1991, initially, but with a possibility of renewal. The research is to develop proof plans, a technique for guiding the search for a proof in automatic theorem proving. The main application is to the automatic synthesis, verification and transformation of logic programs using constructive logic. The project is led by Professor Alan Bundy and Dr Alan Smaill. Candidates should possess a PhD or have equivalent research or industrial experience. Knowledge of logic is essential and knowledge of artificial intelligence, formal methods in software engineering or logic programming would be an advantage. Salary is on the AR1A scale in the range 10,458-16,665 pounds p.a., according to age, qualifications and experience. Applicants should send a CV and the names of two referees to: Prof. Alan Bundy. Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh, 80 South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1HN. as soon as possible. The closing date for applications is 14th November 1990. Further details may be obtained from Prof. Bundy (at the above address or email to bundy@uk.ac.edinburgh or bundy@rutgers.edu) quoting reference number 5717/E. From: SUSAN@UK.AC.OXFORD.VAX Subject: Call for papers ALLC-ACH90 Date: Tue, 10 OCT 89 17:31:42 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 888 (1157) CALL FOR PAPERS ALLC-ACH90 'THE NEW MEDIUM' 17th International Conference of the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing 10th International Conference on Computing in the Humanities 5 - 9 June 1990 University of Siegen, Federal Republic of Germany Papers are invited on all aspects of computing in linguistics, ancient and modern languages and literature, and humanities disciplines such as history, philosophy, art, archaeology and music which have methodologies in common with textual computing. Authors should send 6 copies of a 1000-1500 word abstract of their proposed papers to the Conference Organiser Professor Dr Helmut Schanze ALLC/ACH Conference Universitat Gesamthochschule Siegen Postfach 101240 D-5900 Siegen Federal Republic of Germany Telephone: (0271) 740-4110 E-mail: ANGST@DSIHRZ51 (BITNET) by 1 NOVEMBER 1989. Acceptance notice: 1 February 1990 Early registrations: 1 April 1990 Details of proposed software demonstrations, poster sessions or session themes, should also be sent to the Conference Organiser by 1 November 1989. International Programme Committee: Paul Bratley (Universite de Montreal) Paul Fortier (University of Manitoba) Jacqueline Hamesse (Universite Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve, Programme Committee Chair) Susan Hockey (Oxford University) Nancy Ide (Vassar College) Randall Jones (Brigham Young University) Robert Oakman (University of South Carolina) Helmut Schanze (Universitat Siegen, Conference Organiser) Antonio Zampolli (Universita di Pisa) From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" Subject: English Position Date: Thu, 12 Oct 89 16:51:25 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 889 (1158) ENGLISH FACULTY POSITION Dakota State University is seeking candidates for a full-time tenure-track English faculty position in the College of Liberal Arts beginning Fall Semester 1990. Qualifications include a Ph.D. in English with a specialization in composition and technical writing desired. Responsibilities include teaching composition on MS-DOS microcomputers. Familiarity with computer applications for writing and literary study important. Familiarity with SNOBOL4 advantageous. Rank and salary are based on qualifications. Dakota State University is located in Madison, South Dakota, approximately 45 miles northwest of Sioux Falls, in the southern lakes region of the state. Dakota State is dedicated to providing leadership in computer and information systems, and the integration of this technology into other academic disciplines. A letter of application, resume, and the names, addresses and telephone numbers of three references should be sent to: Eric Johnson, Dean College of Liberal Arts Dakota State University Madison, SD 57042 Applications will be accepted until December 1, or until the position is filled. DSU is an Equal Opportunity Employer. From: Geoffrey Rockwell Subject: 3.563 electronic journals Date: 10/12/89 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 575 (1159) I would like to see the articles of electronic journals distributed not only as text files but also as PostScript files for sending to a PostScript printer. I like to read closely (as opposed to skim) on paper. If there were "prepared-to-print" versions of the articles I could download them and print the ones that I wanted to read closely. This raises the issue of what would be best format to distribute articles for printing, Tex?, PostScript? or SGML? Yours Geoffrey Rockwell Toronto rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: 3.567 supercomputing the humanities, cont. (73) Date: Wed, 11 Oct 89 18:28:56 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 890 (1160) All computer functions are numeric. However, it *is* true that certain chips and cards are made expressly for floating point and other types of calculations. Nevertheless, the price of distributing, creating, editing, and all the other functions of publication are *ALL* quite a bit less expensive than the equivalent paper publications. For the price of any library, an electronic library can be constructed, complete with backups, terminals, and sufficient portals to release materials on Mac, IBM, or other media. A super-library would certainly justify the expense of a super-computer. I, myself, run our library on a pair of 386s (one is a backup) and SCSI hard drives which can hold 10G per controller, and multiple controllers may be installed. While this is super-computer enough for my uses, and can hold ALL the data collected by ALL the electronic text repositories of which I am aware, it is NOT the kind of computer I would want to run the entire library of any major institution. Michael S. Hart P.S. Some of you may not realize that the huge mainframe computer that was used to create the first of the Project Gutenberg texts, had a core memory of 64K, and a handful of removable 5M drives, and cost $millions in installation and maintenance. Our current computers require no more room, no air conditioning, and have between 640K and 8M core memory and drives as mentioned above. The time interval of this change is not two decades, and not even half a decade since the acquisition of our IBM-XT which took us out of the mainframe world. Intel has already released a spec sheet for the 80787(?) due to be released in the year 2000: which will contain 4 processors with caches, and will need no math processor. Enough for now, as someone recently quoted - new ideas do not succeed a year or a decade earlier by convincing opponents, they succeed because- and I hesitate here, but don't want to eliminate the punch line of that quote-the opposition dies off. From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Supercomputers and numbers. Date: Wed, 11 Oct 89 22:04:22 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 891 (1161) It is true that supercomputers (and in fact ALL computers) are inherently numerical. However the numbers are 0 and 1 and not 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. One of the things supercomputers are best at is converting numbers into images. Scientific visualization is all the rage these days as physical scientists discover that it is FAR easier to look at a pretty full-color image rotating in 3-space than to stare at 1000 pages of numbers. ``This is NOT your father's supercomputer...'' Don't become trapped in the belief that `numbers' are an end point of anything (except perhaps number theory.... :-)). Numbers are a tool invented to manipulate models of the natural world. It is the natural world that scientists are after, not the numbers themselves. So... they are using the computers of today not JUST to calculate, but to convert those calculations into imagery (which afterall, is the best way to communicate to human brains evolved in a natural world themselves). It is true--lest someone complain I am distorting the answer, that what people most often develop for many supercomputers are things like floating-point accelerators to really zip those digits around; and that the languages available in which to program many supercomputers are more likey to be FORTRAN than SNOBOL4, but I would STILL claim that every discipline can benefit from supercomputing if they think carefully about their intractable drudgery problems and come up with the right reformulations. Putting together fragments of ancient writings isn't fundamentally different than assembling genetic codes or breaking cyphers--the latter of which certainly use supercomputing. Figuring out which hand-cut type characters were used in what order in printing incunabula by digitizing the book's characters and comparing features is the right stuff for supercomputing. There are lots of tasks which `could' be made supercomputable if one seeks out the right open-minded supercomputing scientist and asks them to think about your humanistic computing problems. However, just try to remember that supercomputers are only the CPU--not the peripherals nor the network. If what you really want is not computation, but the associated operations before or after computation, then a supercomputer can't really speed things up that much. Jet planes can't really get you to the airport or check your luggage any faster, even if they are the Concorde. From: Tom Thomson Subject: Re:3.567 supercomputing the humanities, cont. (73) Date: Thu, 12 Oct 89 13:53:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 892 (1162) Willard's note (supercomputing unrest) of 11 Oct makes two points which I think are quite wrong. First, supercomputers are inaccessible and unfriendly, just as mainframes used to be: in fact things have moved on quite a bit since the early sixties when mainframes were fed their diet of perforated paper (tape or card) by white-coated acolytes and only initiates were allowed to see the beast; we have a better understanding of how to build user interfaces, a better understanding of how to split work between central and distributed components of a computer system, and far better networking capability which allows us to provide high bandwidth communication on the end-user's desk. The mainframes (or maybe they are "supercomputers") which I use are no more faceless, distant, or unfriendly than the PC on my desk. If your local "supercomputer" has this problem, moan at the people who run it/provide it and get the problem fixed, don't give up without a try. Second, supercomputers are designed to be super-fast for numerical work: well, just try doing numerical work with something like an ICL CAFS engine - and then try doing some complicated searches for strange word patterns in the Shakespeare first folio! You'll find the former not just difficult but completely impossible while the latter is quite straightforward. Most research into supercomputers today is oriented towards symbolic computing rather than numeric. If "humanists" bow out because they feel that supercomputers are there just for those who want to discover yet bigger prime numbers or do finite-element integrations over finer meshes than ever before, no-one will develop the software needed to apply supercomputers to the humanities: this will end up being a fine example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Fight for the facilities you want or at least for the tools that will allow you to develop the facilities you want without spending any significant time on software, rather than letting the physicists have all the computing resources! Tom Thomson tom@prg.ox.ac.uk, tom@stl.stc.co.uk From: "Vicky A. Walsh" Subject: Re: 3.567 supercomputing the humanities, cont. (73) Date: Thu, 12 Oct 89 12:27:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 893 (1163) I would like to reply to the last part of Willard's comments on supercomputers. Yes it is true that some supercomputers (mainly the Japanese ones, I believe) are more single purpose than other computers we use. However, all mainframes were designed to do number crunching, and supercomputers more so, BUT all data are bits to the computer. The advance of the supercomputer is not only great speed and large memory, but vector processing and parallel processing both of which can be used quite nicely for many humanities applications. It works so well for mathematical stuff because it does many many iterations of the same thing at the same time. But many language applications could benefit from this same concept. I know from personal experience that Cray Inc. was very reluctant to admit that other things could be done on its machines but as people demanded applicatons they became available. They have already been asked about humanities applications, and if more of us ask they will come. Vicky Walsh, UCLA From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.570 Soundex algorithms? (29) Date: Wed, 11 Oct 89 18:39:48 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 894 (1164) Let me add my voice to that, except that I'm looking for one for Spanish in general and unnormalized Old Spanish in particular. I.e., I want to be able to conduct search operations of the following sort: If I am looking for "vivir" `to live', I want to find it regardless of its spelling: vivjr, viujr, vjvjr, ujujr, bjvjr, bjuir .... All of these are not only possible but common. Among other approaches that could be explored are, essentially, turning unnormalized text into phonemic spelling through a set of global changes or using some sort of thesaurus approach. Any advice would also be most appreciated. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: J.Wood@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.570 Soundex algorithms? (29) Date: Thu, 12 Oct 89 12:15:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 895 (1165) I have the soundex algorithm in Pascal, and found the other day a version in an old .exe, but the more versions the merrier. John From: "Norman D. Hinton" Subject: PLATO system: CAI Blues Date: Thu, 12 Oct 89 08:58:48 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 578 (1166) I'm certain that HUMANIST readers do not want an extended discussion of PLATO, but I feel constrained to clear up a misconception about the "system". Nowadays, by "authoring system" we generally mean a 'canned' set of programs which allow one to use standard multiple-choice, true-false, fill-in-the-blanks tests, with a few other goodies in some of the more advanced versions. This is not at all what PLATO is. The term "PLATo system" (I quote from the official PLATO self-definition) means "...the central computer...all the terminals connected to it, the hardware required to connect the terminals to the computer, and the PLATO software...." There are some few test packages available on PLATO, programmed by various authors. But they are not widely used nor is that the kind of material to which the system is restricted. PLATO does indeed have its own computer language, TUTOR, a large (some would say vast) high-level language. You can do the same things in TUTOR that you can do in Pascal, BASIC, C, etc....I have done many of them. Besides this, TUTOR has commands specifically designed for answer judging and response handling. While some of us occasionally curse the q/a routines, they allow very sophisticated interactions between lesson author and student. I have used TUTOR to write databases, both flat and relational, for my own research use and for others, and materials such as an experiment for a colleague in Communications on the relative readability of serif and non-serif type fonts, statistical analysis materials, automated versions of the Osgood Semantic Differential materials (complete with 2-D and 3-D graphing of the results), and a fairly large number of other computer programs which could not be written by any "authoring package" I have ever seen. To "speak as a fool" (St. Paul) for a moment: I have almost 7000 hours of on-line experience with PLATO over almost 20 years. I know that it is superior to and hardly resembles any "plug in your question" system .(I heartily despise such systems). I did indeed have to learn to program to produce my lesson materials as well as my research tools. PLATO was once far too expensive for many pocketbooks and was not well connected to the outside computing world. Now you can dial up PLATO (and its new incarnation, NovaNet) on PCs, Apples, and Macs....and just this morning someone wrote a note on PLATO which he sent from his automobile, u using a NEC Ultralite and a cellular phone ! (I am told that someone else accessed the system from a phone booth in Kansas somewhaere, using a Commodore 64...) CAI BLUES: What is the "trade-off" for programming CAI for one's courses ? In the case of my Chaucer class, I now have several weeks more to discuss the literature rather than the language, since my CAI materials address Chaucer's pronun- ciation, grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and idioms. If better times in the classroom isn't a trade-off, I don't know what is. I don't begrudge the time it took me to learn to program and the time it took me to design and implement the lessons: if our work has no application to learning, what do we do it for ? (Please don't tell me about publish/perish: I have done far more research and publishing here where scholarship is NOT required than I did at "p/p" schools: and my time on PLATO is rewarded everytime a student successfully learn's Grimm's Law or demonstrates the ability to read Chaucer, etc.) From: Natalie Maynor Subject: Columbus Day virus Date: Tue, 10 Oct 89 12:38:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 579 (1167) Yes, there really is a columbus day virus. It's also known as the datacrime virus and it infects .com programs that don't have a 'd' as the seventh letter (i.e. command.com is safe). You can check for it by comparing the size of your com programs with the originals. The chances of your computer being infected are actually quite small, but IBM has a program available that will check your disk for the virus. There are also several available through BBSs. And, yes, you can fool the virus by keeping the date before oct.12. *********************** And in answer to the question about whether any of the rest of us have extra hidden files, yes. According to DOS chkdsk I have three hidden files; when I run Norton Utilities FA, however, I can find only two hidden files -- ibmbio.com and ibmdos.com. I've wondered about the extra hidden file for ages but have not found an answer from any of the computer gurus I've asked about it. Natalie Maynor,English Dept., Miss. State Univ. From: "Michael Sperberg-McQueen 312 996-2477 -2981" Subject: since when are TRUE and FALSE numbers? Date: 12 October 1989 19:07:58 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 896 (1168) Shame on both Michael S. Hart and Bob Amsler, for succumbing to (and much worse, propagating!) the myth that inside of computers are a lot of tiny 0s and 1s. What is inside of computers and computer disk drives and computer tapes is a bunch of electro-magnetic phenomena. Circuit on, circuit off. Magnetic charge stable, magnetic flux. Magnetic pole reverse, magnetic pole not-reversed. These, my friends, ain't numbers. If they are anything at all, they are logical values. (The circuit's on? TRUE! No, FALSE! ...) It is as great a leap from electromagnetism to '0' and '1' as it is from electromagnetism to 'A' 'B' and 'C'. If you don't think so, ask yourself: is it a '1' on a magnetic tape when the magnetic pole is reversed, or when it remains the same? Or, in the case of another common tape format, is North a 1 and South a 0 or vice versa? Yes, numeric work is more adequately catered to on our machines than is textual work. That is not because computers are inherently numeric or even because computer scientists are better at math. It's because people with math problems have worked very hard to make computers solve them, and they have developed tools for themselves. Humanists can do the same. Michael Sperberg-McQueen From: Willard McCarty Subject: progress/time = 1/difficulty Date: 12 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 897 (1169) My math may be more than suspect, but its intent is to challenge something suggested by Michael Sperberg-McQueen in the previous note: that because the number-crunching lot have worked so hard to make computers useful, they have achieved impressive things with them, whereas we have not worked so hard, and so..... I think it is more accurate to say that our problems are considerably more difficult, and only very recently has the technology become sufficiently advanced to have a broad appeal among humanists. My intent in the note about supercomputing anxiety, which was crudely clothed in inflammatory rhetoric, was simply to point out that supercomputers can easily be taken politically as objects of power. Such objects have a severe effect on human judgement -- not unlike eros -- with the effect that they can be thrust on an unwilling community that then has to figure out what to do with them. The question I ask will be familiar to all who have advised others what computer to buy: don't start with the hardware (I want a SUN SparcSystem!!!!), start by thinking about the application. On the other hand, new tools sometimes redefine the questions. Willard McCarty From: "Vicky A. Walsh" Subject: Re: 3.576 supercomputing the humanities, cont. (174) Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 12:52:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 898 (1170) In case anyone is interested, I am in touch with Cray applications and marketing people, so we'll see what they have to say about humanities applications, current and future! Vicky Walsh, UCLA From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: TeX, Postscript or SGML? Date: Thu, 12 Oct 89 22:15:08 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 899 (1171) The only format from which the others can all be derived is SGML. I.e. Tex==> Postscript; SGML ==> TeX; and SGML ==> Postscript strike me as possible translations. Postscript ==> SGML; Postscript ==> TeX and TeX to SGML strike me as unlikely to succeed. Thus, it would seem SGML is the best solution, with some software to do the other conversions. From: KESSLER Subject: Re: 3.575 e-journals in PostScript (24) Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 13:37:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 900 (1172) I personally have postscript, the Mac Lasewr printer; but not everyone would, I imagine; perhaps Text is best, since it can be converted by whatever word-processor people are using, no? Jascha Kessler UCLA/ IME9JFK@UCLAMVS From: LNGDANAP@UOGUELPH Subject: CAI and PLATO Date: Thu, 12 Oct 89 21:56:11 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 901 (1173) My apologies to Norman Hinton concerning my oversimplified description of PLATO. He is course correct that PLATO is not an authoring system, as those are currently defined, but rather an *authoring language* along the lines of PILOT, ie a programming language which is not all purpose, but dedicated to a specific task, in this case pedagogy. Although authoring languages are easier to learn than programming languages, they still require a great deal of time and energy investment. For teachers who cannot afford such an investment, authoring systems (which range from the simplistic to the fairly complex) can be much more easily used by the non-expert. The point I wished to emphasize is that content is all. One can produce simplistic CAI materials using the most sophisticated authoring tools, and also some very sophisticated materials using the more simplistic authoring systems... Dana Paramskas, French Studies, University of Guelph, Ontario. From: RKennr@CONU1 Subject: cai defended Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 10:20:15 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 902 (1174) Charles Faulhaber notes in CAI-Blues.. Oct 10 that "Until it is at least as easy to prepare or find CAI materials as traditional ones, most of us are not going to find the investment of time worthwhile..." I think he missed the point of LNGDANAP@UOGUELPH's defense of CAI. IT IS as easy. If one is to compare CAI preparation time with the time needed to prepare a hand out for class, for example, one need only examine the time needed to prepare an activity for a mini-authoring system like QUARTEXT. A very fruitful activity could easily be prepared in less than an hour. If one is looking at more involved CAI, one must compare it with more involved "traditional" approaches. How long does it take to find, preview, and purchase a film or videotape, for example? Let's not even talk about producing one! Roger Kenner Concordia University Montreal From: Subject: RE: 3.540 computer-assisted instruction (80) Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 19:56 N X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 903 (1175) Regarding the availability of CAI and various ITS programs, my company, being an "education technologies" developer of (typically) software and (sometimes) non-software, may have products of interest to people. I will not list them or make any further publicity, but if people are interested, they may send me an e-mail list of subject areas of interest, and I will do my best to reply in good speed. I work in the research lab, so I am not familiar with the full product line. Using this opportunity to make another request, I remember seeing postings for a linguistics paper archive in Tilburg. It might be somewhere in the UTORONTO LISTSERV archive, but it is very difficult to do anything (such as such searching) interactively or in contiguous time. If there are any HUMANISTs who subscribe to that, I would be very grateful to receive information on this. Finally, I would just like to let HUMANIST know how its discussions are reaching "hard core" [exageration mine] "tech-ies" (not "t[r]ekkies") and top-level management of some companies. As many Europeans may know, there are joint CEC (Commission of Economic Community countries ... I think) projects which involve collaboration among high tech companies and (sometimes) universities. A few such projects involve the development of long-distance learning programs. Ironically, many of the partners of these projects are unaware of what might be done in long distance learning, or who might be experienced-enough to provide useful advice to them. To remedy this and bring them up to speed, I have distributed transcripts of some HUMANIST dialogues and info tidbits to these people. Joe Giampapa DIDA*Lab Milan pu6mi6q5@icineca2.bitnet From: Oxford Text Archive Subject: Date: Wed, 11 Oct 89 15:53 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 904 (1176) OXFORD TEXT ARCHIVE SNAPSHOT This is the TAGGED version of the Short List of Texts held in the Oxford Text Archive. The list is sorted primarily by language, within that by author and within that by title. Each title is prefixed by an identifier. In the tagged form, each component of the list is prefixed by a tag : at the start of a new language section at the start of a new author Each entry starts with a tag to introduce its identifier, followed by a tag at the start of the title itself. -------------------- [A complete version of this snapshot is now available on the file-server, s.v. OXARCHIV SHRTLIST. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Subject: Report on Desktop Publishing Conference, Syracuse, NY, USA Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 08:42:09 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 905 (1177) [My apologies: somehow the name and e-address of the sender of this message has disappeared. I assure you I did not make this up myself! --W.M.] A conference entitled "The Impact of Desktop Publishing on University Life sponsored jointly by Syracuse University and the Association of American University Presses, was held at Syracuse in mid-March. It was actually organized by Syracuse's School of Education, whose dean, Joan Burstyn, has become a leading proponent of DTP in academia and who feels the new technology is going to bring profound changes in the way scholarship is disseminated. The program was aimed at university administrators, faculty, and publications people, as well as university press personnel. The 110 participants from across the U.S. and Canada varied greatly in their knowledge of DTP and the uses they are trying to make of it, which resulted in some talking at cross purposes. But a central concern quickly emerged: the problem of control. -------------------- [A complete version of this report is now available on the file-server, s.v. DSKTOPUB REPORT. A copy may be obtained by issuing either an interactive or a batch-job command, addressed to LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- not to HUMANIST. See your Guide to HUMANIST for information about how to issue such a command. Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: <PU6MI6Q5@ICINECA2> Subject: Workshop: Cognition, Communication, and Culture Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 20:05 N X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 906 (1178) ... with Dan Sperber C.N.R.S., Paris Paolo Fabbri (Universita' di Palermo and E.H.E.S.S., Paris) Bruce Fraser (Boston University) Maurizio Gnerre (Universita' di Cassino) Andreas Kemmerling (Universitaet Muenchen) 15 - 16 November 1989 International Center for Semiotic and Cognition Studies Repubblica di San Marino Universita' degli Studi Tel. +39 (0549) 991301 From: <HORTONT@SERVAX> (TOM=HORTON) Subject: text comparison, Sh compositors Date: 10/12/89 20:56:52 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 907 (1179) This message concerns using sequence comparison techniques to study textual transmission, but then turns into a question about Shakespeare bibliography. If none of this interests you, don't go any further! I am interested in ways of evaluating the degree of similarity between multiple versions of a text. These versions might be different manuscripts of a work, or various printed editions of Jacobean plays. I am approaching this as a sequence comparison problem and measuring something called string-edit distance (or Levenshtein distance), perhaps best-known to computer scientists and geneticists. To determine if this approach is useful, I am interested in looking at Shakespeare Folio texts that were printed directly from the authoritative quarto text. (I have machine-readable versions of the Folio and good quartos.) A lot of bibliographic work has been done to identify compositors in the Folio and assess their accuracy in reproducing their copy text. I think it would be interesting to apply sequence comparison to this same problem. So, here's a question for any Shakespeare bibliographers out there. Are there any particular plays in the Folio that (1) were printed directly from the good quartos, and (2) in which the identity of the compositors is a particularly interesting or thorny problem? (1) seems to narrow the choice down to The Merchant of Venice, Love's Labours Lost or Much Ado About Nothing. But (alas) the library at my current university does not have the sort of Shakespeare collection to allow me to feel totally comfortable with this conclusion, plus I do not have anything that describes the most recent thoughts on compositors in these plays. Thought I'd toss this out to Humanist before making the hour drive to Miami to visit another library. Feel free to point me to books or journal articles. This is rather a specific question, so perhaps replies should be made directly to my Bitnet address, unless you think it's of general interest. I'd also be interested in hearing from anyone with other problems that might benefit from this approach. Tom Horton Computer Science, Florida Atlantic Univ., Boca Raton, FL 33431 BITNET: HortonT@servax ^---< please note the `T'!!!! PS Oh, by the way, this is a nice application for a supercomputer. Donations welcome. From: <DONALDSON@LOYVAX> Subject: A query: indexers (or reverse indexers); Goethe on Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 11:06 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 908 (1180) In this, my first active participation in the HUMANIST dialogue, I'm wondering if anyone has had success in indexing bibliographies by item number. I am just finishing a rather substantial bibliography which I assembled in part with WordPerfect and in part with NotaBene. I started initially with NotaBene in the belief that its textbase and other publishing-oriented abilities would not let me down. Now I find that although I can rearrange at will, use counters at several levels, etc. that I can only reference items by page number. Certainly the more common practice is to index by item number, but has no software program anticipated the need. I've had several discussions with the NotaBene people and they are unable to supply any information which I don't already have. It's beginning to look as if I will be spending the next month indexing the final copy by page number and then manually assigning the item number. I really have more faith in computers than that. There must be a way; can anyone help? Another quick query: I'm looking ahead to undertaking an examination of Goethe's works (or a portion thereof) with a concordance program in the hopes that certain constellations of words might provide additional information on his aesthetic views (I would, by the way, appreciate any opinions on the validity of the project--a very big gap in a much investigated area--as I see it). The question is "are there e-texts out there?" I am aware of something going on in Utah in conjunction with the people who developed WordCruncher but when I checked a while ago the Goethe texts were still promises and the Weimar edition was not a possibility in any case (Fraktur raises its head again, but that's another discussion). I am also interested in knowing the equipment demands of such a project. I know of several individuals using Bernoulli boxes; is that the most practical way? I pretty much have to decide whether to do the project on the local mainframe (VAX 11/780) or stick with my XT. Thanks for any help Randall Donaldson Foreign Languages and Literatures (German) Loyola College in Maryland 450l N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21210 Donaldson@Loyvax From: Charles Bailey <LIB3@UHUPVM1.BITNET> Subject: Personal Information Management Software Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 09:40:32 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 909 (1181) [The following has been taken from the PACS-L discussion group. Although the question about personal information managers is asked here only of librarians, it is a good one for the wider academic population to consider. Comments? --W.M.] Increasingly, libraries are giving patrons direct access to systems that provide electronic and bibliographic/holdings information. What should the role of libraries be in supporting microcomputer software that allows patrons to manage downloaded information from these systems? Does our obligation end with providing patrons with the capability to print information or download it within the library? Should we be involved in evaluating, recommending or managing site licenses for, and providing training and support for this software? Should we share this responsibity with our local computer centers, being involved in certain types of software (e.g., bibliography software like ProCite) but not others (e.g., text management software like askSam)? There is a growing variety of software that can be used to manage scholarly information: text retrieval software (searches existing text files), text database managers (searches special textual databases), hypertext software, text analysis software (concordances, statistical analysis, etc.), information retrieval software, bibliography formatting software, post- retrieval software (allows further evaluation of downloaded search results), etc. How have other libraries addressed this question? Are any libraries actively involved in this area? From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.579 eve of the viral attack... (41) Date: Thu, 12 Oct 89 20:41:44 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 910 (1182) Many of my colleagues have been asking if they are safe if they simply do not use their MS-DOS computers on 10/13. From: Geoffrey Rockwell <Geoffrey_Rockwell@poczta.utcs.utoronto.ca> Subject: 3.579 eve of the viraM-I Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 10:08:02 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 911 (1183) My local guru says the volume level may be stored as a hidden file, and Norton Utilities may be smart enough to not show that one. This reminds me of the one virus I have seen. Someone found that everytime they piped their directory through More a file appeared that we knew nothing about. Each time the file had a different name, always a number. It turned out, of course, that the mere act of piping creates a temporary file. Since then I don't worry as much about hidden files. Geoffrey R Toronto rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca From: Axel Wupper <UPG202@DBNRHRZ1> Subject: Re: 3.579 eve of the viral attack... (41) Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 04:57:54 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 912 (1184) Re: hidden files I guess the third hidden file is the disk label. Try removing the disk label and run Norton again. Axel Wupper Department of Historical Geography - University of Bonn Konviktstr. 11 - D-5300 Bonn 1 (Fed. Rep. of Germany) Bitnet: UPG202@DBNRHRZ1 Noisenet: +49 (2 28) 73 36 90 All opinions expressed here are my own, not neccesarily those of Bonn University From: BRODY Florian <U3011VAA@AWIUNI11> Subject: Re: 3.545 speech-analysis? (31) Date: Wed, 11 Oct 89 11:23:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 913 (1185) MacRecorder is from Farallon Berkeley and should sell for under US$ 200. Their newest SW has a small speech analysis part built in - Check for SW versi on 2.0.- Mail order from ComputerWare PaloAlto CA it is a hardware to be plugged into any Mac and some software. For more detailled info on specialised SW try Wheels for the Mind Apple University Consortiums regular publication AppleLink A0130 F.B. From: gall@Nexus.YorkU.CA Subject: Red Ryder Version 11.0 Announcement Date: Sun, 15 Oct 89 13:00:39 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 586 (1186) [The following has been abstracted from a much longer message. --W.M.] ******************************************************************** * O F F I C I A L A N N O U N C E M E N T * * * * V E R S I O N 1 1 U P G R A D E * ******************************************************************** On October 15, 1989, The FreeSoft Company announced the impending release of a new product, the successor to Red Ryder version 10.3. The new product, interestingly enough, is called White Knight version 11. White Knight takes strong advantage of the capabilities of the 128K ROM's, which means that it will run on a Mac Plus, SE, II, or later machine. It will not run on a 128K or 512K Macintosh. I doubt strongly that it will run on a 512KE (but should run fine if you upgrade that machine to one megabyte or more of memory and use System software version 6.0.2 or later). As always, we will support our existing customers with a moderately priced upgrade path based upon 25% of the suggested retail price. The cost of the upgrade from version 10 is $35.00. The cost of the upgrade for versions prior to version 10 is $50.00. If you purchased version 10 on or after October 1, 1989, please send in a copy of your receipt (or other dated proof of purchase) and we will give you the upgrade for just a $5.00 shipping charge ($10.00 outside of the United States). For more information, contact the sender of this message or write to: The FreeSoft Company White Knight Update Dept. 150 Hickory Drive Beaver Falls, PA 15010 United States of America If you have questions, our phone number is (412)846-2700. Our FAX number is (412)847-4436 (for ordering questions only - not tech. support or product information). From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: I am not a magnetic field, I am a number. Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 20:53:32 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 914 (1187) Well..... Michael Sperberg-McQueen is also misleading you. If they ain't 0's and 1's, they sure as heck ain't TRUE and FALSE. It is true that computers don't have little 0's and 1's in them (any more than human speech has letters in it) they have micro-electrical charges and magnetized micro-regions which other components attempt to read as either sufficiently in one state or another to constitute a value of 1 or 0---but only instanteously are those things true. The computer in action is continuously making those determinations and THEN acting upon them as though the determinations were of a 1 or a 0 and then reapplying a micro-electrical charge or a micro-magnetizing pulse to some other region in the computer to effectively make it hold on to the conclusion. That is to say, the computer is working with 0's and 1's and only when it isn't working are they fixed in analogue media. The computer converts physical realities into abstract 1's and 0's and then transfers them to new physical places where they are returned to physical realities. I think what Michael is trying to say is that all symbol systems are made up by simply assigning values to sequences of these `hypothetical' 1's and 0's (much the way one would claim that all English words are made up of some set of characters) and that the humanities has its options as to how it wants computers to assign symbols to its hypothetical 1's and 0's. (Then, to confuse things, we `could' discuss analogue computers in which there `really' are no 1's and 0's--but I am not aware of any analogue supercomputers...) From: nsabelli@ncsa.uiuc.edu (Nora Sabelli) Subject: Re: 3.580 supercomputing, etc., cont. (89) Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 21:04:23 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 915 (1188) Let me come to the support of Michael Sperberger-McQueen. Willard McCarty says: [deleted quotation]Please do not confuse the problems that natural scientists solve with the problems that the natural sciences pose. Biology's problems (from the human genome to neural networks) are less complicated that many (most?) of humanities problems? World's climate? I don't think the argument is very productive; both problems are, if approached as a whole, insurmountable. Does it matter which one is most unsolvable if approached the wrong way? Let me relate an story, true as far as I can tell, about the great british neurophysiologist Claude Sherrington, famous among other things for Sherrington's turtle. This turtle was a small electronic device, mounted on wheels, that was governed by complex circuitry. In essence, when its batteries were almost empty, the turtle woul move towards a light source and bask in it (feed); once its batteries were full, it would move towards a quiet dark place and wait (sleep), until it was time to repeat the cycle. Needless to say, Sherrington was studying feedback mechanisms in the brain and was proceeding to test his understanding by observing the behaviour of a circuit based on it. Somebody was trying one day to get Sherrington to make generalizations about the turtle' intelligence, whether it was alive, etc. Finally, in exasperation, Sherrington said: I am modeling the brain. My model fits my question. "A dish of cold porridge is an acceptable model of the brain if you are interested in how the brain reacts to concussion." Which is to say that natural scientists have a long history of breaking up their problems into parts that are manageable at a given time, and extracting intuitive concepts about nature from each of these subsets of the problem until their intuitive understanding allows them to bootstrap to a slighly more complex level. Use of thechnology is part of the process, by no means the whole process. You make many mistakes on the way, and have your share of blind alleys, but you always know a little more which each step. Very few problems have no solution, all you have to do is define what is an acceptable solution at each step. Lets not be bigots for one side or the other. I belong to a generation of natural scientists that had to become computer knowledgeable to be able to solve our problems. Not everybody chose that path, but those of us who did built the tools (and the educational infrastructure) for our colleagues, past and present. If you want, we can argue why humanists have not quite done it yet. The complexity of the complete problem is is not one of the reasons. Nora Sabelli (nsabelli@ncsa.uiuc.edu) From: "Sterling Beckwith (York University)" <GUEST4@YUSol> Subject: RE: 3.576 supercomputing the humanities, cont. (174) Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 23:48 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 916 (1189) Our "problems" are just as hard or harder than those physicists and mathematicians have learned to do with expensive machines, so why shouldn't we have a share in such machines? So runs the general drift of this discussion so far. No one seems yet to have asked out loud what many must be thinking: Would our "results", having stormed the citadels of supercomputing and wrested our "fair share" from their keepers, have the same KIND of value, to us and to the people whose labor generates the surplus that pays the shot? Or is there a sense in which humanists might remain more humane by NOT buying into the highest and most expensive technologies? (Why, I even know some Computer Scientists who disdain to make any use of ArpaNet. Do you wonder why?) Perhaps someone will catch my drift, and help pull me ashore. Sterling Beckwith GUEST4@SOL.YORKU.CA.bitnet From: "John K. Baima" <D024JKB@UTARLG> Subject: Supercomputers Date: Sat, 14 Oct 89 17:16 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 917 (1190) I have read the discussion about supercomputers with interest and I would like to throw in my two cents. First, no one has really defined what a supercomputer is. Well, it's fast right? I would say that a computer does not really qualify for being super *today* unless its speed is measured in 1,000's of millions of instructions per second (MIPS). To put that in perspective, the original IBM-PC was about a 1/10 MIP machine. Today, the top end 386 machines are about 6 MIPS. But even that does not tell the story. There has been some discussion about what goes on inside a computer, but I think that is irrelevant. When talking about the speed of a computer's CPU, it is important to note how long it takes to execute the various instructions it can do. If we say that a 33 Mhz 386 is a 6 MIP machine, that means it takes the 386 33/6 cycles to execute one "average" instruction. However, some instructions, like floating point division, may take hundreds of cycles. That is why a math co- processor can speed up the math by a factor of 100 or so. When it is said that supercomputers are good at math, it means that it does not take it hundreds of cycles to do one floating point instruction. Because of the parallelism that exists on supercomputers, they can execute multiple floating point instructions per cycle. Supercomputers are sometimes said to be not so good with I/O because they are not so fast in the category. I think that the current Cray's *only* do I/O at about 10 MB/Sec. A SUN SparcStation can do about 2 MB/Sec. An old XT can do about 170 K/Sec. Why do people buy supercomputers? I think that it is usually because the have a task that cannot be done with anything else. They have the software and they have the data. There are tasks being done on supercomputers that would take months or longer on anything else. Vicky Walsh complains about having to "wait" 45 minutes to search the TLG. Does anyone buy a supercomputer so that they do not have to wait 45 minutes every now and again? Besides, the 45 minutes represents how long it takes to read the TLG CD-ROM. Ibycus does the actual search in essentially no extra time. If one had the TLG on a hard disk (that can be purchased for less than about $3,000), the search could go much faster on a micro today. The programs being run on supercomputers, like it or not, usually have a some application to an industry. Most of the Humanist's computing do not directly contribute to any industry. The value of what a Humanist is doing with a computer is usually much more abstract, even if it is of no less value. Thus, it is necessary to have a definite goal in mind. I cannot imagine spending that kind of money without having something definite in mind. Perhaps I am misunderstanding him, but that seems to be what Tom Thomson was saying: "Fight for the facilities you want or at least for the tools that will allow you to develop the facilities you want without spending any significant time on software, rather than letting the physicists have all the computing resources!" I think that Willard McCarty had it right when he said. <<it may strike the observer as strange for tens of millions of dollars to be sunk into a supercomputer. It may seem especially strange if, as witnessed here, the question seems to be, "How can we use this computer?" and not "What sort of computer do we need?">> Humanists need software and uniform data first. For the later, I think that the TEI is absolutely essential and I hope that they succeed. I also think that Humanist support of software is essential. The Perseus project is a good example of how to spend 3 million dollars. 3 million dollars of supercomputer time would most likely be a very large waste of money. Perseus will leave something of enduring value. The TLG has been more expensive than Perseus, but that too is a project with enduring value. My recommendation: Push for developing software to do what you want. If the result cannot be adequately done on a small machine, then ask for something larger. Remember that over the last 30 years the price/performance of computers has halved about every two years. There is no end in sight for that trend. Only buy hardware when you need it-- it is one of the worst investments imaginable. The more expensive the hardware, the worse the investment. John Baima From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.582 CAI blues, cont. (103) Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 21:00:57 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 918 (1191) Much as I would like to agree with the defenders of CAI about its ease of use, I'm afraid I can't. There are certain unspoken assumptions that they seem to leave out. For example, Roger Kenner says: [deleted quotation] 1. This presupposes that the instructor knows QUARTEXT. How much time did that take to learn? Who acquired the system? Who installed it? Who runs the laboratory where the students use it? Our hypothetical instructor preparing a handout for class needs only a pencil, a ditto master, and a ditto machine, or, at one step up, a xerox machine. To ask even someone who is comfortable using a word processing program to take on the task of preparing CAI materials is to ask a great deal, particularly in the absence of any institutional support. It requires a substantial commitment of time and effort. I repeat: unless it can be shown that students substantially better--that CAI does indeed make a difference-- then most of us are not going to make that effort. I would love to be proved wrong. Are there studies, for example, which demonstrate better learning through CAI? Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Is PLATO reasonably priced? CAI, continued" Date: Sat, 14 Oct 89 16:05:09 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 919 (1192) I'm encouraged by Norman Hinton's recent comments, especially those concerning widened access to, and perhaps portability of, the PLATO system. Some of us might like to know which authoring systems, including the low level (meaning, more flexible) authoring software as well as templates (which are high-level since farther "up" from the machine language core), are available to make effective time use of this system. Of special interest are the various pricing schemes. Whom would we contact to obtain this information? Regards, Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH) J_GOLDFI@UNHH.bitnet From: dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca Subject: Mac Speech Analysis: thanks to Humanists Date: 14 Oct 89 20:49 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 920 (1193) In case my acknowledgement did not reach any member of Humanist who took the trouble to send me e-mail on this subject, and there were about a dozen who did, please accept my thanks here and now for your replies, which were uniformly helpful and illuminating, and which have been passed on to my colleague in the Linguistics department here who originally put the question to me. I won't attempt to summarize the recommendations, which were numerous, but they included not only details of specific software but a host of useful addresses, both paper and electronic. Once again, Humanist proves to be not only decorative but extremely useful when it matters! David Graham dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca Department of French & Spanish dgraham@munucs.uucp Memorial University of Newfoundland From: COM3RAE@CLUSTR.TRENT.AC.UK Subject: current hardware at Nottingham, UK. Date: Sat, 14 Oct 89 11:23:31 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 921 (1194) Re: 3.560 Query (10/10/89) - What hardware have humanists? At Nottingham Polytechnic in the UK they have access to all the computing facilities that we in Computing Services make available to the whole Polytechnic - VAX Cluster + resource rooms of various microcomputers including IBM PS2 model 30s and 50s, and various AT or XT clones. To supplement this their own department may decide to get their own hardware (using departmental or research funds). The humanities people at Nottingham have not yet 'got into' computing in a big way .. there is some use of wordprocessors (cheap sub-AT clones) and stirrings of interest in Apple DTP systems (blocked unfortunately by a worried Poly Administration fearful of overspending whatever money there is!). In theory though, they could get access to the VAX and the 'big' programs - ORACLE, OCP, SPSSX, FAMULUS, etc. plus the laser printing and graph plotting kit. As yet 'Computing in the Humanities' means wordprocessing with a sideways glance at databases and spreadsheets. (It's my job to change this! HUMANIST reprints are helping in this - thanks!) Simon Rae. Liaison Officer: Humanities & Education. COM3RAE@UK.AC.TRENT.CLUSTR (UK JANET address or COM3RAE@CLUSTR.TRENT.AC.UK from BITNET). From: Harold Wilson <HSW100U@ODUVM> Subject: And still Greek fonts Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 20:42:11 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 922 (1195) Is it possible using WordPerfect on an IBM clone to print out Greek fonts (full faced) on an H-P laser printer using SoftFont or any other printer driver? Even the vendors seem mystified by their own manuals at this point. From: Oxford Text Archive <ARCHIVE@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK> Subject: Zipf's Law Date: Sat, 14 Oct 89 12:50 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 590 (1196) Zipf's law is discussed at length in his book 'Selected studies of the principle of relative frequency in language' (1932). I don't know if this was its first formulation, though I doubt it. An extended discussion is given in 'The psychobiology of language' (1966). Most writers on statistics in literary studies make fairly disparaging references to Zipf's "so-called law" and go to great lengths to disprove it. Zipf was also the author of a book which has one of my favourite titles of all time, viz: Human Behavior and the Principle of Least Effort (1949) Informatively, (if late), Lou Burnard From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.584 queries (151) Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 21:09:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 923 (1197) Personal Information Managers Libraries do have an obligation with providing software for patrons to download citations into an adequate bibliographic data base. A number of libraries have used commercial operations (I am thinking of Personal Bibliographic Software in Ann Arbor, owners of ProCite) to provide that capability. At the very minimum such software should allow the user to capture all of the information in the original citation, including foreign language diacritics which, unfortunately, disappear in programs based on capturing a screen image. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Role of libraries in using electronic information Date: Fri, 13 Oct 89 21:15:29 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 924 (1198) I believe libraries should not only have their own computing facilities, but their own computing support staff. This may seem radical stuff, but the trend of history is clearly that computing migrates to the subject domains in which it is used, both in terms of specialization of software and ownership of hardware. The problem is acquiring and retaining staff with the levels of expertise needed. From: Malcolm Hayward <MHAYWARD@IUP.BITNET> Subject: JOB OPENING AT IUP Date: 16 Oct 89 11:18:41 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 592 (1199) Coordinator User Support Academic Computing Services Indiana University of Pennsylvania invites applications for the position of Coordinator of User Support in Academic Computing Services. The Coordinator is responsible for the coordination of centralized mainframe and micro computing support, providing a coordinated training effort and ongoing technical support. Academic Computing Services is part of the Information Systems and Communications Center. The Academic Computing staff consists of five full-time employees and 35 FTE student employees who are dedicated to providing quality computing services to the University. Over 750 faculty are employed at the main campus and two branch campuses in Kittanning and Punxsutawney. Qualifications: Candidates should have a minimum of three years computing experience, one of which must be in management, preferably in a higher education environment. Excellent communications, interpersonal and management skills are essential. Candidates must possess a bachelor's degree or equivalent. Experience in a VAX cluster environment is helpful. Salary range is 25,642 to 32,053 with excellent fringe benefits. Candidates should submit a letter of application, resume and the names and telephone numbers of three references. Review of applications will begin November 1, 1989 and will continue until the position is filled. Applications should be sent to: Search Committee Coordinator of User Support Academic Computing Services Stright Hall G2, IUP Indiana, PA 15705 IUP is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity employer. Bill Creighton, ACS, IUP; CREIGHTN@IUP.bitnet From: S200@CPC865.EAST-ANGLIA.AC.UK Subject: Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 05:06:45 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 925 (1200) A few comments on current use of micros at UEA. IBM clones are still the most cost effective micros at UEA. They are still primarily used for word processing connected to a cheap matrix printer. Macs are expensive and with a laser printer even more expensive. Their screens are minute but the wp software is liked. Mac users are vociferous but IBM type users quietly get on with their work and save their money. We in the Computing Centre would positively like Humanists to spread their wings and try other things. However the majority are probably correct in their assessment of the situation. Humanists have better things to do with their time than play with such devices except in very restricted circumstances. Happy autumn, John Roper From: <HOPKINS@FINFUN> Subject: Hardware query response... Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 11:11 O X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 926 (1201) In response to Willard's query about current hardware outside North America the following may be useful, though it is not limited to the Humanities. I administer a worldwide database of educational exchange advisors and administrators which began a year ago and currently includes some 800 individuals from 122 countries. All of these are outside the U.S., only Canada and Mexico are included as "North America." Some are full-time administrators or advisors, others are teaching staff who work with student or staff exchange on a part-time basis. There is a questionnaire which all have been invited to complete, including questions on whether they use a microcomputer (as distinct from mini- or mainframe computer), and if so what type, its memory, disk storage capacity, and also the three main software packages. Detail in the answers has varied widely. So far, I have received completed forms from 283 individuals. They represent five affiliations: University-based, USIS-subsidized advisors abroad, host-government sponsored advisors, Fulbright Commission advisors, and private-organization (I.I.E., etc.) advisors [the emphasis is on exchanges to and from the U.S.]. Of these, 37.1% responded that they did not use a microcomputer. 51.3% used IBM-compatible systems, 9.5% used Macintosh systems, and 0.7% reported using both IBM and Mac systems, Apple II systems, or Wang systems without IBM compatibility. When only "university" affiliates are isolated, IBM represents 48.6% of the users, 34.9% indicate NO microcomputer, 12.3% use Macs, and very small percentages use Apple II, Atari, BBC micros, or CPM equipment. When the "no micro" respondants were eliminated, the proportions of computer systems were 70.3% IBM, 25.7% Mac, 2% both, and 2% Wang or other. University respondants were from 27 countries. 80% were based in Europe, 10% in Asia, 5% in North America, 3% in Australia or New Zealand, and 1% each in Africa and South America. Detail on the type of system, especially for IBM compatibles, is inexact, but judging from model numbers or software applications mentioned, I would say at least half are 80286 systems, and well over 2/3 of all systems have hard drives of 20MB or more. The proportion of IBM dominance over Macintosh systems in the database so far is consistent within all continents except North America, though there are so few respondants from Canada and Mexico as to make this statistically insignificant. Further, this dominance was also apparent in a report by the University of Oulu in the latest Finnish national computing center journal which noted a 90%-10% breakdown on their campus in favor of IBM (mainly AST, ACER, and UNISYS) over Mac systems. For over a year none of the universities in Finland have purchased, or recommended their staff buying, less than a 80286 processor, so one might assume a majority of 80286 or higher processors on the IBM compatibles now in use. John D. Hopkins Hopkins@FINFUN From: Donald Spaeth 041 339 8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Subject: 3.560/Current hardware Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 14:35:07 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 927 (1202) The most commonly owned computer in U.K. humanities academe is without doubt the Amstrad PCW8256 (and its bigger brother the PCW8512), which uses the CP/M operating system and is based in technology which predates DOS and the IBM PC. The Amstrad is one of the successes of marketing in the 1980s, providing an acceptable word-processing package closely matched to a dot-matrix printer at an original price of 400-500 pounds! Not surprisingly, this machine swept across academe when it arrived about 4 years ago. For humanists one advantage is that it enables use of a wide range of diacritics and non-Roman alphabets, because it prints in graphic mode from the LocoScript word-processor. A range of other inexpensive desktop publishing, communications, spreadsheet and database software has become available. Second to the Amstrad the good ol' 8086/88 (IBM XT) is the most commonly owned machine. Only now, as 286 prices come down, are a few humanists beginning to buy a 286 for home use. Many of my more-computerate colleagues have decried the rapid spread of Amstrads, since they're not IBM-compatible and not very powerful. Many (most?) computer centres refuse to support them, although they may put a few in public areas. But anything that revolutionises humanities computing to that extent (I would guess up to 25% of lecturers might own one) has much to be said for it. Of course, their owners usually don't realise that they're using a computer. They call it a word-processor and tend to feel inferior, which is a shame. Don Spaeth CTI Centre for History University of Glasgow email: d.a.spaeth @ glasgow.ac.uk (Janet) From: SVAF524@UTXVM.BITNET Subject: CAI Blues............. Date: Sunday, 15 October 1989 7:17pm CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 594 (1203) I would like to answer Charles Faulhaber's question and make one comment on the theme of CAI design. There exist a number of studies which seem to suggest that computer- based instruction is more effective and more time efficient, especially in rote, drill-and-practice environments. But this comparison of medium is of little importance, I think. Good instruction will win out over bad, whether the material is ultimately delivered by person or by electronic means. A good 50% of the development time of the best CAI is the instructional design phase, when the instruction itself is worked out in detail; ideally, this occurs before the programmer ever begins his/her tasks. Pete Smith, who works in the Dept. of Slavic Languages University of Texas, Austin From: SIMON@vm.utcs.utoronto.ca Subject: Indexing items/pages Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 18:21:44 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 595 (1204) In response to the query about indexing items rather than pages, it should be possible to end each citation with a page break thereby making each item = 1 page. With some formatting of an appropriate header or footer it should be possible to have a clearly numbered item list suitable for indexing. Controlling the output for neat appearance on a printed page might be a little more difficult, but not impossible. I haven't tried the above myself and perhaps the enquirer has tried a variation of it and found it wanting. Successful macros which accomplish the task should be welcomed by many. sk should be welcomed. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: CD-ROM Extended Architecture Date: Monday, 16 October 1989 2350-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 928 (1205) Is anyone out there on HUMANIST knowledgeable about "extended architecture" CD-ROM applications, which I take to mean a transition phase between text-centered CD-ROM and multiple-oriented future CDI (text, sound, sight, motion)? I was asked to recommend potential sources of information and/or advice on this subject. Greg Crane and Elli Mylonis? Anyone else? Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: Greg.Lessard@QueensU.CA Subject: Pronunciation query Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 16:50-0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 929 (1206) I am directing an M.A. thesis on English and French terminology in the area of computer-assisted language learning. The student doing the thesis has a substantial corpus of written texts in both languages. Among the items contained in the texts, he has identified a series of acronyms used to designate the field. These include: CAI (computer-aided instruction) CALI (computer-aided language instruction) CALL (computer-aided language learning CALT (computer-aided language teaching) ICAI (intelligent computer-aided instruction) ICALI (intelligent computer-aided language instruction) EAO (enseignement assiste/ par ordinateur) ELAO (enseignement des langues assiste/ par ordinateur) EIA0 (enseignement intelligemment assiste/ par ordinateur) The question he is currently looking at is whether or not these forms are pronounced as independent letters (as in NHL for National Hockey League) or as words (as in NATO for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation). I have my own intuitions and experience on this question, but I would be grateful for a larger sample of data (as well as any other similar forms others might have come across). Greg Lessard French Studies/Etudes franc,aises Queen's University <lessardg@qucdn.bitnet> From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: what do the terms mean? Date: 17 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 930 (1207) Referring to the acronyms in the above note, it would also be good to understand precisely what they mean. Is there, for example, a clear and generally agreed upon distinction between CALL and CAI (or CALI), and if so, what is it? Willard McCarty From: KARIN FLIKEID <FLIKEID@HUSKY1.STMARYS.CA> Subject: Stylistic/linguistic analysis on the Macintosh Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 11:09 ADT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 597 (1208) Re: Stylistic/linguistic analysis on the Mac Recent postings have brought up the issue of software for the Macintosh which would do the concordance/text retrieval work many of us need for our analyses, be it stylistic or -- in my case at least -- linguistic. Brian Whittaker asks why it isn't there. The answer is simply that that particular "vertical market" has not yet been developed. One of the reasons that far more has been done for the IBM environment is probably because the universities which have developed such software happened to have been generously equipped with machines by IBM. What I want to add here is a) Some packages and prototypes do exist b) new software development tools are coming out, which will make it easier to design Mac software c) even if existing IBM programs (such as WordCruncher, as Geoff Rockwell hints) were to be released as Mac versions, there is still a lot of room for im- provement before a truly satisfactory concordance/text retrieval package for Humanists is attained. So anyone who sets out to develop appropriate sofware for the Mac has my full support. Here are some elements. a) In addition to Sonar and Gofer, The Mac Buyer's guide lists, under the heading Text Search and Retrieval: ArchiText and Roundup. Sonar was reviewed by John J. Hughes in Bits and Bytes Review 1.9, Aug. 1987. At that time is was the only available program of its type, although Hughes also mentions the existence of MicroDynamics MARS System. That issue of B &B, and the preceding one focus exclusively on text retrieval programs, and Hughes' detailed "wish list" of features to be included in an ideal system for humanists could still be a useful starting point for designing a new program In the Hypercard world there is of course Tex, (by Mark Zimmerman), which, although much improved over Texas, is still rudimentary as compared e.g. with WordCruncher. A beautiful prototype was demonstrated by Etienne Brunet at the Dynamic Text conference in Toronto, HyperBase. If it were made generally available, and Brunet said he had no such intention, it would satisfy most of my needs. HyperBase was made available to the general public at the Pompidou centre in Paris during the Bicentennial of the French Revolution to search a set of texts from that period. It con- tains, however, sophisticated tools for stylistic analysis, including a statistical component (correspondence analysis). I am sure Brunet (Brunet@ frmop11, Universite de Nice, France) would be a helpful contact for any- one working in the HyperCard environment. b) Rather than HyperCard, I would strongly recommend SuperCard, which I have had for a few weeks. It is much easier to use, more powerful, and allows for multiple windows on screen. You can import existing HyperCard stacks into it and refine them to make use of the additional features. You cannot run SuperCard "projects" on HyperCard, but one important feature of SuperCard is that the "projects" can be made into standalone programs, which anyone can use, on a 1MB Mac, without needing either HyperCard or SuperCard. To develop programs on SuperCard, you do need 2MB or more, especially if you want color. SuperCard is available from Silicon Beach Software and costs about $200 Can. Another new product which I have seen advertised is Serius 89 (from Serius: "Programming for the rest of us" ). According to the ad, the program "presents a pallet of programming components easy to identify, easy to use and HyperCard compatible. As fast as you can select icons and link them together on the screen, Serius 89 Object Interaction Protocol connects the chains of functions and converts them into a bug-free application." c) Even though I use the Macintosh for most of my computing needs, I found it necessary to invest in a MS-Dos system, which, in my case, is completely dedicated to concordance work, using two IBM programs alternately, since neither can fulfil all my needs, all the while keeping my eyes open for developments in the Mac world. One is of course WordCruncher, the other is a less known program called SATO, developed by the Centre d'ATO, Universite de Quebec a Montreal, which has a French interface only. It is the best program I know if you need to tag a text extensivly. It allows you to have many "layers" of tags, that you can make selectively visible or invisible, and sort by and search for. These tags (i.e. sets of values within a category) can be attached to words in the text both at the "type" and the "token" level. Any Mac program that could take over would have to have this type of feature, at least for my type of work. I'd be happy to supply more details on any of the above points. Yours Karin Flikeid Dept. of Modern Languages Saint Mary's University Halifax, N.S. B3H 3C3 <FLIKEID@STMARYS.BITNET> From: Jan-Gunnar Tingsell <tingsell@hum.gu.se> Subject: Hardware outside N America. Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 10:32:54 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 598 (1209) Willard, Here is a response to your question about hardware outside North America: What I say here is true for Gothenburg university but I think the situation is almost the same in all Sweden. "Ordinary scholars" as well as most graduate researchers and prefessors are using rather small equipment. IBM (and clones) 8086/8 and some 80286 and Macintosh Plus or SE are the most common. IBM and Macintosh take roughly 50 percent each of the "market". Many graduated can also use terminals connected to some mainframe (IBM, Digital or Data General). Older computers like Apple II are very rare. Of course some reasearch project have there own working stations, SUN or equivalents. But as humanists as well as all the faculty are very poor, people can just afford very cheap computers. Yours Jan-Gunnar Tingsell. From: "Charles Bailey, University of Houston" <LIB3@UHUPVM1.BITNET> Subject: PACS Review Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 17:25:04 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 931 (1210) [The following has been taken from PACS-L. It announces a new electronic journal, the possibilities for which have been repeatedly discussed on Humanist. --W.M.] The Public-Access Computer Systems Review will publish articles, columns, and book/software reviews dealing with all computer systems that libraries make available to their patrons. This electronic journal will be sent to all subscribers of the PACS Forum. At present, there are over 640 PACS Forum subscribers in over 20 countries. PACS Review articles will be refereed by members of the Editorial Board. If you would like to submit an article or review to appear in the first issue of the Public-Access Computer Systems Review, please send the paper to me by November 13, 1989. You can send the paper via e-mail or file transfer to LIB3@UHUPVM1. If this is inconvenient, send an ASCII file on a 5 1/4" 360 KB IBM floppy disk to the address listed below. As a style guide, use the Chicago Manual of Style, 13th edition. If you have questions about how to interpret this work, follow Kate L. Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 5th edition. | Charles W. Bailey, Jr. Phone: (713) 749-4241 | From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Internat Assn of Ethicists Date: Tuesday, 17 October 1989 0017-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 932 (1211) Some weeks ago I received a letter from David Mrovka, president of the International Association of Ethicists, Inc., centered in Chicago and/or Sierra Vista AZ. David referred to the "IAE DBs" as "the largest ethics database that we know [that is] not exclusively dedicated to biothics," and described its contents as including persons and organizations, conferences, books, journals, and publications dealing with Ethics. I don't recall whether this information has been noted on HUMANIST before, but thought it appropriate to pass it along "just in case." Unfortunately, David does not list any electronic address for himself or for IAE, and the DBs does not seem to be available for purchase (but is accessed online). Interested parties should contact IAE International Office 117 West Harrison Bldg. 6th Flr. / Suite I-104 Chicago IL 60605 800-531-5314 +3456 (Int) 512-349-4475 +3456. The 24 page information booklet costs $2 to non-members. Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: <Ron.Brasington@READING.AC.UK> Subject: I'm NOT and I'm not a number. Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 22:19:16 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 933 (1212) Who's misleading who? The processor in my machine works by passing signals through LOGIC gates and the output of an AND operation as sure as heck ain't a number - even if TRUTH tables (sic) are sometimes (for convenience) filled out with 1's and 0's. Ron Brasington. Department of Linguistic Science, Faculty of Letters and Social Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 218, Reading, RG6 2AA, UK. From: <MDHARRIS@GUVAX> Subject: more supercomputing Date: Mon, 16 Oct 89 15:31 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 934 (1213) The issue of how humanists can use supercomputers has covered -- to one degree or another -- the politics, the circuitry, and the applications, with more heat than light in some regards. Yes, Michael S-McQ is mostly right (as is Bob Amsler). Computers are physical mechanisms that retain information in a two-state manner which can then be interpreted by the hardware and the software and the users to mean what ever one wishes. One of the primary differences between "supercomputers" (and I don't mean very large general purpose computers) is that they have enhanced mathematical capabilities. As someone pointed out, floating-point multiplication of complex numbers takes a lot more calculating power than addition or subtraction. The issue is not how can the humanities use mathematical capabilities, but rather what capabilities (mathematical or otherwise) do humanities applications really need? And which humanities applications need the kind of heavy-duty horsepower (how's that for value of metaphor) that supercomputers provide? The operations that are primarily performed in humanities computing are text manipulation, such as comparison, sorting, rearranging, etc. pieces of text data, from single characters to entire volumes. The low level operation involved include comparison and the related test to determine the result of the compare; simple arithmetic functions (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and possibly division of integers); and character/string movement. Compare and test of a single byte is a two or three cycle instruction; applying it to large amounts of data compouds the execution algebraically. Arithmetic functions are "housekeeping functions" used to keep up with where one it at each point. The data movement operations are fairly straightforward, but also multiple algebraically with increasingly larger amounts of data. The problem therefore with humanities computing is not that we need sophisticated arithmetic operations, but that we have to deal with large quantities of text data in some reasonable amount of time. The supercomputers in use today are certainly faster than my Compaq 386, but that's not where their increased value in scientific work lies. The kinds of applications that I could envision a very high speed humanities computer being of value would be real-time language processing, such as language understanding with immediate response. Some of the reasons that general purpose language understanding is not available is the vast amount of processing that must be done to parse, accessing vast lexicons (not currently available) and multi-level knowledge bases about general world knowledge as well as special domain knowledge. Trying to do all that within the three seconds that a user will wait without getting antsy about the delay warrants an increased computing capacity. Mary Dee Harris mdharris@guvax.bitnet mdharris@guvax.georgetown.edu Washington, DC (202)-387-0626 From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: editor's impressionistic progress report Date: 17 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 601 (1214) Quite unnoticed by me, Humanist has quietly slipped by the 500 mark in its membership. Some time ago I lost interest in the exact figure because of the increasing number of institutions that have set up accounts for redistribution. As far as I can tell (from the golden silence) redistribution has proven satisfactory all around. If you notice that there are a number of Humanists at your institution, I would encourage you to investigate the possibility of a local "Humanists at X" group. Such groups reduce network load and allow explicitly for an audience of listeners as well as an agora of speakers and arguers. My impression is that recently a number of librarians have joined Humanist. I welcome these colleagues warmly because they are the traditional custodians and providers of texts, images, and other scholarly data, without which clever programs and cogent syllabi in humanities computing are not much use. The signs are everywhere that attention has turned to the problems of getting texts into machine-readable form, obtaining the right to use them, designing an appropriate markup so that their features can be recognized by software, and allowing for storage, access, and distribution. Librarians have a big role to play in all this. Humanist has acquired the first members in South America (Brazil) and in a communist country (Yugoslavia). Unfortunately, distribution to Australia and New Zealand remains problematic because of the expense to citizens of those countries. At the recent New-OED conference at Oxford, one Australian arranged to get all of Humanist from the Oxford Text Archive, for distribution back home, and during dinner he strongly encouraged me to go ahead with plans for a CD-ROM, to contain all the published contributions, all the files on the server, and Steve DeRose's very fine HyperCard stack of the biographies. Apple Canada has again expressed tentative interest in funding the first CD-ROM. I will keep you posted. My plans are to attempt digitized images of members on the second of these disks (sound and other sensory data perhaps to be added later....). One of the advantages to having Humanist on CD-ROM would be the ease with which it could then be searched. My experience with Humanist reminds me of Heraclitus' remark that (pardon mistakes, my Kirk and Raven is not at hand) nobody steps into the same river twice. Some of you will know about ListServ's database function, but unfortunately it does not work well with Humanist -- the files are too large! I am allowed to hint, I think, that elsewhere members are at work on providing interactive access to Humanist over the network. Also, I continue to assemble and keep topical collections on the file-server. Finally, let me congratulate you all for making Humanist such a lively and interesting seminar -- and for so successfully coping with the volume of mail it generates. We may soon have to amend Milton's formula to read "fit though many". Willard McCarty From: onomata@bengus (nissan ephraim) Subject: AI call Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 17:51:56-020 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 935 (1215) C A L L F O R P A P E R S The "International Journal of Expert Systems: Research & Applications" ------------------------------------------------------------------ ( E S R A ) solicits the submission of research papers that describe expert systems or other AI systems for the humanities. Papers will be refereed; those approved by the reviewers will be scheduled to appear either in a special issue, or individually in regular issues. Deadline for submission: February 15, 1989 Editor-in-Chief: Mehdi T. Harandi Guest Editor: Ephraim Nissan ( ARPA: harandi@cs.uiuc.edu ) ( BITNET: onomata@bengus ) Submissions should be sent to Prof. Mehdi Harandi Department of Computer Science University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1304 West Springfield Avenue Urbana, Illinois 61801, U.S.A. From: dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca Subject: HyperCard biographies Date: 18 Oct 89 13:20 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 936 (1216) Willard's mention of the HyperCard biography stack constructed by Steve DeRose moves me to wonder if it is available to all Humanists. As one of those who took part in tagging the biographical data some time ago, I have occasionally wondered what had become of it all, but had more or less forgotten the project until Willard raised the subject. David Graham dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: edited biographies in HyperCard Date: 18 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 937 (1217) In response to David Graham's query, I am happy to report that the Centre for Computing in the Humanities will be distributing Steve DeRose's HyperCard stack of the biographies. At the moment I do not know if it is practical to put the stack on the file-server, since it is quite large, but in any case we will sell it for the cost of the diskette and postage. The stack is really quite splendid, and I would like to thank Steve and those who helped him. The availability of the stack will be announced shortly on Humanist. Willard McCarty From: John Morris <JMORRIS@UALTAVM> Subject: Indexing and item numbering Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 18:44:09 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 938 (1218) Ever since Randall Donaldson's request for a way of numbering index items, I have been trying in vain to send a recently written line numbering utility to the NOTABENE list. It appears that some of the nodes are not connected. At any rate, I had grown tired of jumping through hoops to get Nota Bene to place hard numbers into a text. I hadn't thought of messing around with page breaks and headers, so I wrote the attached utility instead. The muck at the end of this note is the uuencoded utility. Define it, copy it to a new file called number.uue and uudecode it. The utility was written to number lines of poetry in electronic MSS. It can only start at the top of a file, and it numbers all paragraphs except those marked by an opening square bracket. The first line of the file to be numbered is skipped because it is usually the title of the poem in my applications. The number of the first line to be numbered must be set when running the utility. The syntax is as follows: RUN NUMBER N where N = the number of the first line to be numbered. I know NOTABENE is the more approriate forum for this, but, as I say, I haven't been able to get through. begin 644 number M_X$?KG-X,2RN87.OK_^!'ZYS=C(L6Z__@/&N;&)G;Z__@)__@&O_@&/_@&O_ M@.\S_X$+KFEF**YI<S*O/3VN:7,SKRFOKF=L9V^OKF5IK_^`6ZYP=C&O(*YL M8F-O;G2O_X"?_X!K_X!C_X!K_X#O,_^!"ZYI9BBN:7,RKST]KFES,Z\IKZYG M;'-K:7"OKF5IK_^`6ZYS>#$LKG!V,:\K,:^N:6:N8VRO/C6OKF=L96YDKZYE M::^N<'8QKR"N;&)S:VEPKZYG;&-O;G2OKFQB96YDK_^!'W)E;6]V92`Q_X$) M_X$?<F5M;W9E(#+_@0G_@1]R96UO=F4@,_^!"?^!'ZYP<D9I;FES:&5D(&YU 0;6)E<FEN9R!L:6YE<RZO&BZO ` end From: "Pieter Masereeuw" <PIETER%UVAALF.SURFNET@HASARA5.BITNET> Subject: Greek fonts in WordPerfect Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 11:28 MET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 939 (1219) In reply to Harold Wilson's query about Greek fonts: My fellow student in classical languages has developped Greek Fonts for several Laserprinters (among which the HP Laserjet) and matrix-printers. He also made a printer-driver for WordPerfect. He sells it for (I believe) appr. Dfl. 100,= (which is about 40 US-dollar). His address is: Drs. Wim Liesker Nieuwendammerdijk 16 1025 LN AMSTERDAM THE NETHERLANDS Phone: +31 20 327428 If you insist in using email, I can forward your message to him. Pieter Masereeuw University of Amsterdam Dept. of computational linguistics (pieter@uvaalf.surfnet.nl) From: "Pieter Masereeuw" <PIETER%UVAALF.SURFNET@HASARA5.BITNET> Subject: Current Hardware Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 10:14 MET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 940 (1220) I think the hardware situation in our Faculty (University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Arts) is fairly representative for what other Dutch Humanists use. We use: PC's (clones), Macintoshes (Plus) and 10 MHz ATs. As minicomputers we own a Data General MV/4000 and a Digital Vax-cluster (running under VMS) consisting of a VAX 8250, MicroVax 3300, Workstation 2000 and 3100. For the ATs, the VAX 8250 serves as a disk- and file-server with Digital PCSA-network software. Pieter Masereeuw University of Amsterdam From: ANDREWO at UTOREPAS (Andrew Oliver) Subject: Stylistic/linguisitic analysis on the Macintosh Date: 18 October 1989, 15:37:32 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 941 (1221) A minor correction to Karin Flikeid's comments about Etienne Brunet's demo at the Dynamic Text Conference of his Hyperbase programme. Brunet not only said that his wonderful programme is likely to be marketed by Apple but also that Jacques Dendien will likely be developing an MSDOS version of it (I can't wait to get my hands on it!). From: Tim Seid <ST401742@BROWNVM> Subject: copyright query Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 14:20:07 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 604 (1222) I have been adding entries to a German dictionary I started and now have about 1400 entries. I want to make it available to members of HUMANIST but I need to be reassured about any possible copyright infringement. A small number of entries were taken from Vis-Ed Vocabulary Cards. The rest have been gleaned from Harrap's Concise German-English Dictionary. I have not quoted exact citations or copied the form of the dictionary. When I am assured (and Willard) that there is no problem, I will make the dictionary available in a text file and in a HyperCard stack I developed for building vocabulary. From: LNGDANAP@UOGUELPH Subject: CAI acronyms Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 00:32:35 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 942 (1223) Willard asks what the following acronyms mean: CAI (computer-aided instruction) CALI (computer-aided language instruction) CALL (computer-aided language learning CALT (computer-aided language teaching) ICAI (intelligent computer-aided instruction) ICALI (intelligent computer-aided language instruction) EAO (enseignement assiste/ par ordinateur) ELAO (enseignement des langues assiste/ par ordinateur) EIA0 (enseignement intelligemment assiste/ par ordinateur) CAI, EAO are generic terms referring to any sort of pegagogical use of computers. CALI was the original term coined to refer to computer-assisted instruction specifically for language learning; the term "instruction" made teachers uneasy, seeming to imply that a machine was doing the teaching, and CALL replaced CALI, placing the focus on what the student was doing, not what the machine was doing. CALT is a variant which no one liked and which withered on the vine. CALL is now the generally accepted acronym. ELAO is the accepted French equivalent. ICAI is generic for any CAI which uses so-called "artificial- intelligence" techniques, most of which have nothing to do with artificial intelligence, but have been so classifed traditionally. EIAO is the French equivalent. ICALI has yet to be accepted on a general basis, but is the subclassification of ICAI which pertains to language learning. The French language, retaining some ties to cartesian values, rightly balks at this point. But probably not for long. Dana Paramskas, University of Guelph. From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Computer-Assisted Instruction terms" Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 00:23:26 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 943 (1224) I'd like to comment on just 4 of the various terms that Greg Lessard referred to, CALL, CALI, EAO and ELAO. First, of all, on the matter of pronunciation, my usual colleagues and myself have always sounded out the first two as words ("call," "cali" ["cal" as in "Cal Tech," "i" as in "ee": "kal'-i"]. The latter two, from my experiences in France & Switzerland, we usually pronounce letter-by-letter with French pronunciation ("e-a-o," "e-l-a-o"). But this latter approach may not be representative save for some of those people who have to use the acronym often. Regarding the distinction between CALL and CALI, some (Frank Otto of CALICO and others whom I see relatively often) have commented in oral & written form that they prefer "CALL" because of the learner orientation ("computer-assisted language learning"). While this is attitudinally sound, I think a strong factor is that it's a nicer acronym. Since I often conduct authoring workshops where language teachers review methodological principles applicable to CAI, evaluate commercial foreign language software and learn to write their own using various types of authoring sofware, we often talk about "CALI," "computer-assisted language instruction," because of: 1) the instructional and technical component of learning to design and author language software and; 2) the strong teacher-oriented component present in the authoring process, which is often collaborative. Also, their attentiveness to the learners' strategies and to their anticipated strengths and weaknesses is assumed as a "given" since it formed such a powerful component of the initial methodological & evaluative phases. --Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH) J_GOLDFI@UNHH.bitnet From: dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca Subject: Acronyms Date: 18 Oct 89 13:26 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 944 (1225) My experience with the acronyms mentioned by Greg Lessard is fairly limited (some were new to me) but perhaps the following may be useful (all comments based on personal but naive observation): CAI pronounced see-eh-eye CAL* " to rhyme with "gal" CALL " to rhyme with "gall" EAO " euh-ah-oh [cf "EDF"] *not listed by G.L. but often used here (we have a local newsgroup called anews.mun.cal, for example). Willard invites comment about the *meaning* to us of these acronyms. I would suppose that those focussing on "instruction" take the computer [or teacher] to be the active participant, while those emphasizing "learning" would see the student as more actively engaged in the process, but this is presumably only the most obvious reaction. David Graham dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca Department of French & Spanish munucs!dgraham Memorial University of Newfoundland From: dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca Subject: P.S. on acronyms Date: 18 Oct 89 13:34 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 945 (1226) I just remembered this: people here seem to take the "A" in CAI, CALL etc to mean "assisted" rather than aided. Same difference, I guess... DG dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca From: Jan Eveleth <EVELETH@YALEVM> Subject: Humanists and Computer Culture Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 09:39:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 606 (1227) Why does it seem difficult for many humanists to approach the machines of the most recent technology, in this case, supercomputers? Perhaps the following contributes: humanists come to perceive and interpret the world differently than computer scientists/engineers. In much the way that genes help to fashion the bodies and minds of our children, the "genetic-thinking makeup" of the computer scientists/engineers established by their years of training, becomes transferred to the machines they create. Thus the machines interface with the world in a way intelligible to their creators. What the humanist faces is not just the simple task of reading a manual to learn how to operate the new creation, but becoming immersed in a culture that is foreign to him/her, learning to think the way the creators of the machine think in order to understand it. What do we ask of computer scientists/engineers when we ask them to create a humanist computer? We are asking them to see the world the way a humanist sees it and transfer this mode of interpretation and problem solving into the circuits and operating system of the new machine. Is this unreasonable? Probably not. It seems that David Packard's Ibycus is the perfect example of such a request. Knowing how difficult it is for us to see the machines through the eyes of the computer scientists/engineers it is likewise a significant feat when they are able to see the world through the eyes of a humanist and transfer that information into the circuitry of a machine or the lines of software thus allowing it to interface with the world in a manner more familiar to the humanists. My immersion in computer culture has been aided by many active voices through the pages of magazines and screens of email. These voices have translated and interpreted the computer culture into a world that is familiar which allowed me to be productive in an otherwise difficult situation. Does it really matter if there are no 1's and 0's, no trues and falses? We live so much aided by analogy and symbols that it shouldn't matter to anyone but the engineer that what is *really* happening is changes in magnetic fluxes. It is well and fine to be a realist, but that shouldn't get in the way of communicating information and ideas which help us to learn a new technology. Willard McCarty suggested that sometimes the creation of a new computer can prompt a novel approach to the way the user poses a question. Perhaps this is because the user has been forced to think about the problem in a way he/she was not originally trained to think. What can the humanist gain from posing their problems and questions in the paradigm of the computer scientists/engineers? And still yet to be discovered, what can the computer scientists/engineers gain by approaching their designs from the perspective of the humanist? Jan Eveleth EVELETH@YALEVM Humanities Computing Specialist Yale University From: DONALDSON@LOYVAX Subject: RE: 3.595 indexing (25) Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 20:39:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 609 (1228) Thanks for your response to my inquiry. Certainly a passable solution ought to be made possible by the inserting of a page break. That may well be the path I will take. I had hope initially for a solution which would provide item numbers in all reference rather than the page numbers which one now gets. I suspect that hope will not be fulfilled. The only diffi- culty I see with the page break approach is that one would have to strip away all extraneous material (chapter headings, etc.) in order to index accurately. Thus the index must be based on a "extra" copy of the manu- script and would have to be redone if changes took place. I will be working on the problem and will certainly make known any solution I work out. Thanks again, Randy Donaldson (Donaldson@LOYVAX) From: "Norman D. Hinton" <SSUBIT12@UIUCVMD> Subject: Acronyms again yet once more Date: Thu, 19 Oct 89 11:16:14 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 608 (1229) The proliferation of acronyms seems to go with the territory: at least in earlier days, acronyms, sometimes straightforward, sometimes un- bearably cute, were standard ways of naming computers and computer pro- grams (e.g. HAL). More recently, commercial developers have been abandoning the practice. Though PLATO once was an acronym, the PLATO people are now embarrassed by it and no longer even admit that it once was was Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching Operations (UGH !!). The others listed are more standard acronyms which will probably survive though they have been proliferated unduly. I am most familiar with CAI (cee-eh-eye) Conmputer Assisted (or Aided) Instruction CBT (cee-bee-tee) Computer Based Training CMT (cee-em-tee) Computer Managed Instruction As far as I can tell, from years in ADCIS (Association for the Development of Computer Instructional Systems...I am on their journal editorial board), CMT is generally understood to refer to computer gradebooks, computer-based assignment schedules, etc. I can discern no difference between CAI and CBT except that "Training" often refers to technical instruction (how to repair carburetors, field strip a rifle, wire circuits, etc.) and that the tech. ed. people seem to like having their own acronym. Personally, I am happy with CAI as the generic term for all kinds of instruction via computers and widh the others would go away. But they won't. From: "Kevin L. Cope" <ENCOPE@LSUVM> Subject: Humanists Approaching Computers, Or, Oil and Vinegar Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 21:38:26 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 946 (1230) A recent HUMANIST grammo wonders why humanists (the generic, not the computer- ized kind) have so much trouble dealing with computers. First, let me affirm that this is definitely the case, not just a matter of seeming. I've tried to introduce no less than six colleagues to the simplest application of all, e-mail, but only one of them has even begun to use this resource. Indeed, I've begun to think of this process of introduction to humanities computing as a kind of inoculation, which sometimes "takes" and sometimes doesn't. Let me, therefore, propose what will doubtlessly be a controversial explanation. Humanists (again, the generic kind, not the deluxe kind seen on HUMANIST) are often over-ideologized but undereducated. In literary studies, for example, the two still-dominant modes, deconstruction/post-phenomenalism and neo-marxism, are products of 19th-century industrial culture. The great majority of generic humanists, trained in these traditions, have trouble dealing with the many other models of the world, including those offered up by information science, that have come into being in the last 75 years or so. At least in America, it's possible to proceed straight to the Ph. D. without knowing the slightest thing about computing, physics, astronomy, or anything else. So we need to teach students of the humanities more about the world and less about theory before we can get them to compute. From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: humanists and computers Date: 19 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 947 (1231) I think it is true that, as Kevin Cope says, the usual sort of education to which a humanist is exposed in N. America has serious defects, and that consequently the usual sort of humanist gets an allergic reaction from computers and their enthusiasts. Some aspects of this reaction are not unwarranted, but that's another matter. It is also true, I think, that training in science and medicine (and I guess we should include the social sciences) has a corresponding defect. The cult of the expert -- in some ways a debilitating approach to knowledge -- is reflected in programmes of specialization that early on shut out half the intellectual world and more. As a result we foster the development of experts who are given no way of connecting what they know so well with the rest of the human community, including others who know different things very well. Of course, there are many brilliant exceptions, but they are exceptions. Computing in the humanities, it seems to me, has become the home for those who don't fit in the specialist's straitjacket, though given sufficient time I'm sure we too can conform. Before we do, wouldn't it be enlightening to talk a bit about what sort of programme could form around humanities computing that would exploit its bringing together of the humanities and the sciences -- including the social sciences? Willard McCarty From: FZINN@OBERLIN.BITNET Subject: Reading and printing the Oxford Text Archive Short List Date: Thu, 19 Oct 89 15:08 EDT(3) (1 lines) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 948 (1232) Can someone out there send enlightenment my way? What is needed to read and print (in a clear format) the new TAGGED version of the Oxford Text Archive Short List? The system here is a VAX. Thanks for any suggestions. Grover Zinn FZINN@OBERLIN From: djb@harvunxw.BITNET (David J. Birnbaum)(5) Subject: Multilingual Bibliographies(6) Date: Thu, 19 Oct 89 16:03:42 EDT(4) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 949 (1233) I am preparing an article, the bibliography for which includes works in several languages using the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. According to the Chicago Manual of Style, 13th Edition, sections 16.38-40, I should transliterate the Cyrillic into Latin letters and treat such citations as if they were in English. The only exception to transliteration is that the place of publica- tion should be given in its standard English form ("Moscow," rather than "Moskva"). The tradition in the Soviet Union is for such a bibliography to have two separate, sequential lists, one in Cyrillic and the other in Latin. A disadvantage to this approach is that it is difficult to see at a glance all the works by a single author, since many authors publish in a variety of languages and al- phabets. My personal preference is to list all references entirely in their original alphabets, interalphabetizing the Cyrillic entries according to their (unwritten) transliterations. I prefer this to the Soviet system because it keeps an author's works in one place. I prefer it to the Chicago system because it is easier for Slavists to read Russian (or Ukrainian, or whatever) in Cyrillic than in Latin transliteration. An informal survey of older and wiser Slavic scholars produced uniform support for the Chicago approach and uniform disapproval of mine. I am willing to admit that I could be misguided, but none of their arguments (see below) seemed convincing. I would be grateful for opinions on either side from Humanist readers. In the case in question I will, of course, follow the style dictated by the editor of the journal where my article will ap- pear. But none of the reasons people offered for using the Chi- cago system really apply to the current situation: 1. "Not all readers can read Cyrillic." Only those who can read Cyrillic will be able to get anything out of my article, which deals with complex linguistic details of Slavic languages and re- quires a thorough knowledge of these languages. Those who don't know the languages and wish to look further into the problem will have to get someone who knows the languages to help read the sources I cite; that same person can help transliterate the bib- liography. I would like to make things as easy as possible for the audience I am trying most to reach (Slavic linguists), rather than cater to an audience of non-Slavists that I do not believe exists. 2. "Reading mixed Cyrillic and Latin is difficult." This is a matter of personal preference, but I find it much easier to read languages like Russian or Ukrainian in Cyrillic. When I read them in transliteration, I find myself mentally converting them back to Cyrillic. Some readers find mixed *languages* confusing, but that is unavoidable and is separate from the question of al- phabet. Furthermore, transliteration differs among the Slavic lan- guages. The letter that looks like gamma is rendered 'g' in transliterated Russian but 'h' in transliterated Ukrainian. I find it distracting to have to make these adjustments when read- ing transliterations of Cyrillic text. 3. "Typesetters can't handle Cyrillic." These typesetters can; the journal also publishes entire articles in Cyrillic (with Cyrillic bibliographies). 4. "You have to have a uniform bibliography." I don't understand why using a single alphabet is considered "uniform" but having each reference appear in its original language is "not uniform." Both approaches follow a stated principle and each is "uniform" if applied consistently. 5. "It's always been done this way." One experienced editor ac- tually offered this as an argument! I hope I am preaching to the convinced when I say it is misguided; our predecessors had to cope with technical limitations we have outgrown. They were also as capable of making inferior decisions as we are. The approval of the ages is not to be scorned, but old standards should be reevaluated periodically. Thanks for any comments. --David J. Birnbaum From: Donald Spaeth 041 339 8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Subject: Humanists and computers (3.610) Date: Fri, 20 Oct 89 11:39:05 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 950 (1234) I read the contributions of Kevin Cope and Willard McCarty on this matter with some amusement (directed at myself). I agree with Kevin that humanities academics find it difficult to come to terms with computers and that this has much to do with the limitations of their education. What amused me was that this is exactly the argument I have been using against the English university system, holding the North American system up as a model! This is because the English system encourages specialisation at a young age. At sixteen, youths choose three fields to specialise in for the next two years (A-level). Particularly in the sciences their choice is likely to be determined by their university plans. At university, there is no system of "liberal arts" education or of distribution requirements. The expectation is that a history student will spend three years reading history and potentially nothing else, and this is true of every other subject. What are known as additional subjects (at some universities) enable students to sample 1 or 2 courses in another subject. This system has its advantages, but it makes no attempt to bring about the communication between the so-called "two cultures" which the American system does manage, if not entirely satisfactorily. I should add that English universities are not the only providers of undergraduate education in the U.K. Polytechnics, Scottish universities and a handful of English universities provide a more distributed curriculum, in some cases based on a unit system as in America. To change tack slightly, many science academics do not make much use of computers either and I suspect that they find them just as difficult to learn to use. After receiving one's last degree, it's easy to be intellectually lazy about learning new types of things. It's bloody hard work! Of course, teaching and research are hard work too, but they don't involve the psychological trauma of having to start from the beginning and reveal one's ignorance. One further thought: If using email requires logging on to a mainframe it is not the easiest application to learn by any means, as I've learned to my own cost. Besides the complications of logging on, a problem with email is that it is worth using only if one knows other people who use it! An obvious point, perhaps, but there it is. Also, one has to receive and send quite a bit of email (HUMANIST qualifies!) to make it worth logging-on every day. Cheers, Don Spaeth CTI Centre for History University of Glasgow From: <HALPORNJ@IUBACS> Subject: Humanists and computers Date: Fri, 20 Oct 89 10:33:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 951 (1235) Both Kevin Cope and Willard have offered useful comments on "Humanists and Computers," but I would like to add a few observations on both the causes for this ignorance and the refusal to deal with the problems. First of all, it is incorrect to refer to the group as "humanists," when in fact it is at best a sub-group of humanities students we should call "academics." Perhaps there are some humanists still left in N. America, but most of them don't have the use of BITNET. Most academics would call these humanists dilettantes anyway. Two important features of academic life affect the approaches to problems of these "humanists." Academics are basically individual entrepreneurs held together loosely by various administrative arrangements. Like their counterparts in the sciences, they are dependent on grants and other forms of professional recognition to achieve their purposes, which we can briefly describe as "prestige" in its various forms. Certain kinds of scholarly projects will gain recognition; others will never be considered serious or be supported. I noted with some shock of recognition in a recent piece in the supplement to the latest TLS called "Liber" an article by Roger Chartier suggesting that "the meaning of the text derives not only from its verbal content, but also from its graphic devices -- script, page layout, the surface written upon." This was the subject of an unsuccessful proposal of mine to the NEH for a summer seminar some ten years ago. The critique stated that the proposal was excellent and well thought-out, but that the NEH seminars weren't intended for librarians and there wouldn't be a sufficient audience of other humanists for this topic. Like scientists, there is little encouragement for humanists, especially junior (i.e., untenured) faculty, to undertake research in areas that will not be supported. Further, to study in the fields of say anthropology, sociology, and modern European history, to take three disciplines that seem to me central to any modern understanding of classical antiquity, the sheer time and effort to accomplish this is more of a commitment than many academics can or wish to make. Like the study of computers, it can be a black hole that can absorb endless amounts of human energy. It is so much easier and more rewarding to stay in the old tracks, directing one's attention to old problems, offering old solutions, and knowing well that this work will be acceptable to those who edit and publish the journals and books in one's field. To look at it from the other direction, only a well-known sociologist like Pierre Bourdieu would be able to publish a reading of Virginia Woolf's *To the Lighthouse* (see the same TLS supplement mentioned above). I certainly agree with Willard that "computing in the humanities...has become the home for those who don't fit in the specialist's straitjacket...." Kevin Cope mentions that "it is possible to proceed straight to the PH.D. without knowing the slightest thing about computing, physics, astronomy, or anything else." I would only add that it is possible to proceed straight to the A.B. being trained to avoid anything that might not be immediately "relevant" to one's "goals and life style," as the vocational counselors would put it. For the modern academic, it seems that the unexamined life is truly the only one worth living. James W. Halporn, Classical Studies/Comparative Literature, Indiana U, Bloomington, IN 47405 (HALPORNJ@IUBACS) From: <MDHARRIS@GUVAX> Subject: Humanities Computing Education Date: Fri, 20 Oct 89 13:09 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 952 (1236) Willard asked an interesting question about how humanists could be educated to better understand computing, or at least to accept it and/or deal with it. I was reminded of a not very successful attempt on my part a few years ago to further such a cause. When I was on the Computer Science faculty at Loyola University in New Orleans, there was considerable discussion about ways to improve the Presidential Scholars program there, an honors program providing full scholarships to outstanding students t o study a humanities based curriculum along with their major subject. It was and is an excellent program, partly because all the best faculty like to teach really smart students (don't we wish there were more of them to go around) and because they constantly discussed ways to improve the program. At one point I recommended a sort of theme for the humanities courses, such as natural language processing. My argument was that the students would be required to consider an interdisciplinary subject from a variety of points of view as they went through the curriculum, learning along the way, a lot about langauge and linguistics, computer science, psychology and philosophy (in particular epistemology and logic). The idea was that each course they took would have some aspect devoted to natural language processing so they would build on their knowledge of each of the humanities subjects as well as their capabilities in NLP. The idea did not go over with the Loyola faculty. I wonder what the HUMANISTs think. Mary Dee Harris mdharris@guvax.bitnet mdharris@guvax.georgetown.edu From: Jim Cahalan <JMCAHAL@IUP.BITNET> Subject: Jobs advertisement Date: 20 Oct 89 16:53:45 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 612 (1237) Fellow newsgroup members might be interested in one of the jobs listed below or might know someone who might be. Feel free to print this one out and post it on your bulletin board. Thanks! INDIANA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA (IUP) invites applications for up to 6 tenure-track positions, Asst. Prof. Ph.D. and 3 years teaching req'd, publications desirable. We seek persons with training and experience in teaching composition and literature, committed to undergraduate education, whose personal and professional growth involves program development and departmental service. SEARCH #1: We have needs in technical/advanced writing, drama (esp. 20th-C American), and film/film criticism, but we are not limited to these areas. We seek applicants with contemporary, cross-disciplinary interests involving the teaching of writing and literature, and whose scholarship nd interests relate to the liberal education of undergraduates. SEARCH #2: ENGLISH EDUCATION. Training in English Ed. and adolescent literature req'd. Three years recent teaching in secondary schools req'd, college teaching desirable. Multicultural training, experience preferred. Released-time available for supervising student teachers. We offer the B.S. and M.A.T.E. in English Ed. SEARCH #3: We seek minority scholars whose teaching and professional interests relate to liberal education in a culturally diverse world. Normal teaching load 12 hours/semester. Salary very competitive, benefits excellent. Application should focus the applicant's professional interests and address the specifics of this ad. Please indicate convention plans. Review of applications will continue until positions are filled. Send letter, vita, transcripts, and 3 letters of reference to Dr. Donald McClure (Search #__), 110B Leonard Hall, English Dept., IUP, Indiana, PA 15705-1094. IUP is an AA-EEO employer. Jim Cahalan, Graduate Literature <JMCAHAL@IUP.BITNET> English Dept., 111 Leonard, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA 15705-1094 Phone: (412) 357-2264 From: Martin Ryle <RYLE@urvax.urich.edu> Subject: RE: 3.607 queries (117) Date: Fri, 20 Oct 89 00:18:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 953 (1238) Re David Birnbaum's question on proper bibliographic citations. Twenty years ago, when most manuscripts were typed, Cyrillic typewriters were rare, indeed, and scholars had little choice other than transliterating quotations and citations that were written in a Cyrillic alphabet. There was even a time when virtually no scholarly journals used Cyrillic at all. Now that word processors can handle Cyrillic, it seems only sensible that transliterations should be on the way out. I vote for Birnbaum's solution. Martin Ryle University of Richmond, VA ryle@urvax.urich.edu From: RAPOPORT@MCMASTER Subject: Multilingual bibliographies Date: Fri, 20 Oct 89 14:40 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 954 (1239) David Birnbaum's predicament in co-indexing Latin and Cyrillic scripts is an intriguing one. I myself find that there is no solution. However, as I have never produced a book using several alphabet scripts, I speak from vast inex- perience. Probably my comments could be treated accordingly. Of his five putative reasons for not interfiling Cyrillic and Latin, rea- sons numbers 1, 3, and 5 I agree are nonstarters. Reason 2 is also difficult to take, but it has something hidden in it, I think. The problem is exactly where to alphabetize Cyrillic words. Prof. Birnbaum wishes to place them ac- cording to their "(unwritten) transliterations". The result is bound to con- tain a significant anomaly: Cyrillic words spelled correctly but alphabetized incorrectly. In Russian, for example, the equivalent of the English "V" pre- cedes the equivalent of the English "D". If I am looking for a Russian word in an index, I want to find it in its proper Russian place, not in its English place while still in Cyrillic. I am guessing that this is the reason for the two solutions Prof. Birnbaum mentions. In one, each language is printed and alphabetized properly according to its own sequence; in the other both langua- ges are alphabetized according to one model, but one of the languages must, of course, appear dressed in the other's script. This may be the reason also why interfiling Cyrillic words as if they were English is not considered uniform (his reason no. 4). There are actually more problems than he mentions for some people, be- cause there are difficulties even in transliterating Russian. Not only are there several systems (which admittedly differ usually only in small details), but often there is use of transliteration characters which don't belong to English either: then how do you alphabetize? The answer is sometimes not tri- vial. The other problem I have run into, which I'm sure everyone is familiar with, involves the issue of transliterating or not transliterating names (sometimes words which are not names) from Cyrillic -- usually Russian -- which are already known in the Latin alphabet in a less than desirable form. The best known example may be Tchaikovsky (which is Russian into English via French) and Tschaikowsky (Russian into English via German). Of course the Russian starts with a character which is usually transliterated CH, moving this unfortunate composer from near the end of the alphabet to the beginning. The problem can even be difficult when no foreign alphabet is in- volved: consider the usual alphabetization of the Spanish LL (double L). Many languages alphabetize linked characters like these (not necessarily two of the same) differently than would English. I have always been annoyed at the problem of Danish and Swedish, because they use basically the same alphabet but alphabetize their last three characters (which are vowels placed after Z) in a different order. Getting back to Cyrillic (no illustrations on E-mail, alas), cognates in Serbian and Russian are, I would suppose (being no expert in either) going to be problematic in indexing because the scripts of these two languages handle palatalization differently, Serbian having more digraphs. I am sorry that I cannot solve Prof. Birnbaum's dilemma. Perhaps there are linguist librarians who have already done so? The Library of Congress is- sues rulings from time to time on these things, mostly on transliterations rather than on index ordering, but even LC is not consistent. Am I wrong that the problem is basically unsolvable, that only better and worse work-arounds exist? In the simplest Cyrillic/Latin case, one could always print the Cyril- lic words twice, once in the original and once transliterated, in the same index, but that scarcely seems like an improvement, and there would always be someone coming along to suggest that the Latin terms be printed twice too...... From: Ivy Anderson <ANDERSON@brandeis.bitnet> Subject: Re: Multilingual Bibliographies Date: Fri, 20 Oct 89 15:12 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 955 (1240) At Brandeis University we grappled with a different but related problem in developing specifications for an online library catalog which would include both Hebrew and roman language material. Cyrillic is already romanized in our catalog, as in many libraries, but Hebrew is not, since we have a major research collection in this area. We haven't gotten a vendor to undertake this development as yet, but we have formulated a set of design criteria. On the particular question of integrating the two alphabets within a display list, we have somewhat straddled the fence, allowing for either a single alphabetical list (alphabetized according to romanized equivalents) or alternatively, two separate alphabetical lists. If we were designing a truly multilingual catalog, including Asian and other scripts, one could imagine the problem of single alphabetical lists incorporating numerous character sets becoming quite complicated, but multiple lists even more so. On the other hand the card catalog provides a perfectly good precedent for this in traditionally filing all entries according to the romanized equivalent. I should say that the cataloging standards for nonroman bibliographic records in libraries require that most access points be entered in parallel fields, one for the nonroman characters and one for the romanized equivalent. This allows for a great deal of flexibility in how one chooses to handle the information. Ivy Anderson Brandeis University From: F5400000@LAUVAX01.BITNET Subject: Computer numbers Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 21:24 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 956 (1241) On the subject of there being no "1's" and "0's" inside computers I must beg to differ on the grounds of experience. Recently I was running a long programme on my computer; while I was out of the room for a few minutes, my cat knocked the machine over, breaking its case. By the time I had got back my study was full of tiny "1's" and "0's" which had to be removed manually. I find the "0's" very useful as a substitute for the styrofoam chips used in packing books, but I have not yet found a use for the "1's" - any suggestions? John Sandys-Wunsch. From: TREAT@PENNDRLS (Jay Treat, Religious Studies, Penn) Subject: What's really inside the computer Date: Friday, 20 October 1989 0000-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 957 (1242) The discussion about the real name of what's inside the computer (1's and 0's, TRUE's and FALSE's) has gotten a bit too metaphysical. We're talking about a lot of little two-position switches, and you can name the two positions anything appropriate (on/off, 1/0, true/false). It's all the same. If you want numbers, treat them as numbers. If you want Booleans, treat them as Booleans. Combine them and you can have letters, or bitmaps, or widgits. As a corollary, in the computer world, AND is a common operator for numbers. 1 AND 1 is 1, 1 AND 0 is 0. It happens that AND is a quick way of doing modulo arithmetic when the divisor is a power of 2. For example, 1234567 MOD 16 can be done calculated more quickly as 1234567 AND 15. This little trick will shave valuable time off a tight loop that has to calculate modulos. Regards, Jay Treat, Nominalist, Religious Studies, Penn From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVME> Subject: Re: 3.606 culture in computers (61) Date: Fri, 20 Oct 89 12:53:11 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 958 (1243) I would like to voice my support of the note of Jan Eveleth EVELETH@YALEVM dated as above. Not even Michael Sperberg McQueen would deny that the information processed by computers is stored in (tera-giga-mega-kilo) bits and bytes and that the processing occurs on the BInary digIT level(from which proceeds the acronym BIT) nor that BIT's come in only two numerical values 1 and 0 which are the lowest level of programming and textual language available to even the most sophisticated users of bi-valued logic. However, Jan speaks more eloquently than any of us when she reminds Michael of the actual subject matter at hand, and gently guides the discussion back on to the path in a manner which is beyond my own capability - my responses were censored by Willard as being a potential ad hominem set of remarks. Hopefully, you will all wish to respond to the issue of humanist computing, as restated in Jan's note, which deserves re-reading at least one time. Michael From: D.Mealand@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: UK Literary Computing 89 Date: 20 Oct 89 12:33:28 bst X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 959 (1244) I have been asked to write a report on recent developments in the UK of literary and linguistic computing. I propose to consider both software and also published research using computers. I ask readers of this bb in other countries to bear with me if I appeal to UK participants to send me (direct) a very brief note of what they think to be the three most significant developments in the UK in the last 12 months. As we are a global village, other readers of this bb may wish to send equivalent info to their local ALLC rep who will be listed in the pages of ALLC, but this comment does not originate from them it is merely an attempt by me to compensate for doing insular business on a planet-wide bb. David M. D.Mealand@uk.ac.edinburgh for users of JANET From: <MDHARRIS@GUVAX> Subject: Query: idioms and fixed phrases Date: Fri, 20 Oct 89 12:57 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 960 (1245) I am making this inquiry on behalf of a Computational Linguist, Judith Markowitz, who is working with Martha Evens on a lexical database. To quote her letter, "The purpose of this letter is to ask you if you know of any humanists who have looked at idioms and/or other types of fixed phrases, like greetings and discourse control expression. Martha and I are trying to make some decisions about how our lexical database will handle a broad spectrum of ex- pressions in a systematic way. We are familiar with the work of some lexico- graphers, like Cowie, and that of computer scientists, like Amsler, but there are no doubt many other types of scholars whose work would help us. Some of the issues we are examining are: typologies of phrases phrasal lexicons (lexica?) syntactic and/or semantic analyses of groups of phrases metaphoric and non-metaphoric usage. In short, any attempt to systematize as well as long lists of examples. Any suggestions you might have would be appreciated." Please send any information or references on this important subject to me: Mary Dee Harris mdharris@guvax.bitnet mdharris@guvax.georgetown.edu I will forward everything to Judith. Thanks. From: Ron Zweig <H27@TAUNIVM> Subject: Oxford Archive Short List/Transliterating bibliographies Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1989 07:26:25 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 616 (1246) Grover Zinn's question on making use of the tagged version of the Oxford Archive Shortlist invites us all to flaunt the advantages of device-independent markup. Thanks to the tags, it is easy to run a few search/replace commands to insert formatting codes that are meaningful to our individual word processors, or DTP or database programs plus our specific printers. As a result of the tags inserted for us in Oxford, we can use the shortlist either as a file to be printed or as part of a database. I am willing to convert it into a NotaBene file for printing on a HP laser or an AskSam file if anyone prefers to sort/retrieve the information in different ways. Is anyone else willing to convert Oxford's SGML tags into something more ambitious - say, Ventura tags, for some really sleak output? On the question of multi-lingual bibliographies, more power to David Birnbaum! Of all the possible solutions, the one advocated by the Chicago Manual and senior professional colleagues is the most senseless. Transliterated entries are meaningless to *both* those who know the language and those that don't. *Translated* entries (with an indication of original language) are still offensive to those that know the language concerned, but at least allow those that dont to appreciate what is available out there. Translating entries in a multi-lingual bibliography also allows for one-pass search and retrieval of the items in a database. But, as David Birnbaum rightly points out, the technology is in place to allow for true multi-lingual publishing and there is now reason to accept less than that now - and certainly not the lame convention of transliterating non-Latin alphabets. I wonder if the Chicago Manual ruling was established when the Chicago University Press did not own any other alphabet typefaces. From: mbb@sittingduck.Stanford.EDU (Malcolm Brown) Subject: PCs and Macs survive the great quake Date: Fri, 20 Oct 89 10:21:04 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 617 (1247) It may interest the HUMANIST readership to know that nearly all our computing equipment made it through the recent earthquake. Almost all of our desktop machines, hard disks and all, survived. The earthquake struck at 5:04pm local time, a time when most of our machines are still running. My computer group is perched in the 3rd floor of a 4 floor building, so we experienced considerable swaying and rocking. Books were thrown off shelves, bookshelves were knocked down, and heavy filing cabinets "walked" away from walls. So far, however, none of the machines have lost their hard disks due to head crashes, even though some of them were knocked about by falling books and manuals. No one was injured in our builing; our main casuality was a laserwriter that was flung off a table top and is now no longer with us. Curiously, many of the MacII monitors pitched off their swivel stands, but all seem to have survived the crash. I suppose one may conclude that our desktop machines might be less fragile than we sometimes suppose. Nevertheless, that's one type of "field testing" I'm not particularly eager to repeat! Malcolm Brown Stanford University From: "Sterling Beckwith (York University)" <GUEST4@YUSol> Subject: RE: 3.613 multilingual bibliographies (130) Date: Sun, 22 Oct 89 00:12 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 621 (1248) I find Rapoport's exposition of the insolubilities convincing. Facing the same problem, I opt for a) everything in the same alphabet, if you want to "unify" all works of the same author in one place, with the transliterated names assimilated to English alphabetization; or b) two separate lists, or perhaps more than two if Ukrainian, etc. are importantly involved, each with its proper alphabetization, and alphabet. As with text-handling software, and clogd @bibser things in life, one does sometimes have to deal in tradeoffs, rather than blanket solutions. I suspect David Birnbaum will end up happier with option b) in the long run. Certainly one thing every Slavist has learned to live with is the plethora of possible transliterations schemes; so the argument based on "making it easier for them" seems just a trifle disingenuous. From: <PU6MI6Q5@ICINECA2> Subject: RE: 3.605 CAI acronyms and meanings (135) Date: Sat, 21 Oct 89 19:29 N X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 961 (1249) Throwing two more twigs to the acronym fire: LES -- Learner Expert System ITS -- Intelligent Tutoring Systems -Joe Giampapa Dida*Lab div. of Dida*El (educational technologies developers) pu6mi6q5@icineca2.bitnet From: Wujastyk (on GEC 4190 Rim-D at UCL) <UCGADKW@EUCLID.UCL.AC.UK> Subject: sleak output Date: Sun, 22 Oct 89 14:56 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 962 (1250) I enjoyed Ron Zweig's recent reference to Ventura's output as "something really sleak". This wonderful neographism brought powerfully to mind something at once sleazy and sneaky. Yours, ever a TeXnophile, Dominik From: Daniel Ridings <ridings@hum.gu.se> Subject: SOUNDEX for German Date: 22 Oct 89 08:51:08 EDT (Sun) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 963 (1251) There is an article in the November 1989 issue of "c't magazin fuer computer technik" entitled "Clipper nimmt's nicht woertlich" (p. 170). The writers do not call their technique SOUNDEX (fuer unsere Sprache kaum zu gebrauchen) but PHONEM (speziell fuer die Eigenarten des deutschen Sprachraums ausgelegt). The routine is written in assembler. They refer to another article in the October 1988 issue of c't entitled "Nicht woertlich genommen, Schreibweisentolerante Suchroutinen in dBase implementiert" (p. 126). I hope this helps the man who needed such a routine. From: PROF NORM COOMBS <NRCGSH@RITVAX> Subject: Educom 89 71 lines Date: Sat, 21 Oct 89 10:55 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 622 (1252) EDUCOM 89: An Outsider's View Educom held its 25th annual conference at the University of Michigan between Oct. 16 and 20, and it was by far the largest ever, something over 3,500 participants. This is a short summary of my experience and reflection, and, if others from Humanist were there, I hope it stirs a full and better coverage. I call it an outsider's view because I am a historian, and most of the participants seemed to be managers of computer facilities or computer vendors. Not that they made me feel outside. To the contrary, Educom and Michigan folk put on an extremely warm and hospitable conference. It was one of the most congenial and well organized that I have ever attended. Each evening there was a general reception sponsored by a major computer company which was really a free dinner with all one could eat. The last was sponsored by AT&T and held in the Henry Ford Museum. There we were stuffing our faces with live chamber music while we wandered between ancient automobiles and locomotives. The keynote speaker was Akers from IBM who announced an award to be offered for the next several years for innovative applications of computers in education. He said that IBM has made a major commitment to educational improvements across the nation especially in grades k through 12. While it reflects a genuine concern to upgrade American education, it also probably reflects an interest in taking back some of that market from Apple. Unfortunately, I had equipment problems preparing for my own presentation and did not attend as many meetings as I would have liked. One of the major interest areas was designing software so that computers would become increasingly accessible to persons with physical disabilities. Another emphasis was on trying to get more and better uses of computers in the actual teaching process. This included Project Athena from MIT and several places making use of distance education using computer telecommunications interactively. Some of the participants assumed that the future of computers in the classroom lay with the coming generation of younger teachers and would have to wait till us oldsters retired. My personal experience, to the contrary, is that most innovations are being done by teachers over the age of 40 or 50. Young faculty are too busy playing it safe in order to "earn" tenure to risk peculiar and strange approaches. "play it close to the vest." I find that teachers too young to retire but who are old enough to have become bored with what they've been doing for 25 years are the one's who have enough security to venture into new technologies and different approaches. I'd love to hear other reflections on this question. The Michigan Track and Tennis building was given over to vendor displays as were a number of hospitality suits at various other locations. Personally, I did not get any impression of new and mind boggling machines coming over the horizon. THe cutting edge of the technology seemed to be in networking. First, existing high speed and broader band networks are presently being introduced. This opens significant new uses for networking in the immediate future. Them, Much faster and broader band connections are in the labs and will be emerging within 5 to 10 years. This envisions networks with the capacity to carry data, voice and images at such speeds as to encourage interactive and real time applications including imaging which, apparently, requires tremendous amounts of bits of data. The creative challenge seems not to be designing new hardware but rather developing more meaningful uses of what is already at our fingertips. Next year's Educom is in Atlanta. Its leaders seem entirely open to more humanistic uses of machines. I would encourage Humanists to submit proposals and get even more involved in impacting Educom and also making Computer vendors aware of the humanistic applications which can be made of their products. Norman Coombs: Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester NY. NRCGSH@RITVAX From: "DAVID STUEHLER" <stuehler@apollo.montclair.edu> Subject: Help with Computing in Humanities course Date: Sat, 21 Oct 89 18:46:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 964 (1253) Help! This Spring I am scheduled to teach a course in Computing in the Humanities. Although I am only in the early planning stage, the bookstore is clamoring for book orders. Can anyone suggest a text or texts for this course? So far, I would like to cover the following areas (probably too much): Basic computer literacy and wordprocessing (maybe some DP). Communications--e-mail, file transfer, Humanist, etc. Programming--perhaps combined with an intro to hypertext using something like Knowledge Pro. Literary analysis using scanned text and Word Cruncher Data base and bibliography access I will appreciate any advice on any aspect of this course, but especially on a choice of texts. Please reply to Dave Stuehler Bitnet: E989003@NJECNVM Internet: STUEHLER@APOLLO.MONTCLAIR.EDU From: John Baima <D024JKB@UTARLG> Subject: Software Humanists want Date: Sat, 21 Oct 89 10:16 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 965 (1254) Since I develop software, it's one of the things I think about every now and again :-). The main applications are: word processing, graphics, spreadsheets, databases and communications. Some have been wildly successful in providing these applications to businesses. Consider WordPerfect. They are shipping 128,000 units of WordPerfect per month. They have a small army that handles over 10,000 support calls per day (they figure that they get 2 calls per copy). Although they have been very successful, they have been at it for 10 years. However, I doubt that the major commercial software really meets the needs of Humanists. Some of the problems I see with developing software for humanists are: (a) It is a small market compared to the business market. No one is ever going to ship 128,000 total units of software designed and marketed to Humanists. For example, according to the July 1989 TLG newsletter, there were 371 TLG CD-ROM disks in circulation as of July 1. That includes sales to 23 countries. (b) The needs and wants are tremendously varied. Development of significant software is expensive. There are a number of ways to fund software development. (1) Be independently wealthy. (2) Get some benevolent organization to give you the money. (3) Some academic institution can sponsor the software. (Are academic organizations benevolent? Do they belong under (2)?) (4) Collect user fees. Without (1) there would be no Ibycus. Without (2) there would be no TLG. Of course, combinations of these are often used. And sometimes, non-benevolent organizations act in benevolent ways (such as Apple providing money for the Perseus project). Since I, like most people, find 1-3 unavailable, the questions I have are: what specifically do humanist scholars want, how many copies could be sold and how much are they willing to pay for the software. I would very much like to hear how others in this group would answer these questions. John Baima From: "Sterling Beckwith (York University)" <GUEST4@YUSol> Subject: RE: 3.610 humanists and computers (72) Date: Sat, 21 Oct 89 23:19 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 966 (1255) [The following came in the form of a private message, but the issue it raises I cannot keep to myself. Some of us in the academy are still, I suspect and hope, inclined to consider such things. Its consideration seems vital to me. --W.M.] Dear Willard, Before the heavyweights rise to your challenge, may I emit a plaintive squeak of apprehension about some of the remedies that will probably be prescribed? The prevalent emphasis on teaching "how to use computers for the humanities" courses seems to me to have obscured a much tougher, but ultimately more central issue. What computers are and do is linked in important ways to key ideas and tendencies in the whole history of Western thought, and thus ought, when properly approached and sensitively expounded, to form part of the core curriculum of general education, for which humanists, even in these days of hyperspecialization and scientistic textology, are still widely held responsible. The only popular book I can think of offhand that attempts to meet this glaring need is TURING'S MAN: Western Culture in the Computer Age, by J. David Bolter, a Classics scholar who took several years off to study Computer Science at Yale. We need, for starters, a list of other such books, however short, and another list of Computer Scientists and others in and outside of academe with the rare gift for and interest in making these crucial connections come alive for the rest of us. Then perhaps we can reconvene to start talking curriculum... From: bobh@phoenix.uucp (Robert Hollander) Subject: Re: 3.610 humanists and computers (72) Date: Sun, 22 Oct 89 12:50:02 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 967 (1256) I'm not at all sure that the Cope/McCarty explanation (more Cope's than McCarty's) works, since I know humanists of a distinctly "19th-cent." tendency of mind who embrace the technology. I think it as all a lot simpler, this lack of interest/desire to get hooked up to the rest of the world via electronic communication. I find it almost as prevalent among my students (grad. and undergrad.) as among my colleagues. However, when one reflects that 10 yrs. ago our colleagues who used comps. for word processing were a tiny minority and now are a vast majority, I think it is safe to predict that in ten more years approx. that great a shift will also occur in this kind of activity as well. Thus it is the task of those of us who are numbered among the "converted" not only to convert others, but, _even more importantly_, to get our deans, comp. centers, and foundations to begin to prepare for the huge wave of users that is building up and will likely overwhelm existing resources. Let me offer two statistics to show what I mean: In 1988 the fed govt. of USA spent approx. $30M on all kinds of humanistic rsch.; on science and engin. the figure was $9BILLION; i.e., USGovt. spends 1/3 of 1% as much on hums. as science and engin. Second stat.: In 1988 Research Tools program at NEH was able to fund 6% of all _new_ applicants during that funding cycle. (That first statistic applies only to RESEARCH, not to other activities of a hum. kind.) My own sense is that what we are dealing with is not reticence that is significantly related to a particular disposition or set of mind, but one that is normally human, a mixture of fear and laziness when confronted with a choice that has not been demonstrated as a clearly useful good. I'm afraid it simply becomes a task of those who are convinced of the importance of the new technological tools to the growth of their disciplines to spend some time crying in the wilderness. From: Natalie Maynor <MAYNOR@MSSTATE> Subject: Re: 3.611 humanists and computers, cont. (165) Date: Fri, 20 Oct 89 22:27:24 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 968 (1257) Don Spaeth has perhaps hit upon the key to the computer-resistance of many academicians: "Of course, teaching and research are hard work too, but they don't involve the psychological trauma of having to start from the beginning and reveal one's ignorance." The last three words are the key. Natalie Maynor, English Dept., Mississippi State Univ. From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 969 (1258) This is a test. Please ignore. Yours, with apologies for the junk. Willard McCarty From: <PU6MI6Q5@ICINECA2> Subject: supercomputing humanities; character sets Date: Mon, 23 Oct 89 19:44 N X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 623 (1259) I do not want to beat this horse dead, but I do not feel satisfied w/ the way the discussions of humanities supercomputing have been going. I felt certain that some Connection Machine followers would pitch-in. Yes, analog machines do not exist in the literal sense of the word, but it is possible to "create" them and their hybrid bretheren (digital/analog). If one uses, for a connectionist node activation function, the "Continuous Sigmoidal", they have achieved an analog representation. One can achieve the hybrid digital/analog representation by using an activation function of "continuous thresholded". What does all this mean to the computing humanist? If one can find a use for probablistic representation schemes in their "humanistic" processing, then this would be a worthy area to explore. For example, I have been toying with the idea of using such probability modelling as a way of addressing the problem of identifying context in complex NLU. I cannot go into detail right now, but if anyone is willing and patient, I can try responding to specific questions. It would be a great help to me and other HUMANISTs, if those connectionism conscenti spoke up and carried these comments further. For those thinking about real applicability and accessibility to the hardware and technology, I have two comments. 1. Machines, like the Connection Machine (CM), can now be purchased in smaller configurations. Down to 2,000 processors. Anything smaller is not cost- justifiable (paraphrase from TMC spokesperson). NB: I do not have stock interest in the CM. I am just more familiar w/ it. Other similar SIMD machines exist, but I am not so close to them. 2. Powerful applications for text processing have been around. I have a friend who developed something for lisp machines, but the project was scrapped because the company could not find a market for the product. Thinking Machines Corp. is aware of a potential use for their machine in text processing and are keeping an ear open for possibilities. As someone interested in developing a robust text- processing system for such a machine, I have been keeping them informed, and would like to inform HUMANIST of their possibilities as well. It has been the lack of a good project proposal that has inhibitting the bridging of the gap. FINALLY, as the subject header suggests, I would like to urge SOME HUMANISTs (and their affiliates) to seriously concentrate on the issue of an international coding scheme for characters. We all know that ASCII and relatives are insufficient. I have heard of an SGML initiative to come up with something, but have not heard of any further developments. If people have been toying w/ the idea, but have failed to find the proper support for such an initiative, please let me know. There is a very strong commercial need for an ISO character coding schema, and the problem will not go away. Here's hoping for some very good future projects ... -Joe Giampapa Dida*Lab (research lab for DiDA*EL, education technologies developers) Milan pu6mi6q5@icineca2.bitnet [Subsequent note from the same person.... W.M.] I forgot to clarify: parallel computation problems take (usually) 2 forms: Multiple Instruction, Multiple Data (MIMD -- pronounced mim-dee); and Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD -- pronounced sim-dee). PDP refers to the Parallel Distributed Processing (pronounced pee-dee-pee) project at Carnegie Mellon (CMU) under Rummelhart and McClelland. PDP and SIMD basically describe the same phenomena. PDP and connectionist work has experienced very good success in character recognition (cf. Hopfield nets) and speech recognition (cf. NetTalk -- query to others: did I get this last one correct?). HUMANISTs can follow up on these references in and Computer Science library, in the PDP books, vols 1 & 2 of Rummelhart and McClelland. Additionally, if people want to play w/ these models, there are two references: The PDP Workbook: contains two pc-compatible diskettes w/ demo software. The programs, written in C, are developed to coincide w/ chapters in the PDP books. They can be very difficult to comprehend and use, but are one of the best examples for developing many flexible, extendable, and rigorous test PDP models. MacBrain: Yes, runs on the Mac. I believe the min. requirement is Mac+ w/ 512k. Better versions for the MacII. The version I used (macBrain2.0) is a bit buggy and difficult to expand, but is EXCELLENT for teaching people SIMD basics. I gave a presentation to Humanities prof.s and their students and both groups loved it and learned much. I invite anyone to correct me if I am wrong or did not clarify anything, and esp. to add to this area. There are some very good possiblities for computing humanists in these areas. -Joe Giampapa pu6mi6q5@icineca2.bitnet From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.596 CD-ROM architecture? acronyms? (82) Date: Mon, 23 Oct 89 17:33 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 970 (1260) I have one more acronym for you: STI (pronounced separately S T I) which stands for systeme tuteur intelligent. I had a brief description of it in Mosaique III on EAO, edited by D. Paramskas. Published in 1988 or 1989. Article title is Les concordances: nouveaux outils ils pedagogiques. From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.609 indexing, cont. (27) Date: Mon, 23 Oct 89 18:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 971 (1261) I had pretty the same problem a few years ago when trying to work with Paul Bratley's FATRAS (Full text retrieval system). I was not satisfied with the referenciation (address in the original manuscript in terms of page and line numbers) given by the package (only line number in the file). I used both page breaks in the electronic manuscript and a preprocessor I wrote in Pascal before using Fatras. The preprocessor added line and page number at the begining of each line and used page breaks to increase its numpage variable. Michel Lenoble From: Thomas Zielke <113355@DOLUNI1> Subject: local area network Date: Mon, 23 Oct 89 19:02:26 CET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 972 (1262) Dear HUMANISTs, We here at the history department are thinking of having a LAN installed. This is the reason why I'm now asking you to tell me about your experiences with local networks. I'm especially interested in your configurations, i.e. software, hardware, fileservers, printservers, number of workstations, connections to other LANs etc... Thanks in advance, Thomas Zielke From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@UMTLVR.BITNET> Subject: Plagiarism Date: Mon, 23 Oct 89 16:19 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 973 (1263) There has always been a tendency in the literary world to re-utilize literay material published before. It took the form of literary imitation, parody, irony, intertextuality, literary forgeries, etc. in the course of history. Plagiarism was and still is one way to re-use others' work for one's own profit. Since money money leads much of what is going on in this small world, one should not be surprised at all to hear every now and then about cases of plagiarism. Have you heard of any studies on the subject recently? Do you know of any attempt in that direction? Are you aware of any plagiarism checkers package? Software developpers might have interesting comments on the question too, since they seem to have the same problem within their own field. Plagiarism detection is not very far from author identification. Could the same methologies be applied here with the same success? Any resemblance with previous messages is purely accidental. If you want to name names of suspected authors or works you may do so by writing to me directly. Thanks. Michel Lenoble E-Mail lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca P.S. Does any one of you know the address of the writer of a very interesting article published in Poetics. His name is R.A. Zwaan. I am aware of the address mentioned at the end of his paper in Poetics, but I got no answer. From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: corpus of Scottish texts? Date: 23 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 974 (1264) A German scholar, apparently without e-mail, has written to me requesting that I post his query. It is as follows: "I am currently preparing a study on Scottish English which, ideally, would be corpus-based. Therefore, I would be much obliged if you could let me know whether you have knowledge of the existence of any corpus or part of a corpus comprising texts in Scottish English, and, if possible, how such material can be obtained." He goes on to say that according to his sources no such corpus seems to be available in Europe. I would in turn be much obliged if anyone with such knowledge would write to this scholar at the following address: Holger Boerngen (read o-umlaut) Agnes-Wolffson-Strasse 6 2050 Hamburg 80 Federal Republic of Germany voice: 040-735 19 58 Thanks. Willard McCarty From: bgo900@csc.anu.oz (Brian O'Rourke) Subject: Australia e-closer Date: 29 Sep 89 16:06:31 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 975 (1265) Organization: Computer Services, Australian National University Weekly Bulletin Number 848 - 29 September 1989 [...] 1. New Charging Arrangements for Overseas E-mail As of 1st October all ACSnet traffic leaving and arriving at ANU will be carried by the newly implemented Australian Academic and Research Network (AARNet). Because AARNet utilizes dedicated lines for all of the network links, including a link to the USA, there are no charges calculated for network traffic. Consequently, there will be no usage charges levied back to individual users or Departments for e-mail traffic via AARNet. This applies to both outgoing and incoming mail. Motivated partly by an interest in the potential extent of HUMANIST participation here, if any HUMANIST knows someone in Australia who may wish to join HUMANIST but doesn't know of it or of its improved availability, I'd be happy to try helping them make e-contact with someone at an Australian site. Note that sites other than ANU may have different charging policies--I suppose we'll have to find this out piecemeal. I look forward to participating again after 19 months of abstinence. David Nash Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) | Dept Linguistics, Arts GPO Box 553 Fax: (062)497310 | ANU, GPO Box 4 Canberra ACT 2601 Telegraphic: ABINST | Canberra ACT 2601 ACSnet/CSNET=dgn612@cscunix.anu.oz[.au] UUCP = {uunet,hplabs,ubc-vision,ukc,mcvax,prlb2}!munnari!cscunix.anu.oz!dgn612 From: KARIN FLIKEID <FLIKEID@HUSKY1.STMARYS.CA> Subject: BRUNET'S HYPERBASE Date: Mon, 23 Oct 89 11:12 ADT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 976 (1266) RE: Brunet's HyperBase Since Andrew Oliver and I came away form the Dynamic Text conference with different impressions as to Etienne Brunet's intentions of commercializing or not his HyperBase prototype, I decided to e-mail Brunet and ask him directly. I just received his reply and will summarize the main points. Brunet says he was initially reluctant to go through the process of commercialization, but has been convinced through Apple's persuasion. He is now working on technical aspects and hopes to be ready by spring. At present, he has accomplished the necessary procedure of making the program independent of the French Revolution texts it was so intricately connected to and has written the necessary subprograms to allow the individual user to index his or her own texts. As for the Dendien connection, Brunet says Dendien does not intend to adapt Brunet's program for the IBM environment. He is however preparing a CD-ROM which will contain a selection of the FRANTEXT texts (the texts from the Revolution that Brunet used were, I believe, part of the FRANTEXT data- base) and there will be a search program which will have many of the functions which are implemented in the current FRANTEXT system and also in HyperBase. Brunet does not know whether Dandien's retrieval program is intended to be independent of the FRANTEXT texts, and suggests we ask him directly. Yours Karin Flikeid Modern Languages Saint Mary's University Halifax, N.S. B3H 3C3 Canada <FLIKEID@STMARYS.BITNET> From: Brian Whittaker <BRIANW@YORKVM2> Subject: Re: 3.611 humanists and computers, cont. (165) Date: Sun, 22 Oct 89 17:36:33 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 977 (1267) The only answer to the "two cultures" problem may be for eveyone to learn everything. Like Don Spaeth, I occasionally look wistfully across the Atlantic (in the opposite direction) and imagine a more nearly ideal educational system. The "general education" model followed by many North American schools is certainly an alternative to the old specialization, but I am not convinced that it is more successful or even as successful. Given that a student only has four years to do an undergraduate degree and that students are a little less receptive to being driven by their instructors than may once have been the case, a general education approach tends to absorb at least one year of the student's life with courses that might well be called "science appreciation," "social science appreciation," "humanities appreciation," and so on. Where all students are required to do a first year science course, the demand is often for a course that will not require any mathematics and preferably no real lab work either. In our own area, "humanities" courses are often courses in ancient or foreign literature in translation, surely something of a paradox given the emphasis on detailed attention to original texts in the original languages that characterized both the humanists of the sixteenth century and the participants in the present network. Morover, the more such courses the student takes, the less room there is in his or her curriculum to achieve any kind of mastery of a second and third language. This irony is all the more poignant when one considers that in the curriculum ovehaul that brought in general education in many schools, a first year foreign language requirement was deleted in order to make room for the first year humanities requirement. It might also be enlightening to do a survey to see whether humanities departments prefer to staff their courses on, say, the ancient world, with graduates from programs in literature in translation or with graduates from programs in Greek and Latin or in Near Eastern languages. Turning to the more specific question of why many scholars still find computers rather daunting, I would agree with the observation that scientists may be just as inclined to shy away from the computer as are the literati. More precisely, both appear to be inclined to acquire a limited mastery of one or two programs that serve their immediate needs (the word processor would be the likeliest candidate in the humanities). I believe that computer languages and conventions are just as alien to the educational background of most scientists as they are to most humanists. I believe this comes about through the rather eccentric early history of the development of computers and later of micros. Not surprisingly, there is much in the way programming languages work that is transparently obvious to someone who has played around in electronics, soldering iron in hand; surprisingly, some of these matters are not transparently obvious to computer science students who lack that kind of real "hands on" background and must simply memorize conventions as most humanists do. Other conventions have their roots in surprsing fields that, through the accidents of personal history, were shared by groups of pioneers in computing. I have heard, for example, that a number of the pioneers in microcomputer design and manufacture had been members of the same model railroad club while students and had developed much of their expertise in building electronic control systems for their model trains. Some of the procedures and terminology which they bequeathed to micro- computing came from model railroading and some came from the banter of their own particular club. I have read a few interviews with people who were pioneers in the development of languages, systems and even programs that have reputations for being user-unfriendly or well nigh unintelligible; a recurring theme in these interviews is that a particularly unintelligible convention was established because it would be transparently obvious and memorable to users, and was for the original small group of insiders who had the same hobbies or shared the same jokes. I suspect that at least some of the difficulty in coping with computers arises from the conventions being developed outside the lingua franca of the existing areas, like the physical sciences, the social sciences and the humanities. This may even have been intentional on the part of many early workers with computers who saw themselves as an elite or priesthood (to use what is perhaps too much of a humanist's term). Now that the price of a supercomputer may depend on support from departments beyond computer science, there are expressions of exasperation over the lack of computer literacy in those departments. The problem is far from one-sided, I should add. Those who administer the university's computer resources are often as ignorant of the needs of scholars from other fields as we are of the possibilities offered by the computer. My first encounter with computer support staff came when a very courteous computer expert replied to my request with the observation "You must be working with something really strange like text files!" I was tempted to reply "What do you expect an English professor to be working with?" But of course he knew as little of what I would be doing that afternoon as I did of what he would be doing; I am reasonably certain however that neither of our afternoons bore much resemlance to what I once taught in first year humanities courses or what he studied in any of his first year general education courses. That is clearly not the place to find a lingua franca. And the ability of individuals to cope conceptually with a new syntax and lexis, whether in a natural language or in an artificial programming language has declined dramatically since the general education courses drove second and third language courses out of the curriculum for most students who are not language specialists. One final irony. For the humanist and for the scientist, undergraduate textbooks and popular handbooks are often quite unintelligible. The most advanced books, on the other hand, often make much more interesting reading. For example, the _Pascal User Manual and Report_ by Kathleen Jensen and Niklause Wirth lays down the basic lexis and syntax of the Pascal programming language, and should be immediately understandable for the reader who appreciates the elegance of a good math book or a good grammar book. Computer science students seem to find this book quite difficult. Brian Whittaker Department of English, Atkinson College, York University Downsview, Ontario, Canada. From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.606 culture in computers (61) Date: Mon, 23 Oct 89 18:24 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 978 (1268) It is not so much a problem caused by differences in approaching the holy computer from either a humanist point of view or from a scientist/engineer view point. Part of the problem, I think, comes from the fact that humanist are often left with very bad documentation accompanying software packages. Documentaion should always be written by somebody other than the one who designed or developped the product. They know their product too well and tend to forget that nothing is evident. Michel Lenoble From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.610 humanists and computers (72) Date: Mon, 23 Oct 89 18:59 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 979 (1269) answer to (2) I don't think that we come to computer criticism just because we don't fit into the specialist's straithjacket. On the contrary, we are the specialists and the traditional critiques are amateurs. (I hope they don't hear me). In fact we study texts very closely and come to know them - through the computer's eye - very precisely. We give judgements based on hard evidence and not on intuition. We have epistemological standards that we try to respect. Traditionalists don't. There are as many differences between they and us as there are between a micro-biologist that would be using a microscope and another that would only resort to his/her intuition. Michel Lenoble From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: everyone learning everything Date: 23 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 980 (1270) Hardly a day passes when I do not regret not having zeroed in, at an early age, on the things that now possess my mind. At the same time, I recognize that the crooked path I took to get there was perhaps the only way, and that many of the crooks (such as computing) have since proven destinations in themselves. Specialization can be a fine thing, but I think that for many, to begin an undergraduate programme broadly is a better one. At one time I was a student at Reed College (Portland, Oregon), which forced me to take a general survey of the humanities for one year, required of all students, and pushed me into taking a sequel the next. We had, as I recall, all of a week to read Homer (perhaps it was two...), as much for Virgil, for example. I would be surprised if any one of us understood what we read, but at least our eyes had passed over the basic texts and art works, and our ears heard the music, so that later on when circumstances were right, up they popped before me, and I read and looked and listened again. At one time, Reed was doing it right. As the alumni office is always reminding me, the accomplishments of its graduates, many of whom have become intensely specialized, suggests this rather strongly. It seems to me that some things, like those basic texts and works, need to be put into the mind, to cook for some time, before there's much point in putting them under critical scrutiny. Ideally, gestation of ideas and images begins very early, but we do not educate an elite raised on the classics. I think of C.S. Lewis' statement that the Faerie Queene of Spenser should first be read when one is 15, on rainy afternoons before the fire, as a wholloping great adventure story. Same goes for the Odyssey and many other such things. Reed did not include much if any science in the required programme (I already had plenty, so this was no bother to me), but I see no reason why science could not be included. Computing the humanities raises some very interesting and very hard questions that, I think, could take their place among all the other insolubles humanists have for breakfast every day. Willard McCarty From: <E82@PSUVM> Subject: Language/Literature positions at Penn State Date: Sun, 22 Oct 89 20:15 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 981 (1271) Faculty Positions in Language/Literature Available at The Pennsylvania State University Please Circulate to Interested People--Thank You for Your Help--Ads posted 10/22/89 by the Department of Comparative Literature, Penn State University, University Park PA 16802, USA. A. Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature. Tenure-track. Starting 8/90. Expertise in Mythology/Folk Literature, especially of peoples from the Third World. Ph.D. (preferably in Comparative Literature, but candidates with doctorates in related fields with appropriate comparative credentials will be considered). Position in the Department of Comparative Literature with probable joint appointment in a related academic unit, such as a language/literature department or Women's Studies. Salary competitive. Deadline November 15, 1989, or until suitable candidate(s) identified. Send letter and c.v. [by paper mail, not electronic mail] to Dr. Caroline D. Eckhardt, Head, Department of Comparative Literature, Box NT, N434 Burrowes Building, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park PA 16802 USA. The Pennsylvania State University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. B. We seek to fill 2 of the following 3 reopened positions in Japanese/Comparative Literature: 1. Assistant Professor. Tenure-track. Starting 8/90. Strong language teaching skills, native or near-native Japanese required. Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, Japanese, Asian Studies, or related field. Primary emphasis on developing Japanese language curriculum within Comparative Literature departmental context; secondary emphasis on participating in literature curriculum. 2. Assistant Professor. Tenure-track. Starting 8/90. Strong language teaching skills, native or near-native Japanese required. Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, Japanese, Asian Studies, or related field. Primary emphasis on developing Japanese literature curriculum within Comparative Literature departmental context; secondary emphasis on participating in language curriculum. 3. Instructor, full-time. Not tenure-track. One-year appointment with possibility of renewal. Starting 8/90. Strong language teaching skills, native or near-native Japanese required. Minimum credential, Master's in Comparative Literature, Japanese, Asian Studies, or related field. Teach primarily or wholly in Japanese language curriculum, though possibility of some literature teaching. Salaries competitive. Deadline November 15, 1989, or until suitable candidates are identified. Send letter and c.v. [by paper mail, not electronic mail] to Dr. Caroline D. Eckhardt, Head, Department of Comparative Literature, Box NT, N434 Burrowes Building, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park PA 16802 USA. The Pennsylvania State University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. 3. Assistant Professor. Tenure-track. Starting 8/90. Joint appointment: Women's Studies Program and either Comparative Literature Department or English Department. Expertise in Literature by/about Women of Color. Teaching responsibilities may include Women and World Literature, African-American Women's Literature, Women of Color in the Non-Western World, Introduction to Women's Studies. Ph.D. in hand or expected by 8/90. Ph.D. in Women's Studies, Comparative Literature, or English preferred; candidates with doctorates in related pertinent fields also considered. Deadline November 15, 1989, or until suitable candidate(s) identified. Send letter of application, c.v., dossier, and three letters of reference [by paper mail, not electronic mail] to Professor Lori Ginzberg, Box N, 703 Oswald Tower, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park PA 16802 USA. The Pennsylvania State University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. All positions are located at University Park, Pennsylvania. Please note: All replies *must* be made via paper mail to one of the above addresses: the poster does not subscribe to these mailing lists, and cannot accept submissions via private electronic mail. From: F.LANGLEY@hull.ac.uk Subject: Humpty Dumpty Date: Fri, 20 Oct 89 10:03:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 982 (1272) Are there any folklorists out there? If so, perhaps they could answer a question which is exercising the mind of my six year old son. Why, in books of nursery rhymes, is Humpty Dumpty always depicted as an egg, albeit with arms, legs and facial features? In the (perhaps shortened) versions of the nursery rhyme relating his downfall, there is no reference to his being ovoid. Any theories would be gratefully accepted. Frederick Langley School of Modern Languages University of Hull England. From: Alfred Suhl <ANT01@DMSWWU1A> Subject: Call for help Date: Mon, 23 Oct 89 18:25:14 MEZ X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 983 (1273) When I went to school I was very fond of the poem "Rappelle toi quand l aurore craintive ouvre au soleil son palais ench...." Is there anyone who can (and would like to) help me to find out by whom it is and where I can find the text? I asked already several Romanists, but they could not help me, for they did not succeed. Thanks Alfred Suhl From: (Ernesto Livon Grosman) <GROSMAN@ACF7.NYU.EDU> Subject: Word Crunch and Nota Bene Date: 23 Oct 89 21:36 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 984 (1274) Can you tell me what is Word Cruncher? Also I would like to know if it is worth it to switch from Word Perfect 5.0 to Nota Bene when working with Latin American Literature. Thank You. Ernesto Grosman. Grosman@acf7.nyu.edu.bitnet From: Jacqueline Brown <JBROWN@PUCC> Subject: wordprocessor and textbase? Date: Mon, 23 Oct 89 14:29:17 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 985 (1275) I am trying to help a user select an IBM-compatible product (a word processor, text database, or some combination thereof) that will permit him to create a lengthy scholarly multi-language work involving the extensive annotation of whole texts. The texts are in Spanish, the annotations mostly in French; the ultimate placement of the annotations must be flexible, i.e. the user is not sure yet if he wants to display the original text as the main body of the printed book, with the annotations as footnotes/endnotes, or adopt a multi-column format (column 1 = text, column 2 = annotations), or even use an alter- nating line arrangement, where lines of annotations appear above the text they refer to (and presumably in a different typeface). The texts may vary in length from fragments a few sentences long to entire manuscripts. The texts and annotations need to be searchable. The one parameter is that it does have to work on an IBM platform; otherwise the user is open to any solution. The simpler, the better. From: Steve Dill <UGA108@SDNET> Subject: Scholarly Comm. System Date: Tue, 24 Oct 89 08:20:06 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 986 (1276) In an interesting but probably quixotic essay, two libriarians-- Sharon J. Rogers at George Washington University and Charlene S. Hart at George Mason University--publishing on the "Point of View" page of the Chronicle of Higher Education, October 18, 1989, p. A56, claim that scholarly journals are obsolete "as the primary vehicle for scholarly communication." What they suggest to replace journals is a "Scholarly Communication System, an electronic network on which scholars could also read other publications." This network would also contain a "notes and comments" section, citation tracking, and usage log along with many other applications to sustain scholarly publishing and debate. While their proposal is more detailed than I wish to describe here, I am interested in the reaction of other scholars to their proposal and its efficacy in resolving the issues it raises. University of South Dakota Vermillion, 57069 From: Antonio-Paulo Ubieto Artur <hiscont@cc.unizar.es> Subject: The hidden file that isn't a virus (MS-DOS) Date: Tue, 24 Oct 89 12:00:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 987 (1277) The "hidden file" that chkdsk reports can be the disk's volume name. For your peace of mind, try erasing the volume name with "LABEL.COM", if your "hidden file" disappears, that's all. Let me send to all HUMANISTs in this my first and modest contribution my best regards. Antonio-Paulo Ubieto Artur Department of Modern and Contemporary History Zaragoza University (Spain-Europe) hiscont@cc.unizar.es From: db <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.625 LANs? plagarism? e-Scots? (105) Date: Tue, 24 Oct 89 13:52:59 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 988 (1278) I find it absolutely astounding that you refer to parodies, irony and forgeries in the same breath. Moreover, I can't for the life of me undersatnd what *you* mean by intertextuality in this context. In my world intertextuality is a condition of texts and culture in general and although I subscribe heartily to some kind of materialism, I hardly think that love of money per se is what drives the entire literary system. please clarify. From: Brian Whittaker <BRIANW@YORKVM2> Subject: Plagiarism Date: Mon, 23 Oct 89 21:41:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 989 (1279) I am not sure whether this is what Michel Lenoble had in mind, but one of my humanities students once plagiarised an essay on the story of Abraham in Genesis... copying word for word from Paul's Letter to the Hebrews - King James version. Brian Whittaker. From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: plagarism checkers Date: 24 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 990 (1280) I know of one computerized service that sniffs out the plagarizer: the Glatt Plagarism Teaching and Screening Program. Basically, the program removes every fifth word of the suspected paper (in electronic form, of course) and produces a blank, which the suspected author then fills in within a certain time-limit. The probability that the paper in question was not written by the author who claims it is then computed, not by the program but by the people at Glatt. The probability that they will reveal their mathematics to the interested scholar would seem rather low. Glatt charges a good fee to do all this. Anyhow, Glatt can be reached at PO Box 152033, 1615 Alhambra Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95816 USA, (916) 453-5773. Willard McCarty From: "Sterling Beckwith (York University)" <GUEST4@YUSol> Subject: RE: 3.627 humanistic education and computers, cont. (206) Date: Tue, 24 Oct 89 00:59 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 991 (1281) [Again, a personal note too good to keep to myself. I should add, for those students of Reed who are listening, that I am well aware of having filtered out a great deal from my experiences in order to present the nostalgic picture. Still, I think John Reed had the right idea, and that a glimmer of it survived in my days there. --W.M.] Dear Willard, Your nostalgic note (were you perhaps a contemporary at Reed of either my colleague Peter Roosen-Runge or my cousin Bob Charlton?) could be read as hinting that perhaps computers are not one of the things that young people need to be exposed to in humanities courses. As Whittaker points out, there is precious little time even for the mightiest of the old literary texts to be whisked past their drowsy eyes. Instead of attempting to teach about or prepare the young to "understand" computer culture, why not just wait as they become embroiled in it, at school, in the movies, or wherever, while doing our best to make sure that there will still be some interesting questions in the humanities for them tackle, using the tools they will have come naturally to feel most a home with. At least I have often thought this way, thus undermining the agenda I was urging in my previous missive. Certainly the point made by several respondents, that we are faced with too much technology for too few good problems, bears down on one from every corner of the vast educational computing wasteland today. Many of our colleagues treasure their ignorance of MS-DOS and other mind-numbing nonsense out of the soundest possible instinct that life is too short, and too full of more life-enhancing demands, to warrant that particular detour. Sometimes I am not so sure that computers and their acronyms really do deserve the attention of our best and brightest minds -- though they do keep us from plotting the overthrow of the administration, I suppose... Sterling From: James O'Donnell <JODONNEL@PENNSAS.UPENN.EDU> Subject: humanistic education Date: 24 Oct 89 12:44:02 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 992 (1282) Willard's fragment of autobiography reminds me that I have been asking people one question for years in a dilatory kind of way, and HUMANIST is a good place to ask it again. Is there any serious literature (presumably sociological but possibly psychological in discipline) on the relative effectiveness of different styles of undergraduate curriculum design? What difference does it actually make whether an institution has a high-definition core curriculum or a sprawling unregulated buffet? All discussions in institutions I have been part of have had a strangely (considering the participants) amateurish, anecdotal quality. The most trenchant observation I've heard was by an undergraduate dean here who pointed out, when we were talking about instituting a core curriculum, that the students had beaten us to the punch: to judge by enrollments, the core curriculum for well over half our freshman class consisted of Econ 101, Math 101, Chem 101, etc. At that point we had something like two dozen courses that amounted to over 20% of total enrollments in Arts and Sciences per year, and another 500 courses that split up the other 80%. But seriously: is there any serious literature on the subject? From: "Kevin L. Cope" <ENCOPE@LSUVM> Subject: MPA Deadline Approaching Date: Mon, 23 Oct 89 21:55:20 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 993 (1283) HUMANISTS should be reminded that the dadline for the submission of papers for presentation at the next conference of the Mississippi Philological Association (Starkeville, MS, January 26-27, 1990) is fast approaching. That deadline is November 6. Papers, poems, and prose pieces--and for that matter any type of humanistic performance, including ones involving computers-- should be directed to Prof. Harry Donaghy, Dept. of English, Mississippi State University, Starkeville, Mississippi, U. S. A. Past MPA conferences have been nothing short of fabulous! So lively, intelligent, and fun! See Kevin Cope, Natalie Maynor, and perhaps even Doanld Mabry! See one of the finest nodes in the world! The MPA is also an excellent first conference for budding graduate students. And it publishes an excellent journal, POMPA (Publications of the Mississippi Philological Association), which is indexed in the MLA. Be there! From: "Charles Bailey, University of Houston" <LIB3@UHUPVM1.BITNET> Subject: Internet OPAC List Date: Tue, 24 Oct 89 08:39:10 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 994 (1284) [This afternoon, using an Internet address from the document cited here, I searched the holdings of the library at the University of California at Berkeley for a few things. If you do not know how to use Internet, you'll have to ask your local experts, but my brief experience suggests to me that it's worth the trouble. --W.M.] Dr. Art St. George has created an updated list of addresses and access instructions for a number of online catalogs and databases on Internet. What is Internet? The Internet is an internetwork of many networks all running the TCP/IP protocol suite, connected through gateways, and sharing common name and address spaces. . . . The Internet is very large, not only covering the United States, but also extending into Canada, Europe, and Asia (the Philippines, Korea, and Japan). . . . Estimates of numbers of hosts range from 40,000 to 500,000 and of numbers of users from 500,000 to more than a million. There are at least 400 connected networks. Source: John S. Quarterman, The Matrix: Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems Worldwide (Bedford, MA: Digital Press, 1990), 278. To get the list, send the following e-mail message to LISTSERV@UNMVM: GET INTERNET LIBRARY You will receive an e-mail message describing the processing of your request. The file, which is 1236 lines long, will be sent to your account. The commands that you will use to view, print, or download the file are specific to your computer system. If you don't know how to perform these tasks, ask your computer center for help. If you would like to have your OPAC or database added to the list, send this information to Dr. St. George at STGEORGE@UNMB. Please send all questions about the list to Dr. St. George. | Charles W. Bailey, Jr. Phone: (713) 749-4241 | From: NANCY M. IDE (914) 437 5988 <IDE@VASSAR> Subject: Date: Tue, 24 Oct 89 11:56 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 995 (1285) MELLON FOUNDATION SUPPORTS INTERNATIONAL TEXT ENCODING PROJECT WITH $100,000 GRANT The Association for Computers and the Humanities, the Association for Computational Linguistics, and the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing are pleased to announce that The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded a two-year $100,000 grant to support the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI). The TEI, which is jointly sponsored by these three organizations, is a major international project to develop guidelines for the preparation and exchange of machine-readable texts for scholarly research and to satisfy a broad range of uses by the language industries. The project is being undertaken in response to the pressing need for a common text encoding scheme, demonstrated by the present chaotic diversity of formats now in use. The availability of these guidelines will make it possible for research groups to share data collections, which are both costly and time-consuming to develop. Over 50 scholars from North America, Europe, and the Middle East are involved in TEI's effort to create sets of tags for marking features of texts. The tag sets, coded in the framework provided by the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), will provide the means to mark physical features of text such as character sets and page layout. They will also provide discipline-specific tag sets to mark the results of research on the text, such as the analysis of sentence syntax or the identification of the metrical structure of verse. Representatives of 15 scholarly and professional organizations form an Advisory Board for the TEI, in order to ensure that all of the needs and interests of the research community are adequately addressed. The planning phase of this project was inaugurated by a $20,000 grant from the United States National Endowment for the Humanities, which later awarded a $185,000 grant to implement the first two years of a four-year work plan to produce the encoding guidelines. The TEI has also received a $100,000 grant from the European Economic Community. From: <ZRSZOT1@DTUZDV2> PROF. DR. WILHELM OTT Subject: Soundex algorithms Date: 24 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 633 (1286) 29 2933 UNIVERSITAET TUEBINGEN ZENTRUM FUER DATENVERARBEITUNG BRUNNENSTRASSE 27 D-7400 TUEBINGEN The problem you mentioned in your Humanist message of 11 oct could be solved by TUSTEP with the following lines (blanks in col 1-3 means comment): #ko,source,dest,,+,* source - name of the source file dest - name of the destination file the program copies those lines which meet the following condition: zf+ /vivir/ the string "vivir" must be present. For the sake of finding this string, the text should be transformed (without changing the text itself) according to the following rules: xv /u/v/ treat u as v xv /b/v/ treat b as v xv /j/i/ treat j as i (the number of replacements is practically illimited; not only single characters, but also strings may be replaced, exceptions given etc: eg.: /ph/f//phd// means: treat "ph" as "f", but not if it is part of "phd" *eof The TUSTEP editor allows you to do similar searches also online, interactively. Wilhelm Ott (zrszot1 at dtuzdv2) Univ. of Tuebingen / Germany From: RAPOPORT@MCMASTER Subject: Poetry identification Date: Tue, 24 Oct 89 12:05 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 634 (1287) To complete a book about the composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, I require identification of two sources. The more difficult of the two identifications is for two lines (possibly one line) of poetry. Sorabji set these words to music in 1967 without indicating who their author was, or even whether their original language was English. As he died last year, it is rather late to be asking him. The dedicatee of the music does not know the source of the words, and a quick search of some standard poetry indices has not provided the answer. Anyone who provides the first positive identification of the lines will be immortalized in the acknowledgement section of the book (with an accompanying acknowledgement to Humanist, of course). The composer's handwriting is not perfectly clear -- it never was -- but here are the lines. Can anyone help? I bend to the rose. Its silence speaks what God above me knows. With thanks, Paul Rapoport Department of Music McMaster University From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVME> Subject: Re: 3.629 software? scholarly journals? (77) Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 11:38:05 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 996 (1288) re query on Word Cruncher I am writing a review of WC in response to a request from another discussion group. I will ask if I can post it (or portions of it) to Humanist. If anyone has specific questions they would like to have included, please send them to me and I will try to accomodate. Michael From: Frank Connolly <FRANK@AUVM.BITNET> Subject: Software Rental Act Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 09:17:23 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 997 (1289) [An interesting development in the US. Part of this message has been deleted because it is relevant only to citizens of that country; for more information, get the file as instructed below. --W.M.] The proposed Computer Software Rental Amendments Act of 1989 (Senate Bill 198), will acted on by the full Senate Committee on the Judiciary on Wednesday, October 25. In its present form, the bill will require all SYSTEMATIC SHARING of software in educational institutions to be done through libraries. Any systematic sharing through computer centers, departments, labs, and classrooms would be a violation of copyright -- unless it is done with the explicit permission of the copyright owner. By "sharing," we do not mean copying, which of course normally already requires the permission of the copyright owner. Rather the bill is concerned with "rental, lease, or lending, or ... any other act or practice in the nature of rental, lease, or lending...." By "systematic" we mean sharing that substitutes for purchases. The bill uses the phrase "for purposes of direct or indirect commercial advantage." When the Copyright Act was enacted in 1976, the House interpreted "direct or indirect commercial advantage" to mean just that -- activity which substitutes for purchases, not whether the institution is for-profit or non- profit. Accordingly, sharing which is done so that each student does not have purchase his or her own copy would be ILLEGAL (absent the permission of the copyright owner). This law is retroactive: It applies to software which was acquired at any time before the law takes effect as well as software acquired in the future. This means schools would suddenly have to route most of computer activity through the library -- or negotiate with the copyright owner for all the software which they presently own. Software is systematically shared in higher education as well as in elementary, secondary, and trade schools and in vocational education programs. This systematic sharing -- like the sharing of library books -- is a safety net that ensures that all students can benefit from using educational software. S. 198 threatens administrative chaos and puts education at the mercy of software publishers. [text deleted here] If you need further information send a message to LISTSERV@AUVM: GET COPYRITE PACKAGE From: Natalie Maynor <MAYNOR@MSSTATE> Subject: Correction to MPA Announcement Date: Tue, 24 Oct 89 21:19:37 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 998 (1290) Although I'm not sure that the Mississippi Philological Association is of yet worthy of international attention, I appreciated Kevin Cope's enthusiastic promotion of the upcoming meeting in Starkville. And I feel obligated to correct the address. Anything mailed to Mississippi State University should not mention Starkville, MS. The university post office is Mississippi State, MS 39762. From: "Leslie Z. Morgan" <MORGAN@LOYVAX> Subject: RE: 3.631 humanistic education and computers, cont. (81) Date: Tue, 24 Oct 89 20:33:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 999 (1291) The discussion of computers, education, and liberal arts school (Reed and its cohorts) has really hit home. We are discussing computerizing, and among the basic tenets of the program is "access for every student to computing" -- which is rapidly, in certain uses, sounding like REQUIRED use of the computer by EVERY student, regardless of his/her field or interests. I myself am worried by the "big brother" sound of the project. Any other reactions? Is anyone at an institution where this development (access ==> requirement) has occurred? Leslie Morgan Dept. of Foreign Langs. Loyola College in Maryland (MORGAN@LOYVAX) From: RAPOPORT@MCMASTER Subject: Computers and Humanities Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 14:02 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1000 (1292) As a relative newcomer to Humanist, I may be speaking in ignorance of issues discussed in the past. I am nonetheless intrigued by many of the com- ments about lack of use of computers in the humanities. It seems to me that one issue is missing from the recent discussions on this subject, namely the type of computer and system used. While I have no cause to laud any system over any other, I will not be the first to point out that MS-DOS is difficult, abstruse, arcane, recondite, and a whole bunch of further synonyms, some of them not terribly polite. Of course humanists are as capable of using it as any others, but let's face it, MS-DOS is time-consuming. The fact that it is not easily grasped leads not only to wasted time but increased numbers of errors. The secretaries in my department have spent hundreds of hours learning and trying to fix problems with MS-DOS programs. This is a considerable waste of resources. I wonder if other departments have the same experience, simply because the administration insisted on purchase of MS-DOS machines, i.e. IBMs or compatibles? Having used an IBM for a year I gave up and switched to Macintosh, which was thought by most IBMers to be a mere toy. I would be the first to admit that there are problems with the Macintosh and with Apple in general, not least the price of the machines. But to insist on IBM because 1) it is better known or because 2) it is cheaper is 1) illogical or 2) a false economy. The cost of using a computer, however one calculates it, must be de- termined over the life of the equipment. Administrators like to hide costs, of course, so if it takes a secretary a hundred hours to do something which might be done in two, who cares? No one will ever notice! (At least not in a univer- sity.) I am obviously speaking only of microcomputers in the past five years, not including the IBM PS/2, which I know little about. I am also not speaking of other micros which I do not know. But it strikes me that Apple was onto something when it introduced the Macintosh interface, because many people took to it immediately, and of course it became widely imitated. Surely if it is pos- sible to introduce a machine (or user interface) which is easier to use, that is inherently desirable, provided there are no other serious drawbacks. I therefore wonder whether part of the problem in introducing compu- ters to people lies in which computer is introduced. DOS may be much improved now (I don't know), but it was execrable a few years ago. I close with an irrelevant (and certainly irreverent) coincidence. I wonder whether Microsoft was aware when it created DOS that in one language at least, the word "dos" means "idiot"! (No offense to IBM users, many of whom are my friends. I just cannot see the basic IBM system for micros being the best first choice for humanists.) From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.629 software? scholarly journals? (77) Date: Tue, 24 Oct 89 18:29:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1001 (1293) For Mr. Grosman. I would not recommend replacing WordPerfect 5.0 with Nota Bene. For most scholarly purposes WordPerfect 5.0 is perfectly adequate. The only real advantage of Nota Bene is its ability to construct a text data base of notes, something which I have generally not found necessary. WordCruncher is a program which allows one to find single words, phrases, and words or phrases within a specific context in a text. It will also produce concordances. If you wish to do such things I would recommend TACT from the U. of Toronto Computing Centre, which I found more user-friendly (and cnsiderably less expensive). From: Jan Eveleth <EVELETH@YALEVM> Subject: Textbase and wordprocessing Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 09:10:03 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1002 (1294) Perhaps this will be of some help to Ernesto L. Grosman and Jacqueline Brown. WordCruncher is a text retrieval and indexing software package. It features textual analysis, word search and frequency, indexing, organizational automation for bibliographies and electronic text collections and interactive use with some wordprocessors. It will support only those foreign language characters supported by your DOS. This information comes from a representative of the manufacturer of WordCruncer, Electronic Text Corporation. For more information about the program and its suitability for your needs contact Greg Johnson, Dir. of Marketing/Academia, Electronic Text Corporation, 778 South 400 East, Orem, Utah 84058 (801-226-0616). Mr. Johnson gave a demonstration of the program at Yale 2 1/2 weeks ago. The product is very powerful. From my perspective it seems to be the type of product that will allow researchers to generate new approaches to their research, new questions. For those with a set task in mind, talk extensively with the company to make certain the package will meet your expectations. Educational cost is $199.00. Another text management software package is IZE which is perhaps more along the lines of what Jacqueline Brown is requesting. IZE is also an indexing, word-frequency, text database program. It has built in word processing capabilities. Since I don't have a manual here, I cannot tell you if it will support foreign language characters or sophisticated output formatting. Again, the best approach would be to contact the vendor and ask detailed questions about the products suitability for your needs. IZE is produced by Persoft Corp., 465 Science Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53711 (608-273-6000). Educational price is $195.00. Yet another pc program worth looking into is WordBench which is available from Addison Wesley Publishing Co., Route 128, Reading, Mass., 01867 (617-944- 3700). WordBench was given Best Writing Software award by Educom in their com- petition. As reported in the 9/13/89 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Ed, "the software combines a word processor, a thesaurus, and a spelling checker with an outline generator, a searchable data base for recording and filing notes, a bibliography generator, and 'brainstorming' aids." Cost is listed at $189. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about Nota Bene to address the question of its virtues compared to those of WP5.0. My impression has been that Nota Bene appeals strongly to those in the humanities whereas it is not well received by scientists or clericals. (Those in the humanities claim that the manual is very readable and understandable whereas others feel strongly that it is dense and unnecessarily obtuse. These impressions are from a very informal collection of comments.) From: "James H. Coombs" <JAZBO@BROWNVM> Subject: Detecting Acronyms Date: Tue, 24 Oct 89 19:52:26 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 638 (1295) Does anyone have algorithms for detecting acronyms in English-language text? I am converting the Mendelian Inheritance in Man to hypertext and want to convert several fields from all caps to mixed case. I am checking syllable structure to detect such acronyms as DNA and ACTH, which should stay in upper case. Perhaps someone has done something similar? --Jim Dr. James H. Coombs Senior Software Engineer, Research Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship (IRIS) Brown University, Box 1946 Providence, RI 02912 jazbo@brownvm.bitnet From: Subject: Re: 3.632 deadline; Internet; TEI $$ (125) Date: Tue, 24 Oct 89 18:26:16 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 639 (1296) Two items: (1) Using the Internet to search distant on-line library catalogs is very easy and very useful. The CARL system in Colorado has at least 20 databases, including UnCover, descriptions of articles (eventually 600,000) in about 10,000 journals. UnCover requires the institution to buy a password for $900/year but everyone in the institution can use it. (2) It is Starkville, MS. The ZIP code is 39762. Hope we see some of you here! Don Mabry <DJMABRY@MSSTATE> "Professor, History, Mississippi State University "Historians have a Richer Present" From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: some policy, and a request Date: 25 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 640 (1297) Lest Humanist turn into another MLA job list, it has been suggested to me that we not publish adverts for jobs that have nothing explicitly to do with computing in the humanities. The MLA list (and I assume others like it elsewhere) is, after all, widely available. Unlike non-computing scholarly notes and queries, for which there is no convenient venue, job adverts get circulated wherever there are people to fill them. So, unless someone can argue cogently that such things should be published here, I say that we desist. Perhaps our refusal to publish an advert unless is has a component for computing will serve as an encouragement to recalcitrant departments to add such a component. You say I am a dreamer? This I cannot deny. Let me also take this opportunity to request something of everyone. When you enter a note intended for Humanist, please make certain that it is properly formatted before you send it. Make your lines no longer than about 65 characters, and be sure they have been word-wrapped. Believe me, it is a considerable pain and drain on my time manually to split and rejoin lines so that what we publish here does not look a mess. I apologize for the occasional messy notes, but sometimes weakness of flesh overcomes strength of spirit, and I just let something go as is. Now if someone can suggest how reformatting can be done automatically, then I would like to hear about the technique, because inevitably new members will not have read this and will send badly formatted notes. (Remember, I am a guest of VM/CMS and have no other recourse.) Thanks very much. Willard McCarty From: <HALPORNJ@IUBACS> Subject: Earthquake conditions at Stanford Date: Tue, 24 Oct 89 21:22:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 641 (1298) One of my colleagues has just returned from the meeting of the members of the Intercollegiate Center at Rome, held last week at Palo Alto. His report of the conditions at Stanford University after the earthquake may be of some interest to my fellow humanists. I found none of his news in the NY Times in the past week or so, because, I suppose, attention has been focussed on Oakland and San Francisco. In addition to the closing of some dozen dormitories and serious damage to the chapel, the chemistry building has been closed because of the chemicals falling off the laboratory shelves. The most serious problem, however, has been to the library, which is now closed for the foreseeable future. On every level there are no books any longer on the shelves, many of which have themselves collapsed. The librarians will be reshelving the books, but no attempt will be made to shelve the books in the correct order. Reading of the shelves will have to wait until all books are off the floors. The chaos of the next months can only be imagined. James W. Halporn, Classical Studies/Comparative Literature, Indiana U., Bloomington, IN (HALPORNJ@IUBACS). From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.636 humanists and computers, cont. (79) Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 17:57:45 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1003 (1299) Let me say 1 thing in defense of MS-DOS. The single most important consideration for a neophyte is the user community. If everyone is using MS-DOS computers, then that's the system to learn. From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Computers & humanities" Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 18:11:39 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1004 (1300) Just to help our colleague 'rapoport@mcmaster' on the subject of DOS/dos, as one notices on Apple II... screens nowadays, there is ProDOS, DOS 3.3, etc. So, are they pro-DOS or anti-DOS? Fortunately, the acronym (here I am back on the subject of acronyms--thanks all for your wonderfully humorous comments of computer guru reactions to the ANSI list I distributed) "dos" stands for nothing stupider than "disk operating system." May I also re-re-reiterate my request, if I may ask just one more time, simply to repeat the request, that contributors to Humanist indicate their *real* name & perhaps affiliation as well, especially if they know that this vitally collegial information is not auto- matically appended to their e-mail headers? Merci bien. Collegially yours, Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH, USA) J_GOLDFI@unhh.bitnet From: daniel boyarin <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.629 software? scholarly journals? (77) Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 23:46:04 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1005 (1301) re: word processor and text base for spanish and french: nota bene is the obvious solution here. it's designed for exactly such tasks. From: <BURT@BRANDEIS> Subject: software review Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 11:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1006 (1302) For simple day to day wordprocessing, I'd like to put in a word for VDE, a public domain editor/wordprocessor available for the DOS and CP/M environments from just about every bulletin board there is. VDE is fast--it searches and replaces and scrolls faster than most commercial wordprocessors. It is also very simple and can be learned in a few minutes. (It uses the Wordstar command set, but it also has many features that older Wordstars did not have, such as macros and so forth.) It produces clean ASCII text which can be imported into anything or sent to a formatter. It can be easily installed for any computer and any printer using the installation program which comes with it. It's very small (the CP/M version is only 15K!). It can be used just as easily for program development as for wordprocessing. The DOS version can be reconfigured to emulate other wordprocessors, and can do multi-file editing in windows. (The CP/M version has macros which simulate editing two files in two windows, butt it does this with a file-swapping macro, so that only one file is actually in memory at a time.) I use nothing but VDE now, and I have had much less in the way of trouble with it than I have had with the commercial wordprocessors. Since I usually use a text-formatter as well, VDE's limited text-formatting capacities (it does most of the basic stuff like pagination, headers, centering, and so on, but more sophisticated things like footnotes are beyond it) are no problem for me. It is a relatively mature product (some versions go back to 1984), so it does not have many bugs, and Eric Meyer, the author (and one of the grand old men of the public domain world) comes out with new versions every few months. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Software Rental Act Date: Wednesday, 25 October 1989 2228-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1007 (1303) The information about the proposed Software Rental Act arrived too late for me to try to do anything about it on the target date (today!), but it did prompt me to wonder what are the REAL problems with this proposal in the long run? (In the short run, of course, gearing up the libraries to handle these situations will not be a pretty sight in most places with which I am familiar.) My first impression is that this is exactly the right direction to move in order to stabilize a situation that is already very badly out of hand. As I have already argued (or stated) elsewhere -- e.g. OFFLINE 24 -- we should be helping the libraries to develop as pivotal players in the new situation involving electronic materials. How will the proposed Bill hinder this sort of development? Or is my hope for the role of libraries unrealistic? Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: David Megginson <MEGGIN@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Re: 3.636 humanists and computers, cont. (79) Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 08:16:29 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1008 (1304) MacIntoshes are no longer expensive for educational institutions. A MacPlus retails for around $1299 at universities around Toronto (Canadian Dollars, of course). Compare that to the price of an 80286 AT and you'll find little to complain about. The _only_ reason not to use Mac would be something like WordCruncher. It is pedantic and unfair to force students to use MeSsyDOS, especially since line interfaces are nearly extinct. Teaching humanities students MSDOS and Nota Bene may be akin to teaching Medical Students the theory of the humours and the proper application of leeches. David Megginson <MEGGIN@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> From: "Kevin L. Cope" <ENCOPE@LSUVM> Subject: The Fuss over DOS Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 08:31:55 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1009 (1305) A grammotist recently argues on HUMANIST that DOS is hard, time-consuming, and perhaps not the appropriate language for novice users of humanities computing equipment. But what is so darned hard about it? Is it learning strange words like COPY, ERASE, or RENAME? I thought HUMANISTS would already know words like these. KLC. From: db <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.630 hidden files; plagarism, etc. (88) Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 09:37:50 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1010 (1306) re: plagiarism If a student of mine had copied an epistle of Paul's and handed it in as an essay on Abraham, I would have given him/her and A+. So would Borges (rip) I suspect. From: Clarence Brown <CB@PUCC> Subject: Lenoble on plagarism and other matters Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 19:34:33 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1011 (1307) [The following was sent to me with the request to forward it to Lenoble, a Humanist who has written recently about plagarism. I was, however, invited to give it wider distribution if I liked. I do, and here it is. --W.M.] Dear Michel Lenoble: I have just joined Humanist, and this is my first attempt to send a message to anyone. Forgive all signs of amateurism, please. I am writ ing to say that your name stuck in my mind as the author of two recent contri butions: one about plagiarism and one about the stupidity of the documentation accompanying applications. The last first: Surely there must have been a great deal of applause from those who read your brief message. What I wonder is this: is there any way for Humanist to register the opinion of subscribers short of actually sending in a message? Any way at all to let you know that your sentiments evoked a warm resonse? Applause is worthless if it isn't heard. The type of plagiarism that interests me involves translation. I have done a fair amount of translation (from the Russian), and my work has been stolen repeatedly, sometimes even by respected people in the field! The way of detec ting plagiarism in translation is delightfully simple. All translations con tain errors and omissions. The unwary plagiarist, using your work while pre tending to use the original, will make the same errors and omissions. The change of this happening innocently is a statistical monstrosity. The trans lation plagiarist typically hides his theft by the good old method of para phrase, but you cannot paraphrase exactly the same omissions and errors and get away with it. I don't have the vaguest idea how these thoughts might be made of some use in the area that concerns you but thought I would share them as my maiden flight through the ether of Humanist. Vale. From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVME> Subject: Announcement Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 14:10:06 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 644 (1308) On November 1, InteLex Corporation will release electronic editions of the works of John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume. These works will be bundled with the most sophisticated search and retrieval software yet developed for personal computers - Folio Corporation's VIEWS. With the VIEWS program, every word of the text database is indexed. VIEWS supports boolean searches (and, or, not), as well as wildcard, literal string, nested, and proximity searches. In addition, VIEWS supports hypertext linking: for example all of Berkeley's references to Locke are linked by tokens, which allow the user to go immediately from the Berkeley to the Locke. Finally, the VIEWS indexing process results in databases roughly 60% the size of the original ASCII text files. The contents of any window (including the opening window which contains the entire database) may be output to disk (as an ASCII file) or printer. Minimum system requirements: IBM PC, PC AT, PS/2 and compatibles, 512K RAM, one hard drive, and one 360K, 720K, or 1.44MB flopy drive. For MacIntosh systems, the text will be sold as ASCII, without the Folio VIEWS system. InteLex is releasing the following texts, based on the editions indicated in parentheses, but including corrections where errors were found in the editions: John Locke: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. (From The Works of John Locke, Twelfth Edition, London: 1824) Two Treatises of Government. (Ibid.) George Berkeley Of the Principles of Human Knowledge. (From The Works of George Berkeley, D.D., ed. by Rev. G. N. Wright, London: 1843) Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous. (Ibid.) An Essay towards a New Theory of Vision. (Ibid.) Alciphron: or the Minute Philosopher, in Seven Dialogues. (Ibid.) David Hume A Treatise of Human Nature. (Everyman's Library edition, London: 1911) "Appendix to the Treatise of Human Nature." (From The Philosophical Works of David Hume, Boston & Edinburgh: 1854 (Reprinted from the 1777 edition) An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals. (Ibid.) Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. (Ibid.) The Natural History of Religion. (Ibid.) An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. (Open Court edition, Chicago: 1912) Essays: Moral, Political, and Literary. (Essays: Moral, Political, and Literary, ed. by T. H. Green & T. H. Grose, London: 1898, vol. 1). Essays Withdrawn. (Op. cit., vol. 2). Essays Unpublished. (excluding "On the Authenticity of Ossian's Poems," op. cit. vol. 2). InteLex will release in mid to late November, Hobbes' Leviathon and De Cive (ed. by Molesworth, London: 1839), as well as much of the philosophical work of Mill. InteLex further plans to release translations of Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Leibniz, Kant, Hegel, and Nietzsche. The price and size of the editions are as follows: Princing to individuals: Price: Size: Folio ASCII ASCII Folio Hume vol. 1 $ 39.95 $ 22.95 2.1 MB 1.2 MB (Treatise, Appendix to Treatise, Two Enquiries, My Own Life) Hume vol. 2 $ 39.95 $ 22.95 1.6 MB 1.0 MB (Essays, Dialogue Conc. Natural Religion, The Natural Hist. of Religion) Locke $ 39.95 $ 22.95 2.1 MB 1.2 MB Berkeley $ 39.95 $ 22.95 1.4 MB 0.9 MB Hume vols. 1 and 2 $ 69.95 $ 45.90 3.7 MB 2.2 MB The Complete Database $109.95 $ 90.80 7.2 MB 4.3 MB Pricing to Institutions: Hume vol. 1 $ 99.95 $ 57.37 Hume vol. 2 $ 99.95 $ 57.37 Locke $ 99.95 $ 57.37 Berkeley $ 99.95 $ 57.37 Hume vols. 1 and 2 $174.95 $114.74 The Complete Database $274.95 $229.48 The text bundled with the Folio VIEWS program will be sold with a manual completely describing the Folio VIEWS system (which has online help), as well as notes on the editions. To the price of any order will be added $3.95 shipping and handling for domestic addresses, $13.95 for international addresses (based on international air mail rates). From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Making people learn to use a computer Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 22:06:45 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1012 (1309) "The discussion of computers, education, and liberal arts school (Reed and its cohorts) has really hit home. We are discussing computerizing, and among the basic tenets of the program is "access for every student to computing" -- which is rapidly, in certain uses, sounding like REQUIRED use of the computer by EVERY student, regardless of his/her field or interests. I myself am worried by the "big brother" sound of the project. Any other reactions? Is anyone at an institution where this development (access ==> requirement) has occurred?" Yeah, right on. Next thing schools will be doing is saying that every student should know how to read. What use does the talented artist have for reading, or the video filmmaker, or the musician with a natural talent. ---- Put another way..... What BIG BROTHER will be doing in the coming years is preventing people from learning how to use computers..... Letting someone graduate from college these days without knowing how to use a computer is something that really bothers me. Sure it is hard on them---to have to learn enough to use one while in school---but how infinitely harder it will be on them not knowing how when they are in the outside world. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Enabling Computer Access Date: Wednesday, 25 October 1989 2219-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1013 (1310) Here at the University of Pennsylvania, which installed a fiberoptic network spine to most of its buildings a couple of years ago at a great deal of cost, there are pressures from various sources, including faculty committees, to plug offices and dormatories into the existing spine. This is hardly a move towards enforced computing! It just seems irresponsible to spend several million dollars to create a situation favorable for electronic communication both inside and outside the University, then walk away and leave each department, project, office, dorm, etc. on its own with regard to tapping into the spine! Thus we really do intend to create an availability atmosphere, where those who want to make use of this facility can do so with minimal effort/trouble. If faculty, students, etc., do not wish to take advantage of this opportunity (to access the library catalogue, e-mail, etc.), that is their business. But we want them to have a real choice. Bob Kraft From: 6590BEAVERSA@MUCSD Subject: Computers and Youth Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 04:00:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1014 (1311) Youths and Computers: One topic of discussion that has been on HUMANIST lately is the difficulty of teaching our youth to use computers. I would like to take the opportunity to respond from a young person's perspective, if, at 26, I can still be considered young! The suggestion was made that we do not bother to teach computers to our youth; rather, we should just wait until they have been indoctrinated by movies, culture, etc. Am I missing something or is someone really out of touch with the times? WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE STAR WARS/WAR GAMES GENERATION. I was graduated from high school in 1981. The year after I left, computer programming was introduced as part of the regular math curriculum. My brother went through this curriculum, went to college already programming, and is now, at age 24, a programmer for a major corporation. My wife's brother is the same, and many of my friends are too, (all under 25.) I am very surprised to hear that there are still high schools left that don't require computers. So, I don't understand all the fuss. Furthermore, I teach two divisions of ethical theory here at Marquette. Last week, I asked my students (juniors) how many of them had done computer programming; more than half said yes. I doubt that a survey of university professors would reveal the same percentage. In addition, one of my students (age 20) owns his own computer manufacturing business; and another took a reader in AI last term and is publishing his project. I have always thought that computer programming was an activity of the young; and all the evidence I have seen has not changed my position. Would someone care to elaborate (more precisely) on what the problems are? While it is true that not all youths have been exposed to computers (I guess they didn't go to Humpty Dumpty Pre-school -- some of the pre-schools I know of use computers as part of their curriculum) each year more and more of them have. And I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that in the next ten years our college freshman know more about computers than we do. Sincerely confused ????? Anthony Beavers - Lecturer Department of Philosophy Marquette University Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233 ail on the vax. It would, From: "Sterling Beckwith (York University)" <GUEST4@YUSol> Subject: Historicist musings Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 11:59 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1015 (1312) Dear Willard, Permit me to add one last unscientific postscript to our discussion on possible remedies for the mismatch between computers and humanists' minds. No one has yet spoken out for those who see the new technology as at last making possible a style of learning that is actually far closer to what humanists believe in than what our present mass multiversity situation allows. While bemused by the thought that the ideals underlying the teaching of the humanities are considerably older than the modern age, not to mention mass higher education, so that one mismatch may well deserve another, I came across quite by chance an article by one of our very few homegrown philosophers of educational technology, a remarkable man by the name of Francis Meynard, who writes regularly for a Bulletin called BIP-BIP, put out by the Quebec Ministry of Education. Perhaps readers will not mind a clumsy attempt at transmitting a few selected lines of his argument in an imperfectly ASCIIfied version of the original, just to give a soupcon of its flavor. In a piece entitled "L'Igloo et l'ordinateur", in the May 1989 issue of BIP-BIP (No. 52), Meynard has this to say: Notre systeme d'education dans ses finalites vise a l'epanouissement complet de la personne des apprenants; a la comprehension par chacun des notions acquises; a l'apprentissage d'habiletes, de methodes et de structures; et pas seulement au rabachage de notions toutes faites. Or, cet ideal, partage heureusement par les maitres, n'est pas de type industriel. Il exige le "preceptorat" ou les cours prives ou un maitre consacre tout son temps a un seul eleve ou l'education est englobee dans la relation vecue entre les deux. ...Ce fut une erreur et un echec de tenter d'industrialiser l'education. Le porte-a-faux ainsi cree entre la pedagogie non industrialisable et l'organisation scolaire industrialisee, explique en effet une bonne part des difficultes actuellement vecues par nos systemes scolaires.... Il est donc devenu urgent de se mettre a post-industrialiser l'education. ...On peut obtenir de l'information "prete-a-porter sur-mesure" adaptable a chaque cas individuel. On peut, grace aux instruments intelligents, tendre vers une excellence de l'education pour tous, basee non sur la quantite, mais sur la qualite. On peut enfin faire des maitres des communicateurs pedagogiques professionels, a condition de leur fournir les outils adaptes a cet objectif.... Les maitres seront-ils capables de vivre ce passage a une ere nouvelle et d'accepter la reformation necessaire?.... I am sure readers steeped in the kinds of textological cryptography so often alluded to in these electronic pages will have no trouble supplying most, if not all of the missing diacritical marks. Whether they will be as quick to engage the underlying premise remains to be seen. Sterling Beckwith Music and Humanities York University Toronto, Canada From: Duane Harbin <DHARBIN@YALEVM> Subject: Re: 3.636 humanists and computers, cont. (79) Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 15:03:11 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1016 (1313) While I sympathize with Leslie Morgan's concern, and I agree that it would be a misplacement of priorities to require students to use computers for the sake of using computers, I have begun to feel that some level of skill at computing is fundamental to functionality in our society in general and academia in particular. Certainly this opinion is felt in virtually every public school district in the U.S. While I wouldn't want to push the analogy too hard, requiring some level of computer literacy seems to me no more "Big Brother-ly" than requiring that term papers be typed. (That should be baldly enough stated to cause some reaction.) On another point entirely, let us PLEASE not get embroiled in another debate on the relative merits and demerits of particular hardware/operating systems. I work in DOS, MAC, Ibycus, and VM/CMS environments, and none of them is perfect for all things and all people. Each of them has some perfectly maddening characteristics, and some things which they do wonderfully. Let us agree to disagree, and not trouble our sisters and brothers of other persuasions. I do however, object strenuously to the notion that administrative personnel should decide what equipment scholars will use. Being an administrative type myself, this is probably treasonous. However, it is a direct consequence of my previous point; not all hardware is suitable for all people. If I know that a particular piece of hardware will not do what is expected of it, that is another matter. But I wouldn't enforce my preference for DOS machines and command language on someone else. Rather than debating the relative merits of systems, I think we could be more productive in insisting that different flavors of systems and software communicate with each other without requiring heroic efforts in translation. In this I congratulate the designers at Apple for going the second mile and building the MAC II system with the capability of reading DOS diskettes. Duane Harbin Systems & Planning Manager Yale University Divinity School Library 409 Prospect Street New Haven. CT 06511 USA (203) 432-5296 From: "Oliver G. Berghof" <oberghof@next.acs.uci.edu> Subject: NeXT? Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 01:19:38 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1017 (1314) Given the recent query about the equipment of European humanists I'd like to ask all HUMANISTs who have NeXT's available to report on their experiences. The NeXT includes a fair amount of tools for HUMANISTs, and I would be interested to see whether the venerable members plan on using any of its more advanced features (like Object-C and Common Lisp) to build their own programs. many thanks in advance yours Oliver Berghof University of California - Irvine oberghof@next.acs.uci.edu or eahg010@orion.uci.edu From: H J Blumenthal <AR01@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK> Subject: Greek and MS Word Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 07:33:40 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1018 (1315) A query from a not yet networked colleague:does anyone know of packages that will do Ancient Greek, with all the diacritics, compatibly with MS Word (latest version = ? 5) ? Henry Blumenthal, Dept. of Classics and Archaeology, Liverpool From: "Kevin L. Cope" <ENCOPE@LSUVM> Subject: job adverts Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 08:29:44 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 647 (1316) Let's not ban yet another topic on HUMANIST. Job advertisements are useful. There are many job opportunities which appear on HUMANIST which do not appear in standard references like the MLA list or which could be filled by readers who would not be looking in the appropriate professional journal. A little while ago, one grammotist pointed out that very few members of the HUMANIST audience would read the list were it really only concerned with computing in the humanities. Moreover, it would seem that HUMANIST would want to promote the employment of its members in various aspects of academic labor, if opnly to infiltrate the profession! From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: reRAPOPORT@MCMASTER Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 20:03:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1019 (1317) IF THIS REACHES YOU, re Sorabji, I would be willing to bet a dime that the poetry, I bend to the rose, etc. is a translation from the Persian. But whose? Hafez? Rumi? Ask some scholar of Persian Literature. Prof Banani of UCLA, my colleague, has no modem, and still cannot format his texts after 4 years with his Mac Plus. But he knows his stuff, and we have done lots of Persian translations. You could write him: Prof Amin Banani, Persian Literature & History, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA. Jascha Kessler. Of course it might be a modern Persian, but who? The rhyme tells me, though it is not metered at all like Classical Persian, that is taken from an old poem, and revised for the jingle...but...? From: "Kevin L. Cope" <ENCOPE@LSUVM> Subject: Ideo-cartographic Projections of Fair Augusta Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 08:33:44 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1020 (1318) HELP! I'm looking for images of London (or for that matter any British, European, or world city) in which the city is stylized as a spiral, a vortex, a labyrinth, or any other quasi- or post- or super-circular configuration. I'm most interested in eighteenth-century images (for example, any illustrations of Gay's _TRIVIA_, or the like), but would settle for any period. This is a humanities and computers issue as I am authoring a piece for the journal SYMMETRY on spirals, graphics, etcetera. Also, if such images are found, I'd like to know whether copies can be obtained and reproduction permissions secured. Thank you! Yours in Liberace, Kevin L. Cope ENCOPE@LSUVM Dept. of English Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70803, U. S. A.; (504) 388-2864/' (504)766-2719. From: Donald Spaeth 041 339 8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Subject: The fuss of DOS Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 12:39:14 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1021 (1319) The problem isn't commands like ERASE or COPY. It's knowing that the right syntax to copy from a hard disk to a floppy might be something like COPY C:›master›document A:master.doc And far more. Two other points. There are two reasons for teaching DOS. (1) Software you wish to use may be only available in that format, e.g. WordCruncher, MicroOCP, SPSS/PC, Nota Bene and many others. (I echo a comment someone made yesterday here.) I like Macs but DOS has a wider range of specialised software. (2) IBM-lookalikes control around 90% of the commercial market, so if part of the purpose of computer literacy is to prepare students for the real world then DOS will do a better job. DOS may be awful but then so are most operating systems students may encounter. (One aside: all this MAY change with OS/2 Extended Edition, which will be Mac-like. But OS/2 could flop. (OS/2 is IBM's new system intended to replaced DOS. It means "Operating System 2". How do they think of these names?!)) Cheers, Don Spaeth Computers in Teaching Centre for History University of Glasgow d.a.spaeth @ glasgow.ac.uk (JANET) From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: The Fuss over DOS (158) Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 07:01:34 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1022 (1320) --- "Kevin L. Cope" <ENCOPE@LSUVM> wrote: A grammotist recently argues on HUMANIST that DOS is hard, time-consuming, and perhaps not the appropriate language for novice users of humanities computing equipment. But what is so darned hard about it? Is it learning strange words like COPY, ERASE, or RENAME? I thought HUMANISTS would already know words like these. KLC. --- end of quoted material --- Interestingly, COPY, ERASE and RENAME are themselves not legitimate commands! Isn't it something like: a:copy b:home/wksm7/trnsfr/jkmsde.* c:text/archiv/nov assuming you've remembered that drive a has the command.com file, that you've got your temporary storage file name letter with 8 letter abbreviations letter perfect, and that you've remembered to format drive c with the proper format command? Of course, since humanists can and do learn Urdu and Chinese, they can learn DOS. They could learn assembler as well, and have much greater power at their disposal. The possibility of learning these things, if one is sufficiently motivated, seems somehow to miss the point. From: Alvin Snider <ASNIDEPD@UIAMVS> Subject: Uno DOS Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 17:15 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1023 (1321) Kevin Cope raises two interesting questions. The common practice of downgrading MS/DOS for its difficulty and "unnaturalness" rests on the dubious assumption that iconic representations are somehow semiotically transparent or more intuitive. Some of us who mainly use character-based applications find the process of decoding, dragging, and clicking less attractive than the crude- but-efficient command line. I confess myself guilty of a linear bias and to the crime of grammocentrism. But I do not look forward to the prospect of mousing around under compulsion. When I logged onto this mainframe a short while ago, I saw little evidence of glitzy graphical interfaces rendering line commands obsolete. The second argument against DOS, its antiquatedness, seems no more convincing as a reason for abolition. Mac users pride themselves on technology developed by Xerox (correct me if I'm wrong) years ago. The future lies in maximum flexibility not uniformity. The introduction of OS/2 seems to me a cynical attempt to capture an upscale market for vastly expensive versions of existing products. By contrast, the announced introduction of Unix V 4.0 next week (see _NYT_ 25 Oct., p.29), which will run on all classes of computers, might be just the thing to shake up current hegemonies. Still, we should remember that from the corporate standpoint, all such developments simply aim at blowing one's competitors out of the water. We shouldn't let the discussion take on the urgency of doctrinal warfare or willingly play the role of True Believers. From: <HALPORNJ@IUBACS> Subject: COMPUTERS AND HUMANISTS Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 10:25 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1024 (1322) Although I am a hardcore DOS user (the hard disk on my MAC is named C:), the recent quarrels about DOS and MAC and humanists seem to be arguments about the wrong things. Kevin Cope is right in saying that the words copy, erase, delete, etc. shouldn't cause any trouble, but those are only minor DOS features. How many humanists know how to write batch files? I am leaving aside such esoterica as creating a virtual external drive in order to format a 3.5 disk at 720K. And try and understand how to do it reading the PC-DOS manual! Everyone would agree that the PC- and MS-DOS manuals are among the most abstruse documents ever written. On the MAC side, if, like me, you have poor hand-eye coordination, you have more trouble getting the little icon on top of a little icon for copying than writing the word copy at the DOS prompt. I am not happy with the eight character limitation in DOS filenames, but I can hardly approve of finding MAC files listed under the program icon. But the faults are not in the operating systems, but in the folks who write the programs. For all the praise I hear on HUMANIST of WordPerfect, does no one complain of the three deep nested function keys? You have to buy an add-on program to get pull-down menus for DOS WordPerfect. And installing a printer to WordPerfect takes skills far beyond the ability of many of us. A much more sensible word processing program is PC-Write but of course, since it is costs so little, few computer users will consider it. And that is a program in which the ordinary user can learn to modify print files (they're written in ASCII code). The same problem is true of the hardware manufacturers. Everyone complains that the cursor on the laptops is too small. Do the manufacturers of these expensive machines do anything to cure this? No, you have to buy an add-on for c. $35 to get a larger cursor. It's like buying an American car -- everything is an additional option. So don't blame the operating systems, blame the folks that sell you the programs and the machines. For starters, we probably need to get a few humanists (who can write English and who know how to teach) to write the program documentation. Second, we should train our future users to figure out what they need and want. Many couldn't care less about a plethora of fonts, or for a program that allows you to use ten different printers at the same time, or one that can put six windows and five columns on a page. Nor do we care to have a program that allows us to print envelopes on a laser printer or create mail merge files. And we can only accomplish this by teaching beginners, in the way most people have had to learn to drive and to type. Unfortunately, every course I have ever taken at a computing center (and I began in the 60s with a course in FORTRAN) has been simply TERRIBLE. None of the people had the slightest skill in oral presentation, did not know how to produce good handouts or other illustrative materials. Many of them were more intent on showing off their expertise than in explaining. Perhaps it's because many of them are scientists or engineers, like those organic chemistry professors and lab assistants of mine at Columbia who prided themselves on giving disorganized lectures and failing as many students as they could. Instead of arguing the merits of the operating systems and programs we should spend more time in considering not requiring students to use computers, but in seeing to it that they can have a decent opportunity to learn how to use the equipment properly. Maybe industry can do a better job. I know that I learned more about proper chemistry techniques when working for the Mobil Oil Co. than I did in all my courses in college. Or perhaps what we need are more computer specialists like Jan Eveleth (Yale), whose comments on HUMANIST are models of explanation. James W. Halporn, Classical Studies/Comparative Literature, Indiana U, Bloomington, IN (HALPORNJ@IUBACS or HALPORNJ@AQUA.BACS.INDIANA.EDU). From: <HALPORNJ@IUBACS> Subject: INTERNET QUERY Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 10:26 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 650 (1323) Many thanks for the listing of INTERNET address for libraries. Can anyone supply an INTERNET address for the University of Illinois Library at Champaign-Urbana? James W. Halporn, Indiana U, Bloomington, IN HALPORNJ@IUBACS HALPORNJ@AQUA.BACS.INDIANA.EDU From: Stuart Moulthrop <SMOULTHR@YALEVM> Subject: MLA session: Hypertext and Lit. Theory Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 14:00:15 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 651 (1324) Any humanists with an interest in hypertext and literary theory are welcome to attend a special session on that subject at this year's MLA convention in Washington (session S270, noon-1:15 in Monroe East of the Hilton). The speakers will be George Landow of Brown University, Jay David Bolter of the University of North Carolina, and Terence Harpold of the University of Pennsylvania. I'm also trying to organize a social event for those interested in hypertext and electronic writing systems, time and place to be arranged -- a followup on last year's Hypertext Dinner. -- Stuart Moulthrop (SMOULTHR@YALEVM, bitnet). From: Geoffrey Rockwell <Geoffrey_Rockwell@poczta.utcs.utoronto.ca> Subject: Mac Text Indexing Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 11:41:38 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1025 (1325) I recently saw a set of HyperCard extensions called HyperSearch, from Voyager. The extensions allow you to index the text in a HyperCard stack and search it. It's main advantage is that the package is around 119.95 $ (US). Indexed stacks can be distributed for 3.00 $ (US) a copy. If you want the include the resources so that the user of your stack can reindex it, that is an additional 15 $ fee. While this is still not free, as programs like TACT are, it is closer. Voyager can be reached at (614) 761 2000. Let me add that I have not tested the product, so I cannot comment on its quality. Geoffrey Rockwell rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca Toronto From: "Diane P. Balestri" <BALESTRI@PUCC> Subject: EDUCOM's new direction Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 13:15:29 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1026 (1326) I was pleased to read Norm Coombs' description of this year's EDUCOM conference, and I want to add one dimension to what he had to say about the receptiveness of EDUCOM to the interests of groups such as HUMANIST. For the last few years, a group of volunteer individuals has been working within EDUCOM on a set of projects collectively called the EDUCOM Software Initiative. These projects have resulted in books, pamphlets, collections of materials, sur veys, etc (the best known is probably the brochure "Using Software" that outlin es issues related to the legal and ethical uses of software)--all related to th e USE of information technologies. Understandably, the volunteer group has bee n mixed, including computing support administrators, faculty, academic administ rators, and vendors. Steve Gilbert, an EDUCOM VP, has been the leader of this group, which has grown itself into a lively movement within EDUCOM. From the point of view of HUMANISTs, the most significant event of the EDUCOM conference, I think, was the announcement by EDUCOM Pres. Ken King that the activities of the Software Initiative are now to be expanded and made co-centra l with Networking as THE programmatic interest of EDUCOM. The members of the Software Initiative present at EDUCOM '89 voted for a nine member committee that will work with the Board of EDUCOM to define directions and projects for EDUCOM that will enhance the USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING. At the moment, this program in EDUCOM is called EUIT for "Educational Uses of Information Technology". If you would like to keep up with the developments of this new program, you should ask EDUCOM for a subscription to (What is still called) the ESI Newslett er. (send a message to EDEN@EDUCOM). If you have thoughts about ways in which a consortium such as EDUCOM can have a national impact on the character and quality of educational uses of information technology, you can send me a message directly (I am a co-chair of the member committee for EUIT, along with Peter Lyman who heads the Center for Scholarly Technology at USC). From: Jan Eveleth <EVELETH@YALEVM> Subject: Computer Software Rental Amendments Act of 1989 Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 13:42:47 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1027 (1327) For those interested in the notice about Senate Bill 198 (Computer Software Rental Amendments Act of 1989), here is some interesting information. The Judiciary Committee was to have voted on this Oct. 25. They didn't. The woman I spoke with in Washington (tucked away in some office of which I didn't catch the name) said that it probably wouldn't get to vote before mid November. There is still time to express your views on this bill before the vote. The committee meets again on Nov. 2. It would be safer to get in touch with your senator prior to that time, but you will *probably* have a bit of leeway beyond that. Perhaps in an ideal future the libraries and computing services of our academic institutions should be under one financial and administrative roof, but such a move should be made at the discretion of each institution when it is appropriate to do so. The move should not have to be forced by a bill that sounds very much like it was designed by software corporations as a means of increasing their income. If I read the bill correctly, I'm opposed. Jan Eveleth Yale University From: Donald Spaeth 041 339 8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Subject: Software, Documentation Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 12:08:46 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1028 (1328) Much as I like Nota Bene, I must respond to Daniel Boyarin's promotion of it for "foreign" word-processing, in order to save HUMANISTs from possibly spending money unnecessarily. ANY top-level word-processor will be able to word-process in German, Spanish and all other romance languages (but portuguese). Certainly, Microsoft Word and WordPerfect can, and so can many other packages. This is because such characters as the s-zed, reverse-? and !, as well as umlauted, acuted, etc. vowels are in the IBM Extended Character Set. If you press the right keys, these characters will appear on your screen, even on the old IBM PC with MDA display. In Word, for example, the sequence Alt-173 will produce an upside down exclamation mark. The ability to print these characters depends upon your printer-- what type it is, whether your wp software includes a driver for your printer, and how good a job they've done of writing their drivers. If you have a cheap dot-matrix printer, not all "foreign" characters will be available at the same time. One of the purposes of a printer driver is to convert the extended codes (e.g. ASCII 173) to the appropriate printer codes to switch to the right language (e.g. Spanish) and print the right character (e.g. upside down !). You will have problems only if no driver is supplied for your software or if the makers have been lazy. For example, earlier versions of Word only had a small number of Epson drivers and tended to take simple short-cuts--an a-acute might be produced by the sequence, a-backspace-singlequote, rather than the proper a-acute in the extended character set. So someone may need to write a new driver from scratch or modify an old one. (Most dot matrix printers are EpsonFX80 compatible nowadays, so you can at least try that driver.) This is an argument for using a package supported by your Computing Service or known (well) by friends. Where Nota Bene scores is in its Special Language Supplements which make available characters not in the Extended set, for example, Portuguese, Scandinavian and Central European diacritics and non-roman alphabets. It's also true to say that the key-layout is well-designed so that producing "common" diacritics like a-acute is easier to learn and remember than with other packages. (Alt-173?!) DOCUMENTATION: Nota Bene also scores on its documentation, which is easily the best for a word-processor that I have every read--clearly written and complete. It is a model for the industry. But this points up a problem. I recently heard that WordPerfect deliberately made its documentation simplistic (and unhelpful) because their market research told them that secretaries wouldn't want a package with good/lengthy documentation! And I know that many people are put off by NB's documentation, too frightened to crack the 800 page-filled binder and read the clear prose. In fact, in my experience, most users don't read documentation, however good or bad it is. They'd rather ask someone for help than plough through pages looking for what they want. Partly, this is because documentation is designed upside down, by function rather than application. But it would be hard to write a manual which thought of every major application, and in any case manuals written in this fashion (as most tutorials are) are difficult to use as reference tools. And, even with good documentation, users would rather ask. (Lest you think I'm being patronising I'd rather ask than read, too, and reading manuals is part of my job!) Cheers, Don Spaeth Computers in Teaching Centre for History University of Glasgow d.a.spaeth @ glasgow.ac.uk (JANET) Word can, WordPerfect can From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.646 NeXT? Greek and MS Word? (49) Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 06:43:51 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1029 (1329) --- Henry J Blumenthal,Classics and Archaeology, Liverpool <AR01@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK> wrote: ...does anyone know of packages that will do Ancient Greek, with all the diacritics, compatibly with MS Word (latest version = ? 5) ? --- end of quoted material --- Allotype Typographics, Ann Arbor, MI, 313-663-1989 sells Kadmos font in a couple of different keyboard layouts. It includes a screen (bitmapped) font and a PostScript font for LaserWriter output; both sides include all combinations of breathing/diacritics and additional characters used in particular areas of study. Linguist's software, Edmunds, Washington, sells Laser Greek which has similar capability. These are Macintosh products compatible with Microsoft Word for Mac. From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: criteria Date: 27 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1030 (1330) I canna resist. For those of you who have heard this before, forgive me. Some years of using, reviewing, and brushing up against software have convinced me that we still don't understand very clearly how to sort the sheep from the goats. The features of a program are certainly important, but so often we ask only what a given program can do and not how it does what it does. I don't mean what steps the program follows internally, rather the logic of its design. Software has grown sufficiently subtle as a medium that the artifacts we build with it show something of ourselves, just as Michelangelo's David radiates the artist's vision of humanity. To say that wordprocessors A and B can both do Greek is about as sophisticated a statement as saying that two statues both have arms and legs. I have often wondered if we could not learn something from the artists, art critics, and art historians about how to approach the artifacts that concern us. I was talking today with a very well educated professor of religious studies who told me that he found Nota Bene too complicated. I in turn told him that my son, when he was 11, taught himself how to use NB without much reference to the manual. My son is now 13 and has been using it ever since for his school reports. He's a fine boy but not particularly adept with computers. From this I conclude that the supposed "difficulty" is really something else -- more nearly an incompatibility between the mind of the user and the mind manifested in the software. The real question is, then, what criteria do we use for the evaluation of software that will take us beyond the tiresome comparison of features? How do we describe the mentality of software? Willard McCarty From: <S_RICHMOND@UTOROISE> Subject: Computer,Youth & Humanists Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 08:56 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1031 (1331) Re:Computer,Youth,& Humanists -------------------------------- Recently as a parent volunteer for my child's Kindergarten class, I helped out with the children on the computers. The kids caught on quickly, while some of the parents who came around were easily flustered. I also had to drag them away from the computers. Older elementary school children came into use the busy computer centre during their recess time. The place was humming with activity. As someone remarked, computers belong to the young. Why? Is it that old humanists's minds (and bodies) are incapable of using keyboards, remembering 'commands', or thinking in linear and looping manners? My hunch is that as we go through school, at least in the old days of education, we are taught that making mistakes is terrible. Unfortunately, implanting bugs and de-bugging is an intrinsic part not only of novice-learning, but of sophisticated programming life. (See Weinberg's "The Psychology of Computer Programming", a classic in the new field.) The computer is not merely a new device to make things go faster. Rather it is part of a revolution in the self-comprehension of humanity. We are coming to realize that the supposedly essential features of humanity, such as thinking and dreaming, are abstract features that can be realized in alien physical structures, whether computers or cities. (See Haugeland's excellent introductory book, "A.I., The Very Idea".) Unfortunately, many humanists are forming the rear-guard in the appreciation of the latest intellectual advances triggered by the development of the idea of computation. -------------------------- Sheldon Richmond From: "Richard C. Taylor" <6297TAYLORR@MUCSD> Subject: Comment re. Humanities and Computers Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 23:47:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1032 (1332) Three years ago I wrote into my syllabus for a graduate philosophy course on Aristotle (required of grad students here at Marquette) that all written materials (papers, questions, responses, critiques, presentations, etc.) had to be done on computers. I had several reasons for this, among them (a) it makes it easier to comment or respond to student work and to keep a record of the student work and the comments given, and (b) it would enhance the quality of the students' work (because of the ease of revision, etc.) and ultimately enhance their marketability since they would generate more publishable work, etc. (This latter has indeed happened. All recent doctoral candidates placed in jobs -- most of them have been tenure track -- are computer users and had several publications at the time of their assuming their new jobs.) This seemed reasonable to me since we already require that papers, etc. be typed. Moreover, Marquette provides free and unlimited access to the university mainframe system and the philosophy dept. provides 7-8 hrs per day free access to a microcomputer room with 7 micros with all software provided. Computer classes were and continue to be offered as well as individual instruction for interested grad students and faculty. I thought that I was merely being a bit forward thinking and very helpful to the grad students. They protested, but I remained firm and offered to teach them individually how to use either the mainframe or the micros (MSDOS or TRSDOS) for their work. But, unsatisfied, they appealed to the Dept. chair and to the Director of the grad program. I was then compelled (I was untenured at the time but still put up a stink before capitulating) to reverse my directive on computers. The reasoning was that I was requiring the students to use something similar to a foreign language which they did not already know and which was not mentioned in the initial course description as required. I argued that requiring that they do papers on a computer was more like requiring that the papers be typed. The other argument (the foreign language argument) won out because neither the chair nor the grad director had any familiarity with computers at the time. After I cooled down, however, I was convinced by a more astute colleague that I need not fight such a battle. As he put it, more and more students are learning how to use computers and in time the problem of computer illiteracy will vanish. Or, alternatively, the grad students who refuse to use computers will ultimately vanish, as did the other dinosaurs. In other words, and I think this is right, I was prematurely fighting a battle that time would ultimately render needless. And even here at Marquette over the last three years there has been computer revolution and my friend's reasoning has proved sound. This doesn't mean that everyone is a computer user, but of 29 fulltime philosophy faculty at least 25 now own computers and 90% of them use them nearly daily. Of the graduate students, nearly 100% of those who are successful in the program use them. Dick Taylor Philosophy Dept. Marquette University Milwaukee, WI 53233 BITNET: "6297TAYL@MUCSD" From: JZ_UFI@JHUVMS.BITNET Subject: Love and BITNET Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 04:18 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 655 (1333) Greetings! I am new to the Humanist but I wish to become an active member. I hate to begin my first communication with a plea but I am quite desperate. My fiance is studying at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) campus in Bologna, Italy (on the campus of the University of Bologna). I found five BITNET nodes there and she went to all of them but none wanted to grant her access. If anyone out there is located in that area or have contacts who are, I would appreciate any assistance you could give me in gaining access to Audrey once or twice a week to better communicate with me and with her family. The mail is taking over two weeks. We are not rich but we are willing to pay for this access. It can't be much more than the phone, can it? Thank you for your time and consideration. Jonathan Zuck JZ_UFI@JHUVMS From: <J_CERNY@UNHH> Subject: An intriguing address Date: Thu, 26 Oct 89 08:12 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1033 (1334) The following address showed up in a broadcast to the list info-nets@think.com and I thought it would momentarily interest some HUMANISTS. Cassius_Gaius_Longinus@CC.SFU.CA Jim Cerny, Computing and Information Services, Univ. N.H. j_cerny@unhh From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Re: 3.638 detecting acronyms? (28) Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 22:11:43 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1034 (1335) I've worked on detecting acronyms, but only in upper/lowercase text--where the task is to find the meaning of the acronym. How did you come by an all upper case version of `Mendelian Inheritance in Man'? From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: WrdProc XEDIT: formatting macro for VM/CMS Date: 29 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1035 (1336) Jim Coombs (IRIS, Brown) has once again contributed a very useful piece of software to Humanist, his WrdProc XEDIT routine. This routine allows the user to reformat a text under VM/CMS in various ways, as described in the opening part of the documentation, attached below. My thanks to Dr. Coombs for his generosity. Willard McCarty - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WrdProc: XEDIT Word Processing Program, Version 3.0 (C)Copyright James H. Coombs 1984 Use the WrdProc program to format lines of text. The lines may be concatenated, concatenated and justified, or centered. Blank lines may be discarded or retained, and the first line after a blank line may begin a paragraph or a hanging indent. In addition, each line may be bracketed by strings of characters; this is primarily for formatting delimited comments in programs but may also be used for creating fancy borders in notes, etc. This version of WrdProc has the capacity to format letters and other simple documents. It is probably most useful, however, for cleaning up files that have been edited heavily. With a single command, you can regularize the length of the lines so that as much text as possible is displayed on the screen. In addition, the spacing between words and after punctuation is automatically regularized. Lines beginning with SCRIPT control words, however, are left intact, as are lines in blocks for which the SCRIPT concatenation function has been shut off. [text and program deleted here] -------------------- [A complete version of this document is now available on the file-server, s.v. WRDPROC XEDIT. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: well!isast@uunet.UU.NET Subject: CRECH Date: Tue, 17 Oct 89 15:04:18 pdt X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1036 (1337) Daniel Garric, a journalist for the French paper Le Point and Claire Vercken, a former philosophy professor, are opening a private university in Paris , CRECH (Centre de Recherche European de Creation Hypermedia). The CRECH curriculm will center on general culture as it relates to multi-media, cognitive science, the study of multimedia technology and hypermedia. Contact: CRECH, 6 rue St. Severin, 75005, Paris, FRANCE From: Jim O'Donnell (Classics, Penn) Subject: Computer use and Publishing (not Perishing) Date: 27 Oct 89 21:49:45 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1037 (1338) In my service on the editorial board of the journal TRADITIO, a journal of noticeably traditional scholarship in ancient and medieval philosophy and literature, I noticed already two years ago that fourteen of fifteen articles accepted for the journal for that year were prepared on computer; the one exception was from outside continental U.S. I didn't bother checking this year, but would be surprised if the percentage were any lower. From: <MDHARRIS@GUVAX> Subject: Computing, humanities, and age Date: Sun, 29 Oct 89 15:54 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1038 (1339) I cannot resist adding my 2 cents worth to the continuing discussion of does computing best: the young or the old. I will begin with an anecdote from several years ago. A research project concerning attitudes toward computers started by having children andtheir parents visit a computer lab. When they arrived, there was no staff in the room to tell them what to do, but they were observed through a two-way mirror. Invariably, the children immediately went to the computers and started trying things while the parents remained in the middle of the room waiting for instruction. Should I say more? Second point: this last week I celebrated (?) the 25th anniversary of my initial employment with IBM as a programmer (an assembly language programmer on a 7094/7044 machine for NASA). At that time I was considered an excellent programmer . I still work in the computer field, but I currently do very little programming. There are two reasons for that, one that I worked up to doing design, concept development, and project management instead, and the other that I am not a very good programmer any more. I believe that if I had continued to program regularly on a given computer in a particular language (e.g. Pascal), that I would be better than I am now, but I think the talent wanes. Compare that with the fact that most important mathematical principles have been developed by young mathematicians. Us oldsters have other talents that do not develop until later. Think of Goethe, Ben Franklin, and other elder statesmen of the intellect. Third point: when MLA was last in Los Angeles (I've forgotten the year), I remember having coffee with a professor of English who was teaching a technical writing course. He complained bitterly about his students using a computer to do outlines. He said, "Everyone knows you know do outlines better with a pencil and paper." I asked if he had ever tried using a computer, and he had to admit he hadn't. That was the same year that the ACH sponsored session on computers in writing programs had so many people trying to get in that the room wouldn't hold them all, even with people on every square foot of the floor. Things have changed for the better. Mary Dee Harris mdharris@guvax.bitnet mdharris@guvax.georgetown.edu From: <MDHARRIS@GUVAX> Subject: Teaching computing Date: Sun, 29 Oct 89 16:03 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1039 (1340) In response to the complaint that all the computer classes one HUMANIST had encountered were taught badly by someone more interested in impressing than teaching, I must say that an observation of that sort is clearly not restricted to computing instructors. I had more boring humanities teachers than science, math, or computing. Since I have taught both English (composition and literature) and computer science (nearly everything from programming to digital design), I would point out that teaching is hard work, no matter what the discipline. Teaching well is even harder. I noticed that teaching programming and teaching composition are very similar in many ways. Both require preliminary organization of one's thoughts. Both require follow through to make certain those thoughts are followed to a conclusion. Doing either well (programming or writing) is only done "hands-on." Too much concentration on syntax in either case obscures the real substance of the process. I was trained in both math/science/computing and in humanities. I feel that I am better at both because I studied the other. From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: some wider responsibilities? Date: 29 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1040 (1341) Justice Michael Kirby, president of the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of New South Wales (Australia), spoke recently in Guelph, Ontario (Canada) about the threat posed by computing technology to basic freedoms. In a workshop on the place of computers in ethics and technology, Justice Kirby pointed out that incursion of computers into ordinary life has happened far faster than the evolution of law and institutional structures. The pervasive dependence on machines for vital information of all kinds, and the rapidly developing efforts to link together information in various databanks, gives new meaning to the privacy of individuals, Justice Kirby pointed out. "The age of informatics runs the risk that we surrender all our human values in the name of efficiency." Kirby made reference, for example, to tamper-proof identity cards used by the Nazis to identify their Jewish citizens in certain countries and the effects this technique had on the efficiency of their operations. While it lies not within our bailiwick to discuss ethics as such, it seems to me that Justice Kirby's remarks do say something about the need for humanists to teach young students about computers and technology in a wide cultural context. The momentum of technology would seem irresistible, but the uses to which it is put just may be something we can influence. Consider, for example, the spreading use of iron over bronze and stone long ago. Poetic record preserves the ancient sense of evil entering the world with the discovery of iron (e.g., Hesiod's Iron Age; the use of "iron" in the Bible), just as we have felt for years the threat to individuals from massively interlinked computing systems. One can imagine that with the superior killing power granted armies by the use of iron swords and shields, ethical issues were also given a sharper edge, and philosophers made more vital. (Someone aware of the evidence please comment.) So, it would seem, teaching humanists have very little choice in the matter, and no technologically incompetent humanist, however keen his ethical and social sense, is likely to be suffered gladly by the new crop of students. Personal computers, it should be pointed out, can just as well be instruments of freedom, even subversion (in the sense of my youth), as Big Brother's little brother. Comments? Yours, Willard McCarty From: Ken Steele <KSTEELE@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Growing Pains? Date: Sat, 28 Oct 89 14:28:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1041 (1342) I understand Willard's recent decision to eliminate non- computing job postings from HUMANIST, in the interest of maintaining focus; the decision is perfectly reasonable, and under the circumstances the only real option. Yet I am sure I am not alone in feeling some regret that the jobs for which I will ultimately be applying are considered irrelevant or tangential to the largest and most active e-mail list in which I participate, and (I believe) in the humanities as a whole. I suspect that the recent controversy over the relevance / value of "technical" discussion versus "miscellaneous" notes and queries is also symptomatic of a larger issue: must electronic scholarly discussion be limited to electronic scholarship? Understandably, the first BITNET discussion groups in the humanities evolved around humanities computing subjects, first HUMANIST, then COMPUTERS AND COMPOSITION DIGEST, the TEXT ENCODING INITIATIVE, and recently GUTNBERG. Yet increasingly, non- technical lists such as ENGLISH, LITERARY, REED-L, and (just this week, I believe) WORDS-L, have been forming to bring non-computing discussion to electronic mail (and no doubt there are many of which I have yet to hear). Word of an evolving e-mail journal is also indicative of a change in the e-winds. I wonder if HUMANIST's recent controversies reflect the current growing pains of academic e-mail? I received a surprising amount of enthusiastic encouragement from members of HUMANIST for my (uncharacteristically) outspoken position on the question of technical queries. Could it be that a growing (although silent) minority are, like myself, computer- literate humanists rather than computing humanists, interested in discussing drama more often than DRAMs, Keats more than keyboards? The (successful) defence of notes & queries and (less successfully) of non-computing job postings on HUMANIST seems to suggest a growing need for a non-technical national or international discussion group. I have been observing BITNET discussions for less than a year now, and it may well be that I am misinterpreting these recent developments. I DO know how very difficult it is to convince humanities scholars who are NOT primarily interested in humanities computing to make use of e-mail, and I suspect that this shortage of voices helps to explain the considerable silences on the less technical lists. The silences may also be accounted for by the considerably greater anxiety which accompanies the putting forth of an academic argument as opposed to merely passing along technical information (at least this has been my experience). Are there enough discussion groups out there which fill this need? Are there scholars out there to fill these groups? Has anyone compiled a listing of BITNET humanities discussion groups? I look forward to answers, elaborations, opinions, and even perhaps even challenges. Ken Steele University of Toronto From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: limiting Humanist Date: 29 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1042 (1343) My thanks to Ken Steele for his thoughtful comments on yet another struggle over what we're about. The following is in part in response to his note, in part a response to other comments on related issues. In my mind there are two purposes for limiting the range of subjects we deem proper to Humanist. The first is to achieve focus, the second to avoid overburdening ourselves. So far we have gone about the first loosely and heuristically, as I think is appropriate to the nature of the medium and its novelty to us. We have established limits only when driven to do so and usually tried to find a way of staying in touch with the genii of the fringe. In doing so, we have both gained and lost, but as far as I can tell, we have gained more than lost, and to have done nothing at various points would have meant far more serious losses. We cherish deeply the myth of original innocence, as I think we should, but sometimes it interferes with clear thinking. So, we tend to think that once upon a time Humanist was exciting and free, and filled with possibilities, but that now it has become compromised and is getting limited and narrow. There may be truth in this story of decline, but what we do not have to accept is the notion that the dulling of Humanist, if that has taken place, is inevitable. Inevitability brings me to the second purpose. There is no sign that the growth of Humanist is levelling off, and with the increase in membership is bound to come an increase in the volume of mail. This has happened steadily and can readily be demonstrated. I see no way of avoiding a responding change in Humanist so that you and I are not forced to give this up because we can no longer cope with the volume of mail. The response must be, I think, to decide what subset of the whole range of possibles we want to call our own and to make every effort to sponsor or otherwise see that parallel seminars take up what we can no longer carry on. The real trick, and a fascinating problem, is to manage whatever we deem to be irrelevant. But more about that at the MLA..... In the matter of publishing adverts for jobs, I have difficulty understanding why this should not be the purpose of a separate group (run by the MLA for N. America or by a consortium of organizations world-wide?). Such a group wouldn't have to bother those who are not looking for jobs or seeking to have jobs filled, and it could easily accommodate inquiries from seekers. As sympathetic as I am to those who want "real" academic jobs or good people to fill them, I can't see that Humanist is the proper vehicle for advertizing positions innocent of computing. While wishing e-journals well, I have no sense that Humanist is going in that direction or should. The format of the seminar seems perfect for our purposes. And it will continue to be as lively and interesting as we make it. Comments? Willard McCarty From: Jim O'Donnell (Classics, Penn) Subject: WordPerfect foreign language capability Date: 27 Oct 89 21:44:35 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 660 (1344) Extended-ASCII vowels and diacriticals in WP can also be assigned to whatever mnemonically handy Ctl-key combinations the user prefers. In WP 4.1 and 4.2, this was easy: in WP 5.0 it is (like a lot of things, a bit more complicated and a bit underdocumented), but a few minutes reading the Keyboard Layout section of the manual and experimenting will let you put everything you need within a single key-combination of home position. From: <BCJ@PSUVM> Subject: Provenance? Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 21:03 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 661 (1345) Does anybody know whether there is a list of libraries (especially rare books collections) that keep a provenance catalogue (who previously owned the books)? Are such catalogues accessible electronically? -- Kevin Berland Penn State From: "Kevin L. Cope" <ENCOPE@LSUVM> Subject: A New Topic Erupts on HUMANIST Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 21:34:54 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1043 (1346) A grammoteer recently raised the topic of love and BITNET (although, one might assume, this epistolectron would extend his amity toward other networks). Is not the cementing of romantic relationships the ultimate Humanistization of computation? My wife and I often use BITNET for communication, often from adjacent terminals. Is this a common phenomenon in the HUMANIST community? We shall be able to bypass all bawdy (and spare Willard wear on his censor's finger)--as the laptop gradually gives way to the palmtop. From: Jim O'Donnell (Classics, Penn) Subject: Pedantry-gram Date: 27 Oct 89 21:59:02 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1044 (1347) At least I'm pretty sure Jim Halporn won't object if I raise a complaint about such forms as `grammocentric' and `grammotist' cropping up on HUMANIST. I don't mind the hybrid compounds, but would prefer to see an alpha in the middle, as `grammacentric', `grammatist', usw.: from Gk. gramma, grammatos. From: "Kevin L. Cope" <ENCOPE@LSUVM> Subject: "grammo" Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 08:40:09 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1045 (1348) Mr. Jim O'Donnell does well to recommend a revision in the spelling of words derived from "grammo." But he has made only one understandable error: he missed my lengthy examination of the origin of this term last year on SKEPTIC, and therefore could not have known that I derived the word only secondarily from the Greek, and primarily from a language secondary to Greek, Spanish. "Grammo," to be more specific, comes from Cuba, not Athens! KLC. From: John_Price-Wilkin@ub.cc.umich.edu Subject: 3.661 provenance catalogues? (19) Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 19:43:20 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1046 (1349) The MIRLYN she refers to is our online catalog, accessible through Internet. The RBSC is Rare Books and Special Collections. John Price-Wilkin University of Michigan I do not know of a *list* of libraries who keep provenance information but I expect many rare book libraries do maintain this kind of informa- tion. We do. Through August 1988 we maintained several manual files, e.g. the Autograph File and the Association File, both of which pertain to provenance. With the advent of MIRLYN, these names may be searched by using the a= search mode. So provenance information is available online for RBSC items cataloged since Michigan started using RLIN, i.e. since about 1979(?). Is this the kind of answer you think the Humanist Discussion Group was looking for? From: H J Blumenthal <AR01@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK> Subject: Re: 3.653 wordprocessors and criteria (157) Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 11:04:22 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1047 (1350) Reply to David Bantz re MS Word and Greek. Thank you for message, apparently re Mac system. User in question is now on IBM, but could perhaps be persuaded to change ! Henry Blumenthal, Classics and Archaeology, Liverpool From: LIBWDS@SUVM.BITNET Subject: CD ROM-Optical Disks -- Archival Storage Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 17:09:06 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 664 (1351) [The following has been borrowed with thanks from the PACS-L seminar. It is one of several on this subject. --W.M.] The interest in using optical and magnetic based systems for storage and dissemination is growing at an enormous rate. Unfortunately there are no standards for many of these devices and no available independent life expectancy testing of the various proposed media. Further, there is no assurance that the playback systems necessary to retrieve data will be supported in the long term by manufacturers. Major investments at this time are premature. Pushing in this direction however is not. Over-zealous marketing claims in this field have led to equally negative press about those claims. As a recent subscriber to PACS- L, the mail I have seen reflects these two poles of enthusiasm vs. skepticism. I would caution against this topic becoming a matter of "faith"-- those who would like to believe the problems have already been solved or those who would like to believe new technology simply isn't needed. Expeditious pragmatic study along with interaction with the manufacturing community is needed. This process has already begun. As of June 1989, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Formed the Joint Technical Commission on Optical and Magnetic Systems (including media). The United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) has begun support of a technical coordinating Committee to look at related concerns of the International Federations of Film, Video and Sound Archives. These are two of a number of groups that are trying to work together to access these technologies and allow users to make reasonable decisions for their application. Another example comes from the Audio Engineering Society's subcommittee for Audio Preservation and Restoration. This subcommittee is comprised of manufacturers and archivists. As of October 17, 1989 this group's consensus is that analog reel-to-reel tape is to be used for long term storage of audio signals. Digital storage media are not recommended at this time. Why? The primary concern is a lack of equipment standards that would insure data retrieval over a long time period. The marriage of the equipment with the media has become a number-one priority in the decision-making process. The following is a press release from the ANSI Commission: Permanence of Magnetics and Optical Disks Curators and users of magnetic materials and optical disks have been concerned with the lack of standards and specifications on the permanence of these media and the appropriate systems. This need has led to independent action by the Audio Engineering Society (Subcommittee S4) and by the American National Standards Institute (Committee IT9). These two organizations have recently joined forces and set up a Joint Technical Commission which will report both to Committee IT9 and AES. Twenty- five members attended the first organizational meeting of this commission in Syracuse, New York on June 19-20, 1989. At this meeting the following scope was agreed upon: "To write standards, test methods, recommended practices and specifications pertaining to the life expectancy and retrieval of information recorded on optical and magnetic systems (including media) and to promote communication and coordinate the exchange of information among those involved in this field." To accomplish these goals, five task groups were organized. Task Group I will prepare definitions dealing with the life expectancy of photographic film, magnetic materials and optical disks which can apply to all three media. Task Group II will prepare two storage and handling recommended procedures, one on magnetic material and the second on optical disks. Task Group III will prepare a document on transfer technology which will address the need to transfer from an obsolete media and/or format to a current one. Task Group IV will prepare specifications on optical systems and Task Group V on magnetic systems. In keeping with the scope of the commission, Task Groups IV and V will be involved not only with the permanence of the media itself but also the associated hardware and software. Organizations wishing to participate n the activities of these task groups should contact the co-chairmen of the commission, William Storm, Syracuse University, Belfer Audio Lab, 222 Waverly Ave., Syracuse, NY, 13244, or Peter Adelstein, Rochester Institute of Technology, Image Permanence Institute, RIT City Center, 50 W. Main St., Rochester, NY 14614. P. Adelstein W. Storm From: "A. GOLDBERG AND E. JENNINGS - ELECTRONIC JOURNAL Subject: Electronic Journal Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 14:58 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1048 (1352) Electronic texts in the humanities are not yet generally considered academic "publications." They are not likely to be taken seriously in the course of deliberations about tenure and promotion. This can be attributed, in part, to a latent, unchallenged premise--a default assumption--that ideas aren't quite real until they have been printed and bound and received in the mail. Another factor may be the reputation for informality that computer networks have usually sought, and gained. Perhaps most restraining, though, is awareness of how pushy it would be to put forward "ideas" whose merit remained unacknowledged by one's peers. But an edited and refereed "paperless" journal, one devoted to electronic texts and the implications of the medium, would stand a good chance of acquiring legitimacy even if (and perhaps because) it appeared principally on-line. What's more, network communications ought to permit speedy exchange of submitted texts; reading, critiquing, revising and distributing ought to happen faster than with paperbound media. We are proposing such a project. Here are a few of the subjects we imagine might be discussed on the screens of a forum called *BIT.TXT* or *NET.TXT*. Please imagine each of these "headings" and listed items intersecting with other items and headings to generate other subjects. MEDIA: digitized information: visual, audial, alphanumeric; disks, CDs, networks; micros and minis and mainframes (including parallel processors, neural networks); hypertext, relational databases, spread sheets .... GENRES: essays, fiction (interactive, aleatoric...), drama, ethnography, criticism, memoranda, committee writing, satire .... SUBJECTS: education (distance learning, collaboration ...); cultural evolution; intellectual history; futurology; semiotic and information theory; technology and literature and theory and criticism; index/filter/categorization/abstraction approaches to overloads of information .... PROFESSION/DISCIPLINE: role of journals; marginalizing of technophiles; pedagogy; psycho/socio/eco implications of it all ... We are looking for people interested in participating in all parts of such a project, as possible contributors, referees, or subscribers (who would receive announcements of "articles" that have been reviewed and are available for distribution). If enough people show enough interest, we will circulate some ideas about procedures, and ask for contributions. If you are interested, please write to us at either of the addresses listed below. Feel free to ask if we would be interested in considering a specific piece you are working on. We are looking forward to hearing from you. Edward M. Jennings EMJ69@ALBNYVMS [bitnet] Department of English University at Albany/State University of New York Albany, New York 12222 USA Allison B. Goldberg AG6742@ALBNYVMS [bitnet] From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Internet access to libraries in the US Date: 30 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1049 (1353) By popular demand I am posting to the file-server the published information about access to online databases and US libraries via Internet. Would the individual who posted this information originally please contact me? The file is named INTERNET LIBRARY. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] Yours, Willard McCarty From: choueka@bimacs.biu.ac.il (Yaacov Choueka) Subject: "Responsa" Date: Sun, 29 Oct 89 13:46:57 +0200 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1050 (1354) A few months ago there were some queries in this network about the Responsa database and software.This is basically a 65-million words corpus of Rabbinical writngs in Hebrew, supported by a powerful full-text retrieval system, one of the very first such systems ever developed for the Humanities, and including most of the features pertinent to the "search engine" discussed recently, in addition to some as yet unique components embedded in the system, such as morphological processing, short-context disambiguation, local feedback, etc. A report is now available that gives full description of the database and of the retrieval software from a user's point of view. If you are interested in receiving a copy, please send me an email message with your mailing address. The report will appear soon in a book edited by A. Zampolli in honor of B. Quemada. Yaacov Choueka Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel, 52100 Bitnet: choueka@bimacs Arpa: choueka%bimacs.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu Csnet: choueka%bimacs.bitnet%cunyvm.cuny.edu@csnet-relay UUCP: uunet!mcvax!humus!bimacs!choueka From: N.J.Morgan@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.637 wordprocessing and textbases, cont. (82) Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 09:46:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1051 (1355) I have certainly found TACT user friendly (and cheap) also. Partly for the former reason, but (alas) mainly for the latter, we are thinking of using TACT with classes of third year honours history students next term (say late January) to give them a basic grounding in handling text. Are any humanists using TACT with students (or for that matter are any humanists using TACT at all) ? I would be very interested to hear. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % Nicholas J Morgan % % Department of Scottish History % % University of Glasgow % Where's the rest ??? % Glasgow % % G12 8QH % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% From: choueka@bimacs (Yaacov Choueka) Subject: Query - OCR Date: Sun, 29 Oct 89 14:45:03 +0200 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1052 (1356) After everything on OCR has been said and discussed, has anyone compiled (or would anyone be ready to compile) an updated list of available OCR trainable (Trainable!) software, with summary of pertinent details: name, company, contact person, tel., price, machine (IBM/MAC), reference (literature), installations, etc.? or does anyone know if such a comprehensive list has been recently published? Yaacov Choueka. From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: information on archives and projects? Date: 30 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1053 (1357) [The following query arrived without its mail header but seems otherwise intact. Please respond to the address at the end of the message. --W.M.] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Georgetown Center for Text and Technology is currently involved in a project of compiling a list of archives and projects in machine-readable text. The list at this time consists of 230 such projects in 30 different countries. Eventually the information that we have catalogued will be made available through the HUMANIST bulletin board and through an on-line database with dial-in access. I am writing to HUMANIST to request some assistance in tracking down a contact person or an address for projects of which we have little information. If anyone has any suggestions, specific or general, which might facilitate this process for us, please send them directly to us in order to avoid unnecessary distractions to fellow HUMANISTS. The following projects, in alphabetical order according to country, are those for which we have limited information: 1) Berrimah -- Australian Aborigines and Islanders Branch 2) Liege -- Institut de Lexicologie Francaise 3) Montreal -- Institut d'E/tudes Me/die/vales 4) Montreal -- Centre d'Analyse de Textes par Ordinateur 5) Newfoundland -- Folklore & Language Archive 6) Quebec -- Projet RELAI 7) Toronto -- Records of Early English Drama 8) Denmark -- DANwORD 9) Go%ttingen -- Europaische Rechtsgeschichte 10) Reykjavik -- Stofnun Arna Magnussonar 11) Ferrara -- Instituto Studi Rinascimentali 12) Udine, Italy -- Sartor Fabio 13) Tartu, Estonia -- ? 14) Edinburgh -- Edinburgh University Data Library 15) Leeds -- Centre for Computer Analysis of Language and Speech 16) London (Univ) -- School of Oriental and African Studies 17) Berkeley -- Anthologies of Italian Music and Lyric Poetry of the Renaissance 18) Boulder -- Siouxan Languages Archive 19) Boulder -- Center for Computer Research in Humanities 20) Cambridge -- Boston Dainas Project 21) Durham -- Duke Humanities Data Base 22) Ithaca -- Cornell Blake Concordance Texts 23) Ithaca -- Freud Corpus 24) New York (Columbia) -- Buddhist Canon Project 25) New York (NYU) -- The Verdi Archive 26) Philadelphia (Drexel Univ) -- The Latin Writings of Milton 27) Philadelphia (Univ PA) -- Language Analysis Project 28) Providence -- Romanian Love Incantations We would appreciate any assistance you could lend us in acquiring further information on these projects. Sincerely, Jean Feerick Project Assistant Georgetown Center for Text and Technology Reiss Science Building, Room 238 Georgetown University Washington, DC 20057 Tel. (202) 687-6096 BITNET: jfeerick@guvax Internet: edu%"jfeerick@guvax.georgetown.edu" From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Humanists in Hungary Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 10:17:32 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1054 (1358) I have sitting in my office a young woman from Hungary who wants to know if there are any people doing humanities computing there. She is currently working on her dissertation on John of Salisbury at the Canon Law Institute of UC Berkeley. From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: IPA in TeX Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 10:29:30 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1055 (1359) Does have or know of an IPA font for TeX? Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: "Tom Benson 814-238-5277" <T3B@PSUVM> Subject: Trying to locate MELVYL through TELNET Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 16:23 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1056 (1360) Can any reader help me to discover the number for the MELVYL computer on TELNET? I am told that if I have this I will be able to consult the University of California library system from my mainframe. Thanks. Tom Benson Penn State From: <HALPORNJ@IUBACS> Subject: And a little child shall lead us Date: Sun, 29 Oct 89 23:36:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1057 (1361) In regard to messages from Willard et al. on children and computers, I recall years ago when we got our first microcomputer saying to my wife that we would have been helped immensely if we had gotten with it a small male child (these days male or female) between 10 and 15. Alas, we were not so fortunate, and I'm a poor substitute for that. On these lines, there was an amusing piece on batch files for children in the computer column of the Chicago Tribune for Sunday Oct. 29. The author's daughter who learned how to access the game she liked through her father's writing her a batch file on his hard disk, also added that now having learned A-Z at school, she had only to learn how to tie her shoelaces to be finished with school forever. From: SKIP KNOX <DUSKNOX@IDBSU> Subject: 3.658 computers, humanism, and students (164) Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 10:56:43 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1058 (1362) If anything, Willard, I see evidence to the contrary. Technological innovation in the realm of information consistently leads to more freedom for the common man. Writing made possible law codes, which freed commoners from the tyranny of the "law-rememberers", who were invariably aristocrats. The printing press freed everyman from the tyranny of monks and priests. Newspapers, and their inheritors in radio and TV, opened the doors of diplomats and politicians, and made it possible for the common man to participate in politics. And computers have played a vital role in resistance movements in Central America and in China. Who knows what role they've played in the recent developments in eastern Europe. None of these innovations were unmixed blessings, and it would be naive of us to expect them to have been; but I object to the sort of neo-Chartist mentality that frets over how the computer will bring changes that are beyond our abilities to cope. There are ramifications, but I think they will be worked out pragmatically, in law courts and schools and the work place. I'm not sure we as humanists can address the issues directly because most of the issues are not yet clearly defined. Law is a noticeable exception.OC Skip Knox, Boise State University, DUSKNOX@IDBSU From: David Megginson <MEGGIN@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Computing and the Humanities in Humanist Date: Sun, 29 Oct 89 22:34:04 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1059 (1363) When I have technical or software questions, I post them on Usenet through Bitnet. Personally, I would prefer to see more humanities and less computing in Humanist.... David Megginson <MEGGIN@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> From: SKIP KNOX <DUSKNOX@IDBSU> Subject: 3.659 adverts on Humanist, etc. (137) Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 10:41:08 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1060 (1364) Here's a vote for non-technical issues, from a techie. I was trained as a European historian, but my current job is PC support in the Data Center at Boise State University. Technical issues are really pretty boring and anyway there are a hundred sources for such. But this forum provides a rare opportunity for scholars from various disciplines to talk about the role of humanities in higher education and in society in general, as well as to talk about ways to use computers in teaching humanities (and in research). What do we mean by The Humanities? Do professors of philosophy, history, literature, etc. share some common pedagogical ground? If so, should we be more conscientious in pointing that out to our students? These kind of questions are far more interesting to me than the latest hyper hoo-hah. Skip Knox, Boise State University, DUSKNOX@IDBSU From: Natalie Maynor <MAYNOR@MSSTATE> Subject: Odds and Ends Re PC/Mac Debate Date: Sun, 29 Oct 89 18:15:36 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1061 (1365) Although I, too, prefer command lines to dragging silly- looking icons around a screen, I found some of the early replies to the original posting offensive. Are Humanists really so humorless that they can't appreciate a joke about the translation of the word "dos" in another language? And wasn't the original point simply to suggest that a "different strokes for different folks" approach might help fight computer-resistance? At the risk of being accused of having missed the point of James Halporn's recent posting (which was not, by the way, one of the ones I found offensive), I want to comment on a couple of his side-points. He writes, "How many humanists know how to write batch files?" Come on. I don't think humanists are quite that helpless. And he writes, "For all the praise I hear on HUMANIST of Wordperfect, does no one complain of the three deep nested function keys?" Why complain? It seems as good a way as any of including a large number of functions. And since the creators of Wordperfect can't be expected to know which function keys will be the most important for each individual user, they included a means of changing the arrangement to suit individual preferences. I have moved the functions I rarely use to the less convenient levels and keep the functions I frequently use in the convenient level (hitting the function key only). From: Geoffrey Rockwell <Geoffrey_Rockwell@poczta.utcs.utoronto.ca> Subject: 3.653 wordprocessors M-I Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 11:56:37 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1062 (1366) Greek fonts: I did a search a while back of Apple Link for a list of Greek fonts for the Macintosh. All the fonts in that list are compatible with Word 4 for the Mac. The information should still be on the Humanist server. I have a copy I can send to people who cannot get it otherwise. On another subject: I agree with Willard that features are not the only way to evaluate software. Well designed software rarely wins the features war. Instead it is a pleasure to use. Good design cannot be trapped either. Good design will speak to what is current. NotaBene spoke to people tired of WordPerfect, replacing the bewildering array of inconsistent menus with a clean command line. The logic of Notabene is its beauty. Once you've grasped the logic then you start to love it. Their manual speaks to those who have grasped its logic and like the product but not, in my experience, to those who are trying to learn it without already liking it. Notabene preaches to the converted. Their manual has the feel of a unpublished manuscript, not yet touched by a publisher and his designer. The use of monospaced fonts and minimal design exudes seriousness - no concession to art. The Mac style of doing things, so different from Notabene, spoke immediately to me for reasons I have yet to unconver (marketing?) The process of recovering what makes something attractive is dangerous. It may tell one something one does not want to know. Could it be that I was influenced by the Apple marketing? Perhaps I want to be the graceful runner among the oppressed as protrayed in the 1984 Mac ad. Could it be that Mac users want to belong to the red rebellion and PC users want the respectability confered by the big blue? Respectability and rebellion are part of the academic world too. How many of us like to think of our work in these terms? Do designers manipulate these desires? Software designers like all others are creating not just tools but tools-in-a-world. The layout of manuals, the packaging, the name, and the features create an atmosphere. Notabene breathes pragmatic seriousness. It is endorsed by the MLA. No icons, no games, no desktop publishing features. The manual uses a monospaced font as if to say they don't care about the look of the manual, just the content. The Mac exudes false class, as if by buying it you can buy grace. The exclusive price is part of what one buys. When you buy life-style (academic-life-style) it has to be transparent to work. If you know you are paying for self-image then the image vanishes. This makes the recovery of what it is one found attractive so dangerous. I am not sure I want the truth on the beauty of the Mac. If I knew what I liked I might not like it. The fear of having ones vanities exposed can make us vicious. Why does this Mac-PC argument flare up so regularly, could it be the fear of having our loves exposed? Geoffrey Rockwell rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca From: N.J.Morgan@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.636 humanists and computers, cont. (79) Date: Fri, 27 Oct 89 09:40:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1063 (1367) Oh no ! Its dictionary time again ! The excellent Concise Scots Dictionary (Aberdeen University Press) has dos/doss as "spruce, neat, tidy". So who's going to tell Microsoft that ! %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % Nicholas J Morgan % % Department of Scottish History % % University of Glasgow % Where's the rest ??? % Glasgow % % G12 8QH % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% From: Simon Mielniczuk <SIMON@vm.utcs.utoronto.ca> Subject: Young people and computers Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 14:55:36 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1064 (1368) Prior to working as Manager of Information and Computer Resources here at the Faculty of Social Work, Univ. of Toronto, I established a community computer centre as a cooperative venture of three schools and the community centre I directed. It was operating three hours when I realized that this technology had changed the rules for both teaching and learning. Elementary school students were working cooperatively and helping each other through various educational and game programs. Supervision for the facilty consisted of five high school drop outs who were beginning hackers. Over time, as various classes used the facility two divergent approaches emerged. One group of traditional teachers tried to control the learning while knowing little of the capabilities. The other group were the teachers who just stood back and let the mix of eager students, willing hackers, and shared enthusiasm take over. You can imagine which approach produced the best results. When these kids reach grad school (the centre opened 6 years ago) their teachers better understand and use electronic information systems in relation to the specialty. From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: re ethics by computer Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 18:24:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1065 (1369) I never cease to be amazedat the naivete of the humanist, whose reflex is always Luddite, a form of failure of nerve. Here we are all conversing with pleasure and almost at random, and certainly off the top of the egghead, via e-mail, and worrying about the power of the machine over our ethics and sensibility. Of course the law is an ass, always; and perforce a laggard, having to wait for the case to have the law made. We cannot have laws be- fore we have needs. Even Leviticus was not quite handed down, though it seems to us that way reading backwards into the Book. Hesiod is already savoring nostalgia, since it was his forebears who with iron and the sword and shield terrorized the coasts of Egypt, those roving pirates who so disrupted the ancient world's commerce. I do not think we can influence the use of this technology. What we can do is teach and teach well the Humanist concerns, so that the users, efficiency-dedicated and helpless in the networks of commerce and power, will have some twinges and compunctions about life, not these quick typing gadgets that avodid the deficencies of the Canadian post office, say.... Who will surrender our human values in the name of efficiency? The Judge is very softheaded, I would say in his anxiety. Of course the barbarians will use it faster than the humanists! Was it not Mao who exclaimed Hai! Hai, or Ho! ho! of Hao Hoao! on seeing the first bank of color tvs at Nippon trade show in Beijing? He saw promptly that it was his face and book that would preempt everyone's attention in the one tv per village communal hall. And so it goes, as that mushmouth vonnegut likes to say too. Killing is what we are about, as a species, killing and lying and efficiency at both. Meanwhile, the good teacher wont be worried about the computer's technology: he will worry about good English or whatever grammar he is using and clear thought. I must say that I have failed, after several attempts at the highest levels to get the UCLA Logoff changed from "Sign off of the computer" to Sign off from the computer. I am offended by the barbarism of the multimillion dollar machine we have here and the inability of the Office of Academic computing to get that little screen sign changed after a year of trying. We humanists are facing not the computer, but the arrogant little acolytes who put the screens up for us. and the wimpy chancellors who allow it to be an affront, though one complains. So, my message is simply: not the machine, not the iron that allowed utensils and tipped plows to be made too, but the other humans. The point is: the technology is never the culprit. We are, collectively and individually, of course. I am always slightly amused by the cry, like the judge's, The sky is falling! Of course it is. It fell on Noah's peers too. We dont need to choose about computers: we need to study and think and write well, as always. The computer will only make for extended flabby hasty prose, like this note of response. Back to stylus and wax? Hardly. Yours cordially, Jascha Kessler. From: MAY@LEICESTER.AC.UK Subject: summary of new Humbul input Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 09:40:13 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1066 (1370) STOP PRESS NEWS DATE OF ENTRY: 30 October 1989 SUBJECT: British Computer Society. Two-day conference on aspects of quality in electronic publishing See Section C1 Conferences DATE OF ENTRY:29 October 1989 SUBJECT: 5th Internatioal conference on Computers and Philosophy Stanford University,9-11 August 1990 See Section C2 Overseas Conferences DATE OF ENTRY: 28 October 1989 SUBJECT: Archaeological Information Exchange New issues AIE 89-53 to AIE 89-62 See Section H6C AIE DATE OF ENTRY: 28 October 1989 SUBJECT: Music Research Digest New issues volume 4 no 60,61,62,63,64,65,66 See Section H2B Music Research Digest DATE OF ENTRY: 27 October 1989 Workshop on Computers in Philosophy Teaching See Section B3 DATE OF ENTRY: 25 October 1989 Commission on Preservation and Access Newsletter and Press Release See Section B1 DATE OF ENTRY: 24 October 1989 Exemple de Programmation SYGMART See Section B2a New Publications DATE OF ENTRY: 10 October 1989 The Spanish Data Bank ONE71 See Section I12 Major Projects From: "Kevin L.Cope" <ENCOPE@LSUVM> Subject: FINAL CALL -- MPA Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 08:25:48 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1067 (1371) Wednesday, November 1, is the last day on which proposals for the forth- coming meeting of the Mississippi Philological Association (MPA) may be postmarked. Proposals should run to about 100 words; papers should last fifteen minutes. The convention will take place January 26-27, 1990, in historic Mississippi State, Mississippi, adjacent to even more historic Starkville. Come! Come! Come! -- KLC. From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVME> Subject: Announcement Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 11:25:20 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1068 (1372) Resent due to error. Please delete previous version. Note address, phone and email address at end of file which were previously chopped off. MH ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- On November 6, InteLex Corporation will release electronic editions of the works of John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume. These works will be bundled with the most sophisticated search and retrieval software yet developed for personal computers - Folio Corporation's VIEWS. With the VIEWS program, every word of the text database is indexed. VIEWS supports boolean searches (and, or, not), as well as wildcard, literal string, nested, and proximity searches. In addition, VIEWS supports hypertext linking: for example all of Berkeley's references to Locke are linked by tokens, which allow the user to go immediately from the Berkeley to the Locke. Finally, the VIEWS indexing process results in databases roughly 60% the size of the original ASCII text files. The contents of any window (including the opening window which contains the entire database) may be output to disk (as an ASCII file) or printer. Minimum system requirements: IBM PC, PC AT, PS/2 and compatibles, 512K RAM, one hard drive, and one 360K, 720K, or 1.44MB flopy drive. For MacIntosh systems, the text will be sold as ASCII, without the Folio VIEWS system. InteLex is releasing the following texts, based on the editions indicated in parentheses, but including corrections where errors were found in the editions: John Locke: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. (From The Works of John Locke, Twelfth Edition, London: 1824) Two Treatises of Government. (Ibid.) George Berkeley Of the Principles of Human Knowledge. (From The Works of George Berkeley, D.D., ed. by Rev. G. N. Wright, London: 1843) Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous. (Ibid.) An Essay towards a New Theory of Vision. (Ibid.) Alciphron: or the Minute Philosopher, in Seven Dialogues. (Ibid., but corrected against the third edition, London: 1752) David Hume A Treatise of Human Nature. (Everyman's Library edition, London: 1911) "Appendix to the Treatise of Human Nature." (From The Philosophical Works of David Hume, Boston & Edinburgh: 1854 (Reprinted from the 1777 edition) Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. (Ibid.) Essays: Moral, Political, and Literary. (Essays: Moral, Political, and Literary, ed. by T. H. Green & T. H. Grose, London: 1898, vol. 1). An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals. (Ibid., vol. 2) An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. (Ibid.) The Natural History of Religion. (Ibid.) Essays Withdrawn. (Ibid.) (A chapter of the Green & Grose, composed of eight essays.) "A Dissertation on the Passions." (Ibid.) "Of the Immortality of the Soul." (Ibid.) "On Suicide." (Ibid.) InteLex will release in mid to late November, Hobbes' Leviathan and De Cive (ed. by Molesworth, London: 1839), as well as much of the philosophical work of Mill. InteLex further plans to release translations of Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Leibniz, Kant, Hegel, and Nietzsche. The price and size of the editions are as follows: Pricing to Individuals: Price: Size: Folio ASCII ASCII Folio Hume vol. 1 $ 39.95 $ 22.95 2.1 MB 1.2 MB (Treatise, Appendix to Treatise, Two Enquiries) Hume vol. 2 $ 39.95 $ 22.95 1.6 MB 1.0 MB (Essays, Dialogue Conc. Natural Religion, The Natural Hist. of Religion) Locke $ 39.95 $ 22.95 2.1 MB 1.2 MB Berkeley $ 39.95 $ 22.95 1.4 MB 0.9 MB Hume vols. 1 and 2 $ 69.95 $ 45.90 3.7 MB 2.2 MB The Complete Database $109.95 $ 90.80 7.2 MB 4.3 MB Pricing to Institutions: Hume vol. 1 $ 99.95 $ 57.37 Hume vol. 2 $ 99.95 $ 57.37 Locke $ 99.95 $ 57.37 Berkeley $ 99.95 $ 57.37 Hume vols. 1 and 2 $174.95 $114.74 The Complete Database $274.95 $229.48 The text bundled with the Folio VIEWS program will be sold with a manual completely describing the Folio VIEWS system (which has online help), as well as notes on the editions. To the price of any order will be added $3.95 shipping and handling for domestic addresses; the international shipping and handling charges will be determined based on the country to which the product is being shipped, and on whether air mail is desired. InteLex also has the King James Version of the Bible (4.6 MB ASCII, 2.9 MB Folio format), which it is offering at $49.95 for the Folio version, $32.95 for the ASCII. InteLex plans to release a complete edition of Shakespeare sometime in January, for less than $80. For more information, contact: InteLex Corp. Rt. 2 Box 383 Pittsboro, NC 27312 919-542-4411 CompuServe: 70671,1673 Internet: 70671.1673@compuserve.com From: John Bradley <BRADLEY@vm.utcs.utoronto.ca> Subject: TACT 1.1 Available Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 17:02:42 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1069 (1373) I'd like to announce the availability of version 1.1 of TACT. With 1.1, TACT (text retrieval software created at the University of Toronto, and given free to all attendees at Toronto's Dynamic Text Conference last June) can now support much larger texts. The release also includes a few new features, and the inevitable collection of bug fixes. In addition, a new, enlarged, version of the Guide has been prepared. If you'd like to get a copy of the new version, please contact U of Toronto's Centre for Computing in the Humanities (CCH). They are charging a distribution fee of $30 (CDN) or $25 (US) for a copy of 1.1 on disk, plus a preprinted, bound, copy of the Guide (about 135 pages). Both the software and the Guide continue to be shareware -- you are welcome to distribute copies of either yourself, as long as you are not doing it for profit. For a copy of 1.1, contact: TACT Distribution Centre for Computing in the Humanities, Robarts Library, 14th floor, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. CANADA M5S 1A1 E-mail: CCH@utorepas.bitnet Although TACT is being distributed by the CCH, development continues to be done by Lidio Presutti and myself at Toronto's Computing Services (UTCS). Hence: For information on 1.1 features, questions, or comments, please contact: John Bradley (or) Lidio Presutti, Computing Services, 4 Bancroft Ave, Rm 201 University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. CANADA M5S 1A1 E-mail: bradley@vm.utcs.utoronto.ca E-mail: lidio@vm.utcs.utoronto.ca From: Harold Wilson <HSW100U@ODUVM> Subject: WordPerfect fonts Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 672 (1374) From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1070 (1375) The telnet number for the MELVYL catalogue of the University of California library system is 31.1.0.11. Tom Bestul, University of Nebraska-Lincoln TBestul@crcvms.unl.edu The address for MELVYL, the university of California's online catalog is: MELVYL.UCOP.EDU (31.1.0.11) Walter Piovesan Chet Grycz Jascha Kessler From: "[DCGQAL]A0234" <XB.DAS@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: [DCGQAL]A0234!ISO 8879 Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 11:14:28 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1071 (1376) With reference to the request for a document on the ISO 8879 standard, an associated document(s) that may be of interest are the AAP guidelines and document descriptions available from: Betsy Kiser EPSIG Manager (MC 278) c/o OCLC 6565 Frantz Road Dublin, Ohio 43017-0702 (614) 764-6017 Further information on the actual standard itself can surely be had from Michael Sperger-McQueen (U35395@UICVM.BITNET). Cordially, Chet Grycz Scholarship and Technology Study Project ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Czeslaw Jan Grycz | BITNET: To: CJGUR@UCCMVSA.BITNET University of California | AppleLink: A0234 Kaiser Center, Eighth Floor | MCI Mail: 345-0354 300 Lakeside Drive | Oakland, California | Phone: (415) 987-0561 94612-3550 | From: daniel boyarin <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.651 MLA session on hypertext and theory (24) Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 01:30:08 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1072 (1377) Count me in please: Daniel Boyarin Department of Talmud Bar Ilan University Ramat Gan Israel I will be attending the mla. From: Harold Wilson <HSW100U@ODUVM> Subject: WordPerfect fonts Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 21:00:39 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1073 (1378) Apparently WordPerfect 5.1, due to be released in November, will make a graphic picture of several alphabets, which can then be printed on conventional printers. From: "Norman D. Hinton" <SSUBIT12@UIUCVMD> Subject: DOS commands Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 10:16:35 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1074 (1379) Adding to the general polemic about Mac/DOS is probably not useful: I have begun to think of them as competitive religions, or more likely minor cults. An adherent of one is unlikely to be easily converted to the other. But I will say that I'd rather grapple with typing in words and code than move a little arrow to a wastebasket when I want to Erase something. However: I get the impression that many HUMANISTs do not use file manager software, which is surprising. Though I can write DOS commands when I want to copy, erase, etc., I don't have to---I just go to my file manager (using a batch file which took me about 30 seconds to write, but you don't need a batch file to use it). I highly recommend XTREE or its big brother, XTREE Professional, both of which are available from Executive Systems, Inc. (Sorry, I don't have an address. But the packages are widely advertised in computer magazines.) With XTREE, you get an easily readable display of what files are where, and moving, copying, eraing, changing file attributes (e.g. making "read-only" files "readable" so you can erase them), etc. can be done in seconds. You can do many other useful tasks, and help is available on-line. The manuals are short and clear. I wouldn't think of doing without a file manager any more than I would think of doing without something like the Norton Utilities, or MACE or PC-Tools, to clean up my hard disk and retrieve lost materials. Anyone who uses a comuter for any task whatsoever ought to have both a manager and a set of "disk utilities". From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.669 software issues (128) Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 14:50:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1075 (1380) The thing about the Mac, which I have had since 1984, nemmine the three lemons I bought, chile! is its simplicity of use and friendliness to people who want t o get on with it, apart from fonts and layouts and better-looking MSS and ease of selection of what one wishes to do. And none of all that long engineering, retrofitted stuff for word people. Now with the large portrait screen before me in black and white and crystal clear, one can write one's pages and swiftly. It is a matter of ease. My son, who uses Suns and Irises, and was an Apple kid from the start, regards this as a mere today today, but it is not some- thing one has to fight or feel vain about having learned, as with the IBM things, which my colleagues curse and sweat and weep over. Just make the interface easy, and easier and easiest, is all one asks. Point and use, as with e-mail, and Tale's tincan modem program for getting through to all you folks out there swiftest, or as Beckett says, "Instanter!" J Kessler From: Subject: Re: 3.668 scope of Humanist (48) Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 22:52:54 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1076 (1381) So far, I have refrained from making comments in the current discussion about the proper function of HUMANIST. Although I am an historian who has used computers for scholarly purposes for 16 years, reading the comments of some people on the list, especially persons who appear to be founders, convinced me that the function of the list was not to enable humanists to write about the humanities or even how to share information on how best to use both software and hardware in tackling "humanistic" problems. Put another way, the list could easily be called "Ware Problems--Soft and Hard." That the list does focus on the engineering problems gives it value. Many persons who do not work in the humanities do not understand the kinds of problems humanists are likely to encounter nor are they necessarily interested. I have noticed that some contributors complain about the "technical" approach. I use the term engineering for a reason. My reading suggests that technical/technique/technological are not inherently based on mathematics. It is unfortunate that list members cannot be tolerant enough, yea, interested enough, to want a list that includes both the engineering issues and the humanist issues. It is a shame that some humanists are not very interested in the full range of human activity. Don Mabry <DJMABRY@MSSTATE> "Professor, History, Mississippi State University "Historians have a Richer Present" From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVME> Subject: Re: 3.668 scope of Humanist (48) Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 14:25:20 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1077 (1382) I am sure the humanists here at the University of Illinois would appreciate some combination of technical and humanistic exchange as there are very few of them actually logged on to any computer networks here, and those usually are the ones for whom a friend? (or an underling) has done all the "legwork" to get them on. Once they get on, they will need some guidance and encouragement to become worthwhile users of the systems and networks. Michael S. Hart From: <HALPORNJ@IUBACS> Subject: E-Mail and the Old Days Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 23:24:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1078 (1383) I wonder if the joys of e-mail are something of a throw-back to the old days in London. In the Chicago Tribune of Sunday, October 29 in the book review section there was a review of a collection of the letters of Leonard Woolf. The reviewer remarks that in London in Woolf's time there were eight postal deliveries a day from 8:15 A.M. to 9:15 P.M. The reviewer compares this to our phone calls and answering machines, but it seems much more like this kind of mail. Alas, ours is more ephemeral and the delete command always at hand. But perhaps I'm one of the few who often downloads HUMANIST to print some of it. From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Humanist is both Date: 31 October 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1079 (1384) I hope that no one is under the heavy misapprehension that Humanist's editor is attempting to force this seminar away from discussion of the humanities entirely to a preoccupation with computing as such. In my mind, for what it's worth, computing in the humanities as much involves questions basic to the humanities as it does computing. Since Humanist is an electronic seminar devoted to humanities computing, its bailiwick encompasses both. What, then, is relevant to Humanist? To me this is fairly obvious: topics that involve both. My attempts to limit discussions here are motivated primarily by the practical concern for the volume of mail. When we were small, we didn't have to worry so much. Now, however, we must think hard about what subset of things we want to deal with. Again, I think the choice is clear -- computing in the humanities. The Guide to Humanist (yes, ok, I wrote it) defines Humanist's concerns thus: "Its scope is broadly defined to include all matters of professional concern to its members. Equally relevant are technical questions about hardware and software, specific problems in humanistic scholarship, and both the administrative difficulties and philosophical issues arising from the application of computing to the humanities. Calls for papers, bibliographies, and reports of lasting interest are also welcome." We have been somewhat more strict with topics that have no apparent connection to computing by assigning them to a separate issue, "Notes and Queries", but this is no more a gulag than the regular issues of queries and of announcements. Does anyone wish to argue that the concerns of humanists have nothing to do with computing? Not me! Yours, Willard McCarty From: Malcolm Brown <mbb@jessica.Stanford.EDU> Subject: NeXT Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 09:47:56 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 675 (1385) Oliver Berghof asked about the use of the NeXT for humanities. Here are some of my reactions. This big news is that NeXT has finally shipped version 1.0 of their operating system, and it's a pleasure to use. Things have settled down considerably and, mirabile dictu, they *work* (er...well, they "mostly" work). For those who have never worked with one, the NeXT environment is like a Macintosh, in that it offers a graphical user interface (GUI... yes, groan, there goes another one). This interface, in addition to being aesthetically pleasing, maintains a degree of "resemblance" across applications. This makes it inituitively easy for the user to use a new program. In addition, the NeXT computer offers a sophisticated inter-process communication capability. Applications "talk" to one another: for example, the digital librarian can launch a text editor when needed. If you double-click on an icon representing a TeX DVI file, the TeX Previewer is automagically launched. Moreover, if the Previewer finds it needs additional font bit maps, it starts up Metafont (again automagically) to get them. It seems to me that the NeXT environment takes the graphical user interface one step further, in that it combines the consistency and ease of use of the GUI with a robust inter-process communications. Anyone who has moved from a single application microcomputer to a multitasking computer knows how difficult it is to "move back"; I feel the same is the case with the NeXT. So there's a good deal to recommend here. I must say, nevertheless, that I find Oliver's assertion that the system "includes a fair amount of tools for HUMANISTs" to need a good deal of qualification. Aside from the working environment described above, what does the system offer a humanist? The on-line Webster dictionary certainly enhances the overall working environment, but it hardly represents anything revolutionary. The digital librarian, while another fine enhancement, doesn't begin to have the power to be a significant text analysis tool. Indeed, our conversations with NeXT seem to indicate that they had no plans to make the librarian more powerful, which made it necessary for us (at Stanford) to embark on the development of a completely different text analysis tool. WriteNow? It's useful to have a decent word processor built-in, but WriteNow is not (nor was intended to be) a Nota Bene or WordPerfect. I don't see the "typical" HUMANIST programming SyBase, using Mathematica, or writing code for the digital sound (DSP) chip. The Interface Builder is precisely that: it builds an interface to an application but does not provide the application itself. At the present time, applications significant for scholarship are lacking. Indeed, version 1.0 doesn't even support diacritics!! (One could do a kludge fix of this, but, again, it requires that you know enough PostScript to be able to re-encode the character sets). I suggest that the NeXT system provides the foundations for an excellent workstation for the humanist scholar. I'd say it goes a fair way in merging the best of Unix and the Macintosh. Hence the operating system certainly provides the environment for an excellent workstation for the scholar. We'll have to see how quickly the NeXT computer can be furnished with applications that have the sophistication required by scholarship. Malcolm Brown Stanford University From: Jean Nienkamp 814-865-2085 N31 at PSUVM Subject: Macintalk for Hypercard Date: 31 October 1989, 09:41:34 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1080 (1386) [Please direct any replies directly to the questioner as well as to Humanist. Thanks. --W.M.] Folks, Has anyone used the Hypercard stack Macintalk, which speaks from a phonetic transcription? I have the stack, but I need the "Macintalk System File" to make it talk. It's supposed to be available on bulletin boards, but I didn't see it on BITNET. Any info would be appreciated--Especially the file itself! Jean Nienkamp (N31@PSUVM) From: Grace Logan <logan@watdcs.UWaterloo.ca> Subject: Humpty Dumpty Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 13:48:33 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1081 (1387) The reason H.D. is depicted as an egg, even though the fact that he IS an egg is not made clear in the rhyme is that the rhyme is actually a RIDDLE. You were supposed to work it out. I suppose that originally the reader was not given a picture. grace logan From: DEL2@PHOENIX.CAMBRIDGE.AC.UK Subject: Queries Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 14:14:40 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1082 (1388) Since one of Humanist's most valuable functions seems to be tracing obscure details, I wonder if anyone can help two colleagues of mine: (a) One of them thinks that there was a story about St Anthony showing his contempt for property by using cinnamon as fuel for his fire. (b) The other recalls only snatches of a religious poem called (he thinks) 'The Toy Lion' about a toy which suddenly springs to life. It then ends with an application to the way people often treat a crucifix, with the last line something like 'A wooden Christ upon a wooden cross' Could anyone supply me with references? Thanks, Douglas de Lacey <DEL2@UK.AC.CAM.PHX> From: MFFGKTS@CMS.MANCHESTER-COMPUTING-CENTRE.AC.UK Subject: Policy on adverts et cetera Date: Wed, 01 Nov 89 14:12:09 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1083 (1389) Manchester, 1 November 1989 Dear HUMANIST, May I add my vote AGAINST restricting HUMANIST to matters strictly related to computing, either in general or in the matter of job adverts in particular? There may be room for a separate bulletin board for the technically- inclined, as has been suggested by others recently, though I would think that such communications could be adequately flagged under the present system of editing. But it seems to me absolutely crucial that electronic media should get deeply involved in the real concerns of humanities study - and be seen by our colleagues to be furthering integral rather than peripheral objectives. *** Provided of course that it reduces rather than multiplies the paperwork! *** Floreat amicabilis concordia, Gordon Neal Dept. of Greek and Latin, Manchester, U.K. From: Jim Cahalan <JMCAHAL@IUP.BITNET> Subject: Email and ham radio? Date: 31 Oct 89 19:11:02 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1084 (1390) To pick up on James Halporn's analogy between Email networks and the old days in London when there were eight daily mail deliveries, I'm wondering if anyone has like myself been struck by the parallels between our Email networks and ham radios. I was never a ham radio person, but I think people (like me!) get on the Email "airwaves" and "listen" and "chat" much like ham radio afficionados. We have, if not quite our own lingo like ham radio people, our own punctuation system to *emphasize* things in Email. . . Jim Cahalan, Graduate Literature <JMCAHAL@IUP.BITNET> English Dept., 111 Leonard, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA 15705-1094 Phone: (412) 357-2264 From: db <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.653 wordprocessors and criteria (157) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 13:13:27 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1085 (1391) Re: Nota-Bene etc. I believe that the people were looking for a word processor that had a built in text base and handled french and spanish. i don't think either word or wordperfect can cvlaim that. also you are right you *can* make the other programs use the ecs, but nb was designed to make it easy to do so, both on the keyboard and to the printer. finally, if people are using word or wp already i wouldn't push them to switch, but if you're starting out and you want to do foreign characters why not sdtart with the program that's designed to do that from the beginning? From: Stephen Clausing <SCLAUS@YALEVM> Subject: MacInTalk Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 19:35:34 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1086 (1392) I have a copy of the Macintalk system file and would be glad to share it with the Humanist community, but my understanding is that Apple requires a distribution fee for this. My copy came with one of the Pascal compilers I use and this, I believe, is how most people acquire the file--from other commercial sources. From: "Patrick W. Conner" <U47C2@WVNVM> Subject: 3.673 DOS commands; Macs (69) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 13:24:21 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1087 (1393) Why is it that the tone of those defending Mac is to the tone of those defending DOS as the voice of Chaucer's Miller is to the voice of the Reeve? --Pat Conner --English--WVU --Morgantown, WV USA From: <ST_JOSEPH@HVRFORD> Subject: NeXT and Humanists Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 00:27 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1088 (1394) A brief addendum to Malcolm Brown's note on the NeXT: One piece of software that should be mentioned that IS availible NOW is Framemaker, a complete desktop publishing package. It may interest Humanists to know that Frame Tech. Corp. intends to support SGML is a future release, so this should add some additional appeal to an already appealing product. Not to mention that Frame is selling Framemaker at a 50% discount for those in education. Still, it remains true that at present there isn't a lot of software available, beyond the very considerable amount that comes bundled with the machine (and by the way, Digital Librarian may not be all that one hopes for in a textual analysis package, but for what it is, its great. It gives you immediate access to virtually anything that you choose to put on-line, and from within running applications, when and where you need it.) On the other hand, I think it's unreasonable to expect too much too soon. After all, the NeXT has only been available with its release OS for about a month! I think the Cube has a bright future as a scholarly workstation, but it will take some time. If I have a pet peeve at present, it's the one Malcolm mentioned: no foreign diacritics. This is something that should be remedied SOONER rather than later. But all in all, I'm finding the NeXT very useful--and very enjoyable to use-- just as it comes out of the box. And if you need the diacritcs, for now there is always TeX, which comes standard with the system software, and supplied with a super previewer to boot! David Carpenter St. Joseph's University Philadelphia, PA 19131 From: David Megginson <MEGGIN@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Re: 3.675 more on NeXT (77) Date: Wed, 01 Nov 89 07:31:37 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1089 (1395) We should not underestimate the power of the NeXT for humanists. Remember that the NeXT is a Unix box, and as such, contains an OS especially designed to process text. In the NeXT you will find commands like SED, SORT, TR, FIND, GREP, and the amazing AWK. Furthermore, since the NeXT allows you to design a GUI for a program using the mouse, it would take under two hours to design a nice, simple interface for these commands, tied into the text editor, etc. The user could simply click on buttons without even knowing what Unix commands are going on underneath. David Megginson, Centre for Medieval Studies, Toronto From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: NeXT Date: 1 November 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1090 (1396) The NeXT is a fine thing, no question. I'd love to have one. But aren't we mistaking technological superiority for communal usefulness? Several people have pointed out that the real computer is the "network" of people who share a common system. The MS-DOS system is now primitive as an isolated machine, indeed so is the Mac, but because so many people are using these things they are very powerful indeed as elements in a greater whole. Chicken and egg, I know. What breaks the vicious circle is low price. Who can afford a NeXT? One despairs, since what made MS-DOS systems so cheap was IBM's publishing the specifications, yes? The manufacturers of clones have made personal computing possible for many of us. (My job, as I conceive it, is to stir the pot as well as to make sure it doesn't boil over and put out the fire.) Yours, Willard McCarty From: Sebastian Rahtz <spqr@ecs.southampton.ac.uk> Subject: ANNOUNCEMENT: THE OPEN BOOK INITIATIVE Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 03:48:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 680 (1397) [deleted quotation] ANNOUNCEMENT THE OPEN BOOK INITIATIVE The Open Book Initiative is being formed to make available freely redistributable collections of information. There exists huge collections of books, conference proceedings, reference material, catalogues, etc. which can be freely shared. Some of it is in machine-readable form, much of it isn't. The purpose of the Open Book Initiative is to create a publicly accessible repository for this information, a net-worker's library. information in the Open Book Repository will be available for free redistribution. On-line access, magnetic media and other methods of distribution will involve reasonable charges for the services provided, not the information. WHAT WE WISH TO ARCHIVE All on-line materials (other than software collections) such as books, journals, catalogues, conference proceedings, magazines, manuals, maps, images, technical documentation, reference works, etc. The only software we are interested in is software specific to the viewing, manipulation, searching and maintenance of information in the repository. Materials must be free of copyrights limiting redistribution by us or any individual or organization who receives them. A copyright ensuring their continued freedom will be assigned to all materials distributed. We also need pointers to collections of materials which may be available. For example, there are government collections of interesting data which are available at reasonable costs and do not limit further redistribution of copies obtained. WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU Beyond machine-readable material there are huge collections of printed material which could be redistributed if put on-line. We need people willing to organize informal projects to scan, type or otherwise get this material on-line for inclusion in the Open Book Repository. We need to get in touch with Library and Information Scientists interested in helping us create formats and structures for organizing the repository. We need international participation to help ensure our efforts are useful to people everywhere. We need people willing to participate in a Technical Advisory Board to help us guide our efforts. We need involvement from academia, industry and governments to help us enrich this effort without bounds and make available a first-rate, freely available information utility. We need involvement from publishers who have materials which can be included in the Open Book Repository. Many books and reference works become unprofitable to publish by ordinary paper means. It's time to make these materials available! We need involvement from the technical community to choose and implement multi-media software standards such as hypertext, mark-up languages, index and catalogue software, text retrieval, network access methods and more. Standards are critical to our efforts. WHAT WE ARE OFFERING WORLD.STD.COM is a public access UNIX system which will serve as the initial repository. It is a Sun4/280 system and will be expanded as needed. Anyone can dial into the system and set up an account if they wish direct access (617-739-WRLD.) Accounts are charged and proceeds will be used to build the Open Book Repository. UUCP and other links will be available for the redistribution of collections. We will also make collections available on magnetic media for reasonable copying charges. HOW TO GET INVOLVED If you think you can help or want more information send electronic mail to: obi@world.std.com Or call us at Software Tool & Die, 617-739-0202. Or drop by our office and chat if you're in the area: 1330 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA 02146. POSTSCRIPT This started as an informal discussion group which called themselves "The KiloMonkeys Project" (``Strong Typing For Weak Minds'') who wanted to figure out how to get useful materials on-line and generally available. I have decided to make Software Tool & Die a home for this activity and formalize the project under the new name "The Open Book Initiative." -- -Barry Shein Software Tool & Die, Purveyors to the Trade | bzs@world.std.com 1330 Beacon St, Brookline, MA 02146, (617) 739-0202 | {xylogics,uunet}world! + bzs [This note originally arrived with a > in the first column of every non-blank line. While I am sure that there are very good reasons for these brambly things, I have an intense dislike for them and have carefully deleted every single one. Quotation marks have the decency to announce themselves and then go away until the very end. These things nudge you in the ribs every few words, like someone you will never again invite to dinner. So, please, send them somewhere else. My delete key gets enough exercise. --W.M.] From: "Michael Sperberg-McQueen 312 996-2477 -2981" <U35395@UICVM> Subject: character set standards, ISO, SGML Date: 31 October 1989 17:37:31 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 681 (1398) Joe Giampapa asks about character sets better than ASCII, and urges someone to take the problem on. Since character sets have great symbolic value for humanists (who wants to look at stuff in transliteration or strewn with garbage if you can look at it in its correct form?), it's probably worth mentioning what exists, so that Humanists can support the standards, or lobby their support staffs to do so. First, there are the vendor-dependent eight-bit character sets (that of the IBM PC, the related one of the IBM PS/2, the system set of the Mac, and the various character sets created for the Mac by users and third-party vendors.) These are all non-standard, though useful for (a) processing on one's own machine and (b) interchange among like machines. They are *not* a solution. For interchange among unlike machines, something more standard is needed -- preferably a real national or international standard. And it does exist. Yes, Virginia, there *is* an eight-bit ASCII. Or, more correctly, there is an ISO eight-bit character set for Western European languages which is a simple extension of ASCII. Or, more correctly still, the international standard ISO 8859 parts 1-8 defines a family of eight-bit codes for single-byte representations of the Latin-based alphabets in the official languages of Western and Eastern Europe, Latin-and-Cyrillic, Latin-and-(Modern)-Greek, Latin-and-Arabic, and Latin-and-Hebrew. EBCDIC code pages have been defined which correspond to each of these codes, which means EBCDIC to ASCII translation may someday be less fraught with problems than it is now. There should soon be an ANSI version of ISO 8859-1, but if it's out I haven't seen it. A competing standard from the same ISO working committee, ISO 6937, defines a character set with dead keys which handles (of course) an even greater variety of Latin-based languages. Using 6937, however, some characters take one byte and others (the composite characters) take two or more. This wreaks havoc with computer languages and programs built around the assumption that each character has a length of one byte. That's why 6937 has received so little vendor support, and why 8859 was developed. There are other standard character sets (e.g. that developed by the American Library Association, ANSI Z39.47-1985, which also uses dead keys and is respected by a number of library automation systems) and the European Computer Manufacturers Association runs an international character-set registry on behalf of ISO. But ISO 8859 seems clearly to have more support than any competitor, as a character set for general-purpose data processing in North America and Western Europe. Further development is proceeding, and perhaps Harry Gaylord, who serves on one of the responsible standards committees, will report on it. For further information subscribe to ISO8859@JHUVM and read its old logs. Joe Giampapa also mentions an "SGML initiative" which was to come up with something; I assume he means the Text Encoding Initiative, which is working with SGML and which will certainly make recommendations for the use and documentation of character sets. SGML (ISO 8879 -- similar but different number) itself, Humanists will be relieved to hear, does not require any particular character set. The choice of SGML, therefore, does not require any commitment to any particular solution to the character set problem. SGML does provide a method for naming a character using "safe" characters and special delimiters (a-umlaut might be encoded "äaut;") and defines public sets of such character names, which will be useful for interchange among systems. Both character-set use and standard character names must be part of any sound set of TEI recommendations. The TEI's character-set working group is headed by Steven DeRose; he is between addresses right now so I can't post his e-mail address, but anyone interested in working on character set problems may contact me and I will pass your name to him when I talk to him. Those whose languages are *not* catered to by ISO 8859 should definitely speak up, so we can get cracking on your problems. -Michael Sperberg-McQueen ACH / ACL / ALLC Text Encoding Initiative University of Illinois at Chicago From: <HALPORNJ@IUBACS> Subject: INTERNET ADDRESS/NUMBER Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 17:29:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1091 (1399) In speaking with a colleague at UCLA, I mentioned that thanks to HUMANIST I was able to access the MELVYL catalogue of the University of California, as well as the GLADIS catalogue of UC Berkeley. He suggested that the ORION catalogue at UCLA was more complete, but did not know if it had a TELNET/INTERNET number. Does anyone in the HUMANIST group know the number for ORION? I have had no replies concerning an INTERNET connection to U of Illinois-Urbana as yet. Many thanks, James W. Halporn, Classical Studies/Comparative Literature, Indiana U, Bloomington, IN (HALPORNJ@IUBACS). From: Princeton Theological Seminary <Q2835@PUCC> Subject: Akkadian Mrts Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 19:03:29 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1092 (1400) A query: Is anyone aware of Akkadian texts which are in machine readable form? Scott R. A. Starbuck Office of Computer Assistance for Textual Research Princeton Theological Seminary Library P. O. Box 111 Princeton, NJ 08542 (609) 497-7832 Q2835@PUCC From: grgo@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Greg Goode) Subject: Nuclear fiction query Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 12:49:40 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 683 (1401) Query about books on nuclear fiction. I seem to remember that one of our HUMANIST members has written a book called _Nucfiction_ or something like that. But a search through my HUMANIST bios hasn't turned anything up. Is there anyone among us who has written such a book? Failing that, does anyone have a good reference or two for books treating the nuclear in fiction? Replies can be sent to HUMANIST or to me as E-mail and I'll summarize for HUMANIST. Thank you. ____________________________________________________________ | \ | | Greg Goode \ BITNET: | | University Computing Center \ GRGO@UORDBV.BITNET | | University of Rochester > | | Rochester, NY 14627 / Internet: | | Tel. (716) 275-2811 / grgo@uhura.cc.rochester.edu | |__________________________/_______________________________| From: Lou Burnard <LOU@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK> Subject: Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 10:12 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 684 (1402) Original-from: looking!brad (Brad Templeton) **NOTE: this is intended to be satirical. If you do not recognize it as such, consult a doctor or professional comedian. The recommendations in this article should recognized for what they are -- admonitions about what NOT to do. "Dear Emily Postnews" Emily Postnews, foremost authority on proper net behaviour, gives her advice on how to act on the net. ============================================================================ Dear Miss Post<a href="news:">news:</a> How long should my signature be? -- verbose@somesite A: Dear Verbose: Please try and make your signature as long as you can. It's much more important than your article, of course, so try and have more lines of signature than actual text. Try and include a large graphic made of ASCII characters, plus lots of cute quotes and slogans. People will never tire of reading these pearls of wisdom again and again, and you will soon become personally associated with the joy each reader feels at seeing yet another delightful repeat of your signature. Be sure as well to include a complete map of USENET with each signature, to show how anybody can get mail to you from any site in the world. Be sure to include ARPA gateways as well. Also tell people on your own site how to mail to you. Give indpendent addresses for Internet, UUCP, BITNET, Arpanet and CSNET, even if they're all the same. Aside from your reply address, include your full name, company and organization. It's just common courtesy -- after all, in some newsreaders people have to type an *entire* keystroke to go back to the top of your article to see this information in the header. By all means include your phone number and street address in every single article. People are always responding to usenet articles with phone calls and letters. It would be silly to go to the extra trouble of including this information only in articles that need a response by conventional channels! ------ Dear Emily: Today I posted an article and forgot to include my signature. What should I do? -- forgetful@myvax A: Dear Forgetful: Rush to your terminal right away and post an article that says, "Oops, I forgot to post my signature with that last article. Here it is." Since most people will have forgotten your earlier article, (particularly since it dared to be so boring as to not have a nice, juicy signature) this will remind them of it. Besides, people care much more about the signature anyway. See the previous letter for more important details. Also, be sure to include your signature TWICE in each article. That way you're sure people will read it. ------ Dear Ms. Post<a href="news:">news:</a> I couldn't get mail through to somebody on another site. What should I do? -- eager@beaver.dam A: Dear Eager: No problem, just post your message to a group that a lot of people read. Say, "This is for John Smith. I couldn't get mail through so I'm posting it. All others please ignore." This way tens of thousands of people will spend a few seconds scanning over and ignoring your article, using up over 16 man-hours their collective time, but you will be saved the terrible trouble of checking through usenet maps or looking for alternate routes. Just think, if you couldn't distribute your message to 9000 other computers, you might actually have to (gasp) call directory assistance for 60 cents, or even phone the person. This can cost as much as a few DOLLARS (!) for a 5 minute call! And certainly it's better to spend 10 to 20 dollars of other people's money distributing the message than for you to have to waste $9 on an overnight letter, or even 25 cents on a stamp! Don't forget. The world will end if your message doesn't get through, so post it as many places as you can. ------ Q: What about a test message? A: It is important, when testing, to test the entire net. Never test merely a subnet distribution when the whole net can be done. Also put "please ignore" on your test messages, since we all know that everybody always skips a message with a line like that. Don't use a subject like "My sex is female but I demand to be addressed as male." because such articles are read in depth by all USEnauts. ------ Q: Somebody just posted that Roman Polanski directed Star Wars. What should I do? A: Post the correct answer at once! We can't have people go on believing that! Very good of you to spot this. You'll probably be the only one to make the correction, so post as soon as you can. No time to lose, so certainly don't wait a day, or check to see if somebody else has made the correction. And it's not good enough to send the message by mail. Since you're the only one who really knows that it was Francis Coppola, you have to inform the whole net right away! ------ Q: I read an article that said, "reply by mail, I'll summarize." What should I do? A: Post your response to the whole net. That request applies only to dumb people who don't have something interesting to say. Your postings are much more worthwhile than other people's, so it would be a waste to reply by mail. ------ Q: I collected replies to an article I wrote, and now it's time to summarize. What should I do? A: Simply concatenate all the articles together into a big file and post that. On USENET, this is known as a summary. It lets people read all the replies without annoying newsreaders getting in the way. Do the same when summarizing a vote. ------ Q: I saw a long article that I wish to rebut carefully, what should I do? A: Include the entire text with your article, and include your comments between the lines. Be sure to post, and not mail, even though your article looks like a reply to the original. Everybody *loves* to read those long point-by-point debates, especially when they evolve into name-calling and lots of "Is too!" -- "Is not!" -- "Is too, twizot!" exchanges. ------ Q: How can I choose what groups to post in? A: Pick as many as you can, so that you get the widest audience. After all, the net exists to give you an audience. Ignore those who suggest you should only use groups where you think the article is highly appropriate. Pick all groups where anybody might even be slightly interested. Always make sure followups go to all the groups. In the rare event that you post a followup which contains something original, make sure you expand the list of groups. Never include a "Followup-to:" line in the header, since some people might miss part of the valuable discussion in the fringe groups. ------ Q: How about an example? A: Ok. Let's say you want to report that Gretzky has been traded from the Oilers to the Kings. Now right away you might think rec.sport.hockey would be enough. WRONG. Many more people might be interested. This is a big trade! Since it's a NEWS article, it belongs in the news.* hierarchy as well. If you are a news admin, or there is one on your machine, try news.admin. If not, use news.misc. The Oilers are probably interested in geology, so try sci.physics. He is a big star, so post to sci.astro, and sci.space because they are also interested in stars. Next, his name is Polish sounding. So post to soc.culture.polish. But that group doesn't exist, so cross-post to news.groups suggesting it should be created. With this many groups of interest, your article will be quite bizarre, so post to talk.bizarre as well. (And post to comp.std.mumps, since they hardly get any articles there, and a "comp" group will propagate your article further.) You may also find it is more fun to post the article once in each group. If you list all the newsgroups in the same article, some newsreaders will only show the the article to the reader once! Don't tolerate this. ------ Q: How do I create a newsgroup? A: The easiest way goes something like "inews -C newgroup ....", and while that will stir up lots of conversation about your new newsgroup, it might not be enough. First post a message in news.groups describing the group. Hold discussion for a short while, and then ask for a vote. Collect votes for 30 days. Every few days post a long summary of all the votes so that people can complain about bad mailers and double votes. It means you'll be more popular and get lots of mail. At the end of thirty days if you have 100 more yes votes than no votes you may create the group. No matter what the group, it is not necessary to get the approval of admins at backbone sites. They will be happy to create any group if it passes the above test. To liven up discussion, choose a good cross-match for your hierarchy and group. For example, comp.race.formula1 or soc.vlsi.design would be good group names. If you want your group created quickly, include an interesting word like "sex" or "bible." To avoid limiting discussion, make the name as broad as possible. ------ Q: I cant spell worth a dam. I hope your going too tell me what to do? A: Don't worry about how your articles look. Remember it's the message that counts, not the way it's presented. Ignore the fact that sloppy spelling in a purely written forum sends out the same silent messages that soiled clothing would when addressing an audience. ------ Q: How should I pick a subject for my articles? A: Keep it short and meaningless. That way people will be forced to actually read your article to find out what's in it. This means a bigger audience for you, and we all know that's what the net is for. If you do a followup, be sure and keep the same subject, even if it's totally meaningless and not part of the same discussion. If you don't, you won't catch all the people who are looking for stuff on the original topic, and that means less audience for you. ------ Q: What sort of tone should I take in my article? A: Be as outrageous as possible. If you don't say outlandish things, and fill your article with libelous insults of net people, you may not stick out enough in the flood of articles to get a response. The more insane your posting looks, the more likely it is that you'll get lots of followups. The net is here, after all, so that you can get lots of attention. If your article is polite, reasoned and to the point, you may only get mailed replies. Yuck! ------ Q: The posting software suggested I had too long a signature and too many lines of included text in my article. What's the best course? A: Such restrictions were put in the software for no reason at all, so don't even try to figure out why they might apply to your article. Turns out most people search the net to find nice articles that consist of the complete text of an earlier article plus a few lines. In order to help these people, fill your article with dummy original lines to get past the restrictions. Everybody will thank you for it. For your signature, I know it's tough, but you will have to read it in with the editor. Do this twice to make sure it's firmly in there. ------ Q: They just announced on the radio that Dan Quayle was picked as the Republican V.P. candidate. Should I post? A: Of course. The net can reach people in as few as 3 to 5 days. It's the perfect way to inform people about such news events long after the broadcast networks have covered them. As you are probably the only person to have heard the news on the radio, be sure to post as soon as you can. ------ Q: I have this great joke. You see, these three strings walk into a bar.... A: Oh dear. Don't spoil it for me. Submit it to rec.humor, and post it to the moderator of rec.humor.funny at the same time. I'm sure he's never seen that joke, and I know he loves to have jokes sent to rec.humor and rec.humor.funny at the same time. ------ Q: What computer should I buy? An Atari ST or an Amiga? A: Cross post that question to the Atari and Amiga groups. It's an interesting and novel question that I am sure they would love to investigate in those groups. ------ Q: What about other important questions? How should I know when to post? A: Always post them. It would be a big waste of your time to find a knowledgeable user in one of the groups and ask through private mail if the topic has already come up. Much easier to bother thousands of people with the same question. ------ Q: What is the measure of a worthwhile group? A: Why, it's Volume, Volume, Volume. Any group that has lots of noise in it must be good. Remember, the higher the volume of material in a group, the higher percentage of useful, factual and insightful articles you will find. In fact, if a group can't demonstrate a high enough volume, it should be deleted from the net. ------ Q: Emily, I'm having a serious disagreement with somebody on the net. I tried complaints to his sysadmin, organizing mail campaigns, called for his removal from the net and phoning his employer to get him fired. Everybody laughed at me. What can I do? A: Go to the daily papers. Most modern reporters are top-notch computer experts who will understand the net, and your problems, perfectly. They will print careful, reasoned stories without any errors at all, and surely represent the situation properly to the public. The public will also all act wisely, as they are also fully cognizant of the subtle nature of net society. Papers never sensationalize or distort, so be sure to point out things like racism and sexism wherever they might exist. Be sure as well that they understand that all things on the net, particularly insults, are meant literally. Link what transpires on the net to the causes of the Holocaust, if possible. If regular papers won't take the story, go to a tabloid paper -- they are always interested in good stories. By arranging all this free publicity for the net, you'll become very well known. People on the net will wait in eager anticipation for your every posting, and refer to you constantly. You'll get more mail than you ever dreamed possible -- the ultimate in net success. ------ Q: What does foobar stand for? A: It stands for you, dear. -- Gene Spafford NSF/Purdue/U of Florida Software Engineering Research Center, Dept. of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, W. Lafayette IN 47907-2004 Internet: spaf@cs.purdue.edu uucp: ...!{decwrl,gatech,ucbvax}!purdue!spaf From: Marshall Gilliland 306/966-5501 <GILLILAND@SASK.USask.CA> Subject: MacinTalk availability (14 lines) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 20:25 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1093 (1403) You can get MacinTalk and its associated files from several sources: a) an Apple dealer b) off the Apple CD-ROM "Excellent CD" c) a Mac user group d) someone with a collection of Mac utilities e) I think you can find it on the server collections at such sites as PUCC and RICE You may want to consider Hypertalk, which takes the place of MacinTalk for HyperCard stacks. This should be available at the same sources. Marshall Gilliland U of Saskatchewan GILLILAND@SASK.USASK.CA From: elliot@library.uucp (Elliot Kanter) Subject: Re: 3.682 ORION on Internet? e-Akkadian? (48) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 22:02:45 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1094 (1404) Simpler than an Internet number, you can access ORION during a MELVYL catalog session with the command "use orion". The problem is that ORION services require an account, which includes both monthly minimums ($10/month?) and some connect time. The query on MELVYL "help orion" will give an ORION User Service number at UCLA if you want to pursue it. Elliot Kanter Univ. of California, San Diego ekanter@ucsd From: "Kevin L. Cope" <ENCOPE@LSUVM> Subject: The Techno-Grammo Eclecticism of HUMANIST Date: Wed, 01 Nov 89 22:12:15 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1095 (1405) Why should HUMANIST include items about both computing and the humanities as a subject (and the many subjects in the humanities)? Because this way it will remain the best of the lists. I'll raise a controversial point: HUMANIST is good because it is elite. In order to understand, read, and like this list, one must rush ahead of the leading edge of technology and must also understand the eternalities of the humanities. Very few people can do both. The HUMANIST company, consequently, is self-selective. Compare HUMANIST, with its hard-edged multidisciplinarity, to other lists. I, for one, have had to sign off from LITERARY and WORDS because these lists offered nothing but very amateurish, unevaluated, unedited, and, I suspect, while I'm talking about "uns," undergraduate musings. One grammo to LITERARY even asked "are there any profs out there"; another offered vague musings about the restroom. Moreover, we HUMANISTS have an editor who organizes the debate (and does a good job of it) so that we don't get hit with a lot of scattered remarks from the hoi polloi. So let's keep HUMANIST as it is-- diverse, avant-garde, and full of hard initiation rites! From: <HALPORNJ@IUBACS> Subject: PAX HOMINIBUS BONAE VOLUNTATIS Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 11:03:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1096 (1406) Dear Readers, Is it the season that is causing so much grouchiness on e- mail these days. There is Willard, a paragon of patience (and with whom I sympathize) being testy about text wider than 65 columns and about angular brackets in column 1. And yesterday, someone who confuses spleen with satire sounding like the curmudgeon who returns your "Good Morning" with "What's so good about it?" James W. Halporn [no address, no institutional affiliation, and a promise that in his posted letters he will cut off the top 1/4 of the stationery so that no one can complain about the fancy printing and the dratted university seal]. From: <HALPORNJ@IUBACS> Subject: HP Printer and the MAC Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 20:20:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 687 (1407) At a recent computer fair I picked up a brochure on the HP Deskwriter (HP 2278A) which says it is an HP jet printer made for the Macintosh. The printer itself was not exhibited. Has anyone used this printer with the Mac? Any comments? I am especially interested whether it works with non-Roman fonts (programs like SMK Greekeys). A colleague who is involved with SMK Greekeys has serious doubts that HP can produce a satisfactory Postscript printer. The latest report from our computing center here at Indiana also suggests that HP has these problems. Many thanks. James W. Halporn (HALPORNJ@IUBACS). From: "James H. Coombs" <JAZBO@BROWNVM> Subject: Re: NeXT Date: Wed, 01 Nov 89 22:22:48 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1097 (1408) A couple of points that have not been brought up. 1. It's very slow. Compared to a Mac II running A/UX and a Max toolbox application. Perhaps others have better configurations? This one had 8 Mb. Much of the time it seems unusable. Someone mentioned the Frame application. Too slow for me. 2. Feedback is poor. Some messages are inappropriate, such as something about "file system error" when one modifies a document but does not have the proper permissions. Even worse, one often does not know whether the system is working on something or not. The applications tend to change the mouse cursor into a disk when they are working, but the system often leaves the pointer while it is launching an application. And this can be a LONG delay, too long to bother timing. 3. The mouse is infuriating. The acceleration when one moves it quickly is insignificant---it just doesn't help if it is there. There is also a problem with spurious clicks. The machine acts as if I have clicked the mouse when I haven't. It seems to get bad for a while and then clears up. It's the sort of thing that makes me want to hit the machine. In many ways, the machine is interesting, but I think it needs work before it will be a useful tool. I didn't see a major difference between 0.9 and 1.0, so I am not expecting major improvements in the near future. I guess the biggest need is for faster hardware to drive everything that they are trying to do. --Jim Dr. James H. Coombs Senior Software Engineer, Research Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship (IRIS) Brown University, Box 1946 Providence, RI 02912 jazbo@brownvm.bitnet From: Richard Goerwitz <goer@sophist.uchicago.edu> Subject: NeXT Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 10:43:06 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1098 (1409) I want to express agreement with recent observations on the NeXT. It's not a personal computer. And its OS is not the stuff of everyday, average computational life. Just too many people are using MS-DOS based machines. The economics dictate that a WordPerfect or NotaBene for the NeXT will be a long time in coming. -Richard From: "Peter S. Graham" <GRAHAM@PISCES.BITNET> Subject: NeXT use in libraries Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 12:05:20 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1099 (1410) [This message borrowed from PACS-L. --W.M.] My experience with Next is that they know there are humanists out there but they've never met one. They are finally admitting that the Shakespeare data base is a toy (an academic couldn't take it seriously). Beyond that they speak well about wanting it to be avaialble for non-techies but they don't seem to know how to go. I'm given to understand that they and RLG have had discussions but I don't know what they are. Haven't seen any use in libraries yet. The search engine and the desktop publishing capabilities offer obvious capabilities if the applications are developed, and their general direction of raising the common denominator of the workstation I applaud. In addition, the machine would have a lot of capability for working with large-text files networked over a high-bandwidth line, e.g. full-text data bases. The Rutgers/Princeton project for the Center on Machine-Readable Texts in the Humanities has this kind of thinking in the back of its collective mind. --Peter Graham. From: fred.eade@UTS.AM.CC.READING.AC.UK Subject: summer institute of linguistics Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 09:09:21 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1100 (1411) Have many other humanists discovered the veritable goldmine of 'humanistic' computing, sales and help in the Summer Institute of Linguistics? they are based in Texas and their address is: s.i.l. inc. 7500 west camp wisdom road dallas 75236 texas they also have a sales/software library in northern carolina: international computer services box 248 waxhaw nc 28173 The expertise that sil have built up over several years of linguistic computing is, i think, quite unique. Their main area of concern is in minority language groups, and to serve that purpose they have written a whole 'suite' of software (admittedly not quite as user friendly as a mac!) known as dts (direct translation support). this is available - including documentation - for around $30 from the waxhaw address. a journal is published eight times a year called notes on computing and costs $12 + postage. this journal deals with anything from unix problems to fungus growing on discs (a lot of sil staff work in 'computer hostile environments, as you may imagine'. i have found sil, and their sister organisation wycliffe bible translators very helpful, but then i would as my main research interests lie in burkina faso. From: Malcolm Brown <mbb@jessica.Stanford.EDU> Subject: InfoWorld's evalutation of DOS text retrieval software Date: Thu, 02 Nov 89 10:45:56 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1101 (1412) This week's "InfoWorld" has review of the major textbase programs that run under DOS. The programs reviewed include AskSam, FolioViews, Ize, WordCruncher, Magellan and ZyIndex. I'd be most interested if those using Magellan and FolioViews could comment on the InfoWorld evaluation. Do you agree? Do the InfoWorld reports accurately evaluate the programs? (I'm baised, you see: I've not had a chance to work with Magellan or FolioViews yet). Malcolm Brown Stanford From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.683 nuclear fiction? (34) Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 15:22:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 690 (1413) Recently read a fine novel called PRINCIPLES OF NUCLEAR CHEMISTORY, or PRINCIPLES OF AMERICAN NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY, An Irsh-named author, and from Atlantic Monthly about 20 years ago. Got it from UCLA library first edition last spring, recommended by e-mail from Toronto, in fact. First class novel. J Kessler From: Jeutonne P. Brewer <BREWERJ@UNCG.BITNET> Subject: Guidelines for Classifying Techies/Tekkies Date: (not given) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1102 (1414) The negative reactions to recent technical discussions about computer equipment surprised me. The comments about techies/tekkies/techniks intrigued me. I contributed to the comments about 3.5" drives. To atone for that misdemeanor or major blunder (depending on the reader's view and preference in computers), I offer these guidelines for classifying comments and views as technical and people as techies/tekkies: 1. Comments are technical when we have no need to know about the subject. Comments become pertinent and important if we need to know about the subject. 2. Technical information is unimportant if we are spending someone else's money, for example, money provided by a computer center or a department. If we are spending our own money, the information is important. The information becomes crucial if we are spending our own money at the end of the month. 3. Comments about hardware are technical, and people who talk or write about what is in the inside the computer are techies/tekkies. Reviewers are typically exempt from this classification because they are professionally technical rather than practically technical (whatever that means). 4. Comments about software are non-technical. 5. Classify all comments about computers we don't use or don't like as technical. Classify people who write the comments as techies/tekkies. I think it is interesting that we tend to classify discussions of DRAMs and drives differently from discussions of features of word processors and databases, details about scanners and optical character recognition, and fonts for various laser printers. After all, we are not really dealing with a difference between object and quality in the sense of C. S. Lewis, F. R. Leavis, and others. It is true that the machine is just nuts, bolts, solder, and chips without the programs. However, there is no reason for the programs to exist without the chips. We have to think in terms of the whole instead of a dichotomy. From: 6590BEAVERSA@MUCSD Subject: HUMANIST AND HAM RADIO Date: Fri, 3 Nov 89 14:57:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1103 (1415) I am a Ham Radio operator (N5HFN) though I have been inactive while pursuing my Ph.D. Indeed, HUMANIST does have the style of the radio nets save for the fact that the Hams seem to understand that maximum use of their equipment means that they must learn the technical aspect of their hobby. I agree with the Hams, and I, for one, enjoy the technical news on HUMANIST; some of it is beyond me to be sure, but learning begins with exposure. (Or at least, after having been exposed, I am in a position where I can choose what to learn through follow-up.) Thanks *** Anthony Beavers - Lecturer Philosophy - Marquette University From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.682 ORION on Internet? e-Akkadian? (48) Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 23:32:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1104 (1416) Try ecz5re2@uclamvs. That should give you the reference desk e-mail, and they will be able to tell you orion's log-on from outside. I get idirectly via my access to the 3090. J Kessler, UCLA Oh yes, of course it costs. People of California pay taxes for it, it says here. J Kessler@ucla From: Jeutonne P. Brewer <BREWERJ@UNCG.BITNET> 1-NOV-1989 Subject: Date: 1 November 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1105 (1417) I require my students to use computers in my classes. They write extensively about language, and their writing improves during the semester as they go about the task of completing assignments and writing papers. They also learn how to use e-mail. The students learn word processing in an IBM-compatible lab without the extensive DOS-angst expressed in recent messages. Early in this decade I wrote a paper in which I claimed that students in the humanities should learn to use word processing (my focus) as part of their regular courses rather than in separate "computer literacy" courses, which were usually taught by computer specialists rather than by humanists. I still hold this view. A few years ago the university had added enough labs and computers to make it possible for students in the humanities to have easy access to the equipment. The students' success in the lab and their improved writing reinforce my view that students should be introduced to word processing as part of their courses in the humanities. My students use Norton Textra Writer 2.0 as their word processing program. It has all the typical features of word processing programs as well as windows, hidden comments, and an extended character set for foreign language and math. It includes a spelling checker. Even more interesting and important are the films (online tutorials), online help, and the online handbook. Part of the online handbook is the "Works cited" feature. In addition to advice about what to cite and how to cite it in a paper, the program allows the students to have an example of the appropriate citation form on the screen when they type their citations. The program formats the information with the proper indentation for MLA or APA style and alphabetizes the citations. The manual consists of 142 pages of information written for the student. Norton Textra Writer 2.0 is published by W. W. Norton. The cost is $24. According to the blurb on the back of the manual, "No better software value exists." In this case, I think the company's claim is correct. Word Perfect 5.0 is available on the network in the lab for students who prefer to use it. Most students choose to work with Norton Textra Writer when they realize that it is a flexible, portable, and sophisticated program. It is the program I usually take with me when I travel with my portable computer. Boyd Davis at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte first introduced me to the program. Jeutonne Brewer Department of English BREWERJ@UNCG From: Jeutonne P. Brewer <BREWERJ@UNCG.BITNET> Subject: Date: Wed, 1 Nov 89 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1106 (1418) I enjoyed Don Spaeth's comments about documentation and Nota Bene. I don't read documentation unless I need the answer to a specific, detailed question. One of the best tests of good software is how easy it is to use without reading the documentation. I read the instructions about how to install the software. Usually there is an introductory section about how to start the program and how to exit from it. I read that quickly. Then I begin to use the program. When I need to know about a particular command for a particular purpose, I read that part of the documentation. I began using this technique about 10 years ago with word processing on a TRS-80 Model I. It works just as well with an IBM compatible. If you want to understand the nature of the program, you learn by using the program rather than reading what the programmer or the technical writer has written about the program. Documentation is already taking up too much of my shelf space. Nota Bene is a program that I have always wanted to work with. (Documentation of 800 pages makes me doubt, however.) There are two reasons why I haven't bought it. I object to MLA's work as a software company. The program costs too much. I have never paid that much for any program, except a desktop publishing program. Word Perfect will continue to serve well. Jeutonne Brewer Department of English BREWERJ@UNCG From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Offline Date: 3 November 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1107 (1419) Offline, a column by Robert Kraft (Penn) on the application of computing to religious studies, has been put online for some time on Humanist's file-server. The following are the current holdings: OFFLINE 0_1 ALL OWN V 61 266 89/11/03 09:47:02 /column OFFLINE 2_3_4 ALL OWN V 61 266 89/11/03 09:47:02 |by OFFLINE 5_6_7 ALL OWN V 61 266 89/11/03 09:47:02 |Robert OFFLINE 8_TO_11 ALL OWN V 61 266 89/11/03 09:47:02 |Kraft OFFLINE 12_TO_15 ALL OWN V 61 266 89/11/03 09:47:02 |on OFFLINE 16 ALL OWN V 61 266 89/11/03 09:47:02 |the OFFLINE 17 ALL OWN V 61 266 89/07/11 09:47:02 |use OFFLINE 18 ALL OWN V 72 304 88/04/06 09:35:59 |of OFFLINE 19 ALL OWN V 65 304 88/07/28 19:34:18 |computer OFFLINE 20 ALL OWN V 68 341 88/09/20 12:31:34 |techno- OFFLINE 21 ALL OWN V 69 229 88/12/20 12:23:29 |logy OFFLINE 22 ALL OWN V 68 446 89/02/10 14:37:47 |in OFFLINE 23 ALL OWN V 69 285 89/03/25 00:25:16 |relig. OFFLINE 24 ALL OWN V 69 452 89/06/29 11:46:27 |studies OFFLINE 25 ALL OWN V 77 374 89/09/27 08:25:16 ›et al. [The above has been snipped from the filelist; thus its appearance.] Any of these may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives. Yours, Willard McCarty From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" <ERIC@SDNET> Subject: English Position Date: Fri, 03 Nov 89 06:09:28 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1108 (1420) A few weeks back, some were lamenting that there were no positions for those who had PhDs in English and who had a knowledge of computing (using applications as well as programming skills). Following is a full-time, tenure-track position for such people. Please pass the description on to any who may be qualified. -- Eric Johnson ERIC@SDNET ENGLISH FACULTY POSITION Dakota State University is seeking candidates for a full-time tenure-track English faculty position in the College of Liberal Arts beginning Fall Semester 1990. Qualifications include a Ph.D. in English with a specialization in composition and technical writing desired. Responsibilities include teaching composition on MS-DOS microcomputers. Familiarity with computer applications for writing and literary study important. Familiarity with SNOBOL4 advantageous. Rank and salary are based on qualifications. Dakota State University is located in Madison, South Dakota, approximately 45 miles northwest of Sioux Falls, in the southern lakes region of the state. Dakota State is dedicated to providing leadership in computer and information systems, and the integration of this technology into other academic disciplines. A letter of application, resume, and the names, addresses and telephone numbers of three references should be sent to: Eric Johnson, Dean College of Liberal Arts Dakota State University Madison, SD 57042 Applications will be accepted until December 1, or until the position is filled. DSU is an Equal Opportunity Employer. From: D.J.Morse@edinburgh.ac.uk Subject: info on archives and projects Date: Fri, 3 Nov 89 06:39:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1109 (1421) Edinburgh - Edinburgh University Data Library Edinburgh University Data Library is, primarily, a service unit run jointly by the University's Computing and Library services. As such it is involved in the collection, storage, and dissemination of machine-readable data in various forms, principally pop At present, the only major text holding is the complete works of Kirkegaard, consisting of 35 books, based upon the Danish 3rd edition with some changes to make the text more "friendly', improve access time, and "treatable" by as wide a range of software The package was produced by Alastair McKinnon, McGill University, to whom enquiries should be addressed. General inquiries on the holdings and activities of the Edinburgh University Data Library, and the numerous projects in which it is involved should be addressed to: datalib@uk.ac.edinburgh Donald J. Morse From: "Ralph W. Mathisen" <N330009@UNIVSCVM> Subject: APA Program Date: Fri, 03 Nov 89 15:37:17 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1110 (1422) AMERICAN PHILOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION Program of the One Hundred and Twenty-First Annual Meeting Boston, Massachusetts DECEMBER 27-30, 1989 TABLE OF CONTENTS [The following has been abstracted from the general programme of the APA conference to save wear and tear on the network and members' patience. Presumably the entire programme can be obtained from the sender, Ralph Mathisen. --W.M.] THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1989 Noon-1:00 PM Workshop for APA-AIA Independence Computer Users Group West FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1989 1:30 PM SECTION D Fairfax B Panel sponsored by the Committee on Computer Activities Robert J. Rowland, Jr., Chair 1. D. H. A. Kaferly, ›Kaferly, D Denver, Colorado The Quantitative Analysis of Text: A Different Approach (25 min.) 2. Iannis Kazazis, ›Kazazis, Iannis/ University of Thessaloniki and The University of Maryland Contemporary Lexicography and `The Modern Greek Historical Lexicon' of the Academy of Athens (20 min.) 3. William Loerke, ›Loerke, William/ Dumbarton Oaks and The University of Maryland CAADing the Pantheon (20 min.) 4. Ward W. Briggs, Jr., ›Briggs, Ward W University of South Carolina Desktop Publishing and the Classics Journal (20 min.) From: Geoffrey Rockwell <Geoffrey_Rockwell@poczta.utcs.utoronto.ca> Subject: 3.687 HP printer and M-I Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 23:35:06 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1111 (1423) I saw the HP Deskwriter (HP 2278A) at MacWorld and was impressed. It is not, however, a PostScript printer. Nor is it a 300 dpi printer of the quality of traditional lasers. The dots are not uniform in size, so the effect, compared to a laser is speckly. The dots are spat at the page by the jet as opposed to being specks of toner attracted to the page. The Deskwriter is not as fast as lasers, and is not an Appletalk device, so it is not suitable for networking. It is a personal quasi-300 dpi printer for people dissatisfied with the imagewriter and without the cash for a laser. Fonts is an interesting question. I was under the impression that they have their own font outline technology for the printer, but I may have not heard correctly. It could be that they use large size fonts and scale them down, as the LQ does. In that case the question is whether there is a SMK Greek keys 72 point font. Here is what the pamphlet says (in quotations): "Laser-quality means 300 dots-per-inch resolution. Jet black text and graphics. Sharp, crisp edges. And a library of scalable fonts that you thought were available only on PostScript printers..." Sounds to me like, yet another font technology. How does it handle fonts for which it has no outline? A screen dump of the "DeskWriter Page Setup" has the following switchable Printer Effects: Font substitution?, Use High-Quality Printer Fonts?, and Precision Bitmaps? I suspect with Font Substitution off, you can get SMK as if it were on an imagewriter. (Jet black and crisp.) The high-quality printer fonts will be their outline fonts. One possibility is that it is like the BitStream fonts on the PC, you have to generate 300dpi fonts from the outline that then sit on your hard drive. You generate a different font for each point size you think you want. How will this work with the Royal technology when that comes out with system 7. (Beware of system seven.) How about Adobe's font outline technology? The thing I liked most about it, was the way it holds every page above the others while the "jet black", crisp ink dries. It reminded me, for some unexamined reason, of a tortellini making machine. Geoffrey Rockwell University of Toronto rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca From: gall@Nexus.YorkU.CA Subject: Re: 3.687 HP printer and the Mac? (25) Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 23:57:41 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1112 (1424) [deleted quotation]| | At a recent computer fair I picked up a brochure on the HP Deskwriter | (HP 2278A) which says it is an HP jet printer made for the Macintosh. | The printer itself was not exhibited. Has anyone used this printer with | the Mac? Any comments? I have just that beast here attached to my Mac Plus (2.5 Meg) and am more than happy with it. The noise level is 1/10 that of the IW II and the print quality is indistinguishable from any PS 300dpi printer you care to name. After photocopying, the results are excellent. | I am especially interested whether it works | with non-Roman fonts (programs like SMK Greekeys). The DeskWriter only uses AGFA CompuGraphic typefaces (and *all* Adobe typefaces after the purchase of the Adobe Type Manager -- an absolute must for both the HP DW and the IW II!!) at 300 dpi. Bitmapped faces are scalled down. One needs at least 4X the size in the system as is being used on the page for even tolerable results... but you knew that from the IW LQ anyway, right? Adobe's Symbol font produces all the greek and logic characters *I* need... and it comes with ATM (~$60US from mail-order in the US--$79CDN in Canada)w3 | A colleague who is | involved with SMK Greekeys has serious doubts that HP can produce a | satisfactory Postscript printer. The latest report from our computing | center here at Indiana also suggests that HP has these problems. | [deleted quotation] I have no knowledge of HP's competence with PostScript... The DW is a QuickDraw printer. Norm Gall From: dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca Subject: HP DeskWriter Date: 03 Nov 89 12:47 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1113 (1425) I've had a DeskWriter working in my office only for the last few days so I'm not the best person to comment on the request for information about it, but here goes anyway: The DeskWriter is basically an edition of the DeskJet with a new driver from Palomar Software specifically designed to work with the Macintosh. It has all the advantages and disadvantages of inkjet printers: it's quiet, fairly speedy, and produces 300 dpi output from the outline fonts which are included with it. In a way it's about where the original LaserWriter was when first released: it comes with four 'font families', which are lookalikes for Courier, Times, Symbol and Helvetica, though the rest of the 35 fonts in the LaserWriter IINT/NTX are available at extra cost. Its disadvantages include the fact that the output is fairly sensitive to the kind of paper used (it likes good quality bond), some smearing of the ink if you handle it when it first comes from the printer, and less than terrific output using bitmapped screen fonts which are not resident in the printer (they print at 72 dpi--ordinary Mac screen resolution). As well, the printer is not designed for heavy use: HP recommends a maximum daily average of 25 pp, and an allowable occasional daily maximum of only 50 pp. Definitely a personal printer! As regards the question of non-Roman fonts, as far as I can see there is not yet a proper Greek font, or for that matter any other non-Roman font, available for the DeskWriter. Those who have seen the standard Mac Symbol font will be aware that it is no substitute. Any good bitmapped font would work of course, but at 72 dpi. If the DeskWriter catches on (as it may, given its low price in relation to the quality of output), companies like Linguists' Software may well produce fonts for it. Bottom line at the moment: it's a joy to use, but if your first priority is non-Roman fonts at 300 dpi, you should find out more before buying. This is not a PostScript printer, by the way, and does not use Adobe fonts. I think it comes with fonts from Agfa Compugraphic, but I'm not sure. David Graham dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca From: elli@harvunxw.BITNET (Elli Mylonas) Subject: HP DeskWriter Date: Fri, 3 Nov 89 11:38:45 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1114 (1426) This is not a postscript printer. It does quickdraw. So, any problems that exist for the Laserwriter SC and the Imagewriter LQ will also apply to this printer. However, it is still well worth the price (around $800 or a bit less, mail order) if the person using it is able to work around the lack of PostScript. I would not recommend it to a novice user, unless all they do is very standard work with standard fonts. However, with utilities like the Adobe Type Manager, which turn PostSCript into QuickDraw, the DeskWriter immediately expands its potential. I don't know what to say about SMK and their associated PS fonts, Kadmos and Attika, etc. since it is unclear whether the ATM handles anything but Adobe Fonts. However, the QuickDraw fonts are the way Apple plans to handle fonts in System 7, so the DeskJet also has a future, and it is a pretty safe bet that utilities to convert PS to Quickdraw will appear. I don't think the SuperGreek font can really solve the problem, either, since in order to print with a higher resolution, it is necessary to have a larger type size (like with the LaserWriter SC)--usually 4x. SMK is working on producing a the larger size fonts for the SC users. --Elli Mylonas From: Hans Joergen Marker <DDAHM@NEUVM1> Subject: Query: Corpus Juris Civilis Date: Fri, 03 Nov 89 14:25:25 DNT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1115 (1427) Does anyone of you have information about machine-readable versions of Corpus Juris Civilis, either available or being prepared. Any information about such versions would be most welcome. I have a request for such a data material from one of our clients. Hans Joergen Marker Danish Data Archives From: DAN MANDELL (219)284-4610 <XLYKN8@IRISHMVS.CC.ND.EDU> Subject: Biblical Concordance Date: Fri, 03 Nov 89 12:20 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1116 (1428) We are looking for a good Mac or Ibm-compatible Biblical Concordance for use in a student lab. I've seen advertisements for versions based on King James Version. Are there some more recent versions available? Dan Mandell Saint Mary's College From: BRODY Florian <U3011VAA@AWIUNI11> Subject: Re: 3.685 MacInTalk; ORION (53) Date: Fri, 3 Nov 89 05:54:43 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1117 (1429) Please keep in mind: HyperTalk is a programming language - MacinTalk is a speech synthesis program. There is a speech simulator for HyperCard around - quite new with an actor on the screen which uses a graph to phoneme transformation. sorry I forgot its name. If you want just speech as output use MacRecorder. It's SW has a HyCard interface. F.B.Y. From: Jody Gilbert <USERDOG1@SFU.BITNET> Subject: Macintalk & Hypertalk Date: Fri, 3 Nov 89 09:07:42 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1118 (1430) Marshall's advice on where to get Macintalk is good, but he is not quite right about the relationship between Macintalk & Hypertalk. Macintalk is a Mac system document that synthesises speech from written text. Hypertalk is the simplified object-oriented programming language used by HyperCard. In order to do speech synthesis, HyperCard in fact uses Macintalk via several external commands (XCMDs) that are floating around and should be available from some of the same sources Marshall suggests. Jody Gilbert Department of English Simon Fraser University Lotus Land by the Sea From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.690 Notes and Queries: nuclear fiction (18) Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 23:26:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1119 (1431) Principles of american nuclear chemistry, McMahon, L, I believe, Atlantic, it comes to me after a walk and two hour lecture. Hope that starts your list. Kessler From: grgo@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Greg Goode) Subject: Answer to Nuclear Fiction Query Date: Fri, 3 Nov 89 10:29:59 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1120 (1432) Proving that HUMANIST is a powerful and widespread vehicle, I'm gratified that an anwer to my nuclear fiction query came from Paul Brians, of Washington State University. I had done an MLA On Disk search for the same topic I'd posted on HUMANIST, and Lo and Behold, Paul Brians' name just sort of dominated the citation list. He's also joined HUMANIST, and I welcome him aboard! --Greg Goode University of Rochester From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: BIOGRAFY 24 (920 lines) 1 of 2 Date: 5 November 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 698 (1433) Autobiographies of Humanists Twenty-third Supplement Following are 33 additional entries to the collection of autobiographical statements by members of the Humanist discussion group. Humanists on IBM VM/CMS systems will want a copy of Jim Coombs' exec for searching and retrieving biographical entries. It is kept on Humanist's file-server; for more information, see the Guide to Humanist. Further additions, corrections, and updates are welcome. Willard McCarty Centre for Computing in the Humanities, Univ. of Toronto mccarty@utorepas 5 November 1989 ================================================================= *Bailey, Elsie <Baileye@VTVM1> (for J. Noftsinger, A. Fishwick, and S. Johnson) Institution: North Cross School Phone: (703) 9896641 Address: 4254 Colonial Avenue Roanoke, Virginia 24018 USA ================================================================= *Baker, Judy NAME: Judy Baker INSTITUTION: University of Newcastle upon Tyne DEPARTMENT: Language Centre TITLE: Computer Officer EMAIL: J.C.Baker @ uk.ac.newcastle.mts PHONE: 091 222 6000 ext 7517 ADDRESS: Language Centre, Old Library Building, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne. POSTAL CODE: NE1 7RU COUNTRY: England. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH I work in the Language Centre at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, as a Computer Officer. My work consists mainly in trying to track down good quality software for teaching languages (almost any language) and in re-writing software in Pascal. In the Language Centre we have a network of Nimbus PC-186 computers, which are almost IBM compatibles. The Nimbus has an IBM emulator, which handles quite a lot of IBM software successfully, though the screen emulation is weak (EGA/VGA emulation impossible). We also have a Mac SE/30, an IBM PC AT, and two BBC B micros, on which we run other CALL software. We are interested in pursuing the use of Hypercard for language teaching, in particular for teaching Kanji. We are also interested in interactive video (we have a BBC Master / Microtext and a Sony video player on loan to us at the moment). ================================================================= *Beavers, Anthony (Tony) NAME: Anthony (Tony) Beavers INSTITUTION: Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin DEPARTMENT: Philosophy TITLE: Lecturer and Ph.D. Candidate EMAIL: 6590BEAVERSA@MUCSD.BITNET PHONE: (414) 288-1414 ADDRESS: Department of Philosophy Marquette University Milwaukee, Wisconsin POSTAL CODE: 53233 COUNTRY: U.S.A. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH I am a Ph.D. Candidate. My dissertation, "The Metaphysics of Affectivity and Ethical Responsibility," concerns the role of emotions as a possible grounding for ethics and should be finished during the current term (Fall, 1989). Thinkers used in the work include Descartes, Hume, Kant, Husserl and Levinas. I am teaching two divisions of "Ethical Theory" at Marquette this term. I have taught "Theories of Human Nature," "Logic," and "Contemporary Moral Problems." Next Spring, I will be visiting the University of Texas at Austin where I will be teaching a graduate seminar on Heidegger and one undergrade division of Contemporary Moral Problems. My primary interest is in the history of philosophy with particular interests in Early Modern European Philosophy, and Phenomenology and Existentialism. Before coming to Marquette, I attended Trinity College, in Hartford, Connecticut, where I received my B.A. (1985), and M.A. (1987). Both degrees are in philosophy. While in Connecticit, I worked as a computer consultant and programmer for The Connecticut Historical Society, The Archdiocese of Hartford's Permanent Deacon Program, and Winter Associates, Auctioneers and Appraisers. In addition, I have done some statistical consulting for companies in Chicago, Illinois. Most recently, my computer labor has included 1) work for the Marquette Press formatting camera-ready copy for book publishing and 2) work for the journal "Philosophy and Theology" writing utility programs and preparing on-line manuscripts. (I am the assistant editor of "Philosophy and Theology's" disk version of Karl Rahner's, <Hearers of the Word>.) I am interested in the role of computers in the humanities, and I wish to continue writing utility programs to handle various aspects of grading and text formatting. I hope to find time to move in to the area of on-line textual reseach and write some programs to assist in this area as well. ================================================================= *Brody, Florian Name: Florian BRODY Austrian National Library, Vienna Josefsplatz 1 A-1015 Vienna, Austria private address: Lerchenfelderstrasse A-1070 Vienna, Austria please send all mail to this address - things tend to get lost in the library Tel: +43 1 96 43 e-mail: U3011VAA at AWIUNI11.BITNET I am 35, work for ten years at the computing dept at the Nat'l library in project management for library automation. Academic background: linguistics and computer science. I work independently as consultant in the fields of CD-ROM and interactive multimedia (specially on the Macintosh) I got involved in computing in the humanities in 1976 when I did a course at the Computer centre in Oxford on SNOBOL4. Since then I worked in this area and I currently finish my thesis on man machine interaction. ================================================================= *Brown, Jacqueline JBROWN@PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU Director of Information Services Computing and Information Technology Princeton University 87 Prospect Avenue Princeton, N.J. 08544 Jacqueline Brown has degrees in Astrophysics from the University of Brussels and in Library Science from Rutgers. She is a native speaker of French and also speaks a number of other languages. She has held a number of positions at Princeton, including that of researcher in the Mathematics department and of automation librarian. Ms. Brown joined the computing organization in 1984 to administer a large grant donated to the University by IBM. For the last three years, she has been Director of Information Services, a division of Computing and Information Technology at Princeton University. With a staff of sixty-two and a budget of six million dollars, she provides the University community with central and distributed computing services and with media and printing services. ================================================================= *Cosmos, Spencer <Cosmos@CUA> Dean, University College, The Catholic University of America Washington, D.C. 20064 USA; voice: 202-635-5256 Educated at Loyola Univesity (Chicago), Trinity University (San Antonio, Texas), The University of Illinois at Urbana, and Pembroke College, Oxford. I began as Assistant Professor of English at CUA in 1969. I am trained in Germanic Philology and Medieval English literature, having done my dissertation on prosody in Old English, Old Norse, Old Saxon and Old High German. I am also trained in linguistics and have specialized in the history of the English language. More recently I have begun to work in semiotics. I am presently Dean of CUA's degree program for returning adult students. Avocationally, I am a film and videomaker as well as a photographer. Recent projects include study of the role of images in "ordinary thinking" (informal thinking), a hypercard stack "edition" of _Beowulf_, and, together with Professor William McCarthy of our Dept. of Greek and Latin, study of the rhetoric of vision. ================================================================= *Dusko, Vitas NAME: VITAS DUSKO INSTITUTION: Faculty of Science, University of Belgrade DEPARTMENT: Computer Laboratory TITLE: Senior Consultant EMAIL: (EARN:) xpmfl02 @ yubgss21 PHONE: 9938-639-544 ADDRESS: Studentski trg 16, Beograd POSTAL CODE: 11000 COUNTRY: Yugoslavia BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH (ca. 100-500 words) Dusko Vitas was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1949. He studied Mathematics first at the L'Universite de Paris (Paris VI) and later at the University of Belgrade (Yugoslavia) from which he recieved the Diploma in Mathematics in 1973. In 1978 he obtain the M.S. degree in Mathematics (Computer Science) on the University of Belgrade (topic: program verification). From 1973 through 1985, he worked in Mathematical institut in Belgrade From 1985 through 1989 he is on the Faculty of Science in Belgrade, at Computer Laboratory, as a senior consultant. [deleted quotation]area of NLP (Serbocroat) in Mathematical institut. He heads the republical project on Computational Linguistics during 1981-85, the project on Text Processing during 1983-85 as many applications project on the area of NLP. Actualy, he is a coordinator of scientific activities in Computer Laboratory (parts of republical project on AI (NLU) and parts of federal project on AI (theme: Processing of Serbocroate). His present research interests includes the problems of morphological analysis (especially for serbocroate) and the problems of natural language components in text processing. He is a member of the ACM, ACL and ALLC. ================================================================= *Eveleth, Jan Name: Jan Eveleth Institution: Yale University Department: Computer & Information Systems, Project Eli Title: Humanities Computing Specialist Email: EVELETH@YALEVM Phone: (203) 432-6680 Address: 175 Whitney Ave., New Haven, CT 06511 Country: USA Biographical Sketch: As humanities computing specialist, I will be assisting faculty members in the process of integrating computers into their teaching, research, and administrative duties. Over the past five years I consulted on a wide variety of computing topics within the academic community. My educational background includes a B.S. in astrophysics and an M.A. in evolutionary biology. Parti- cular computing interests include topics of connectivity (from LANs to WANs) and foreign language/special character processing and printing. ================================================================= *Gold, Jeff M. NAME: Jeff M. Gold INSTITUTION: Tennessee Technological University EMAIL: jmg@tntech PHONE: (615)372-3979 ADDRESS: Tennessee Technological University D. W. Mattson Computer Center Box 5071 Cookeville, TN 38505 COUNTRY: USA Biography: Current position is Academic Computing Support Manager. Responsible for development and support of all academic user support in teaching and research areas. Backgroung in Mathematics, Computer Science, Education, and Psychology. ================================================================= *Hatfield, Len INSTITUTION: Virginia Tech DEPARTMENT: English TITLE: Assistant Professor EMAIL: LLH123@VTVM2.BITNET PHONE: 1-703-231-7797 (w); -953-2321 (h) ADDRESS: Williams Hall 216, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA POSTAL CODE: 24061 COUNTRY: US ================================================================= *Hogan, Eddie NAME: Eddy Hogan INSTITUTION: Stanford University DEPARTMENT: University Libraries TITLE: Data & Information Services Librarian EMAIL: cn.dat@forsythe.stanford.edu PHONE: 415/725-1054 ADDRESS: Green Library, General Reference Dept., Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-6004, USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: MLS, UT Austin (1978); General Reference, Collection Development and Data Services positions in the libraries at the U of Colorado at Boulder (1979-1984), UC Berkeley (1984-1987) and Stanford (1987-Present); Professional interests include linguistics (especially metaphor), online and CD ROM information retrieval, text-oriented file management software, text scanning technology, hypermedia, telecommunications management, electronic information sources in/on Western Europe ================================================================= *Hutchinson, Roland NAME:Roland Hutchinson INSTITUTION:Montclair State College DEPARTMENT:Music TITLE:Visiting Specialist, Early Music EMAIL:r.rdh@macbeth.stanford.edu PHONE:(201) 375-1407 ADDRESS:949 Stuyvesant Ave, Irvington NJ POSTAL CODE:07111-1155 COUNTRY:USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Roland Hutchinson studied music at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was also permitted to dabble in logic and foundations of mathematics. He is now a Ph.D. candidate in musicology at Stanford University. His dissertation (in progress), "Consonance and Dissonance: a Study in the Philosophical and Scientific Foundations of Music Theory from Zarlino to Helmholtz," reflects a long-standing interest in the historical interaction of musical and scientific thought. Other research interests include performance practice, the history of string pedagogy and technique, editorial methodology, and computer-assisted methods in musicological research. He is currently teaching music history and music theory at Montclair (New Jersey) State College. Mr. Hutchinson studied viola da gamba with Sarah Cunningham, John Hsu, and Martha McGaughey. He has performed on viola da gamba and violone with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the Bach Aria Group, the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival, and the Gesellschaft fuer Musiktheater (Vienna, Austria). He has recorded for Centaur Records and has taught viol at Stanford and for the Viola da Gamba Society of America. ================================================================= *Kelly, David <e989001@njecnvm> Professor of Classics, Montclair State College, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043; 201 893-5135 or 4419 I am interested in subscribing to Humanist. I am a professor of classics at Montclair State College, New Jersey 07043. My undergraduate work was in Latin. My graduate work at Penn focussed on classical linguistics. Most recently I have become interested in the application of computer science to the humanities. My teaching duties at Montclair run the gamut of classical studies, from work in the languages to courses in general humanities and mythology. ================================================================= *Kerby, Dave NAME: Dave Kerby INSTITUTION & DEPT: Doctoral student in clinical psychology. E-MAIL: DAVEKERB@USMCP6.BITNET ADDRESS: Rt 15 Box 532 Hattiesburg, MS 39406 (601-264-3401) BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Born in Texas, but have lived for the past ten years in Mississippi. Have worked for ten years in the field of mental retardation, and past research has been in the measurement of adaptive behavior. Current research in this area is on the measurement of adaptive skills in the Fragile-X syndrome. Also doing current research on religious and paranormal beliefs among health workers in Mississippi. ================================================================= *Kugel, Herb NAME: Herbert Kugel INSTITUTION: Univ. of Toronto Computing Services, Title: Technical Supervisor EMAIL: Herb at UTORVM, Address: UTCS, 60 St. George, Toronto, Ont.M5A2S1, Canada Phone: 416-978-4589. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH I've been working as a full time computer programmer virtually all my working career, but have always had an interest in the classics, and the humanities, and, also, their relationship to computers, and, now, especially, with the new Artificial Intelligence machines, the relationship of these machines to the humanities in the broadest sense. I would especially enjoy reading things of a philosophical or speculative nature in the above and other areas. Out of curiosity, has anyone ever considered defining Pygmalion's Galatea, the medieval Jewish Golem, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as the world's first A.I. machines? Herb Kugel ================================================================= *Lenoble, Michel Name: Lenoble Michel Institution: Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal Case Postale 6128, succ 'A' MONTREAL (Quebec) CANADA - H3C 3J7 Title: Ph.D. Student E-mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca Phone: (514) 288-3916 Biographical Sketch B.A and M.A Germanic Phiology - Louvain - Belgique B.A. and M.A. Linguistics - Louvain - Belgique B.A. and M.A. Literature - Louvain - Belgique B.A. Education - Louvain - Belgique B.A. Philosophy - Louvain - Belgique Ph.D Thesis: Computational Literay Criticism: theoretical assessment. Post-doctoral research: Literary Plagiarism Detection. Language: French, Dutch, English, German. *****END 1 of 2***** From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: BIOGRAFY 24 (920 lines) 2 of 2 Date: 5 November 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 699 (1434) ================================================================= *McRae, John NAME: John McRae INSTITUTION: Cornell University DEPARTMENT: Asian Studies TITLE: Asst. Professor EMAIL: Bitnet address JRM@CORNELLA PHONE: (607) 255-1328 ADDRESS: Rockefeller Hall 389, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY POSTAL CODE: 14853-2502 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: My major field is Chinese Buddhism, particularly the Ch'an school. I was an anthropology major as an undergraduate at Stanford and got an M.A. and Ph.D. under Stanley Weinstein at Yale. Dissertation research in Japan under Yanagida Seizan. Interests include establishing a CJK database center at Cornell, with the intention (dream?) of being able to manipulate both English alphanumeric and Chinese-Japanese-Korean characters. ================================================================= *Morris, John NAME: John Morris INSTITUTION: University of Alberta DEPARTMENT: English TITLE: Graduate Student EMAIL: jmorris@ualtavm PHONE: (403) 451-5870 ADDRESS: 10404 143 Street, Edmonton AB POSTAL CODE: T5N 2S4 COUNTRY: Canada BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: I completed a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary study at the University of Waterloo, Canada, in 1979. After several years in the public service, I continued with graduate studies in English literature at the University of Alberta. While in the public service, I was exposed to database management, and I began to learn database batch programming for PCs. I have since carried an interest in computing into literary studies. Most recently, I have evaluated and documented a variety of literary analysis utilities for a graduate seminar in computing and literary studies. The seminar will be taught by Dr. Stephen Reimer at Alberta in January 1990. ================================================================= *Mosser, Daniel W. <mosserd@vtvm1> English Dept./ Assistant Prof; (703)951-3678 (home) / (703)231- 6501 (work 713 Burruss Drive / Blacksburg, VA 24060 USA I am currently working on a book on the "alpha mss" of the Canterbury Tales. My interests are in paleography, codicology, dialects, and text. I am currently on research leave (NEH) working on completing this project. I am interested in Middle English and Old English. ================================================================= *Murphy, Daniel J. NAME: Daniel J. Murphy INSTITUTION: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute DEPARTMENT: Language, Literature, and Communication (LL&C) TITLE: Writing Center Assistant Director EMAIL: USERFWXU@RPITSMTS.bitnet PHONE: 518-276-8983 ADDRESS: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute LL&C Department Sage Building Troy, NY 12180-3590 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: After completing a Master's degree in English at Boston College, I taught English for seventeen years at high school and college levels on both the East and West coasts of the United States. I also taught high school Latin for a number of years. In 1987 I commenced work on the Ph.D. in communication and rhetoric at Rensselaer. Over the last two summers I have worked in the computing and technical writing departments of Kodak and IBM and have had considerable opportunity to learn how computers can influence human interaction. My principal interests now focus on the applications of computer-mediated technologies to business and academic settings. ================================================================= *Parkinson, Stephen NAME: STEPHEN PARKINSON INSTITUTION: UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD DEPARTMENT: FACULTY OF MEDIEVAL AND MODERN LANGUAGES TITLE: LECTURER IN PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS EMAIL: PARKINSON@UK.AC.OX.VAX PHONE: O865-270495 ADDRESS: TAYLOR INSTITUTION, 47 WELLINGTON SQUARE, OXFORD POSTAL CODE: OX1 2JF COUNTRY: ENGLAND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: First degree (B.A., Cambridge, 1972) in Modern Languages (Spanish, Portuguese, French) specialising in Linguistics and Medieval Literature. PhD (Cambridge, 1981) in Linguistics (Phonology of Modern Portuguese). Lecturer in linguistics, University of Aberdeen, 1976-88; Lecturer in Portuguese, U. of Oxford, 1988- I have been using computers since 1981, for: a) transcription, editing and analysis of medieval Portuguese texts - Archive of Old Portuguese Texts will eventually comprise 600 medieval non-literary texts, in paleographical transcription, for analysis by OCP, with automatic resolution of abbreviations - Cantigas de Santa Maria (13th century Galician-Portuguese poems with music, in 4 MSS); editions (paleographical and critical) and concordances for Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, in collaboration with Martha Schaffer, U. of Chicago (communicating mainly by email). b) maintaining and accessing an index of medieval Portuguese notaries and their documents (currently on Famulus). c) specialised wordprocessing using complex character sets (notarial abbreviations, phonetic symbols) d) computer-assisted learning, in Modern Languages, EFL and phonetics, where I am experimenting with a computer-controlled taperecorder. I hope to set up a bulletin board/discussion group to exchange information about the Portuguese Discoveries (literature, history, art etc.) ================================================================= *Potts, Paul R. <PPOTTS@WOOSTER> Academic Computing Services, ACS/Taylor Hall, College of Wooster, Wooster, OH, 44691 USA; (216) 263-2444 I am a recent graduate of the College of Wooster. Despite being an unenthusiastic student, I received honors and the Stephen R. Donaldson prize for fiction for my senior thesis, a collection of ten short stories. I was born in Seattle, WA, raised in Erie, PA, and now live in Wooster. I have been programming computers since I was eight (I am now 22) and took a Computer Science minor here at Wooster while I was at it. My major was English. When I'm not writing documentation or our computer newsletter I help write coureware in Calculus Limits and for a course called "Story & Theory" (hypertext development tools). I've had a long and awfully interesting life so far, and have worked at jobs during my youth ranging from stage magician to a receiving clerk for the La Brea tar pits Page Museum. I don't know what kind of contributions I've made to the field, since "the field" seems ill-defined at present. I like Asimov's description of what it means to be a humanist and I dislike centralist computing moguls and information censors. ================================================================= *Reiner, Richard J. NAME: Richard J. Reiner INSTITUTION: York University; Social and Political Thought; Phd candidate. EMAIL: rreiner@yorkvm1 PHONE: 416-538-3947 ADDRESS: 547 Shaw St apt 1, Toronto; M6G 3L5; Canada. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH BA McGill 1985, MA McGill 1988. Founding partner of UpWind Computing Services (Montreal), a service company providing programming and consulting services to the business and academic communities. Research interests: philosophy of social science, especially questions of formalization; rational choice theory. Richard J. Reiner -- rreiner@yorkvm1 ================================================================= *See, Bryan L. <BSEE@KSUVM> Kansas State University, Dept. of Speech, Assistant Technical Director, 1111 Vattier #16, Manhattan, KS 66502; (913)776-3340 Although the title may be misleading, I am an undergraduate studying theatre, specifically lighting design. I have extensive experience within the descipline and continue to be amazed at the ignorance of and resistance to the incorperaton of computing into the theatre. This is especially true at Kansas State University despite its Computer Engineering and Computer Science Departments. As a lighting designer and technician, I am most interested in the use of computing in drafting, costume pattern drafting, box office, lighting and sound control, and special effects. I am looking forward to future information. ================================================================= *Smith, Peter NAME: Peter Smith INSTITUTION: University of Texas (Austin) DEPARTMENT: Slavic Languages TITLE: Assistant Instructor EMAIL: SVAF524@UTXVM.BITNET BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: I currently advise the Department of Slavic Languages, on an ad hoc basis, as regards the purchase and utilization of hardware and software. I am simultaneously working toward a doctoral degree in Foreign Language Education at the same institution. ================================================================= *Starbuck, Scott Richard Austin NAME:Scott Richard Austin Starbuck INSTITUTION:Princeton Theological Seminary DEPARTMENT:OCATR (Office of Computer Assistance for Textual Research) TITLE:Acting Director of OCATR EMAIL:Q2835@PUCC PHONE:(609) 497-7832 ADDRESS:Princeton Theological Seminary, P. O. Box 111, Princeton, NJ POSTAL CODE:08542-0111 COUNTRY:USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH (ca. 100-500 words) Date of birth 12 November 1963. AB Philosophy, Whitworth College, Spokane, WA 1985. MDiv Old Testament, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ, 1988. Presently PhD candidate Old Testament/ANE Studies at Princeton Seminary. Computer Consultant and Director of computer generated concording for the Princeton Dead Sea Scroll Project. Director of OCATR (Office of Computer Assistance for Textual Research of Princeton Theological Seminary) which is currently devoted primarily to the Ibycus SC and Ibyx. Scholarly interests include Comparitive Semitics, Epigraphy, Ancient Israelite History and Cult, Hebrew Phonology, and Worship and Defic Condescension in the ANE. Languages: Classical Hebrew and Canaanite dialects, Ugaritic, Akkadian, Aramaic, Syriac, Arabic, and Greek. I am married to Tani L. M. Starbuck (AB English Literature, Whitworth College, 1985) who teaches Literature at the Hun School of Princeton. ================================================================= *Stewart, Doug NAME: Doug Stewart INSTITUTION: University of California, San Diego DEPARTMENT: Reference and Research Services Department TITLE: Bibliographer/Reference Librarian EMAIL: DSTEWART@UCSD.EDU or .BITNET PHONE: 619-534-1266 ADDRESS: Central Library Reference Department University of California, San Diego La Jolla, California POSTAL CODE: 92093 COUNTRY: U.S.A. ================================================================= *Ubieto Artur, Antonio-Paulo NAME: Antonio-Paulo Ubieto Artur INSTITUTION: School of "Filosofia y Letras" / Zaragoza University. DEPARTMENT: Modern and Contemporary History. TITLE: Dr. in History. "Helping teacher". EMAIL: hiscont@cc.unizar.es PHONE: ++ (34) (76) 55 16 47 ext. 2092 (University), 31 57 31 (home). ADDRESS: Plaza de San Francisco, s/n. 50071 ZARAGOZA. POSTAL CODE: 50071 COUNTRY: Spain (Europe). BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Born in 1957, one of the most useful thing I learnt before going to University were languages: German, English, Portuguese, later a little French too. I studied History at the University between 1975 and 1980. This last year I attended my first computer short course (HP-9830, later the Commodore CBM3032, remember them?). At this course I realized computers could be very useful for historians. It made for me possible to write my first [and at this time only] book: "Theoretical tables of daily equivalence between the Islamic and Christian calendars (1-1500 H./622-2077 AD.)" (Zaragoza, 1984). These tables were calculated by a program I wrote in BASIC first on the HP-9830, finally on an Olivetti M20; its output was sent directly to a typesetter via an RS-232 serial port. Since 1983 this connection computer-typesetting has allowed us the recovery of historical fonts and texts typed by their authors/editors on different computers (PC, MAC, others) and its automatic typesetting and publishing, thus dramatically improving accurancy and cutting down costs. 1987 I read my Thesis ["Cartografia historica aragonesa: la Diputacion del Reino y Juan Bautista Lavana (1591-1626)" = "Aragonese Historic Cartography: the Kingdom's Deputation and Juan Bautista Lavana (1591-1626)"] and got my doctor degree. Of course I used computer word-processing extensively. The same year 1987 I began teaching Modern History here at the Zaragoza University as "helping teacher". I started also here at our University short courses (1 month, +-16 hours) of "Introduction to the IBM-PC and compatibles for Humanists". I am proud to state that this courses have been attended by students and also by teachers and professors, historians, philologists and geographers. Now I am -erroneously- thought to be one of the "computer gurus" of my School, although my "fame" is obviously undeserved. Normally I have to solve questions and problems of computer configurations, hardware and software purchases, word-processing, data transfer and conversion, troubleshooting, communications, data recovery, and recently virus related problems. Our School starts this academic year a three-year-career of Library Science. It includes a full-academic-year course of "Introduction to computers" (the 2nd. year) and another one of "Introduction to Databases" (3rd. year), both related to Library Automation. I hope than in a not too far future, history students here at our University will also get -at least- one full-year course of "Introduction to computers". Times for "pure" humanists are getting hard here, specially if you are not a "permanent teacher" (I am not). Thus I am preparing myself to teach this courses. My "Introduction to the IBM-PC ..." courses were also thought as one step in this direction. Obviously, all suggestions, help, bibliograpy, experiences on the same ...etc. are highly welcome and appreciated. ================================================================= *URVAX (University of Richmond) NAME: URVAX. I have other names, depending on who is talking to me. From the local Decnet, I am an unimaginative VAX785. From Bitnet, I am URVAX. On the local network and when mailing from the internet, I am urvax.urich.edu. INSTITUTION: University of Richmond DEPARTMENT: Academic Computing TITLE: DEC VAX-11/785 Mini-Mainframe Computer ( I run VMS ) EMAIL: my manager is Roxanne Chance <chance@urvax.urich.edu>. This appli- cation is being filed for me by John Lundin Jr <lundin@urvax.urich.edu>. PHONE: (804) 289-8652 (secretary's office) ADDRESS: Academic Computing POSTAL CODE: University of Richmond, Richmond, VA 23173 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH I left Digital Equipment Corporation to join Academic Computing at University of Richmond during the 1983-1984 school year, the second VAX to do so. I was soon put in charge of the introductory level programming and began dealing with the business and statistics portion of the Academic Computing workload. Initially, I was a mere VAX780, but a year later my workload was increased to the point that I finally had my title upgraded to VAX785. My memory is much better than it used to be, and I have much more room for records. As the introductory coursework was increasingly taken over by microcomputers, I began to have more exposure to nonprogrammers. In late 1987, the University joined Bitnet and I was designated as host. In late 1988, we went one step further and set up as a mail domain. While all of my connections are to Bitnet, a couple of weird friends at Berkeley and Harvard have agreed to tell associates on the Internet where to send our mail. I also handle some publishing now, using TeX and several laser printers. In the last few weeks, I have been testing out a newsboard system. We are finally releasing it to general use, and I have been subscribing to various newslists of interest. HUMANIST was one of the earliest requests. While it is true that not being human may handicap my own understanding of the finer points of a HUMANIST discussion list, this is really a minor matter. I do not plan to submit articles myself, but will leave that to my human associates. I am subscribing chiefly to help provide a wider dissemination of HUMANIST material and for my hobby of human-watching. Also, thanks to large numbers of SAS and SPSSX jobs, I have finally caught the essential trick of writing at great length while imparting a minimum of useful information. I look forward to learning the more subtle points and techniques from your group. Please mail your list to address NEWSMGR@URVAX, with a personal name of "bit.humanist GATEWAY". This will ensure that the newsboard posts it properly. I am not certain how you wish to handle the current subscribers. Naturally, they will wish to continue posting mail to HUMANIST@UTORONTO, but they will be reading the list on the newsboard rather than receiving it as mail. ================================================================= *Walsh, Jeffrey A. Name: Jeffrey A. Walsh Institution: Fordham University, Office of Campus Ministry Marriage Minister (as well as undergrad(!)) Address: email JEWALSH@FORDMURH normail Jeffrey A. Walsh Fordham University P.O. Station 37 - Box 768 Bronx, NY 10458 USA About Myself: Currently pursuing a B.A. in Public Administration at Fordham University, I also dabble in Campus Ministry as Marriage Minister, Sacristan, et al. In addition, I am the assistant recruiter (S-5) for the Alpha Company of the Fordham Ram Battalion of Army R.O.T.C. (Reserve Officer Training Corps) on campus. Current tendancies are toward Law School, but maybe business school. Interests/Leisure Pursuits: The usual regimen of physical training for R.O.T.C., in addition to nature walks. Patron of the arts (as much as a student's budget permits): NYC Phil, off- broadway, and flings with art (almost all types). In addition, j'adore computers! ================================================================= *Wasserman, Robert D. Fordham University at Lincoln Center; Humanities Division, English Department; Fields of interest: linguistics, text analysis, teaching of writing, technical writing, documentation ================================================================= *Weber, Robert Philip NAME: Robert Philip Weber INSTITUTION: Harvard University DEPARTMENT: Office For Information Technology TITLE: Senior Consultant EMAIL: weber@harvarda.bitnet PHONE: (617) 495-3744 voice (617) 495-0750 fax ADDRESS: 50 Church Street, 4th Floor, Cambridge MA POSTAL CODE: 02138 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH I am a sociologist who has been active in the analysis of text in order to make inferences concerning changes in the attention devoted by socieites and other collectivites to various meaning units, such as ideas, themes, metaphors, etc. The author of more than a dozen scholarly articles, I am also the author of *Basic Content Analysis, 2nd ed (to be published by sage in 1990) and coauthor (with J.Z. Namenwirth) of *Dynamics of Culture*, Allen & Unwin, 1987, and coauthor of *Computer-assisted Text Analysis for the Social Sciences,* (with C. Zuell and P.P. Mohler), Zuma: Mannheim, 1989. At present I am working on a book on *Collective Memory.* I am a member of the American Sociological Association's committee on electronic publishing and networking and Editor of *Culture,* the quarterly newsletter of the Sociology of Culture Section of the American Sociological Association. ================================================================= *Willett, Tom Wayne <twillett@iubacs> 8012 East St Rd 45, Box 1, Unionville, IN 47468; (812) 332 1256 I have a PhD from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (1985). My area was Biblical Studies and my dissertation was on 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra. While writing my dissertation (published by Sheffield Academic Press, 1989), I purchased a computer to help with the writing. This purchase revived my interest in computers. Since graduation, I have been writing. My writing has been on the biblical books of Malachi and Jeremiah and as well as several dozen entries for the forthcoming Anchor Bible Dictionary. Since graduation I have also been attempting to find a teaching job, but have been unsuccessful. Being unable to make a living writing and unable to find a teaching position, I decided to come back to school (Indiana University) and learn computer science, hoping to eventually combine my interests in the humanities and computers. A quick sketch of the rest of my life. I am married and have two sons--ages 2 months and 6 years. My wife has a masters in music performance, but I have been unable to interest her in computers yet. I have a BA in Philosophy/Religion from Oklahoma Baptist University and a MDiv from SBTS. For the past eight years I have been a pastor. Currently I am studying computer science at Indiana University. *****END 2 of 2***** From: Ken Steele <KSTEELE@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Re: 3.695 corpus juris civilis? biblical concordance? (43) Date: Fri, 03 Nov 89 21:59:02 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1121 (1435) Personally, I use the King James Bible available in ASCII from the PC-SIG CD-ROM in the public domain, indexed with WordCruncher. I am also aware of a modernized New Testament available from The Way International Bookstore (although I am not necessarily endorsing the organization). It's shareware, and called "WordWorker: The Accelerated New Testament", and version 1.00 was available in 1986 for $45. The only address I have is the following: The Way International Bookstore P.O. Box 328 New Knoxville, OH 45871 I would advise anyone interested to inquire first, to ensure that the product remains available. Ken Steele University of Toronto From: DILELLA <DILELLA@CUA> Subject: Biblical Concordances Date: Sat, 4 Nov 89 14:29 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1122 (1436) Parsons Technology, 375 Collins Rd. NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402 (phone: 1-800- 779-6000) provides several concordances: King James Version ($49), New Inter- national Version ($59), Revised Standard Version ($53), and New King James Version ($53), 5 1/4" or 3 1/2" diskettes ($3 more for 3 1/2"). The program called QuickVerse is available for IBM/Compatibles and Macintosh. Shipping and handling is $5. From: Steve Mason <SHLOMO@YORKVM1> Subject: Concordance to the Bible Date: Sun, 05 Nov 89 12:22:11 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1123 (1437) In response to the recent query about concordances to the Bible: By far the best e-concordance on the market is called QuickVerse and is produced by Parsons Technology at 375 Collins Road NE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52402 (1-800-223-6925). This is a fast, extremely versatile, and inexpensive programme ($49.00 US). It comes in King James, Revised Standard, New Inter- national, and New King James translations. It is available for Mac or IBM and is very easy to use (menu driven). Although it does run on floppies with 256K RAM, it performs much better (of course) on a hard disk and with 640K. It occupies a small amount of disk space (about 3.5 MB). Any kind of search that I have tried has been a breeze. You can look for words, phrases, or all forms of a word (wildcard). You can save files (even entire books) to ASCII and then play with them in a word processor. What more could you ask for? Steve Mason Division of Humanities York University From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Call for pointers to old American machine-readable text Date: Sun, 5 Nov 89 12:34:27 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 701 (1438) One thing that becomes apparent when one tries to check out occurrences of words before a certain date is that there is very little machine-readable text available for works before the mid 1970s when the major on-line text services started their collections. I have the classic Brown corpus and have found a collection of Time magazine text from 1963 (thanks to Bob Krovetz), which I am in the process of cleaning up to add back upper/lowercase and some minimal tagging to distinguish opening and closing quotations (they were both coded as " rather than `` and '' and worst of all, all punctuation was then separated by blanks from the preceding (or was it following!) text it quoted), paragraphs, headings and datelines--but it would seem much more text ought to be out there. I am asking Humanists whether in their widely diverse contacts with databases and files in history, literature, etc. they have come across any works that contain American English text for any earlier periods. For example, samples of diaries that might have been keyboarded for projects in social science; copies of old historical records, any text at all would be useful. I do know about the Library of America and their works, and I've heard of something called the Women Writers Project (but know of no texts). Most any text would do as long as it is North American and faithfully represents the lexicon of the time period from which it dates. From: <ST_JOSEPH@HVRFORD> Subject: NeXT Date: Sat, 4 Nov 89 13:15 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 702 (1439) I think some of the points made by James Coombs need to be qualified. 1. The system that Coombs describes as "very slow" sounds like an optical only system. Yes, these are very slow. This is why NeXT has now added--at no charge--a 40MB accelerator disk for swapping to improve performance. The basic configuration is no longer an optical only system, so some of the complaints about speed are no longer justified. The system still needs more speed; I'm not trying to say that it doesn't. But with a hard disk it is quite adequate. 2. I've been using a NeXT fairly intensively for almost two months. I don't find the mouse "infuriating." In fact, I find no problem with it at all. I've had no problem with "spurious clicks." As far as the speed of acceleration, this is adjustable, via the Preferences application. Here again, I fail to see the problem. As regards a remark by Peter Graham to the effect that the Shakespeare database is a "toy" that no academic could take seriously, perhaps I am in need of some enlighenment. I'm an academic (Ph.D., Univ. of Chicago), and I fail to see anything ludicrous about an online, indexed version of the complete works of a great writer. Isn't this one of the clear desiderata of humanists? In what sense is it a "toy"? Because its "merely" Shakespeare and not the entire Library of Congress or something? I think it was meant merely as an example of what the storage capacity of the OD, coupled with the indexing capacity of the Digital Librarian, could mean for humanists. No one is saying that the NeXT is the perfect computer that makes everything else obsolete. No one is saying that everyone should trash what they are now using and run out and buy a NeXT. For one thing, as Willard points out, it simply costs too much. And there is as yet very little software. These are real problems. But it doens't change the fact that machine deserves serious attention, and that NeXT has done a lot of things right. Rather than lapse into another "my computer is better than yours" debate (a la "the Mac is better than the PC"), I'd simply like to know if there are any humanists using NeXTs, and if so, what sorts of things they are doing. David Carpenter St. Joseph's University Philadelphia, PA 19131 From: gall@Nexus.YorkU.CA Subject: Re: 3.694 the HP printer; fonts (181) Date: Fri, 3 Nov 89 23:42:31 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1124 (1440) I will respond to all of these articles. All have at least one mistake in them... [deleted quotation] | Date: Thu, 2 Nov 89 23:35:06 EST | From: Geoffrey Rockwell <Geoffrey_Rockwell@poczta.utcs.utoronto.ca> | Subject: 3.687 HP printer and M-I | | I saw the HP Deskwriter (HP 2278A) at MacWorld and was impressed. It is | not, however, a PostScript printer. Nor is it a 300 dpi printer of the | quality of traditional lasers. It is exactly 300 dpi... | The dots are not uniform in size, so the | effect, compared to a laser is speckly. This is not the case with my printer. I printed identical documents with Adobe Times at 5, 9, 10, 12, 14, 24, 48, 72, and 127 pt sizes. It was only after about 48 that you noticed a difference. With ATM, even the hinting is preserved on the DW. | Fonts is an interesting question. I was under the impression that they | have their own font outline technology for the printer, but I may have | not heard correctly. AGFA Compugraphic fonts are supplied in Times, Courier, and Helvetica. Adobe Type Manager allows the use, at 300 dpi, *ALL* Adobe faces. You simply purchase the downloadables from Adobe, stick 'em in your System folder and go. | It could be that they use large size fonts and | scale them down, as the LQ does. Given that it is a QuickDraw printer, it can do this... | In that case the question is whether | there is a SMK Greek keys 72 point font. Here is what the pamphlet says | (in quotations): "Laser-quality means 300 dots-per-inch resolution. | Jet black text and graphics. Sharp, crisp edges. And a library of | scalable fonts that you thought were available only on PostScript | printers..." | | Sounds to me like, yet another font technology. How does it handle | fonts for which it has no outline? It sends the largest (4X, if you've got 'em) to the printer... just like the IW II, LQ, and the LWSC. | A screen dump of the "DeskWriter | Page Setup" has the following switchable Printer Effects: Font | substitution?, Use High-Quality Printer Fonts?, and Precision Bitmaps? | I suspect with Font Substitution off, you can get SMK as if it were on | an imagewriter. (Jet black and crisp.) The high-quality printer fonts | will be their outline fonts. One possibility is that it is like the | BitStream fonts on the PC, you have to generate 300dpi fonts from the | outline that then sit on your hard drive. You generate a different font | for each point size you think you want. How will this work with the | Royal technology when that comes out with system 7. (Beware of system | seven.) How about Adobe's font outline technology? | Same way. From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1125 (1441) | Date: 03 Nov 89 12:47 -0330 | From: dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca | Subject: HP DeskWriter | | I've had a DeskWriter working in my office only for the last few days | so I'm not the best person to comment on the request for information | about it, but here goes anyway: | | The DeskWriter is basically an edition of the DeskJet with a | new driver from Palomar Software specifically designed to work with | the Macintosh. Not quite... the firmware in the printer has also been opimised for the Mac.... graphics compression and the like... | | As regards the question of non-Roman fonts, as far as I can | see there is not yet a proper Greek font, or for that matter any other | non-Roman font, available for the DeskWriter. Those who have seen the | standard Mac Symbol font will be aware that it is no substitute. Any | good bitmapped font would work of course, but at 72 dpi. If the | DeskWriter catches on (as it may, given its low price in relation to | the quality of output), companies like Linguists' Software may well | produce fonts for it. ATM will work with any Type 1 Adboe encrypted font... Bitstream just broke the code, so we'll see those working with ATM presently... | | Bottom line at the moment: it's a joy to use, but if your | first priority is non-Roman fonts at 300 dpi, you should find out more | before buying. This is not a PostScript printer, by the way, and does | not use Adobe fonts. I think it comes with fonts from Agfa | Compugraphic, but I'm not sure. AS I have ranted... with ATM, the DeskWriter loves Adobe faces. | | David Graham dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca | [deleted quotation] *** Begin unsolicted advert *** Adobe Type Manager is availbale, in Canada, right this second, from SaltSpring Software in London, Ontario, for the low, low, proce of $79 CDN!!!! UPS overnight within ON costs and extra $6--other places in Canada $10. Their toll-free number is 1-800-265-3492. *** end advert *** I don't work for these guys... I just thought you'd like to know where to get it cheap and fast. Norm Gall -- "One age misunderstands another; and a _petty_ age misunderstands all the others in its own nasty way" - L. Wittgenstein From: <HALPORNJ@IUBACS> Subject: HP DESKWRITER: Thanks Date: Sat, 4 Nov 89 00:07:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1126 (1442) I want to thank those who sent me information directly or through HUMANIST concerning the HP DeskWriter for the MAC. It will take a little time for an ignoramus about printers for the MAC like myself to digest all of it, but at least there are some out there who have tried and tested this printer. I have had an "academic price" for the DeskWriter of c. US$624. Thanks, then, to: Pete Smith <SVAF524@UTXVM.BITNET> Paul Brians <HRC$04@WSUVM1> Geoffrey Rockwell <rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca> Norm Gall <gall@Nexus.YorkU.CA> David Graham <dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca> Elli Mylonas <elli@harvunxw.BITNET> All the best, Jim Halporn (HALPORNJ@IUBACS) From: Marshall Gilliland 306/966-5501 <GILLILAND@SASK.USask.CA> Subject: My goof on MacinTalk (10 lines) Date: Sat, 4 Nov 89 10:37 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1127 (1443) Thanks to Jody Gilbert for reminding me of my goof on Hypertalk. I had in mind the HyperCard stack named "HyperMacinTalk", that allows you to use MacinTalk easily inside a stack you create. "HyperMacinTalk" is a non-commercial program, and used to be on the servers at Princeton and Rice, and may still be. If you can't find it then let me know and I'll binhex it and send it to you. Marshall Gilliland U of Saskatchewan, GILLILAND@SASK From: (Robert Philip Weber) WEBER@HARVARDA Subject: Re: 3.680 Open Book Initiative (138) Date: Fri, 3 Nov 89 00:22:26 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1128 (1444) May I suggest that however ugly greater than signs in column one might be, they do serve the purpose of emphasizing that this is quoted material. Given the various forms and permutations that text sometimes goes through, if the lines with the open and close quotes should be deleted, it may be less obvious that the material is quoted. Ordinarily I would agree with decisions based on good aesthetic criteria, but in this case, I urge consideration of the practical over the pretty. Regards Bob Weber From: Paul Brians <HRC$04@WSUVM1> Subject: PRINCIPLES OF AMERICAN NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY Date: Fri, 3 Nov 89 11:42:34 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1129 (1445) Thanks for the tip. I've had that title suggested to me before and never got around to reading it. Maybe this will do the trick. Humanist is getting quite interesting. Keep up the good work. From: mike@tome.media.mit.edu (Michael Hawley) Subject: Re: 3.702 more on NeXT (57) Date: Sun, 5 Nov 89 18:53:08 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1130 (1446) With regard to the comments about the NeXT text-related work, and its general applicability, it would be a mistake to think that our indexers (or, I think, any one index/retrieve utility) will accommodate everyone's needs. Certainly a card catalog is not the only means of access to the contents of a library -- there's a plethora of specialized indices, and reference/pointer sources, intended to help specialists find what they want. Carpenter's remarks are right on the button. We thought it was really important to advance the field towards piling vast libraries into small boxes which can accommodate the gamut of text-based research. I think our work is early in the larger scheme of things -- these are the first widespread digital books which have reached a really broad base. We don't yet search Sanskrit, or draw Japanese very well. The major overheads in the system (including price, which is primarily a function of the cost of present technology) are a combination of (a) the fact that this is a young computer at the start of its life, and (b) the fact that working with digital text in general is hampered by a lack of availability of relatively homogeneous technology (like the "book" interface which we've had for the last 500 years), not to mention a lack of availability of what might be called a "critical mass" of text. This last reason is why libraries have always been such thrilling resources. From: Malcolm Brown <mbb@jessica.Stanford.EDU> Subject: using of the NeXT machine Date: Mon, 06 Nov 89 10:36:08 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1131 (1447) I think David Carpenter's suggestion to offer ways the NeXT system is currently being using is a good one. 1. We are experimenting with a text retrieval system. Since the digital librarian (a text search program native to the NeXT) is too underpowered, we've bypassed it. We acquired a copy of PAT, the text search program developed at Waterloo, and have it running on a Sun4. One our our programming wizards has put together a front end system that runs on the NeXT. The NeXT program "talks" to PAT on the Sun, requesting searches and displaying the results. I'm currently trying to enlist users here at Stanford; if there's interest we may undertake a full development with an eventual port to the Mac. I think the interface is quite good (it certainly *looks* good, at least, on the NeXT). Despite some limitations in PAT, out NeXT front end offers nearly all the capability of WordCruncher. We even have a graphic display for frequency charts. I'm enouraged; if we can get a more robust search engine on the Sun, I think we can develop a useful tool. 2. I'm also using the NeXT machine as a text "hub". As the manager for our campus text scanning service, the NeXT machine has been very useful to me for archiving and manipulating the texts we generate (as well as those we acquire from places such as Oxford). I've also just completed scanning the Nietzsche corpus, and am using standard Unix tools such as awk to assist in the post-scan cleanup. As soon as the NeXT system supports diacritics, I'll use it as locus for the Nietzsche master files. 3. I'm just beginning a review of Framemaker 2.0. My goal here is to see how academically "relevant" Framemaker is and whether it's worthwhile to pursue a site license agreement. 4. Ever since it's inception, I've been saving "clippings" from HUMANIST into files on a Unix host. I have moved this textbase from a Vax to a optical disk on the NeXT. I actually do use the digital librarian to search it; for straightforward searches the librarian is OK (at least it's more fun that using grep...) Malcolm Brown Stanford From: "Tom Benson 814-238-5277" <T3B@PSUVM> Subject: bibliographical databases: requesting advice Date: Sun, 5 Nov 89 17:55 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1132 (1448) I am working on two independent projects in which I am accumulating fairly large bibliographies. I would like to be able to add to each entry fields for keywords and comments that could either be used for sorting or suppressed for bibliographical output -- probably into a SCRIPT file on our mainframe. From there it might be downloaded onto WordPerfect 5. My computer center has suggested using WATFILE 3.5 on the mainframe to compile the databases, and writing programs to call and format the information needed to build the bibliographies into SCRIPT. One of the bibliographies will wind up in Chicago style; he other will be in MLA style. Each will contain mixed types of entries: books, journal articles, newspaper and magazine articles, etc. This sounds feasible, but I'd appreciate advice from other scholars who might tell me (1) this has already been done and we're just re-inventing the wheel; or (2) there are hazards in this plan that make it not worth attempting. Thanks. Tom Benson Penn State From: THEALLDF@TrentU.CA Subject: QUERY ON WP5 AND BIBLIOGRAPHY(PRO-TEM) Date: Mon, 6 Nov 89 09:20 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1133 (1449) I wonder if anyone out there who has used NOTEBOOK II (PRO/TEM) and BIBLIOGRAPHY could give me any advice on how to get it to function with WP5.0. endnotes and foot-notes. The PRO-TEM pro- grammes used with WP produce the bibliography correctly, but they will not replace the keyword codes in the text of the end- notes? I had previously used this software quite successfully with the footnotes and endnotes in WS2000. I am aware that with considerable labour I can convert the ori- ginal BIBLIOGRAPHY database into a WP Database, but since I have a large database I would hope that there is some other way to use it directly with WP5 as I had done with WS2000. With endnotes in WP I am aware that I can print the file to disk, separate the end-note pages and then use BIBLIOGRAPHY, but this is cumbersome when the endnotes are at end end of each chap- ter and impossible with foot-notes. If you have any advice please let me know, "THEALLDF@TRENTU.CA"? If any others are interested, I would be happy to send them what I receive or to summarize the response on this list. Donald Theall Trent University THEALLDF@TRENTU.CA From: Abigail Young <YOUNG@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: machine-readable Greek New Testament Date: Mon, 06 Nov 89 11:28:22 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1134 (1450) I am looking for an IBM-compatible machine-readable text of the Greek New Testament which is based on a fairly standard text, uses a clearly documented system of transliteration, comes packaged with searching programs which allow a listing of verses containing key words or phrases, and is fairly inexpensive. I know such a thing exists for at least two Eng translations of the Bible, but haven't heard about the Greek text. I would happily settle for a simple on-line text, if it were reasonably accurate, even if I had to download it from a mainframe file: the request represents the ideal. The same question (except for the transliteration system) applies for the Vulgate. Yours, Abigail From: db <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.700 biblical concordances (79) Date: Sun, 5 Nov 89 21:18:35 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1135 (1451) If anyone is interested in a biblical concordance in Hebrew, there is an excellent (but expensive) one available in Israel put out by an outfit called ATM in Bene Brak along with the Talmud, midrash and other classical rabbinic works. The whole business is available on CD rom as well. It comes pre-indexed with an excellent searching algorithm that is virtually instantaneous even on slow hard disks or cd roms. By the way I am about to buy a cdrom player for this purpose. can anyone give me advice? From: hans@kean.ucs.mun.ca Subject: RE: 3.700 biblical concordances (79) Date: 06 Nov 89 06:52 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1136 (1452) Steve, What more can I ask for of Parsons Bible? It should permit Boolean searches, which it cannot perform at the moment. But I agree with you, it is by far the best Bible programme I have seen. HANS.K From: Willard McCarty <mccarty@utorepas> Subject: BIOGRAFY 25, 1 of 2 Date: 5 November 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 708 (1453) Autobiographies of Humanists Twenty-fourth Supplement Following are 36 additional entries to the collection of autobiographical statements by members of the Humanist discussion group. Humanists on IBM VM/CMS systems will want a copy of Jim Coombs' exec for searching and retrieving biographical entries. It is kept on Humanist's file-server; for more information, see the Guide to Humanist. Further additions, corrections, and updates are welcome. Willard McCarty Centre for Computing in the Humanities, Univ. of Toronto mccarty@utorepas 5 November 1989 ================================================================= *Alperson, Philip <PAALPE01@ULKYVM> Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy; Chair, Division of Humanities, University of Louisville; (502) 588-0460; Louisville, Kentucky 40292 U.S.A. I am a philosopher, interested mainly in philosophical aesthetics, though I am also interested in the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of religion and have general interests in several of the arts. My research focuses mainly on musical and visual aesthetics. As Chair of a Division of Humanities which offers a B.A. major and an M.A. in Humanities, I would be especially interested in speaking with others who are familiar with curricular programs or research centers in the Humanities. ================================================================= *Baehr, Emily NAME: Emily Baehr INSTITUTION: Oberlin College DEPARTMENT: Voice (singing opera stuff) TITLE: Student (class of 1990) EMAIL: SEB5609@OCVAXA.OBERLIN.EDU or try SEB5609@oberlin (one will work) Also, my internet address is SEB5609%oberlin@cunyvm.cuny.edu until Oberlin gets an official internet address, and then it will be: seb5609@ocvaxa.cc.oberlin.edu But this isn't until maybe January... PHONE: 216-775-2467 ADDRESS: OCMR Box 129, Oberlin OH 44074 POSTAL CODE: COUNTRY: US BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH In name I'm a voice major at Oberlin College. But I'm interested in all sorts of things. I was cochair of the Humanist Freethinker Union for a while. Now I'm helping to organize a new group at Oberlin for Neo-Pagans. This would be a place to go for information and a place to have ritual, and a forum for discussions. I'm currently taking a class in Graeco Roman womens religion and am at the moment particularly interested in the Syrian Goddess (Atargatis). I enjoy talking about philosophy and theology (thealogy?!) and chocolate, among other things. Also I am particularly active in the Pro Choice movement these days. I wouldn't say I'm an expert on anything but I think I know a bit about Norse mythology and being a Neo Pagan I know a bit of the Celtic mythos. Not enough yet! ================================================================= *Bandstra, Barry L. NAME: Barry L. Bandstra INSTITUTION: Hope College DEPARTMENT: Religion TITLE: Associate Professor EMAIL: BITNET BANDSTRA@HOPE PHONE: Office (616) 394-7752; Home (616) 335-3345 ADDRESS: Hope College, Holland, Michigan POSTAL CODE: 49423 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Born in Roseland on the south side of Chicago in 1951, I was raised is a Dutch Reformed community. I attended Christian day schools and graduated from Chicago Christian High School. I enrolled in the University of Illinois, Champaign, and graduated in 1972 with a major in Philosophy. From there I went to Calvin Theological Seminary, B.D. 1975, where I became interested in the ancient world and Semitic languages. I received a doctorate in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures, Yale University, in 1982, concentrating in North West Semitics. I taught at Geneva College, Beaver Falls, PA for four years (1978-1982), Calvin Theological Seminary for one year (1982-83) and have been teaching Old Testament at Hope College since 1983. My present research interests include developing a discourse grammar approach to Biblical Hebrew and Ugaritic, and developing computer based courseware for my teaching at Hope College. Much of my work has been on IBM PCs, but this past summer (1989) I was the recipient of a Macintosh II from Apple Computer, Inc. for the expressed purpose of porting the courseware to the Mac. ================================================================= *Beckman, Roger NAME: Roger Beckman INSTITUTION: Indiana University Library DEPARTMENT: Chemistry Library TITLE: Reference Librarian EMAIL: Beckmanr@IUBACS.Bitnet PHONE: 812-855-2235 ADDRESS: Chemistry Library Indiana University Libraries Bloomington, IN POSTAL CODE: 47405 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH I'm the reference librarian in the Chemistry Library. Although I work in a science library my humanist training and experience are significant. I'm interested in overlap between the sciences and the arts. Examples include using chemical analysis techniques to uncover hidden underdarwings in paintings or the eye diseases of James Joyce. I consulted at the libraries of the University of Indonesia for a year (1984/85) and hope to do more work like this. Modern technology such as journals on CD-ROM could be an important way to bring developing countries' libraries up-to- date. ================================================================= *Brown, Clarence NAME: Clarence Brown INSTITUTION: Princeton University DEPARTMENT: Comparative Literature TITLE: Professor of Comparative Literature EMAIL: CB@PUCC PHONE: 609-258-4727 or 609-258-4027 ADDRESS: 326 East Pyne, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. POSTAL CODE: 08544 COUNTRY: U.S.A. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Born in Anderson, South Carolina, in 1929. Late Victorian education in the Anderson Boys' High School (Latin, flogging), along with Guy Davenport. Major: name-dropping. Greek major at Duke. Drafted for Korean War. Learned Russian at the Army Language School (Monterey). Spent balance of service translating German in Berlin. Linguistics at Ann Arbor (MA), Slavic Languages at Harvard (PhD, 1962). Stuck at Princeton since 1959. Courses in short fiction, metafiction, Mandelstam, Wallace Stevens, Acmeism, pictorial narrative (history of the American comic strip), medieval Russian literature, the art of translation, and other topics. Professional cartoonist: comic strips in the SPECTATOR (London) and VILLAGE VOICE (New York). Cartoon Editor of the SATURDAY REVIEW for some years in the 1970s. Married to former astro- physicist Jacqueline Brown, now Director of Information Services at Princeton. One daughter (doctor), one son (financial analyst). Worry incessantly why Robert Louis Stevenson misdated the last letter of Henry Jekyll as 10 December, though no one seems to care. ================================================================= *Brugger, Judy NAME: Judy Brugger INSTITUTION: City College of the City University of New York DEPARTMENT: Library TITLE: Serials Cataloger E-MAIL: lib.jb@CCNY (BITNET only) PHONE: (212) 690-4152 (w) ; (212) 569-0501 (h) ADDRESS: M.R. Cohen Library / City College, CUNY / W. 138th St. and Convent Ave. / NY, NY / POSTAL CODE: 10031 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: I grew up in Iowa, but have been in 35 states, 8 countries and 3 continents, of course this was when I was young and foolish. Recently, despite a constant struggle to avoid it, I am growing more and more hidebound. I mean, now I keep jobs. Although in my fantasy, I travel to Nova Scotia, eating fish there and growing blueberries. I am in the Ph.D. program for comparative literature at CUNY, have graduate work in English, French and Russia; master's degrees in Library Science and English. I would like to know more about education and its techniques, I would like to be able to program in C language. I am an OK bodybuilder. I am a good librarian with a certain expertise in the ANSI standards, thanks to my mentor Sally C. Tseng. I used to write a lot of poetry, but now I just write letters. I would like to have somebody writing to me in Italian, which I'm now studying very hard. =================================================================== *Byrd, Don (DJB85@ALBNY1VX.BITNET). Department of English, State University of New York at Albany (1971-present). I teach poetry and poetics at the state University of New in Albany. I am also interested in music, especially jazz and anything else that is strange enough, the other arts, bicycling and hiking. The technological world is thrust upon us, and the political climate which it creates is too dangerous to ignore. I find computers wonderfully handy, but I can't say that I like them. They are altogether too visible. When I see my Macintosh, it usually means that it isn't doing something I think it should. On the other hand, I am not nostalgic about print. I have recently finished a rather large manuscript, THE POETICS OF THE COMMON KNOWLEDGE, which I claim (grandiosely, I am aware) begins to prepare the legacy of literacy for the electronic age. Anything we can write an algorithm for, including of course thinking, should be turned over to machines. I am almost exclusively interested in the OTHER stuff-- that is, the generation of freshness. I have published three volumes of poetry and a critical study of the poet Charles Olson (who-- it might be relevant to note in this context-- quoted Norbert Wiener's definition of a 'message' in a poem which was written in 1949). ================================================================= *Caldwell, Price TITLE: Associate Professor EMAIL: PCALDWEL@MSSTATE PHONE: (601) 325 3644 (English Department) (601) 325 2370 (My office) (601) 324 1234 (Home) ADDRESS: English Department Starkville, MS 39759 POSTAL CODE: 39762 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Price Caldwell was born in 1940 in the Mississippi Delta, grew up in Hattiesburg. Educated at Davidson College (A.B) and Tulane (M.A., Ph.D.) Has English at Wofford (1964-67), Furman (69-72), and Miss. State Universities (72 to present). Spent 88-89 in Tokyo at Meisei Univ. Has neglected career to pursue linguistics as well as literature and fiction-writing. Interested in alternate Chomskian syntax, and is working on Molecular Sememics, an effort to provide a description of what kind of thing an ordinary language is. ================================================================= *Chang, Andrew NAME: Andrew Chang INSTITUTION: National University of Singapore, Department of Sociology, Acting Head SOCCCT@NUSVM, 772-3821 or 7723826 (O), Address: Department of Sociology National University of Singapore 10 Kent Ridge Crescent Singapore 0511 Republic of Singapore Born in Taiwan, did undergraduate study there in history and sociology. Attended the University of Chicago and obtained a Ph.D. in Sociology in 1973. Joined the then University of Singapore in 1969. Teach Social Thought and Social Theory as well as the Sociology of Organizations. Have strong interest in Tocqueville, Marx, Weber, among other social theorists. Have a longstanding interest in reading philosophy. Have been strunggling with Hegel for some years now. Heidegger is another one. Consider myself a liberal in the French tradition, haing been "in love with" Tocqueville for years. More laterly read Marx intensively and have found him to be extremely profound. Would take him as a humanist in a very true sense of the term. Have read Bellah's Habits and am working on a critique of it: a Tocquevillean critique of Bellah! ================================================================= *Constantine, Paul J. NAME: Paul J. Constantine INSTITUTION: Yale University DEPARTMENT: Reference Department, Sterling Memorial Library TITLE: Coordinator of Computer-Assisted Reference Services EMAIL: BM.YAR@RLG.Bitnet PHONE: (203) 432-1783 ADDRESS: PO Box 1603A Yale Station; New Haven, CT POSTAL CODE: 06515 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH I am currently a reference librarian and coordinator of Computer- Assisted Reference Services at Yale's Sterling Memorial Library. Having an MA and ABD in American Theatre and Drama from Indiana University, I am keenly interested in the Humanities. My fields of interest include 19th Century theatre and drama, American Studies, Literature as Propaganda, Social History and Popular Culture. My current position involves meeting the research needs of members of Yale community, especially Humanists, specifically through the use of computerized sources. ================================================================= *Corrigan, Peter NAME: Peter Corrigan INSTITUTION: Trinity College, Dublin DEPARTMENT: Sociology TITLE: Post-doctoral Research Associate EMAIL: corrignp@vax1.tcd.ie PHONE: (+353 1) 772941 extn 1808 or 1871 ADDRESS: Department of Sociology, Arts Building, Trinity College, Dublin 2 POSTAL CODE: COUNTRY: Ireland BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH (ca. 100-500 words) Peter Corrigan (b. Dublin 1955) received both B.A. and Ph.D degrees from the University of Dublin (Trinity College), and has taught at Dublin, Tours and Stockholm. His doctoral dissertation (1988) was entitled _Backstage Dressing: Clothing and the Urban Family, with Special Reference to Mother / Daughter Relations_ (x + 292pp), and parts of this unpublished work are forthcoming in _Sociology_ (Nov. 1989), _Semiotica_, and _The American Journal of Semiotics_. His fields of interest include socio-semiotics, qualitative methodology, conversation and discourse analysis, age categories, the family, life course, and comparative cross- national qualitative studies of family life in Ireland, France and Sweden. He is currently preparing a book on the sociology of clothing and fashion, and another on internal family relations. ================================================================= *Da Gama Bentes, Amaury NAME: AMAURY DA GAMA BENTES INSTITUTION: UFRJ (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro) DEPARTMENT: IPPUR (Inst.de Planejamento Urbano e Regional) TITLE: SOCIOLOGIST EMAIL: COL01001@UFRJ PHONE: 021 2606053 ADRESS: ALOJAMENTO DA UFRJ MOD 420-A I.do FUNDAO RIO de JANEIRO COUNTRY: BRAZIL My name is AMAURY BENTES, I am a sociologist. During the year 1988 I studied in order to get a mastership degree on Communication at UFRJ. Because of some administrative difficulties I was forced to abandon that course before ending it. At present I am studying to get mastership on Urban Planning at the same institution. I'm particularly interested in the use of informatics in Urban Planning. Nevertheless I'm open to philosophical, ethical and techn. discussion in the humanities field. ================================================================= *Eade, Fred name: fred eade institution: reading university department: typography & graphic communication title: research student / demonstrator email: ltreade%uk.ac.rdg.am.uts@ac.uk phone: work: 0734318081 extn. 7211/ 0734 875123 extn. 8081 home: 0753882038 address: dept. typography, reading university, 2 earley gate, whiteknights p.o.box 239, reading rg6 2au, berkshire, england biography: Researching procedures to improve the design and legibility of vernacular literacy materials, especially in west africa. This pr current issues: initiating dialogue between the traditional producers of literacy materials - linguists, and designers - who will doubtless see primers from a different point of view from that of the linguist. The project is really a pilot study and is based in burkina faso. i have begun to conduct a range of interviews with the indigenous population, designed to elicit the indigenous visual conventions that exist, even in the pre- literate mind. any thoughts on these two issues would be very intersting. ================================================================= *Feerick, Jean NAME: Jean Feerick INSTITUTION: Georgetown University DEPARTMENT: English Department in conjunction with the Academic Computer Center. TITLE: Project Assistant in the Georgetown Center for Text and Technology EMAIL: jfeerick@guvax PHONE: 202-944-1284 ADDRESS: P.O. Box 3052 Georgetown University Washington, D.C. 20057 POSTAL CODE: 20057 COUNTRY: U.S.A. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: I am currently a senior undergraduate at Georgetown University with plans to continue on to the graduate level in English Literature. I am assisting Dr. Michael Neuman in compiling and maintaining a list of archives and projects in machine readable text. Due to the fact that I will be working with the details of this project to a large extent, such as sending letters of request to colleagues engaged in such projects and incorporating their responses into the catalogue, it would be appropriate for me to gain a subscription to the HUMANIST so that I might be able to track down new projects in a variety of fields. The Georgetown Center for Text and Technology, in addition to the aforementioned project, is creating electronic texts in the following disciplines: modern Italian literature, Hegel, and documents of the UN. I am assisting these activities in a variety of ways. ================================================================= *Flood, John NAME: John Flood INSTITUTION: Indiana University DEPARTMENT: Law TITLE: Assistant Professor EMAIL: Flood@IUBACS.Bitnet PHONE: (812) 855-1161 ADDRESS: School of Law, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA COUNTRY: United States of America BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: The best way for me to start is to declare I am a mongrel, ie, I am English, but I have been living in the US for the past 8 years; and I am both a lawyer and a sociologist. I have my first degree from the London School of Economics, an LLM from Warwick University, another law degree from Yale and a PhD from Northwestern. I have been teaching at Indiana University for the last 2 years. My research is in the area of the sociology of law with an emphasis on lawyers. I am interested in the ways lawyers and clients make sense of each other. This is tied up with the question: what exactly do lawyers actually do? In connection with other professions--eg, doctors, accountants, ministers--the answer is almost self-evident. With lawyers it is a mystery. Currently, I am looking at lawyers and other professional groups cross-nationally to see what answers may crop up. In addition I like to read about lawyers in fiction (which includes watching L.A. Law). I am also researching the topic of international dispute resolution, ie, how disputants from different countries create their own legal order to tackle large-scale problems. ================================================================= *Fraade, Steven D. NAME: Steven D. Fraade INSTITUTION: Yale University DEPARTMENT: Religious Studies TITLE: Mark Taper Professor of the History of Judaism EMAIL: FRASTED@YALEVM PHONE: (203) 432-0828 (Office) ADDRESS: Department of Religious Studies, P.O. Box 2160 Yale Station, New Haven, CT 06520 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH I received my Ph.D. in Post-Biblical Hebrew Studies from the Oriental Studies Department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1980, and have been teaching at Yale University since 1979. My areas of academic interest are the history and literatures of Judaism in late antiquity (Second Temple and talmudic periods), which I teach both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. My present research interests lie in ancient Jewish scriptural commentary, both legal and narrative, ancient rabbinic attitudes to scriptural translation in a multilingual cultural context, and ascetic aspects of the varieties of ancient Judiasm. I am working on a cultural history of ancient Judaism encompassing the Second Temple and talmudic periods, based on the literary and archeological remains. ================================================================= *Heuer, Bronwen Jean NAME: Bronwen Jean Heuer INSTITUTION: The State University of New York at Stony Brook DEPARTMENT: The Computing Center; Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures TITLE: Coordinator of User Services; ABD doctoral Candidate EMAIL: bronwen@sbccvm or bronwen@ccvm.sunysb.edu PHONE: 516 632-8054 (office in comp ctr) ADDRESS: Computing Center State University of New York at Stony Brook Stony Brook, New York POSTAL CODE: 11790 --2400 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH With a B.A. in Comp. Lit from the University of California at Irvine, I first found employment in a job that combined technical writing with special library services. Some years later, I landed a job at Stony Brook as a Documentation Specialist writing computer manuals and doing user services around `getting started using the computer' and using text processing systems. In the meantime I resumed studying Spanish and have reached the point of being ABD. I have lived in South America, taught English as a Second Language and Business English in Bogota, traveled, picked coffee in Nicaragua and hope that someday my computer skill and my language skills will dove tail into one job. My doctoral dissertation treats Quevedo's jacaras and is entitled `El Desfile de los Condenados: The Narrative of the Condemned in Quevedo's Jacaras.' I have done a concordance of these poems and am currently beginning the data entry for a second concordance (the poems from which this tradition allegedly springs) and since I am the TeX and LaTeX specialist here, I am typesetting my thesis which includes a bilingual edition of the poems. ================================================================= *Ikonen, Unto NAME: Unto Ikonen INSTITUTION: University of Joensuu DEPT: Department of English EMAIL: IKONEN@FINUJO COUNTRY: FINLAND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Unto Ikonen teaches applied linguistics and is a doctoral student at the University of Joensuu, Finland. 1986-87 he was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Main research interests include the comprehension of spoken English with special reference to listening task types and the use of micro- computers in foreign language comprehension research. ================================================================= *Jacobs, Jim NAME: Jim Jacobs INSTITUTION: Univ. ofCalifornia, San Diego TITLE: Data Service Librarian EMAIL: bitnet: jajacobs@ucsd internet: jajacobs@ucsd.edu PHONE: (619) 534-1262 ADDRESS: Central University Library, C-075-R La Jolla CA 92093 POSTAL CODE: 92093 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: I am a librarian who provides data in machine readable formats to a university library community. Although most of what I do deals with numeric social science data, the library is interested in expanding services for the humanities. *****END 1 of 2***** From: Willard McCarty <mccarty@utorepas> Subject: BIOGRAFY 25, 2 of 2 Date: 5 November 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 709 (1454) ================================================================= *Kessler, Jascha <IME9JFK@UCLAMVS> Jascha Kessler, UCLA, Department of English, Professor of English & Modern Literature; (213) 825-4173 (UCLA); Home: 218 Sixteenth Street; Santa Monica, CA 90402 USA JASCHA KESSLER, born in New York City on Thanksgiving Day of 1929, has received varied research grants, prizes, and writing fellowships since 1952 when he won a Major Hopwood Award for Poetry (University of Michigan), including two Senior Fulbright Awards to Italy. He has been Pro fessor of English & Modern Literature at UCLA since 1961. He has published four collections of stories: AN EGYPTIAN BONDAGE (Harper & Row, NY: 1967); DEATH COMES FOR THE BEHAVIORIST (Lexis Press, San Francisco, CA: 1983); CLASSICAL ILLUSIONS: 28 Stories (McPherson & Company, POB 1126, Kingston, N.Y. 12401: 1985), which won the Shirley Collier Prize at UCLA in 1986 ($5000); and TRANSMIGRATIONS: 18 Mythologems (Jazz Press, Capitola, CA: 1985). He has also published three collections of poetry: WHATEVER LOVE DECLARES (The Plantin Press, Los Angeles, CA: 1969); AFTER THE ARMIES HAVE PASSED (NYU PRESS, NY: 1970); and IN MEMORY OF THE FUTURE (Kayak Press, Santa Cruz, CA: 1976). In 1974, he was awarded a Fellowship in fiction by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1979, Mr. Kessler was a Rockefeller Fellow and worked at the Bellagio Study Center, completing his translation of the Persian Poet, Forugh Farrokhzad: BRIDE OF ACACIAS: The Poetry of Forugh Far rokhzad (Caravan Books, Delmar, NY: 1983). Also in 1979, he became the first American writer to be honored with the Hungarian PEN Club?s Memorial Medal for his various translation projects in fiction and poetry: i.e., THE MAGICIAN?S GARDEN: 24 Stories by Geza Cs?th (Columbia University Press, NY: 1980 (which won the Translation Prize from the Translation Center in New York), and was also republished in the Writers from the Other Europe Series edited by Philip Roth, as OPIUM (Penguin Books, NY: 1983); and UNDER GEMINI: The Selected Poetry of Mikl?s Radn?ti (Ohio University Press, Athens, OH: 1985). He has also published a volume translated from the Bulgarian: MEDUSA: The Selected Poetry of Nicolai Kantchev (Quarterly Review of Literature Press, Princeton, NJ: 1985). Recently, he published a large volume of translations anthologizing the work of 23 Hungarian poets, THE FACE OF CREATION: Contemporary Hungarian Poetry (The Coffee House Press, Minneapolis, MN, 1988). His translation of a, book-length poem by S?ndor R?kos, CATULLAN GAMES, won the GEORGE SOROS FOUNDATION PRIZE for 1989, from the Translation Center in New York. It is prefaced by the translator, & illustrated by Richard Diebenkorn (Marlboro Press, VT, 1989). Kessler has also written several plays and the libretto for a full-length opera, THE CAVE, with a score composed by Ned Rorem. ================================================================= *Knox, Ellis L. (Skip) <DUSKNOX@IDBSU> Associate for Microcomputers, Center for Data Processing, Boise State University, 1910 University Drive, Boise, Idaho 83725 USA; 208/385-1315 My current position is the primary PC support tech for the campus. I do troubleshooting, product evaluation, training, etc. for about 600 faculty and staff on campus. I've held this position since 1984. So why am I in this list? Because my original training is as a historian. I have my M.A. from the University of Utah in medieval history, and my Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in Early Modern Europe. My research interest is in the history of guilds in Germany. Since I became involved with computers, I have been interested in using them to help teach college-level history. History seems to be as complex and "non-computer" a subject as can be found on campus. I have explored computer based tutorials, databases, distance education, in-class aids, remediation, and similar topics, all in connection with the teaching of history. I hope to share ideas with others on this list. ================================================================= *Lee, Amanda Catherine PO Box 733, Mississippi State University, MS 39762 USA; (601)324- 5121 I am a graduate student in German at Mississippi State University. I will receive my MA in December, and then plan to pursue my PhD. A kindly professor has, until now, forwarded interesting HUMANIST postings, but finally convinced me to join myself. So here I am! ================================================================= *Livon Grosman, Ernesto <grosman@acf7.nuy.edu> Graduate Student at New York University, 116 Seaman Ave. #2 E, New York, N Y 10034; voice: (212) 567-5905 I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and have been living in the USA for the last four years. Currently I am a PhD student in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at New York University, where my concentration is Contemporary Latin American Poetry. I am also very interested in the unfinished stories of Franz Kafka. Besides compiling the stories from his diaries, I have undertaken the task of writing on the implications of "not finishing," drawing on such diverse sources as Blanchot and Scholem's interpretation of Kabbalah. Another major interest is Charles Olson, as well as the other poets that emerged from Black Mountain during his time there. In the summer of 1988 I taught a course on the Poetics of Olson at the Centro Cultural General San Martin in Buenos Aires. I have translated into Spanish Olson's play "Apollonius of Tiana" and a selection of his poems (Ediciones Calle Abajo, Buenos Aires 1990). I am also at work on an anthology of contemporary Argentine poetry, selecting poems and preparing English translations. This past spring I taught an 8-week seminar on translation theory and practice at Writers and Books, Rochester, NY. I write poetry myself and have led poetry workshops for Mexican migrant workers under the auspices of the New York State Council on the Arts. My main areas of interest are: translation and translation theory, contemporary Latin American poetry, and contemporary US poetry. I use an IBM compatible. ================================================================= *Mitchell, Richard G., Jr. <MITCHELR@ORSTVM> Department of Sociology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331 USA; (503) 754-2641; 752-1323 Born in Berkeley California before non-academics heard about it; the campus life is what seems most normal. People have told me that the rest of the world is not like Berkely but I am not listening. PhD in Sociology from USC after attempts at 7 universities to variously become an anthropologist, psychologist cinematographer and dentist. I am what among sociologists is known as a symbolic interactionist - an ethnographer who via participant observation engag es phenomenon of interest. Recent studies have included 5 years among mountian climbers and lately among survivalists and para-military right wing organizatio ns. Currently working on book on survivalists and welcome assistance. Also presently concerned with the ethics of a positivist social scinece; methods and assumptions. ================================================================= *Nielsen, Brian NAME:Brian Nielsen INSTITUTION:Northwestern University DEPARTMENT:Library TITLE:Assistant University Librarian for Branch Libraries and Information Services Technology EMAIL:b_nielsen@nuacc.acns.nwu.edu PHONE:(312)491-2170 ADDRESS:Evanston, IL POSTAL CODE:60208-2300 COUNTRY:USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH I'm a librarian with graduate training in librarianship and sociology, with strong interests in the sociology of scholarly communication, occupational sociology, and qualitative research methodology in the social sciences. Put another way, I consider sociology a discipline of the humanities, with significant concern for values. My writing has been for librarians, the most recently published being "Allocating Costs, Thinking About Values: The Fee or Free Debate Revisited", Journal of Academic Librarianship, Sept 89. ================================================================= *Perry, Jeffrey NAME: Jeffrey Perry INSTITUTION: Princeton University DEPARTMENT: Computing and Information Technology TITLE: Humanities Specialist EMAIL: JEFF@PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU PHONE: (609) 258-6009 ADDRESS: Room 304A, 87 Prospect Ave., Princeton, NJ POSTAL CODE: 08544-1002 COUNTRY: U.S.A. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH (ca. 100-500 words) Since I'm at the beginning of my career as an academic and as a computing artist/humanist, I will make this biographical sketch correspondingly brief. I have been a Humanities support specialist at Princeton University for the last year and a half. My responsibilities and interests include music software, text formatting, foreign language and multi-lingual word processing, Databases and Textbases, instructional software in general, and the overall issue of exportability/compatibility of scholarly documents prepared on/with computers. My academic training is in music; I am a Ph.D candidate in composition in the Princeton Department of Music. I have used various types of electronic and computer-oriented systems as a composer, but the bulk of my creative activity centers around composing for conventional media, and music theory. This semester my design for a CAI facility used in conjunction with the music theory curriculum here has been adopted and implemented. I hold a B.A. from Williams College and an M.F.A. from the School of Music, California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). I expect to defend my Ph.D dissertation, a study of Webern's Six Bagatelles for String Quartet Op. 9, at the end of this semester. The graphics for the latter are being prepared with Nightingale, a music graphics/notation system being developed at Princeton by Don Byrd and Advanced Music Notation Systems Inc. ================================================================= *Potworowski, Christophe F. NAME: Christophe F. Potworowski INSTITUTION: Concordia University, Montreal DEPARTMENT: Theological Studies TITLE: Assistant Professor EMAIL: CPOTWOR@Vax2.Concordia.Ca PHONE: (514) 848-2481 ADDRESS: 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal PQ POSTAL CODE: H4B 1R6 COUNTRY: Canada BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: My primary interests lie in systematic theology and the relation of religion and culture. I am using Nota Bene quite extensively as word processor and text base. I am interested in developing computer use in my university for the humanities in text analysis and in the use of data bases. I would like to stay in touch with developments in the field of computing for the humanities. ================================================================= *Price-Wilkin, John NAME: John Price-Wilkin INSTITUTION: University of Michigan, Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library DEPARTMENT: Reference Department TITLE: Data Services Librarian, Selector for English language literature EMAIL: Bitnet - userGC8Z@umichum Internet - jp- w@um.cc.umich.edu PHONE: 313 764 1314 ADDRESS: 209 Hatcher North, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1205 POSTAL CODE: 48109-1205 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH No biographical sketch, but an indication of my interests. As Data Services Librarian, I coordinate the Graduate Library's efforts in areas such as collecting and providing access to numeric data, text files, and bibliographic resources of all types. Although I have some skills in accessing and manipulating data (and consequently act as a resources person for our social science selectors), my own interest is in text files and textual analysis in the humanities. ================================================================= *Rapoport, Paul NAME: Dr. Paul Rapoport INSTITUTION: McMaster University DEPARTMENT: Music TITLE: Associate Professor EMAIL: RAPOPORT@SSCVAX.MCMASTER.CA RAPOPORT@MCMASTER.BITNET PHONE: Area 416, 525-9140, extension 4217 ADDRESS: Department of Music, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton Ontario Canada L8S 4M2 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Paul Rapoport, who teaches music history, theory, and criticism at McMaster University, is interested especially in 20th-century music and microtonality. He helped redesign the Motorola Scalatron, a real-time electronic pitch-pro- grammable microtonal keyboard instrument. He is the composer of about a dozen pieces of music and author of several books, many articles, and hundreds of reviews. In another life he was a linguist and still claims to be able to read fourteen languages (on a good day) and speak four. He developed the Interna- tional Fonts (Roman, Greek, Cyrillic, Phonetic) for screen display and printing on Apple's Imagewriter I and II printers. He works exclusively on Macintosh microcomputers and is still searching for ideal music composition and printing software, among much else. Recently he also developed a Hypercard stack called "7th-Chord Quiz", useful in elementary classes in music theory. He is not a programmer--yet. As I am not entirely proficient at this business I would appreciate some confirmation that what I sent is actually what you received! Also, I am not sure whether members receive some special ID, etc. for sending and receiving messages. It is, in any case, not necessary to send all the Humanist messages, bulletins, etc. to me, as I can get them all from HUMANIST@MCMASTER, I am informed. But basic starting information, other than the bit you sent me a few weeks ago, would be helpful. I have a couple of questions which I'd like to throw out there (and get answers to, of course). As I am always pressed for time (too many students in too many courses, too many projects, etc.), I will not be spending huge amounts of it on Humanist, but I do look forward to being active. ================================================================= *Rice, Martin P. <RICE@UTKVX1> APPLELINK: D3665 Professor of Russian, 701 McClung, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA; Univ. phone: (615) 974-3421; Hyperglot phone: (615) 558-8270 Started computing in 1979. Taught myself SNOBOL4 for a project on the DEC10 that involved the compiling of a bibliography of non- Slavic Dostoevsky criticism in 14 languages. Got my first microcomputer in 1980. In 1985 Dean gave me a split appointment: Professor of Russian (which I've been for 20 years) and Coordinator of Humanities Computing Development, the charge of which was to get humanists at the University of Tennessee into computing and help to get microcomputing facilities for them. In 1986 began working on the teaching of foreign languages with microcomputers. In 1988 founded the HyperGlot Software Company, which publishes 25 products in German, French, Spanish, Russian, and Japanese, all running under HyperCard on the Macintosh. ================================================================= *Shreeves, Edward NAME: EDWARD SHREEVES INSTITUION: UNIVERSITY OF IOWA DEPARTMENT: LIBRARY TITLE: Asst. University Librarian for Collection Management EMAIL: CADATKTS@UIAMVS PHONE: 319-335-5873 ADDRESS: MAIN LIBRARY ADMIN. OFFICE, UNIV. OF IOWA, IOWA CITY, IA POSTAL CODE: 52242 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: As someone trained in Classics, I am curious about new developments in any area of the humanities which might be of interest or value. As someone involved with the management of what is now called "information resources" in libraries, I am curious about the processes of scholarly communication, esp. as affected by networks such as this. ================================================================= *Smith, Jane Dunlap NAME: Jane Dunlap Smith INSTITUTION: The University of North Carolina Educational Computing Service (UNC-ECS) DEPARTMENT: User Services TITLE: Information Services Officer EMAIL: jds@ecsvax.uncecs.edu PHONE: 919/549-0671 ADDRESS: PO Box 12035, 2 Davis Drive Research Triangle Park, NC POSTAL CODE: 27709-2035 COUNTRY: USA BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH (ca. 100-500 words) As part of its mission to provide computing support and services to the 16 constituent institutions of the Univ. of NC, UNC-ECS offers electronic conferencing services (mail, USENET news, Notes) on a Unix-based VAX 8250 serving approx. 600 subscribers who are either faculty or staff at an institution of higher learning in NC (private universities and community colleges may subscribe, also). LISTSERV subscriptions are discouraged on our system (we just don't tell folks about their existence) due to limited disk space, lack of user support, and occasional Unix incompatibilities with LISTSERVERS. Recently we have discovered a scheme to repost LISTSERV forums in Notesfiles, where a discussion is stored in a single database file in a hierachical manner, is accessible to all users, and can be configured so that users can either only observe (read) or participate (submit or respond to topics). UNC-ECS Assistant Director George Brett suggested adding Humanist to the Notes service; he is now receiving it privately via mail and finds it a valuable discussion he feels is appropriate to share with our user community. I submitted a subscription request because my userid is used by certain programs I have set up to automatically repost by topic the LISTSERV discussions to the appropriate notesfiles (this requires that I submit a coded 'real name' to the LISTSERVER); I also am responsible for 'housekeeping' for these notesfiles. ================================================================= *Snider, Alvin NAME: Alvin Snider INSTITUTION: University of Iowa DEPARTMENT: Department of English TITLE: Assistant Professor EMAIL: ASNIDEPD@UIAMVS PHONE: (319) 354-1356 ADDRESS: 308 EPB, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA POSTAL CODE: 52242 COUNTRY: U.S.A. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH I first learned about the Humanist discussion group from a *Computers & the Humanities* footnote. This was pure serendipity: I rarely read such journals and never the footnotes. My interest in computing is that of a (typically) superficial humanist. I am at an institution, however, that puts considerable computer resources at the disposal of its students and faculty. And at the moment I'm in the midst of developing a writing course that would make use of electronic conferencing. Normally, I use a computer to write about language and politics in the English revolution and later seventeenth century, and to balance my checkbook. ================================================================= *Teich, Laura <lteich@auvm.bitnet> American University, Writing Lab, McCabe 102, Washington, DC 20016 USA I teach freshman composition and manage the computer lab that supports the English Department. I am interest ed in anything that has to do with the incorporation of computers into the teaching of writing. Please add me to Humanist. ================================================================= *Wesselius, J. W. Stationsplein 34; NL-2312 AK Leiden, Netherlands; voice: 31 71 126869. Office: Handboogstraat 6, NL-1012 XM Amsterdam, voice: 31 20 5252784 or 31 20 5252850 My name is Jan Wim Wesselius, I work in the Department of Hebrew and Aramaic Studies at the University of Amsterdam and live in Leiden. My professional interests are in different parts of the field of Hebrew and Aramaic literature and linguistics, as well as in the history of Oriental Studies and related areas. Other interests are the Macintosh computer, electronic mail, war- gaming, cooking and gardening. Born in 1954, I started studying theology at the University of Leiden in 1972, shifting to Semitic languages in 1974 and finishing my studies in 1979. In 1980 and 1981 I worked in the Department of Hebrew etc. at Leiden, moving on to Amsterdam in the latter year. During the past years I taught courses in Ugaritic, Phoenician, Biblical and Rabbinical Hebrew, Syriac and various other Aramaic dialects. I also published articles on some of these subjects. ================================================================= *Wilson, Eve NAME: Eve Wilson INSTITUTION: University of Kent at Canterbury DEPARTMENT: Computing Laboratory TITLE: Lecturer in Computer Science EMAIL: ew@ukc.ac.uk PHONE: +44-227-764000 ext 3628 FAX: +44-227-762811 ADDRESS: Computing Laboratory The University Canterbury Kent POSTAL CODE: CT2 7NF COUNTRY: England BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH (ca. 100-500 words) Eve Wilson is a lecturer in Computing. An early career in compiler writing for Ferranti Ltd. in Manchester established an interest in artificial languages and computational linguistics, which rapidly developed to encompass natural language. A period as a Research Fellow with the Department of Education and Science introduced problems of bibliographic information and free text retrieval from large document collections. Law proved a rich field for research: the variety of documents ensures many different ways of using language are represented. She is exploiting long-term work on legal language with the recent innovations in workstations and hypertext. *****END 2 of 2***** From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVME> Subject: Re: 3.705 more on NeXT (101) Date: Tue, 07 Nov 89 18:31:59 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 710 (1455) re mike@tome.media.mit.edu (Michael Hawley) comments: Just as one search/retrieval program will not provide all the functions necessary to all users of all databases, so too, would I submit that an encoding technique, any encoding technique, would suffer from the same, or similar limitations. This is why I have repeatedly stated that any, yes, ANY text encoding initiative should, and of necessity MUST include the apparatus for removing itself from the text to provide a virgin, or as close as feasible, text for others to work with in areas which might require new or separate facilities. Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts From: JACKA@PENNDRLS Subject: Date: Tuesday, 7 November 1989 1424-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 711 (1456) ONLINE NOTES OCTOBER, 1989 ****************************************************************** CATSS PROJECT RECEIVES FUNDING We are pleased to report that the NEH has awarded $50,000 outright and up to $75,000 in one on one matching funds over a two year period for the completion of the original goals of the Computer Assisted Tools for Septuagint Studies (CATSS) Project, co-directed by Robert Kraft (University of Pennsylvania) and Emanuel Tov (Hebrew University). The primary unfinished task is completion of the textual variant files for the Greek Jewish Scriptures. Attention to more complete verification and integration of the existing parallel Hebrew-Greek files and the Greek morphological analysis is also needed, along with software development to facilitate effective access to this wealth of variegated data. An expanded and updated CD-ROM of biblical materials is planned for completion in summer of 1991, with appropriate software. The task of raising $75,000 in matching funds is daunting; interested friends of the CATSS project should contact KRAFT@PENNDRLS for details about how they can contribute. ****************************************************************** QERE-KETIB (ANNOUNCEMENT FROM CATAB) Cher collegue, Le laboratoire CATAB vient de sortir un ouvrage qui interesse tous les biblistes. Il s'agit de 'Qere-Ketib et listes massoretiques dans le manuscrit B 19a'. L'auteur est Philippe CASSUTO, responsable de l'edition informatique des manuscrits de la Bible hebraique au sein du CATAB. Il est disponible a la maison d'edition Peter Lang dans la collection Judentum und Umwelt. En voici l'abstract: Les Qere-Ketib, ces notes marginales qui imposent au lecteur de lire un mot du texte biblique autrement qu'il est ecrit, ont toujours ete au centre de nombreuses problematiques, en particulier en exegese. Toutefois, par des besoins comprehensibles de normalisation, on ne trouve jamais ces notes dans aucune edition telles qu'elles se presentent dans le ou les manuscrits. Nous nous proposons donc ici de presenter au lecteur ces notes telles qu'on les trouve dans le manuscrit B 19a qui se trouve a la Bibliotheque Publique de Leningrad et qui a servi de base a deux grandes editions au XX siecle: la Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (heritiere de la Bible editee par Kittel) et l'edition d'Aron Dotan. Ces deux editions ont par ailleurs servi a construire le texte massoretique presente sous ses differentes formes informatiques. Outre les notes de petite Massora, on trouvera egalement dans cet ouvrage les listes de grande Massora, ainsi qu'un lexique des termes massoretiques presents dans l'ouvrage. Un index purement alphabetique et un index lemmatise permettront de s'y reperer facilement. A la fin du volume on trouvera la liste des 1265 occurrences de Qere-Ketib dans ce manuscrit si important. Si vous, ou votre institution publie d'importants travaux, ne manquez pas de le faire savoir par electronic mail; Amicalement, Philippe CASSUTO Laboratoire CATAB, 43, boulevard du 11 novembre 1918 69622 Villeurbanne Cedex FRANCE Telephone: 33- 78.93.74.37 Electronic Mail: CATAB at FRSUN12 Acknowledge-To: <CATAB@FRSUN12> ****************************************************************** SOFTWARE PORTING FROM THE IBM TO THE MACINTOSH Work has begun in earnest here to "port" our IBM software to the Macintosh so that we can support both computer platforms for instruction and research. This software translation project includes programs both for textual research and language instruction. Most of the research programs will be written in Turbo Pascal and used in courses on computer-aided research taught each semester. The language programs will be transferred to HyperCard. Any readers interested in keeping up with this work and receiving pre-release copies of the material should contact Jack Abercrombie (JACKA @ PENNDRLS). ****************************************************************** VIRAL INFECTIONS We have just obtained a reliable program for checking for some 35 viruses on the IBM PC. Though there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of viral reports on DOS-based machines, it is still a good practice to remain vigilant. Anyone wishing a copy of this program, may duplicate it on the PS/2's in the Williams 105 lab. The program is located in the virus library. For Macintosh users, NVIR continues to pose a problem. The Disinfectant program works well in detecting this virus. We remain unsure whether using DISINFECTANT to remove the virus does not result in damaging the host program. We suggest that you throw out the infected program and reinstall a back-up copy. ****************************************************************** TIDBITS, Network notes for tyro to novice computer users taken from the network news in Williams 105 computer lab (JACKA @ PENNDRLS). IBM QUESTION: I formatted a blank diskette in one of the IBM PS/2's in this lab. However, when I took it home and tried it on my machine there, the computer couldn't read the diskette. What happened. AN ANSWER: The IBM computers in the lab will format a 720K diskette as if it were 1.44 meg. diskette. However, when you home computer tried to read the diskette, it saw that there was no notch on the right side, and tried to read it at 720K. Your diskette will still work in the machines in the lab. To make it work on your home computer, format another disk to 720K and transfer your information to it; or format a 720K disk at home and transfer the information to it here in the lab. MAC QUESTION: My diskette is stuck in the drive and I can't get it out! AN ANSWER: Well, you could build a MacTool from a paperclip and insert it into the hole to the right of the drive. This will manually eject the diskette. A second alternative is to hold down the mouse button and turn on the machine. This also will eject the diskette. From: <WASSERMAN@FORDMULC> Subject: Request for Information Date: Wed, 25 Oct 89 10:37 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1137 (1457) [Apologies for the delay in sending out this message. It was sent to an account I almost never use, MCCARTY@UTORONTO. --W.M.] I would appreciate hearing from those with experience at Universities requiring students to purchase computers in their freshman year. What were your experiences, impressions? The impression and experiences of faculty and students in various disciplines? I'm especially interested in learning about applications, how the program worked or where I can locate interim or final reports describing such projects. Information can be sent to me directly or, if appropriate to a general discussion of computer use, through HUMANIST. Thank you in advance. Wasserman@fordmulc Robert Wasserman, Chairperson Academic Computing Committee Fordham University at Lincoln Center Humanities Division 113 West 60th Street New York, New York 10014 From: SRRJ1@VAXA.YORK.AC.UK Subject: Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 04:14:46 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1138 (1458) I am planning to introduce a class of second year history undergraduates to BRS/SEARCH next term (using the university's VAX/VMS mainframe). The intention is to teach them to set up, and then use in their research, an e-text of the 14th century poll tax returns for Yorkshire in the context of a course of late medieval Yorkshire society. Eventually I hope to be able to establish a collection of computer based resources for Yorkshire history in this way. The main problem is that I, and indeed the university computing service, are both new to this software and it may be a case of the myopic leading the blind! I would therefore be very grateful for any guidance from experienced HUMANIST users of this software about how to get the best out of the system, and indeed of any obstacles or problems we may come across in using the software and its manuals in teaching. PS. Perhaps I should add that the students will already be familiar with the basics of VAX/VMS, EDIT and MAIL so that BRS will be the only new software they will be learning. Replies can be sent to me direct, and I will summarise for HUMANIST at the end of the month. Sarah Rees Jones, History, University of York, UK srrj1@uk.ac.york.vaxa From: <PU6MI6Q5@ICINECA2> Subject: NeXT in education Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 15:48 N X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1139 (1459) Is anyone using the NeXT in education? Does anyone know of people and projects doing so? -Joe Giampapa pu6mi6q5@icineca2.bitnet From: "Tom Benson 814-238-5277" <T3B@PSUVM> Subject: collation of drafts Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 10:37 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1140 (1460) I am looking for advice about suggested readings and computer (or non-computer) methods of comparing drafts of texts that converge, either independently or serially, on a final draft. I am looking for good ways of examing these drafts, of taking note of changes (additions, deletions, insertions, substitutions, rearrangements, and so on) and of representing those changes, whether textually, statistically, or graphically. My own background is in rhetorical (speech) criticism, and I am computer literate but not a programmer. I know there is a vast literature on textual scholarship (of which I am mostly ignorant) and that there are at least some rudimentary ways to do text comparisons (such as comparing two drafts for red-lining and blue-pencilling in WordPerfect 5.0). I'd appreciate suggestions to the best literature in the areas of (a) comparisons of texts, and (b) computer assistance at the task. The project I'm working on is the ghostwriting of American presidential speeches. I am trying to track both the historical and the rhetorical aspects of changes in successive drafts of speeches. Any hints? Thanks. Tom Benson Penn State University T3B@PSUVM (bitnet) From: Malcolm Brown <mbb@jessica.Stanford.EDU> Subject: Nota Bene: bug? Date: Tue, 07 Nov 89 08:39:47 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1141 (1461) I've been running into the following problem with Nota Bene 3 and was wondering if anyone else has had similar difficulties. I'm working with files that are somewhat large, in the range of 200K to 300K. Even on my 640K machine, Nota Bene (=NB) typically needs to make swap (or "temp") files when editing. Occasionally, when editing and then saving such a file, NB will display the very alarming messages "error writing file". This morning, it was even worse: NB displayed a "general failure" message. The file, which had originally been 290K, was now 260K. I've run extensive tests on the disk, including a complete Norton Disk Doctor check. All tests report that the hard disk is fine. The Norton program did discover the missing 30K: they were lost clusters. This may mean that NB is making mistakes when writing to the file allocation table. I've run into this "error writing file" some half dozen times now, and it's making me become very wary of NB. If the results of the disk tests are correct, then there may be a problem with NB. If no one else has run into this, then it may be my disk after all. I'm using NB3, by the way, on a classic IBM 8Mhz AT with a 30M hard disk. Has anyone else run into something like this? thanks in advance Malcolm Brown From: <BURT@BRANDEIS> Subject: bibliography databases Date: Mon, 6 Nov 89 17:52 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1142 (1462) The person whose computer center advised using WSCRIPT gave him/her good advice. Wscript and Scribe are often considered dinosaurs, but they can make bibliographies in many formats at the drop of a hat, and they use all-ascii files which can easily be imported into other formats and set up with a few global replaces. I continue to use Scribe for that purpose, because it least ties my hands about what I might want to do later with the file. More modern programs may be sexier, but you may be stuck with them later when they too go out of date. About Pro-Tem's BIBLIOGRAPHY. I also like it, for the same reason that I like Scribe--it pretty much sticks to ASCII, and it doesn't tie your hands for later. It was designed for use with Wordstar, which also pretty much sticks to ASCII. I think that to use it with WP5 you might have to convert your files to all-ASCII. Wordperfect doesn't make this easy to do, but you can do it by printing your file to disk using the "DOS Text Printer" in the printer control menu. There are all sorts of cumbersome hitches in this procedure, but I am only a rare Wordperfect user and haven't figured out better ways of making pure ASCII text in WP. From: Shu-Yan Mok <YFPL0004@YORKVM1> Subject: Bibliography, WATFILE, and SCRIPT Date: Mon, 06 Nov 89 21:57:18 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1143 (1463) I have been using the WATFILE/Plus database program in the IBM mainframe environment for several years, mainly for recording students' grades and organizing the bibliography of my dissertation. The program allows users to customize reports by means of layout files. Users create layout files in which the positions of the names and contents of each field in the report are specified. These files can also incorporate a primitive conditional structure to determine whether a field is to be included in the report. I have some limited success in using WATFILE as a bibliographic tool in conjunction with WATERLOO SCRIPT, which is a powerful text formatter. My method is to create layout files so that the reports generated by WATFILE will serve as the input files for the SCRIPT program. It's a pity that the length of each field in WATFILE is limited; this means that a very long title for a book will have to be broken down into more than one field. You can see why I need the SCRIPT to produce the final output. (to put back the two parts of the title together) Another difficulty is due to the sheer number of different ways to present bibliographic information according to any style handbook. Is the author an editor? Are there more than one editor? Is the title that of a book, or chapter within a book? . . . Theoretically speaking, the custimizing features of WATFILE allows users to capture practically all these possibilities. My solution is simply to limit myself to a subset of most common combinations and to modify the SCRIPT input files by hand to accommodate unusual information. I'd be happy to send my layout files, together with a few other files written in the language of CMS system interpreter, to anyone who is interested. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Diary Sources Date: Tuesday, 7 November 1989 0023-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1144 (1464) Bob Amsler asks about older than the 70s Americana diaries, etc. I have edited my great grandmother's 1880 diary (she was 20 and just starting life as an elementary school teacher in central Connecticut) and published it on the PHI/CCAT CD-ROM (1987). It is also available separately -- it's not terribly long (a pocket diary format). I am also actively editing her husband's journals from 1876 to his death in 1943. Some of that is already in rough electronic form, but needs quite a bit more work. Incidentally, my editing philosophy on such materials might be worth discussing. I have kept old spellings where they were clearly not simply misspellings -- e.g. "staid" not "stayed" -- but have corrected obviously unintentional errors (letter missing, or doubled, etc.) and have resolved some abbreviations to make things more readable. I have kept old hyphenates such as "after-noon" even when there may be some inconsistency. My aim was to keep it readable to the average user, but not to modernize to such an extent that it would not also be useful to students of developing American English. My inclination is to mark every editorial intervention, but that is really not very practical, especially when it comes to things like punctuation. For the 1880 diary, I did keep a sort of facsimile transcript that was the base from which I made it more usable for "publication" purposes. But these sorts of problems are very vexing, since different users will want vastly different things from such a text. Advice? Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: Steve Mason <SHLOMO@YORKVM1> Subject: Biblical Concordances (cont'd) Date: Mon, 06 Nov 89 20:20:27 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1145 (1465) A footnote to my earlier praise of Parsons' QuickVerse Concordance: It is true that Version 1.0 of this programme did not permit Boolean searches, as my good friend Hans notes. But Version 1.2 is now out and it DOES these with zest. Another significant improvement in Version 1.2 is that it allows you to print entire paragraphs surrounding the phrase in question, rather than single verses only. (Of course, you can print out the whole Bible if you save it in ASCII files.) Steve Mason Division of Humanities York University From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: biblical materials Date: Monday, 6 November 1989 2015-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1146 (1466) I have just received the catalogue and other materials from a new outfit called HERMENEUTIKA: Computer-Aided Bible Research, run by a Mark Rice, PO Box 98563, Seattle WA 98198; tel 206-824-3927. To quote from the PR blurb, "Hermeneutika strives on your behalf to offer the best, most current, practical, and advanced software tools for all your Christian ministerial needs." The catalogue is extensive (32 pages of small print, 5 cols per page!) and widely representative of what is available (and some not-yet-available) at various levels of interest, including scholarly. A large number of concordance programs are listed on pp.7-10. There are useful indices of IBM compatible products and of Apple II and Mac products. This may prove to be a handy informational packet to have alongside of John Hughes' Bits, Bytes & Biblical Studies (Zondervan, 1987). Hermeneutika/Rice also has done a 4 page review of CD-ROM Bible software (e.g. PHI/CCAT disk with LBase, Ellis Enterprises Bible Library, FABS Reference Bible with Religious Index, and the Tri Star Master Search Bible), with a preview of other forthcoming CD-ROM bible products. Although I am not personally completely pleased with the way Mark Rice has listed and presented products with which I am closely affiliated, the problems are correctable and relatively minor. Apart from the vending aspect of the Hermeneutika materials, they appear to be good informational tools. As for getting ASCII copies of various biblical texts (e.g. Hebrew, Greek Septuagint and New Testament, Vulgate, KJV with Apocrypha, RSV with Apocrypha), if they are CCAT produced and you know someone who has already legally obtained them, you are permitted by CCAT to copy them free as long as you return a signed "User Agreement" to CCAT. Thus, Abigail Young, you can spend $35 and get the Greek New Testament from CCAT or one of its secondary distributors, or you can visit someone in Toronto who already has it, and copy it free. Just be sure to register the User Agreement with CCAT. Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: choueka@bimacs (Yaacov Choueka) Subject: Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 13:39:53 +0200 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1147 (1467) The note about the Responsa project generated about 30 requests for information , which is, I hope, a sign for 30 more friends to our activities. Hurrah for Humanist for scoring one more positive point! and thanks for giving me the floor for a few seconds... Yaacov. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Genealogical Software Date: Monday, 6 November 1989 2039-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1148 (1468) The current issue of NEXUS, the Bimonthly Newsletter of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (6.5 Oct 1989), includes a useful review of the widely used Personal Ancenstry File (PAF) 2.1 genealogy program from the Church of the Latter Day Saints, by H. Clifford and Lynn S. Watts. "The Wattses use PAF to manage their joint genealogical database of over 8300 persons, 4200 marriages, 8500 different names, and 1800 descriptive notes." According to the reviewers, "Despite our firm approval of PAF, we have encountered some limitations and frustrations while handling actual genealogical situations. We share these experiences, not to criticize the LDS software, but to advocate continued improvement." "Our aim is to stimulate discussion and to encourage development of even better software than exists today." I don't know if the details will interest any of the HUMANIST genealogical buffs, but will pass them along if you want them. Although I own PAF, I have never seriously used it, having already developed my own "flat file with searching software" approach. But I have considered trying to reformat and port my materials to PAF, which seems to be a doable option. There are features of PAF that appeal to me (e.g. production of charts, storage of extended notes), and features of my own approach that I don't want to lose (e.g. convenience of searching, editing, full printing). Perhaps the answer is import/export software. Bob Kraft From: choueka@bimacs (Yaacov Choueka) Subject: Bible concordancing Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 13:28:59 +0200 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1149 (1469) A message to Humanist was recently posted about a package for concordancing in Hebrew with a database containing the Bible, the Talmud and other Rabbinical texts, from a group named ATM in Bnei Brak. I thought it wise to inform whoever might have read this notice that there is founded suspicion that some of these databases may have been copied in an unauthorized way from Bar-Ilan University Global Jewish Database files. The University is currently investigating this matter and might eventually take appropriate measures to protect its rights. Y. Choueka. From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Sonar? Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 09:25:55 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1150 (1470) Several discussions and queries concerning text retrieval software have been posted on the net. I just received a demo version of "Sonar Professional" for Macintosh which claims to search 10,000 pages of formatted text files/second with a variety of options for boolean searches, indices, and links between documents. Has anyone reviewed the product? (If already posted, please mail rather than post). Is there interest in a posted review if I get a chance to work with this demo? [Editor's note. Sonar was reviewed on Humanist, 24 Nov 87, by Chuck Bush. Since two years is a long time in the life of a program, it would seem to me that a reassessment is in order. In fact, it would be of great interest, I think, to have a good discussion of text retrieval and analysis software for the Mac. Perhaps someone associated with the WordCruncher people would make a rash statement about when a version of WCr will be ready for the Mac? --W.M.] From: Norman Zacour <ZACOUR@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Bibliographies Date: Tue, 07 Nov 89 20:44:16 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1151 (1471) Having read the recent responses to the enquiry about data bases for a bibliography, I am all the more confirmed in my opinion of the merits of the simple but yet quite flexible NOTEBOOK II. One creates records for all kinds of items: books, articles, chapters of books, volumes in series, including all publication data: places, dates, page numbers, number of volumes, publishers; as well as fields for notes, criticism, key-word searches, other peculiar needs (I have one for library call number, and another for the century to which the work applies), and so on. All fields are elastic, not fixed in size. The record can be arranged on screen in whatever order suits the user's convenience, yet the user can prepare one or more format files or templates to print the records, or any of the fields of the records, to accomodate whatever manual of style one wishes - including order of items, punctuation, spacing. The program produces ASCII files, of course, as do other database programs. This causes no problem when moving from data base to word processor. The real problem comes when you want to underline all the titles of books and periodicals. NOTEBOOK addresses the problem in connection with the specific steps one must take depending on the word processor that is being used - WordStar, Microsoft Word, and WordPerfect certainly, possibly others - each of which requires a slightly different touch. Incidentally, dumping a NOTEBOOK (ASCII) file into WordPerfect, as into any of the major word processors, and then running a macro to underline those things which ought to be done and leave undone those things which ought not to be done, is a piece of cake. From: Mark Olsen <mark@gide.uchicago.edu> Subject: Bible concording Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 23:03:42 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1152 (1472) The problem of ownership of electronic text, something that HUMANIST has debated time and again, was raised again by Dr. Choueka's warning that certain Biblical, Talmudic, and other Rabbinical texts were copied "in an unauthorized way" and that the University is going to consider prosecution. Without being overly flippant, I did not realize that the Bible and the ancient texts of Judaism were still under copyright protection. Who, pray tell, holds the copyright? And how has Bar-Ilan University gained rights to those texts? The problems of protecting copyrights and the integrity of textual databases are difficult enough, without thinking that texts so firmly part of the public domain as the Bible and Talmud could be protected by a single institution. This is not to suggest that unauthorized copying of data should be permitted or encouraged, but rather to raise the question of whether ANY text can be considered fully in the public domain. Another related point is the question of international law. Is it a crime to copy an electronic text across national borders? Is this kind of copying subject to international copyright agreements, or is this another area of electronic text that the lawyers have not yet sunk their claws into? Mark Olsen ARTFL Project University of Chicago From: "Tom Benson 814-238-5277" <T3B@PSUVM> Subject: Diary editing Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 09:17 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1153 (1473) Bob Kraft asks about how to edit a diary so as to provide both a readable modern text and something useful for scholarly purposes. Would it not be possible, even with present technology, to SCAN the diary -- as a graphic -- and to make this available along with the edited text -- as a text. This way, readers could look at the original, even if it were not suitable for editing in that form. Or does that just take up too much space? Tom Benson Penn State From: db <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.712 queries (165) Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 21:00:31 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1154 (1474) re: collation of drafts I highly reccomend comparwrite by jurisoft (somewhere in massachusetts) for that purpose. it's a wonderful program precisely for that. From: LIBJB@CCNY Subject: bib data, text data and standards Date: Wed, 08 Nov 89 08:05 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1155 (1475) As a response to Shu Yan Mok, I would like to contribute yet another format for bibliographic citations to the list: ANSI Z39.29-1977 (this standard may have been updated recently; I'm sorry I don't have a more up-to-date list at hand where I can immediately check). In general, though, I would like to know if anyone is monitoring the effect of standards on text encryption, etc. Partcicularly in light of the attemps to bridge the IBM/MAC gap, I have a feeling that activity is probably pretty heavy here, although it is possib-- ly all industry-based, possibly proprietary. Another question I would like to pose is: is anybody out there working on or familiar with the draft standard for a common command language? From: "[DCGQAL]A0234" <XB.DAS@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: [DCGQAL]A0234!Tag Attributes Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 15:31:55 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1156 (1476) Re: 3.705 more on NeXT (101) Michael Hart's comment about the necessity for removing tags from a text file prompt the following observation and question. It seems clear from (1) even a casual analysis of the variety of potentially exclusive tag sets to identify such dissimilar things as structural, morphological, linguistic, or entity references, and (2) the development of hypertext linkages which potentially might point to specific elements of already-tagged files, that what we need is a practical application whereby tags, themselves, can carry attributes. Were this to exist, one could "look" at a document through a filter that "reveals" the document through the perspective of a given set of chosen tag references. It is possible that many tags would be held in common from one view to another, so attributes of tags should permit multiple identification with several different "authors" or perspectives. Perhaps this is already being addressed by one or another of the Text Encoding Initiative Committees. If so, I am unfamiliar with such efforts. Can anyone shed some light on the reasonableness, or impossibility of such an approach? Chet Grycz Scholarship and Technology Study Project UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA From: John_Price-Wilkin@ub.cc.umich.edu Subject: Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 21:08:22 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1157 (1477) For the purpose of assembling a comprehensive bibliography of Dickens publishing in 1989, does anyone have information on a database called LITIR (possibly from Alberta). Can anyone suggest resources in addition to MLA Bib., Arts and Humanities Citation Index, the Research in Progress Database, and RLIN's Books file? John Price-Wilkin userGC8Z@UMICHUM From: Malcolm Hayward <MHAYWARD@IUP.BITNET> Subject: Query Re Hiring of User Support Person Date: 08 Nov 89 11:09:04 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1158 (1478) I'm on a hiring committee for a Coordinator of User Support person on our campus. I'd like to be sure the person we get is aware of our needs in humanities computing. Any suggestions of key qualities we might look for in a candidate? This is the first time we will have someone in such a position here. From: db <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.712 queries (165) Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 21:01:53 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1159 (1479) re: nb bug? i have never heard of anyone with such problems and i am in touch with many nb users. have you tried calling dragonfly. From: James O'Donnell <JODONNEL@PENNSAS.UPENN.EDU> Subject: Nota Bene bug query Date: 08 Nov 89 13:09:33 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1160 (1480) Malcolm Brown's description of his experience and habits so matches mine that I'm wondering whether I'm actually his evil twin Skippy. I use the identical machine, the identical program, and daily process several files running 200-300K, sometimes doing a total of a couple of dozen calls and saves, and have been doing so for a year and a half. The condition he describes (`General Failure Writing to Disk') and similar alarming errors is one that I too have encountered, *perhaps* a little less often, but it's hard to be sure from his description. This certainly does produce a situation in which CHKDSK discovers lost clusters, but it does not usually lead to disaster. (1) I can usually go on editing, and if I scroll to the top and bottom of the file to be sure it's all there, I can generally save it successfully the next time. (2) Using NB's emergency exit and saving QUITx.TMP files usually avoids any disaster. (3) But of course, I say with the smugness that comes of having been burned by computers and learned to mend my ways, I use the F5 SAVE command frequently when working, so relatively little is lost in these episodes. But, yes, I think there is a bug, and it's dumb luck and low cunning if it doesn't hurt you. Two tangent thoughts: (1) Has anybody with NB had my experience of discovering that occasionally on saving, then later recalling, such a large file, you find that some MODE commands have deteriorated, being replaced by gibberish? And that the ASCII 001 character (screen display as a teensy little funny face) crops up at unexepcted points in the file? (2) Have any WP 5.0 users had the same kind of problem with large-file management? I travel back and forth between NB and WP, and settled on NB for my really important large files because I had experiences even worse than what Brown describes with WP 5.0 when it was very new. Perhaps one of the numerous un-numbered updates (WP is up to version about 5.015 by now, still calling them all 5.0 but then telling you on the phone that date of release is vital) has corrected this problem, but it sure was scary when it happened. From: MORGAN TAMPLIN <TAMPLIN@TrentU.CA> Subject: CATH 90 CONFERENCE Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 01:17 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1161 (1481) I received the following in the mail and pass it on for information only. In view of the late date, you should contact the organizers ASAP if you are interested. Notice of Conference and Call for Papers Computers and Teaching in the Humanities CATH 90: From Rhetoric to Reality St. Andrews, Scotland, 2-5 April, 1990 Papers are invited for the workshop sessions on: Literature, Archaeology, Music, Philosophy & Logic, Languages History, Art & Design, Theology & Religious Studies. Papers of sufficient importance on related subjects will be considered. Papers on Hypermedia may be submitted for the Hypertect workshop, provided that they concern novel applications of hypermedia to humanities teaching. Two Copies of a detailed abstract should be received by December 1, 1989. Acceptance notification will be sent by January 15, 1990. Programme Organizer is Dr. May Katzen, Office of Humanities Computing, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH Telephone 0533 522598 Telex 341198 MAY@LEICESTER.AC.UK Local Organizer is Dr. R. Dychoff, Department of Computational Science, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, KY16 9SS Scotland, UK. (no E-Mail Address given) From: D J Morse <erpl32@castle.edinburgh.ac.uk> Subject: info archives Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 06:34:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1162 (1482) Edinburgh - Edinburgh University Data Library Edinburgh University Data Library is, primarily, a service run jointly by the University's Computing and Library services. As such, it is involved in the collection, storage, and dissemination of machine-readable data in various form. Principal collections include population and agricultural censuses and social survey data. At present the only major text holding is the complete works of Kirkegaard, consisting of 35 books, based upon the Danish 3rd edition with some changes to make the text more 'friendly', improve access times, and 'treatable' by as wide a range of software as possible. The books are held as separate files on mainframe, but there is also a PC version complete with its own editor (KEDIT), written in assembler. KEDIT allows Word Counts, DIVisions of text(s), text EXTraction, JOINing of two or more files. MERGE, and ABFREQ, separate programs written in Turbo Pascal, allow, respectively, merging of up to 14 files, and combining and comparison of frequency lists. ZEDIT and TABLE, also written in Turbo Pascal, allow z-score sorting and the production of sorted output tables. EDMATRIX creates and manipulates matrix files and is written in Lattice C. The package was produced by Alastair MacKinnon, McGill University, to whom enquiries should be addressed. For further information on Edinburgh University Data Library, and the numerous projects in which we are involved, contact: datalib@uk.ac.edinburgh regards, Donald J. Morse From: "Pieter Masereeuw" <PIETER%UVAALF.SURFNET@HASARA5.BITNET> Subject: Old Church Slavonic font Date: Thu, 9 Nov 89 8:04 MET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1163 (1483) Does anybody know of an Old Church Slavonic font for a HP LaserJet and/or Apple Laserwriter printer, preferably for use on a PC with WordPerfect? Pieter Masereeuw University of Amsterdam PIETER@UVAALF.SURFNET.NL From: "[DCGQAL]A0234" <XB.DAS@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: [DCGQAL]A0234!Shareware Date: Thu, 9 Nov 89 15:24:42 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1164 (1484) Perhaps some HUMANISTS know of studies into the experience folks have had with Shareware. The theory is that there is an incentive (not unlike the incentives for scholarly publishing) in producing useful programs for one's peers. The incentive, of course, is the recognition given you by your peers. In the context of electronic information dissemination and networks, shareware programs seem to be developed and distributed within that perspective. Also as with scholarly publishing, however, filthy lucre sometimes raises its ugly head. In the case of shareware programs, its manifestation is in the less-than-subtle suggestions that if a program is useful, you are under pain of ostracism and immoral behavior if you do not submit the requested few dollars in return for using a given program. I'm curious if anyone has information about surveys of any kind, giving an indication of how the population at large responds to such veiled altruism. Is the general experience that people do, in fact, pay when there is no obligation to do so? Or are we as a society, more selfish? Chet Grycz Scholarship and Technology Study Project From: "Oliver G. Berghof" <oberghof@next.acs.UCI.EDU> Subject: NeXT Date: Thu, 9 Nov 89 12:52:46 GMT-0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1165 (1485) Lest it should seem that I have abandoned the discussion I started I would like to respond to some of the contributors. 1. James H. Coombs, JAZBO@BROWNVM This was the posting that promted my response. I am very concerned that HUMANISTs who read Jim's impressionistic comments will be dissuaded from trying out the NeXT themselves and forming their own opinions. I am very grateful for this contribution for it provides a perfect example for the kind of underinformed criticism that will keep HUMANISTs shying away from the NeXT machine. I take issue with all of Dr. Coombs' criticisms: 1. It's very slow. Compared to a Mac II running A/UX and a Max (sic) toolbox application ... Much of the time it seems unusable ... the Frame application. Too slow for me. I have a Mac IIci standing three feet away from me. For computationally intensive tasks the NeXT leaves the Mac limping in the dark. If you're really interested in getting a notion of the speed of a NeXT, try the Mandelbrot - demo in the NeXT-Developer library. It compares compilation in C with compilation using the Digital Signal Processor and displays the runtime result in two adjoining windows. Wordprocessing is not likely to use the Digital Signal Processor, but then you don't buy the NeXT to type away at your christmas card in WordPerfect. FrameMaker takes a long time loading. The newly released version 1.0 should amend this. But then try loading any desktop - publishing package on an 80386 - you will be grateful that there is such a thing as the NeXT ! 2. Feedback is poor. Some messages are inappropriate, such as something about "file system error" when one modifies a document but does not have the proper permissions . Even worse, one often does not know whether the system is working on something or not... Compared to the nonexistent feedback on a Mac I find the NeXT's error messages a godsend. Jim Coombs' remark gives the argument nicely away: had the NeXT not included the explanation that he did not have the proper permission to modify a document he would not even have known what to complain about ... ! As far as the distinction between active and inactive applications is concerned: each of the application icons on the right hand side of the screen (in the "workbench") contains three little dots when it is inactive. The only way for you not to know on a NeXT what applications are active is to actually HIDE them with the HIDE option which is located right beyond the QUIT option on the menu. But of course, if you're a Mac mouse freak you are likely to miss one button for the other. 3. The mouse is infuriating. The acceleration when one moves it quickly is insignificant ... There is also a > problem with spurious clicks... ... I guess the biggest need is for faster hardware to drive everything they are trying to do. Try clicking on the icon in the upper right hand corner. It is there for the sole purpose of customizing your machine - and that includes the mouse ! As far as the spurious clicks and the faster hardware are concerned I would hazard a guess that in this case the problem was neither the software, nor the hardware .... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2. David Carpenter, ST_JOSEPH@HVRFORD Malcolm Brown, MBB@JESSICA.STANFORD.EDU David Megginson, MEGGIN@VM.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA Willard McCarty, MCCARTY@VW.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA I am very much indebted to Malcom Brown for his elaborate account of his experiences with the NeXT. Both he and David Carpenter seem to express limited enthusiasm for the software available although they deplore the scarcity of what is on the market. I fully agree with the descriptions both have given of various NeXT programs such as WriteNow, the Digital Librarian and FrameMaker. However, I feel that the real issue, given the visionary concept of the hardware, is not so much what there is already as what there might be in the future. When I used the phrase "a fair amount of tools for HUMANISTs" I referred specifically to Object-C and Allegro Common-Lisp. Although HUMANISTs with David Megginson's expertise in Unix are a minority and although our power, as a network of brains is more akin to that of ants than that of eleph-ants, this does not have to remain the state of affairs. The insects were barred from an expansion of their evolutionary domain by chitin ("a horny polysaccharide that forms part of the outer integument esp. of insects and crustaceans" - for those who don't have a DigitalWebster) -do HUMANISTs have to be barred from evolving any further by lack of funds and initiative ??? The NeXT is currently priced at $ 6500.- for institutions in higher education. Considering the current prices for optical storage and the estimated value of the software included in this price the NeXT machine is probably the most underpriced piece of computing equipment currently on the market. This being so I was a little depressed to hear from Malcolm Brown that his initiative to get support for the development of a text analysis tool met with little encouragement from NeXT. Maybe this attitude will change only if HUMANIST's become visible to NeXT as a group of software developers seriously to be reckoned with. Before that happens, though, we will have to know more about Unix, Object-C, Lisp, SyBase. I suggest that HUMANISTs interested in becoming third party developers write directly to NeXT (if Malcolm Brown is willing to share some e-mail addresses). I will also continue to clamour for support from them , and try to share whatever information is available. To end opimistically, with one of those intolerable "wouldn't it be nice"-phantasies, does not seem to be appropriate, but let me have a try: Imagine you're a classicist who has to walk over to the library to get a print-out from the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae on an Ibycus system that is incapable of anything but text-retrieval and boolean string-searches. Now imagine the same classicist sitting in her snug little home with a NeXT machine in front of her, flipping the CD-ROM with Herodotus, and Thucydides, and Galen, and whatnot into her cube, happily incorporating quotations into the paper that she is writing. To say nothing of text-analysis, immediate communication with other scholars or customized programs... . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I wrote the above comments on Nov. 4th, before I received David Carpenter's and Malcolm Brown's second comments. Apologies for redundancies. Oliver Berghof Department of English and Comparative Literature University of California, Irvine oberghof@next.acs.uci.edu or eahg010@orion.oac.uci.edu From: Jeffrey Perry <JEFF@PUCC> Subject: (1) NeXt query; (2) UNIXEXPO '89 Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 11:44:23 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1166 (1486) (1) NeXt Software availability query Steve Jobs of NeXt recently spoke here. He handed out a very slick catalogue of software and peripherals said to be available for the NeXt. I was quite excited to see products like Framemaker 2.0 listed, but at the bottom of the page describing Framemaker it said "Availability: Contact Manufacturer." Does this mean that Frame Technology Corp. is committed to producing a version of Framemaker for the NeXt sometime soon, or does it mean that Framemaker 2.0 is available right now to NeXt users? Come to think of it, most of the software listed in the NeXt catalogue included the notation "Avail- ability: Contact Manufacturer". I hope this doesn't mean that third- party software support for the NeXt is still mostly in the future. (2) UNIXEXPO '89 On Thursday Nov. 2 I attended UNIXEXPO '89 in New York. The sheer number of vendors and volume of information was overwhelming; a keynote address by Bill Joy of Sun Microsystems provided some background and perspective that allowed me to keep from feeling totally at sea. I'll begin by summarizing Joy's talk, since that was definitely the most important part of the day for me. Joy's main message was that powerful, cheap, easy-to-use Unix machines will be ubiquitous very soon, and that they will create a new computer-use paradigm, to wit networks of desktop machines connected to file servers, each work station able as a matter of course to communicate locally to all of the others in the network as well as to distant networks and servers. Interactive tasks will be handled by the desktop work stations individually, more computation-intensive tasks being farmed out to one's friendly neighbor- hood server(s). Joy predicted that computers will be 'mostly invisible' in the 90's, and said that the 'frontier' of computing has already shifted from the realm of hardware and operating systems to the realm of applications, and to what he called the 'sociological' aspects of computing. This point of view was a welcome corrective to the gadget- mongering then taking place in the exhibitors' displays. Joy said that with the shifting of the frontier, 'trade shows like this one will become rather silly' since Unix computing will be so ubiquitous and easy to do that a show centered around Unix will make as little sense as a trade show centered around electricity. Joy predicted that with the arrival of a standardized version of Unix (release V.4), the DOS world will soon be absorbed into the Unix world. He predicted a somewhat more viable future for the Macintosh, but predicted that eventually the latter will be doomed as well by its inability to do what all Unix machines soon will be able to do, i.e. talk to any other Unix machines, participate in the new distributed computing paradigm, and run any applications that any other Unix machine can run. It was a well-focused talk that made me feel willing to swear fealty to Unix on the spot. Indeed, there are now Unix-based WYSIWYG word processors /document creation packages, like Framemaker 2.0, that seem to do everything any of the snazziest Macintosh products can do vis a vis presentation; there's a version of the vi editor that lets you enter text (and address the operating system) in Arabic and other languages as well as in English, and of course databases, graphics software, and other packages that should be quite well suited to doing whatever the computing academic needs to do. And yet... The total absence of vendors offering educational applications at the show made it hard for me to get any potentially useful information from anyone about any topic whatsoever. I would ask a vendor about (for example) large textual databases, or non-roman alphabets, and would get a momentarily glazed stare folowed by PrePackaged Spiel #34 on How We Can Modernize Your Company's Payroll Accounting. Fine, so it wasn't an educational show; still, with the coming of The New Order, I have some fears that this sort of thing did little to allay. First fear: who is going to develop the educational software? Will academia (and anyone not part of the corporate mainstream) become a stepchild of Unix? Sure, things will be so easy and standardized that if this happens schools and scholars will probably be able to catch up on their own with less trouble than was the case when previous 'universal standards' were introduced. It might've helped if NeXt had come to the show, but they didn't. Second fear: what happens to the mountains of scholarship and data ammassed and manipulated in the pre-Unix Dark Ages? Are any vendors or developers interested in at least some kind of conversion/emulation for IBM Mainframe, DOS and Apple software? Will I be able to tell Nota Bene users, or Hypercard users, or SPIRES users not to worry, that they'll be able to get to their documents after the Revolution? Since this sort of Ellis Island for old software, old documents and old data isn't likely to be a big moneymaker, I very much fear that a) the old DOS machines, mainframe applications, etc. will be with us for a long time, making headaches for everyone, and b) this will retard progress towards the 'invisible' computing that Bill Joy promises for the '90s. I'd love to see a Unix version of Apple's Macademia, which I'm afraid would inevitably be called - you guessed it - 'Unixversity', where such concerns could be addressed. All in all, I am mostly sold on Joy's view of the future, despite the lack of a non-corporate perspective at the show. Until someone shows me otherwise, I will have to assume that this reflects a similar lack in the Unix software development world as a whole. From: Alan D Corre <corre@csd4.csd.uwm.edu> Subject: Recent publications Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 11:20:11 -0600 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1167 (1487) Prentice Hall has published *Icon Programming for Humanists* by Alan D. Corre. Icon is the programming language of choice for applications in the humanities. An ideal option for those whose main interest or research areas is the written word, Icon emphasizes proper programming principles; and at the same time strikes a reasonable balance between structure and freedom. Icon Programming for Humanists teaches the principles of the Icon language in a very task-oriented fashion. This book emphasizes project that might interest the student of texts and language, and Icon features are instilled incidentally to this. To aid the learning process, actual program are exemplified and analysed to provide illustrations that readers can imitate and apply to their own projects and programs. Icon Programming for Humanists is available through any bookstore. The Language Resource Center of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has published A Diskionary and Chrestomathy of Modern Literary Judeo-Arabic by Alan D. Corre The diskionary consists of a set of disks that may be used in a two- floppy IBM true compatible or may be transferred to a hard disk. The price is $79.95 including postage and handling. Wisconsin residents add 5% tax. Write to LRC Software Language Resource Center PO Box 413 Milwaukee, WI 53201 From: Wujastyk (on GEC 4190 Rim-D at UCL) <UCGADKW@EUCLID.UCL.AC.UK> Subject: multilingual character set coding Date: Thu, 9 Nov 89 09:29 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1168 (1488) HUMANISTS will remember that there was a discussion here in the spring of this year about the coding of Sanskrit and Pali. Several ISO and ANSI standards were mentioned, as well as TeX and SGML, etc. I have just become aware that the ubiquitous Kermit program is in the process of bootstrapping itself into the multilingual world. It appears that an extremely interesting and well informed discussion has taken place about all the same issues of multilingual character set coding, in relation to file transfer using Kermit. A document entitled "A Kermit Protocol Extension for International Character Sets" is currently in its 4th draft (August 24, 1989), and I would strongly recommend this essay to anyone interested in these issues. The appendixes, listing and summarizing the ISO documents, is exceptionally lucid and helpful. I found this and other related documents on the Lancaster PDsoft archive, on the British Janet network (kermit/misc/iso, I think it was). If you can't find this material anywhere FTPable, you could write to Christine Gianone, Manager, Kermit Development and Distribution, Columbia Univ. Center for Computing Activities, 612 West 115th Street, New York, NY 10025, USA. Dominik Wujastyk From: <ERDT@VUVAXCOM> (Terrence Erdt) Subject: for Humanist: OCR, new products Date: Thu, 9 Nov 89 12:55 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1169 (1489) The National Sales Manager for Kurzweil passed on to me several tidbits that may interest humanists. First, Kurzweil 4000 owners will be offered a $3000.00 discount on the new model 5100. The lure is this: the value of the discount added to the cost for a two year service contract for the 4000 adds up to the current price for the 5100. Of course, there is still the matter of the service contract for the 5000. Kurzweil will soon begin selling a software OCR system to run on PS/2's. Kurzweil has bought the company that produces "I recognize," an editing program that works with the Calera Truescan system. I have worked with the application, and it shows promise: with it you can more easily compare the orginal image of a scanned document with the product of the ICR process. Perhaps someone involved with the Text Encoding Initiative could assess the importance of the U.S. Department of Defenses adoption of the CALS mark-up system. Kurzweil's products are being designed to work with the system, I was told. How adequate is it? I suggested to the gentleman from Kurzweil that scanners with ICR units eventually ought to be combined with the photocopy machine. "Don't tell anyone," the gentleman from Kurzweil said. "Xerox [Kurzweil's parent company] is working on it." Terry Erdt Terrence Erdt, Ph.D. Associate Editor Computers and the Humanities Grad. Dept. of Library Science Villanova University Villanova PA 19085 USA ERDT@VUVAXCOM (215) 645-4670 From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: A way to view machine-readable text under copyright Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 19:19:23 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1170 (1490) I am curious whether it wouldn't make a great deal of sense to consider machine-readable text a `translation' of another work for the purposes of copyright. This would immediately establish the copyrightability of any machine-readable version of a work not in copyright (and I might add, create considerable economic incentive for the production of classic works in machine-readable form). In part, the basis for this sort of copyright interpretation would be a declaration that while an original work consists of letters of the alphabet arranged in some order---a machine-readable text consists of bits; hence there was creative effort in determining how to convert the characters and their placement in a printed work into those bits. While the original work does provide a guide to what should be done; there is no one interpretation of how to encode everything in the original book--hence the creative effort needed to encode it becomes the reason for the restoration of copyright in the electronic medium. In this regard, it would seem no different than allowing for sound recordings of the reading of Shakespeare or video recordings of the performance of a play being copyrightable even if the original play is in the public domain. Any opinion? From: Jim O'Donnell, Classics, Penn Subject: Copyright Date: 08 Nov 89 21:51:20 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1171 (1491) In principle, I stand with Bar-Ilan University's attempt to maintain its intellectual property, but I think the contribution of Mark Olsen raises a far-reaching question. To address it, I need to recount a little family history. Apologies if this seems wordy, but the issues are important. In the sixth century, St. Columba founded the island monastery of Iona because he had been expelled from Ireland in penance for starting a war over a book. What he had done was to make a copy of a Latin Psalter with his own hand; the owner of the original complained and referred the matter to the local kinglet, who ruled `As the calf belongs to the owner of the cow, so the copy belongs to the owner of the book' -- in short, he declared a primitive form of copyright. (Columba won the battle, kept the book, and the O'Donnell family carried it into battle as a good-luck charm throughout the middle ages, and did just fine, thank you. In the sixteenth century one Manus O'Donnell gave the book into safekeeping, and it's been all downhill for the family from there, starting with the battle of Kinsale in 1601 and ending in the likes of me. The book itself, as it happens, may still be inspected in the library of the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin.) What makes copyright possible? As in the case of Columba, copyright can be exercised when the mechanism of copying is labor- or capital-intensive, thus subject to constraint from outside, and when the artefact that results is bulky and easily identified. Real copyright as we know it came into play only with printed books, because of the intensification of both of those factors. Printers had large shops with heavy equipment very vulnerable to constraint, restraint, and distraint; and a thousand copies of a book take up quite a bit of space, travel about freely, retaining the evidence of their origin. The development of book technology from the fifteenth century to the present has essentially preserved those circumstances with mild changes. Now, for example, it is the mechanism of distribution and sale that is bulky and easy to trace. I submit that computers change things utterly. Computers are not mere Xerox machines, for a Xerox machine produces a copy that is inferior to the original in several ways. A computer, on the other hand, makes a copy that is every bit as good, in every way, as the original computer file being copied: the 1's and 0's are identical. Further, the computer can make the copy silently, swiftly, and in many cases without the owner of the original copy even knowing that a copy is being made. Further, the resulting artefact is virtually invisible, can be transferred from place to place instantaneously. Copies can be multiplied at will; and copies are extremely easy to disguise (filenames can be altered, a valuable stolen file could have a few KB of bogus data prefixed to discourage any browser from finding it; a file with distinctive markups of one sort or another can be altered mechanically to change those markups). For these reasons, I think that the technical features of book production that made traditional copyright possible have been altered beyond recognition, and that nothing like traditional copyright will have much life in computer world. Already we have seen that copy-protection of software, for example, meets strong consumer resistance; and I am not aware that any reasonably inexpensive copy-protection exists that is unbreakable. This is in many ways a catastrophe. The economics of the production and dissemination of knowledge depends on the proprietary interest of the producer and his ability to recover his costs through sale: it is because of copyright that writers no longer require the patronage of a wealthy lord. Take away that guarantee that a successful product will pay your for your trouble: what incentive do we have any longer for producing? More to the point, who will pay us? If there is hope for traditional copyright in computer world, it arises out of that economic desperation. Where the power of despair is concerned, I am theologically skeptical. Shareware is too attractive; if Bar-Ilan protects their database, somebody else will just create an almost-as-good one and give it away. All this illustrates a rule that we all know and usually ignore: the introduction of a new technology in the production and dissemination of knowledge usually changes the world in ways that practitioners of the old can never imagine, and usually for the benefit of groups of people who were not themselves practitioners of the old, or at least not specially privileged or successful practitioners of the old. I feel comfortable saying this on a network housed in Toronto, where Innis, McLuhan, Havelock, Stock, and others have pursued the history of such moments in intellectual history. I sympathize with Bar-Ilan and others who try to protect their property; and for the record, I obey license agreements, register my software, and even once erased a disk on which a friend had given me WordStar to use and ordered a copy of my own for $210. But I think I'm a dinosaur, and the climate has been really weird lately and I've begun to notice there aren't so many dinosaurs around any more. From: db <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.717 copyright; diary editing; collation software (77) Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 22:08:32 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1172 (1492) on copyright: I'm not sure that the writer understood the situation. Bar-Ilan claims that they paid thousands of dollars to have the material keyed in and then some- one else got access to the files and is now distributing them commercially. While the facts of this case are disputed between atm and Bar-Ilan and I think it must be sorted out in court or by arbitration and not by innuendo, I certainly think that whatever the text, if someone has invested in having it put into electronic form that they have rights to that particular form of the text. If I typeset a new Bible, no-one has the right to photo- offset that book and sell it under copyright. Am I wrong on that? From: Marc Eisinger +33 (1) 40 01 51 20 EISINGER at FRIBM11 Subject: Date: 9 November 89, 14:51:35 SET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1173 (1493) Subject : e-Bible and Copyright Of course the Bible is not copyrighted but an e-text can be owned by someone. As far as I am concerned, it took me 10 years to "keypunch" a large book and I wouldn't like someone to steal my work in 10 minutes. Am I wrong ? And even if the Bible text is not copyrighted, to steal a Bible in a library is not legal. Marc Eisinger IBM France Paris From: Marc Eisinger +33 (1) 40 01 51 20 EISINGER at FRIBM11 Subject: Date: 9 November 89, 14:56:25 SET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1174 (1494) Subject : Transborder file transfer As far as I know, transborder file transfer is not always restricted but the data received may be unauthorized. For example, in France, you may not record personnal data on someone without a legal authorisation and therefore "importing" personnal data may be illegal. Furthermore, to my knowledge, some european countries restrict data transfer to specific areas (business for example). Marc Eisinger IBM France Paris From: john%utafll@texbell.UUCP (John Baima) Subject: CD-ROM Drives Date: Tue, 7 Nov 89 11:24:38 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 726 (1495) When I was in Toronto last June, I went around and tested all of the CD-ROM drives (6 or 7, I forget). The Toshiba drive was the fastest and it was not even close. The Toshiba drive was 25-30% faster than Hitachi, Sony and NEC. I have heard that Hitachi has a new drive that is faster than their old one, but I have not tested it. The test was a simple sequential read of a 1MB file. I recommend the Toshiba. If cost is a primary concern, all the others seemed to be about the same. John Baima Silver Mountain Software d024jkb@utarlg From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Diaries - Graphics - Editing Date: Wednesday, 8 November 1989 2018-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1175 (1496) Tom Benson asks about joint representation of handwritten materials such as diaries in scanned graphics form and in edited character representation form. Ideally, for "worthy" materials, this is a route to go. But it still does not solve the problem of how to represent the characters for "convenient" searching, indexing, etc. Most users will still need to have a way to find what they are interested in via characters, and then to link what they find to the graphics form. Which leads to a question that I have not yet seen discussed: theoretically, searching of graphically represented text would not be impossible (using character recognition approaches, for example), although I leave the software development to those younger and braver than I !! Is "anyone" working on this yet? Somewhere down the road we will need such software, as more and more texts are digitized and interest in converting them all to character form wanes. May as well get started playing around with how to do it! Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: WIEBEM@QUCDN Subject: 3.714 diary sources; biblical materials; Responsa (130) Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 23:53:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1176 (1497) Bob Kraft might want to look at the first volume of the Mark Twain Letters, E.M. Branch et al editors, U of Cal Press 1987; this edition has devised methods for representing virtually ever textual event in the original MSS, and can therefore be used as an idea book from which to pick and choose what might suit one's own task. Mel Wiebe, English, Queen's U., Kingston, Canada From: E82 at PSUVM Subject: medieval allusion Date: 8 November 1989, 19:50:26 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1177 (1498) I am trying to track down something that "I know I read but can't find where." This is a scene somewhere in a medieval poem (probably English but perhaps French etc.) in which someone says that he'd rather be in Hell with his friends and other interesting people, than in Heaven where he'd be lonely. One occurrence of this kind of statement is in the French chantefable "Aucassin et Nicolette." Aucassin says that he'd rather be in Hell with his lady Nicolette, than in Heaven without her. I know that I have seen a similar sentiment elsewhere but cannot recall where. I thought at first I would find it in "The Vision of Tundale" but don't see it there. Thanks for suggestions. Carey Eckhardt, Penn State UP From: Brian Preble <rassilon@EDDIE.MIT.EDU> Subject: [ken@csufres.CSUFresno.EDU (dot) : BARRY FRESNO SUBMISSION ] Date: Thu, 9 Nov 89 04:31:37 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1178 (1499) [In the interests of a less morbid attitude towards life, I pass on to you a sample of an electronically transcribed column regularly written by Dave Barry, an American journalist. It is the least offensive, but not the funniest, that I have received in some time. I promise not to send you another one, but you may get Barry's columns regularly yourself by writing to the address given above. My apologies to those who do not relish Barry in particular and American humour in general. --W.M.] AN AMTRAK OBSESSION IS WEIRD, BUT A LOVE OF SPORTS IS NORMAL Dave Barry Fresno Bee November 5, 1989 CONTINUING OUR SERIES on "How Guys Think," we explore the question: How come guys care so much about sports? This is a tough one, because caring about sports is, let's face it, silly. Suppose you have a friend who, for no apparent reason, suddenly becomes obsessed with the Amtrak Corp. He babbles about Amtrak constantly, citing obscure railroad statistics from 1978. He puts Amtrak bumper stickers on his car. When something bad happens to Amtrak--a train crashes, for instance, and investigators find that the engineer was drinking and wearing a bunny suit--your friend bcomes depressed for weeks. You'd think he was crazy, right? "Bob," you'd say as a loving and caring friend, "you're a moron. The Amtrak Corp. has -nothing to do with you-." But if Bob is behaving exactly the same deranged way about the Pittsburgh Penguins, it's considered normal guy behavior. He could name his child "Pittsburgh Penguin Johnson" and be considered only mildly eccentric. There is something wrong with this. Before you accuse me of being some kind of sherry-sipping, ascot-wearing, ballet-attending, MacNeil-Lehrer- Report-watching wimp, please note that I am a sports guy myself, having had a legendary athletic career consisting of nearly one-third of the 1965 season on the track team at Pleasantville High School ("Where the Leaders of Tomorrow are Leaving Wads of Gum on the Auditorium Seats of Today"). I competed in the long jump because it seemed to be the only event where afterward you didn't fall down and throw up. I probably would have become an Olympic-caliber long-jumper except that, through one of thoss bad breaks so common in sports, I turned out to have the raw leaping ability of a convenience store. I'd race down the runway and attempt to soar into the air, but instead of going up, I'd be seized by powerful gravity rays and yanked -downward-, winding up with just my head sticking out of the dirt and serving as a convenient marker for the other jumpers to take off from. So I was not Jim Thorpe, but I care as much about sports as the next guy. If you were to put me in the middle of a room, and in one corner was Albert Einstein, in another corner was Abraham Lincoln, in another corner was Plato, in another corner was William Shakespeare and in another corner (this room is a pentagon) was a TV set showing a football game between teams that have no connection whatsoever with my life, such as the Green Bay Packers and the Indianapolis Colts, I would ignore the greatest minds in Western thought, gravitate toward the TV and become far more concerned about the game than I am about my child's education. SO WOULD THE OTHER GUYS, I guarantee it. Within minutes, Plato would be pounding Lincoln on the shoulder and shouting in ancient Greek that the receiver did -not- have both feet inbounds. Obviously, sports connect with something deeply rooted in the male psyche, something prehistoric, when guys survived by hunting and fighting and needed many of the skills exhibited by modern athletes -- running, throwing, spitting, renegotiating their contracts and adjusting their private parts on nation-wide television. That would explain how come guys like to participate. But how come they care so much about games played by other guys? Does this also date back to prehistoric times? When the hunters were out hurling spears into mastodons, were there also prehistoric guys watching from the hills, drinking prehistoric beer, eating really bad prehistoric hot dogs and shouting "We're No. 1!" but not understanding what it meant because this was before the development of mathematics? There must have been, because there is no other explanation for the following bizarre phenomena: * Sports-talk radio, where guys who have never sent get-well cards to their mothers will express heart-felt, near-suicidal anguish over the hamstring problems of strangers. * My editor, Gene, who can remember the complete New York Yankees starting lineups from 1960 through 1964 but who routinely dials a number on the phone and forgets who he's calling. When somebody answers, Gene has to ask who it is and whether this person happens to know the purpose of the call. * Another guy in my office, John, who appears to be a normal middle- aged husband and father until you realize that he spends most of his waking hours managing a -pretend baseball team-. This is true. He and other guys have formed a league in which they pay money to "draft" major-league players, then they have their pretend teams play a whole pretend season, complete with trades, legalistic memorandums and heated disputes over the rules. This is crazy, right? If these guys said they were managing herds of pretend caribou, the authorities would be squirting lithium down their throats with turkey basters. Yet we all act as if it's perfectly normal. In fact, eavesdropping from my office, I find myself getting involved in John's discussions. That's how pathetic I am: I'm capable of caring about a pretend sports team that's not even my own pretend sports team. So I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm thinking it's time I got perspective in my life. Right after the Super Bowl, I'm going to pay more attention to the things that should matter to me: my work, my friends and, above all my family, especially my little boy, Philadelphia Phillies Barry. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Et Tu, Oliver (NEXT/IBYCUS) Date: Thursday, 9 November 1989 2342-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1179 (1500) It's a dirty job, but somebody should do it. It pains me to hear Oliver Berghof (of Irvine, yet; home of TLG!) wax eloquent about how Jim Coombs has maltreated the NEXT machine so that there is danger that Humanists might not take it seriously, and then to have that final paragraph of "looking forward" that (obviously unintentionally but none the less maliciously) characatures the IBYCUS Scholarly Computer as "incapable of anything but text-retrieval and boolean string searches"!! What Oliver hopes for in his "fantasy" is the ability to pull quotes out of various TLG CD-ROM based authors, port them into scholarly papers that are being written, do some text analysis, access e-mail, write and/or use customized programs, etc. Well, Oliver, all I can say is GET YOURSELF AN IBYCUS, get on the IBYCUS-L BITNET user group, and settle back to enjoy your fantasy. IBYCUS does all you ask for and more already (testimonials are available), and at slightly more than half the price of your NEXT machine -- indeed, I would have said that IBYCUS "is probably the most underpriced piece of computer equipment currently on the market." The bottom line from here is don't knock it until you know what you are talking about (that was the message to Jim Coombs, nicht wahr?). IBYCUS is far from a one dimensional machine, so please, people, stop pretending it only searches the TLG CD-ROM. As for the NeXT, I'd love to have one right here alongside of IBYCUS and IBM and Mac (my son won't let me have his Amiga). They all do wonderful things. Let's give them all the credit they are due! Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: "James H. Coombs" <JAZBO@BROWNVM> Subject: NeXT? Date: Fri, 10 Nov 89 02:07:22 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1180 (1501) Astute reader, Oliver Berghof, writes [deleted quotation] Then you have a very low opinion of Humanists. [deleted quotation] Oh, well, now are we going to get the REAL information? Or the FULL information? Are we going to hear how the machine is ACTUALLY very FAST? THE mouse HAS no PROBLEMS? [deleted quotation] I don't really follow your rhetoric here? Why was I Jim and now I'm Dr. Coombs? What made my "impressionistic comments" into "criticism"? Is this the part that we are to take seriously then? [deleted quotation] Yes, folks, that's the impression of Dr./Jim Coombs. Try it out for yourself. [deleted quotation] It's so refreshing to see such hard, reproducible information, especially after Dr./Jim's impressionistic comments. Now all Dr./Jim has to do is try one of the items on his list of COMPUTATIONALLY INTENSIVE TASKS and watch the Mac LIMP IN THE DARK. Should he turn the lights off first? Should he put it on the floor so that it does not limp right off the desk? Or is the proper interpretation that the NeXT limps off in the dark, leaving the Mac sitting there glowing in self esteem? And is three feet really a safe distance? Oh, dear reader, please bolt the door and don steel-toed shoes before attempting this test. [deleted quotation] If Dr./Jim only had this available when he was writing his dissertation,....! [deleted quotation] Right, as a humanist, Dr./Jim is dying for the Digital Signal Processor. Nothing could be more important to his work on Wordsworth and Milton, whose work can be analyzed as a series of digital signals, one after another. [deleted quotation] Too bad it didn't. [deleted quotation] Whoa! Dr./Jim thought that 1.0 was going to fix this problem, or was it only going to improve it? Or is it only that we are going to be inspired to go to church and hosannah? [deleted quotation] Well, Dr./Jim is sure that Apple will appreciate the constructive criticism, complete with examples. NeXT, being sent by one or more gods, need only drink ambrosia. [deleted quotation] Let no one say that Dr./Jim is not nice and generous! Oh, ok, it is only Dr./Jim's remark that gives things away. But still Dr./Jim wonders, why does "Dr. Coombs" fade in and out with "Jim Coombs". [deleted quotation] Hosannah to the system programmer, who gave Dr./Jim enough information to eliminate some possibilities. Pray for poor Dr./Jim, who otherwise would not have known anything. [deleted quotation] Of course. Obvious. How could anyone miss it? Dr./Jim, well, he was underinformed, but the rest of us knew that! [deleted quotation] Just as we expected, Dr./Jim has not only been able to HIDE applications and QUIT applications at will, he has also found NEW WAYS NOT TO KNOW something. He is most fond of the INSUFFICIENT FAITH method, wherein the system does nothing and Dr./Jim suspects that it is doing nothing. [deleted quotation] But does this mean that Dr./Jim is a "Mac mouse freak"? Did he actually press the wrong button, move to HIDE, and select that item inadvertently? Is Dr./Jim genetically inferior? or is it just from having used a Mac? What effect his two-button moused IBM PC? What effect his unmoused login to an IBM 3090? [deleted quotation] Wonderful! If Dr./Jim doesn't want spurious clicks, he need only customize his machine! [deleted quotation] What does that leave, Dr./Jim wonders? The air temperature? Humidity? Perhaps he is just a stupid bozo? Yes, Dr./Jim has admitted many times to being a stupid bozo; perhaps the NeXT has outsmarted him. Many computers have outsmarted him. Yes, Dr./Jim is a stupid bozo. Hosannah to NeXT on the Highest, a Revelation to Every TRUE Humanist. --Jim P.S. Astute readers should recognize that this note advances no criticisms of NeXT that are not advanced in previous notes (but don't forget the one on the phoney three-dimensionality of the controls). Dr. James H. Coombs Senior Software Engineer, Research Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship (IRIS) Brown University, Box 1946 Providence, RI 02912 jazbo@brownvm.bitnet From: elli@wjh12.harvard.edu (Elli Mylonas) Subject: Re: 3.723 NeXT, UNIX, and the promised future (256) Date: Fri, 10 Nov 89 12:56:50 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1181 (1502) Just a word on the comments of Oliver Berghof on the future availability of Humanistic software on the Next Machine. [deleted quotation] he says. I do not think that it is the job of the user of the software to have to create the software before she uses it!! This kind of thinking, together with the willingness of the victim to think that in order to *really* use a computer she has to *program* it, is what turns perfectly respectable practitioners of English, Classics etc. into mediocre hackers. I do not deny that Object-C and Allegro Common-Lisp are wonderful tools for building applications for humanists. But to ask a professor or a graduate student to turn into a fullblown software developer is effectively asking them to change profession. What is really needed is more collaboration between the people who need the software, and those who have the ability and desire to build it. Don't forget that the research scientists have programmers on their staffs, and also specializations for toolbuilders of all types within the field. There are good examples of this in the some of the extant software for humanists, Note Bene is one such. But even if its designer and distributor was once a humanist, he is now a software developer. So what Next might do is to see what problems need to be solved, and then see if they can be solved, with the collaboration both of the problem poser and of the able implementer. There are some humanists who are capable of fulfilling both of the roles i just mentioned, and i am sure that they are reading this list, and disagreeing with me vehemently. However, my guess is that they are an able and fortunate minority. [deleted quotation] Well, you can do it now, on your Mac. --elli mylonas, Managing Editor, Perseus Project From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.723 NeXT, UNIX, and the promised future (256) Date: Fri, 10 Nov 89 21:48:56 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1182 (1503) The ironic thing about the animadversions on UNIX elicited by the NY UNIX trade fair is that UNIX came out of the university and its most ardent supporters and admirers are still university people. When Bill Joy was at Berkeley as a graduate student he wrote some fundamental software (e.g., vi) which could do anything recent desk-top publishing programs can do--fifteen years ago. Both the Mac and MS-DOS machines, in long-term perspective, can be seen as temporary aberrations which have succeeded in higher education in large part because of aggressive vendor donations to key segments of the user population. Berkeley, for example, was basically a UNIX shop before the massive donations of IBM's AEP program (1984-87), and the primary reason the university agreed to participate in the program was IBM's assurance that they were developing a UNIX workstation, now the RT/PC. In retrospect we would have been far better off to continue developing UNIX-based software (like the HUM package written by Bill Tuthill, who also moved to Sun) and focussing on implementing the campus network. We did not, and in consequence today we are faced with the prospect of networking four incompatible operating systems with dozens of proprietary standards for applications software. Why did we do this? An overwhelming demand for compute cycles and a failure on the part of the administration to make anywhere near a realistic allocation of resources to fill that demand. In consequence faculty members decided that it was far preferable to have inadequate computers than no computers. And we are stuck with--inadequate computers. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish, UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: <FLOOD@IUBACS> Subject: NotaBene3 bug Date: Wed, 8 Nov 89 15:01 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1183 (1504) The NotaBene bitnet board has had several reports of errors in handling _large_ files. Their conclusion was simply to divide your files into smaller segments, then NotaBene won't throw a fit. But I believe Dragonfly have been told about it. John Flood, Indiana University (FLOOD@IUBACS) From: Norman Zacour <ZACOUR@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: NB bug? Date: Wed, 08 Nov 89 19:37:42 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1184 (1505) "General failure" is a DOS message, followed by a slightly more specific but not very helpful identification of what went wrong. One often gets a general write failure when the FAT goes awry, and you are then forced to use CHKDSK, locate the lost clusters, and piece them together. It can happen with any word processor. It may be a signal of coming disk problems, somewhat akin to pain down the left arm after shovelling snow. You might consider backing up all your files, and then reformatting your disk. I would strongly recommend, however, that you invest in that wonderful program Disk Technician Advanced. You might be surprised at the number of repairs it will carry out. In any event, I strongly doubt that your word processor (NB or WP) is at fault. From: Itamar Even-Zohar <B10@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.720 bug in Nota Bene (62) Date: Thu, 9 Nov 89 00:56:19 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1185 (1506) One of the possibilities for gibberish in such situations as described is BAD SECTORS not marked for DOS. You must check your disk to verify the bad sectors are properly marked. Use, for instance, Norton's DT /M, preferably version 4.5 etc. Itamar Even-Zohar. From: LAVENDA@MSUS1.BITNET Subject: Bug in Nota Bene or Disk Nearly Full? Date: Fri, 10 Nov 89 15:39 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1186 (1507) In response to Malcolm Brown and James O'Donnell, I have checked with Dragonfly, and they have not heard of this particular problem with large files. In fact, "general failure" is a DOS message that NB passes along. The critical question then, for both questionners is, "How much free space is left on your disk?" Neither has indicated this in his message. If there is not enough space for NB to make a spill file, DOS will not permit the spill file to be written, and the error writing to disk or the general failure message will be sent. Note, *this is not a bug in NB.* A similar problem occurs when a RAM disk is used for the spill file. If there's not enough space, NB cannot write the spill file. This file can get quite large. I have often worked with a file some 475K in length, and have never encountered this kind of problem. My advice is to check how much space is left on the disk. Dragonfly offers the following advice for coping with this error message: Save the file *under a different name.* This will at least preserve your original file, and you may be able to save your most recent work using the NB emergency exit. O'Donnell mentions two other problems: little ASCII 001s and deteriorated MODE commands. Dragonfly is aware of this problem, and has not yet isolated it. It is intermittent and random. A quick call to Dragonfly would have shed some light on these concerns and solved the problem without having to suggest that there is a bug in NB. Robert Lavenda Dept of Sociology and Anthropology St. Cloud State University St. Cloud, MN 56301 LAVENDA@MSUS1 From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: NB ?bug ?feature Date: 10 November 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1187 (1508) I regularly use NB to edit very large files, sometimes several of them at once. The only time I have had a memory problem of the sort described was when my "overflow" disk had insufficient space. I am dimly aware of how complex the problem is to provide robust software memory-management, and I am also aware of how few packages do it well. Nevertheless, although strictly speaking NB may not have a "bug", it does seem to me that its "feature" of not protecting you against the consequences needs some rethinking. I also wonder if this memory-management problem is related to the limits one runs up against when attempting to define an especially large segment of text. Siebert has told me that the next release will no longer have these limits -- a welcome change. Will this change also fix the currently lamented feature? Certainly NB is a fine piece of work. If it weren't, we wouldn't be trying such daring things with it as to edit 9 large files at the same time. Some of us can remember when that was unthinkable; some of us still cannot do it with what we've got. Still, a problem is a problem. Willard McCarty From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVME> Subject: Re: 3.725 copyright meditations (188) Date: Fri, 10 Nov 89 13:45:57 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1188 (1509) The several notes regarding copyright have left out what is perhaps the most important aspect of copyright, when copyright protection expires, as well as the point of what actually constitutes a copy. The law is quite specific in regard to both matters. A work can only be copyrighted under certain rules, one of which is that the work must contain the results of an intellectual or artistic effort. Therefore, no matter how many years how many people spend, or pay others to spend, creating a copy, per se, does not endow the creators with copyrightable protection, unless the copy has artistic merit. This can not apply in the case of typing in a copy. However a certain typesetting in a certain font, etc. COULD BE copyrighted on the basis of artistic merit but probably not in the case of using widespread computerized fonts to copy text already in the public domain. With modern scanners, now no less inexpensive than an XT-type computer, most books can be scanned in less than a week - to effectively eliminate the labor value of the person who typed a book for ten years (I would like to know what book it was, and was it just copying or was the author actually composing - which makes it copyrightable on that merit - and how many megabytes did the finished work take? This is interested to me in the extreme, as I spent years typing in books for our electronic library, before scanners came along and reduced the 20 months of labor I spent on one 3.3M book to about one month, including proofreading). At any rate, one of the largest issues under discussion is the desire to get copyright protection for works which are in the public domain and have been- translated?!? into machine readable texts. Even if such a work were allowed copyright protection for artistic merit, all one would have to do to create? a newly copyrightable copy would be to change the font. There was a similar issue once created in respect to WordCrucher(TM) in which it was argued that a text prepared with WordCruncher was protected under WordCruncher's program copyright. Needless to say, this did not take much effort (though the usual legal delay) to solve, as this precedent would allow any word processor that same right to demand a royalty for any file created with it. Enough for now. I would like to hear why so many are against having machine readable texts of public domain materials easily and cheaply available. Michael S. Hart <HART@UICUVME.BITNET> From: <NEUMAN@GUVAX> Subject: Copyright Date: Fri, 10 Nov 89 16:03 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1189 (1510) The current discussion of copyright has raised the question of whether an electronic text may itself be copyrighted. In the United States, the answer is probably no. According to the guidelines published by the Library of Congress (specifically Circular 65: Copyright Registration for Automated Databases), <quote> Copyright protection is not available for . . . the selection and ordering of data in a database [including full- text database] where the collection and arrangement of the material is a mechanical task only, and represents no original authorship; e.g., merely transferring data from hard copy to computer storage.</quote> I assume that merely transferring data applies to text that has been scanned with an OCR or keyboarded at a wordprocessor. However, the introduction of markup language may qualify as original authorship -- because it may constitute an act of interpretation as well as manual labor -- and therefore may entitle the developers of such an encoded text to claim copyright protection of their own. Such an inference, it should be noted, is based only upon the preceding quotation and not upon any other details in Circular 65. Incidentally, the Library of Congress has compiled dozens of circulars on the subject of copyright (including one on the implications of the United States' participation in the Berne Convention as of March 1989). For a list of material published by the Copyright Office, write for Circular 2: Publications on Copyright. The address is Copyright Office, LM455, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20559. Phone: (202)479-0700 between 8:30 am and 5:00pm Eastern Standard Time. Mike Neuman Georgetown Center for Text and Technology Georgetown University Washington, DC 20057 (202)687-6096 From: Elliott Parker <3ZLUFUR@CMUVM> Subject: Shareware survey Date: Fri, 10 Nov 89 14:02:42 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1190 (1511) Chet Grycz asked about surveys of shareware usage. I seem to remember some months ago, somebody on the ETHICS-L list had a survey. It did not have a large data set and was composed of people on Bitnet. If I remember correctly, one of the results was that non-registered use of shareware was not any more prevalent than non-registered use of shrink wrapped software. If someone else doesn't have this citation at hand, let me know and I will go through my paper files and try to find it. Elliott Parker BITNET: 3ZLUFUR@CMUVM From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.726 CD-ROM drives (26) Date: Fri, 10 Nov 89 21:53:27 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1191 (1512) In conversation with one of my colleagues in the School of Library Science today, I learned that a suite of 4 CD-ROM drives is available at a price of $1000 (brand unspecified). It apparently works in parallel so that, e.g., a data base distributed on 4 cd-rom disks (ca. 2 gigabytes) can be searched with one command. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish, UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: Robert Kirsner <IDT1RSK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Hungarian fonts again Date: Thu, 9 Nov 89 21:27:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1192 (1513) Dear Humanist, I have been asked by a colleague to *re-ask* a question once posed earlier to the Group Mind, namely whether there exists a HUNGARIAN FONT program for the MacIntosh. The colleague in question is presently learning MICROSOFT WORD, so the font would have to be compatible with that program. This time it would be especially nice of the program mimicked the keyboard layout of a bona fide Hungarian typewriter. I would be grateful for any information. Cordially, Robert Kirsner IDT1RSK@UCLAMVS.BITNET From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVME> Subject: Review of Wordcruncher-type programs and machine readable texts Date: Fri, 10 Nov 89 12:34:42 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1193 (1514) I am writing a review of Wordcruncher, related programs, and of machine readable texts in general. Would any of you who have experiences which you would be willing to share on the following topics please send email To: HART@UIUCVME.BITNET SUBJECTS: Wordcruncher FolioViews Any programs of a similar nature The Oxford Text Archive The Rutgers-Princeton Distribution Center ACL/DCI The Online Book Initiative The National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Text (Project Gutenberg) Any other sources of machine readable texts. Please respond only if you have used materials created with any of the above or if you have created materials which have been used with the above. Thank you, Michael S. Hart From: Thomas Zielke <113355@DOLUNI1> Subject: Re: 3.719 LITIR? criteria for user-support? (42) Date: Fri, 10 Nov 89 05:02:15 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1194 (1515) RE: user support person I suggest that you look for the following qualities: 1. The person should at least *know* about some specific problems that may arise in the science the users deal with - so rather choose a historian than a computer scientist... 2. Has the candidate already been working with computers himself (this is *not* a joke!) AND has s/he as well taught other persons in computing? Try to find out about the person's qualities as a teacher...how about a 'test course'?? 3. Does the person know about the programs used at your site? Anyway, how many programs does s/he know? And which ones? 4. Any knowledge in the use of tools like Norton Util's or PC Tools etc? S/he better had - you never know what could happen to your data... 5. Not to forget: Does the person have experiences with the type of computers and operating systems that are being used at your site? (Mac, IBM, mainframe?) 6. Last but not least: Is it a friendly person or does s/he tend to treat users as if they all were a bit dumb because they do not know which key to press or does s/he believe users asking questions to be a damned nuisance because they keep him/her away from the *real* work to be done? This is but a short list, however, I hope I could give you a bit of help. Yours Thomas Zielke Universit{t Oldenburg Historisches Seminar Postfach 2503 D-2900 Oldenburg From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: user-support Date: 10 November 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1195 (1516) Having meditated somewhat on the problem of supporting users as well as having done it, I find the question raised here difficult to resist. Dr. Zielke has covered the desirable qualities of a user-support person fairly well, but in reading over his list it occurs to me that the question to which he is responding needs to be reformulated. As well as asking what kind of a person one should look for, I think we also need to ask what such a person will need in order to be happy in the work. Dr. Zielke speaks of an undesirable trait in a support person -- the impatience with elementary questions, the transparent desire to get back to some other, more "real" work. True, this is a trait to be avoided, but perhaps its cause is sometimes rooted in the situation as much or more than in the person. One can, of course, simply draw from the large stock of under- or mis-employed academics, exhausting and replacing them indefinitely, but I don't think that is any way to build a vigorous and stimulating computing centre or to contribute to the development of humanities computing. The best such places I've seen do as much as possible to encourage their people to pursue their own interests. The front-line warfare of user-support tends to exhaust people quickly. For one thing, it is difficult to answer with patience and concern the 400th time you are asked some utterly silly question. Certainly professors are also asked silly questions year after year, but the context is different in several crucial ways. To put it rather crudely, they are the lords of their society, while the support people are among the servants. Academic society, like any other, has a hierarchy it defends with all the subtle instruments at its command. The justice of the hierarchy is seldom a primary consideration. For humanities computing what seems most desirable, as Dr. Zielke points out, is that the support person be academically trained so as better to understand the problems behind the questions that are asked. At the same time, the support position may very well have little to offer the academic other than money. The years spent becoming good at the job, this person discovers, count for nothing at an academic job interview, and since time spent being a good employee takes time and precious energy away from scholarship, this person falls further and further behind in the Great Race. Since, as a colleague of mine said, there is no calculus of compassion, the job interviewer simply has to discount all considerations of what the applicant has had to do in order to stay alive, perhaps support a family, and so forth. And that's a kind interviewer; one less kind will assume that the applicant is obviously inferior, etc. Anyhow, this is an old, sad story. I can hear several of my friends grinding their teeth, cursing, muttering, and weeping. The question is, what do we do about all this? Many things, but one in particular is relevant to the question raised here. In addition to looking for an academic to fill the support position, you create a position with potential for research and, if at all possible, for teaching as well. In order to continue to be a good support person, the academic employee needs time for research and recognition that such activity is an essential part of the job. It seems to me that those who hire fellow academics to serve in positions of support have a responsibility, not only to the individuals hired but also to the field as a whole. Are young, bright minds to be exhausted rescuing others from the pitfalls of wordprocessing, or are they to be encouraged to apply their valuable mixture of skills to our exciting new field? The ideal of service to one's community needs to go hand in hand with recognition and respect for that service. Yours, Willard McCarty From: TREAT@PENNDRLS (Jay Treat, Religious Studies, Penn) Subject: Request for Macintosh font Date: Saturday, 11 November 1989 2311-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1196 (1517) Robert Kirsner asks where one can find Hungarian fonts for the Macintosh. Here is one answer. Linguist's Software provides a bitmapped screen font called SuperFrench German Spanish and a corresponding PostScript font called LaserFrench German Spanish. These fonts contain the complete character set of all European Roman-character languages, including Hungarian, Czech, Rumanian, Croatian, Slovak, and Albanian. They also handle a wide variety of African and Amerindian languages. Their generous supply of diacriticals allows you to write in 82 different languages. They also have a font called LaserTransliterator, which allows you transliterate most of the world's languages; LaserIPA, which has IPA and SIL fonts; as well as fonts for a wide variety of human writing systems such as Devanagari, Tibetan, Hieroglyphic, Akkadian, Cyrillic, Hebrew, and Greek. Of course, these fonts like any Macintosh fonts, can be accessed by _any_ Macintosh application that allows you to choose fonts. (This includes MicroSoft Word.) Linguist's Software also gives you a discount coupon for buying MacKeymeleon, which is one of a number of programs that will allow you to customize your keyboard layout. MacKeymeleon is available from Avenue Software. Linguist's Software can be reached at (206) 775-1130. Their address is PO Box 580, Edmonds, WA 98020-0580 USA. Avenue Software, Inc can be reached at (418) 682-3088. Their address is C.P. 2085, Terminus, Quebec, Canada G1K 7M9. Regards, Jay Treat, Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania From: IEZ <B10@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.722 Old Church Slavonic font? Shareware? (58) Date: Fri, 10 Nov 89 13:49:15 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1197 (1518) Old Curch Slavonic fonts for HP are available for Nota Bene 3.0 multilingual version. Itamar Even-Zohar From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.725 copyright meditations (188) Date: Sat, 11 Nov 89 14:39:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1198 (1519) what is exquisitely painful about the arguments over electronic transmission of texts and copyright is the fact that anyone who copies a text and knows that it belongs to another (because it was produced by another) also knows that a theft is being commmitted. Appropriation, copying, cloning, repeating and original, it is all theft. The fact that electronic transmission and scanning copying are available makes it so easy to do, because it is also dematerializes, or spiritualizes the property, the thing, stolen. Prometheus was a thief. Perhaps the myth has to do with the theft of a certain clan/guild's firemaking, that is, ironmaking craft. The flame was taken in a hollow tube, a reed, and that means it was taken from someone's hearth by the method of carrying coals. Similarly, if you take someone's yeast to make your own bread and then culture it, you are stealing that one's beer or bread. Everyone has always known the difference between being gifted with a thing, or its (misappropriation). We are not talking about learning birdsong as chicks from our tribe: we are talking about theft. Copyright is a weak attempt to protect property and investment. Because the computer age has changed the form of property and as it were dematerialized its transmittal does make a difference in the moral aspect consideration of crime, I think. And those who thieve are still paying for the juice they need to run their machines, often from universities supported by taxes paid by those who labor. It is a big fat ball of tangled yarns, so to say. But we know in our hearts and should know in our minds when we steal. Perhaps the species is from its origins a thieving species, perhaps animal life itself is a form of thieving vegetable or carnivorous...? We need to know what Loki did too, and all his thieving incarnations. But we know, do we not? We steal because we dont want to pay for a thing partly because we are inherently labile and in constant need of input into ourselves and partly because we want to spend our money elsewhere, but not in paying for what we may think we like to use, these keyboards. But we know when we steal, and should begin our discussion there. it has something to do with the philosophy of economy, I guess. Kessler at UCLA From: choueka@bimacs.biu.ac.il (Yaacov Choueka) Subject: Copyright (?!) --Bible and Talmud Date: Sun, 12 Nov 89 12:54:25 +0200 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1199 (1520) I just read Mark Olsen comments on my short note about certain Biblical and Rabbinical texts from Bar-Ilan databases, and I don't really know how to react to it. "I did not realize", he says, "that the Bible and ancient texts of Judaism were still under copyright protection. Who, pray tell,", he asks in disarming innocence, "holds the copyright? And how has Bar-Ilan gained right to those texts?" Either he didn't read my note carefully, ridiculously misrepresenting it as if I, or someone from Bar-Ilan, or anyone for that matter, is fool enough to claim for "copyright protection" for the Bible or the Talmud, or he understood my note perfectly, since indeed it was written in very clear (albeit cautious) terms, in which case his attitude and reaction are outrageous. The hundreds of thousands of works of Jewish heritage, or of any other ancient culture for that matter, are lying around unprotected, for anyone to pick them up and do with them whatever pleases him. Any true lover of wisdom would be indeed more than happy if Mark or anyone else would put two billion words of these works on computer, and i can assure him that nobody will ever never "sue" him in any way; quite the contrary, he will be overwhelmed by blessings and gratitude! Does this mean however that anyone can merrily go ahead and take (or "share") possession of the ELECTRONIC version of these texts, which may have cost a tremendous effort, time energy, money and sweat to build, by just spending a couple of hours downloading it on a tape, selling it then for $9.95 a copy, even making profits on it, since he didn't have to invest ten years and half-a-million dollars (say) producing it? Yet, Mark would like to "raise the question of whether ANY (sic) text can be considered fully in the public domain". Well, yes, any text published more than one (three?) hundred years ago is most probably in the public domain according to any written or non-written law. ANYTHING, however, that was put by ANYONE on the computer, with his OWN resources and without violating OTHER people's rights, is HIS OWN, (at least for one generation?) and he is the only one to decide whether it will, or will not be, put in the public domain. We are in general lenient today about people copying other people's properties, if it is for their own private and "innocent" use; we should not be lenient however when this is done for greedy and "business" purposes, when even appropriate recognition is denied. It was not my intention, then, and it is not now, to initiate or participate in any "general debate" about "copyright" issues, or to issue any "warning" or suggest any course of action. I simply stated a fact that I thought should be known by interested Humanist readers, and this only after Boyarin message was distributed. A famous Rabbi once said: "Not every thought that crosses your mind is worth recording, and not everything that is worth recording is also worth publishing, or should be". A wise dictum indeed, from which all of us here, Humanist subscribers, can certainly benefit. Yaacov Choueka. From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Humor & common sense in Vol 3, No. 729" Date: Fri, 10 Nov 89 22:39:39 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1200 (1521) Ah, the computer quarrels are heating up, again, eh? I enjoy the give and take here, despite the concomitant "MY machine's better than YOUR machine," and especially enjoy learning something about most of these micros I've never been able to try for more than a few minutes. Dr. Jim, thanks for the most hilarious Humanist message I've read all semester! Now, will somebody summarize all of these astute remarks, good common sense of Eli, et al., for those of us who are still in the dark ("glowing" or not) about what the latest incarnations of Mac's, NeXT's, etc., *REALLY* do well and what we should be aware of in problematic features (or lack of them)? Yes, I've read the _BYTE_ reviews, but I find the specific Humanist comments much more interesting and to the "humanist point." Regards, Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH) j_goldfi@unhh.bitnet From: David Megginson <MEGGIN@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Revelations Date: Sat, 11 Nov 89 07:45:21 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1201 (1522) Here are some of my ideas about where computing will be in 5-10 years. 1) MSDOS will die completely. When Visicalc came out, the business community moved as a body to computers. When MSDOS came out, and they were all using CP/M, they moved as a body to MSDOS. In the next few years, they will move as a body to Unix for the sake of decent multi-tasking and inter-process communication. We will remember OS/2 only as a brief abhorration. As CP/M users discovered, the fact that _everyone_ is using your operating system does not guarantee that operating system's future. 2) The Macintosh, the Amiga and the ST will fade into insignificance. Musicians will continue to use the ST for its MIDI capabilities and some video enthusiasts will hang on to their Amigas. Basically, though, these machines will linger on only because their manufacturers are including Unix with the high-end versions (Atari TT, Mac II, Amiga 2000). 3) There will be a single, common Unix graphic interface, like the one on the NeXT, only more advanced. Although most people will own Unix, they will have no idea how it works or even that it is there. They will delete files by dragging them to the trash, not by typing "rm." However, for hackers or other line interface enthusiasts, sh, csh etc. will be running underneath the graphic environment, and they will be able to do all the command-line typing they want. 4) We will have a completely different idea of how computer programs should work. Each program will execute one task well, and it will call other programs for other specialised tasks. Your DTP application will call your resident dictionary to check hyphenation, open up your resident editor to allow you to edit its text, and call your resident image processor to crop pictures. As a result, you will be able to customise your system, using the same text editor for a your database, your text-retrieval system, and your mail reader. Your natural-language parser will use the same dictionary/ies as your spell-checker. 5) With new, high-speed communications lines, this idea of inter-process communications will extend to other computers. Your natural language parser may choose to call your own dictionary for semantic information, or it may choose to call a dictionary in Tokyo. From your point of view, there will be no difference (except in the dictionary itself). If you want files from another machine, you will be able to open a directory window and drag the files to your machine with the mouse, the same way you would copy a file from one directory to another with the Mac. 6) Screen resolution will increase by several magnitudes, until we will no longer strain our eyes reading 10pt or even 8pt text on the computer screen. Screens will also grow (a 12" monitor is too small for multi-tasking). 7) With Unix and a common graphic interface, _all_ computers will be source- compatible. That means that once a program exists for one machine, it will take seconds to reproduce it for any other, even though the machine code is different. Every program will be available for every computer. 8) Keyboards will begin to disappear, as voice-readers become cheap, accurate and readily available. Keyboards may be an oddity in ten years. Perhaps the mouse, too, will disappear, and computers will track the user's eye movements. 9) Text scanners will work at at least 1200 dpi and will have an effective 0% error rate, barring mechanical failure, on typed or printed text. Scanners which read handwritten or calligraphic material will operate with as low an error rate as possible given the clarity of the original material. 10) Computers will read and "understand" books, and will be able to acquire basic knowledge from them. 11) Everyone will have at least a gigabyte of disk storage, probably many. I am philologist, not a computer scientist, so beware of citing me as an authority. I hope that someone will keep this and show it to me again in five years. David Megginson, Centre for Medieval Studies, Toronto From: O MH KATA MHXANHN <MCCARTHY@CUA> Subject: Ibycus Date: Sat, 11 Nov 89 12:41 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1202 (1523) I neither own nor have regular access to a NeXT machine, but, because I am fortunate enough to have an Ibycus and a Macintosh IIx, I can compare their relative usefulness in my work. With apologies to R. Kraft, then, I must admit that the Ibycus remains for me chiefly a tool for searching the TLG, while everything else (wp, db, telecom) is done on the Macintosh. Although it is doubtless POSSIBLE to do much more with the Ibycus, the ways in which these things may be done are either a good deal more difficult (less "user-friendly," if you will) or not always made clear to the end-user -- this end-user, at any rate, who belongs to the IBYCUS-L and will confess, in the current sardonic style, to being a relatively stupid bozo. Thus, whereas it is probably possible, as Kraft mentions, to access e-mail through the Ibycus -- indeed, I have heard of the existence, somewhere, of VAX terminal emulation software -- neither this software nor the details of cabling a modem to the machine is readily obtainable by me. This admission of ignorance and/or incompetence may elicit clucks from the cognoscenti. I will risk them. The potentials which I have left unrealized are left so, I imagine, in consequence of the fact that I am not particularly well-connected, not in the right place at the right time. While several Ibycus users have generously created and distributed valuable utilities for that machine, none of these ameliorates -- or can, I dare to venture, hope to ameliorate -- significantly the "spartan" quality of the interface. The Macintosh is so much easier for this bozo to use and to manipulate (with ResEdit and/or HyperTalk) that there is no serious incentive to develop facility with Ibyx, the very fine but rather specialized programming language of the Ibycus. The lack of incentive, for me (and perhaps only me), is enhanced by the fact that the inevitable problems which the very mediocre DOS or Macintosh hacker encounters may be resolved in many "etheric" places, the former group having a vast number, the latter at least an impressive number of fora. Ibycus users, however, have IBYCUS-L, and, essentially, nothing more. I find this situation daunting; however, I bought the Ibycus in full awareness that there would be a small amount of long-distance support. The machine is very reliable and well made. Yet, I cannot let pass the suggestion that, upon having obtained one, the user can then kick back and roar with a wry grin into the 21st century. This, in my experience, is a significant exaggeration of what most users will encounter. Let no one think, however, that the Ibycus is not an excellent tool -- still the very best there is (so far as I, the you-know-what, know) -- to use with the TLG disk. I am very grateful to have been lucky enough to obtain one. However, having had the opportunity to use Pandora (in a beta version) on the Macintosh, I cannot help but look forward to the day when I will finally be able to integrate the TLG disk into a single work station. A NeXT machine capable of being a real scholarly work station is still yet to arrive, if I may judge from the brief encounter I had with one a few months ago. It was, however, under system .8 or .9, immediately easy to navigate through much of the interface without any help from a manual or salesbeing. That certainly could not be said of the Ibycus, whose true virtues, in contrast to the NeXT (and the Macintosh), are a very reasonable price and rapid searching of the TLG and CCAT disks. W. McCarthy CUA Wash., D.C. From: John Baima <D024JKB@UTARLG> Subject: NeXT and UNIX Date: Sat, 11 Nov 89 15:56 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1203 (1524) I was quite interested by Oliver Berghof's comments about NeXT, and as a software developer, I would like to respond to some of his comments. He states, "I suggest that HUMANISTs interested in becoming third party developers write directly to NeXT". Well, I did just that this spring. And the program I had in mind was his "dream" for NeXT (TLG access), although good access exists via Ibycus, Pandora on the Mac and Lbase on IBM-PC's (my program). Anyway, last Spring developers had to submit applications and wait in line for both a machine and "boot camp". Developers could buy the machine at the university price only if they went to a several day long "camp" (at the developers expense) to teach them about the NeXT machine. The review of NeXT that I read was from a developer and he thought that the large hard disk was necessary for development work. When you start adding all that up, the NeXT is not a bargain ($15k) to develop software for, especially low volume, academic software (and for people who demand that their software be inexpensive). So, I was discouraged by all that and I will not be developing any software on NeXT in the future unless one floats down from heaven and lands on my desk. One of the really nice things about developing software on the NeXT is the Objective-C (not Object-C, please) environment. I think that Objective-C is the best hybrid, object oriented language available today. However, NeXT's Objective-C compiler will soon be available in source code form from the Free Software Foundation! It seems that NeXT linked in some of the GNU-C compiler to make the Objective-C compiler and thus are bound by the FSF's "copyleft" agreement which requires the distribution of source code. This point has been *extensively* discussed on gnu.misc.discuss. Thus, I hope to see Objective-C compilers for UNIX machines from the FSF in the coming months. UNIX, of course, is another story. I use UNIX quite a bit, mostly to run FrameMaker, mail and to make Smalltalk. I like what UNIX can do, but I do not like UNIX *at all*. I doubt that anyone who really likes to be a UNIX sysop on a network has time to do anything else :-). It can be a bear. Yes, I know, NeXT will provide UNIX for the rest of us. I just don't believe it. While Bill Joy is one of my heroes because he thinks that C is a large mistake for large systems or applications, he would never make it as a prophet. UNIX will not replace DOS or OS/2. There are over 30 million DOS machines out there and 20 million more could be shipped next year. UNIX will increase, but the UNIX market is in total disarray. System V.4 may help, and OSF may merge back to provide a unified UNIX community, but that is not enough. Business is behind DOS and OS/2 all the way and that will not change, for better or worse. Market share is not based on technical excellence alone and Bill Joy (one of the founders of Sun Microsystems) is not exactly a neutral observer anyway. As for vi and the rest of the UNIX tools being able to do 15 years ago what is now available in today's desktop publishing programs, I like Bill Joy's comment about his program, "If I had know that vi would become so popular, I would never have written it." vi??? Gack!!! As for NeXT and Humanists, I don't expect to see NeXT make a serious effort to capture humanist's hearts and pocketbooks. Given the software currently available for NeXT, the educational market is the only one they could sell to. Oh, yes, many businesses will buy a NeXT to play with it, but not to solve any problems. Not today, at least. If NeXT wants to survive, it must get into the business market and then academics will fade away. Did you know that Apple sold fewer Macs to higher education in 1988 than they did in 1987, although the total number of units sold has soared? What's the point? I doubt that any of the hardware vendors are going to try very hard for the HUMANIST market. I would love to develop software for NeXT, except for the fact that it is expensive and the market is tiny. Remember, us independent software developers have to pay for our machines and our time (have any of the NeXT people out there bought the machine out of their own pocket?). Either schools will sponsor software (like U Toronto) or HUMANISTs will have to pay for it. Statements like "this machine is great, why don't some of you software developers get us some software for Humanities" is not very helpful. I also agree with Elli Mylonas that it is unreasonable to think that humanists who do not have an extensive background in programming will become effective programmers. Objective-C is great, but it takes the average *programmer* 2 months to become proficient enough with Objective-C to begin designing a significant application. How many HUMANISTS can invest that amount of time and money just to get going? John Baima d024jkb@utarlg From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.650 InterNet address? (20) Date: Sun, 12 Nov 89 01:45:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 738 (1525) Does any member of HUMANIST have a list of internet addresses for libraries in Canada? Can anyone supply the way to reach the excellent retrieval system of the U. of Toronto Robarts Library? From: David Owen, Philosophy, Arizona <OWEN@rvax.ccit.arizona.edu> Subject: Date: Sat, 11 Nov 89 19:38:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 739 (1526) Machine-readable texts Date of this version = 09 Nov 1989. Thanks for contributions to: Mike Neuman, Stephen Clark, Peter Abelard. [Works]. In Latin. For information contact: Literary & Linguistic Computing Center, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Ave., Cambridge CB3 9DA, England. Anselm of Canterbury (Saint Anselm). Opera Omnia. In Latin. For information contact: Literary & Linguistic Computing Center, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Ave., Cambridge CB3 9DA, England. Aristotle. [Complete works]. In Greek. For information contact: Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, University of California at Irvine, Irvine CA 92717, USA; tlg@uci.bitnet. Aristotle. [Various works]. For information contact: InteLex Corporation, Route 2 Box 383, Pittsboro NC 27312 USA; 70671.173@compuserve.com. -------------------- [A complete version of this updated list is now available on the file-server, s.v. PHILOSFY ETEXTS. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVME> Subject: Re: 3.730 NB with large files (131) Date: Sat, 11 Nov 89 18:40:04 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 740 (1527) This may be due the copying characteristics of DOS. Sometimes the only way to copy several large files into one larger file is to specify the /B option after the copy commands. This forces the copy to carried out as if the files were binary and does not insert EOF markers, etc. Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts P.S. We only encountered this with files at least approaching 1 Meg. and more and more often as we created machine readable copies of multi-megabyte sized texts. For example we are working on several dictionaries of the OED and Webster's variety which will be 30-40M in size. (Estimates that the OED takes over a gigabyte were made by several notewriters a while back, but were rescinded when calulated.) From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.727 representing written documents (52) Date: Fri, 10 Nov 89 21:58:03 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 741 (1528) In re Bob Kraft's response to the digitization of MSS coupled with machine-readable texts of the same material. It seems to me that the solution is to link the pages of the MS to the machine-readable texts in a data base format, so that one search option would bring up the relevant MS page by searching for a word on it transcribed in the machine-readable text. We are contemplating precisely such a system in the proposed Digital Archive and Thesaurus of Spanish Texts and would love to hear from anyone attempting to deal with similar problems. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish, UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.683 nuclear fiction? (34) Date: Sun, 12 Nov 89 03:27:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 742 (1529) I have one suggestion for a novel about troubles in an atomic plant. You should look up in an anthology of Dutch or Flemish literature the novel named ''Het gevaar''. It has been translated into french for sure. The french title is ''Le danger'' and was most probably translated it, I mean into english as well: propbably under the title ''The danger''. I read it 18 years ago but am not sure of the author's name. He was belgian and if I remember well was born in the Antwerp region. The book was probably publish around 1960. If my neurones still work properly, I would say that the name of the author could be Van de Loo. (no garantee). Sorry I can't be moreprecise since my bookshelf is 5000km away from where I am living now. Let me know whether you found anything. Yours, Michel Lenoble E-mail LenobleM@cc.umontreal.ca From: Wujastyk (on GEC 4190 Rim-B at UCL) <UCGADKW@EUCLID.UCL.AC.UK> Subject: Date: Mon, 13 Nov 89 09:19:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1204 (1530) [Below is the C source-code for XXENCODE, an encoding program that changes a file into characters able to survive transmission across a network and through various operating systems. It is similar to UUENCODE but uses a superior character set. Files thus encoded must be decoded with XXDECODE. Both programs are in the public domain. Notice that under VM/CMS, these require the Waterloo C compiler. Under MS-Dos they require the Microsoft C compiler. The usual cc command works under Ultrix. XXENCODE has been supplied by Mr. David J. Camp, david%wubios@wucfua.wustl. ] -----xxencode.c----- [remainder deleted] -------------------- [A complete version of this file is now available on the file-server, s.v. XXENCODE SOURCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Wujastyk (on GEC 4190 Rim-B at UCL) <UCGADKW@EUCLID.UCL.AC.UK> Subject: xxdecode.c Date: Mon, 13 Nov 89 09:20:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1205 (1531) [Below is the C source-code for XXDECODE, a decoding program that takes a file encoded by XXENCODE and converts it back to its original form. See the companion file XXENCODE SOURCE for more details. XXDECODE is similar to UUDECODE but uses a superior character set. XXDECODE is in the public domain. Notice that under VM/CMS, this requires the Waterloo C compiler. Under MS-Dos it requires the Microsoft C compiler. The usual cc command works under Ultrix. XXDECODE has been supplied by Mr. David J. Camp, david%wubios@wucfua.wustl. ] -------------------- [A complete version of XXDECODE is now available on the file-server, s.v. XXDECODE SOURCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Wujastyk (on GEC 4190 Rim-E at UCL) <UCGADKW@EUCLID.UCL.AC.UK> Subject: xxencode/decode Date: Fri, 10 Nov 89 11:35 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1206 (1532) May I make a plea that HUMANISTS familiarize themselves with the XXencode/XXdecode programs? [Editor's note: see the above two messages.] These are completely analagous to the UUencode/decode pair, in that they translate a binary file (chars > 127) into a plain text file (all chars <128, all lines shorter than 75 chars), and back again. Where XXencoding scores over UUencoding is that XXencoding uses only alphabetic characters and digits. UUencode uses the tilde, caret, percent, and several other signs. Bitnet is notorious for muddling these characters up, and if you get a two-to-one conversion, you can't mend it. Since HUMANIST is condemned to using Bitnet, we ought to agree to use XXencode for file exchange, since it really does survive the worst that Bitnet can do. For those without a C compiler, I would be perfectly willing to send in the DOS executables, but of course I would have to UUencode them! So they might not survive the journey to Toronto and on to you. Dominik From: Jean Nienkamp 814-865-2085 N31 at PSUVM Subject: Computer collation programs Date: 13 November 1989, 18:03:41 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1207 (1533) I have not done any kind of comparison shopping on computer collation programs, but I know that we at PSU have access to one, PC-CASE, which works on an IBM PC and does a pretty good job--because I've taught a workshop on it. Since we have a site license, I could give any interested parties a copy for use at PSU. I would also be willing to help with pointers & etc. Jean Nienkamp (N31, 5-2085 (msg), 466-7106) From: elli@wjh12.harvard.edu (Elli Mylonas) Subject: Re: 3.718 markup issues (66) Date: Tue, 14 Nov 89 09:28:29 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1208 (1534) in response to Chet Grycz' remark on viewing one of a number of markup sets that have been added to the text: SGML does provide for CONCUR. That is the ability to support multiple markup streams in a text, and to view any one at a time. This can be awkward, but at least more than one point of view can be expressed and also more than one level of markup. Although at the moment, none of the low end SGML compatible software, like Author/Editor on the Mac, can handle CONCUR, the provision exists, and in any case, the beauty of electronic texts and of generalized markup is that they are there to be manipulated by the software... So, Michael, if you don't want to see any tags, all you have to do is hide them. You can even go so far as to delete anything that is within pointy brackets completely from the ascii version of the text!! --Elli Mylonas, Managing Editor, Perseus Project From: RAPOPORT@MCMASTER Subject: Hungarian Fonts Date: Mon, 13 Nov 89 13:31 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1209 (1535) As part of the International Font package, I supply a Roman font which supports typing in many languages, certainly more than 82. Hungar- ian is of course one of them. The characters are not lined up as on a Hungarian typewriter, for the simple reason that one font must handle a great many languages. However, as noted earlier, MacKeymeleon and other programs allow reallocation of characters to any desired position. These fonts (incl. Cyrillic, Greek, IPA) were designed for work on the Macintosh and Apple's Imagewriter printers I and II, but not their LQ or lasers. As this is not intended to be an ad (anyone could have written it!) but information, I'll stop here and simply ask anyone interested to write to me for information, incl. price. Paul Rapoport Dept. of Music McMaster University Hamilton Ontario Canada L8S 4M2 RAPOPORT@SSCVAX.MCMASTER.CA RAPOPORT@MCMASTER.BITNET From: BRODY Florian <U3011VAA@AWIUNI11> Subject: Re: 3.726 CD-ROM drives (26) Date: Mon, 13 Nov 89 04:54:40 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1210 (1536) UNfortunately things are not as easy as that... reading a 1 MB file is not an appropriate test for a CD ROM player. In order to evaluate the SPEED of a player you have to test seek time, access time and read time. Some players have very good data transfer rates but poor seek time, others have far better access timing but data transfer is low. So the evaluation depends also on the application you want to run: data base with short records but relatively deep search tree or full text with large data chunks. To make things more complicated: which interface: native or SCSI? stand alone or network? how many CD drives on one machine? think also about: Caddies or drawer? music interface? built in or stand alone? (cave: PS/2 stand alone only|) for large text databases the new Pioneer with a 6-disc pack (equal to the pack used in Pioneer car CD players) looks very interesting (no evaluation yet) and as mentioned the new Hitachi 3600. A good source for more information is: CD-ROM Enduser published monthly by Diversified Data Resources, Inc. 6609 Rosecroft Place Falls Church, VA 22043-1828 the best things in life are FREE - you just have to pay the mail charges: Canada: US$40, rest of the world US$ 85 p.a. Give my regards to Linda Helgerson - the Editor& Publisher - she is also interested in information input. Florian Brody CD ROM Project Mgr Austrian Nat'l Library, Vienna From: "Oliver G. Berghof" <oberghof@next.acs.UCI.EDU> Subject: NeXT peace Date: Mon, 13 Nov 89 12:10:34 GMT-0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 745 (1537) Riposte Of The Prevaricator. Oh well, that really stirred the pot, and amazingly enough it didn't even put out the fire. I would like to apologize to Dr Coombs for my comments on his reaction to the NeXT. They were uninformed and un-informative, a bad example of nitpicking and, unfortunately not visible to everyone, a poor peace of devil's advocacy. In particular I would like to apologize for my change in the use of his name; however funny others may have found his response to it he has every right to be infuriated. It resulted from his having finished his message with the footer "-- Jim Dr. James H. Coombs" While no malice was intended I can see that given the general tone of my comments he had to mistake this for one more instance of my arrogant malice. So much for the breastbeating. I have learned from this exchange that it may be unwise to elicit contributions from HUMANISTs by sending in deliberately curtailed or misrepresenting information. Addressing you as "venerable members" is as far as you will go. Of course I knew about Pandora before I opened her box, although to this day I haven't seen a machine running this program, and only today I heard from the first HUMANIST (many thanks for rising to my defense, O MH KATA MHXANHN (what a splendid vocative !) - whatever happened to your name ?) using the Ibycus on a private basis. Which brings me to another of my little hypocrisies: The price of the NeXT is well beyond 6500.- if one tries to buy it on a private basis. Only your department will be able to buy you a machine at that price with official funds. And even then they might send you to the campus computer vendor who will be charging a mark-up of 700.- +, usually without a service contract. That's why I was clamouring for funds. Although in its configuration it might be the cheapest machine around it is also the hardest to get. And, of course, as you might have guessed by now, I agree with all of Dr. Coombs' criticisms of the interface. In the beginning I myself had a week during which I wanted to embody the caricature and "hit any key to continue" with a hammer (although the NeXT doesn't give you THAT really helpful error message). And the mouse is infuriating. And the menus are hard to find. And, and, and. . . I'm neither a NeXT - believer nor am I personally or professionally connected with NeXT. I don't even own a cube myself (graduates are not only ignorant, they're also poor - although you should see some of those Orange County graduates ...). In case you have any doubts about my spinal chord: I also stand by my comments. How come ? I tried to play devil's advocate - it misfired but I still think that the NeXT could be a wonderful machine in the hand of HUMANISTs. The only thing I would perhaps take exception to is being called an 'astute reader'. To be sure, I always like to be called an 'astute reader' - except when my writing was meant to convey the impression that mine was the thickest head on the network and my astute reader didn't catch it. Expect one of us to come out with the announcement to a NeXT peace-conference really soon. May the future rest in peace - hopefully (ah, yes, that's what Pandora left) yours Oliver Berghof Department of English and Comparative Literature University of California, Irvine oberghof@next.acs.uci.edu or eahg010@orion.oac.uci.edu From: UDAA270@ELM.CC.KCL.AC.UK Subject: user-support Date: Mon, 13 NOV 89 15:47:09 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1211 (1538) Willard's words about support people struck a real chord. I work as one of the described support people, with a job description more or less like the one Dr. Zielke suggested (actually a lot vaguer, but close enough). And yet the reason I think people with humanities backgrounds are often so much more successful supporting humanities users is not because they have effectively mastered the DOS operating system or Norton Utilities, but because they can better gauge the sorts of underlying assumptions, fears, and methods of work. This is not to say all supporters with humanities degrees make good advisers for humanities users, but I've found it mainly is so. In my own experience, my humanities background has made me a far better supporter than my technical expertise. Thus, paradoxically, the reasons which make us particularly effective, e.g. writing theses ourselves, researching interests along with our humanities colleagues, are not taken as part of our jobs. Personally I notice two immediate consequences of this ignoring of academic interest and active research in a user support job. Attitudes of academics vary widely. In some cases, particularly by people who knew me before obtaining this job as a researcher, I am consulted on equal footing. But far too often I am obviously considered inferior, the tame lackey to perform the dull mysteries of computing for the superior hard-pressed academic. To be fair, I have noticed the opposite as well: support people who deliberately foster a "we" and "they" division between support staff and academics, often with much condescension. The other consequence is that there is very little time to further my research, and thus to keep in touch academically as well as with new computing developments. I wholeheartedly agree with Willard that support people should have opportunities for research, not ad hoc, but written into the contract. As it is now, it is a struggle to remain fresh enough in evenings and weekends to continue actively with research - a struggle I'm gradually losing. Susan Kruse King's College London From: Thomas Zielke <113355@DOLUNI1> Subject: Re: 3.734 user-support (135) Date: Tue, 14 Nov 89 09:22:38 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1212 (1539) Yes, I do agree to your opinion that a user-support person should also be given the opportunity to do research work as well to teach classes in, very generally speaking, computing techniques in humanities. In my opinion, this is the only way to keep track with current problems (and their solution) in everyday scientific life. And, of course, an offer of computing courses would also reduce the amount of "silly" questions dramatically; at least my experiences show that result. One should anyway think of what we understand to be "user support". Do we mean this to be full technical support, covering hard- and software? Or do we rather want somebody to answer our specific questions how to solve a specific problem? I do believe that these two items should be somehow separated. There should be somebody to address when one needs to know which hard/software to buy, when a device needs to be repaired etc, when, in general, we need *technical* support. Another person's job would then be to give information on - let's say - academic problems. Of course these two persons should closely work together, but still, I believe it to be better that we have two experts in each area than to have one who is more or less helpless in one of the fields. I'm adding these points as I know the situation at the place I'm at. We do have user support - but only when we have technical problems. That means that I can ask which floppy disk drive I should buy, but whenever I have a problem like, for example, how to compute the Easter date of a given year or what software to use to get a tax register of 1803 into the computer, all I get is at best a *very* vague and/or stammering answer. Anyway, I think this to be a question that we should discuss further on this list, and I would be grateful for any other comment on this, especially if somebody would tell me about his/her experiences with user support people. Yours Thomas Zielke Historisches Seminar Universit{t Oldenburg Postfach 2503 D-2900 Oldenburg From: Skip Knox <DUSKNOX@IDBSU> Subject: Re: 3.734 user-support (135) Date: Mon, 13 Nov 89 12:20:08 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1213 (1540) I'd like to add to what Willard has said. I am a historian by training and a support tech by employment. Since I do have the Ph.D., the history department here lets me teach one course a semester, usually Western Civ. I believe that my credentials have earned me a credibility with the faculty that might otherwise have been hard to earn. And I a convinced that I am better able to support them because I still go into the classroom every week and know what the teaching process is about. I think I would be even more helpful if I was allowed to undertake historical research, as that would expose me to yet another set of tools. I really do think that a faculty support person should continue to be an active scholar. Ellis 'Skip' Knox, Ph.D. Historian, Data Center Associate Boise State University INTERNET: DUSKNOX@IDBSU.IDBSU.EDU 1910 University Drive BITNET: DUSKNOX@IDBSU Boise, Idaho 83725 (208) 385-1315 From: "Guy L. Pace" <PACE@WSUVM1> Subject: User Support Date: Tue, 14 Nov 89 10:41:29 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1214 (1541) I must agree with Willard on the subject of what to look for in user support, to a point. The question is still a bit muddy, to say the least. I feel qualified to discuss this, now, since I've been involved heavily in user support for the last few years. I love reading the discussions herein, but the workload often keeps me from responding or participating. And, that is where user support can get in the way for some people. User support is one of those services an organization can provide that grows of its own accord, especially when the support (the quality and reliability of the answers) is perceived as very good. But user support is not just answering questions. The support person must also keep abreast of what is happening in the organization and in the industry. Without the constant self-education, the support person quickly falls behind the users and becomes ineffective. On the point of "silly" questions, I have to say that in user support, especially, there are no "dumb" or "silly" questions. Every question must be taken seriously (and courteously). A "which key do I push" question, when it comes up frequently, indicates a need for a specific training session or class. If 40 or 50 people are calling regularly with basic questions on WordPerfect, that should tell the user support person there is dire need for a WordPerfect Basics class. The support person needs to keep track of this and be aware of what these questions indicate about the users' level of training. The ability of the "users" (faculty, staff and students, in my case) to use the tools provided is critical to the organization. If the users are inefficient, the organization is inefficient. If the users are well informed, and trained regularly, the organization becomes more efficient and productive. I agree there is potential for "burn out" in this field, especially if the support person does not have the capability to answer the same question 50 times in one day with smile in his/her voice. The mind set requires looking at each call or visit as a challenge to educate the user, solve a problem, fix something that may be broken, or learn something new yourself. In my case, I deal with an IBM 3090, a VAX cluster, and both IBM compatible and MAC micros (including the various software available on all of them). I work with people (about 16,000+ in the academic community here) with skills ranging from "how do I turn it on?" to power users. I regularly answer questions from new students on how to log on to the mainframe, from master and doctoral candidates on how to get TEX to correctly format their thesis or dissertation, and from the entire range on general microcomputer problems. When things get slow, I work on training presentations, user notes and other things that enhance the effectiveness of the Information Center. Considering that I'm in a half-time position, I think the range of duties and skills required is awesome. All I can say is I do my very best (I answer between 15 and 20 calls or in-person questions per 4-hour shift). Even at my best, though, I don't believe I could pursue academic research at any serious level and still keep up with the job. I guess the bottom line is this: When you go about deciding who would be an excellent user support person, make sure you state clearly your expectations for that person and the position. If you have a large user base to support, don't expect the support person to do much outside of support and training. Also, once you start providing support services, keep track of the level of services. Often, burnout occurs when the level of service demanded outpaces the support person's capabilities. If more service is demanded get more people. Regards in length Guy L. Pace, WSUCSC Information Center BTW: This note took about 1.75 hours to write. I answered six calls since I started. From: UDAA270@ELM.CC.KCL.AC.UK Subject: query - computer-based teaching Date: Mon, 13 NOV 89 09:59:00 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1215 (1542) We are becoming swamped with requests for courses, by humanists and non-humanists, and without enough staff to teach them. As a result, it has become a matter of urgency to investigate computer-based teaching programs. Has anyone evaluated such programs for the following, or know where reviews of such evalutations can be found?: Microsoft Word on the Macintosh Microsoft Word on the IBM PS/2 Microsoft Excel on the Macintosh Microsoft Excel on the IBM PS/2 Ingres on the IBM PS/2 MS-DOS 3.3 on the IBM PS/2 Language teaching for modern Greek (on either IBM PS/2 or Mac) Language teaching for ancient Greek (on either IBM PS/2 or Mac) Thanks, Susan Kruse King's College London From: "CAROL C" <S1.CAC@ISUMVS> Subject: CALL Date: Mon, 13 Nov 89 20:55:30 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1216 (1543) Your name and organization (TESTNET) came my way through a BITNET contact, who suggested you might be able to point me in the right direction in a search for some information. What I am looking for are any independent reviews or comments from users of a writing software package produced by the DAEDALUS GROUP in Austin. I presently have a brochure put out by the designers, and it does sound rather impressive, but before making any decisions about adopting such soft for our language program, we'd like to get some unbiased input on its advantages and disadvantages. Any leads you could give me on this particular package, or any others, would be greatly appreciated. My BITNET address is PURCELL@JPNCUN10. Bill Purcell Nanzan University Nagoya, JAPAN From: Geoffrey Rockwell <Geoffrey_Rockwell@poczta.utcs.utoronto.ca> Subject: Various Date: Mon, 13 Nov 89 18:43:13 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1217 (1544) I have two questions to distract us from what's NeXT. 1) Does anyone know of a machine-readable French thesaurus? I want to build a tool that will let me look at word frequency lists. I will pass it a word and the program will go to the thesaurus and get all the synonyms and then find the information in the list pertaining to all the synonyms (their frequency). This would same me time writing word lists for every theme I am interested in and make the querying of frequency lists more interactive. Even more to the point, has anyone created tools to work with frequency lists to isolate the important themes using thesaurai? If you think you have something of the sort, but are not sure you understand what I am looking for, contact me directly. (rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca) 2) A group here at Toronto wants to create a tri-lingual bibliography with Hebrew, Arabic, and English titles. Does anyone know of bibliographic solutions on a PC or Mac that would allow for Hebrew and Arabic fields. Ideally the Hebrew and Arabic would write from right to left. I have experimented with HyperCard and the Hebrew and Arabic systems, but, one cannot have both systems running at once. In addition, the Arabic and Hebrew do not display properly when one looks at a stack with the other system running. In effect, one is limited to English and one of the other two languages, but not all three. One solution is to use fonts that act as Roman fonts (left to right). They would have to be typed in backwards, which is inconvenient. I would appreciate any pointers, including thoughts from people who understand the Arabic and Hebrew Mac systems well enough to show me the error of my experiments. As usual, use your discretion when answering, feel free to contact me directly with juicy technical digressions. Yours Geoffrey Rockwell University of Toronto rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca From: MTRILEY@CALSTATE (Mark Timothy Riley) Subject: RE: 3.718 markup issues (66) Date: Mon, 13 Nov 89 17:46:21 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1218 (1545) Here's an elementary question: I see many references to mark-up, SGML, etc. on HUMANIST. This is nothing I have ever done--or even been close to, and I'm wondering how SGML or any text mark-up system differs from (for example) Microsoft's RTL (=rich text format) for exchanging formatted text between different computer systems. Thanks. Mark Riley MTRiley@CalState From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.643 plagarism, cont. (62) Date: Mon, 13 Nov 89 03:58:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1219 (1546) Dear HUMANISTS, I want to thank first those who expressed views concerning plagiarism... a subject that somehow resembles that of copyright. It is about somebody's work and saving/stealing/making money by using it at one's own profit. Not only money in the monetary sense, but also prestige, academic promotions or degrees or credits. I don't know whether Boyarin (who said in message 3643 that he 'would have given him/her an A+'...'if one of his student had given him a copy of Paul's epistle') could stand receiving again and again the same epistle has term paper from his students. Colleagues of mine have the weird impression, when reading term papers that they read that before... a number of times. But what can you do when you teach 130 students the same course every year. And how are we to mark these papers? You got to be damm sure when you accuse a student of plagiarism because it means the end of his/her academic career... or a court case for you. Clarence Brown, who mentioned in the same message that he has been repeatedly the victim of plagiarists using in their own account his translation works, did point out that they were quite easy to spot since they tend to reproduce the same mistakes you did. Well, I would certainly suggest everyone to insert in his or her work one element which wrong or for example: a forged bibliographical entry in one's bibliography. Their you have legal grounds to win your court battle. I also feel that I might have been unclear in my first message concerning plagiarism... which prompted Daniel Boyarin's 3630 message. If one is going to study literary plagiarism, one has to define the borderline between neighbouring literary practices. By that I don't mean that plagiarism and parody, irony, intertextuality, imitation, etc. share the same ''philosophy'', but they all in their own way tend to re-utilize literary material with a different intention than its original author had in mind, be it for the sake of originality, or with the intention of carnavalizing literary standards, or aiming at transgressing literary conventions. Plagiarists re-utilize, cite without quotation marks literary passages for their own profit. They often try to obliterate their theft by using literay or linguistic make-up. We all know the tricks we used at the primary school, when we were copying our good friend's math homework. Those here who have never done that can throw me e-stones... and on top of that they don't know the fear of being discovered. There is I guess not only money that motivates plagiarism, but probably also the feeling of fooling everyone, of being brighter than the rest of the world. The same must apply with virus conceptors and developers in a way. I used to share Daniel Boyarin's view (in 3630) that ""I hardly think that that love of money per se is what drives the entire literary system", but in the light of what I recently hear or read I would no longer be so candid as that. I don't know whether we read the same papers and the same news agencies' messages, but in Montreal the local press reported that a very famous italian semiotician and "medieval" novelist has been accused of plagiarism by an author from Cyprus. Radio Canada had also an interesting TV programm concerning troubling resemblance between texts by Colleen McCullough and Lucy Maud Montgomery. In Paris, there is a court case against the french writer Regine Deforges and the heirs of american writer Margaret Mitchell (Gone with the wind). These cases imply all huge amounts of money, TV right, video right and royalties on book sales. Much much more than we will ever make in the academic world. If Italian colleagues are listening, are they aware of any developement in the recent accusations against Umberto Eco by the cypriot novelist or was it all but a joke. P.S. Computer programm plagiarism seems to be trendy these days to... if not for the love of money, then what for... the thrill of it??? P.P.S. Any resemblance with previous messages is purely accidental. Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal E-mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca exit From: Skip Knox <DUSKNOX@IDBSU> Subject: Re: 3.731 copyright, cont. (103) Date: Mon, 13 Nov 89 12:07:25 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1220 (1547) I have a question for all you who are discussing copyright. What are the limits of what I can put on line for student use? If I scan copyrighted material, say a chapter from a book, can I put it on a disk? That seems the same to me as copying the chapter on a photocopy machine. But if I endlessly duplicate the disk, or if I put the material on a campus network, or place it on our school's BBS, am I then violating copyright? Can I, in other words, pillage copyrighted material ruthlessly, compiling what is in effect my own textbook, use only it for an on-line course and not require the students to buy any books? Somewhere in there I must be violating copyright. Opinions? Ellis 'Skip' Knox, Ph.D. Historian, Data Center Associate Boise State University INTERNET: DUSKNOX@IDBSU.IDBSU.EDU 1910 University Drive BITNET: DUSKNOX@IDBSU Boise, Idaho 83725 (208) 385-1315 From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Re: [3.731 copyright, cont. (103)] Date: Tue, 14 Nov 89 08:42:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1221 (1548) The discussion on copyright, inadvertently started by Yaacov Choueka, has raised some very important points for all of us working on public (and not-so-public) domain texts. It would be very helpful to know what the lawyers think (I know Peter Junger has already said some apposite things). If I do pinch a text and re-format it (eg add SGML markup or search tags) do I get to hold copyright on the whole thing? Or only my markup? What if I pinch a text and strip the markup? (Is that what ATM did? Did it require 'intellectual effort'?) What if I write a program (=intellectual effort) which automatically thereafter could add the markup to any text? (This is presumably where WordCruncher saw their own intellectual effort as lying.) What then of automatic translation machines? Since, as I understand it, the original purpose of the copyright laws was to prevent the abuse (not just financial exploitation) of an author's work, it is presumably true that I don't have the right (even in a non-electronic environment) just to take an English text, publish my own German translation, and claim the copyright--or do I? What rights does the author have if, say, I grievously misrepresent him? Come to think of it, I once wrote an article which the in-house editor so mangled that in 2 places it said the precise opposite of what I intended (he was trying to translate it into American). I didn't see his final proofs. Does the author have rights over his editor? It's interesting to think that anyone who accurately translated my intention might be had up for misrepresenting my text! Can I ask Mike Neuman (or others) whether Circular 65 ('Copyright protection is not available for ... the selection and ordering of data') means that say a computer-generated concordance is automatically the copyright property of the author of the original work? Douglas de Lacey <DEL2@UK.AC.CAM.PHX> From: boyarin <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.731 copyright, cont. (103) Date: Mon, 13 Nov 89 22:27:37 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1222 (1549) on copyright The point is not that we are against having cheap machine readable texts available, but that many texts will never become available in machine readable form unless people can earn something from their labor and investment. I clearly did not know the law, but I certainly think that there is a natural moral right to the fruits of one's labor. Again in the case of the dispute between Bar-Ilan and ATM even the facts are very murky and I don't think that there is any concern. From: Norman Zacour 923-9483 ZACOUR at UTOREPAS Subject: Date: 15 November 1989, 17:42:13 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 749 (1550) Willard McCarty seems to have raised a REAL question (compared with many of our recent storms-in-teacups). I judge, however, from the responses that others do not have any real answers as yet - rather, one detects a sad note of resignation on the part of those of our academic colleagues tied up in the role of computer consultant with, at best, only a limited hope of maintaining any pretense of scholarship. Are there academic/computer projects out there in which they might engage themselves - projects, say, that will enhance the quality of undergrad instruction in this or that humanistic discipline - which might earn solid academic recognition? I do not mean some convenient way of cutting corners and costs, but a real improvement in the quality of instruction. We might be approaching that in one department here, with the construction of a hypercard project (at first, just a model) to deal in depth with the English Revolution. It will call for a great deal of scholarship on someone's part, and it is increasingly clear that the department is going to have to recognize the fact and do something about it. Come to think of it, the finished product will surely have not only academic value, but commercial value as well. As such it would become an item for academic circulation, to say nothing of being the subject of copyright (and also, alas! the object of plagiarism, I suppose). Another form of relief for the computer-user-supporter might also be found in getting institutions to encourage and reward scholarly work in his or her field, although from the responses it would appear that the two activities, supporting computer-users on the one hand, doing one's own scholarly thing on the other, are mutually exclusive. Is this really true? Many of us teach and write. The accepted wisdom has been that these are mutually supportive, but many of us have also found that they can interfere seriously with one another in various, destructive ways. Most of us either do one better than the other, or one instead of the other, or neither. These three seem to be the major categories. I suspect that, in the case of humanists who are acting as computer consultants most of the time, there would still be some tension, even if the University did get off its institutional backside and encourage, indeed reward, scholarship in ways that we should like to see. I do think, however, that academic computer consultants might themselves begin to define some positive career objectives. It wasn't so long ago that other academics, struggling for things like academic freedom, tenure, etc. did just that. More recently librarians have begun to make large strides in acquiring formal recognition as full-fledged members of the academic community. From: "PROF. JOHN RAGER" <JERAGER@AMHERST> Subject: Copyright Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 10:07:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1223 (1551) There are some of facts of law which may be of relevance to the copyright discussion: 1. Under the current United States copyright law, the owner of a copyright has the exclusive right to prepare "derivative works". The statutory definition of a derivative work includes translations, arrangements, dramatizations, fictionalizations, films, recordings, abridgments, condensations, "Or any other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted." (17 U.S.C.A. paragraph 106(2)) 2. This right was strengthened in the 1976 copyright act, before which derivative works were regarded somewhat inconsistently. 3. I am sure that this right protects works in copyright from being transfered, without permission, into electronic form. (I don't know of any explicit case law to support this.) 4. The copyrightability of reproductions is established in law. It is based on the fact that the copyist has originated the reproduction. The underlying subject matter is not protected, but reproducing the reproduction is a violation of copyright. (This is established by cases involving the reproduction of art, e.g. Alfred Bell v. Catalda Fine Arts (in 2nd Circuit court, 1951). I would suspect it could be applied to protect the electronic copy of a work which was not protected.) The above was largely extracted from Intellectual Property by Miller and Davis. I am not a lawyer, so my speculations about legal matters should be regarded as invested with as much nonsense as any others. From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVME.BITNET> Subject: Re: 3.725 copyright meditations (188) Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 08:09:48 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1224 (1552) The several notes regarding copyright have left out what is perhaps the most important aspect of copyright, when copyright protection expires, as well as the point of what actually constitutes a copy. The law is quite specific in regard to both matters. A work can only be copyrighted under certain rules, one of which is that the work must contain the results of an intellectual or artistic effort. Therefore, no matter how many years how many people spend, or pay others to spend, creating a copy, per se, does not endow the creators with copyrightable protection, unless the copy has artistic merit. This can not apply in the case of typing in a copy. However a certain typesetting in a certain font, etc. COULD BE copyrighted on the basis of artistic merit but probably not in the case of using widespread computerized fonts to copy text already in the public domain. With modern scanners, now no less inexpensive than an XT-type computer, most books can be scanned in less than a week - to effectively eliminate the labor value of the person who typed a book for ten years (I would like to know what book it was, and was it just copying or was the author actually composing - which makes it copyrightable on that merit - and how many megabytes did the finished work take? This is interested to me in the extreme, as I spent years typing in books for our electronic library, before scanners came along and reduced the 20 months of labor I spent on one 3.3M book to about one month, including proofreading). At any rate, one of the largest issues under discussion is the desire to get copyright protection for works which are in the public domain and have been- translated?!? into machine readable texts. Even if such a work were allowed copyright protection for artistic merit, all one would have to do to create? a newly copyrightable copy would be to change the font. There was a similar issue once created in respect to WordCrucher(TM) in which it was argued that a text prepared with WordCruncher was protected under WordCruncher's program copyright. Needless to say, this did not take much effort (though the usual legal delay) to solve, as this precedent would allow any word processor that same right to demand a royalty for any file created with it. Enough for now. I would like to hear why so many are against having machine readable texts of public domain materials easily and cheaply available. Michael S. Hart <HART@UICUVME.BITNET> From: <BURT@BRANDEIS> Subject: Soviet Georgian fonts for the Macintosh Date: Tue, 14 Nov 89 20:08 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1225 (1553) Stephen Miller of the Oxford University Computing Service asked for information about fonts for the Soviet Georgian alphabet. There are a number of fonts for the Mac available in that alphabet. Further information can be sought from the author: Daniel Levy 6248 Adobe Circle Road South Irvine, CA USA 92715 Mr. Levy has made available, for some price I don't remember, a package of fonts called "MACKARTULI". I have seen output from Mr. Levy's fonts, and it is quite pretty. I haven't used them, however. From: Joseph Raben <JQRBH@CUNYVM> Subject: Re: 3.747 queries (124) Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 14:27:04 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1226 (1554) Years ago Wilhelm Ott at the University of Tuebingen published on a system that would handle roman and Hebrew in the same line. He might be able to supply information or leads on how to handle three languages simultaneously on a Mac. From: COLAN@ecs.umass.edu Subject: Hypertext standardization workshop Date: Tue, 14 Nov 89 20:22:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 752 (1555) [The following has been taken with thanks from the FINEART Forum, Nov 15, 1989, Volume 3 : Number 29. --W.M.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Date 20-OCT-1989 19:48:41.19 [deleted quotation]Forwarded from laser-lovers@cs.umd.EDU Hypertext Standardization Workshop sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology National Computer Systems Laboratory [month unspecified] 16-18, 1990 Hypertext and Hypermedia technologies have reached the point where they have potential for formal standardization. A number of authors have stated requirements for hypertext standards and some have offered definitions and initial specifications for consideration. In several cases, specialized standardization efforts have already been initiated through interested organizations. The purpose of this workshop is to provide a forum for presentation of existing and proposed approaches to hypertext standardization in a setting where authors can expect immediate feedback and possible definitive action on their ideas. Workshop goals are to consider hypertext system definitions, to identify viable approaches for pursuing standards, to seek commonality among alternatives wherever possible, and to make progress towards a coordinated plan for standards development, i.e., hypertext reference model.A workshop proceedings will capture position papers provided as input, as well as the deliberations and conclusions of working groups set up in response. An additional workshop output could be the initial draft of a candida e hy pertext reference model and an organizational structure for its further development. We are seeking a small number of detailed position papers that address hypertext standardization. Papers may focus on global issues such as abstract specifications, classification schemes, interface techniques, exchange mechanisms, or discussion of which hypertext components may or may not be appropriate for standardization. Papers that propose specific requirements, definitions, or component specifications, or demonstrate how hypertext standards might interface with existing graphics, image, document, database, or language standards are also welcome. Even papers that question the wisdom of hypertext standardization or assert that standardization is premature are welcome. Papers with general interest and substantial content will be selected for preplenary session and be the subject of a follow-on working group session. Other contributions will be identified for discussion and consideration by one or more working groups. Papers, or detailed abstracts, should be submitted before December 8, 1989, to: Hypertext Standardization Workshop Attn: Leonard Gallagher National Institute of Standards and Technology Technology Bldg 225, Room A-266 Gaithersburg, MD 20899 Telephone: 301-975-3251 Facsimile: 301-590-0932 E-mail: gallagher@ise.ncsl.nist.gov Authors of papers selected for presentation at the plenary session will be notified by December 21, 1989. All other contributions will be identified in a document register and made available for working group discussions. Workshop sessions will be held at NIST in the main Administration building. All parties interested in Hypertext/Hypermedia standardization are urged to attend. Participants must register in advance for this workshop and pay a modest registration fee to cover meeting expenses. Registration details will be provided in a separate announcement, but interested parties may write to the above address or contact Dan Benigni at 301-975-3266 or Jean Baronas at 301-975-3338. NIST is located in Gaithersburg, MD about 15 miles North of Washington, DC on Interstate 270 and 45 to 55 minutes driving distance from any of the three Washington/Baltimore area airports. A number of hotels ranging from very economical to full business class are located nearby. From: uunet!flash.bellcore.com!amsler (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Re: `pure' text Date: Tue, 14 Nov 89 18:01:56 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 753 (1556) And what is `pure text' format. Having spent many days now trying to convert a key-punched text from the 1960s into some semblance of contemporary keyboarding practice, I am curious where this guide to how to keyboard `pure text' exists? For example, the text in question contained footnotes. The keyboarders didn't know what to do with them, so they put them in the text at exactly the point on the physical page where the footnote started far removed from the point of citation, in mid-sentence at the bottom of the appropriate column. There was no mark in the text nor on the footnote to note that these were footnotes at all. Headings are likewise just typed in as text. No conventions on line breaks, blank lines, etc. were followed. Determining that these were headings is thus not at all mechanical. Then there is the punctuation. " stood for opening and closing quotes; but to help in subsequent analysis all punctuation was typed in separated by blanks from the surrounding words. For commas, periods, etc this is not a problem--but for quotes it is impossible to tell whether they are attached to the preceding or following text. This `pure' text also deleted all --'s; a small loss, but without any indication these parenthetical comments lose their distinguishability. There there are symbols and foreign letters. C cedilla's, acute and grave accents on foreign words. What is the `pure text' version of these? Does one translate u umlaut into u", ue, {u"}, @Ovp{"}u or just u? How should one encode the degree symbol as in 32 degrees. Perhaps everything should be spelled out rather than special symbols used? They did this with %, but not with degrees, nor fractions. So... where is the keyboarder's guide to `pure text'? Perhaps, `pure text' is what an OCR system would produce from a document.... That is of course just another big problem. How does the OCR system scan columns? What about thin lines between different stories on a newspaper page? Captions for photos? I guess I just don't know what `pure text' looks like. Does `pure text' mean we translate % into `per cent'? I think I'd prefer anything BUT `pure' text. I'd prefer some type well-documented format, with all the conventions noted for anything that was outside ASCII. With stated conventions for super/sub scripts, fractions, formulae, headings in differing point sizes (esp. where the point size indicated the level of heading), listing of special symbols, notes on footnotes, and the dozens of other things that I haven't specified. Please no more `pure' text. It is too non-standard. From: "Richard C. Taylor" <6297TAYLORR@MUCSD> Subject: Amber stone? Date: Tue, 14 Nov 89 10:16:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 754 (1557) This is a note to the several medievalists I know on HUMANIST and any other Latinists who might be able to offer a suggestion. I've run across the term, LAPIS RETITUS, which in the context seems to be an amber stone, since when motion is transferred to it (apparently by rubbing) it does not itself move but it does cause motion in straw (it attracts it). I assume this RETITUS is from REDO and so means something such a stone which draws things back to it. Still, I'd like to know whether anyone has run across this or might have some suggestions as to where I might look for help. Thanks much. Dick Taylor Philosophy Dept. Marquette University BITNET: "6297TAYL@MUCSD" From: Thomas Zielke <113355@DOLUNI1> Subject: Re: 3.746 user-support and its support (216) Date: Thu, 16 Nov 89 11:19:50 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1227 (1558) Well, almost every point brought up in the mailing I'm referring to seemed VERY familiar to me, especially when Susan Kruse mentioned about herself being regarded inferior by some staff members. I can remember one event when my boss and I were talking to somebody who did some family research on his own without being a historian and without academic training. That man had very good material at hand which he was willing to give us for further research, and when I was just talking to him about his data files, how he had managed to get into the machine etc., I was suddenly interrupted by my boss saying: "Now let's have a few historical questions..." meaning that I of course did not know anything of history, so that it would be better if he was doing the conversation. Well, you can easily imagine how I felt, being a historian myself. I also do sometimes feel as being the "tame lackey", being the one who will always get things to do what they're supposed to do and will then please be as kind as to leave the room when HISTORY is going to be produced. Despite of these bitter feelings, I do like the job of supporting users, especially when teaching beginners how to switch on the machine, but also when power users ask me how to solve a "real" problem. I still cling to my thesis that there are no silly questions, but a lot of silly answers. But anyway, Susan's remarks brought up a serious point that I would also like to have a discussion about. How do other user support persons feel about this? In regard to the qualities a user support person should have, I think we all have by now agreed on the opinion that next to technical and academic knowledge that person should have some qualities of character like e.g politeness, the will to answer so-called silly question and the ability to give answers even understandable to beginners. Do we all agree then on the fact that a strong belief in one's own abilities and qualities is also needed, especially when being regarding as "inferior"? Yours Th. Zielke N.B. Please note that I do not yet have the degree allowing me to call myself "Dr."... From: Skip Knox <DUSKNOX@IDBSU> Subject: Re: 3.749 support of humanities computing, cont. (55) Date: Thu, 16 Nov 89 08:56:32 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1228 (1559) I have found a way to keep teaching history -- I give up a lunch hour three days a week. I have a boss in the Data Center who is willing to let me do this, and is tolerant of having students taking makup exams in my office, etc. The university as an institution, though, so far from encouraging me to do this and recognizing the value of what I am doing, periodically conducts red tape raids, requiring me to prove that I am in fact surrendering my lunch hours and not secretly robbing the taxpayers of a few extra sheckels. In those classes I have taught my course twice via Interactive Television, involving an on-campus classroom and remote sites, have used PC Storyboard as a kind of electronic blackboard in lecture, and am currently working on delivering a Renaissance class entirely by modem. And Norman Zacour is absolutely right -- all this _does_ interfere with my regular job. I would probably be some dreary percentage more efficient if I did not teach on the outside. But it's one of the reasons I stay at the university, and in many small ways I think it makes me a better support person. I just wish I could get back to my research. I can do the teaching thing because it has fixed times and institutional recognition in the form of a paycheck. Research has always been what historians do on their own time. Ellis 'Skip' Knox, Ph.D. Historian, Data Center Associate Boise State University INTERNET: DUSKNOX@IDBSU.IDBSU.EDU 1910 University Drive BITNET: DUSKNOX@IDBSU Boise, Idaho 83725 (208) 385-1315 From: Espen Ore <espeno@navf-edb-h.uib.uninett> Subject: Sanskrit etc. Date: Thu, 16 Nov 89 06:52:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1229 (1560) A friend of mine who is not connected to a network has asked me to post the following message: I am embarking on a research project where I will need a number of computer readable texts in Sanskrit, Pali and middle Indian. I would be very grateful if those of you who have such texts, would contact me. I plan to enter several texts myself, but I try to avoid "double work". When I have a better idea of what can be had from others, I would like to buy or swap texts. You can reach me through Espen Ore ESPENO@NAVF-H-EDB.UIB.UNINETT or you can write to my private address: Lars Martin Fosse Mag. Art. Haugerudvn. 76, Leil. 114 N-0674 Oslo 6 NORWAY I am looking forward to hearing from you! Lars Martin Fosse From: F.LANGLEY@hull.ac.uk Subject: Request for information on CALL Date: Thu, 16 Nov 89 07:08:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1230 (1561) COMPUTERS IN TEACHING INITIATIVE CENTRE FOR MODERN LANGUAGES In April 1989 the Computers in Teaching Initiative (CTI), which is a government-funded organisation in the United Kindom, set up a number of specialist centres to investigate and evaluate the use of computers in teaching in UK Universities. The CTI Centre for Modern Languages has responsibility for all foreign modern languages, as well as for English as a Foreign Language and, oddly, Latin and Ancient Greek. In our search for information, we wish to cast our net as wide as possible. We should be very grateful if HUMANISTs who use computers in their teaching could contact us. We would then send them a copy of our questionnaire. Please contact: Frederick Langley OR: June Thompson Department of French Information Officer University of Hull CTICML Hull University of Hull HU6 7RX Hull North Humberside HU6 7RX England North Humberside e-mail: F.LANGLEY@UK.AC.HULL England e-mail:CTI.Lang@UK.AC.HULL ANY information will be gratefully received. Thanks. From: islhad@es.uit.no Subject: RE: 3.747 queries (124) Date: Tue, 31 Oct 89 04:28:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 757 (1562) In response to Bill Purcell's inquiry about Daedalus, I'd like to report that I watched two classes using it last semester while I was on a visiting appointment at UT-Austin. And I was most impressed: I have rarely seen such engagement and activity in a writing class-- or in any class, for that matter. The interactive nature of the program is one of its most striking assets, to my mind. And I felt that the students (one graduate class and one freshman comp. class) were taking full advantage of the opportunity to comment on each other's work, revise according to suggestion, and discuss the writing process itself AS it was taking place. This suggests to me that the program is easy to teach and use--and, indeed, I learned to get around in 3 of its 6 or 7 cells in about 5 minutes. My contact with the program was, of course, too brief to allow me to comment on its longterm advantages in teaching writing. (You might want to write John Slatin in the English Dept. at UT-Austin for his comments on that--though not, perhaps, "unbiased," he has used the program a long time with different levels of classes.) But my initial impression was so positive that I wanted to record it--I've been pressing for my home institution to buy the program. Helen Aristar-Dry islhad.es.uit.no From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.748 copyright, cont. (187) Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 18:14:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 758 (1563) As one who has published several translated works, I can say that a translator cannot publish without permission from the author of the original, via his agent/publisher/and/or himself/herself. Permission to publish a copyrighted work in one's translation is given via a contract with royalties or fees provided to author of the original via his representatives...if the original work is in the language of a country that has joined the Berne International Copyright Covention. Iran has not, for instance, so my Persian translation of Forugh Farrokhzad did not have to go through the Estate of the family. I suppose the murky area is the "publication" via e-mail or modem of others' copyrighted property. E-mail is letter mail, so it would be private, as it were. Reproduction and dissemination are violations of copyright, as if you sell or give out tapes you have pirated from the air, of Sergiu Chelibidake, say, who does not record. Theft, pinching, copying, massaging, etcetera. I have colleagues who make in excess of 100K$ a year advising lawyers about plagiarized texts that are made into tv or movie offerings. It is a big business, Hollywood plagiarism. But everyone knows that a thief is a thief..proving it is court stuff and takes cash. But we Humanists know the difference between creating a text and "producing" a text that has a prior incarnation, even if only 10% of it has been retained, or 1%! I hope we know the difference. The rest is weaseling and rationalizing. Kessler at UCLA here. From: <BCJ@PSUVM> Subject: multimedia in the media Date: Fri, 17 Nov 89 19:31:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1231 (1564) Earlier this week, the _Wall Street Journal_ ran an article in Paul B. Carroll's *Technology* section that Humanists might find interesting: *`Multimedia' Doubters Taught a Thing or Two* Are "Multimedia" applications for real? Multimedia -- a term used to designate a way for computers to combine all sorts of media -- such as video, graphics, and audio -- has been touted as the next revolution in personal computing. But at the recent Agenda '90 personal computer conference near San Diego, the talk round the pool was whether anyone had actually seen a good multimedia application, or whether it was just another buzzword. So when Robert Winter, a goateed professor of music history at UCLA, took to the podium to demonstrate a multimedia application, the audience was skeptical. But by the end of the demonstration, Mr. Winter had much of the group on its feet clapping. He used a technology that was deceptively simple--a Macintosh and a CD-Rom disk drive, a form of compact disk player, hooked up to the meeting room's speaker system. To run the setup, Mr. Winter had written an application using HyperCard, Apple Computer Inc.'s popular, all-purpose programming tool. With this conglomeration, he gave the group of 350 a lesson about Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Mr. Winter started by calling up biographical tidbits on Beethoven but quickly showed that there were lots of ways to navigate through the program, published by Voyager Co. of Santa Monica, Calif. An outline of the symphony's major themes had music attached so someone could click the Macintosh's mouse on the items in the outline and hear, perhaps, how a theme was restated as the opus progressed. Program notes could be made to appear that would provide a running commentary -- including or excluding such detail as changes in key. Clicking the mouse on an obscure term would call up a definition from the program's glossary. And so forth. Skepticism remains, of course. After all, the enthusiastic Mr. Winter can't be packaged in every multimedia kit. More important, larger-scale applications, such as those hypothesized for schools, remain unproven. Still, "a lot of people left that room feeling like they finally understood what multimedia was about," says Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corp. From: SVAF524@UTXVM.BITNET Subject: Comments of H. Aristar-Dry Date: Friday, 17 November 1989 3:54pm CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1232 (1565) I would like to echo the comments of Helen Aristar-Dry on the Daedalus materials. While here at UTexas, I have taken a graduate seminar with John Slatin (it was, I believe, the very course Dr. Aristar-Dry observed last Spring). The set-up is most impressive; our class "discussions" took place almost completely on-line (and, incidentally, I retain to this day disk versions of all the class sessions--a unique possibility, to say the least). Pete Smith, who works in Dept. of Slavic Langs. UT-Austin From: Wujastyk (on GEC 4190 Rim-D at UCL) <UCGADKW@EUCLID.UCL.AC.UK> Subject: Sanskrit texts in machine readable form Date: Fri, 17 Nov 89 10:03 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1233 (1566) Several Sanskrit texts are available in machine readable form from the Oxford Text Archive. These include some passages from Kalidasa's Kumarasambhava, the Bhagavadgita, the Rgveda and the Brahmapurana. Prof. P. Schreiner, newly appointed Prof. and head of Sanskrit at Zurich Univ., has keyed a large number of Sanskrit texts, including the Visnupurana, parts of Manu, Sakuntala, and several other texts. A project to create a "Thesaurus Linguae Sanskritae" has been started at the University of Texas at Austin, under the guidance of Prof. R. Lariviere. That project hopes to be able to provide machine readable texts of the Mahabharata and Ramayana in the next year or so. Prof. R. E. Emmerick, Prof. of Iranian Studies at the Univ. of Hamburg, is supervising a project to key the major Sanskrit medical encyclopaedias. I believe Caraka, Susruta, and both the Astangahrdaya and Astangasamgraha have been done (or are close to completion), and of course the Siddhasara of Ravigupta. Other texts are floating around, ususally as the result of indiviual study. A central clearing house is obviously much needed. One cannot legislate on these matters, obviously, especially since the efforts are multinational. But I would suggest that the Oxford Archive and the Texas project are the two most useful sources of such centralized information as exists. Best of luck, and please reciprocate by keeping Oxford and Texas informed of what you are doing, or what you find. Dominik From: Wilhelm Ott <ZRSZOT1@DTUZDV2> Subject: re: 3.751 mixing fonts Date: 19 November 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1234 (1567) By mentioning my name, Joseph Raben urges me to break my silence regarding queries on mixing fonts. He is right: in TUSTEP, we handle more than one font in a line. At the moment, these are latin (including all diacritics occuring - and those not occuring in normal texts, like "m umlaut" or other combinations needed for some purpose - in languages basically using the latin alphabet), greek (with breathings and accents), coptic, hebrew (with vowel signs), cyrillic, syriac, IPA phonetics. Further fonts (like arabic, old church slavonic) will follow, according to the needs of our users and their willingness to invest some time in helping us to develop them. - The fonts are available only for use within TUSTEP. Internally, TUSTEP uses a "font shift" code (e.g., "#g+" and "#g-" for "begin and end greek font"), and a transliteration which uses non-national use ISO 646 characters only, and which maps the characters according to the layout of the respective national typewriter keyboard (as for greek) or to a "phonetic" transcription widely adopted (as for cyrillic). Therefore, the number of characters available in one line is not limited to 256 or below. Hebrew and syriac texts are typed in from left to right, as one would do when transcribing them using latin characters; they are reversed only for printing or viewing on the screen. This allows the user to input, correct and process his texts on any terminal (including EBCDIC terminals connected to a mainframe; on these terminals, he has, however, no chance to see hebrew from right to left and in hebrew characters, as he sees it on the PC). TUSTEP is not available for the Macintosh; it runs under MVS, VM/CMS, VMS, MS-DOS. BS2000 and UNIX are planned next. The silence I kept hitherto is due to the fact that there are some obstacles for TUSTEP to be present more internationally: it speaks German only. Though we have begun to translate the user documentation into English, the programs still speak German. A second reason is that the documentation mentioned is not a self-teaching text, but a reference book. I hope that also this will change in near future - we have begun to write an introductory text; but, since our mother language is German, also this text will first be available in German. A second reason for not intervening earlier is that, though handling of fonts is a necessary feature of a package like TUSTEP, it is not its main concern. Wilhelm Ott, Univ. of Tuebingen <ZRSZOT1 at DTUZDV2> From: "Matthew Gilmore, Special Collections GW" <LIBRSPE@GWUVM> Subject: correction Date: Fri, 17 Nov 89 01:50:49 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1235 (1568) [Apparently the notice about the Hypertext Standardization Workshop was damaged in transit. Please note the following correction. Strangely, my files show the correct address. --W.M.] Vol 3 No. 752 of Humanist has an error worth correcting. The address of the contactee for the Hypertext Standardization Workshop is gallagher@ise.ncsl.nist.gov. Without that last v mail goes nowhere (I tried). Matthew From: Espen Ore <espeno@navf-edb-h.uib.uninett> Subject: Sanskrit etc. Date: Fri, 17 Nov 89 03:07:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1236 (1569) In the posting from Lars Martin Fosse yesterday my E-mail address was wrong. This is the correct one: ESPENO@NAVF-EDB-H.UIB.UNINETT From: bobh@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Robert Hollander) Subject: Date: Fri, 17 Nov 89 00:39:56 -0500 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1237 (1570) NEWS RELEASE 11/11/89 CENTER FOR MACHINE-READABLE TEXTS IN THE HUMANITIES Rutgers and Princeton Universities have received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (Program for Research Tools, $30,000), the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation ($50,000), and the New Jersey Committee for the Humanities ($10,000) to undertake jointly the planning for a Center for Machine-Readable Texts in the Humanities. Project staff include Marianne Gaunt (Director), J. Penny Small, Kathleen Ciociola (Rutgers); Robert Hollander, Judith Rowe (Princeton); Leslie Hume (Research Libraries Group). Members of the Advisory Board for the planning process are Nancy Ide, Vassar College; Robert Kraft, University of Pennsylvania; Michael Sperberg-McQueen, University of Illinois-Chicago; Donald Walker, Bellcore. During the course of the planning period project staff will be investigating issues related to the establishment of a cooperative center which will act as a central source of information on humanities datafiles and a selective source of datafiles themselves. The initial goals of the Center as outlined in the project proposal are: the continuation of an on-going inventory of machine-readable texts; the cataloging and dissemination of inventory information to the broader scholarly community; the acquisition, preservation and servicing of textual datafiles which would otherwise become generally unavailable; the distribution of such datafiles in an appropriate manner; and the establishment of a resource center/referral point for information concerning other textual data. Organizational issues, technical issues, intellectual ownership, access and dissemination, and physical facilities are broad areas of investigation during the planning process. The Center does not propose to duplicate the archives and repositories that already exist for the collection and dissemination of textual data, but rather to complement existing collections and to bring bibliographic controlto existing datafiles. To that end project staff will be networking with existing projects/centers to establish appropriate means of collecting inventory data for the cataloging of archival holdings. Progress reports will be sent to publications of scholarly associations and announced on HUMANIST. A listserver has also been set up for communication among those interested in the project and invites inquiry and advice. Bitnet communications may be sent to Gaunt@Zodiac.Rutgers.edu or to BobH@Phoenix.Princeton.edu. Mail addresses are: Marianne Gaunt, Alexander Library, Rutgers University, College Ave., New Brunswick, N.J. 08903; Prof. Robert Hollander, Dept. of Comparative Literature, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. 08544. From: Kristin Natvig 047 05 212954 FAFKN at NOBERGEN Subject: Date: 16 November 89, 14:27:44 EMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1238 (1571) THE NORWEGIAN WITTGENSTEIN PROJECT REPORT 1988 (in English) A 282-page report on the Norwegian Wittgenstein Project has recently been published by the Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities. The aim of the Norwegian Wittgenstein Project (NWP) is to register in machine-readable form the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein's posthumous works, comprising approximately 20,000 pages, and to develop tools for computer-assisted research and analysis of the texts. The project was started in 1980. It is a co-operative venture between the departments of philosophy at Norway's four universities and the Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities. It has been funded exclusively from Norwegian sources, mainly by the Norwegian Research Council for the Humanities. By the end of 1987, the NWP had transcribed approximately 3,250 pages. In order to transcribe Wittgenstein's extremely complex writings, it has been necessary to devise a special code system. Computer programs for code syntax check, transcription support, indexing, and print outs have been developed. The basic idea behind the system is to allow for different "views" to the writings, by offering various "filtering profiles" for the presentation of texts, indexes, frequency word-lists, and the like. A prototype of a free text retrieval program offering the same choice of filtering profiles has also been developed. By the end of 1987, the project was suspended, basically for two reasons: (1) The NWP has no formal agreement with Wittgenstein's literary executors which allows for the distribution of copies, and without such an agreement it has proved difficult to find anyone who will finance a completion of the project. (2) In 1984, the NWP received copies in the excess of 4,000 pages of additional transcriptions from one of the leaders of a similar project in Tuebingen, which was discontinued in 1980. The NWP's right to receive and possess this material has been disputed. Members of the project are still trying to solve these problems, so that the work may continue. "The Norwegian Wittgenstein Project Report 1988" costs 150 NOK (about $21 or 13 pounds sterling) plus postage. Postage rates: Europe: surface mail - 34 NOK, air mail - 60 NOK. Overseas: surface mail - 34 NOK, air mail - 60 NOK. Postage rates for 2 or more copies supplied on request. Orders must be pre-paid by cheque to cover the cost of the report(s) plus postage and made out in Norwegian currency. When ordering, please supply your name (signature + in block capitals), address, and date of order. Indicate whether you want the report(s) sent by surface mail or air mail. Please send your order + cheque to: The Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities Postboks 53 - Universitetet N-5027 Bergen Norway Tel.: + 47 5 212954 Fax: + 47 5 322656 E-mail: FAFKN@NOBERGEN.EARN From: JLD1@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: HUMANIST: text database program Date: Fri, 17 Nov 89 10:34:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1239 (1572) Readers may be interested in a program called MUSCAT (standing for MUSeum CATaloguing program) which is a free-format textual database program allowing arbitrary-length fields in any order, and also allowing for absence of particular fields. The input file is an ordinary readable, editable ASCII text, with fields marked by *letter or *word, and structured fields are possible. There is also a built-in subset called MUSCATEL, which makes life easier for elementary use. The output formatting facilities are superb (the text-format input has to be converted into an internal structured form before processing, of course), and retrieval requests can be quite complex. The program is available for PC-compatibles and for some mainframes, from Dr Martin Porter, 137 Rupert Street, Norwich NR2 2AX, UK. Phone: (0603) 665002. Price unknown. John Dawson (University of Cambridge Computing Service) From: "[DCGQAL]A0234" <XB.DAS@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: [DCGQAL]A0234!Hypertext Workshop Date: Fri, 17 Nov 89 12:30:09 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1240 (1573) On the Hypertext Standardization Workshop... The coincidence of dates (although the month is unspecified) and the organizing association would suggest that the hypertext workshop might be planned to take place in conjunction with the International Conference on Electronic Publishing: Document Manipulation and Typography, scheduled for 18-20 September 1990 and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, M.D. Further information may be had by calling Lawrence A. Welsch (301) 975-3345. Cordially, Chet Grycz Scholarship and Technology Study Project From: "[DCGQAL]A0234" <XB.DAS@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: Copyright: Robert John Kost, "Useright" Date: Fri, 17 Nov 89 17:48:22 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1241 (1574) I'm pleased to have received permission from Robert Kost to share with you the text of the paper he presented to the members of the Library of Congress Network Advisory Committee on the subject of copyright. Kost is counsel for "Prodigy Services Company," and can be reached at the following address. I would be happy to forward comments from HUMANIST that his article might generate. Czeslaw Jan Grycz ----- ----- ----- [This paper is based on a presentation given on March 24, 1988, at the meeting of the Library of Congress Network Advisory Committee. The opinions expressed herein are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of either the Office of Technology Assessment or Prodigy Services Company. The author would appreciate the courtesy of notification of any use or reproduction of this paper.] -------------------- [A complete version of Kost's lecture is now available on the file-server, s.v. COPYWRIT LECTURE. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: "[DCGQAL]A0234" <XB.DAS@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: [DCGQAL]A0234!Copyright Date: Fri, 17 Nov 89 12:31:12 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 762 (1575) On the issue of copyright... Very complex issues, indeed. Part of the concern seems to arise from the present identification of intellectual work as "property." This attitude gives rise to the idea that duplicating or replicating private property is unlawful. On the other hand, we clearly know the economic rule that when money changes hands, most often it presumes a taxable situation, on the grounds that it is in the transfer of capital that economic expansion and growth is most visible. This theory very much holds true in information exchange, especially in the electronic environment. Rather than penalize and restrict the transfer of information, we need to develop a copyright scheme that provides incentives for copying and adding value to scholarly material. The more we move information in that manner, the greater likelihood is there that members of a foreseeable "national educational electronic network" will benefit. Such an attitude also fosters a synergy among scholars which ought to be quite welcome. Michael Hart's question: "I would like to hear why so many are against having machine-readable texts of public domain materials easily and cheaply available." points to the heart of the question. Our concept of labor in transcribing material into machine-readable form is based on the protections appropriate to the physical publishing artifact. To be extremist about it (and I know what dangers that involves with this group) it might be suggested that putting things into machine-readable form is not a sufficiently great scholarly contribution to merit reward or protection. Yes, it does take an enormous amount of time and assumes considerable editorial judgement and reconciliation. Ultimately, however, the community benefits from the existence of the texts. And it is upon the basis of the availability of the texts that real scholarly contributions can be made. This suggests a kind of altruism for those who prepare and mount electronic versions of texts. So be it. There is an excellent article on the subject of whether our current copyright laws can, in fact, be transported to the electronic medium. It appears it cannot (at least from the demonstrable violations of the law in practice). Robert Kost, has provided a theoretical model that provides incentives for copying, and shows how the model would not only turn our present views of copyright 180o, but can be implemented to work for everyone's benefit. His article is entitled "UseRight" and appears in the Network Planning Papers of the Network Development and Marc Standards Office, Number 17, 1989, entitled "Intellectual Property Issues in the Library Network Context: Proceedings of the Library of Congress Network Advisory Committee Meeting, March 23-25, 1988." I have written off to Robert asking for permission to transcribe his article for the purposes of mounting it on HUMANIST. [Editor's note: This has been done, as announced in the previous number of Humanist, s.v., COPYWRIT LECTURE. --W.M.] Cordially, Chet Grycz Scholarship and Technology Study Project From: "James H. Coombs" <JAZBO@BROWNVM> Subject: Re: user-support Date: Fri, 17 Nov 89 01:04:39 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1242 (1576) I have only scanned the postings on this topic. I have some experience in this area, however, so I will offer my perspective. Stand up and be free. The decision is yours. --Dr. Jim Dr. James H. Coombs Senior Software Engineer, Research Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship (IRIS) Brown University, Box 1946 Providence, RI 02912 jazbo@brownvm.bitnet From: <S_RICHMOND@UTOROISE> Subject: COMPUTER SUPPORT PERSONNEL AND ACADEMIA Date: Fri, 17 Nov 89 13:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1243 (1577) Computer Support Personnel and Academics -------------------------------------------- The question of whether academics should hire computer support from the ranks of under-employed Ph.D.'s is misleading. The basic question is who will provide the best computer support, Ph.D's who have learned the tricks of the computing trade, or professional computer support people? Suppose a university hires an under-employed Ph.D. for computer support because that person has learned something about computers and deserves sympathy, if not the complete respect owed to Ph.D.'s who have won the race for finding regular academic positions due to merit and excellent scholarship? Is that university making a wise choice? Yes, if that Ph.D. knows how to deal with professors as people with their individual phobias, and idiosyncracies. However, No, if that Ph.D. is a closet snob who does not treat all people with equal respect and understanding. If she wants in her heart of hearts to be treated as Professor, Dr. Important, who really deserves an office in the Department of Higher Knowledge, and several thousands in research grants, with a dozen of Ph.D. candidates to find footnotes for her research articles, just like Dr. Supreme, it is unlikely she will be a good computer support person just as it is unlikely that Dr. Supreme is a good teacher. Let's take a step back, and consider the prior question: Who contributes to the growth of knowledge? Is it academics only? People who write and research often earn their living in various strange ways. One of the stranger is teaching and administration (i.e. Departmental Chairs, Deans...). Many people who are teachers and chairpersons in universities complain that they have no time for writing, and research... and that the journals refuse to publish good articles, only those that are hackneyed or by friends (so much for 'blind reviewing'). It is true that extra-academics who do write and research have to find cracks and corners in their normal 40hr+ work week to pursue their hobby; but so do stamp-collectors, skiers, musicians and poets. I'm sure we can think of many great contributions by extra-academic researchers, poets, and musicians. The question is: does academia actually support ground-breaking research? Or, is the stuff published by academics, by and large, of the puzzle-solving, nit-picking variety of research as opposed to the leading ideas in the pursuit of advancing knowledge? We all know that among those who are the leading contributers to intellectual life are academics, researchers at private labs such as Bell, Xerox, IBM..., and private scholars. Would these people have made the contributions they did make regardless of their type of employment? ------------------------ Sheldon Richmond From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.749 support of humanities computing, cont. (55) Date: Fri, 17 Nov 89 13:19:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1244 (1578) One has to smile at all the talk about getting the Academy to do something for Humanists. The English Department at UCLA is, as one of the major departments in the usa still without computers or terminals, no nuttin, for 90% of its professors, full and/or assistant, etc. Promised for 4 years, but not delivered. In fact, those with the least publication are the ones supplied with equipment, by some strange rationale, or rationalization. UCLA has recently completed a 380 million$ fundraiser, for instruction and research and teaching needs. But are there computers for humanists/ No, for sociology and history and etc, but never for the humanist. If one didnt spend for oneself, one never had so much as a typewriter available! Values! my dear colleagues, values! But not to despair: in my own case I suppose that the wait from the age of 55-65 will eventuate in keyboard about the time that one contemplates easing off. I was given a computer table, though! and it occupies space that longs for a connection to somewhere! So if people are poorly off in Hull, say, think of what it is like to be at a very rich place such as University of California and to see everyone, from janitors up with terminals, but not computers. Galling? Entertaining? Kessler@UCLA From: "Wayne Tosh / English--SCSU / St Cloud, MN 56301" <WAYNE@MSUS1> Subject: request for info: G. Miro & Mouse Write Date: Thu, 16 Nov 89 23:28:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1245 (1579) I'm looking for leads in locating information on a product and its creator. Is anyone familiar with Mouse Write, used, I understand, with Yiddish? Where can it be obtained? Does anyone know how I can get in touch with Gabi Miro? Anyone have an address or phone number? Thanks. From: Michael W Jennings <MWJENNIN@PUCC> Subject: daedalus Date: Fri, 17 Nov 89 09:15:55 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1246 (1580) I seem to have missed a step. What exactly is Daedalus? I take it to be networked software that permits sharing and revision of student writing. If this is the case, can someone tell me what kinds of machines it runs on, price, and availability? Mike Jennings German Princeton University From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: more about the support of humanities computing Date: 20 November 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1247 (1581) In the ongoing conversation about the support of computing by non-tenured scholars, a distinction needs to be drawn between real and imagined injustice. Mr. Richmond has written about the injustice imagined by those greedy for status but lacking in the qualities that would earn them what they think they deserve. The world would certainly be a much simpler, more comprehensible, and in some ways kinder place if indeed the only injustices were imaginary and were all due to the greed of the unworthy. Like Job before God made that nasty deal with Satan, we could all then relax in the righteousness of our institutions. Reality intrudes, however, and those who tend to feel it most are those least protected by tenure and by the conviction of their own unworthiness. Among such people whom I know few, if any, want to be swaggering lords. Most if not all of them simply want to get on with the work that they have been certified for and which they love. One set of interests are well served by the legalistic approach to the problem, which holds that the incumbent of a user-support job, whatever his or her scholarly interests, takes money to support users and so had better shut up and get on with the work. Even if enlightened self-interest is all we've got, still it makes sense to provide for the professional development of Ph.D.s who happen -- note well the neutral expression -- to be supporting the computing needs of others much like themselves in every way except one. The basic problem is the waste of human potential that is endemic to a situation in which involvement with computing means nothing, or less than nothing, to hiring, promotion, and tenure-review committees. People will lust after status, whether they happen to have tenure or not. It is much kinder and more productive to see in the complaints of the unjustly treated a general problem that afflicts humanities computing, indeed the academy as a whole. We still tend to assume that having ideas is nobler that making things. For some of us, however, ideas come about or become real in the making of things. Forgive me for oversimplifying the Platonic argument, but I wish to put the finger on a deeply rooted prejudice that technically competent academics frequently encounter. Our suspicion of techne (craft, skill) is not without justification, of course, but I think that the whole of humanities computing unjustly suffers from the notion that we are carriers out of other people's ideas, mere intellectual mechanics, and so are necessarily lesser beings. One likely assumption here is that ideas can exist independent of things, and so are more pure when free from them. The notion inherent in humanities computing, it seems to me, is that things (such as computer programs) are the medium of ideas, the means of discovering and clarifying them. If what I say is true, then it is especially important that those whom we pay to support humanities computing are themselves thinkers. In our workshop everyone has his or her hands on the tools! As for professional status, perhaps two models are possible: (1) the union model, in which we define yet another kind of staff position, for a `humanities computing specialist', who is a kind of softened applications programmer; (2) the collegial model, in which we make an official place not only for the non-tenurable computing humanist but also for the many other academically trained employees of research projects and institutes that have proliferated, at least in N. America, in recent years. I have in mind a parallel stream to the teaching professoriate. The first almost certainly would not favour the person's pursuit of research problems, rather the imitative study of what others are doing, what software is popular, and so what "customers" are likely to need. The second would be far more difficult to institute but would, it seems to me, be better for all in the long run. Who would occupy the trenches? Those in training for other things, or those with no particular academic interests. Comments? Yours, Willard McCarty From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Professional malaise (re 3.755 user-support, cont.) Date: Mon, 20 Nov 89 05:29:51 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1248 (1582) Willard McCarty's thoughtful response to an original posting asking for guidance on formulating the job requirements for a humanities computing position warned of professional tensions when a humanist takes up a computing support position. Follow-on discussion seems to verify that point, as evidenced by these exerpts: --- Thomas Zielke <113355@DOLUNI1> wrote: I also do sometimes feel as being the "tame lackey", being the one who will always get things to do what they're supposed to do and will then please be as kind as to leave the room when HISTORY is going to be produced. Despite...these bitter feelings, I do like the job of supporting users....[but think] a strong belief in one's own abilities and qualities is also needed, especially when being regard[ed] as "inferior"... --- end of quoted material --- --- Skip Knox <DUSKNOX@IDBSU> wrote: The university as an institution, though, so far from encouraging me to [teach one history course on lunch hours] and recognizing the value of what I am doing, periodically conducts red tape raids, requiring me to prove that I am in fact surrendering my lunch hours and not secretly robbing [time from the 'real' job.] --- end of quoted material --- These comments reflect conflict between the institution's definition of a role and the desired professional identification of the individual filling it. While I admire the individuals who are struggling to maintain their own sense of professional identity as humanist/scholars in the face of incomprehension or hostility, I would like to suggest both institution and humanities computing folk may be better served by creating an alternative conception of a profession and career. "Front line" computing support has a wholly deserved reputation as a burn-out position, requiring a great deal of expertise which, however, is too often used not to create something new and valuable, but to uncover and ameliorate the mistakes of others. (Providing instruction to others is another matter; like other teaching, it has many rewards.) Providing generic computing support to humanists no less than to the academic population as a whole risks degenerating to mutual frustration: the user insecure in seeking favors from a sphinx-like priest of computing; the support person bored and pieved at the apparent arrogance of users demanding magic solutions (often to problems they have brought upon themselves). So how can an institution provide the knowlegeable support staff needed and how can the humanist (or for that matter the sociologist or chemist in an analogous position) derive genuine professional satisfaction? Suppose the conception of the humanities computing position is broadened to include professional service the whole length of the intersection between humanities and computing: productivity applications; software and hardware review; evaluation, and standardization; providing instruction in computing relevant to the needs of humanists; support in computer-based research from the design phase on; development of instructional applications; securing external support for innovative projects; serving as an advocate of the humanities to other parts of the computing establishment; presenting and publishing projects, etc. Such a broadened conception would provide creative outlets for a wide range of abilities of humanists, and enhance the humanities at the institution far more than the ad hoc problem solving method of support. It would, in short, be a fully professional pursuit--not the same as that of the tenure-track teaching faculty in the traditional departments, but with its own scope for professional development, creativity, collegiality, and the like. Some humanists who find themsevles in a computing support role will, understandably, not want to abandon the more usual professional identification: 'I am a philosopher [medievalist, artist,...] who happens to be a computing support role, and I want to be accorded the respect and rewards of a faculty member in the philosophy [history, art,...] department.' Well, what is the difference between this situation and my graduate school friends who have become industrial chemists, bankers, and the like, but occasionally go to a conference or read through the literature of the disciplines in which they have degrees? It's not impossible of course to pursue different professional goals simultaneously but few will be able to maintain plausible professional credentials in such a time-sharing arrangement. The risk is a bitterness about one's fate which is ultimately unproductive for both employer and employee. The original request had to do with formulating a position description to support computing in the humanities at an institution. I believe the institution would be best served by recognizing the full scope of professional computing-related activity which could benefit the humanities, and seeking someone who is aware of and excited by the prospects of applying computing in the humanities and who can work with faculty, students, adminsitration and staff to foster the humanities. I trust that with such recognition on the part of the institution would also come a recognition of the institutional support required (equipment, staff, budgets, etc)! From: islhad@es.uit.no Subject: RE: 3.764 MouseWrite? G. Miro? Daedalus? (46) Date: Mon, 20 Nov 89 08:07:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1249 (1583) In answer to Michael Jennings' inquiry about Daedalus, let me add the little I know about machines and pricing. I believe I saw it running on IBM machines--at least, I remember that the UTexas computer lab was endowed by IBM Corp., so it follows! And, last spring when I inquired the price of the program, I was told it was around $5000--remarkably inexpensive it seemed to me at the time, for what it seems to do. This does not, of course, include the cost of networking the machines. In addition to John Slatin, whom I mentioned last time as a satisfied user, you might want to contact one of the developers: Col. Hugh Burns, who runs the Air Force Human Resources Lab in San Antonio and knows all there is to know about the program. Unfortunately, I don't have an e-mail address for him; but if anyone is seriously interested it might be worth a phonecall to get it: (512) 536-2981. [Burns' number]. Or perhaps another Humanist can give a fuller, more up-to-date description than I have. . . . Helen Aristar-Dry U. of Tromsoe From: Jan Thomas <ACC00JMT@UNCCVM> Subject: Re: 3.747 queries (124) Date: Mon, 20 Nov 89 12:13:42 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1250 (1584) I would be more than happy to supply these folks with copies of some of our tutorials. As you know, we developed them in an effort to save ourselves from being stretched way too thinly. We are currently putting them together in WordPerfect format on the Mac. If they are interested, just let me know and I get provide them with copies. jan From: Tom Nimick <0632281@PUCC> Subject: 3.681 standards for character sets (92) Date: Mon, 20 Nov 89 08:42:48 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1251 (1585) REPLY TO 11/01/89 20:51 FROM MCCARTY@VM.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA "Willard McCarty": 3.681 standards for character sets (92) Based on the response to Michael Sperberg-Mcqueen's posting about fonts and character sets, my field of Chinese Studies is not well represented in the readership of Humanist. I feel that a full set of Chinese characters is essential to at least ninety percent of the people in the field of Chinese studies and is important for people studying Japanese history as well. Therefore I feel that a two-byte standard or a new standard with a greater number of bits is essential. Scholars of East Asia need to be able to cite texts that use a full range of Chinese characters in their publication and scholarly correspondence. As things stand now, an electronic journal for Chinese studies must necessarily exclude many kinds of scholarship and all citations of sources. Romanization is barely adequate for materials in the colloquial style of Chinese that has been increasingly used since the May Fourth movement in 1919. The dominant forms of romanization, Wade-Giles and Pinyin, are usually used without any indication of tone, which is an integral part of every Chinese syllable. When tone indication is desired it is usually done with diacritics, which are difficult to represent with the current minimum character sets. For those who are concerned about an occasional diacritic, imagine the problem where ninety-five percent of the syllables need diacritics. There is a romanization that represents tone with spelling changes, Gwoyeu Romatzyh or National Romanization, but it is not widely known. Even if there were an adequate standard romanization, that would still not be adequate to represent the written idiom usually called Classical Chinese. This term is misleading because this idiom has been used in a variety of styles as the exclusive form of scholarly discourse up to 1919 and may still be encountered today. This written idiom depends upon graphic representation for meaning; it cannot be adequately represented in phonetic transcription. Therefore, any character set without a full set of Chinese characters will be a grossly inadequate tool for most people in Chinese Studies and for Chinese scholars in a number of other fields. Back in June and July, in the flurry of activity on the computer bulletin board on China, there was a discussion of just this problem and experiments using Pinyin with and without diacritics to communicate in Chinese. The results were almost unintelligible and not well received. Now that the links to Japan and Taiwan (and some minimal links to the PRC mostly for scientific correspondence) are in place, the need for a more adequate character set can only increase. Tom Nimick Graduate Student in Chinese History, Princeton University From: db <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: 3.758 plagarism, cont. (35) Date: Sun, 19 Nov 89 04:43:23 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1252 (1586) In reply to J. Kessler pn plagarism: I do not know the difference between creating and producing a text. And every text has had a prior incarnation. I suppose that means I'm not a humanist. From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVME> Subject: Re: OBI DIGEST Date: Sun, 19 Nov 89 23:53:19 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1253 (1587) The National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts will be sponsoring a breakfast at the American Library Association meeting in Chicago. The ALA conference is the first weekend in January. Those interested in the breakfast and subsequent meetings are invited to contact: Michael S. Hart <HART@UIUCVME.BITNET> 405 West Elm St. Urbana, IL 61801 The next three ALA meetings will all be in Chicago, so we should be able to achieve a permanent operating group of those who will be creating and distributing etexts to the masses by the time ALA moves to a location in what might be a less centralized area. If you would like to present a paper, please send topic and length. MH From: Suhl <ANT01@DMSWWU1A> Subject: 3.646 Greek and MS Word Date: Sun, 19 Nov 89 17:20:27 MEZ X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1254 (1588) Ein sehr leistungsfaehiges Programmpaket fuer Greek and MS Word gibt es in Deutschland unter dem Namen LOGOS, entwickelt von Dr. David Trobisch, Wiss. Assistent am NT-Seminar in Heidelberg. Es wird verkauft durch Dipl.Kfm. Sven Brands, Postfach 71 01 21, Neckarhau- serstrasse 24, D-6800 Mannheim. Es lohnt sich, einen Prospekt und zum Preise von DM 50.- (die spaeter beim Kauf angerechnet werden) eine Demo-Diskette zu bestellen. Ich habe das Programmpaket ausgiebig getestet und werde es bald selbst anschaffen. Es schreibt auch Hebrae- isch von rechts nach links, koptisch u.a. Fuer Mehrfachbestellungen gibt es erhebliche Preisnachlaesse. Ausserdem liefert der Verlag ein Konver- tierungsprogramm, mit dem die Texte der griechischen Bibel so umge- setzt werden koennen, dass sie sich bequem in Word weiterverarbeiten lassen. Der einzige Nachteil von LOGOS ist die Tastaturbelegung, die sich noch an der alten IBM-Kugelkopf-Schreibmaschine orientiert. Man kann aber mit einiger Aussicht auf Erfolg darauf bestehen, dass LOGOS nur mit einem Programm gekauft wird, das eine eigene Tastaturbelegung er- laubt. Fuer hebraeische Umschrift wird dieses Programm schon mitgelie- fert; Dr. Trobisch muesste es in kuerzester Zeit auch fuer Griechisch und Hebraeisch schreiben koennen. Bitte entschuldigen Sie, dass ich auf Deutsch schreibe, aber auf Englisch wuerde mich dieser Hinweis zu viel Zeit kosten. ASuhl [A very rough translation follows; please excuse my errors. --W.M. A very capable package for Greek and MS Word exists in Germany under the name LOGOS, developed by Dr. David Trobisch, an assistant instructor in the New Testament seminar at Heidelberg. It can be purchased through Dipl. Kfm. Sven Brands, Postfach 71 01 21, Neckarhauserstrasse 24, D-6800 Mannheim. It is worthwhile to order a brochure and, for DM 50.-, a demo-diskette; the cost of the diskette can later be applied to the purchase of the whole package. I have fully tested the package and will soon acquire it myself. It also produces Hebrew from right to left, Coptic, and so forth. For multiple copies there is a significant discount. Also the vendor supplies a conversion program, with which the texts of the Greek Bible can be transposed for further manipulation. The only disadvantage of LOGOS is the keyboard, which is still oriented to the old IBM "golf-ball" arrangement. One can endure, however, with some expectation of success, knowing that LOGOS is only purchased with a program that allows a particular keyboard. The program is already equipped for transliterated Hebrew. Dr. Trobisch must soon be providing similar capability for Greek and Hebrew. Please excuse me for writing in German, but to use English for this reference would cost me too much time. A. Suhl] From: Suhl <ANT01@DMSWWU1A> Subject: 3.646 Greek and MS Word Date: Sun, 19 Nov 89 17:11:11 MEZ X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1255 (1589) [Prof. Dr. Suhl kindly supplied this partial translation after I did mine, but he has added additional information. --W.M.] There is a very useful package for writing Greek in MS Word, called LOGOS created by Dr. David Trobisch, Wiss. Assistent am NT-Seminar der Universitaet D-6800 Mannheim 71. The price ranges from DM 274,- up to DM 1300.- for various versions, including those for writing Hebrew from the right to the left etc. which costs about DM 50.-. Dieser Betrag wird beim Kauf angerechnet. Der einzige Nachteil dieses ueberaus guten und uebersichtlichen Pro- grammms ist die ungeschickte Tastaturbelegung fuer Griechisch, die sich an der alten IBM-Kugelkopf-Schreibmaschine orientiert. Da es bereits fuer die Um- schrift-Tastaturbelegung ein Programm gibt, mit dem man eine eigene Tastaturbe- legung vornehmen kann, sollte man das Programm nur unter der Bedingung kaufen, dass es mit einem solchen Programm auch fuer die griechische Tastaturbelegung geliefert wird. Please excuse that I write in German, I don't have the time to translate this text into correct English! From: HEBERLEIN@URZ.KU-EICHSTAETT.DBP.DE Subject: Latin Persian Transcription System Date: Thu, 89 0 11:20 CET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 768 (1590) Is there anyone who konows of an system for the transscription and transliteration of Persian alphabet into "normal" Latin alphabet and vice versa? I write this in behalf of an Iranian professor who currently is spending his sabbatical with us. Best regards Fritz Heberlein From: mike@tome.media.mit.edu (Michael Hawley) Subject: Thou shalt not . . . Date: Tue, 21 Nov 89 09:37:42 GMT-0500 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1256 (1591) Random statistical quirk for the day: the word "no" appears 1344 times in the King James Bible, but the word "yes" appears only twice! (Grep for yourself if you don't believe me). At first I thought this was just a hilarious artifact of religious dogma, so I checked Alice in Wonderland -- "yes" appears only once! Curiouser and curiouser. Well it turns out to be a property of English (yes/no = .066 on average), and when you consider why this might be, it's undoubtedly due to the fact that "no" can combine with a great many other words and phrases ("at no point...", "no idea", "no uncertain terms", "no way jose", etc). "Yes" just doesn't socialize that way. But there may also be some reason for why "yes", when it occurs, sounds more definite because so much of the rest is negative. (It would be interesting to check other languages like French or German which don't overload "no" -- can anyone clear this up?). This of course reminds us of a psychiatrist who painfully transcribed psychoanalysis sessions to find the "a/the" ratio. This allegedly showed whether the patient was using generalities vs. being specific and facing actualities. We have no follow-up on this curious case. His name was Joe Jaffe, practising in New York, and he said the study was published. Must have been in late 1960s. (thanks, Prof. Minsky). I once heard of a fellow named Gottlob Burmann, a German poet around 1770, who wrote 130 poems (20K words) without once using the letter "r". In fact, during the last 17 years of his life he omitted "r" from his daily conversation! A similar sort of twitch seemed to afflict a bunch of Portuguese writers in Lisbon during the mid 1600's -- Alonso Herrera published 5 stories omitting a different vowel in each. Four or five other writers followed suit with similar efforts. And of course in '39, Ernest Wright published his monumental novel, "Gadsby," which never used the letter 'e' (quite a feat since 'e' is the commonest English letter). That would have blown Jaffe off the scale! With no definite articles, he'd have been dividing by zero, and as everyone knows, you need a Master's degree in Science, and probably a mylar suit and goggles, before attempting a feat like that. Michael From: Walter Giesbrecht <WALTERG@YORKVM2.BITNET> Subject: CD-ROM database errors Date: Tue, 21 Nov 89 12:07:38 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1257 (1592) [The following is offered as a humorous commentary on the power of search-and-replace, which I assume is the culprit. --W.M.] We have discovered a rather strange error on our copy of sociofile by SilverPlatter. It seems that every instance of the word "it" at the beginning of a sentence has been substituted by the word "italian". This has since been confirmed by the librarian at a local college to be present on their copy as well. We don't yet know whether this is common to all SilverPlatter databases. I thought you might all like to know. Has anyone else noticed this, or are there any other blatant errors like this one, lurking on other CD-ROMs? Walter Giesbrecht York University From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.762 copyright, cont. (73) Date: Tue, 21 Nov 89 00:41:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1258 (1593) May one inject, again, a note of reality into the copyright discussion? The language is in the impersonal; thus finessing the problem of cost: who pays to let the mandarins have their conveniences, e.g., machine-readable texts? Anecdote to illustrate: in 1984, a dear friend, a fine poet in Hungary, took me to hear Janos Starker at the Liszt Concert Hall. Wonderful to see and hear the great cellist. Tickets cost practically zilch. Hall filled with the intelligentsia of Budapest, many of whom I happen to know, poets, critics, etcetera, novelists, professors. When I asked my friend how it was done so cheaply (I knew the answer), he remarked that it came from taxes, the government, etc. I asked him if the "people" had any say in the matter. Why no, he replied, startled. He a dramatist writing popular rock musicals, for the people too, to make a living; it hadnt occurred to him that the people dont necesarily want to pay for us relishers of fine things to have the tix cheaply. They pay for scientists to have their complex toys, billions for research, or hundreds of millions. But I am not so sure that they would pay for the machinery to support the transfer of all the public domain texts we would would like to have. Publishers sure dont give it away. The machinery, the juice, the manufacture, costs something, a lot, in fact. And we know, in our universities, at least in mine, the Humanists dont get much support, let alone hardware! let alone a computer. So, who will pay for the production of the scanners, the keyboarding, the etceteras...? Dont let the taxpayers know. Let us keep it among our modems here, friends...? Yours at UCLA, Kessler From: db <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.762 copyright, cont. (73) Date: Mon, 20 Nov 89 21:09:42 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1259 (1594) Why don't we forget about copyright for a moment and think about contracts? I am not a lawyer, but I certainly think that someone could distribute his electronic texts with a proviso in the contract that they not be copied for others to use without his/her permission. Why on earth not? Why should only intellectual labor be considered as giving someone the right to his/her labor? If I spend 20,00 dollars getting some text on disk, why shouldn't I have the possibility of recovering my investment by selling copies? Again the analogy seems to me the situation where I publish in hard copy a transcription of an ancient manuscript. I can't prevent someone else from publsihing that text of course, but I *can* prevent them from photo-offsetting my edition. er Isn't there a humanist lawyer out there who can tell me whether my law is correct here? Daniel Boyarin From: Donald Spaeth 041 339 8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Subject: Copyright Date: Tue, 21 Nov 89 12:06:36 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1260 (1595) Chet Grycz's comments seem pertinent. What they revealed for me is that copyright is NOT the central issue; it provides the parameters within which we must work. This means that emphasis on legalisms is important so that we understand the limits but not because they define proper behaviour (echoing earlier comments on theft and morality). Taking copyright as a given, what is needed is an added mechanism/set of conventions for the exchange of data, so that the interests of someone who invests a large amount of effort (whether copyrightable or not) in the creation of a database/machine-readable text are protected and that person is rewarded for his/her efforts, and the data is not ripped off. The mechanism could be as simple as a barter system of text for text. We need to work to get databases/texts treated as academic creations, like articles and books, so that using someone else's data without permission is academic suicide. In other words, we need an atmosphere of cooperation and exchange with professional checks to make sure no-one takes advantage of the situation. Cheers, Don Spaeth Computers in Teaching Initiative Centre for History From: "Vicky A. Walsh" <IMD7VAW@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.763 supporting the humanists, cont. (126) Date: Tue, 21 Nov 89 00:23:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1261 (1596) Excuse me for nit picking, but we aren't doing ALL that bad at UCLA. Of the 50 some faculty members who applied for one in the English Dept., all but 2 received the computer of their choice. We have a ways to go, but we are getting there. As to supporting computing in the humanities, my staff consists of people with training and experience in both computing and humanities and who have chosen to do so, not necessarily as a second choice. Vicky Walsh, Director of Humanities Computing, UCLA From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.765 support of humanities computing, cont. (189) Date: Tue, 21 Nov 89 01:10:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1262 (1597) Perhaps it will take a lot of time, decades, and lots of institutionalization of work categories, and the rest; but in Los Angeles, auto mechanics are getting a minimum of 45-50$/hour. Beats lots of humanist Ph.D. work. Or supporter work too. Librarians have long complained about the poor treatment they get from the readers of books, the professors. Etc. Kessler again. But I can say that some of the supporters at UCLA are rather snooty towards the fairly ignorant profs in my department, acting sometimes as if they are keepers of very arcane secrets. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: rude mechanicals Date: 21 November 1989, 09:03:23 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1263 (1598) When I had a farm and had surplus firewood, I used to sell truckloads occasionally to fancy folks in town. They wanted to treat me as an ignorant yokel, but my air, and my L.L.Bean parka, were uppity, so they did not know what to make of me and were very uncomfortable, especially when they gave me money. In the early seventies a student of mine made the strategic mistake of wearing a hat with a brim (the kind of hats that often say CAT or Landmark in this part of Ohio) when he came out of a university building on a snowy day. A professor going in took one look at him and said "Why can't you people do something about the snow on the stairs?" It must be something in human nature that always makes us want to look down on somebody; thus the technicians, the carpenters, the roofers, the butchers, the wood-splitters will always be looked down upon, no matter how intelligent, sensitive, or even well-read they may be. Only if you have been one of the rude mechanicals or technicians, dish-washers or short-order cooks, can you understand what it is that makes revolutions or makes the "little people" capable of hating the "big people" quite so much. The same rule applies with teachers of technical writing, botanists who teach how to grow food, or computer technicians. Roy Flannagan From: <S_RICHMOND@UTOROISE> Subject: supporting the humanists Date: Tue, 21 Nov 89 09:30 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1264 (1599) Humanists as Computer Support Professionals --------------------------------------------- Willard McCarty's recent posting turns a problem of market economics and frustrated ambition into a theological and moral problem of the sufferings of the Humanist as Job in a Satanic influenced Academia. For the humanist as the computer support person who feels frustrated for not having her work not considered of equal value with the publishing academic, the best advice is to seek employment extra-academically. There is a well-paying market for humanists with technical knowledge and competence; though a free-market subject to two-weeks notice, at best. However, David A. Bantz brings a bit of commonsense and reality into this discussion in his suggestion that academia ensure that humanists as computer support be treated as professionals. Professionals require complete support in their tasks in terms of reimbursement for attendance at conferences, and professional development courses. I return to Willard's practical suggestion to ease the burden placed on humanists as computer support persons: Computer support persons should receive tenure for their efforts regardless of lack of publications. Why tenure? What is so magic about tenure? In the case of publishing academics, the argument, traditionally is that the purpose of tenure is to ensure academic freedom. How does that argument apply to non-academically functioning humanists as computer support personnel? Willard's argument seems to be that without the support of computer professionals, the ethereal research work of traditional academics would have no material realization; and, further, this material support is somehow instrumental to creating new ideas. So, therefore without computer support, the ideal world of ideas would float away. The computer support people should, therefore, receive tenure. Apart from the practical problems of determining how a noble tenure committee could evaluate the contributions of individual computer support people, Willard's argument also applies to non-humanists with junior college degrees. Indeed, the janitorial and maintenance staff more so deserve tenure. I don't know how many academics would fail to produce a publishable work without their morning coffee served up by the indefatigable cafeteria worker. He too should be eligible for tenure. Willard's argument is the best reductio ad absurdum for the abolition of tenure that I have seen, despite the fact that he did not intend it so. Every staff member in the university, in one way or another, could be instrumental to scholarly production, and so should be eligible for tenure. This point introduced by Willard is a sub-set of the general question of how humanists in the extra-academic world can be recognized as fully fledged and contributing members to scholarship. The Ph.D. who happens to drive taxis or work for IBM as a programmer has hardly any access to the delights of academic privilege, such as free and open access to university libraries, and computer networks. Some of these people even publish once in awhile, and attempt to participate in conferences at their own expense and on their own time. But they are treated as outsiders because whevenever they happen to get some space at conferences or in journals, their obtainment of this scarce resourse reduces the opportunities of a young academic who might have used the same quantity of space for tenure credits. Remember the Ph.D. taxi drive won't gain tenure for publishing or presenting papers. In this broader context, of extra-academically employed Ph.D.'s who strive to maintain links to academia, the institution of tenure has become an institution of sinecure. Moreover, the narrow problem of how to invite humanist computer support personnel into the ranks of academia as deserving of equal treatment with publishing professors, becomes broadened to the problem of how to open the doors, including the electronic ones, to humanists earning their living outside academia. However, let us not turn an economic or market problem where worthy ambitions are frustrated by the monopolistic access to scarce resources by tenured and unionized professors, into a quasi-theological thesis about Job-like computer support personnel suffering because of their lack of recognition. Regardless of one's occupation in life, one often finds oneself in situations where one is treated unfairly due to many factors, the most cruel of which happens to be the blind workings of market economics. Rather than shed tears and grumble about one's plight, one might find it more useful to squeeze through the narrow cracks in the walls of academia, and gain whatever access one can gain to university resources. Though, admittedly, editorial and conference boards could be more generous than they are to those whose mailing address happens to be a private one rather than an institutional one. --------------------------- Sheldon Richmond From: db <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.760 Sanskrit e-texts; fonts in TUSTEP (109) Date: Mon, 20 Nov 89 21:01:12 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1265 (1600) on tustep: what exactly is tustep's "main concern?" how does its pc version compare with nota-bene? do they accomplish similar tasks? the handling of multilingual materials sounds very similar in structure. [Wilhelm Ott may wish to answer this at length (yes, please), but anyone with a copy of the Humanities Computing Yearbook 1988 can find a description of TUSTEP on pp. 114f. --W.M.] From: Hans Joergen Marker <DDAHM@VM.UNI-C.DK> Subject: Sancta Barbara Date: Mon, 20 Nov 89 09:06:43 DNT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1266 (1601) At the institute for Sociology of Religion at the University of Copenhagen they have an index card archives on the cult of Sancta Barbara. The infor- mation contain in the archives was collected by an old age pensioneer in the late forties. However the institute have no means of determining how representative the archives are. Does any one of you have information of material or litterature that would be relevant for this purpose? An example could be something like a complete list of the sancts that German churches are named after. But a number of other sources might be relevant. The important thing is that they are in themselves complete and the contain information on Sancta Barbara. Any information will be appreciated Hans Joergen Marker, Danish Data Archives From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.766 Daedalus; tutorials; Chinese; plagarism (133) Date: Tue, 21 Nov 89 01:02:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 773 (1602) In reply to DB, re plagiarism: if you re-produce the words of the poem I have published in my book, by copying or scanning and use the same words in the same order, or pretty much so, without license or attribution, you are, I think plagiarizing. It has nothing to do with humanism. I should hope not. Public domain, I think means out of license or copyright fee-ability. But if you scan my edition of the Enneads, and send it around and print it up and use it or sell it, are you not breaking copyright? One of my colleagues here seems to have used the words, many of them, sentences, phrases and paragraphs, of another woman specialist feminist in her own review of some other writer/scholar. You can bet the letter with documentation came here pronto and to the Dean. that is plagiarism, not humanism. The creator of the text complained bitterly, perhaps will sue. The excuse, as so often, the computer conflated my notes, and I was in a rush to get the review out. Yes, well; if you believe that, you can believe that the chips are not flying. Kessler here From: Stuart Moulthrop <SMOULTHR@YALEVM> Subject: Hypertextual Pynchon Date: Wed, 22 Nov 89 11:44:31 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1267 (1603) I've been prototyping a hypertext resource on Thomas Pynchon's _Gravity's Rainbow_ in HyperCard. I originally developed the stack as an aid for my own research and then decided to share it with my seminar students this fall. The result is a megabyte of text (quotations comprising about 15% of the novel), annotations, queries, responses to queries, illustrations, music, and hypertext links. I'd be happy to share this project with anyone who (a) provides me with an FDHD disk (or an 800k floppy if you can forego the music) and (b) lets me know what gets done with the stack. Direct inquiries to Stuart Moulthrop, Department of English, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520 or to SMOULTHR@YALEVM (bitnet). From: Jeffrey Perry <JEFF@PUCC> Subject: Transliterated Persian Date: Tue, 21 Nov 89 15:13:31 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1268 (1604) The following is in response to Fritz Heberlein's query about trans- literation of Persian. Please contact me at the e-mail address below; I know a professor of Persian (a non-e-mail user, unfortunately) who may be able to help you. I will put you in touch with him. Jeff Perry C.I.T./Princeton University JEFF@PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU From: Roland Hutchinson <R.RDH@Macbeth.Stanford.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.767 meeting; Greek, Hebrew in MS Word (115) Date: Tue, 21 Nov 89 22:47:21 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1269 (1605) Might we not reiterate, as a matter of policy, that no apology is needed here for contributions in languages other than English. After all, most of us didn't get to be card-carrying humanists without learning to read three or four European languages. Roland Hutchinson Department of Music Montclair State College Upper Montclair, NJ 07043 INTERNET: r.rdh@macbeth.stanford.edu BITNET: r.rdh%macbeth@stanford (That's right. I teach in New Jersey and read email in California. Isn't science wonderful?) From: Roland Hutchinson <R.RDH@Macbeth.Stanford.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.759 multimedia; Daedalus (83) Date: Tue, 21 Nov 89 17:50:06 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1270 (1606) It may interest HUMANIST readers to know that Robert Winter's Macintosh-based multimedia skills were also used to great effect at the recent joint meeting of the American Musicological Society and the Society for Music Theory in Austin, Texas. He had the Mac on the podium while he was speaking, and used it to call up excerpts from a commercial recording of the reconstructed "Beethoven's Tenth" along with the digitized speech (taken from broadcast interviews?) of the British scholar who had prepared the reconstructed score from surviving sketches by Beethoven. It was basically a hatchet-job on the credibility of the aforementionsed scholar's pet project, and it was *very* effective. The poor man (who was present, and invited to reply) was basically hung out to dry with his own words. Winter's commercial hypercard offering on the Ninth Symphony was on exhibit, and was generally well-received as a serious teaching tool. Roland Hutchinson Department of Music Montclair State College Upper Montclair, NJ 07043 INTERNET: r.rdh@macbeth.stanford.edu BITNET: r.rdh%macbeth@stanford From: UDAA270@ELM.CC.KCL.AC.UK Subject: Date: Wed, 22 NOV 89 10:45:15 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1271 (1607) A colleague has asked me to place this query on Humanist. Thanks, Susan Kruse ******************************* Does anyone know of a font system for Arabic which will run on a PS/2 ? I know about MLS, but I'd much rather stick to using MS Word. Would the Duke Language kit solve this for me? If so, has anyone an e-mail address for them? I'd be most grateful for any advice. Gordon Gallacher Kings College London Computing Centre udaa220 @ uk.ac.kcl.cc.elm From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: MS-DOS virus? Date: Wed, 22 Nov 89 10:24:05 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1272 (1608) Has anyone run into an MS-DOS virus which throws a little bouncing ball on the screen which deletes text in its path? It turns out that we have two different versions of the ping pong virus, which, unfortunately, lives in the File Allocation Tables. Our local experts think that we will have to reformat the hard disk. Does anyone have a less drastic solution? Charles Faulhaber ked@ucbgarne.bitnet From: D.Mealand@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: Odes of Solomon Date: 22 Nov 89 14:15:00 gmt X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1273 (1609) Does anyone know of an e-text of the Syriac of the Odes of Solomon please ? A postgrad here in Edinburgh would find such a text very useful. David Mealand Please reply to: David Mealand JANET ADDRESS: D.Mealand@uk.ac.edinburgh BITNET ADDRESS: D.Mealand%uk.ac.edinburgh@ac.uk ARPA ADDRESS: D.Mealand@edinburgh.ac.uk or D.Mealand%edinburgh.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ucl.ac.uk From: Walter McCutchan <WALTER@watdcs.UWaterloo.ca> Subject: Request for info -- scanning/OCRs. Date: Wed, 22 Nov 89 16:52:27 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1274 (1610) I am looking for some guidance from those who have had experience with scanning/OCRing. We may have need to input a large bulk of printed material. Possibly as much as 10 to 20 thousand pages, though if costs prove too high some material may be cut. Some is typewritten, some is line-printer, and some is laser-printed (one typeface). This, I believe, makes the problem relatively simple -- it is not an "omni font" problem. The job could even be considered three "single font" problems. What I would like to know in particular is how people chose scanning over keyboarding the stuff? What hardware and software were used? Does anyone have a gut-instinct for the point where it becomes easier to keyboard than to scan (or vice-versa)? What sorts of costs are involved -- even an educated guess would be appreciated. (I'd like a "total cost" -- time spent scanning/proof-reading/correcting etc. per page would be ideal.) Also, if service organizations have done some of this work for you or your institution, what were your experiences? good, bad, indifferent? Costs? (care to name names?) Any information and help HUMANISTs can provide will be much appreciated. p.s. I was also wondering if any reader of HUMANIST could give me a fax number for Blackwell's Bookstore, in Oxford. From: Norman <ZACOUR@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Re: Wearing another hat. Date: Wed, 22 Nov 89 08:22:12 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1275 (1611) [The following comment came to me apparently as a private message. --WM] While the responses to the problems you have raised have been on the whole sympathetic, I'm still young enough, apparently, to be surprised. Change of any kind must be depressingly slow when even some fellow humanists (few indeed, one hopes) can miss the point so abysmally. From: "Michael Sperberg-McQueen 312 996-2477 -2981" <U35395@UICVM> Subject: supporting humanities computing Date: 22 November 1989 17:39:54 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1276 (1612) A late foray into the topic of humanities computing support. I believe Willard has expressed most eloquently the views I support myself: that normal scholarly activities should be a normal part of positions for humanities computing support. And that humanists hired to help other humanists use computers should be allowed and encouraged -- and possibly expected -- to continue their own research and to teach some courses in their field. There are parallels in the professional research staff positions of the natural sciences, in the recognition at some institutions of librarians as faculty members with responsibilities for research and publication, and farther afield in pure research institutes. But a couple of recent remarks deserve comment. Sheldon Richmond asks (roughly) who would be preferable -- an embittered humanist who thinks a support position a poor substitute for the tenure-track position originally aimed for, or a professional computer support person. [deleted quotation]knowledge of computers will know more to the point and work better with humanists than a technician with some interest in working with non-technical people. That's obviously just a rule of thumb, but in general the success of one-on-one consulting depends crucially upon rapport, which is easier to establish if the user and the consultant share a disciplinary background. Also, consultants who are themselves humanists are much more apt to regard the the technical problems peculiar to humanists as interesting and worth solving. Consultants who are themselves humanists are in fact much more likely to have encountered and solved the problems already. When the support position is integrated into a campus-wide, pan-disciplinary mechanism for computing support (as it should be, I think), it will be far easier for the humanist consultant to fill some technical gaps than it could ever be for a pure computer professional to understand what the aorist is, much less how to recognize and tag it. As to the embitterment postulated by Sheldon Richmond, it usually makes no difference. The only question is how well the support person can swallow it. Obviously no one should hire anyone for public service jobs who carries around a machine gun so as to be prepared for irritating encounters. But such irritability is as likely in a "professional computer support" person (if such people really exist, which I have yet to believe) as in a teacher manque/. The phenomenon of burnout is at least as dangerous to support personnel as is tenure-envy. (I believe with Willard, however, that research-time envy and teaching-envy are far more common than tenure-envy.) Why is burnout such a problem? This relates to a second question. How, David Bantz asks, is the position of humanists who find themselves serving as computer consultants different from that of bankers and industrial chemists? (And implicitly, why should we have any sympathy for them?) The answer is very simple: industrial chemists are not typically addressed as 'Boy!' by their former graduate school chums. The professional staffs of our universities, by contrast, not infrequently are treated by faculty members as step'n'fetch-it servants, from the computer centers at one end of campus to the libraries at the other. Any professional staff member at any university can tell you about that (assuming you can catch them at a time when candor outweighs a highly developed sense of tact and professional self-preservation). The faculty member who appreciates the professional training on the other side of the counter, who treats the staff member as a colleague of some sort, is mercifully not unknown, but in my experience on both sides of the counter at several institutions they are in the distinct minority. So what is to be done? There are some very tricky problems in adding research to the job description, let alone adding teaching. The departments involved wish, no doubt properly, to select their own teaching staff; if teaching is part of a computer-center job description, the opportunities for tug-of-war between the computer center and the academic departments are multiplied manifold. Nevertheless, that direction is the one to explore. Models should be sought in the non-teaching faculty status of (some) librarians, in the professional research staffs, and in the success of informal arrangements by which computer centers recognize that they will have better consultants if they allow them some time and support for work in their original academic field. None of this will eliminate either the caste system or the assumption (by some) that having a teaching job is a sign of grace (of having "won the race ... due to merit and excellent scholarship" in Richmond's phrase, which I take to be a humorous parody of self-important members of the professoriate) but any of it would make our universities more habitable places for those who love both scholarship and (because of their promise for scholarship) machines. Equally to the point -- more to the point, perhaps, for David Bantz -- they would help attract to computing support positions the type of people most apt to be helpful as consultants, and help them retain the characteristics that suited them for the job in the first place. This is where I think Sheldon Richmond has rather missed the point. Justice and injustice and suffering are not the central point at issue (although I hope they seem more important to other humanists than S.R. appears to find them), but how to get good support for humanities consulting. Treating the consultants well is a simple, time-honored expedient that works quite well even if one recognizes no other reason to treat people well. It works with janitors too. There is nothing inherently wrong with David Bantz's suggestion that computing-support personnel need support for professional development and a chance to work on computing issues other than hot-line and walk-in consulting. That's true. But if we argue (as I do, at least) that one should hire a humanist rather than a technician to support humanities computing because the humanist knows research and teaching problems better, then we should also be careful to ensure that while performing their jobs, our computing consultants can maintain the skills that made them attractive to us in the first place, including research and teaching. If our job descriptions focus exclusively on data-processing issues, then our jobs will ultimately turn their humanist incumbents into data-processing professionals and we might as well have hired a DP person at once. I would never willingly hire someone for a humanities computing support position who had not done research (and preferably taught) in some field; nor would I expect them to stay fresh in the job without some chance to do further research. By such an arrangement both they and the institution would benefit. -Michael Sperberg-McQueen University of Illinois at Chicago From: "John N. Davis" <YYJDAVIS@UVVM> Subject: tenure Date: Tue, 21 Nov 89 18:13:27 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1277 (1613) In some recent postings, the Myth of Tenure has been retold. In most, if not all Canadian universities, the janitors do have, practically, a sort of tenure which is every bit as secure as any professors has. It just isn't called "tenure". What each has is the right not to be dismissed except for cause. Each gets this right after a period of probation. For janitors, this probationary period typically lasts no more than 3 months. For professors, the probationary period is often more like 6 years. During all this time, the professor is liable to be dismissed, not quite on a whim, but for something less than just cause. A lot can happen in 6 years. Usually the Dean/Department Head who recommended the hiring is not the one who makes a tenure recommendation. For a janitor, the performance review at the end of 3 months is usually a pretty simple bit of business. The professor, on the other hand, must typically make a formal application for tenure, and support the application with a good thick stack of documentation. The myth says much about the role of one's peers. The thing to note in most every Canadian university is that the faculty committee only recommends. Management (a.k.a. the Board of Governors or Regents) actually decides. Practically, this means that a faculty committee can effectively deny tenure, but can only recommend that it be granted. Janitors, I think it is safe to say, tend to have a much better sense of what peer solidarity involves. In the Canadian universities with which I am familiar, tenured professors do have somewhat greater protection than do tenured janitors against layoffs triggered by financial exigencies and the like. On the other hand, professors are less secure against layoffs than, in my experience, they think they are. What if the Board of Governors, without cause, actually dismisses a tenured professor or janitor? Janitors are usually members of a national or international union. The union has an enforceable duty of fair representation, and is generally willing and able to fund a grievance. The remedy of reinstatement is not guaranteed, but is usually not outside an arbitrator's jurisdiction. What about the dismissed professor? If the faculty association is a certified labour union, the situation is very similar. If the faculty association is not a labour union, the situation may yet be similar. There may be an arbitration agreement, and there may be a duty of fair representation. There probably is not compulsory association membership or dues check-off. It may be difficult for such an association to provide a great deal of financial support. The professor may have to dip into personal resources to support the complaint procedure. If there is no arbitration agreement, the professor may have to go to court. Unlike many consensual arbitrators, courts usually do not have the jurisdiction to reinstate a professor dismissed without cause. All the court can do is to award damages. (This depends on the constitution of the university. Sometimes, if a university is established by the act of a legislature, a university dismissing a professor may be exercising a statutory power. This means that the professor sues for administrative review rather than for common law wrongful dismissal. In this case, the court may find that the purported dismissal was a nullity, ergo reinstatement. It depends.) The word "tenure" is a misnomer in Canada. It is a relic of other times and other places when the substance of it was very different. All Canadian professors are employees. They are not holders of the property in an office, as some professors on other continents were (and for all I know may still be.) In a conveyance of property, two usual clauses are the habendum and tenendum ("to have and to hold"), with the tenendum specifying the duration of the holding (e.g. absolutely, for life, for a term of years). Professor Weir, in 1866, got exactly nowhere with his assertion that he had been amoved from a freehold office at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Weir v. Matheson (1866), 3 E.& A. 123. Professors get more respect and have more clout than janitors in the great university scheme of things. It just isn't tenure that makes the difference. John N. Davis, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria From: Jim O'Donnell, Classics, Penn Subject: copyright Date: 21 Nov 89 18:24:18 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1278 (1614) First, let me *strongly* urge those who are interested in the topic and have not done so to TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET COPYWRIT LECTURE HUMANIST, an excellent discussion (not least because it agrees with what I said a week or so ago, and offers a useful model for getting past the roadblocks). All sides should fully agree that the money to pay for creating and distributing (and maintaining! the latest TLG newsletter from Irvine has sobering reminders that just putting the latest c. 1989 ed. of a classic on a CD-ROM does not keep you from having to update that later when a better edition becomes available) machine-readable texts. The important, indeed ineluctable, point, is that the material circumstances of information preservation, duplication, and transmission have changed in such a way that the implicit enforcement methods that worked well enough with printing presses and hard copies just won't work any more. The article on the LISTSERV makes the valuable point that software manufacturers are estimated to be losing 50% of their revenue to unauthorized copying. That changes the economics forever, and reliance on law and conscience simply will not work. Imaginative solutions are required for a radically changed environment. One reason why copyright should *not* survive as is. One advantage of the machine-readable text is that it can be altered. You can publish today your authentic list of all the known socket wrenches to survive from fourteenth century Galicia. In the old days, I would keep that work up to date with pencil marks in the margins; now I can take the computer form of the document and add to it additional entries, reformat old ones for my own convenience, etc. Something like the value-added concept is going to be necessary to deal with what happens when my friend in Catanzaro hears about this and wants a copy of my, substantially altered and improved, version of the original. Something else will be necessary to keep the authentic list of said socket wrenches from disintegrating into dozens of variously inaccurate personally modified copies and to keep those copies from being disseminated as if they were the original. We really are back in many ways to the situation that affected medieval manuscript transmission of information, before the reassuringly solid and indeed embalming force of print technology came along. From: "DAVID STUEHLER" <stuehler@apollo.montclair.edu> Subject: Copyright Date: Wed, 22 Nov 89 00:12:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1279 (1615) So much talk of property in this discussion. If I create a machine readable text, it is because I want to do something with it. After I have done whatever it was, I don't care if someone else wants to do something else with it. My investment of time is the price I am willing to pay for my project. Of course, if I had some equipment costs I would be happy to share them with anyone else interested in the same text, but if the costs were too high, I simply wouldn't have done the text in the first place. On the other hand, if a publisher wants to offer a text for sale, the price is right, and I can afford it, I would be happy to pay for it. If the price is too high, I'll do it myself. Dave Stuehler Montclair State College From: <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.769 "no" outranks "yes"; "it" becomes "italian" (81) Date: Tue, 21 Nov 89 18:23:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 778 (1616) Answer to 3769 part (2) "It" being replaced by "Italian" may seem to be a blatant error but it reminds me of a "worm" or a "virus" story which dates back to the times when timesharing was being implemented on main frames and where strange things took place. Each time a user used the text processing application package and typed a certain word, a Pac-Man figure appeared on the screen and ate the given word and was asking "please give me a cookie". Each time you retyped the given word it would behave in the same way, as long as you didn't type the word "cookie". Then the system would let you go on with your work... until the next occurrence of the given word. A little later, a similar joke appeared in pretty the same context but the message was "the president stinks". You had to reply "yes" to be able to carry on with your text. May be the "It Italian" story is a bug but it (I hesitate to use the word) may be another insect ---> a worm. If "it" is the case, please contact your local entomologist. Yours, Humorously. Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal E-mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca From: <S_RICHMOND@UTOROISE> Subject: SUPPORTING HUMANISTS Date: Thu, 23 Nov 89 08:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1280 (1617) HUMANISTS AS COMPUTER SUPPORT -------------------------------- Michael Sperberg-McQueen's excellent comments are quite to the point. Just two questions from the view-point not of the employer but of the potential employee: 1. Would the humanist who happens to be a computer whiz better seek employment as a computer support outside academia--for her own self-respect--and contribute to research as a private scholar? In general, it is preferrable not to place oneself in a subservient role where one might expect abusive treatment. 2. How can a humanist outside academia maintain links with scholarly support--i.e. gain access to libraries, computers and institutional affiliation? Or, putting the shoe on the other foot--in what ways can universities provide support for extra-academically employed sholars? S.R. (Sheldon Richmond) From: Donald Spaeth 041 339 8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Subject: Humanities computing support Date: Thu, 23 Nov 89 17:03:13 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1281 (1618) I have not contributed to this debate previously because others have said what I would have said: burnout is a serious problem; better to hire a humanist who computes than someone with all the right technical skills (skills can be learned); etc. I'd like to echo wholeheartedly the comments made by Willard McCarty and Michael Sperberg-McQueen advocating that research in the postholder's specialism be made part of the duties of a humanities computing post. My experience is not nearly as bleak as that described by Michael. History departments at which I have computed have made me feel at home and have treated me as an equal. If this is unusual, then I am pleased to be so lucky. It is difficult to feel completely in touch with colleagues in history departments because our work experiences differ so much on a day-to-day basis. I do not have to give lectures, run tutorials, mark essays and exams and attend department meetings. The ebb and flow of the academic calendar affects me only indirectly, in that students need my help more during the year, while academic staff need it more in the vacations (when they finally have time to do their research). Research (when I have time for it) is therefore all the more important as a "shared experience". And there's little doubt that academic staff are more likely to feel on equal terms with a computing colleague who continues to do research. (Teaching also provides an added contact point, but I find it harder to make time for teaching, which must be done during the day, than research, which I can do at night if I can keep awake!) May I add that the need for computing service staff to do research is not a new one. Computing Service staff are often Ph.D.s, more often in science than the humanities, and this has long been true. These degree-holders in chemistry, physics, geography, etc., have for the most part given up their attempts to do research in their subject. What does it say about humanists who gain computing support posts that they try to continue their research? are they more stubborn, less able to face their new status, more committed, or simply lucky in that humanities research requires less lab equipment than the sciences? One other thought: there is a (deceptively?) easy solution to the burnout problem and to the issue of what background a humanities support person should have. More than one should be hired, say, one humanist and one technical expert. At the very least, the hiring of an operator or technical assistant could be a great help. Cheers, Don Spaeth CTI Centre for History University of Glasgow gkha13 @ cms.gla.ac.uk (JANET) From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: a European view? Date: 23 November 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1282 (1619) So far in the discussion about the support of computing by academics we have not heard from any Scandinavian, German, French, or Italian Humanists. From what little I know of academic research institutes in those countries, I conclude that their perspective would be an interesting one. Let me try to indicate why. It is my impression that the CNR in Italy, the CNRS in France, such things as the Max Planck Institut and ZUMA in Germany, and the NAVFs EDB-senter in Norway allow in a similar fashion for research by suitably qualified although non-teaching academics. The place made for such people intrigues me. It causes me to wonder if the Europeans do not have a model that North Americans might imitate. I realize that the institutional situation in N. America is quite different from those that prevail in Europe, but models can be taken out of context and adapted. I wonder further if centres for humanities computing now developing at various places are not groping towards something like what I take to be the typically European research institute. One might also cite the many (often precariously funded) research projects that have sprung up in universities across N. America. These very much depend on the (often severely underpaid) labour of drifted Ph.D.s. They differ very much from both the pure-research institutes, such as Max-Planck, and the service- driven institutes, such as the Norwegian centre, but they are attempting to maintain a kind of intellectual life on the periphery of the university. At my university there has been talk of creating a parallel stream to the teaching professoriate for the academic employees of these projects. I don't know if tenure has entered into the discussions, but I think release time for research has. Informed commentary on the European model(s) would be very helpful. Yours, Willard McCarty From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.776 supporting the humanists, cont. (237) Date: Thu, 23 Nov 89 09:45:57 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1283 (1620) Concerned that others will follow a recent posting in nearly perfectly inverting the meaning of what I wrote, let me be as stark as possible: Two relatively clear models of professional positions and careers exist in (1) the computer centers' user support functions, and (2) the teaching and research faculty. My scepticism was directed toward what I regard as ill-conceived efforts to forge a melding of the two where [so it seemed] people are expected to fill one position and be treated as though they were in another inevitably producing professional alienation. I hold, on the contrary, that neither model is adequate for securing the full range of humanities computing support; instead a distinctly new professional identification is appropriate which affords a much wider range of activities than the usual emergency or problem-driven computer support role, and provides personal and professional rewards for those activities per se rather than based on the those for full time teaching and research faculty. - David Bantz, Dartmouth, dbantz@Dartmouth.edu Elaboration: The earned reputation for burn out in ad hoc user services (pace several contributors) is only secondarily based on disrespect from faculty, and is a well-known phenomenon independent of having humanists or other academics fill the positions. It has to do, I claim, with the mismatch between the high level of expertise and breadth required to provide assistance on a wide range of computing problems, and the lack of any deep, creative, or self-selected involvement in projects afforded by ad hoc problem solving. Making humanities computing depend on the user services model is doubly inappropriate: in addition to the intrinsic problems of such positions, making the rewards, career paths and daily contacts depend on the professional computing support model practically guarantees the (at least eventual) estrangement of the support position from the concerns and goals of the humanities faculty supposedly supported. So I affirm that professional identification with the humanities rather than the computing staf is desirable. But does that mean that humanities computing support positions should be treated in all respects like faculty positions; that is, that humanities computing folk should be expected to publish regularly in the main line journals, keep up with the discipline enough to teach a wide range of courses from introductory to seminars; to maintain, in other words, full teaching and research responsibilities? The suggestion seems preposterous to me: it simply isn't feasible (or human) to ask that much of a single individual. Several writers seem to propose a "compromise" in which the humanities computing person recieves full credit analogous to that given tenured faculty for a scaled down program of research and teaching. What remains mysterious (to me) in this suggestion is any hint of how or why a scaled down program is going to generate the same respect on the part of others as the programs of the full time faculty, unless, once again, we hold them to the same standards as regular faculty. One possible response is to work toward integrating the humanities computing support with the teaching and research role: so as a philosopher I might focus my teaching on logic programming and formal models (a historian might focus on database techniques and quantitative historiography...); I might make of myself an expert in computer-assisted theorem proving, develop software for teaching logic, and so on. This suggestion just emphasizes to me the inherent conflicts in such a dual conception, for the more I get involved in such pursuits in a genuinely professional way, the more I will be seen as a specialist using humanities computing to support my own disciplinary interests at the expense of broad based support for the disciplines of the humanities; if I am conscientious about limiting my involvement ('only during lunch hours'?), I do not believe I can be credible in my discipline. (By the way, this is not a purely theoretical problem; I have seen allegedly humanities computing support organizations so closely tied to particular disciplines or research strategies that they were written off by other disciplines. Some emphases of effort in any particular support activity, with possible perceived biases, are inevitable, but it seems foolish to aggravate them by encouraging closer identification with one particular (sub-)discipline.) I believe the full range of appropriate support for computing in the humanities is such that we should forge a new professional identity for people in such positions. Their professional rewards should come from intrinsic aspects of the job - i.e., providing computing support to specifically humanistic projects of various kinds - and not on a "side line" modelled after the distictly different profession of teaching and research faculty. So long as we continue to employ only the models of computing center user services - totally demand driven ad hoc problem solving for projects in which the support person has no vested interest - and the regular faculty judged on the articulated expectations of the various disciplines, neither the people in humanities computing positions nor the faculty who need support will be well served. The range of activties, which can provide personal and professional satisfaction include, of course, a lot more than ad hoc problem solving: research design, software development, project management, policy and standards formulation, grantsmanship, software evaluation; several of these leave scope for presentations at meetings or publication. Addenda: - Michael Sperberg-McQueen wrote that "Models should be sought in the non-teaching faculty status of (some) librarians, in the professional research staffs, and in the success of informal arrangements by which computer centers recognize that they will have better consultants if they allow them some time and support for work in their original academic field." I agree. These are, I think, attempts to structure a new professional identity which is what I have been advocating. - Michael Sperberg-McQueen seemed to imply that humanists in computing support positions and humanists who have moved out of academia are in need of sympathy and gently chided me for not expressing it. Most of the humanists or other academics I know who have moved out of the more standard academic career path are quite satisfied thank you. They may maintain a serious interest in their academic fields and even participate occasionaly; however, I think most of them would find it either amusing or insulting to have "sympathy" expressed. By and large they are thriving in a different environment and seem more fulfilled than most faculty. But, it's true, there are some who bemoan their fate and harbor a desire to maintain their identity as academics. I do regret their lack of fulfilment and their often bitter remonstrations; in some cases good talent is wantonly wasted. Nevertheless, I can't imagine being less help to these folks than suggesting that if they use their lunch hours or somewhat more on scholarly pursuits that both the academy their current employer "ought" to regard them as though teaching and research faculty. From: TETRO@AC.DAL.CA Subject: Re: 3.769 no vs. yes Date: Wed, 22 Nov 89 21:09 AST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1284 (1621) I was intrigued by Michael Hawley's astounding discovery of the statistical preponderance of the "no" over "yes" in the Bible. It reminds me of J. S. Mill's observation that in Christianity "thou shalt not" predominates over "thou shalt". Can it true that the repressiveness of the Victorian religious ethos pervades its literature too (cf.the Alice in Wonderland stats)? Perhaps the spirit of negation is somewhat over-emphasized in the English literary tradition though. On the other side of the balance I would place Molly Bloom's immortal words at the end (dare I say "climax"?) of Joyce's Ulysses: "Yes Yes O Yes". Can anyone think of other such openly affirmative texts, or will the nay-sayers carry the day? Get out your e-texts! Ronald Tetreault/English/Dalhousie University From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.769 "no" outranks "yes"; "it" becomes "italian" (81) Date: Wed, 22 Nov 89 23:17:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1285 (1622) As for "No," negation, there is a short interesting metapsychological essay somewhere in the Collected Papers of Professor Freud, on the Origin of Negation. I forget the exact title; but the key thought is that the Id, or the Unconscious does not know the word for NO, nor the category. It knows only YES. (It NOes only the YES?) Kessler at UCLA From: Thomas Zielke <113355@DOLUNI1> Subject: CALL-List? Date: Fri, 24 Nov 89 14:26:01 CET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1286 (1623) Dear Humanists, Does any of you know of a list dealing with CALL, CAI etc.? The fact is that we're thinking of setting up a suchlike list, if it doesn't already exist. Any suggestions what this list should specially deal with are welcome, at the current state of discussion, however, we're planning it to be a discussion forum as HUMANIST is... So if you know about a CALL-list already existing, please tell me about it... Yours, Thomas Zielke (113355 at DOLUNI1) From: Norman Zacour <ZACOUR@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Names and Addresses Date: Sun, 26 Nov 89 08:33:21 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1287 (1624) Something like a year ago some kind member distributed an alphabetically sorted list of names, addresses and IDs of all HUMANISTS. I found it most useful, as I am sure many others also did; but in perversely moving from place to place and from machine to machine I somehow managed to lose it. Anyway, with the continued growth of HUMANIST population, might someone out there be keeping such a list up-to-date with the thought of posting it sometime in the near future? From: S200@CPC865.EAST-ANGLIA.AC.UK Subject: Date: Fri, 24 NOV 89 09:44:31 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1288 (1625) As someone who is involved with the actual management of an ordinary computing centre (i.e. our customers come from all the nooks and crannies of academia and not just the humanities), I would like to describe our policy. Whenever computing becomes active in a department we try very hard to 'train' a computing representative from the academics in that department. If we are successful he/she then acts as an interpreter between the specialised departmental skills and the computing knowhow in the centre. Centre staff cannot be expected to be expert in their own discipline and in every other subject. The humanities workload here is not sufficient to consider a full time adviser in say, English Literature. As time goes on and a department becomes more computing literate, two situations seem to develop. In one case, the department employs computing staff of their own almost always from their own discipline; in the other the computing knowledge is shared among the academics. Fortunately for the Computing Centre, departments continue to come for advice and help as their computing skills develop. The success or failure of computing centres and of computing in departments depend so much on the personalities involved that it is impossible to generalise. My advice is to try whatever you can get a consensus for. With honest goodwill on both sides success is assured. If however the aim is to set up a 'Centre of Excellence' in a particular field of the Humanities, that is quite a different problem. John Roper, S200@CPC865.UEA.AC.UK From: JLD1@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: HUMANIST: Professional Computer Support Date: Fri, 24 Nov 89 06:17:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1289 (1626) In answer to Michael Sperberg-McQueen (3.776) about his doubts as to the existence of "professional computer support" persons in the humanities, I must point out that I have a degree in maths, and a Diploma and PhD in computer science (systems software), and have been running the Literary and Linguistic Computing Centre here at Cambridge for more than 15 years. It is to be hoped that I am good at my job - the users seem satisfied! Continuous developments of hardware and software mean that some of the questions to be answered change over the years, and of course many of the enquiries which come to me now are from highly experienced humanities computer users. However, the "elementary" enquiries from new users are still in many ways the most important and satisfying things to deal with. I am frequently able to offer new users the prospect of results which they have not even thought to ask for, such as a rhyming index to their poems, or a coding scheme to bring together all the variant forms of place names in their historical data. I take the point about the difficulties of teaching and research while functioning as a support person. It has been difficult for me to keep in touch with general developments in computer technology while also supporting a large (and growing) number of humanities users. The Literary and Linguistic Computing Centre has recently become part of the University Computing Service, which has meant a doubling of the technical support staff (from 1 to 2!), and a commitment to support an Arts and Humanities Computing Facility as a separate entity away from the main public terminals. This shows a most far-sighted attitude on the part of the Computing Service. John Dawson, LLCC, University of Cambridge Computing Service. From: "HALPORN,JAMES,CLAS" <halpornj@aqua.bacs.indiana.edu> Subject: User-Support, Universities and Computing Date: Sat, 25 Nov 89 20:52:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1290 (1627) There were three columns in *PC Week* (11-20-89) dealing with computing in the universities. The one most relevant to the discussion of user-support is by Diane Danielle, "Do Universities Short Shrift Future 'B & B' Programmers?" (pg. 93). She notes that "corporations need at least five classes of computer-literate employees": computer scientists, technocrats, bread-and- butter programmers, employees with basic computing skills, and "support staff to help everyone else." She continues, "From where I sit, our major universities have no trouble producing computer scientists and seem fairly successful producing computer- literate technocrats. On the other hand, they are much less successful when it comes to bread-and-butter programmers or basic literacy. As for support staff, well, forget it." Her suspicion is that such general programming is regarded as a trade, and universities tend to prefer courses that are set up for budding computer scientists or lean toward developing computational skills. Students who are truly interested in computers often avoid the computer courses at the universities with their focus on mathematical assignments. Cheryl Currid, "Computer Literacy Doesn't Come with a College Degree" (pg. 115), is disgusted with the ancient equipment, poor facilities, second-rate software at the business school of a Midwest private university. Barry Gerber (who works at UCLA) is more optimistic about the future of the teaching of computing skills in the universities, at least of southern California ("In School, as in Business, PC Leadership is a Must", pg. 97). My only surprise is at *their* surprise. Did universities ever put their students in possession of up-to-date equipment in the sciences or humanities? I recall that in the 1940s as a student in a major Ivy league university proud of its strong chemistry department that I used analytical balances in labs that had been state-of-the-art around 1900 when they were built. You were taught a complicated system of marking balance swings (using a mirror) to get accurate weights. Imagine my pleasure when in my senior year I went to work for an oil company and found I was given a balance with a chain vernier to set the exact weight. And you can also imagine what I thought in 1960 after I had seen electronic direct weighing balances, when, in walking through the chemistry labs of a major midwestern university, I saw the quantitative analysis classes still using those balances of 1900! Well, it isn't all bad: those balances are actually quite attractive, much prettier than the modern equipment. I have two in my living room as decorative objects (and they make useful conversation pieces). James W. Halporn halpornj@iubacs From: ARippin@UNCAMULT.BITNET Subject: Kermit_document Date: Fri, 24 Nov 89 14:19 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 783 (1628) A KERMIT PROTOCOL EXTENSION FOR INTERNATIONAL CHARACTER SETS Christine Gianone Manager, Kermit Development and Distribution Columbia University Center for Computing Activities 612 West 115th Street New York, NY 10025, USA DRAFT NUMBER 4 AUGUST 24, 1989 NOTICE: THIS IS ONLY A PREVIEW OF THE FOURTH DRAFT. THE FINAL FOURTH DRAFT WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER. SUGGESTIONS WELCOME! ABSTRACT A two-level extension to the presentation layer of the Kermit file transfer protocol is proposed to allow transfer of non-English-language text files between unlike computers. Level 1 allows substitution of single character sets other than ASCII in Kermit's normal text-file transfer syntax. Level 2 specifies a new transfer syntax in which multiple character sets may be used, along with mechanisms for switching among them as defined in ISO Standard 2022. This is still a DRAFT proposal. Readers with knowledge of real-world multi-alphabet applications and file formats are urged to comment on the suitability of this proposal. It is assumed the reader is familiar with the Kermit file transfer protocol. It is also assumed that the reader is familiar with ISO Standards 4873 and 2022, but these are summarized in Appendix B. -------------------- [A complete version of this document is now available on the file-server, s.v. KERMIT PROTOCOL. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: db <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.775 PS/2 Arabic? virus? Solomon's Odes? OCR? (120) Date: Thu, 23 Nov 89 22:55:40 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1291 (1629) On ping-pong virus. There is a cure. I can get it for you. Can you download binary files? If so, let me know and I'll send it to you. If not, we'll figure out another way. Format not your hard disk. From: Emmanuel Tov <HUUET@HUJIVM1> Subject: Re: 3.775 PS/2 Arabic? virus? Solomon's Odes? OCR? (120) Date: Fri, 24 Nov 89 00:24:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1292 (1630) re: faulhaber's question on the bouncing ball I don't know what the origin is of the bouncing ball virus, but it bounces around freely in Israel and a program has been developed for stopping that bouncing ball. The program does not require the reformatting of the disk. Emanuel Tov From: db <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.777 copyright, cont. (80) Date: Thu, 23 Nov 89 22:50:04 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 785 (1631) I'm afraid that Stuehler has missed the point. The question is what happens when one entity creates an electronic text for the purpose of selling such text -- either to make a profit or even just to recoup expenses and other people decide to copy it for their own use without payment or even to copy it and sell it. That fits neither category of the scholar who prepares such a text for his/her own use and then is willing to share (which is what *I* do) or someone who decides an electronic text is too expensive and creates a new version by him/herself. From: "John Morris, University of Alberta" <JMORRIS@UALTAVM> Subject: no, yes Date: Thu, 23 Nov 89 19:04:34 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1293 (1632) Michael Hawley asks if other languages appear to have fewer "yeses" than "noes." Latin has no word for "yes." "Ita" (thus) stands for "yes" in most cases. From: ABROOK@CARLETON.CA Subject: FREUD AND NO Date: Fri, 24 Nov 89 09:50:50 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1294 (1633) The title of the paper by Freud to which Kessler refers is Negation, he wrote it in 1925, and it is in Vol. 19 of the Standard Edition, pp.235- 242. I might also say that though the paper is the darling of certain groups in psychoanalysis, I do not find it one of Freud's more convin- cing pieces of work. The negation the unconscious knows nothing of ought to be denial of wishes, not the semantic marker for negation -- which of course can be used to say yes (`So you don't want to kill your Father and marry your Mother?' `No, no, that's exactly what I'd like to do.'). From: TREAT@PENNDRLS (Jay Treat, Religious Studies, Penn) Subject: "Yes" and "No" Date: Saturday, 25 November 1989 0051-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1295 (1634) All participants in the recent discussion regarding "yes" and "no" in the King James Bible could profit from reading the entry on "yes" in the Oxford English Dictionary. (Unable to afford the new OED, I'm still using the older OED.) It points out that the King James Version preserves the earlier English distinction between "yes" (used to answer a question involving a negative) and "yea" (used to answer a question not involving a negative). In addition to the 4 instances of "yes" in the King James Version, therefore, one will find also quite a few instances of "yea," to say nothing of other translations of the Greek NAI (such as "verily") or of the Hebrew KEN. The statistical comparison of "yes" and "no" therefore ignored passages such as "But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil" (Matthew 5:36). I submit that the comparison of the frequencies of "yes" and "no" is next to meaningless. (The opposite of a sentence with "no" in it is ordinarily a sentence without a negative marker.) All those in favor of tabling the discussion, signify by saying, "Aye." Jay C. Treat, Religious Studies, Penn From: Robin Smith <RSMITH@KSUVM> Subject: Yes and No Date: Sat, 25 Nov 89 14:34 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1296 (1635) The recent discussion of the relative frequencies of 'yes' and 'no' in the Bible (or anywhere else) is, I think, misguided. The English word 'no' functions grammatically as a negative adverb ('There are no more apples') or adjective ('No dogs eat grass'); 'yes,' by contrast, has only the function of serving as the affirmative reply to a question. And as for the claim about an alleged preponderance of prohibitions over positive exhortations, you wouldn't find out about that by looking for 'no' anyway ('not' is the negating particle in English imperatives). In any event, affirmative sentences (including commands) have no 'affirmation sign' in them to mark them (we don't say 'I did yes go to town' or 'Thou shalt yes do X'). It might be interesting to try a comparable study for languages which have special words used both for affirmative and negative answers (aren't 'ochi' and 'nai' like this in modern Greek? 'oui' and 'non' in French come close.) From: "John J Hughes" <XB.J24@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: Date: Mon, 27 Nov 89 17:54:13 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1297 (1636) Dear Fellow HUMANISTS, I am trying to obtain a copy of a program called PARADIGMA to review in the _Bits & Bytes Review_. This program allows users to make systematic changes in text files. I would greatly appreciate receiving an e-mail address, a physical mailing address, or a phone number. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help. John [NB: I am circulating in another note information about Paradigma fished out of Humanist itself. By the way, I strongly recommend keeping a copy of all Humanist (12Mb) on your fixed disk with a quick searching program like Gofer or the public-domain Look. A real word-hoard, Humanist. --W.M.] From: Stephen Clausing <SCLAUS@YALEVM> Subject: Bitnet in Austria Date: Mon, 27 Nov 89 20:39:33 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1298 (1637) I would like to send e-mail to a relative in Austria who is also a student at the Technische Hochschule, but he claims his university does not have Bitnet. Does anyone know anything about Bitnet to Austria, or Arpanet? From: RGLYNN@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: Use of CD-ROMs in U.S. and Canadian Libraries Date: Mon, 27 Nov 89 11:32:37 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1299 (1638) Can anyone suggest an easily accessible source of statistical information describing the numbers of CD drives and CD products currently in U.S. and Canadian university and research libraries? At its simplest, I need to know roughly the percentage of such institutions that have installed bases. Thanks in advance for your help. Ruth Glynn Editor, Oxford Electronic Publishing Oxford University Press From: Richard Pierce <pierce@rose.uib.uninett> Subject: Macintosh Program Date: Tue, 31 Jan 89 03:56:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1300 (1639) Below follows some information on a useful Macintosh program which I have been using for half a year or so to convert and clean up files. It is simple to use, fast, reliable, and effective. For example, I entered rules into Paradigm to convert TLG files into SuperGreek and then dumped them into a HyperCard stack for further manipulation. What follows is the author's description (which corresponds to my experience): Paradigma 1.0 is a fast and flexible file converter for the Macintosh. You can specify up to ten ascii characters to be replaced with any other ten characters, e g abc ---> dfg The program can process a file with a set (a 'paradigm') of up to 100 such rules, depending on memory capacity. Paradigms are stored and edited within the program, and selected from a menu when you want to use them again. The speed is about 150k/min on a Mac+, independent of the # of rules. Ascii codes can be specified in square brackets (e g [10] (= linefeed)). Unfortunately, no wildcards, due to algorithm Applications: Changing codes in a formated text file (e g Microsoft rtf-format) Transforming TLG-files to supergreek-compatible text Converting between Mac and IBM ascii Removing linefeeds Cleaning up mailing list files before printing them (by removing return chars unless they represent end of paragraph (ie are preceded by a "." Paradigma is in the public domain, and available on request from Espen Aarseth Computer section for the humanities University of Bergen, Norway Bitnet: HDBFS@NOBERGEN From: Richard Pierce <pierce@rose.uib.uninett> Subject: Mac program Date: Tue, 31 Jan 89 03:56:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 2 Num. 548 (836) Some of the people asking for the Paradigma text file manipulator program announced on HUMANIST last week have not received an answer from the author, Espen Aarseth, because he has not been able to reach them through the net, probably due to some node routing/ address insufficiencies. The program can now be obtained from the Info-Mac archives at Stanford, under the filename /info-mac/util/paradigma.hqx Of course, Espen will still try to send it to those who ask him for it. His bitnet address is: HDBFS at NOBERGEN. The net file must be run through the "unpacking" programs BinHex and Stuffit, so you'll running again, would those who've been getting to Info-Mac via Bitnet please post a message to that effect? Thanks. Terry Harpold From: Roberta Russell <PRUSSELL@OBERLIN> Subject: Paradigma Date: Thu, 9 Feb 89 09:20 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1301 (1640) I have a copy of PARADIGMA.HQX and will be happy to forward it to any HUMANIST unable to reach Aarseth or Stanford. Roberta Russell Oberlin College prussell@oberlin From: <J_CERNY@UNHH> Subject: PARADIGMA comment. Date: Mon, 20 Feb 89 12:43 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1302 (1641) Two condensed comments that may help anyone else who acquires a copy of Aarseth's PARADIGMA program, as recently mentioned on HUMANIST. (1) I took advantage of the offer by Roberta Russell to provide a copy since I can't FTP and it was not on MACSERVE@PUCC. I discovered that PARADIGM.HQX would not decode with BinHex 4.0, but it *would* decode with the BinHex decode option in the Macintosh StuffIt utility. (2) I then discovered that the HELP button in PARADIGMA did not display any help. The author, Aarseth, tells me that it is ok with pre-6.x versions of the Mac operating system, but won't display with 6.x versions (though you can examine the message code by using ResEdit, nonetheless!). Jim Cerny, University Computing, University of New Hampshire From: "Patrick W. Conner" <U47C2@WVNVM.bitnet> Subject: Sanskrit coding (201) Date: Fri, 14 Apr 89 03:52:44 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1303 (1642) I've studied Sanskrit long enough to know that you cannot really handle Devanagari in ASCII unless you ignore the ligatures. Why don't you use a Mac with a Davanagari font (yes, Virginia, there are Devanagari fonts--check any MacUser) and write a routine on Espen Aarsleth's Paradigma to convert the file into an unreadable, but portable ASCII with the ligature equivalents made up of the phonemic components in ASCII representation linked with a plus sign or some such thing? Meanwhile, I've lost my Perry Primer. Is the thing still in print? Pat Conner From: "[DCGQAL]A0234" <XB.DAS@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: [DCGQAL]A0234!On Scanning and OCR-ing Date: Mon, 27 Nov 89 12:07:10 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 789 (1643) On Scanning and OCR-ing My own opinion is that the current level of accuracy to be expected from OCR scanning is less than satisfactory for most scholarly uses. The Kurzweil scanner (top of the line) in a project with which I was involved a couple years ago, generated something on the order of 2-3 errors for every 50,000 characters, (equivalent to about 2-3 errors per "galley" in traditional typesetting terminology.) In that case, and in subsequent cases, I've found it more accurate (read: cost-effective) to rekeyboard the texts and have them delivered in machine-readable form on floppy diskettes. I've used an outside vendor with considerable satisfaction, who manages an off-shore division for just such purposes. For a price and additional information you may wish to contact: Gordon Johnson Interactive Composition Corporation 2255 Morello Blvd Pleasant Hill, California 94523 (415) 686-6860 Just in anticipation of reactions to sending work off-shore (since objections have been voiced before), I've always felt there was a positive good in being able to export decent work which could more-economically be produced in an offshore economy than in our own. For too long, we've tended to dump our surplus products to Third World countries irrespective of need or value Providing humane and satisfying job opportunities that do not endanger local health or ecology, seems a far more responsible economic interaction. Certainly in the case of keyboarding, the work needed can be accomplished with considerable satisfaction and profit to all parties. Chet Grycz Scholarship and Technology Study Project University of California From: stephen clark <AP01@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK> Subject: services or no Date: Mon, 27 Nov 89 12:11:31 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1304 (1644) [message forwarded from: Lawrie Schonfelder <JLS@LIVCMS>] The Director of our local computer services had this to say in response to some of the recent discussion. Stephen /›/›/›/›/›/›/›/›/›/›/›/›/›/Original message›/›/›/›/›/›/›/›/›/›/›/›/›/›/› Thanks for the forward of the discussion on USER SERVICE. That is a debate which was raging in the UK some years ago. My view was and still is in principle, that the best quality user service is provided by staff who are "academics" who happen to provide a computing service rather than teach undergraduates. This properly staffed provides a body of people who understand academic research and teaching and are in sympathy with its values and strains because they are involved. The problem is one of cost. You need fairly large numbers of people to provide the routine computing services and to still have time to devote to research. You also need to have people who are active in research areas that relate to most of the major areas where the service has users. In the 70s this worked well. There were a limited number of users from a restricted set of relatively related disciplines,a relatively small number of different facilities to support and staffing levels about the same as now (in Liverpool's case more then than now). We user service people of the day or at least some of us were "academics". We did do quite a lot of R&D work and we did provide a highly expert user support service. In general we knew how to use all the facilities better than the users, and we understood most of their research needs. This is sadly no longer the case. There are now 1000s of users from every discipline in the book. The range of facilities is vast. The user support programmer is rarely now an academic. (We don't have time to allow research to any extent so we no longer attract many academically motivated people, with a small number of notable exceptions). The provision and maintenance of the essential enabling technologies is more than fully stretching the staff we have. The result is that by and large there are few facilities now available that are not better understood by the main users than by the support staff. The "burn out" mentioned by one of the notes is all too visible. Even within the direct computing field support staff are hard pressed to keep up, and probably are now well behind the state of the art where in the past they were often leading it. The quality of service has and is falling. I see little prospect of the situation getting better. The best I think we can do is to rationalise what services are offered, limit these to what can be achieved within the resources available allowing enough time for scheduled professional updating of staff. (for some staff this may mean involvement in directed R&D for others in specific training programmes) I don't see any way out short of more resources and these are unlikely. Lawrie Schonfelder From: MFFGKGN@CMS.MANCHESTER-COMPUTING-CENTRE.AC.UK Subject: Computer Support Date: Mon, 27 Nov 89 17:05:43 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1305 (1645) ON THE SUBJECT OF USER SUPPORT. I HAVE BEEN IN A POSITION FOR THE PAST YEAR WHERE I HAVE BEEN PROVIDING USER SUPPORT TO THE ARTS FACULTY, MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY, AND HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THE DISCUSSION ON USER SUPPORT PERSONEL QUITE AVIDLY. I FIND IT INTERESTING THAT NOT ONE OF THE CONTRIBUTORS HAVE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED, AT LEAST IN THE PRESENT DISCUSSION, THE POSSIBILITY OF NON-ACADEMIC SUPPORT PERSONNEL. AS I MYSELF DO NOT HOLD A DEGREE, EDUCATED TO 'A' LEVEL STANDARD, AND HAVE ONLY LIMITED VOCATIONAL COURSES IN COMPUTING TO MY CREDIT - BUT A WEALTH OF PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE GAINED OVER THE LAST FOUR OR FIVE YEARS, I FEEL THAT THE CONTRIBUTORS TO THE PRESENT DISCUSSION ARE TO A DEGREE MISSING THE POINT OF USER SUPPORT. USER SUPPORT PERSONNEL ARE IN THE MAIN RESPONSIBLE FOR SOLVING BOTH GENERAL AND SPECIFIC POINTS REGARDING PROBLEMS THAT OCCUR WITHIN THEIR FIELD - IN THIS CASE COMPUTING. AS THE HUMANITIES COVERS A WIDE AREA IT IS NOT PRACTICAL TO EMPLOY A * SPECIALIST ACADEMIC * TO SOLVE PROBLEMS, IN MY OPINION IT IS MORE IMPORTANT FOR THE SUPPORT PERSONNEL TO KNOW ALL THE SYSTEMS USED ON SITE, AND TO BE ABLE TO WORK WITH THEM PROPERLY. MOST PROBLEMS FALL INTO TWO CATEGORIES; 1 HARDWARE, A BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORKINGS OF HARDWARE IS ESSENTIAL IT IS SUPRISING HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE BEEN ASKED TO HELP IN A DEPT. ONLY TO DISCOVER THAT THE USER HAS SIMPLY NOT TURNED ON THE MACHINE MONITOR, PRINTER ETC., OR HAS NOT HAD THE PRINTER CONNECTED PROPERLY IN-DEPTH KNOLEDGE OF THE ELECTRONIC SIDE IS NOT IMPORTANT AS SERVICE PERSONNEL EXIST TO REPAIR FAULTY EQUIPMENT - AGAIN GENERALLY NON-DEGREE HOLDERS. 2 SOFTWARE AND OPERATING SYSTEMS, A FAIRLY COMPREHENSIVE KNOWLEDGE OF ALL SOFTWARE & O/S USED ON SITE IS ESSENTIAL. HOW CAN A PROBLEM BE SOLVED IF THE WAY TO THE SOLUTION IS UNKNOWN? I READ A NOTE TODAY STATING THAT COMPUTER SKILLS ARE EASY TO ACQUIRE, THIS MAY WELL BE TRUE, BUT DO WE NOT ALL SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE(S), A PROBLEM CAN BE VERBALLY DESCRIBED AND, GIVE US CREDIT HUMANISTS - SOME OF US NON ACADEMICS ARE REALLY QUITE ARTICULATE- THEN SOLVED A LOT QUICKER IF THE SOLVER KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING. I TAKE IT AS AN INSULT TO READ DAILY ON HUMANIST THE FACT THAT NOT BEING AN ACADEMIC, I CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEMS THEY FACE. I CAN UNDERSTAND 99% OF PROBLEMS ARISING WHEN COMPUTERS ARE UTILISED, AND AS SUCH CAN SOLVE THEM. WE DO NOT NEED TO BE BIBLICAL SCHOLARS TO CREATE A BIBLICAL CONCORDANCE OR LITERARY EXPERTS TO DIG A BIBLIOGRAPHY OUT OF AN ACADEMICS WORK. I HAVE ONLY READ ONE NOTE - FROM A CHAP AT CAMBRIDGE - REFERRING TO THE USE OF * SPECIALIST SUPPORT PERSONNEL * DOES THIS INDICATE THAT HUMANISTS IN GENERAL HAVE A BIGOTTED ATTITUDE, IE. UNLESS YOU HAVE A QUALIFICATION IN A DISCIPLINE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND IT, OR IS IT JUST THAT A HUMANITIES APPLICATION VARIES DRASTICALLY FROM ANY OTHER? COME ON HUMANISTS, GIVE US NON-ACADEMICS CREDIT. From: Espen Ore <espeno@navf-edb-h.uib.uninett> Subject: supporting the humanists Date: Mon, 27 Nov 89 04:08:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1306 (1646) One reason that there has been no posting from Norway in the ongoing debate is that many of the issues are quite foreign (pun intended) to us. In Norway there is no such thing as tenured or non-tenured positions (apart from research grants which are always time-limited, usually for 3 years). Once you have a position as a lecturer (or assistant professor) your only worry is "will I ever get to be a full professor?" At the universities in Oslo and Bergen there are special departments for computing in the humanities. These departments give support, but they also teach. Computing in the humanities is taken as a separate dicipline where it is possible to take a one-year full time study. The department for computing in the humanities (or rather "The Department for Humanistic Informatics") at the University of Oslo also give a course in "Knowledge and Information" in collaboration with the department of Philosophy and the department of (scientific) Informatics. At the Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities we are, within certain limits given by the general economic situation and the Centre's workload, encouraged to develop our own research. This includes money to go to conferences etc. On the other hand there are humanists in Norway who feel that a place like our centre should have a certain blue-collar approach to its work. The Centre is now undergoing an evaluation by an international commitee, and time will show how this will influence our future. Espen Ore From: Norman Zacour <ZACOUR@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Yes and no Date: Sun, 26 Nov 89 18:01:12 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1307 (1647) I suspect that Peter Abelard, the author of "Sic et Non", would have been surprised to hear that Latin had no word for yes. From: Richard Mitchell <MITCHELR@ORSTVM> Subject: Re: 3.780 no and yes, cont. (49) Date: Sun, 26 Nov 89 21:16:39 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1308 (1648) The "yes-no" discussion might be enlightened by Bergon's essay on the the ideal of "nothing," Chapter IV in Creative Evolution. My version is a translation by Arthur Mitchell, Henry Holt and Company, 1913. Bergson's point is that humans are the species distinguished by their use of the negative. Humans are separated from other species by their preoccupation with what is NOT here, NOT now, not as it seems in the phenomenonal present. It is the distinctively human quality to construct a history and to anticipate a future, to plan and strive for what is not now, here. Certainly other species seek the gratification of visceral churnings (the Freudian libidinal urges perhaps being the human counterpart) but only conscious human social actors orient so much of their life energieg what is NOT. Kenneth Burke has stressed the importance of Bergon's insights in an essay which I have temporarily misplaced. Richard Mitchell, Sociology, Oregon State University. From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Apocryphal 'yes'?" Date: Sun, 26 Nov 89 20:25:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1309 (1649) Does anyone recall an incident which may have occurred at Princeton University in the mid-1970's regarding a well-known linguist lecturing about negatives, affirmatives, double negatives and double affirmatives? I may have read of this embarrassing anecdote in _Parade_ magazine. Can anyone tell me whether this incident actually took place and where it may be reported? In any case, said linguist was lecturing before a packed auditorium about the various civilizations he had studied. In some, a single negative marker might be just that or an affirmative (perhaps contradicting a negative statement or question). An affirmative could be just that or, in certain contexts, a negative. A double negative could be, depending upon the language and civilization, a negative or even an affirmative marker. However, for all languages and all civilizations, and this was an important basis for a book he was he was sure that although there are those in which a double affirmative is in essence an affirmative marker, there are absolutely NONE in which a double affirmative could ever be a negative marker. In a stunned, respectful silence into which muffled chuckles soon crept, a voice with a distinctly New York ethnic accent replied from the back of the auditorium: Yeah, yeah. Regards, j_goldfi@unhh.bitnet Joel D. Goldfield From: Knut Hofland +47 5 212954/55/56 FAFKH at NOBERGEN Subject: Yes/no in the LOB corpus Date: 27 November 89, 12:22:46 EMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1310 (1650) In the tagged LOB corpus (1 million words, 15 different text categories) yes and no have the following frequencies: no: 2408 1876 as article 3 as cited word 116 as pronoun 188 as adverb 225 as interjection yes: 221 5 as cited word 216 as interjection Knut Hofland The Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: yes and no Date: 27 November 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1311 (1651) Knut Hofland's note has inspired me to check -- very quickly, and without any analytical tools other than a frequency list -- the occurrences of yes and no in the collected conversations of Humanist. Altogether, in the 12Mb of text accumulated from 7 May 1987 until the end of October 1989, my statistics show these frequencies: "no" (perhaps incl. the abbrev. for "number" sans period): 3096 "non" 495 "none" 96 "non-" (prefix) 70 "yea" 4 "yeah" 1 "yes" 168 Thus, in total "yes" occurs somewhat less than 5% as frequently as "no". Caveat.... Yours, Willard McCarty From: K.P.Donnelly@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: Yes and no Date: 27 Nov 89 13:36:28 gmt X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1312 (1652) Gaelic (both Irish and Scottish varieties) has no word for 'yes' or 'no'. You have to repeat part of the particular question - usually the verb, in either positive or negative form. It is going to make it difficult to provide the "yes/no query" facility which, along with date formats, alphabetic collation sequences and so on, is on the agenda for an international standard language independent program interface! Kevin Donnelly From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Yea/Nay Date: Monday, 27 November 1989 1212-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1313 (1653) Thanks to Jay Treat and Robin Smith for helping to show some of the complexities of attempting any sort of response to Mike Hawley's comments on the use of positives/negatives in languages. Since I had already taken the necessary 10 minutes or so to do a followup on Mike's statistics for "King James Version" usage (on my old IBYCUS), I will ignore Jay's plea i for cessation and make a couple of further points: (1) For any such claims involving search statistics, one ought to identify exactly what text is being searched -- this is a point that butts up against the discussion of copyright and of related issues such as "quality control." The following statistics are based on searching the corrected CCAT form of the KJV (including Apocrypha), the exact origin of which is not known (the Apocrypha are from an undated Oxford edition that probably was issued ca 1920). The base for this text was published in fixed, read-only form, on the PHI CD-ROM #1 in December 1987, and was prepared by CCAT by collating and adapting electronic texts (without Apocrypha) obtained from various sources (BYU, Zondervan, networks). The Apocrypha were added by CCAT (scanned & corrected). (2) Using David Packard's LEX program on the old IBYCUS mini, and the "statistics only" option, turned up the following numbers -- yes = 4 (not "two"; Matt, Mark, Romans twice) yea = 392 no = 1711 nay = 56 verily = 143 (3) I did not bother to do a similar search of the related Greek and Hebrew texts, but made one quick probe into the ancient Greek translations (collectively called "Septuagint") of Jewish scriptures, based on the Rahlfs text encoded by TLG and adapted by CCAT (also on the PHI #1 CD-ROM) with the result that the explicit Greek "nai" occurs only 8 times (and at least one of those is a proper name!), while the negative particles that I could think of off-hand (ou, ouk, oux, ouxi, mh) occurred 2930 times. The general preponderance of terms of negation seems undeniable; what it all may mean is quite another matter! Bob Kraft, U.Penn (CCAT, CATSS) From: Oxford Text Archive <ARCHIVE@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK> Subject: copyrites Date: Mon, 27 Nov 89 10:48 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 792 (1654) I've been enjoying the recent copyright pingpong so much I havent felt the need to chip in until now. However, the 'copyright lecture' commended to us all by Chet Grycz really calls for some comment. It suddenly struck me this weekend, when visiting acquaintances who are doing just that, is that what is being argued for as a means of distribution is closely modelled on the technique of 'pyramid selling' (typically used at present as a means of unloading cheap cosmetics on a greedy and stupid populace). It *looks* democratic but a closer look at the numbers shows that the nearer you are to the top of the distribution tree not only the bigger your rake-off but the easier it is to make one, whereas the nearer you are to the bottom ... just like chain letters. Is this really the right role model for the distribution of information in years to come? I hope not! Lou From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Copyright, Useright, etc. Date: Tuesday, 28 November 1989 2005-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 793 (1655) The appearance of R.J.Kost's proposals (via C.J.Grycz) regarding the inapplicability of current copyright standards (or at least unenforceability) to electronic publication and distribution, and Kost's suggestions about a possible solution (which seem to me unnecessarily complex, including the pyramidal structure commented on by Lou Burnard), set off some bells in my flickering remnants of memory. What is probably the granddaddy of such schemes, and perhaps the most comprehensively coordinated in concept -- and certainly more simple in execution than Kost's -- is presented by Ted Nelson in his book LITERARY MACHINES, which "describes the legendary and daring PROJECT XANADU, an initiative toward an instantaneous electronic literature; ... the original (and perhaps the ultimate) HYPERTEXT SYSTEM" (I have edition 87.1, thanks to the author's generousity; the first edition appeared in 1981). Chapter two is a "Proposal for a Universal Electronic Publishing System and Archive," and includes suggestions for how authors, publishers, reusers, etc. are to be compensated for their efforts. Here are a couple of quotes to give you a taste: "We can therefore have a system of electronic publishing that feeds to your computer screen exactly what you ask for, as soon as you ask for it; with royalties divided between the document owners in exact proportion to how much of their materials are transmitted or used" (2.7 = 2/42 top). "To bypass some legal problems, we forsee establishing copyright convention _internal to the network_ and contractually agreed upon by all participants. To wit, if you publish a thing through the network, you have to agree to the same rules as everybody else -- which are intended to create a fair balance of incentives" (ibid., bottom, col.1). "In our planned service, there is a royalty on every byte transmitted. This is paid automatically by the user to the owner every time a fragment is summoned, as part of the proportional use of byte delivery. Each publishing owner must consent to the standard royalty -- say, a thousand of a cent per byte -- and each reader contributes those few cents automatically as he or she reads along, as part of the const of using the system" (2.7 = 2/43-2/44 bottom). Etc. Nelson has thought through many of the problems (certainly not all!), and puts puts it all into a much larger context that still seems (at least to me) "legendary and daring," although I wonder what my grandchildren and greatgrandchildren will think of it (how does Buck Rogers look now? or Jules Verne?). Anyhow, if the rather "capitalistic" suggestions by Kost don't grab you, but the subject is of further interest, you might try reading Nelson's more "egalitarian" approach. Both of them are addressing a very real problem that already impacts us all! Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: Norman Hinton <SSUBIT12@UIUCVMD> Subject: Computer support: how not to do it Date: Tue, 28 Nov 89 10:46:10 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 794 (1656) There are probably as many ways to handle computer support as there are institutions and people. But don't do what we do. Here, all computing is under the aegis of the folks in that bane of contemporary existence, Management Information Systems, and the "academic support" person is of that tribe, with no academic background. The result: nothing can be done without forms that have to be signed off by 3 or 4 bureaucrats. It took me over a year to get a Bitnet signon because I had to convince several officials that I had some need to get on the system. The support people will talk you through some problems on the phone, but they never will send printed materials (manuals, etc.) or even Xeroxes: it might cut down their statistics for "help given". They know nothing at all about academic work of any kind, and simply throw up their hands if asked any questions that seem to them to involve subject matters. A group of us have formed a quite unofficial support network of our own using campus E-Mail to try to solve ordinary everyday problems rather than ask the MIS gurus. From: agassi <AGASSI@YORKVM1> Subject: Date: Tue, 28 Nov 89 00:16:28 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1314 (1657) Does anyone know if there is any (e-)concordance for Bernard Shaw's works? I will be grateful for any information enabling me to locate a forgotten reference to clouds and clocks in his works. Thanks in advance, Joseph Agassi at yorkvm1 From: THEALLDF@TrentU.CA Subject: Shaw Electric Text Date: Tue, 28 Nov 89 12:05 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1315 (1658) A colleague is seeking any information with respect to machine-readle text of the works of G.B. Shaw. Does anyone have any information concerning electronic text of Shaw? Donald Theall THEALLDF@TRENTU.CA From: The Man with the Plan <KEHANDLEY@AMHERST> Subject: VAX/VMS software for literary analysis? Date: Tue, 28 Nov 89 11:43 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1316 (1659) If anyone uses or knows of any VAX/VMS software for literary analysis of e-texts, please e-mail me with the name of the package and the publisher. Thank you. Keith Handley, User Services Associate, Amherst College Acad. Computer Center KEHANDLEY@AMHERST.BITNET From: Dusko Vitas 38-11-639-544 <XPMFL02@YUBGSS21> Subject: Re: 3.722 Old Church Slavonic font? Shareware? (58) Date: Tue, 28 Nov 89 16:24:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 796 (1660) We have a shareware fonts for diachronic Cyrillic which covers the most part of Old Church Slavonic font. It is developed by Mr M. Pesikan from the Institute for Serbocroatian, Belgrade. It is designed for ChiWriter text processor. We have sreen fonts for CGA and Hercules graphic cards and print fonts for HP Laser Jat, as well as for 9-pin Epson printers. Dusko Vitas Computer Laboratory Faculty of Science Studentski trg 16 11000 Beograd Yugoslavia From: Antonio-Paulo Ubieto Artur <hiscont@cc.unizar.es> Subject: Eliminating Ping-Pong virus without antivirus software (re: 3.775) Date: Tue, 28 Nov 89 05:15:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 797 (1661) Don't be alarmed by the report of two different versions of "Ping-Pong. This report was obtained probably with McAfee's ScanVir in a version prior to SCANV48. It was reported reciently in VIRUS-L that versions prior to 48 gave such erroneous messages. Thus, Mr. Faulhaber (HUMANIST 3.775) has surely only one version of this virus. "Ping-Pong virus", also known as "Italian bouncing virus", like "Typo" and "Brain", is a virus which modifies the boot sector and marks several other sectors as "bad" where it stores the rest of the code. If you look at the boot sector, you can find something that has nothing to do with normal boot sectors, the code that you normally would find in it is in the "bad" sectors. Nevertheless, the fastest way of removing this virus (with only one clean MS-DOS) is: 1) To be totally secure, backup your harddisk files, at least your data files. 2) Hardware reset your computer (CTRL-ALT-DEL is not enough). Boot with an ORIGINAL and WRITE-PROTECTED MS-DOS diskette. 3) From the original MS-DOS diskette and at the DOS prompt "A>" type "SYS C:<RETURN>". This restores the boot sector and writes the hidden MS-DOS files and COMMAND.COM. After this, the virus should have disappeared. 4) Boot from the harddrive to find out. Try setting the time of the computer clock to 11:59 h. and 23:59 h. and wait to 12:00 and/or 24:00 h. If the dancing diamond does not appear, you are done. If you have a virus detector like SCANVxx, it's time to try it out one more time. 5) Look at all write-unprotected diskettes you introduced in your infected computer. If they were accessed by your infected computer -a DIR is enough- they are ALL INFECTED. All of them with "bad sectors" (normally at about 2-4 Kb.) have their boot-record infected. If you accidentally boot from one of them, you will contaminate your computer again. COPY the files (not DISKCOPY) to fresh formatted disks. FORMATting the contaminated disks would be a good idea. With my best regards: Antonio-Paulo Ubieto Artur Department of Modern and Contemporary History Zaragoza University (Spain-Europe) hiscont@cc.unizar.es "History and Computers: Past, Present, and Future, Now." From: Rich Mitchell <MITCHELR@ORSTVM> Subject: Help: Ethics/Positivism Date: Tue, 28 Nov 89 03:19:08 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1317 (1662) Can anyone offer comments on the validity and possible origins of the following arguement regarding the ethics of a positivist social science? I am over my head here, though if valid this seems an important condemnation of mainstream sociology- psychology-economics. Also what happened to the relationship between "reason" and ethics between Aristotle and Aquinas and between Aquinas and the enlightenment? Any help appreciated. "The positivist ethic predates both positivism and the modern social sciences. It is one variant of a durable Western tradition with roots in Helenic philosophy that ties propriety to the exercise of human intellect, that links 'good' with Reason. In Aristotle's Ethics, 'good,' as the summum bonum ethical achievement, was to be found in diligent exercise of Reason in the parallel pur- suits of contemplating nature and controlling the self. Thomas Aquinas' sanctified Reason, identifying it as both the best and most distinctive of humanity's potentialities, the one shared with God, who is pure 'good,' pure Reason. Aquinas rejected "contemplation based on the sciences that have the lowest things for their objects" in favor of reflection upon the "most noble intelligible objects," that is, "divine things" (Aquinas, 1945:60). The Enlightenment brought Reason back down to earth. Voltaire, Montesquieu and Diderot, Kant, Hegel, Comte and Toennies were among the several who celebrated the potential 'good' of progressively embodying Reason in social institutions and practices. From the Enlightenment to modern social science the reasoning road straightened, and narrowed. From the celebrative search for humanity's's place and possibility in the universe the social sciences declined toward the intellectual sclerosis of logical positivism. As this transformation progressed Reason found its most laudable form in Scientific Reasoning, the hallmark of which was the scientific method. Scientific method narrows Reason to logic and narrows logic to one proposition in logic, the so- called modus tollens (McCloskey, 1985:13). Fundamental to this proposition is the notion that all scientific hypotheses must be falsifyable through some crucial test. Thus 'good' metamorphsizes into the ability to reject null- hypotheses: `Good' is achieved where confidence in that rejection process is maximized. Paradoxically, such con- fidence is greatest where individuals are, for purposes of research, most totally dehumanized, treated solely as objects, denied the categorical respect Kant argued is due all bearers of Reason (see May, 1980: 363). Positivism, in Kantian terms, is ethically bankrupt. Husserl expresses the phenomenologist's view that this is symptomatic of a greater crisis, a crisis of Western science wherein an extreme form of technization, an "objectivist rationalism" has displaced the very idea of Reason as the highest and best form of human expression (see Gurvitsch, 1956). The positivist legacy is "a world where there are but facts and in which man himself appears as nothing but a most complex fact," a world where "there is no room for the norms and ideas of Reason" (Gurwitch, 1956:382). Existentialists such as Sartre rile at this reduction. "If I am to be an object, a process, a pure phenomenon, then ~L I am a fraud. And if scientific thought thus requires me to regard myself as a fraud, the science is not a boon to mankind, but a curse." ~Z From: lang@PRC.Unisys.COM Subject: Yeah yeah Date: Tue, 28 Nov 89 09:07:04 -0500 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1318 (1663) I remember reading this story in the preface or introduction of a book by Barzun. I don't know that the book was *by* Barzun; it may have been a collection of essays edited by him. --Francois From: Michael Ossar <MLO@KSUVM> Subject: novelistic stunts Date: Tue, 28 Nov 89 09:47 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1319 (1664) Re: the message on novels lacking letters. Don't forget Georges Perec's novel La Disparition--a 300 page novel that contains no "e." I heard that Perec's publisher read the whole manuscript without noticing this fact. Michael Ossar Kansas State University MLO at KSUVM From: NMILLER@TRINCC Subject: yeah, yeah Date: Tue, 28 Nov 89 11:12:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1320 (1665) That "distinctly New York ethnic voice" alluded to by Joel Goldfield belongs to none other than Sidney Morgenbesser of Columbia, long may he wave. From: COLAN@ecs.umass.edu Subject: FINEART Forum Date: Tue, 28 Nov 89 15:56:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1321 (1666) [I have circulated examples of this fine newsletter before. I do so again for the benefit of those who haven't seen it, and this issue in particular because it contains many items of interest for Humanists, I suspect. It is too long to send out in its entirety, so I have posted it on the fileserver in place of the previous sample of FineArt Forum. --W.M.] _______________________________________________________________________ ___] | \ | ____] \ __ ___ ___] | | | \ | | / \ | | | __] | | \ | ___] ____ \ __ / | | | | \ | | / \ | \ | _| _| _| __| ______] _/ _\ _| _\ _| :::::: .::::. :::::. :: :: ::. .:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :::. .::: :::: :: :: :::::' :: :: :: ::: :: :: :: :: :: ':. :: :: :: ' :: :: '::::' :: ':. '::::' :: :: _______________________________________________________________________ FINEART Forum Dec 1, 1989 Volume 3 : Number 30 _______________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS: Musicus: Lisa Whistlecroft Computers and Music in Higher Education: Jeanette Davies Musical Structures and Information: Bernard Bel Berlin 1:1:1:1990 : Ray Lauzzana NCGA '89: Michael Weiner Holography Hotline: Sydney Dinsmore San Francisco Arts Commission: Jill Manton Canada Council: Jean Gagnon International Computer Music Conference: Paul Lansky MIT Animation: Franz M. Wimmer Shearwater Foundation: Posy Jackson Smith Technoculture Meeting: Elie Theofilakis Announcements: Ray Lauzzana -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. FINEART FORUM. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Abigail Young <YOUNG@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Warning: avoid DIR EXEC Date: Wed, 29 Nov 89 17:56:23 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1322 (1667) Forwarded from BITNET%"C0030006@DBSTU1.BITNET" Joachim Lohoff-Werner I have also received DIR EXEC and looked into it. After reading the NAMES and NETLOG files and shipping multiple copies to the people listed in these files it does something very bad: The DIR EXEC asks for the system date (QUERY TIME) and erases all files if the system date is greater then 89, i.e. next year. Please discard all copies of DIR EXEC in your system RDR queue. Kind regards, amicales salutations, cordiali saluti, shalom u'bracha, freundliche Gruesse Joachim Lohoff-Werner From: Y. Radai <RADAI1@HBUNOS> Subject: Re: MS-DOS virus? (3.775) Date: Thu, 23 Nov 89 11:53:21 +0200 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1323 (1668) In 3.775 Charles Faulhaber writes: [deleted quotation] Yes, there is a much less drastic solution. But first of all, please inform your local "experts" that no virus lives in the FATs. A virus can "live" only in executable code, and there is no such code in the FATs. In actuality, this virus resides in the boot sector and in part of a cluster which it has marked as "bad", as well as in the upper end of RAM. To remove it from your hard disk, first turn off your computer (don't just perform Ctrl-Alt-Del) in order to clear the virus out of RAM. Then cold boot from your original (write-protected) DOS diskette. While you are still in A:, perform SYS C:. In addition to replacing the two system files on the hard disk, this will also replace the boot sector with a clean copy. (You will still have a bad cluster on your hard disk, but the viral code which is there cannot do any damage as long as the boot sector is uninfected.) In order to avoid reinfecting your hard disk, you will also have to remove the virus from any diskettes which are infected. If they were formatted with the S option, you can use the same procedure (e.g. SYS B:). In any case, you can for- mat a new diskette, copy all the files from the infected diskette to the new one (by means of COPY A:*.* B:, not by DISKCOPY), and then reformat the infected diskette. Y. Radai Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, Israel RADAI1@HBUNOS.BITNET From: <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.795 e-Shaw? litcrit on VAX? (55) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 89 01:56:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1324 (1669) Answer to E-Shaw and concordances. --------------------------------------------------- I know for sure there are several concordances of Shaw's work listed in the Library of Congress On-line catalog which can be consulted through DIALOG (server Company). As to e-texts consult the Oxford text archive catalog. Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal E-mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.795 e-Shaw? litcrit on VAX? (55) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 89 12:25:05 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1325 (1670) There is a French program called SPAD which has been used for literary analysis on UNIX machines. I have some information on it at home which I will try to remember to bring in tomorrow. Charles B. Faulhaber Department of Spanish, UC Berkeley CA 94720 bitnet: ked@ucbgarne internet: cbf@faulhaber.berkeley.edu telephone: (415) 642-2107 From: Skip Knox <DUSKNOX@IDBSU> Subject: Re: 3.794 supporting the humanists, cont. (30) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 89 11:05:30 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 801 (1671) Don't blame MIS in general, only blame yours (generalizing from a single source? - shame on you!). I work in such a place - we call it the Data Center. Academic support is overly biased toward the mainframe, and I would like to see that change, but users certainly don't have to jump through hoops to get things done. We don't even keep incident reports! As for Bitnet, we've been racking our brains for ways to get faculty excited about it - and not just Bitnet. Over and over we show faculty about some interesting procedure or technology, only to be met by a vast indifference. I think what you have experienced reflects the management style of your MIS department, and nothing more. I don't think it's a basis for recommending that people not put academic support in the Data Center. Ellis 'Skip' Knox, Ph.D. Historian, Data Center Associate Boise State University INTERNET: DUSKNOX@IDBSU.IDBSU.EDU 1910 University Drive BITNET: DUSKNOX@IDBSU Boise, Idaho 83725 (208) 385-1315 From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.793 copyright, cont. (64) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 89 09:00:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 802 (1672) This is a response to Bob Kraft's posting of material from Ted Nelson's _Literary Machines._ I, too, like Nelson's scheme; there's something elegantly simple and therefore appealing about it. But it does raise problems-- specifically, the notion that one would have to pay royalties on the use of absolutely *any* material one quoted or linked-to is potentially catastrophic for scholarship (and especially humanities scholarship), unless there are radical changes in the way humanities research is funded (and the way humanities scholars are paid). There would, of course, have to be point-to-point linking capabilities (as there are in Xanadu), so that one could link from one's present document to specific words or phrases (the way quotation works now) and not just to an entire book. Otherwise you end up paying royalties for use of a book when all you wanted was a three-word phrase! John Slatin (eieib360@utxvm), University of Texas at Austin From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.786 I say "yes", you say "no".... (97) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 89 00:57:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1326 (1673) To John Morris@ualtvm: from Kessler.Thanks for the bibliographic reference and title of the essay by Freud on negation. I think SF was asking a question in that essay: what is the original source for the "semantic marker?" He wasnt talking semantics or even philosophy, he thought, but psychology. However the problem with a mere semantic marker is profound, I would surmise, and one of its aspects comes up in THE SOPHIST (Cf Stanley Rosen, in THE LIMITS OF ANALYSIS, Yale UP 1986?). What is ontological status of asserting NOT being? Is that negation another form of being? Infinite regression in view here.... Freud was not conce rned with ontology but with the sources of language too, and to call negation merely a semantic marker is to address neither Freud nor the original query in this BB, as to all the negations and Yes, I said, Yes Yes Yes...kesslera t UCLA From: Lloyd Gerson 926-1300 ex. 3374 GERSON at UTOREPAS Subject: Query from Rich Mitchell for help on ethics/positivism Date: 29 November 1989, 10:18:08 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1327 (1674) Concerning the passage quoted by Mr. Mitchell, I cannot forbear commenting on the references to Aristotle and Aquinas. The author of these remarks is deeply confused about the doctrines of these philosophers and has nothing useful to contribute on these matters. Cordially, Lloyd Gerson. From: Clarence Brown <CB@PUCC> Subject: Date: Wed, 29 Nov 89 10:59:55 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1328 (1675) The members who are pursuing the immensely valuable topic of literary compositions in which one letter is deliberately avoided might wish to save a few keystrokes by using the technical name for this phenomenon: lipogram. Nothing to do with fat, or our President's sacred vow against taxation. I trust it will have been observed that I am rigorously suppressing "z" in this communication. Yours for surgical precision. Clarence Brown CB@PUCC From: Charles Ess <DRU001D@SMSVMA> Subject: Re: 3.798 Notes and Queries (125) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 89 11:40:08 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1329 (1676) I'm not at all clear that a "positivist ethics" predated what gets called positivism in the 19th ct. For that, the summary matches pretty well my sense of the history -- with at least one proviso. As the final question regarding the transition from Aristotle/Aquinas to modernity regarding the nature of "reason" suggests, to say that the Enlightenment "brought reason down to earth" begs the question somewhat. That is, it presupposes that reason as understood in the Aristotelian/Thomistic traditions was hopelessly removed from "the real world," and thus rightly rejected by more modern forms. Positivists would like us to think so -- but I do not find this to be true. Rather, the use of reason is more pluralistic -- by which I mean that Aristotle and Aquinas recognize both a theoretical and practical reason, the one devoted to a comprehensive understanding of the first principles defining the workings of the universe (including God), and the other devoted to applying those first principles especially to the ethical and political life of human beings. Moreover, both insisted that different sorts of rational knowledge -- e.g., biology and mathematics -- offer different sorts of certainty -- and that it is mistaken to insist, for example, that all sorts of knowledge conform to the assumptions, methodology, and certainty demanded by a particular discipline. Largely because of the influence of such thinkers as Descartes, this understanding of reason becomes undermined in dramatic ways. Most briefly, such rational pluralism requires a commitment to a metaphysics and epistemology which includes a non-material domain -- and the use of a logic which allows, for example, complementarity, say, between degrees of truth (e.g., the certainly false, the probably true, and the certainly true). Descartes shifts the logic to a simple dualism, so as to insist that knowledge be entirely certain (and the "merely" probable is then discarded with the false) -- accompanied by a dualistic metaphysics which intends to enthrone a mathematically- oriented reason, accompanied by what we now call natural science and technology, as the "master and possessor of nature." While Kant, usually taken as the high point of the Enlightenment, manages to maintain a recognizably Aristotelian sort of reason which can hold both the natural sciences and ethics together -- Descartes' successors are eventually forced to turn to a monism in both metaphysics (matter is the only reality) and epistemology (mathematics is the paradigmatic knowledge of reason -- and all other claims to knowledge which fail to achieve its standards of certainty, e.g. philosophical ethics, are eliminated as false knowledge.) So on my view, it is more correct to say that the philosophical roots of a positivist ethic are found in Descartes' revision of the nature of reason and the relationship between human beings to their world (a revision, by the way, which would appear blasphemous to a traditional Christian because it reduces Creation to dead stuff to be mastered without limit by human beings -- or, in other terms, you can also find the roots of ecological crisis here). If all this is correct, then the positivist ethic works (1) as it upholds only one form of knowledge as legitimate (_contra_ earlier views and Kant), and (2) if we further assume a monist/materialist metaphysics and epistemology. I hope that this discursus suggests that these assumptions can be easily made only by assuming a superficial and distorted view of earlier philosophical positions. I would add that the condemnation of positivism provided by the reading has been, to my understanding, strongly reinforced on an epistemological level by quantum mechanics, relativity theory, Goedel's theorem, etc. (In some ways, Kant continues to make good sense!) Hope this helps. Charles Ess Drury College From: <YOUNGC@CLARGRAD> Subject: "No, no" to "Yeah, yeah" Date: Wed, 29 Nov 89 08:00 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1330 (1677) Many think the right response to Morganbesser's notorious "Yeah, yeah" would have been "No, no" -- "No, no" is no more a case of two negatives making a positive than "Yeah, yeah" is a case of two positives making a negative. From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Nelson's scheme and variants Date: Wed, 29 Nov 89 22:17:11 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 807 (1678) It seems to me that the problem with copyright is that we are all trying to find ways in which NOT to pay people for things. What probably ought to be done is to reverse this and try to find ways to pay everyone involved something--but not very much--for every use. Thus, electronic copyright needs to be operated the way royalties for songs played on the radio are collected. There is no need to initiate individual permission agreements, only an assumption that you will pay for each playing. Probably the fault is in the lack of standard fees for copyrighted information which are based on some complex formula which combines the product of the number of users occasioned by an access (the more users, the higher the rate), the rank of the author (the higher the rank in terms of books sold, published articles, etc. the higher the payscale), the inverse of the number of years since the work's release (the more years, the lower the rate), and the number of words accessed (the more words the more the cost). Then the only other thing needed is the concept of electronic debit and credit for access and contribution. You could then cancel out bills for access to copyrighted material if you contributed material which was itself accessed by others. So, your `Comments on the works of XXX' could earn you credits to pay off your charges for accessing the works of XXX--unless of course, nobody wanted to read your comments--but that is the free market place. Roughly speaking, electronic access charges should come out to about the same per access that the medium on which to store the material costs. I.e. I'd guess $1/megabyte (100 per 1000000 bytes = 1 cent per 10000 bytee or about a penny per average email message sized unit) What still seems to be missing is an adequate means of knowing what is available and obtaining it. We need something for electronic information that is a cross between the `yellow pages' and `Books in Print'. Presumably access to this tool would itself be an expense, not unlike `directory assistance' calls are billed at some modest rate. From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: the growth of Humanist Date: 30 November 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 808 (1679) Humanist Seminar Bytes/month |-------------i.e., Humanist for the year 1987, month 05=May V HUM8705 18104 <--------number of bytes transmitted, HUM8706 62366 including headers, etc. HUM8707 111514 HUM8708 172362 HUM8709 71936 HUM8710 67227 HUM8711 93122 HUM8712 295362 [168 Humanists] ------------------------- 891993 for 1987, or about 111,500/month HUM8801 225873 HUM8802 387829 HUM8803A 276920 HUM8803B 218323 HUM8804 163648 HUM8805 226272 [262 Humanists] HUM8806 75525 HUM8807 193068 HUM8808 404768 HUM8809 461848 [300 Humanists] HUM8810 302110 HUM8811 301192 [338 Humanists] HUM8812 313550 ------------------------- 3550926, for 1988, or about 287,600/month HUM8901 291857 HUM8902 400863 HUM8903 543341 [401 Humanists] HUM8904 479600 HUM8905 346254 HUM8906 533018 HUM8907 455095 HUM8908 420467 HUM8909 254374 HUM8910 612037 [550 Humanists] ------------------------- 4265646 for the first 10 months of 1989, or about 426,560/month Yours, Willard McCarty (with apologies for the incompleteness of the data) From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: expensive journals and copyright Date: 30 November 1989, 09:34:39 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1331 (1680) I was in a high-level university committee meeting, for allocation of large grants within my university, and a question came up that I would like to pose to Humanist members at large. Because of the need to expand knowledge of faculty and graduate students in Physics, that department had requested funds to buy back issues of a journal in microfilm. The journal, not of abnormal bulk, not profusely illustrated or overly produced, cost $3200/year for subscriptions. The request from Physics was for $14,000 for the back issues they thought necessary. The economics of scale disturbed me, since I edit and publish a scholarly journal that pays its own way on subscriptions of $15.00/year. Can anyone in Humanist with a foot in the sciences speak to the issue of such enormous profitability for a journal? Why does it happen, who gets the profit, and how can it be prevented? (The committee's response, jokingly, was "Why don't we pay any physicist who wants an issue carfare to go get it Xeroxed, all the way to Cleveland if necessary?") Roy Flannagan From: Sterling Bjorndahl <USERBJOR@UALTAMTS.BITNET> Subject: CD-ROM question Date: Thu, 30 Nov 89 17:29:24 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1332 (1681) I would appreciate some help with some CD-ROM questions. Would someone please either answer the questions for me, or direct me to an appropriate printed or network source? My questions have to do with the directory of a CD-ROM. I have been given a routine that will read a random sector from a CD-ROM, but in order to put that to good use I have to be able to parse the CD-ROM directory. I have two problems: a) how do I locate the start of the directory, and b) what data fields are in the directory records? To illustrate the first problem, the directories of the TLG CD-ROM #C and the PHI #1 are found starting at sector 16, but the directory of PHI #2 is found starting at sector 14. How is a program supposed to know where to start looking? As for the second problem, I have been able to identify, strictly by observation, the fields containing the name, the starting sector number, and the length of each file. But there is a lot of other information in there, and I can't tell what it is just by looking at it. Any enlightenment would be much appreciated. Please reply to me directly. I don't currently subscribe to HUMANIST or other discussion groups, since I have to pay real money for the time I use on this computer. Sterling Bjorndahl Camrose, Alberta USERBJOR@UALTAMTS on NetNorth From: THEALLDF@TrentU.CA Subject: yes-no, etc. Date: Wed, 29 Nov 89 20:14 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1333 (1682) Kenneth Burke wrote extensively on the negative in Part III of Language as Symbolic Action (University of California Press, 1968). The specific essay is Chapter 7 of Part III, "A Dramatistic View of the Origin of Language" which speaks of the "negative as a marvel of language." An interest in the negative runs through Burke's writings from the 1930's on. The current discussion on yes and no also reminds one of Carlyle's Sartor Resartus with its discussion of the everlasting yea and the everlasting nay. Carlyle as well as Bergson appears to have had some influence on Burke. As regards Joyce just to add to the statistics I checked the Steppe-Gabler Handlist to Joyce's Ulysses. Including all variants - italicized, captialized, etc.- there are 625 nos to 358 yeses in Ulysses as a whole. In the final episode, Molly's soliloquy, the ratio naturally changes radically with 57 nos to 84 yeses. Removing the final episode, there are 568 nos to 271 yeses. The ratio for yeses to nos is 1.4 for episode 18; .48 for the other seventeen episodes and .57 for the entire work. None of this is surprising considering Joyce's having made "yes" one of the four key words in the closing episode. Unfortunately it is not possible at the moment to do the same for the"nichtian" language of Finnegans Wake, since the Hart concordance does not itemize yes, no or other items like preposi- tions and conjunctions. As Ulysses is more affirmative, the night world of the Wake is likely more negative, even if it is "nat language in any sinse of the word". Even if the concor- dance were to supply the entries, the real problem of establish- ing all of the forms of yes or no in the Wake would require a complex theory of fuzzy matches (e.g ,"nat" in the above cita- tion). But that is just as true of Ulysses and for that matter any text, since there are numerous syntactic and semantic forms of yes and no. No interpeter, though, could discount the impor- tance in Ulysses of the predominant number of yes items in the last episode nor the greater preponderance of yes items through- out, since this is obviously a significant aspect of the struc- ture, which is clearly confirmed by the author's own remarks re- garding the use of yes in the concluding episode. The problem raised initially of ratio of negative to affirmative elements in works raises interesting question of relationship between statistics and interpretations. Considering the impor- tance the concept of negativity occupies in contemporary criti- cal discussions about the revolution of poetic language and theories of deconstruction, this raises an intriguing set of speculations concerning possible shifts in such ratios at various moments from Hegel's Phenomenology (or perhaps Pope's poetry) to the present. Donald Theall THEALLDF@TRENTU.CA From: John Morris <JMORRIS@UALTAVM> Subject: Not my reference Date: Thu, 30 Nov 89 01:50:30 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1334 (1683) Kessler at UCLA is very kind to credit me with a Freud reference, but, it wasn't me. I am unable, alas, to pass the credit on to those more deserving as I have not kept all of the "yes, no" discussion. And since no one has leapt to my defence on such a niggling point . . . "sic" translates as "yes", "sic" stands for "yes" but it does not mean "yes". If refuted there will be no no no more from me on the subject. From: Robin Smith <RSMITH@KSUVM> Subject: Yes and no, assent and denial Date: Thu, 30 Nov 89 07:46 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1335 (1684) Perhaps everything useful has been said now about searching for affirmative and negative particles, but I can't resist one further comment. It seems to me that nothing at all interesting is likely to come from a count of any of the sorts of relative frequencies being explored here. Consider the very narrow context of looking for affirmative and negative responses to questions (one place where one would look for 'yes' as well as 'no'). Make it even narrower: imagine scanning Plato's dialogues, in particular those such as the Republic or Phaedo which are in indirect discourse. Dissenting responses more or less have to include some negative particle (e.g. ouk ephe, ouk emoige, or just ou). Assents, on the other hand, might occasionally include a nai but are more commonly drawn from a wide variety of forms: sunephe, emoige dokei, sundokei, etc. Suppose now that in a particular exchange there are a hundred responses, sixty of which are affirmative (but only one including an explicit nai) and forty of which are negative (all including an ou or a me somewhere). Searching for the various negative particles, etc., will give the false impression that negative responses far outweigh affirmatives here. That's why I described the whole thing as misguided. From: <MDHARRIS@GUVAX> Subject: No and Date: Thu, 30 Nov 89 18:11 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1336 (1685) I have just read 27 HUMANIST messages saved over the last ten days while our BITNET link was down. Many of these messages concerned the frequency of the words "yes" and "no" (and other negatives). While many of you may feel that the subject should be closed, I'm just now getting my chance. Please bear with me. It seems that we are counting the wrong thing. If, as is the case in English, any sentence without negation (or at least most) is considered positive, should we not compare the number of sentences with negation to the number without, rather than simply counting words? I'm afraid that it is more complicated than that, since some sentences with more than one negative are positive, but others remain negative. My point is that rather than English texts being considered negative because there is such a high preponderance of negative words over positive ones, we should observe that most texts are overwhelmingly positive since more positive statements are made than negative. Perhaps Nancy Ide would remind us about her study of negation in Sylia Plath's novel _The Bell Jar_. We will remember that negation (as with beauty) is in the eye of the beholder. Mary Dee Harris mdharris@guvax.bitnet mdharris@guvax.georgetown.edu From: Natalie Maynor <MAYNOR@MSSTATE> Subject: User Support Date: Wed, 29 Nov 89 17:22:42 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1337 (1686) At first I was only skimming the postings on user-support. Lately, however, I've become more interested in them -- as studies in condescension. I can't decide whether to be embarrassed by the attitudes of some of the people on this list or simply grateful that I am at what appears to be an exceptional university. A posting today, for example, says this: "They [support people] know nothing at all about academic work of any kind, and simply throw up their hands if asked any questions that seem to involve subject matter." Granted, the person making this statement was describing the situation (or at least his view of the situation) at a single university. Similar attitudes, however, have been at least hinted at in other postings. I have a question: Exactly what credentials are required to qualify one as an academic -- or knowledgeable of academics? A PhD? Tenure? X number of publications? A couple of nights ago I was discussing James Joyce with an employee of our Computing Center. He knew much more about -Finnegans Wake- than I know. But how in the world could that be?? I have a PhD in English! He's a mere computer programmer! There must be some kind of error here! Maybe Mississippi State University is just lucky. I have found all of the employees of our Computing Center to be intelligent, knowledgeable in many fields, and helpful. And they do not discriminate on the basis of kinds of help needed: they have helped one of my colleagues who is working on an important edition of Thackeray's works, they have helped my colleagues who edit -The Mississippi Quarterly-, they have answered the very stupid questions I asked when I started using a computer a couple of years ago and knew absolutely nothing. The list could go on and on. I think somebody mentioned the word "status" in a previous posting. Status? I consider the status of most of the employees of our Computing Center to be far, far higher than mine. Hmmm. I must have muddy vision or something. After all, I'm a tenured "academician"! Natalie Maynor Mississippi State University From: Skip Knox <DUSKNOX@IDBSU> Subject: Re: 3.794 supporting the humanists, cont. (30) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 89 11:05:30 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1338 (1687) Don't blame MIS in general, only blame yours (generalizing from a single source? - shame on you!). I work in such a place - we call it the Data Center. Academic support is overly biased toward the mainframe, and I would like to see that change, but users certainly don't have to jump And sometimes the best support in the world comes to grief when confronted by a policy of putting any adminstrative requirements ahead of academic requirements. With tight resources, administrative concerns take precedence. As for Bitnet, we've been racking our brains for ways to get faculty excited about it - and not just Bitnet. Over and over we show faculty about some interesting procedure or technology, only to be met by a vast indifference. I think what you have experienced reflects the management And this is the other side. If there was widespread interest, academic interests might not always go to the end of the queue. Even if there was a computer on every academic desk, in many cases it would only be one more shelf for piling paper. I, too, have tried to interest my own department of journalism in using Bitnet, etc., offering to sit down individually with each colleague and get them started, but the interest is in journalism, not communications :-) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elliott Parker BITNET: 3ZLUFUR@CMUVM Journalism Dept. Internet: eparker@well.sf.ca.us Central Michigan University Compuserve: 70701,520 Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 BIX: eparker USA UUCP: {psuvax1}!cmuvm.bitnet!3zlufur From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: mutual snobbery and the place you're in Date: 30 November 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1339 (1688) Condecension seems built into human nature, though I suppose with hard work it can be conquered. I have in turn both been in an ordinary computing centre as a front-line techie and sought help as an academic from techies in computing centres. I, too, have found wit, intelligence, and knowledge in such places from people without Ph.D.s, tenure, or other privileges granted to some in our community. Like many others, I'm sure, I've found dullness and ignorance among academics, tenured and otherwise. The problem about support that most concerns me has rather to do with opportunities good people are not given, that is, with how our administrative structures militate against the community -- perhaps it is even a discipline -- we are trying to establish. Clearly, technical competence must move into the traditional disciplines; for that to happen, applications of computing to traditional scholarship must be given credit towards hiring, promotion, and tenure according to some reasonable criteria. Perhaps it is also clear to some that humanities computing itself needs to be cultivated as an academically respectable activity. In both cases, time for research, and the eventual (and earned) liberty to pursue research in whatever directions, are required. People in computing centres with such interests are often seriously disadvantaged by their circumstances. Not always, of course. Some centres are exemplary -- but, alas, they are exceptions to the rule. The opportunity to do the work for which one is most fit, the work one loves, is a great blessing worth our every effort to provide for our fellows. Don't you agree? Yours, Willard McCarty From: Norman Hinton <SSUBIT12@UIUCVMD> Subject: MIS Date: Thu, 30 Nov 89 09:56:11 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1340 (1689) Probably the last thing HUMANIST and its readers want is a discussion of Management Information Systems, but I wasn't generalizing from only one exposure. As a personal opinion, I suspect that one example of MIS at work can be found in the hearings of the (U.S.) President's Commission on the Challenger disaster. I _think_ mine is partly a humanist's reaction to any kind of "human engineering". From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.807 copyright, cont. (51) Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 20:22:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 809 (1690) The problem with looking at use from a royalty point of view is that if you pay a royalty for a recording, you can play the recording, and it is yours. If you access something electronically and pay, say 0001cent per word, you have recorded it and can reproduce it, and the author is mucho out of pocket-o. It is not as if you buy a book, from which the author derives a royalty of say ten cents per dollar. that is why xeroxing books or portions of books, even for teaching use is really punishable by a fine of 10,000$ if you are caught. It is called copyright infringement. Fair use is to copy a page or so for quotation. The dubbing of cassettes is really illegal and is a form of highway robbery, of the authors of music and words, because the dubbing decks copy and the copies are sold, which is not fair use, but theft. The DAT problem today is part of it, and no one seems to want even to charge a royalty of say 5cents per blank tape. My congressman and the various reps of composers like BMI and ASCAP are willing to have such a an arrangement but the tape sellers and deck sellers wont have it. Why? I presume they prefer theft, becaus they can sell ever so many blank tapes for theft, and since it is cutthroat, they dont want a fixed levy per blank tape to be added on before the item leaves the blank tape factory. Look at the theft of copyright originating in Asia! Hundreds of millions, for tapes, records, and, yes medical books, not to speak of many other kinds of technical books. No, it has be resolved that proper fees and control be set up beforehand, to try, just to try a little, to pay the originators of what the thieves value something for their creations. Kessler at UCLA From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: SPAD Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 17:06:00 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1341 (1691) My only information about SPAD, the UNIX-based text analysis program, is 2d-hand. It comes from a group of people working in Barcelona. In the paper I have, a lexicometric study of Gaucelm Faidit, Spad is stated "to recognize, count, organize, and classify lexical forms, calculate the contingency table of the lexicon (lexical forms x texts), and proceed to the analysis of the correspondences of this table without any manual manipulation of the data. ... SPAD has about 50 separate stages ...." Unfortunately, the paper doesn't give concrete information about how to get hold of the program. In the bibliography reference is given to a number of articles which appeared in <emp>Les Cahiers d'analyse des Donne'es</emp> from 1981 to 1984 by Salem and Lebart. I don't know where they are working, except that it's in France. In addition to SPAD, the author of the paper states that the Barcelona group is also using the Saint-Cloud programs. From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.788 Paradigma, recursively viewed (108) Date: Thu, 30 Nov 89 12:47:13 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1342 (1692) As of at least Thursday 30 November, Paradigma is NOT in the info-mac archives - at least not in the path name given. However, another conversion program, Converter, written by Alexander Falk of Austria is there: /info-mac/ascii-converter-11.hqx (I am connected to sumex-aim.stanford with the /info-mac directory in another window on my screen as I write this.) --- Richard Pierce <pierce@rose.uib.uninett> (or was it Terry Harpold?) wrote: Paradigma text file manipulator program announced on HUMANIST last week ...can now be obtained from the Info-Mac archives at Stanford, under the filename /info-mac/util/paradigma.hqx --- end of quoted material --- From: bgo900@csc.anu.oz (Brian O'Rourke) Subject: Australia e-closer Date: 29 Sep 89 16:06:31 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1343 (1693) Organization: Computer Services, Australian National University Weekly Bulletin Number 848 - 29 September 1989 [...] 1. New Charging Arrangements for Overseas E-mail As of 1st October all ACSnet traffic leaving and arriving at ANU will be carried by the newly implemented Australian Academic and Research Network (AARNet). Because AARNet utilizes dedicated lines for all of the network links, including a link to the USA, there are no charges calculated for network traffic. Consequently, there will be no usage charges levied back to individual users or Departments for e-mail traffic via AARNet. This applies to both outgoing and incoming mail. Motivated partly by an interest in the potential extent of HUMANIST participation here, if any HUMANIST knows someone in Australia who may wish to join HUMANIST but doesn't know of it or of its improved availability, I'd be happy to try helping them make e-contact with someone at an Australian site. Note that sites other than ANU may have different charging policies--I suppose we'll have to find this out piecemeal. I look forward to participating again after 19 months of abstinence. David Nash Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) | Dept Linguistics, Arts GPO Box 553 Fax: (062)497310 | ANU, GPO Box 4 Canberra ACT 2601 Telegraphic: ABINST | Canberra ACT 2601 ACSnet/CSNET=dgn612@cscunix.anu.oz[.au] UUCP = {uunet,hplabs,ubc-vision,ukc,mcvax,prlb2}!munnari!cscunix.anu.oz!dgn612 --- Stephen Clausing <SCLAUS@YALEVM> wrote: I would like to send e-mail to a relative in Austria who is also a student at the Technische Hochschule, but he claims his university does not have Bitnet. Does anyone know anything about Bitnet to Austria, or Arpanet? --- end of quoted material --- From: "Catherine Stella Wirtz " <U20678@UICVM> Subject: user support Date: 1 December 1989 06:25:05 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1344 (1694) As a relatively new Humanist I enter this discussion about users somewhere in the middle. Please bear with me if my remarks merely echo someone else's. Supporting humanities computing seems to me a kind of teaching, at least when the support person is not just doing something for the user but showing her how to do it herself. Some difficulties arise because the support person (who may be a member of faculty within a department) is then in the position of teaching a teacher. In my experience few teachers want to be taught. (As one of my colleagues remarked, she had spent years being told what to think and do, and now it was her turn.) I have recently put myself back into the classroom as a student, to learn a new language, and discovered again both my love for learning and my terror of being put on the spot by the teacher. That terror is a useful goad when you're no longer young and are trying to pick up another language, but I recognize that to avoid the embarrassment of being shown not to know something, many of my colleagues would never submit themselves to instruction. Ironic, isn't it? I have noticed something interesting in this regard about Humanist. Here the role of teacher is constantly changing. No one is embarrassed (though we may be embarrassed for someone making a fool of herself). Something about the combination of isolation and intimacy of this medium allows ideas to be discussed without our ordinary public faces getting in the way. Computing humanists have no choice but to become students again. Is there more of a genuine love of learning awakened in us for that reason? CSW From: "Guy L. Pace" <PACE@WSUVM1> Subject: Supporting the Humanists Date: Fri, 01 Dec 89 10:36:08 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1345 (1695) I read the comments about the relative difficulty in getting faculty interested in BITNET and the attitudes between academics and technical support people. I think the strengths or weaknesses of individual institutions in these regards come from the institution's idea of what role computing plays in administration and academics. In my own institution, computing is considered a major tool in both academics and administration (we have four sections for support -- administrative, academic, general services and network). The academic support, called Faculty Support Center, provides specific help to the academics. The Information Center, where I work, provides general support to just about anyone -- even folks downtown, sometimes. Getting people interested in using the computing resources available isn't difficult, especially when the institution places as much emphasis on computing as ours does. At the beginning of a semester (or a little before) I get a number of new or exchange professors who need a kick- start on using our computing resources. When they find out how to use BITNET, TEXT1, the statistics packages, and other applications on the mainframe system, they seem excited. Of course, I enjoy the positive feedback. Short of getting academics involved in the administration and leadership of computing services in the institution, there is little that can be accomplished to change local attitudes on computer use and support. If the academics don't like the way the MIS department works, or the local computing services department handles academic needs, the only solution is to get active in determining the directions of those departments. A determined group of academic users can have a positive impact on how well computing support serves their needs. From: Jan Eveleth <EVELETH@YALEVM> Subject: Humanities Computing Support Date: Fri, 01 Dec 89 14:39:27 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1346 (1696) I too have been following this issue with intense interest having recently accepted a position titled Humanities Computing Specialist. My degrees are both in the sciences; nonetheless, I have broad enthusiasm for research and the researchers themselves. (The best people to work with are those who are excited and involved in their work and are truly interested in accomplishing their research goals.) Humanities research is not foreign to me and while my interests are those of an amatuer in many respects, it is nonetheless quite sincere and, I hope, professional. Should persons hired to support humanities computing have academic degrees in the humanities? Certainly this would be desirable, but I hope not necessary since I believe that I am quite capable of addressing the needs of the humanists and offering guidance, support, and education when it's needed. What is the major role of the humanists' computing specialist? The proximate role is that of one-to-one, nuts-and-bolts computer consulting. The ultimate role is that of advocate/lobbyist for the computing interests of the humanities disciplines in the univ.'s administrative budgeting and policy decision-making process. Our goal should be to offer seamless computing to all university divisions. If I can work to integrate the current and anticipated computing needs of humanists from all humanities departments with each other as well as with other university departments (academic and administrative) then I believe the university administration will have incentive to strive toward a holistic academic environment--one glued by universally available networked resources--and will allocate funds appropriately. Should humanities computing support people be given tenure or other incentives to keep their academic interests alive? This should depend upon the nature of the position and the expectations of the unit that hires the specialist. This is appropriate particularly if the person is hired on departmental funds for the sole purpose of supporting that particular department. In this case perhaps a tenure program is appropriate. I am suggesting that the humanities computing specialist be hired by the academic computing division and have an additional lobbying role within the academic administrative process as was previously discussed. I have no desire for "tenure" in the academic sense. I chose to accept this position rather than stay in science because I couldn't bear the idea of living from grant to grant even if I should have been lucky enough to have survived the job-market wars and secured tenure. And teaching in the classroom is not my cup of tea. Surely there are others like myself? Personally, job satisfaction will ultimately be measured by my relationships with the faculty members in the humanities departments and having their support in efforts to lobby the university on behalf of the humanities programs for technology funding. And what about advancement opportunities? Again, tenure and "equal status" within an academic department are not at issue. My goals focus on gaining administrative positions within the academic hierarchy in order to increase effectiveness in defining and implementing the dreamed-of networked university. Since such positions are unlikely to exist (directing a computer service organization is not my cup of tea either), I'll be happy working alongside the active and inventive researchers in the humanities departments. Jan Eveleth Yale University From: Tom Thomson <tom@prg.oxford.ac.uk> Subject: Yes and No; Support Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 14:54:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 812 (1697) Gaelic is even worse than Latin in this respect; not only are there no words for Yes and No (at least for No as negative reply to a query), there isn't even something which will do for Yes in many cases like Latin ita. Yet the bible has been translated into the language, so what happened to the preponderance of Nos? On support for humanists in computing, I find Michael Sperberg-McQueen's arrogance quite unsupportable! Most computer scientists of my acquaintance are fully aware of what an aorist is (most non-linguist "humanists" I know are not). (I asked around to find out.) An education in formal (mathematical) theories of grammar, classification of syntax structures, and all the rest of that guff on the boundary between maths and computing might even be quite useful to someone supporting humanist computing. Tom Thomson [tom@nw.stl.stc.co.uk / tom@prg.oxford.ac.uk] From: djb@harvunxw.BITNET (David J. Birnbaum) Subject: Date: Thu, 30 Nov 89 21:39:08 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1347 (1698) Note: The following is a slightly revised version of a paper pre- sented earlier this year at the Fourth International Conference on Symbolic and Logical Computing, held at Dakota State Univer- sity, Madison, South Dakota. Endnote numbers within the text are enclosed in parentheses. Readers may wish to consult a character map for ISO 8859/5 (= ECMA 113). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Issues in Developing International Standards for Encoding non-Latin Alphabets(1) David J. Birnbaum Department of Slavic Languages, University of Pittsburgh Russian Research Center, Harvard University djb@wjh12.harvard.edu [Internet] djb@harvunxw.bitnet [Bitnet] Copyright (c) 1989 by David J. Birnbaum All rights reserved Introduction Defining an appropriate character set is the most impor- tant preliminary to any text processing. The generally accepted system for encoding English language texts is the American Stan- dard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII),(2) but the devel- opment of appropriate standards for other languages and alphabets has been less successful. As a result of this lack of agreement, idiosyncratic systems have proliferated, producing predictable obstacles to the efficient exchange of data. Recently the International Standards Organization (ISO) promulgated the 8859 series of standards for a variety of writing systems. One of these standards, 8859/5,(3) is designed to serve all six modern Slavic languages that use the Cyrillic alphabet (Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Ser- bocroatian). My discussion today focuses on general methodologi- cal issues involved in determining appropriate international standards, which I illustrate through a specific critique of 8859/5. -------------------- [A complete version of this paper is now available on the file-server, s.v. NONLATIN ALFABETS. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: JSCHWARTZ%desire@WSU Subject: A New Newsletter Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 11:54 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1348 (1699) Just a short note to let you know that Wright State University is asking me to revive the Research in Word Processing Newsletter, perhaps under a new name and with a heavier emphasis on personal publishing and instructional (not CAI) computing for all levels of writing. Would any Humanist members be interested in coming aboard (I may even be able to find a small honorarium or two) to help out in any number of ways, from soliciting manustripts to doing hands-on reviews of hardware, software, courseware, and any other "ware" we may find important? Thanks for the time, and I hope to be hearing from someone soon. Jim Schwartz Wright State University JSCHWARTZ%DESIRE@WSU (419) 586-2365 From: <ASNIDEPD@UIAMVS> Subject: Optical Scanning Date: Thu, 30 Nov 89 21:34 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 814 (1700) May I interject a few words in defence of the much maligned Kurzweil scanner? My evidence takes the form of a brief narrative--an optical conversion narrative, you might say. But Humanists interested in the writing process and its ineluctable mysteries might find it worth noting. Several months ago I committed myself to revising a substantial (65-page) typewritten manuscript, produced at a time when I had no access to a computer. I could not face the prospect of keyboarding these pages, especially since I knew that I would ultimately use only half of them. My initial attempts to revise in pencil onto the typescript and input a workable rough draft failed miserably. Without being fully aware of it, I had become hooked on word processing, especially the capacity to move blocks of text around at will and generate multiple versions. Sitting idle in the basement of the local computation center was a Kurzweil Discover (7320?), and in the space of an hour I had a usable ASCII DOS file in my hands. I never systematically calculated the accuracy levels obtained. But for my purposes it really didn't matter: hiatuses were clearly marked by tildes, a spell checker quickly cleaned up obvious mistakes, and most of the quoted material required careful rechecking anyway. Revisions went quickly because I could bypass the mind-numbing work of typing and could now see the essay with fresh eyes. I don't claim my experience justifies the purchase of a Kurzweil 4000 (assuming such machines aren't already consigned to the elephants' graveyard of technology). But if you find yourself staring blankly at a stray and revision-resistant typescript, you might consider experimenting with OCR techniques. Alvin Snider University of Iowa Iowa City ASNIDEPD@UIAMVS From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Query on microcomputer clusters/instructional space" Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 17:18:30 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 815 (1701) Could you help me out on the question of space needs for planning a multi-disciplinary microcomputer cluster? Our building houses the Natural Sciences and Foreign Language departments. We have a space (machine shop) on the ground floor for which our Director of Finance/Business Services has unexpectedly offered a significant sum to convert to a micro cluster. It measures 39 1/2 feet by 24 1/4 feet or about 958 sq. ft. if we knock out a wall (764 sq. ft. if we don't). We plan to include a number of interactive videodisc stations, but at least microcomputers (not simply terminals) to create a total of between 15-20 stations. We'd like to have 1 dot-matrix printer for every 2 micros. If possible, we'd like to accommodate the possibility of an instructional configuration: room in front of a class with a projection screen, blackboard (or "white board"). It seems this would require more space. Do any colleagues have model plans on how to design such a cluster? Suggestions for tables, lighting, carpeting, ventillation, plants ("High tech, high touch?"). This feels like supermarket sweep (if you remember that amazing TV show), but we have to plan almost spontaneously before the money "disappears." Sounds like Cadbury Easter chocolates.... Thanks, Joel D. Goldfield j_goldfi@unhh.bitnet Plymouth State College From: Marshall Gilliland 306/966-5501 <GILLILAND@SASK.USask.CA> Subject: More on poem "The Chaos" (170 lines) Date: Sat, 2 Dec 89 17:31 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 816 (1702) Dear HUMANIST: Earlier this year, several members discussed a poem, "Chaos", circulating in Europe. You may wish this additional information and copy of the poem alluded to in it. In VERBATIM; THE LANGUAGE QUARTERLY, for Autumn 1989, pages 8-10, there is a letter from a man in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Mr. Jacob de Jager says he was born in Holland in 1923 and received his education through senior high school in that country. As he studied English, he and others were required to learn by heart for recitation a poem called "The Chaos." He says the poem is by an English teacher named G. Nolst Trenite (that is an e acute at the end of his name) in the city of Haarlem. Trenite wrote articles under the pen name CHARIVARIOUS and a litle booklet entitled "Drop Your English Accent," in which the poem appeared. The text of the poem follows. Enjoy it--it is fun and difficult to read aloud. Marshall Gilliland U of Saskatchewan gilliland@sask.usask.ca ------------------- The Chaos Dearest creature in creation Studying English pronunciation, I will teach you in my verse Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse I will keep you, Susy, busy, Make your head with heat grow dizzy. Tear in eye your dress you'll tear, So shall I! Oh, hear my prayer, Pray, console your loving poet, Make my coat look new, dear, sew it! Just compare heart, beard and heard, Dies and diet, lord and word, Sword and sward, retain and Britain. (Mind the latter, how it's written). Made has not the sound of bade, Say said, pay-paid, laid, but plaid. Now I surely will not plague you With such words as vague and ague, But be careful how you speak, Say break, steak, but bleak and streak. Previous, precious, fuchsia, via, Pipe, snipe, recipe and choir, Cloven, oven, how and low, Script, receipt, shoe, poem, toe. Hear me say, devoid of trickery: Daughter, laughter and Terpsichore, Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles. Exiles, similes, reviles. Wholly, holly, signal, signing. Thames, examining, combining Scholar, vicar, and cigar, Solar, mica, war, and far. [deleted quotation]Lumber, plumber, bier, but brier. Chatham, brougham, renown, but known. Knowledge, done, but gone and tone, One, anemone. Balmoral. Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel, Gertrude, German, wind, and mind. Scene, Melpomene, mankind, Tortoise, turquoise, chamois-leather, Reading, reading, heathen, heather. This phonetic labyrinth Gives moss, gross, brook, brooch, ninth, plinth. Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet. Blood and flood are not like food, Nor is mould like should and would. Banquet is not nearly parquet, Which is said to rime with "darky." Viscous, Viscount, load, and broad. Toward, to forward, to reward. And your pronunciation's O.K., When you say correctly: croquet. Rounded, wounded, grieve, and sieve, Friend and fiend, alive, and live, Liberty, library, heave, and heaven, Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven, We say hallowed, but allowed, People, leopard, towed, but vowed. Mark the difference, moreover, Between mover, plover, Dover, Leeches, breeches, wise, precise, Chalice, but police, and lice. Camel, constable, unstable, Principle, disciple, label, Petal, penal, and canal, Wait, surmise, plait, promise, pal. Suit, suite, ruin, circuit, conduit, Rime with "shirk it" and "beyond it." But it is not hard to tell, Why it's pall, mall, but Pall Mall. Muscle, muscular, gaol, iron, Timber, climber, bullion, lion, Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, and chair, Senator, spectator, mayor, Ivy, privy, famous, clamour And enamour rime with hammer. Pussy, hussy, and possess, Desert, but dessert, address. Golf, wolf, countenance, lieutenants. Hoist, in lieu of flags, left pennants. River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb, Doll and roll and some and home. Stranger does not rime with anger. Neither does devour with clangour. Soul, but foul and gaunt but aunt. Font, front, won't, want, grand, and grant. Shoes, goes, does. Now first say: finger. And then: singer, ginger, linger, Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, and gauge, Marriage, foliage, mirage, age. Query does not rime with very, Nor does fury sound like bury. Dost, lost, post, and doth, cloth, loth, Job, job, blossom, bosom, oath. Though the difference seems little, We say actual, but victual. Seat, sweat, chaste, caste. (Leigh, eight, height,) Put, nut, granite, and unite. Reefer does not rime with deafer, Feoffer does, and zephyr, heifer. Dull, bull, Geoffrey, George, ate, late, Hint, pint, Senate, but sedate. Scenic, Arabic, Pacific, Science, conscience, scientific, Tour, but our and succour, four, Gas, alas, and Arkansas. Sea, idea, guinea, area, Psalm, Maria, but malaria, Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean, Doctrine, turpentine, marine. Compare alien with Italian, Dandelion with battalion. Sally with ally, yea, ye, Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, key, quay. Say aver, but ever, fever. Neither, leisure, skein, receiver. Never guess--it is not safe: We say calves, valves, half, but Ralph. Heron, granary, canary, Crevice and device, and eyrie, Face but preface, but efface, Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass. Large, but target, gin, give, verging, Ought, out, joust, and scour, but scourging, Ear but earn, and wear and bear Do not rime with here, but ere. Seven is right, but so is even, Hyphen, roughen, nephew, Stephen, Monkey, donkey, clerk, and jerk, Asp, grasp, wasp, and cork and work. Pronunciation--think of psyche--! Is a paling, stout and spikey, Won't it make you lose your wits, Writing "groats" and saying "grits"? It's a dark abyss or tunnel, Strewn with stones, like rowlock, gunwale, Islington and Isle of Wight, Housewife, verdict, and indict! Don't you think so, reader, rather, Saying lather, bather, father? Finally: which rimes with "enough" Though, through, plough, cough, hough, or tough? Hiccough has the sound of "cup." My advice is--give it up! G. Nolst Trenit<lc-e-acu> ("Charivarius") From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.807 copyright, cont. (51) (John Slatin) Date: Sat, 2 Dec 89 10:00:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1349 (1703) In response to Robert Amsler's suggestion that the problem with copyright is that people keep trying to find a way not to pay for the information they use-- well, maybe. But scholarship depends on free access to information; even now, publishers recognize (however grudgingly) the notion of "fair use," and I'd hate to see tht disappear. John Slatin From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVME> Subject: Re: 3.809 copyright, cont. (38) Date: Sat, 02 Dec 89 13:44:13 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1350 (1704) re: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU>'s comments about audio tape, etc. When audio tape was introduced, the advertisements and manuals showed examples suggesting the user, for example, buy an RCA record-RCA tape recorder-RCA tape and demonstrating how these were to be set up, used and not abused to copy the record purchased from RCA. (RCA is only a time-worn example - I should also use JVC with them - especially with the four channel era, and the Sony-CBS alliance, etc). The issue of copyright has only arisen as the quality of recordings. I, myself, tend to confine my comments about ASCII copying to things which have become public domain. mh From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.804 supporting the humanists (John Slatin) Date: Sat, 2 Dec 89 20:01:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1351 (1705) The question of support is interesting to me, not least because I direct the English Department's Computer Research Lab at the University of Texas (Austin), and because we're in the process of putting together fairly ambitious plans looking forward to the needs of the next several years. The CRL is primarily devoted to research and teaching (we also support the computer classroom mentioned by Helen Aristar-Dry some time back, before I'd actually joined HUMANIST), but we also end up doing a lot of informal (i.e., unpaid and generally unacknowledged) support. On the basis of this experience, as well as my own fumbling experience with BITNET, the mainframe, etc., I'd say part of the "support problem" has to do with the number and nature of the things people need help with-- there are those (colleagues) who have trouble finding the "on" switch or who've successfully formatted an entire document as a running-head; there are those who want to know whether one conferencing system can talk to another; there are those who are thinking about how to adapt pedagogical practices of long standing to the conditions of a networked classroom; those who need help with specific details of specific programs; those who need help with conceptual issues about computing in general; those who've tried the manuals and gotten lost; those who won't open a manual to save themselves. By the same token, there are support people who understand how to talk to people who don't know enough to know how to ask useful questions, and there are support people who are only useful if you already know quite a lot about what you're doing and how you're going about it. And of course there are teachers who can talk about literature to undergraduates who don't know much about literature, and there are teachers who can't or don't do that very well, but do splendidly when talking to knowledgeable colleagues. There are bridge problems here, many of them, and they seem to me to have a great deal to do with the way computing is entering into humanities teaching and scholarship. I suspect that, as time goes by, more and more humanities departments will be employing people (e.g., advanced undergraduates, grad students, etc.) to deal with technology; and I hope that more and more departments, acting either singly or in concert, will establish computing centers, in which discipline-specific or interdisciplinary questions can be focused and addressed. John Slatin EIEB360@UTXVM From: Charles Ess <DRU001D@SMSVMA> Subject: self support? Date: Sat, 02 Dec 89 12:08:00 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1352 (1706) The current discussion of desirable forms of support for humanities computing painfully reminds me of the limitations I suspect many of us in smaller institutions face, where "support" is limited at best. Without intending to sound self-pitying or to otherwise derail the discussion, may I raise a second question: how many of us find ourselves in the following sort of position because of _lack_ of support? I'm using IRIS Intermedia to develop course tutorial materials -- which further requires a network of Macintoshes running A/UX 1.1. Because my institution currently enjoys but one full-time computer support person, who is kept busy with administrative mainframe and student/faculty PC- related issues -- the task of learning enough UNIX to install the network (including such things as setting up NFS [Network File System] and Yellow Pages; configuring the kernals appropriate to memory, etc.; setting up user accounts and other system administration tasks; and of course installing the software itself) fell to me. Two questions here, really. (1) I would like a relatively objective estimate of just how difficult such a task is -- from the standpoint of my more computer-literate colleagues on this list who (a) have been at this much longer than I, and/or (b) are primarily support personnel (bless your hearts!) who are most intimately familiar with these procedures. How would you describe such a task, say, to a faculty member interested in doing the same sort of thing -- so that faculty person could make some judgment as to whether or not the demands of the task were worth the cost? How would you describe such a task to a faculty advancement committee which is attempting to determine the "value" of this activity alongside other such things as teaching, publication, etc.? (2) Are there others out there who find themselves in similar situations -- i.e., taking on what appear to be unusually demanding tasks usually reserved for "professional" support personnel, for the sake of some project which otherwise would not get accomplished? I anticipate that responses to these questions will tell us something about computers and the humanities among faculty who find themselves with less than all the support they might ask for. Thanks in advance, Charles Ess Drury College Springfield, MO From: Chicago Linguistic Society <cls@sapir.uchicago.edu> Subject: CLS Call for Papers Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 23:17:47 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 819 (1707) The Chicago Linguistic Society announces its 26th Regional Meeting with Parasession on THE SYLLABLE IN PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY April 26-28, 1990 MAIN SESSION (April 26-27, 1990): We invite original, unpublished work on any topic of general linguistic interest. Invited speakers for the main session are: Mark Baker -- McGill University Charles Fillmore -- University of California, Berkeley Eric Hamp -- University of Chicago PARASESSION (April 27-28, 1990): We invite original, unpublished work on the interaction of phonetics and phonology as they relate to the syllable. We also welcome papers presenting strictly phonological analyses of the syllable, as well as papers treating the syllable as an object of phonetic study. Possible topics include: internal syllable structure, templatic analysis, metrical phonology, and the syllable in speech perception and production. Invited speakers for the parasession are: Larry Hyman -- University of California, Berkeley Junko Ito -- University of California, Santa Cruz Howard Nusbaum -- University of Chicago John Ohala -- University of California, Berkeley Alan Prince -- Brandeis University ABSTRACTS: Please submit seven copies of a one-page, 500-word anonymous abstract (for a 30-minute paper, including 10 minutes for discussion) along with a 3x5" card with your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, title of paper, and indication of whether the paper is intended for the main session or parasession. The abstract should clearly indicate the data covered, outline the arguments presented, and mention any broader implications of the work. You may append a page of data and/or bibliographic references if necessary. Abstracts may not be submitted via e-mail. SEND TO: Chicago Linguistic Society 1050 East 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: (312) 702-8529 cls@sapir.uchicago.edu DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS: February 10, 1990. Housing information can be obtained by writing to the above address, c/o Housing Coordinator. There will be a registration fee for the conference, with a discount for student registration. Please Print and Post From: LIBJB@CCNY Subject: 3.805 expensive journals? CD-ROMs? (72) Date: Fri, 01 Dec 89 14:44 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 820 (1708) Publishers of expensive journals, which tend to be non-U.S. in origin and scientific in content, contend that their costs are rising at enormous rates: inflation, decline in university-level support, growth in the numbers of manuscripts to consider, and currency exchange rates figuring prominently in their excuses. Circulation, at least according to Elsevier, has declined by 15% for the major journals; and page counts have risen dramatically. Most publishers, even those charging thousnds of dollars for often-tardy publications, seem to think they the market offers pretty tenuous support, and that they, were they not so selfless, would raise prices even more. Elsevier will at least respond to criticisms raised by, for example, the recent Association of Research Libraries report on journal pricing. Other publishers, most notably Gordon and Breach, have taken critics to court! G & B are out to prove that any article which compares the prices and pricing factors of various journals constitute *advertising* and should be labelled as such...Uh...At least that's the way I heard it. The bulk of the information that I get on this topic comes from the (electronic) journal Newsletter on Serials Pricing Issues available at no charge from Marcia Tuttle, ed. (TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET) From: JSCHWARTZ%desire@WSU Subject: Bad Bitnet Address??? Date: Mon, 4 Dec 89 13:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1353 (1709) Halloo!!! I've been receiving quite a bit of mail lately from Humanist members with incorrect BITNET addresses attached. My real address, for those of you who wish to become involved with the "new, improved" Research in Word Processing Newsletter," is JSCHWARTZ%DESIRE@WSU.BITNET Please don't forget the "%DESIRE" (sans quotes) part, or else I won't get it--or will get a corrputed version. Thanks! Regards, Jim Schwartz From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: DIR EXEC virus Date: Monday, 4 December 1989 1909-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1354 (1710) All users of the IBM mainframe here at Penn were just issued a warning not to accept (or use) a file called DIR EXEC that may be floating around. It will send out multiple messages to people on one's NAMES lists on VMS/CMS (or whatever we have), and in 1990, destroy one's files. The added admonition was included not to accept any EXEC files from outside or untested sources. Sounds like sound advice. Bob Kraft From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: OFFLINE 26 Date: Monday, 4 December 1989 1120-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 822 (1711) <<O F F L I N E 2 6 >> by Robert Kraft ----------------------------- Another year, another time for taking stock. In the immediate past lies the SBL/AAR/ASOR conference in Anaheim, on the doorstep of the last decade of the 20th century. Too much went on at Anaheim to comprehend responsibly, including a great deal concerning computer assisted research and scholarship. A large debt of gratitude is due to those who put together the rich program of presentations and demonstrations dealing with computer related issues -- Robin Cover, Alan Groves, Jackie Pastis, Ray Harder, etc., for the SBL Computer Assisted Research Group (CARG); Tom Longstaff et al. for ASOR; to mention only the most obvious. And computer technology was also very well represented in the "book exhibit" area, with almost 20 separate booths containing various pertinent services or wares. <Looking Back> In OFFLINE 25, Robin Cover gave a preview of the proposed CARG program. Most of it actually took place as planned, so there is no point in attempting to repeat the details here. For those of you who could not attend the CARG Reports session, printed descriptions of 21 scholarly projects or products were collected and produced for the meeting by Alan Groves and copies of that information are still available from OFFLINE. These reports range all the way from the usual updates on activites of well known entities (e.g. Oxford Text Archive, Biblical Research Associates, GRAMCORD, Computer Assisted Tools for Septuagint Studies = CATSS, Center for Computer Analysis of Texts = CCAT, Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon = CAL, Thesaurus Linguae Graecae = TLG) to such relatively new entries as two Hebrew Lexicon projects (SBL- Princeton Seminary; Sheffield) or the use of Apple Macintosh "hypertext" capabilities to produce Hebrew-Greek lexical and morphological tools for biblical study or the adaptation of David Packard's automatic Greek morphological analysis program for use on IBM type microcomputers. A wide variety of these scholarly developments were also exhibited in the CARG demonstration room. And a similarly wide array of computer applications could be seen in the regular "book exhibit" hall, including several products for studying collected biblical and other materials on CD-ROM (e.g. CDWord from Dallas Seminary; MasterSearch Bible from Tri Star Publishing; LBase from Silver Mountain Software) or in other formats (e.g. Zondervan's newly acquired "macBible" -- formerly the PerfectWord). There were some miniature, hand held computers for Bible study (Franklin; Selectronics) and some searchable single versions on larger machines (Lockman's NASV; Zondervan's NIV). The latest versions of popular textprocessing software were on display (e.g. NotaBene, MultiLingual Scholar, MegaWriter) and of various other special use products (e.g. Linguist's Software fonts for the Mac, or the MemCards package for learning languages). And more! May I be forgiven for what I may have overlooked! Most of the specifically biblical texts and products are listed in the helpful new catalogue produced by a distributor called Hermeneutika, PO Box 98563, Seattle WA 98198 (1-800-55BIBLE), which joins Dove Booksellers as a convenient source for such materials (3165 West 12 Mile Road, Berkley MI 48072, 313-547- 9659). In retrospect, the composite scene proved very gratifying. Progress is being made. Useful products are becoming increasingly available. A growing number of scholars are taking advantage of the powerful new tools and possibilities for facilitating study that are offered by the computer world. The ASOR special consultation on Computer Applications in Archaelolgy illustrated some of the range of interests and applications beyond the primarily textual. CARG guest Terry Erdt (Villanova) spoke about progress in optical scanning technology, and the new Kurzweil 5100 scanner was on display. Ted Brunner (University of California, Irvine) informed and entertained us on the history and plans of the TLG project, while the TLG CD-ROM made its presence known and illustrated its value in several displays. Developments in the creation and coordination of other data archives for humanistic research were also described, and the encouraging role of the National Endowment for the Humanities in funding such projects was noted. There is still a serious gap between those who use computers primarily or exclusively as a writing and printing device and those who use them for other scholarly tasks. But even this is a much more tolerable situation than obtained a mere five years ago, when computer fobia ran rampant among humanists. There is still significant fobia, but it is no longer triggered in most instances by the sight of a keyboard and screen. Even the use of computer jargon seems less intimadating, by and large -- we are hearing it everywhere. Indeed, there are many indicators that the current crisis -- or at least one of the main crises at the moment -- has to do with getting connected with the larger world of electronic communications. The main problem, not surprisingly, seems to be insecurity about whether and how to take such a step: Why should I want to be plugged in? Won't it be expensive? Isn't it very complicated? Etc. <Connecting Now> Computers are the telephones of the future (not to mention the present) -- and the telegraphs and the telephotos and, to some extent, the postal links and the library catalogues and reading rooms as well. These aspects will all develop at their own rates and in their own ways, but they will gradually come together into a multifaceted computer linkage of visual and audio media. The transmission of visual materials in the form of words and digitized pictures has been mushrooming of late, as the "fax" phenomenon attests, and the multiplication of electronic networks and network users. Communication between previously discrete or incompatible networks is becoming commonplace, and the wealth of available information along with the opportunities for making useful contacts are mushrooming. Electronic discussion groups multiply, and electronic journals are beginning to emerge onto the scene. Opportunities for humanists abound. It is never too soon to start. Most major universities and their satellites are on BITNET or another of the academic networks. If you are at such an institution, you should be able to connect, either by being wired directly to the system or by telephone modem. Get an account. Don't be timid. Find out what is available and how you can make use of it. If your own institution is not on a network, it is probable that you can make arrangements with a nearby networked university to be routed through them, hopefully at a modest cost. In any event you can look into the telephone accessed services such as HumaNet (see OFFLINE 18), which provides similar opportunities to those of the university networks. My own use of the university networks may be atypical, but it will serve to illustrate the possibilities. This column is published first, electronically, on the HUMANIST discussion group (coordinated from Toronto) on BITNET, several weeks before it appears in hard copy. The column is also transmitted to the editorial offices of Scholars Press via BITNET, and any communications with SP about it or related matters are done electronically. Similar contributions to scholarly discussion appear regularly on HUMANIST, to be read or ignored, responded to or left for possible later reference in the discussion group archive. If I need to locate a text, or a reference, if I have a question about humanistic computer developments or software, or about some newly announced hardware, I can send a general query in a single memo to the 500 or so members of HUMANIST. Quick responses are not infrequent. Other discussion groups are also available and attractive to me -- for IBYCUS users, for Judaic Studies, for Editors, for Archival Centers, for Archaeologists and AngloSaxonists (ok, I'm pretty nosy; trying to keep in touch with related areas of interest!). And I also keep in contact with my own less formalized subgroups of individuals such as the CARG steering committee or the CATSS project staff (local and international). All the news is not good. It takes time and discipline to deal with the flood of messages from HUMANIST alone. But I find it much easier to operate efficiently and effectively with "e-mail" than with the regular post in terms of keeping up with my own communications. And the ability speedily to get answers to queries, or to test ideas, is a great advantage, not to mention the ability to keep in touch with what is going on elsewhere throughout the world. Apart from BITNET and HUMANIST, I also make regular use of the electronic linkage to library catalogues here at Penn and elsewhere, similar to what one can also do with online bibliographies such as that of the American Theological Library Association, which regularly displays at the annual SBL/AAR/ASOR meetings and could be seen at Anaheim. From lack of time, and certainly not lack of interest, I have not yet made much use of the plethora of other information and opportunities on networks other than those available directly through the university. <Looking Ahead> Again, using the Anaheim sessions as a point of departure, some important decisions for the future were taken there. The CARG steering committee reaffirmed its intention to continue its activities, but with an increasingly wider agenda and more overt attempts to cooperate with and help meet the needs of the other constituencies represented at the annual meetings (ASOR, AAR). Insofar as CARG has its formal base in SBL, it understandably tends to focus on biblically related research. But the interests and needs represented at the annual meetings of SBL/AAR/ASOR are clearly much broader, and it makes little sense to try to run three CARG-type operations simultaneously, at least at the level of providing general information and securing equipment for conducting demonstrations. Contacts with the computer coordinators in the other societies have been encouraging, and it is hoped that the activities at future meetings will increasingly address a larger circle of interests as well as various levels of need -- from the beginner through the expert. A related issue that has long concerned me is worth noting. There are many scholarly constituencies and societies that could profit from programs and demonstrations similar to what CARG has been doing in SBL. Occasionally inquiries have come to the Center for Computer Analysis of Texts at Penn whether we could put on some sort of computer demonstration at a meeting of this or that group. Sometimes it is possible, usually not. Similarly, the question has been asked about conducting demonstrations of appropriate computing applications at regional meetings of SBL and/or AAR, for example. It cannot be expected that every group has the ability and desire to generate appropriate program segments for computer orientation, but there could be a great deal of value in having an experienced group available for such services. Exactly how to coordinate, and finance, such an effort is a worthy issue for discussion in the major societies and confederations of societies and in the humanities computing service centers. Leadership also emerged from the Anaheim meeting on another matter of great significance for scholarly adjustment to the computer age. The SBL Research and Publications Committee has committed some resources to establishing a central archive to preserve the electronic forms of society publications. Journals, monographs, abstracts, newsletters, annual programs, etc., are printed from electronic versions, but the survival of the electronic forms has not been systematically attended to until now. Beginning immediately, the electronic materials will be collected and sent to CCAT at Penn, where they will be transferred to large capacity storage devices. The initial primary aim is preservation. Later such questions as consistency of format, selective electronic (re)publication and the like may be considered. If you are in possession of the electronic form of a book or article or similar item that deserves to become part of these archives, please send a copy to the OFFLINE address. As has often been noted before in OFFLINE, creation and preservation of electronic archives is an important step towards the emerging future. Over the years the Oxford Text Archive has managed to establish itself and survive -- even flourish, in some limited sense -- as a general repository. A few other similar facilities for producing and collecting electronic data have been created, usually with specific areas of focus, in various universities and projects. Nothing has yet emerged on the scale of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan, which serves as a social sciences resource center for some 300 institutions, although various possibilities have been discussed at various times. The task for humanists is immense and will probably require close cooperation between existing archives and humities computing centers, major libraries, professional societies and publishers, to mention only the most obvious. An encouraging sign is the revival of the Rutgers Inventory of Machine Readable Texts project, in connection with the newly established Rutgers-Princeton Center for Machine-Readable Texts in the Humanities, with funding from the NEH, the Mellon Foundation, and the state of New Jersey, at present. A project is also underway at Georgetown University to catalogue the existing archive-type repositories relevant to humanities. The formal entry of a professional society such as SBL into this complex task is certainly welcome, and hopefully will help serve as encouragement to other similar groups and publishers. <Making our Needs Known> This is clearly a period of transition for humanistic research in relation to technological developments. Much effort on the part of many will be necessary to make this a smooth process. The libraries are feeling their way along to determine their proper roles as repositories and dispensers of information. Professional scholarly societies of the traditional sort are gradually becoming more involved. Publishers are attempting to test the market at various levels. Specific projects in the scholarly world continue to explore and produce new "data" (including texts and repositories of information). Some universities have attempted to address the broader situation in one way or another -- e.g. the Oxford Text Archive, the Toronto Centre for Computing in the Humanities, the Rutgers- Princeton Center for Machine-Readable Texts, the BYU Humanities Research Center, and a few others. But apart from such rare exceptions, the educational institutions seem to be preoccupied with internal needs -- and those not usually of direct relevance to humanists -- with respect to computer assisted scholarship. In some ways the fault may be ours. Often we have failed to make our needs and wants known to our own institutions, and we have failed to lend even verbal support and encouragement to those projects and endeavors that attempt to address our common interests. It is difficult for an administration, overburdened with urgent requests from various quarters, to know what the more silent participants need, or even if they know, to take appropriate action in the face of the symphony of squeaky wheels. It has become increasingly clear to me, for example, that my dean and administration have little awareness of what CCAT has done or attempts to do for humanistic scholarship at large (including the production of this OFFLINE column) and thus find it hard to respond to CCAT requests. I suspect that the same may be true for some of the other similarly oriented service and information facilities mentioned above. Thus when priorities are determined by an administration, these sorts of humanistic efforts my find themselves neglected or even discontinued. If we want to avoid such a situation, and continue to encourage progress in harnassing computing for humanistic research and instruction, we need to speak out with intelligence and conviction in support of making/keeping our humanistic disciplines equally viable in the new situation. We cannot afford to be left behind. --------------- <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. BITNET address: KRAFT at PENNDRLS. 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 also available upon request (for IBM/DOS, Mac, or IBYCUS).> From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.818 supporting the humanists, cont. (109) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 89 13:55:03 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 823 (1712) I would NEVER try to put up a full-scale UNIX system by myself. The manuals are not written for human beings. To say that such a task requires a certain level of sophistication and knowledge is an understatement. I have a large-scale data base project running under Advanced Revelation, which bills itself as easier to use yet more flexible than, e.g., D-Base; but if I had had to depend on the manuals and my own (limited) technical knowledge, the project would have never flown. Indeed, it didn't until I got some outside support for it, which took about three years. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: computing lab for a small college Date: 4 December 1989, 09:14:34 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1355 (1713) Just a few things for Joel Goldfield to think about. Anti-static carpeting. Perhaps halogen, almost glare-free lighting, with the equivalent of a tamper-proof basement skylight, for some access to the outside (I am thinking of the poor plants). Air-conditioning, depending on how the ventilation system in that building works. Individual seating with enough lower-back support. Seating flexible enough so that it can all face in one direction (that of the big screen and lectern) for instruction. A laser printer and at least a hand-scanner would be a useful addition to the equipment, since even university committees and editors of scholarly journals are now getting used to seeing laser output, with pictures. At least several machines either used as dumb terminals or equipped with modems, either for direct access to telephone lines or to the mainframe computer. At least a modestly-priced FAX. How much have we gone over budget yet? Roy Flannagan From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.815 design of a space? (37) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 89 08:47:03 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1356 (1714) One quick comment on the design of your computing facility: skip all those dot matrix printers and invest in a laser printer & print server; save space, eliminate some noise, increase the effectivness of the workstations, and have some nice looking output; costs/workstation should be comparable to (perhaps less than) providing .5 dot matrix printers/workstation. ---j_goldfi@unhh.bitnet (Joel Goldfield) wrote: ...We plan to include a number of interactive videodisc stations, but at least microcomputers (not simply terminals) to create a total of between 15-20 stations. We'd like to have 1 dot-matrix printer for every 2 micros.... From: "John J Hughes" <XB.J24@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: Date: Tue, 5 Dec 89 16:12:30 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 825 (1715) Fellow HUMANISTS: Recently, several of you have requested information about machine-readable versions of the Bible. There are several dozen programs that include a search engine and some or all of the biblical texts or translations or both. A helpful listing of these programs may be found in the new Hermeneutica Catalog. (Hermeneutica is a new software vendor in Seattle). The address is Hermeneutica P.O. Box 98563 Seattle, WA 98198 1-800-552-4253 I have reviewed about a dozen of these products in _Bits, Bytes, & Biblical Studies_ and have looked at about half a dozen new ones since then. In my opinion, the two best electronic Bible concording programs are the NIVpc (for IBMs) and macBible (formerly the PerfectWord, for Macintoshes), both of which are marketed by Zondervan Electronic Publishing (ZEP) 1415 Lake Drive, SE Grand Rapids, MI 49506 1-616-698-3383 (Mark Hunt) I must confess to being a bit prejudiced, since I am the Product Manager for ZEP and am helping to design the next versions of these programs! My relationship with ZEP not withstanding, these are the programs I would give serious consideration to if I were in the market for an electronic Bible concording program. If you would like to receive a free NIVpc Sampler or a free macBible Sampler or a free interactive macBible demo, please contact me at the address below, or contact ZEP at the address above. A fully interactive NIVpc demo package, complete with a 90-page manual, is available for $10 from either address. ZEP also markets ScriptureFonts, a WordPerfect add-on that allows users to enter, edit, and print fully accented Greek and properly pointed Hebrew on a wide range of printers. ScriptureFonts was created by Jeffrey William Gillette, the creator of the Duke Language Toolkit. Flyers are available on all three programs. Zondervan Electronic Publishing Product Management 623 Iowa Avenue Whitefish, MT 59937 1-406-862-7280 XB.J24@Stanford From: Harold Wilson <HSW100U@ODUVM> Subject: Greek Civ. Date: Mon, 04 Dec 89 21:15:24 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1357 (1716) There have been several allusions of late to a Greek civilization database (probably built for a hypercard enviroment - not TLG) at a cost of $2 million by Massachusetts schools. Is there an address available for information? From: RAPOPORT@MCMASTER Subject: KEYBOARD MUSIC LABS Date: Tue, 5 Dec 89 15:58 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1358 (1717) I would be interested to hear from anyone who has installed or works in a MIDI lab with microcomputers which is capable of teaching keyboard harmony in a class setting, e.g. where the instructor may teach and monitor monitor selected individuals using their MIDI keyboards. It seems to me that there are potential advantages to teaching keyboard harmony this way, as well as some obvious difficulties. Dr. Paul Rapoport RAPOPORT@MCMASTER.CA RAPOPORT@MCMASTER.BITNET From: "John J Hughes" <XB.J24@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: Date: Tue, 5 Dec 89 16:11:35 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1359 (1718) I am looking for a Greek PostScript font that I can download from an IBM to a PostScript printer. If I cannot find such a font, then I am looking for a PostScript programmer who will create a Greek PostScript font. I have tried the following sources but to no avail. 1. Adobe 2. CompuGraphic 3. Linotype 4. Monotype Apparently, the Adobe package #78, Universal Greek & Math Pi, and the resident PostScript Symbol font come the closest, though they both lack diacritical marks. I am aware of the Greek PostScript font from Linguists' Software, but this is for Macintosh applications. Thanks in advance for any help. John John J. Hughes From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: 3.827 supporting some European humanists (61) Date: Tue, 05 Dec 89 19:57:32 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 827 (1719) To: Humanist Discussion Group <Humanist@utoronto> DATE: 05 DEC 89 17:39 CET FROM: A400101@DM0LRZ01 SUBJECT: Humanities computing support - # 779 793 etc. Monumenta Germaniae Historica Postfach 34 02 23 D-8000 Muenchen 34 Dr. Timothy Reuter Tel. (089)-21 98 381 bzw. 391 (Nachrichten 385) Willard McCarty asks about the European situation. There isn't a single one (any more than for North America); I write only from my experience, that of a Brit historian currently in permanent employment as historian and de facto computer specialist at a German research institute. Here the critical difference is between those who are on fixed-term contract and those whose contract is limited only by retiring age. I'm employed until retiring age and if anyone says "Boy!" to me I can tell them to ...; much harder if you're going to need good references or a decision on re-employment in a couple of years time. Most people here in the research institutes (though not in universities) have retiring-age contracts, including computer support staff (though these, like me, are mostly historians, linguists or whatever who were originally employed as such and then made themselves computerate, rather than DP specialists). It's a different matter with grant-funded projects, which are mostly situated in the universities and of which I can say little. So we do have "tenure", as well as respect, I suppose, though not much in the way of further career opportunities except in the roles we were signed on as (historians, linguists or whatever). BUT, I don't think it's any good looking to us for a model, because concepts of employment, security, how employers treat employees (and those higher up in the hierarchy treat those lower down) are *very* culturally dependent. You couldn't even transfer the German notions easily to England (or vice versa), let alone North America. What is difficult with this kind of set up is simply keeping up. MFFGKGN from Manchester says you need a fairly comprehensive knowledge of all software and O/S used on site. OK - but (if it's part of your job) how do you decide what should be there? How do you evaluate, for a humanities usership, the relative merits of WORD X and WORD Y for academic word- processing? I could use each in my own academic work for two or three months to see what the advantages/drawbacks are, but I have to write papers and reviews, not just practise WP. In practice I recommend what I know and what I know works, rather than what might be the best available. And that goes for everything else as well. Software reviews (hardware isn't so problematic in this respect) rarely give you the whole feel that you get from extensive use of a program. In particular it's difficult to sort out all the hype and decide what it would be cost effective to look at more closely; and I reckon the problem is getting worse the cheaper powerful computing gets, so that sooner or later I'll have to decide whether to be a humanities computing specialist or a historian, 'cos you can't any longer be both. Which is a pity, because I find it helps me, and I think helps others whom I advise, for me to be my own interface between the humanities person and the computing person. From: Mark Sacks <AP02@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK> Subject: Apocryphal 'yes' Date: Tue, 5 Dec 89 09:21:58 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 828 (1720) Morgenbesser. For a reference, see the introduction to *How Many Questions? Essays in Honour of Sidney Morgenbesser*, (ed.) Cauman, Levi, Parsons, Schwartz. Hackett Publishing Compnay, 1983. p. 1. The linguistic philosopher giving the lecture that prompted the crack is not mentioned in the above book. As I have heard the story it was J. L. Austin. But that might be too good to be true. Mark. From: EIEB360@UTXVM.BITNET Subject: 3.824 design of a computing lab (John Slatin) Date: Tuesday, 5 December 1989 8:36am CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 829 (1721) A few more thoughts on the design of a computer lab/classroom facility. First, I agree with David Bantz that you're better off *not* getting a dot matrix printer for each workstation (we have such a setup right now, and it's deafening and distracting). Second, Roy Flannagan's absolutely right about the importance of decent light and decent seating (again, I know because we have neither). But I think you want to be careful about orienting all the workstations so that they're all facing the lectern and the large viewing screen. Our classroom is set up at the moment to resemble a conventional classroom (rows of PCs all aimed toward the front of the room where the old greenboard lives on in dusty obliviousness)-- but that's not in fact how the *classes* work at all: text-sharing over the network, which is the bulk of what we do, has nothing to do with the physical layout. Similarly, the politics of the networked classroom are, in our experience, very different from the politics supported by the traditional classroom design. The traditional classroom is designed to enforce the authority of the instructor as he (and I say "he" deliberately) presents his scholarly knowledge to a relatively passive audience of students who write it down and, occasionally, offer a comment or raise a question (both directed to the instructor). But a network-based classroom with a "live" messaging system and full text-sharing capabilities can be designed to enhance the authority of everyone participating (including the instructor, whose intellectual and social authority may well be heightened as the result of increased engagement with a greater number of participating students). Perhaps, then, the design of the physical space ought to reflect that. We're about to experiment with new designs for the new semester, and right now we're leaning toward putting all the workstations around the perimeter of the room, with a big seminar table in the center that can be used for face-to-face discussions when those seem desirable (that's something we can't really accommodate well now); we'll also have a Datashow handy so people (students and instructors alike) can demonstrate things to the group as a whole. I notice I'm assuming a network; I think it'd be foolish *not* to install one. Finally, are you designing a lab or a classroom? My remarks assume a classroom, but they may also apply to a lab. John Slatin Computer Research Lab Dept. of English University of Texas at Austin From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.817 copyright, cont. (47) Date: Tue, 5 Dec 89 00:17:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 830 (1722) Re M Hart: But we know that untold thousands of tapes have been and are being pirated by clandestine shops, reproduced by slave machines in the thousands and sold here and everywhere in the world. Where money is to made, or where something is to be had for almost nothing, there are few who would not take what they can, never mind copyright or propertyrights. Money still talks... One can see how it goes when one reads the e-mail and reads the protests of our coleauges about the complaints of those who say they have invested umpteen hours and years into keyboarding and programming and so forth, and would like to be recompensed. Nothing, I fear, that is aprt of the new things attached to the compter world is in the public domain, certainly not the latest edition of the OED or Shakespeare and etc. Kessler at UCLA From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Austria = Australia?" Date: Mon, 4 Dec 89 17:43:38 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1360 (1723) Wait! I'm confused. Did Stephen Clausing really want AustrALia after all or have David Bantz and David Nash answered a different geographical network question? I've been reading all about how to write to colleagues in Australia, but read at the end of David's note about Stephen's relatives or friends of relatives in Austria.... Just trying to keep things straight..., Joel Goldfield, Plymouth State College From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Recent chaotic submission" Date: Mon, 4 Dec 89 18:21:03 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1361 (1724) Didn't we read the same poem in 1988? I seem to recall a whole discussion on amusing English pronunciation. --Joel Goldfield From: PARKINSON@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: decorum Date: Tue, 5 Dec 89 9:50 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1362 (1725) In the middle of a long session cleaning out my HUMANIST mailbox (a veritable Augean stables of accumulated verbal diarrhoea) I came across a spiteful note from one Roland Hutchinson (PhD student in musicology, according to his biography) which I cannot allow to pass without a smart slap over the wrists. In the process of informing the readership that a colleague had used a Mac to replay digitized speech and music at a musicology conference (which is interesting but hardly world-shattering), he continued with a gratuitous account of how the presentation was used as a "hatchet job on the credibility" of the "pet project" of another musicologist, using what purported to be extracts from broadcast interviews; the "poor man" was apparently "hung out to dry with his own words". The project in question was the reconstruction of Beethoven's Tenth Symphony, which must rank as a major musicological event, whatever one's views on the result. If it had not been important, it would not have generated the media coverage which his assailant seems to have taken advantage of, in what strikes me as a cynical and unscholarly fashion. I find two things about this particularly reprehensible. Firstly that HUMANIST should be used to broadcast slurs on un-named but recognisable third parties who are not members and therefore cannot reply. Secondly, and more importantly, that this kind of conference "paper" should be associated with Humanities computing. It can hardly have escaped thinking musicologists that the *real* research was done by traditional means, while the computer fraternity could only manage a "very effective" piece of journalism, and an ill-mannered one at that. Stephen Parkinson Taylor Institution Oxford University From: Stephen Clausing <SCLAUS@YALEVM> Subject: Austria correction Date: Wed, 06 Dec 89 16:42:13 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1363 (1726) In answer to Joel Goldfield's confusion, I asked about Bitnet to AUSTRIA, not Australia. Incidentally I have recieved a number of excellent responses to my query. This, to my mind, is an example of academic cordiality at its best. My thanks to all those who wrote me. From: Brian Whittaker <BRIANW@YORKVM2> Subject: Re: 3.780 no and yes, cont. (49) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 89 00:36:39 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1364 (1727) The original posting on the relative frequency of "yes" and "no" in the English translations of the bible noted, if I remember correctly, that "no" has a more varied *grammatical* distribution in English than "yes". The sentence "I see no problem with your suggestion" does not have as its oposite "I see yes a problem with your suggestion." "Yes" is used in English mainly as an exclamation, and exclamations of any sort are much less frequent than statements in most genres of texts. Moreover, of the two sentences given above, "I see no problem with your suggestion" is actually an affirmation of the listener or reader's position rather than a negation or refutation. The likely opposite, "I do see a problem with your suggestion", using the auxiliary verb "do" as an emphatic or affirmative auxiliary, is actually much more negative in its semantic or transactional value. A quantitative description may yield suggestive or disturbing hypotheses, but only a return to the text and its context will yield a meaningful analysis. Rather than giving way to easy hypotheses about the negativity of the Judaeo-Christian tradition, with the obvious quotations from Exodus, Paul's letters, Freud, Kafka and Grimm's _Hausmaerchen_ (not really fairy tales), we might broaden the description, comparing the frequency of a much larger class of negatives {no, not, never, did not, shall not, none, nowhere, ...} with a contrasting list of affirmatives {yes, indeed, truly, moreover, did, shall, everywhere, always, ever, ...}. Thus, in the Gospels, we might compare the number of times Jesus is quoted as saying "Truly I say to you..." with the number of times he is quoted as saying "I do not say to you...". We might also compare the number of all verb phrases that contain a negative with the number of all verb phrases that do not contain a negative; I would expect negative verb phrases to be very much in the minority. In the end, however, one must examine the text and the context. "In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong." "In all this Job did not sin with his lips." In both of these sentences, the negative verb phrase "did not sin" would appear to be used as a means of expressing a forceful affirmation. Whether the everlasting nays outweigh the everlasting yeas in the Judaeo- Christian tradition is an interesting question of theology, stylistics and sociology, but comparing the frequency of "yes" and "no" can only be a start. Brian Whittaker Atkinson College, York University Downsview, Ontario BrianW@YorkVM2 From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVME> Subject: Re: 3.830 copyright, cont. (25) Date: Wed, 06 Dec 89 06:45:13 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 833 (1728) re: kessler at ucla He says that "nothing" involved with the computer world is public domain. I suppose we should give him time to reconsider, especially in light of a rash of legal opinions which have been made concerning the non-rights for those whose only contributions are keying in public domain texts. I also note his avoidance of dealing with the first Oxford dictionary, of a century ago, by referring only to the latest OED, which is currently in discussion as "OED2" and which has not been the subject of these notes. My comments in this entire copyright discussion have been concerning this area of public domain texts, and whether or not materials once given that status can be copyrighted without significant intellectual additions. mh From: "John J Hughes" <XB.J24@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: Date: Tue, 5 Dec 89 16:11:02 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 834 (1729) The BITS & BYTES REVIEW is looking for qualified persons to write full-length reviews of IBM and Macintosh software. The BITS & BYTES REVIEW is published for academic computer users in the humanities and has an international readership. The BITS & BYTES REVIEW is seeking to involve more persons in reviewing software, so that a broader spectrum of interests is represented, a broader range of programs is covered, more programs are reviewed, and so that the publication appears on a more regular basis. Articles in the BITS & BYTES REVIEW are abstracted in INSPEC, Information Science Abstracts, and Software Reviews on File. Each volume of the BITS & BYTES REVIEW contains nine issues. Persons interested in writing software reviews for the BITS & BYTES REVIEW should: (1) Be involved in academic computing in one of the humanities disciplines at a college, university, or other institution of higher learning. "Involved" in this context can mean anything from "uses a computer for research and writing" to "writes computer programs." (2) Be an experienced computer user, not a neophyte. "Experienced" in this context does not mean "expert"; it means "knows how to use a computer and knows something about their many academic uses." (3) Have a sound knowledge of some basic types of programs, such as word processing, database management, and desktop publishing, for example, even if you predominantly use only one type of program in your work. (4) Have a reasonable understanding of how computers work. "Reasonable" in this context does not mean "almost as thorough as Peter Norton!" It means that you have a basic understanding of how computers do what they do. (5) Consistently read at least one or two major nonacademic computers publications per month, for example, PC Magazine, MacUser, PC World, Publish. (6) Be curious, teachable, and willing to learn. (7) Be able to express themselves clearly, concisely, and in an engaging fashion. (8) Be able to compare programs. (9) Be detail-oriented and able and willing to write detailed, thorough reviews, such as the ones that have appeared in the BITS & BYTES REVIEW since its beginning in 1986. (10) Be able to discern the academic potential of commercial programs. (11) Be willing to review commercial programs, as well as those designed predominantly or exclusively for academic use. (12) Be able to review programs in terms of their functions, features, and potential uses for academicians, while avoiding philosophical issues. (13) Be able to explain technical concepts in simple terms without being simplistic. (14) Be able to stay within assigned word-count/article-length limits. (15) Be able to set and keep deadlines. (16) Own an IBM-compatible or a Macintosh computer. (17) Be willing to have the editor of the BITS & BYTES REVIEW edit their submissions. (18) Send a Curriculum Vitae or a Resume to the editor and publisher of the BITS & BYTES REVIEW at the address listed below. If possible, please include a sample of your writing that shows your ability to write technical software reviews. A modest remuneration will be paid for each article accepted for publication. As needed, the BITS & BYTES REVIEW will supply new, full working copies of software to persons who qualify as reviewers and who enter into an agreement with the BITS & BYTES REVIEW to write a review. Reviewers may keep the software, as long as they supply an acceptable review on time. Please do not submit articles to the BITS & BYTES REVIEW without first contacting the editor. Persons not familiar with the BITS & BYTES REVIEW may receive a complimentary sample copy by contacting the editor. Interested parties should contact: John J. Hughes, Editor & Publisher Bits & Bytes Review 623 Iowa Ave. Whitefish, MT 59937 U.S.A. XB.J24@Stanford.BITNET CIS: 71056,1715 MCI Mail: 226-1461 Voice: (406) 862-7280 FAX: (406) 862-1124 From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Design of a computing lab" Date: Tue, 5 Dec 89 21:08:33 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 835 (1730) We're appreciative of all the helpful comments fellow humanists have been sending in to HUMANIST and in private e-mail messages. I didn't want to include too much of my own educational philosophy in my original message so as not to "bend" the discussion inappropriately. I was particularly pleased to read John Slatin's remarks a few minutes ago. Some of them echoed other comments by experienced colleagues. Our collective problem at the moment is deciding whether or not to reduce the number of stations and provide for some sort of "stage" that some would like for an instructor, or, as I and one colleague in foreign languages have maintained, have some sort of "lab in the round" with a seminar table & computer/video hookup in the middle. Not many of our science colleagues, if any, plan on using the lab for instructional purposes. We in F.L. would like to have a lab that we could also use for M. Ed. degree candidates and advanced undergraduates taking courses in CALL and literary computing, where an instructional application would be appropriate for us. If the instructional "mode" is not kept (stage or theater-in-the-round), I suspect that the debate will focus on a "traditionally" aligned set of rows, perhaps with stations back-to-back and some on the periphery or kiosks, something like at the U.S. Air Force Academy. The ad hoc committee is also trying to leave room in the space described (about 950 sq. ft.) in a previous message for 3 offices and, if possible, an additional classroom for about 20 students. That's not going to be possible, I believe. Has anybody else done this type of lab configuration? Any other recommendations? Thanks again! --Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH) From: grgo@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Greg Goode) Subject: Cantonese characters for PC? Date: Thu, 7 Dec 89 15:36:13 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1365 (1731) Query: Does anyone know of a font or character package that allows the printing of Cantonese characters to a LaserJet-compatible printer? It would be great if it was something that WoedPerfect 5.X knew about, and I will pursue that with them. In the meanwhile, what have people heard? --Greg Goode University Computing Center University of Rochester From: JLD1@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: HUMANIST: Ancrene Wisse? Date: Fri, 8 Dec 89 11:49:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1366 (1732) Can anyone point me to a machine-readable copy of the Middle English text Ancrene Wisse? Thanks. John Dawson, University of Cambridge. From: <BCJ@PSUVM.PSU.EDU> Subject: software for text analysis? Date: Fri, 8 Dec 89 18:42:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1367 (1733) For several years I have acted as a "writing coach" for a local newspaper. My work has mainly involved running series of seminars with 2 or 3 reporters, during which time we discuss basic writing issues (writing for a particular audience, syntactic organization, grammatical correctness, variety of sentence structure and length, journalistic strategies and techniques). I have occasionally supplemented this material with analytical studies of such things as over-all sentence length averages, compari- sons with single-sentence, multiple-sentence, and lead-sentence figures. I have also been studying the use of attribution tags ("he said"). I do some interactive editing, too, via my own computer linked via a modem to the paper's ATEX mainframe. All the number stuff I've done by hand. Now I'd like to find some text analysis software (for IBM or CMS environment) that could help me do such tasks. I'd like something that could: - count number of sentences per paragraph - count number of paragraphs per article - count words per sentence - maintain a separate record of number of sentences per paragraph - maintain a separate record of length of lead sentence - calculate mean & median sentence lengths - calculate ratio of sentence length between over-all average/lead; average 1-sentence paragraph/overall average; average sentence length in multiple-sentence paragraph/overall average - calculate range of word lengths I am also interested in working out an attribution study, but I think I can do that by hand, since I'll want to include "he said," "said he," and multitudinous synonymical tags (reported, added, maintained...) And I'd be very glad to learn what else text analysis software could do for my reporters. I'm hoping to do a massive 1-week whole-paper project, with all the bells & whistles I can produce --- maybe even frequency counts ???? Are there many such studies being undertaken by scholars of journalism? Please direct any responses directly to me --- BCJ@PSUVM. I'll summarize for HUMANIST later. Thanks -- Kevin Berland (Penn State) From: Paul Jones - Postman <PJONES@UNCVX1> Subject: machine-readable texts of the Romantics Date: Mon, 11 Dec 89 15:32 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1368 (1734) Date sent: 11-DEC-1989 15:24:27 I'm looking for computer-readable (on-line with network access would be ideal) versions of any texts (poetry, prose, letters, etc.) by the English Romantics (Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats). If any one knows of plans to make such material available please let me know abou that as well. NOTE: I am not on tow of the three lists to which I am sending this message so be sure to reply to me at any of the addresses below instead of to the lists. Thanks, Paul From: bobh@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Robert Hollander) Subject: Re: 3.833 copyright, cont. (27) Date: Thu, 7 Dec 89 09:49:58 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1369 (1735) Michael Hart is correct in arguing that current rulings have it that the "mere" copying of a public-domain text does not confer a protectable right upon the copyer. He also points out that once texts move into the public domain they may not be brought back under such protection failing the presence of "significant intellectual addition." What we have little information about is what that first adjective means or implies. If I scan a text and then add to it the sources of all the citations I can find within that text, I probably have done something "significant" by way of intellectual effort. What if I simply track down the citations already present in vague form (e.g., "Nel mezzo del cammin" (Dante) becomes, in my ameliorated version: "nel mezzo del cammin" (Dante Inf. 1.1})? Is that a "significant intellectual addition"? While I find it less than pleasing to claim "significant" intellectual effort for such slog work, I do think it involves significant _effort_, and should make such a text the intellectual property of its producer. At that point, if I happen to be the producer of that material, I want to protect it, not for gain, but to have some hope of assuring the integrity of that text--esp. since my name is now attached to it. And I think I should have such protection. Nor do I think that position offends most people in this busines does that position offend most people involved in this activity. What does seem to offend is the notion that I might then actually _sell_ my product and get "rich" off dead people's labors. Shall we take Dante's modern publishers off to the pillory for making money off his poem? Why do so many of us dislike the idea that effort might be rewarded with financial gain? I hasten to add that my own capitalist inclinations are in no way reflected by the procedures of the Dartmouth Dante Project (nor of the Rutgers/Princeton Center), which is a totally non-profit enterprise. The reason for that is that federal funding was involved. While the law allows a certain amount of profit to be taken from such projects (up to a certain amount per year), we decided that we owed the taxpayer as fee a use as we could muster in return. Copyright is a challenging question for all of us. While many of its aspects have negative implications, many others are either positive or sensible. As in all other fields of human endeavor, in this one there will be people who behave in generous ways, and there will be others. To suggest, however, that labor and intelligence do not confer some rights of copyright, seems to me to fly against the grain of fairness and good sense. From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.833 copyright, cont. (27) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 89 17:51:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1370 (1736) I should never have said "nothing," since that is an absolute, and where absolutes are concerned one must be modestly ignorant. I was thinking of the addition of the labor of transforming by keying, which is a form of copying, if you will, or legal samiszdat? As for significant "intellectual" addition, that is where there is room for lots of lawplay, by way of courtcases, and suits. I am of the opinion or position, if you will, that it is better not to take and then claim innocence, public domain rights of breaking and entry, and etcetera. Old copyrights are renewable, and if the Old OED is on CD-rom or parts of it, then I would guess that ipso facto the CD's are copyrighted thereby, for new life. Of course old Webster's are sold as Unabridged Websters for 19.90$ by mail order, and poor people may buy them, suckers, and the texts are 100 years old or so. It is indeed a difficult tangle; but I sympathize with the originators of the dis- cussion, the people who electronified the Hebrew texts at Bar Ilan U, was it?I the business world, or real world, it is very hard for the little person to go up against the rich plagiarists and collect, costly, I mean. Since damages have to be proven, and it is hard to show what has been lost by the having been ripped off. Kessler ucla From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1371 (1737) Let me first thanks all those among you HUMANIST who sent me information concerning arabic/english/french text processing packages. I have passed on the messages to the non-HUMANIST who asked for my help. Thanks from her too. M.Lenoble From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1372 (1738) Let me also thank those who discussed plagiarism at large and in relation to copyright problems. M.L. From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1373 (1739) I nevertheless would ask another question concerning plagiarism: how would you conceive of the automatic plagiarism detection. Would you advise me to use other programs than file comparison collation programs, authorship attribution packages, stylometric approach, etc. Any suggestion. From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1374 (1740) I was amazed at the profusion of statistic results concerning YES and NO. My passion is the word ETC. or ET CETERA. Who has ETCs in his or her corpuses. I have my theory about the ways the various kinds of ETCs work. So all those having ETCs in their e-texts, please let me know. [The corpus of conversations from Humanist has "etc." well over 1000 times. Etc. is ripe for study. --W.M.] P.S. As far as I know all members of the HUMANIST network at the university of Montreal are safe and sound. 12 students at least weren't so lucky today when they were savagely murdered by a fool. It sometimes make me wonder whether this society PROGRESSES in the right direction... From: "Vicky A. Walsh" <IMD7VAW@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.835 designing a lab, cont. (41) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 89 23:46:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 838 (1741) It is not necessary to chose between 'classroom' lab and 'work group' lab. I'm not saying there is a perfect solution, but we have instructors who do both in the same room. We have a mobile teacher's station that connects via overhead projector and Datashow to project whatever the instructor wants to show the whole class, and he/she also has them work in various sized groups in other parts of the class. The physical setup can be rows, semi-circles, rectangles, or whatever fits, as long as they can all view the screen from somewhere in the room. If the instructor creates an environment for collaborate work them the physical setup is less important. A stage is not necessary to allow a focus on the instructor when desired. We are constantly redoing our lab because it keeps being moved but when space is in short supply there aren't that many options. Vicky Walsh, UCLA Humanities Computing Facility From: PD_BACSICH@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK Subject: REPLY TO REQUEST FOR GREEK POSTSCRIPT FONT Date: 8-DEC-1989 11:09:16 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 839 (1742) There is no major problem in transferring a PostScript font from a Mac to a PC provided that (a) you have access to a Mac and LaserWriter and (b) you don't need a PC screen font. For example, open a Mac document which uses the required font, using e.g. MS Word, then Print but press Command-F to send the output to file. This puts the PostScript of the Mac font at the front of the PostScript output file and you can then extract the font pretty easily if you have even a nodding acquaintance with PostScript. There are some other, easier ways of getting the PostScript out of the PostScript font file on the Mac if you have some special programs (or some ordinary programs used in a special way). So don't pay for a PostScript font to be "converted" from Mac to PC. Not unless you want screen fonts, e.g. for Windows. Paul Bacsich From: NANCY M. IDE (914) 437 5988 <IDE@VASSAR> Subject: Call for Papers Date: Tue, 12 Dec 89 19:40 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 840 (1743) CALL FOR PAPERS THE ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTERS AND THE HUMANITIES Third Biennial Conference On Teaching Computers In The Humanities Bronx campus, Fordham University June 23-25, 1989 Papers are invited on all aspects of teaching computers and how they may be used by Humanists in humanities disciplines, such as Languages, History, Art, Music, Writing, Philosophy, Communi- cations, and others. Topics may well include, without being limited to: tools for textual analysis computers and creativity computers and literature historical simulations faculty development research software laboratories/facilities for research or teaching new applications in humanist disciplines databases for instruction or research computer environments for humanists computers in linguistics research The focus of the conference is on creating a research environment for humanists and teaching humanists how the computer can be used as a tool in their disciplines. In general, computer- assisted instruction is not a topic within the conference. Selected papers from the conference will appear in a special issue of the official journal of ACH,Computers and the Humanities. CALENDAR FOR PAPERS: Submission: 15 Jan 90 Acceptance notification: 1 Mar 90 Full versions of papers: 1 May 90 Authors should submit four copies of an abstract of approx- imately 1000 words to the program committee. Topics for panel discussion or software demonstrations are also invited. If you wish to propose a panel, please send an abstract of 500 words describing the panel topic and a list of suggested panelists to the address below. Proposals for software demonstrations should consist of an abstract of 500 words describing the software and, if appropriate, explaining its relevance for use in humanities research. Send all proposals to: Joseph Rudman Program Committee Chairman ACH Teaching Conference Department of English Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 BITNET: RUDMAN@CMPHYS REGISTRATION INFORMATION: The registration fee of $80.00 will include admission to all sessions, meals from Saturday dinner through Monday lunch, and the Banquet (Sunday evening). Housing is available in dormitories on the Bronx campus for $25.00 an evening, double occupancy. Only a very few singles are available. Conference members will be able to extend their stay in the dormitories if they wish to. For those preferring a Manhattan location, arrangements can be made at the Empire Hotel in the Lincoln Center area at approx- imately $90 per night. Transportation between the Empire and the Rose Hill Campus will be arranged, if there is enough need, at convenient rates. Address further inquiries to: Craig B. Brush Modern Languages Department Fordham University Bronx, NY 10458 BITNET: BRUSH@FORDMURH From: Malcolm Brown <mbb@jessica.Stanford.EDU> Subject: Transferring large slide collection to videodisk Date: Tue, 12 Dec 89 10:30:15 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1375 (1744) friends, Here at Stanford a project is gaining momentum, within which we will begin a large-scale transference of our slides to videodisk. We estimate that there may be as many as half a million images that we would eventually like to have on videodisks. We will, of course, also construct a database for searching and examining these image disks. Has anyone had experience with a project of this type and of a large scale (50,000 or more slides)? If so, please send me an electronic note. I'd like to hear about what you've done and how you did it. thanks very much Malcolm Brown, Stanford BITNET: GX.MBB@STANFORD.BITNET INTERNET: MBB@JESSICA.STANFORD.EDU From: WARMCN@AC.DAL.CA Subject: Creating BITNET Discussion Groups Date: Tue, 12 Dec 89 15:47 AST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1376 (1745) I have obtained information on how to subscribe to BITNET discussion groups, how to resign from them, and how to obtain FILES, INDEXES, and LISTS having to do with them, but I still cannot locate any simple directions on how to create them. I would appreciate any help on this subject from fellow HUMANISTS. David McNeil WARMCN@DALAC Dept. of English Dalhousie University Nova Scotia, Canada From: Charles Ess <DRU001D@SMSVMA> Subject: hypercard philosophy? Date: Tue, 12 Dec 89 11:50:50 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1377 (1746) A colleague is considering developing philosophy materials using Hypercard. While we are aware of several CAI programs relevant to philosophy for the Mac -- we are thoroughly unaware of a hypercard stack created for use in philosophy. Does anyone out there know of such a project -- and if so, can you provide any information on it? Thanks in advance, Charles Ess Drury College From: LNGDANAP@UOGUELPH Subject: Ruth Glynn's query on CD-ROMs Date: Tue, 12 Dec 89 16:09:07 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1378 (1747) I forwarded Ruth Glynn's query to our library, and received the following answer from Virginia Gillham, Associate Librarian for Public Services at the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada) Netnorth/Bitnet: vgi@cosy.uoguelph.ca [deleted quotation]Subject Use of CD-ROMs in U.S. and Canadian Libraries Can anyone suggest an easily accessible source of statistical information describing the numbers of CD drives and CD products currently in U.S. and Canadian university and research libraries? At its simplest, I need to know roughly the percentage of such institutions that have installed bases. ------------------------------------ I don't know that those figures actually exist. There is a group that has done an in-depth list of which CD data bases are in which Canadian University libraries, and in fact I just got a qu'airre from them this morning for an update. The questionnaire came from David Fox in the library of the University of Saskatchewan, so he may have some Canadian information. Beyond that, the Association of Research Libraries, which is, in fact, the top academic/research libraries in North America, has 107 members, and I think it is probably safe to say that everyone of them has one or more CD ROM data bases by now. The proliferation of these in libraries is happening virtually daily. Even small public libraries frequently have one or more, so I think this may be a difficult statistic to pin down. From: Roland Hutchinson <R.RDH@Macbeth.Stanford.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.839 PostScript font from Mac to PC (29) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 89 00:52:15 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1379 (1748) Just a minor gloss on Paul Bascich's elegant strategy for extracting a copy of a downloadable PostScript font from a Macintosh system. Strictly speaking, you don't actually need a LaserWriter to do this--just a copy of the LaserWriter printer driver (which you have to select from the Chooser, just as if you really did have a LaserWriter hooked up.) It occurred to me that whoever needs the Greek font might find it easier to borrow a copy of the printer driver than to borrow a printer! Roland Hutchinson Department of Music Montclair State College Upper Montclair, NJ 07043 INTERNET: r.rdh@macbeth.stanford.edu BITNET: r.rdh%macbeth.stanford.edu@stanford From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY%vm.epas.utoronto.ca@murtoa.cs.mu.oz> Subject: 3.839 PostScript font from Mac to PC (29) Date: Mon, 11 Dec 89 19:16:16 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 843 (1749) To: Multiple recipients of list HUMANIST <HUMANIST@UTORONTO.bitnet> Message-Id: <89Dec11.203645est.57346@ugw.utcs.utcs.utoronto.ca> -DGN From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Re: adding annotations to public domain texts Date: Mon, 11 Dec 89 20:39:50 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 844 (1750) There seem to be some misconceptions here. One can always reissue an old public domain work with a new copyright notice. Any new additions to the old work, whether of significant intellectual effort or not, will be fully protected. What won't change is the issue of whether the original public domain work is out of copyright. It is out of copyright and remains so. When this was restricted to paper, the arguments were clear. You were copying the work when you either reprinted it or photocopied it. The copies were provably from the reissued work because they either looked like the reissued work and ordinary people could see that this wasn't the same as the public domain work or they contained new material which had originated with the reissued work. The new issue, of which I am quite uncertain of the legal standing, is whether if the reissuance is machine-readable, one can extract the portion of the reissue which in fact was the public domain work and use that. There is an ethical issue (whether one could do this by claiming that one had actually typed it all in by hand, rather than made use of the reissue), and a legal issue of whether one could do it IF one expressly admitted that one merely copied the reissued work and deleted all parts of the machine-readable text which were not in the originating public domain source. In the latter case one is claiming that one DID make a copy--so presumably the photocopying rules might apply--but if one were to go to trial and a defense attorney were to produce a re-typed version of the public domain work underlying the case that was indistinguishable from the one being contested--would the jury say the first was an invalid copy while the second was a valid one when they couldn't tell them apart except by the circumstances under which they were presented to them? Mighty shakey ground... I think the point here is that the law never anticipated the copying could be done so perfectly and the resulting text so indistingishable in its copied form that it was impossible for ordinary people viewing the reissued machine-readable text to distinguish it from another copy of the public domain portion typed in independently. There is, as far as I know, no protection under copyright for the work investment in typing. Typing is labor. Copyright doesn't protect labor, only original intellectual effort. Other things protect one's labor, such as physical property law. That is, if you break into my computer and take something out, I can always claim you stole it. Doesn't matter what it was, public domain or not, you took my property. However---here again electronics play tricks on us. How can I identify the `stolen' bits as my own? If I claim you stole MY copy of a machine-readable public domain work, how can I prove it? Worse yet. I still have my work. When one is distributing a work electronically this theft of property argument becomes harder to make. Clearly you didn't take the electronic version without my permission since I sold it or otherwise made it available to everyone who fulfilled pre-conditions I set up. Realistically, what happens in this type of situation is that the providers try to encrypt their property to protect it. In one case, that of encrypted satellite transmission signals, the courts have afforded the originators of a transmission protection from unpaid reception and decryption. It is ILLEGAL to listen to an encrypted broadcast signal. However, here again, the property is original material. I guess if one broadcast a public domain movie, such as ``It's a Great Life'' and tried to sue someone because they had a taped copy--the argument would arise again. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: et cetera, et cetera, et cetera Date: 12 December 1989, 10:16:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1380 (1751) I still use it occasionally, but couldn't we all try to get rid of a Latin phrase that is always better replaced with an example? For a while in the late Seventies in the States, et cetera was replaced with blah-blah-blah, which wasn't any better. I would be interested to see how it *is* used, but I would also just as soon *not* see it used, because using it wastes effort. Roy Flannagan From: "Guy L. Pace" <PACE@WSUVM1> Subject: ETC. Date: Tue, 12 Dec 89 08:41:17 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1381 (1752) I avoid the use of etc. in anything I write. This aversion came from a hard-core Navy chief journalist I worked for in the early '70s. His comment on the term was something like: etc. means you can't think of anything else to say. But his tone seemed to reflect poorly on the writer's intelligence. Of course I began cutting that term from my writing, not wanting to show my lack of intelligence. As an editor myself, I ferociously kept that term from ever seeing light in my newspapers or other publications. I guess I've been brainwashed to consider etc. a crutch for poor writers, or just a bad writing habit. It grates. It's similar to other errors I see used heavily in journalism lately, such as ''centered around'' and ''a person that.'' From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: et cetera, etc. Date: 12 December 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1382 (1753) Let not the English (or any other human) language be cropped of any expressions! Lack of mindfulness in the usage of English is the problem, not elements of the vocabulary. Besides, what can we do? My son, who is a notorious abuser of the language -- precisely because he knows that I value it -- yesterday declared that English is what is being spoken at the moment, and what he hears is thus and such. It was fashionable among us a few years back to argue precisely that, and we have discovered the limitations of the purely descriptive approach, but it does have a point, and a point for us in particular. We are accumulating (for example, by means of Humanist) a substantial corpus of contemporary English, and we now have tools with which to take the pulse of the language as never before. The question in my mind is, what do we look for, and what do we do with what we find? Perhaps what we can teach (i.e., awaken) is love for the language, and perhaps what we can sharpen is the wit that speaks through it. Many years ago, in my first teaching assignment, I had a Nigerian student, a math teacher who had wanted to study in N. America all his life and who had won a Nigerian national scholarship that put him in my class. His expectations were very high, his dedication several orders of magnitude greater than any other student there. His English was terrible! but his mind was so clear and strong that even his grammatical mistakes were beautiful. One composition of his I remember to this day, about seeing his face reflected in a pool in a dirt road while walking with his mother -- how frightened he was, because his lore had taught him that only the dead saw themselves. Now, this is not a story about what I did to awaken him -- he awakened me! I think it is a story about where the real problem with etc. lies. Long live etc. Yours, Willard McCarty From: "Christopher W. Donald" <DONALD@UKANVM> Subject: OCR Software for non-english languages Date: Tue, 12 Dec 89 22:03:53 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1383 (1754) I am trying to find out what optical character recognition software there is writtten for languages other than English. I am especially interested in software for German, Hebrew, Russian, and Arabic. Please reply directly because I am not a member of Humanist list. Thank you for your assistance. Christopher W. Donald Division of Government The University of Kansas Donald@UKANVM.bitnet From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Heidelberg Records Date: Wednesday, 13 December 1989 0013-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1384 (1755) A colleague of mine is interested in obtaining information about the exact year in which the DD degree was conferred by the University of Heidelberg on a certain James Pembroke also known as James William Charles Pennington (1809-1871) of New York's Shiloh ("First Colored") Presbyterian Church. Pembroke published _The Fugitive Blacksmith_ in London in 1849, and seems to have received the Heidelberg degree soon thereafter. Does anyone know how this information can be obtained? Is there a Heidelberg University Archive? The name would probably be Pennington, for Heidelberg purposes. Bob Kraft From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: MLA and Computers Date: Wednesday, 13 December 1989 0022-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1385 (1756) Is there any ready available electronic information on MLA supported/sponsored computer activities? For example, I have seen references to various MLA activities under the leadership of Hans Ru%timann, but (as a non-member of MLA) nothing in any detail. Is there still a MLA consortium for computer services? What does it do? How is the MLA bibliography available to outsiders? Is there an MLA electronic text archive, or electronic publications archive? Etc. [I really mean to say "etc." here = "and similar items pertinent to this sort of discussion".] In trying to push other professional societies to get involved, to what extent does MLA provide a model? Bob Kraft From: Antonio-Paulo Ubieto Artur <hiscont@cc.unizar.es> Subject: Query: Archeological 3D reconstruction with CAD software Date: Wed, 13 Dec 89 15:41:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1386 (1757) I am posting the following for two colleagues of Archeology who don't have already access to an account. "We are very interested about "3D reconstruction" in Archeological sites using a CAD program ("AutoCAD" or similar) on MS-DOS. We are working on different buildings, rooms, etc. All information on the subject will be welcome and highly appreciated. Manuel Medrano and Jesus Tramullas. Department of Antiquity Sciences." I will forward them all answers. Thanks in advance. Antonio-Paulo Ubieto Artur. <hiscont@cc.unizar.es> Zaragoza University. (Spain-Europe). From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: PostScript font copying & copyrights Date: Wed, 13 Dec 89 05:31:41 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 847 (1758) Two topics lately: (1) copyright and the importance of guarding the intellectual rights of producers, and (2) techniques for obtaining copyrighted font information for use on computers and printers for which no license is purchased. I realize that different individuals are writing the notes, but there seems to be a dichotomy in the attitudes which some might take to express the attitudes of humanities computing folk: OUR intellectual work must be protected, respected, and, if possible profitable; commercial software theft on the other hand is to be encouraged by broadcasting techniques for carrying it off. From: Leslie Burkholder <lb0q+@andrew.cmu.edu> Subject: HyperCard philosophy Date: Wed, 13 Dec 89 08:43:29 -0500 (EST) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 848 (1759) Charles Ess asks for references to CAI in philosophy using HyperCard (Vol. 3, No. 841). Here are items I know of: (1) Aristotle's Greek Tragedy Construction Kit. Contact Kinko's Academic Courseware Exchange, 255 West Stanley Ave, Ventura CA 93001. (2) Art or Forgery? (Needs Sony Videodisc player). Contact Preston Covey, CDEC CMU, Pgh PA 15213. (3) DISC-US. Planned revision in HyperCard. Contact David Smallen, Hamilton College, Clinton NY 13323. (4) Moral Problems. Contact Ephraim Borowski, Dept Philosophy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ Scotland. (I do not include items in SuperCard.) Descriptions of these items and a listing of philosophy software (for research and teaching, for the Macintosh and other machines) may be found in issues of Computers & Philosophy (CDEC CMU, Pittsburgh PA 15213-3890). Leslie Burkholder From: "John T. Harwood (814)865-4764" <JTH@PSUVM.PSU.EDU> Subject: Penn State Conf. on Rhetoric and Composition Date: Tue, 12 Dec 89 20:45:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 849 (1760) The Penn State Conference on Rhetoric and Composition July 11-14, 1990 The Penn State Conference on Rhetoric and Composition, a four-day gathering of teachers and scholars, offers a generous mixture of plenary and special-interest sessions in a relaxed atmosphere; a chance for learning, leisure, and reflection on composition and rhetoric; and an extended opportunity to discuss professional concerns with nationally known speakers and interested colleagues. Our ninth annual conference features plenary sessions, concurrent sessions, and roundtable discussions on topics of current interest. In addition, three special sessions led by featured speakers will be presented on Saturday morning: Computers in Writing, New Ideas for the Writing Classroom, and Think Tank on Research. Call for Papers The program committee invites one-page proposals for papers, workshops, and roundtables. Multiple submissions are encouraged. Please identify each proposal as a: paper whole session workshop roundtable On each proposal, please include: the title your name your professional affiliation your home address your home phone number If you are willing to chair a session, please let us know, too. If necessary, include an alternate home address and phone number for correspondence after June 1. Send your proposals by April 15 to John Harwood, 117 Burrowes Building, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802; phone (814) 863-3066 or BITNET to JTH at PSUVM. Although we receive approximately four hundred proposals, we can accept only about one hundred papers. We will announce this year's program in early June. Papers. You may propose a single 20-minute paper or an entire session (typically consisting of three related papers) on subjects involving rhetoric and composition. Especially welcome are extensions, applications, and critiques of the work of our featured speakers. Other possible topics include: rhetorical theory, research in composition, the composing process, evaluation, technical or business writing, advanced composition, ESL, writing across the curriculum, the history of rhetoric, teaching methods, collaborative learning, tutoring and writing labs, connections among reading and writing and speaking, computers and writing, literacy, style and stylistics, basic writing, social implications of writing, and the administration of writing programs. Workshops Several 60- or 90-minute workshops on the topics listed above will be scheduled. We strongly prefer proposals that clearly include hands-on, interactive involvement. Roundtables In each roundtable session, speakers representing a wide spectrum of opinions on a controversial question will briefly present their positions, after which the chair will moderate the discussion among the panelists and the audience. To submit a position paper, follow the guidelines given under Call for Papers. Be sure to give your proposal a title and indicate which question it addresses. 1. What has been the most significant contribution to rhetoric and composition in the past five years? 2. What has been the most significant effect, positive or negative, of computers in composition? 3. What's wrong with freshman composition? Saturday Morning Sessions To propose short presentations for these sessions, follow the guidelines given under Call for Papers. Be sure to give your proposal a title. New Ideas for the Writing Classroom Though much of our conference focuses on writing pedagogy, participants will have a special opportunity to concentrate on classroom tactics for three hours on Saturday. First, sessions will be built around the discussion of conferees' specific classroom activities: exercises, assignments, methods, and so forth. Then, responses to and discussions of those classroom practices will be directed by Walter Beale, John Trimbur, and Lee Odell. Finally, the participants, presenters, and our panel of experts will discuss pedagogical issues in writing that have emerged from both this workshop and the entire conference. Think Tank on Research The first part of this three-hour Saturday session will address two central questions implicit throughout the conference: what are the pressing questions that need to be addressed by those who study rhetoric and the teaching of writing, and how might answers to those questions be pursued? Linda Flower, Lester Faigley, and Winifred Horner will address those questions with short position statements, and then participants will have ample opportunity to respond. In the second half of the session, the same scholars will lead small-group discussions: participants will have an opportunity to share informally their own research projects and to receive specific advice on them from other participants. Computers in Writing This three-hour session will consider the uses of computers to improve both writing and writing instruction. There will be opportunities for small-group discussions, demonstrations of software and hardware, and time for participants to share course materials. Since Penn State offers four writing courses in a computer environment, interested participants will be able to observe classes, examine our specially designed classrooms, survey computer lab facilities, and consult with staff members on everything from how to obtain funding and institutional support to the particulars of staff development and classroom tactics. Course for Credit Graduate students and faculty from other universities are invited to enroll (as space permits) in a graduate seminar in rhetoric and composition offered at Penn State from June 20 to August 1. ENGL 597A Rhetoric and Composition After Post-Structuralism (Professor Lester Faigley, visiting professor of English) This course examines the influence on rhetoric and composition of three strands of post-structuralist theory: the radical relativism of Foucault, nonessentialist feminism, and neo-Marxism. The focus is on how post- structuralist theory came to influence current work in rhetoric and composition (both theory and classroom practice). For more information about the course, contact John Harwood at (814) 863-3066 by May 15. Speakers Our keynote speaker, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, is dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Well known for her distinguished work in political rhetoric, she was the director of communications for the House Committee on Aging and has created rhetorical strategies for members of Congress and governmental agencies. Her long list of publications includes a second edition of The Interplay of Influence: Mass Media and Their Publics in News, Advertising, Politics (1988), Packaging the Presidency: A History and Criticism of Presidential Campaign Advertising (1988), Eloquence in an Electronic Age: The Transformation of Political Speechmaking (1988), and Presidential Debates: The Challenge of Creating an Informed Electorate (1988). Walter Beale, professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, is well known for his work in modern argumentation theory. Much of his work emphasizes persuasive writing and the analysis of argument. His books include Old and Middle English Poetry to 1500: A Guide to Information Sources (1976), A Pragmatic Theory of Rhetoric (1987), and Real Writing: Argumentation, Reflection, Information (1986), now in its second printing. Lester Faigley teaches in the graduate rhetoric program at the University of Texas at Austin. His research and publications cover a range of topics: the teaching of writing, discourse analysis, research design, and rhetorical theory. He co-edited Evaluating College Writing Programs (1983) and Assessing Writers' Knowledge and Processes of Composing (1985). His work has appeared in College Composition and Communication, Research in the Teaching of English, Freshman English News, and Journal of Educational Research. Linda Flower, well known for her research on student and professional writers, teaches at Carnegie Mellon University. She has co-authored many articles on the composing processes, including "Detection, Diagnosis, and the Strategies of Revision" (College Composition and Communication, 1986). Her textbook, Problem-Solving Strategies for Writing (1989), is now in its third edition. Winifred Bryan Horner of Texas Christian University has worked extensively on historical and contemporary rhetorical theory as well as on the connections between composition and literature. She edited Historical Rhetoric: An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Sources in English (1980), Composition and Literature: Bridging the Gap (1983), and The Present State of Scholarship in Historical and Contemporary Rhetoric (1983). Lee Odell, a professor of language and literature at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was the 1986 chair for CCCC. He has done extensive work on how writing is taught, evaluated, and researched. His essays include "Diversity of Change: Toward a Maturing Discipline" (College Composition and Communication, 1986). He has also edited a number of important collections of essays, including Research on Composing: Points of Departure (1978) and Writing in Nonacademic Settings (1985). John Trimbur, a veteran writing program administrator, teaches at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. He has published articles on the politics of literacy, peer tutoring, the administration of writing programs, and contemporary poetry. His chapter, "Collaborative Learning and Teaching Writing," in Ben W. McClelland and Timothy R. Donovan's Perspectives on Research and Scholarship in Composition (1985), challenges traditional definitions of teacher and learner. Social Events In addition to good papers and good talk, the Penn State Conference offers various occasions for participants to relax together. Participants will be invited to a party one evening at Kolln Vineyards near State College. This event features local wines, tours of the vineyards and winery, the music of the Allegheny Mountain String Band and optional square dancing. An afternoon outing and barbecue dinner are planned for July 12 at Mountain Acres, a rustic retreat not far from State College; participants can hike, pitch horseshoes, play softball or volleyball, and enjoy a picnic. And an informal reception and party will be held on July 13. The conference is held concurrently with the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, one of the largest events of its kind in the country. More than four hundred jury- selected exhibitions--paintings, ceramics, etchings, leather work, textiles, photographs, sculpture, jewelry, and more-- line the streets of State College and the sidewalks of campus. Jazz bands, rock groups, mime troupes, fiddlers, and string quartets perform on outdoor stages; indoors are films, plays, and special art exhibits. Leisure Activities For conference participants who want to vacation before, during, or after the conference, the campus and surrounding Nittany Valley offer facilities for camping, swimming, fishing, hiking, tennis, and golf. Within an hour's drive of State College are boating at Stone Valley, swimming at Whipple Dam State Park, fishing at Black Moshannon State Park, and hiking at Alan Seeger State Forest. History buffs will enjoy nearby Bellefonte, a town of fine nineteenth- century houses, and Curtin Village, a reconstruction of an iron foundry, master's mansion, and workers? cottages. Additional information about these and other local activities is included in the conference registration packet, or is available upon request. Participants who want to remain in State College for the Sunday following the conference should make reservations at local hotels early, because the Arts Festival weekend is a busy one. Time and Location This conference will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 11 and end at noon on Saturday, July 14. It will be held on Penn State's University Park Campus in State College, Pennsylvania. The campus is in the center of the state on Routes 26 and 322, south of Interstate 80. It is on the main east-west route of both the Greyhound and Fullington Trailways bus lines. USAir/USAir Express and United Express serve the University Park Airport, located five miles from campus; limousine and taxi service between the campus and the airport is available. Participants can qualify for special rates by staying in town Saturday night. Accommodations You may arrange for housing in one of three ways: 1. You may stay in a University residence hall Wednesday through Saturday nights or Tuesday through Saturday nights. If you stay Wednesday through Saturday nights (four nights), the cost is $48 (double occupancy). Family members are welcome to stay in the residence hall for the same $48 cost. No charge is made for infants if the participant provides the bedding. You may list a preferred roommate on the registration form; otherwise, roommates will be assigned. A limited number of single rooms are available at $68. If you request a single and one is not available when your application arrives, you will be assigned a double room. If you stay Tuesday through Saturday nights (five nights), the cost is $60 (double occupancy) or $85 (single occupancy). The rules and procedures listed above also apply to those staying for five nights. To register for housing in a University residence hall, complete and return the attached registration form by June 19. Space may not be available after the June 19 deadline, so please register early. But do not send payment: you can pay for oncampus housing by check or with cash when you arrive. You may purchase meals (on a meal-by-meal basis) at the residence hall cafeteria; local restaurants, both on and off campus, are also convenient. 2. You may stay at The Nittany Lion Inn on campus. Special conference rates for July 10-15 at this attractive hotel range from $55 to $70 for single rooms and $62 to $80 for doubles. To reserve a room, phone (814) 231-7505 and identify yourself as a Rhetoric and Composition Conference participant. Call early, since rooms are limited and the Festival of the Arts brings many visitors. 3. You may arrange your own housing. A list of local hotels and motels will be sent along with your registration acknowledgment. Please note: We regret that we cannot offer daily rates for conference registration or University housing. Fees remain the same for all or any part of the conference. Fee and Registration The $90 fee ($60 for graduate students who provide evidence of student status) covers registration, materials, and three social events. It may be paid by check, money order, VISA, MasterCard, or request to bill employer. To register, complete the attached form and return it to Penn State by June 19. Those who register in advance will be notified of program changes. Registrations will be acknowledged by mail. For More Information About program content John Harwood 117 Burrowes Building The Pennsylvania State University University Park, PA 16802 phone (814) 863-3066 About registration Chuck Herd 409 Keller Conference Center The Pennsylvania State University University Park, PA 16802 phone (814) 863-3550 From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Dead End E-Mail Date: Thursday, 14 December 1989 1656-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 850 (1761) Does anyone know why I am unable to reach Joel Goldfield from this CMS system when I send to the address that appears in the "From" header, namely unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.uu.net ? I wonder if Joel knows that this type of problem exists. I have been rejected twice now by unhd!mailer-daemon@uunet.uu.net with the message "unknown mailer error 101... bad system name: PSC90 uux failed. code 101 554 PSC90!JDG..." In the past, I do not recall having problems with the use of "!" in such addresses. Bob Kraft From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.847 left hand copyrights, right hand steals? (22) Date: Thu, 14 Dec 89 13:23:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1387 (1762) Thank you Mr Bantz, for confirming what I have tried to point out, that stealing is stealing, and we all should know it, and do know it. Nothing justifies it, not even the humanists' poverty. As long as it is mentioned, "Copyrighted," it should be heeded. Who would fardels bear, programming that is, if in 0/1 paradise there are only thieves to take one's work for granted? Kessler here. From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVME> Subject: Electronic Dickens Date: Thu, 14 Dec 89 15:55:43 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1388 (1763) I have heard there are several etexts of Dickens in circulation. If anyone can point these out, it would be greatly appreciated, with immediate emphasis on Great Expectations. Thank you, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVME INTERNET: HART@VME.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* COMING ON DEC 18, 1989!!! (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED ON GUTNBERG@UIUCVME.BITNET) From: MLAOD@CUVMB Subject: The MLA Date: Thu, 14 Dec 89 10:10:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 852 (1764) I have communicated directly with Bob Kraft regarding his specific ques- tions on the activities of the Modern Language Association, but for the benefit of HUMANISTS at large: The MLA Bibliography is an analytic reference work for information on scholarly journal and monographic publications in the fields of literature, languages, linguistics and folklore is available electronically online through Dialog Information Services (years 1963 to date) and through the H. W. Wilson Company's Wilsonline (1981 to date) is available on CD-ROM (1981 to date) from the H. W. Wilson Company has recently been released on tape for site licensing to libraries and consortia networks There is currently no MLA electronic text archive, although the Associa- tion is following with great interest the work of other organizations in this area. We are represented on the Advisory Board of the Text Encoding Initiative. The Association cooperates with numerous scholarly organizations to pro- vide enhanced services to the field. For example, we recently launched the MLA/Indiana University Cooperative Bibliography Project in Folklore to improve coverage of folkloric material in the MLA Bibliography. This pro- ject is co-sponsored by the IU Folklore Institute and the American Folk- lore Society, and will serve as a model for future cooperative biblio- graphic projects in other subject areas. In a multidisciplinary forum such as HUMANIST, it is easy to become lulled into the belief that everyone shares your own topical knowledge base, knows you research tools and techniques, and understands your terminology. I'd be happy to provide information on the MLA and its services to anyone who requests it. Daniel Uchitelle<MLAOD@CUVMB> Modern Language Association From: Jim O'Donnell, Classics, Penn Subject: 3D Archaeology (Corrected version: replaces earlier) Date: 14 Dec 89 00:51:42 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1389 (1765) I tried to respond directly to the Spanish inquiry about 3D archaeology, but our system rejected my attempt: no habla espanol aqui, apparently. The person you want to contact is Dr. Harrison Eiteljorg, who holds his Ph.D. from our university and pursues the study of Greek architecture as a private scholar. He has organized a small research institute for the computerized study of archaeological sites and has done such things as three-dimensional reconstructions of buildings on the Acropolis, in stages to show different arrangements at different dates, with images that can be manipulated to create views from different angles, etc., etc. He is also *very* knowledgeable about hardware and software, and he publishes a short newsletter which I am certain he would be happy to send to any interested scholars: he is actively trying to make contact with as many interested scholars as possible. Unfortunately, because he is not yet officially affiliated with a university, he does not have a BITNET or e-mail address. I can suggest two ways to get in touch with him. First, send an e-mail message via Professor Richard Hamilton of Bryn Mawr College: Prof. Hamilton is on Dr. Eiteljorg's institute's board of advisors and could certainly pass on your name and address to him: HAM @ BRYNMAWR. Alternately, you could write to Dr. Eiteljorg directly: Harrison Eiteljorg, II, Ph.D. 142 Grays Lane Haverford, Pa. 19041 U.S.A. From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.846 OCR? Heidelberg? MLA? arch Date: Thu, 14 Dec 89 09:00:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1390 (1766) Re: the query about CAD programs and archaeological reconstruction: you might contact Sebastian Rahtz, Department of Archaelogy, University of Southampton, Southampton, ENGLAND (I don't know if he's specifically using AutoCAD, but he's done a lot of work in this area), and Cynthia Shelmerdine, Dept. of Classics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 USA (she uses primarily Macintosh, I believe, but has been doing some work with MS-DOS). John Slatin Dept. of English University of Texas Austin, TX 78712 USA From: Mark Ritchie <AVFILM2@watdcs.UWaterloo.ca> Subject: Re: 3.850 why doesn't this address work? (23) Date: Fri, 15 Dec 89 08:59:08 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 850 (1767) On Thu, 14 Dec 89 21:16:50 EST you said: [deleted quotation]----------------------------------- Try JDG@PSC90.DARTMOUTH.EDU It's worked for me. W. Mark Ritchie | Tel: (519) 888-4070 Media Librarian | Fax: (519) 888-6197 Audio-Visual Centre | University of Waterloo | Net: avfilm2@watdcs.Uwaterloo.ca From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.850 why doesn't this address work? (23) Date: Fri, 15 Dec 89 04:05:39 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1391 (1768) The address you used looks like a confused mix of uucp and domain style addressing. I would next try jdg%psc90%unhd@unet.uu.net --- You wrote: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.uu.net ? --- end of quoted material --- From: "R. Jones" <JONES@BYUVM> Subject: Computer Sessions at MLA 89 Date: Fri, 15 Dec 89 10:00:46 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1392 (1769) Humanists will be interested in knowing about the following sessions scheduled for the Modern Language Association Annual Meeting, December 27-30, Washington, D.C. Numbers refer to the session numbers in the printed program. Hilton=Washington Hilton, 1919 Connecticut Ave. Sheraton=Sheraton Washington, 2600 Woodley Rd For registration information write to MLA, 10 Astor Place, New York, NY 10003, tel: 212-475-9500 --------------------------------------------------------------- 100. The Humanist and the Electronic Text Thursday, December 28, 8:30-9:45 a.m., Wilmington/Sheraton Chair: Paul Fortier Speakers: Willard McCarty, "HUMANIST: A Global Seminar for Computing Humanists" Glyn Holmes, "The Humanist and Desktop Publishing" Randall Jones, "BITNET: International Electronic Mail for Academia" --------------------------------------------------------------- 138. Machine Readable Texts and Literary Analysis (Panel) Thursday, December 28, 10:15-11:30 a.m., Wilmington/Sheraton Chair: Nancy Ide Speakers: David Chesnutt, Nancy Ide, Terry Langendoen, Michael Sperberg-McQueen --------------------------------------------------------------- 185. New Technologies in Technical Communication: Classroom Applications and Ventures Thursday, December 28, 12:00 noon-1:15 p.m., Wilmington/Sheraton Chair: Sherry Little Speakers: Henrietta Nickels Shirk, "A Course in Online Documentation" Ann Hill Duin, "Collaborative Writing and Telecom- munications: Venturing Beyond the University" --------------------------------------------------------------- 242. Computers in Applied Linguistic Research Thursday, December 28, 3:30-4:45 p.m. Monroe/Hilton Chair: Stephen Clausing Speakers: Keiko Nonaka, "Cognitive-Semantic Analysis of Some Common Verbs Used in a Doctor-Patient Spoken Corpus" Joel Goldfield, "Gobineau's Classical and Romantic Lexico-Thematic Conflicts.: A Study in Literary Computing and Criticism" Bruce Duncan, "Hypertour: Getting Around Mainz by Interactive Video" --------------------------------------------------------------- 290. Cash Bar Arranged by the Association for Computers and the Humanities Thursday, December 28, 5:15-6:45 p.m., Conservatory/Hilton --------------------------------------------------------------- 372. Demonstrations of Faculty-Developed Software Friday, December 29, 8:30-11:30 a.m. Lincoln West/Hilton Chair: Carol Zuses Instructional and research-oriented software developed by faculty members in fields of English and foreign languages will be demonstrated. --------------------------------------------------------------- 374. Picture Windows: Electronic Communications for the 1990s Friday, December 29, 8:30-9:45 a.m. Monroe East/Hilton Chair: Donald Ross Speakers: John Smith, "A 'Writing Environment' Based on Cognitive Modes of Professional Communicators" Stephen Ehrmann, "Recent Developments in Distance Education Using Various Communication Systems" Donald Ross: "Beyond Desktop Publishing--The Next Computer and Communications in Multiple Media" --------------------------------------------------------------- 408. Designing and Implementing Electronic-Discourse Communities Friday, December 29, 10:15-11:30 a.m., Monroe East/Hilton Chair: Ann Hill Duin Speakers: Ann Hill Duin, "Designing for Electronic-Discourse Communities" Linnea Stenson, "Implementing Telecommunications: Reinventing the Classroom" Gretta C. Gaard, "Collaborative Theory and Collaborative Practice in the Electronic Classroom" --------------------------------------------------------------- 448. The Impact of Computers on Teaching of Literature and Writing: Theoretical Considerations (panel) Friday, December 29, 12:00 noon-1:15 p.m., Atrium 1/Sheraton Chair: David Shumway Speakers: Richard A. Lanham, James Sosnoski --------------------------------------------------------------- 462. Hypertext and Literary Theory Friday, December 29, 12:00 noon-1:15 p.m., Monroe East/Hilton Chair: Stuart Moulthrop Speakers: George P. Landow, "Barthes, Hypertext, and the Politics of Reading" Terence Harpold, "Narrative Dismemberment: Psycho- analytic Digressions on the Structure of Hypertexts" --------------------------------------------------------------- 493. Computers in Reader-Response Theory and Literary Analysis Friday, December 29, 1:45-3:00 p.m., Wilmington/Sheraton Chair: C. Ruth Sabol Speakers: Rosanne G. Potter, Theory behind Computer Studies of Reader Responses to Character Dialogue" Harold Hellwig, "Analyzing Language: Learning Mark Twain's Codes" D.H. Craig, "Did Johnson Write the Additions to the <Spanish Tragedy>? An Approach by Computer-Assisted Literary Statistics" --------------------------------------------------------------- 633. Copyright, Fair Usage, and Scholarly Control of Computer Archives of Literary Material (panel) Friday, December 29, 9:00-10:15 p.m., Wisconsin/Sheraton Chair: Todd K. Bender Speakers: Helen Aguera, Charlotte Givens, Richard A. Lanham, Leroy F. Searle, Royalynne O,Conner, Timothy B. King --------------------------------------------------------------- 678B. Evaluation of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (panel) Saturday, December 30, 8:30-9:45 a.m., Conservatory/Hilton Chair: Nina Garrett Speakers: Nina Garrett, Randall Jones --------------------------------------------------------------- Randall L. Jones ACH Executive Secretary JONES@BYUVM From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: various Date: 18 December 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1393 (1770) 1. Humanist during the holidays. Humanist will continue to be published during the forthcoming holidays as time and events will permit. Mainframes, we hope, take no time off. Editorial attention to Humanist is, however, unlikely from 24 to 30 December. I will be at the MLA conference in Washington, DC, from 27 to 29 December, most notably to give a paper about Humanist on the morning of the 28th (session 100, as above), and would be very happy to see as many of you there as are able to attend. I wish all of you vigorous peace and joy! 2. New stuff on the file-server. The following topical collections are now available: HUMCOMP TOPIC-7 generally, on the application to of computers to the HUMCOMP TOPIC-8 humanities NEXT TOPIC-1 the to NeXT NEXT TOPIC-3 computer RIGHTS TOPIC-4 copyright to issues and RIGHTS TOPIC-5 plagarism SUPPORT TOPIC-1 the recent conversations to on the support of humanities computing SUPPORT TOPIC-3 and the problems of those involved Allow me to remind you that a copy of any of these may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives. Yours, Willard McCarty From: "DAvid S. Miall" <USERMIAL@UALTAMTS.BITNET> Subject: Romantics texts Date: Sat, 16 Dec 89 16:08:52 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 856 (1771) In answer to Paul Jones, I have some Romantics texts, most from the Oxford Text Archive. They are: Coleridge, Complete Poetry (OUP edition) Keats, Complete Poetry (Stillinger edition) Lyrical Ballads 1798 (Oxford's was incomplete, but I have now completed it, mainly by adding in the 1798 version of 'The Mariner' Coleridge, Notebooks Vols 1-3 (and this one cannot be obtained except with permission from Princeton UP) Shelley, Prometheus Unbound (OUP edition) Oxford also have Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience In addition I have a selected Shelley which I scanned in myself, then added Prometheus Unbound from Oxford. All these I coded to work with WordCruncher (they mostly come with OCP codings). I can't pass on copies except for the Shelley, of course, unless permission is obtained from Oxford (and assuming you wanted WordCruncher versions). Oxford can be reached at: lou@vax.ox.ac.uk (Lou Burnard). I am also anxious to obtain more texts in this area, so would also like to know if there are other texts besides these, including critical prose, letters, etc. I'm particularly interested in obtaining The Prelude for my current research. David S. Miall 403-434 7416 (home) 551 Education South University of Alberta email: usermial@ualtamts.ca Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2G5 From: "R. Jones" <JONES@BYUVM> Subject: BITNET Success Stories Date: Fri, 15 Dec 89 07:35:13 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1394 (1772) In my MLA presentation on BITNET I would like to cite examples of how the use of BITNET has been a valuable tool for humanists in their research and instruction. If anyone has any unusually interesting experiences I would appreciate hearing about them. Also, any personal comments about the unique nature of BITNET as a communications tool would be helpful. Randall Jones Brigham Young University JONES@BYUVM From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Teaching IPA using a Mac Date: Fri, 15 Dec 89 13:36:16 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1395 (1773) Does anyone know of any work which has been done to use the Mac to teach the International Phonetic Alphabet? We have in mind a Hypercard application which would allow students to associate digitized sounds with IPA symbols, or conversely, to hear sounds, and choose the correct symbol. Eventually this should be extensible to other phonetic alphabets which are language specific, and finally to use in teaching phonetic transcription. I asked about this approximately a year ago and got a couple of responses. If I get anything interesting, I will be glad to summarize it for Humanist. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: Jim O'Donnell, Classics, Penn Subject: NB 4.0, etc. Date: Fri, 15 Dec 89 13:56:48 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1396 (1774) Does anybody have reliable information as to actual release dates of three different things: NB 4.0, SLS for NB 4.0, and the promised bibliographical package? Will the SLS come several months behind the main program as was the case with 3.0? Even approximations, good rumors, and well-tutored hunches would be welcome as it is of some urgency that I be able to plan whether to wait for it or to go ahead with something without it. From: portal!cup.portal.com!Alan_J_Roberts@sun.com Subject: AIDS Trojan Update Date: Wednesday, 13 December 1989 17:56-MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 858 (1775) This is a forward from John McAfee: A lot more has been discovered about the AIDS Information Trojan in the past 24 hours. First, the diskette does not contain a virus. The install program does initiate a counter, and based on a seemingly random number of re-boots, the trojan will activate and destroy all data on the hard disk. The diskette was mailed to at least 7,000 corporations, based on information obtained from CW communications - one of the magazine mailing label houses used by the perpetrators. The perpetrator's initial investment in disks, printing and mailing is well in excess of $158,000 according to a Chase Manhattan Bank estimate that was quoted in a PC Business World press release from London. The bogus company that sent the diskettes had rented office space in Bond Street in London under the name of Ketema and Associates. The perpetrators told the magazine label companies that they contacted that they were preparing an advertising mailer for a commercial software package from Nigeria. All offices had been vacated at the time of the mailing, and all addresses in the software and documentation are bogus. The Trojan creates several hidden subdirectories -- made up of space and ASCII 255's -- in the root of drive C. The install program is copied into one of these and named REM.EXE. The user's original AUTOEXEC.BAT file is copied to a file called AUTO.BAT. The first line of this file reads -- "REM Use this file in place of AUTOEXEC.BAT for convenience". The installation also creates a hidden AUTOEXEC.BAT file that contains the commands: C: CD \ REM Use this file in place of AUTOEXEC.BAT AUTO The CD \ actually contains ASCII characters 255, which causes the directory to change to one of the hidden directories containing the REM.EXE file. The REM file is then executed and decrements a counter at each reboot. After a random number of reboots, the hard disk is wiped clean. Definitely a new approach. So far the mailings appear to be limited to western Europe. No reports have been received from the U.S. If anyone does have the diskette, or has already run the install program, a disinfector has been written by Jim Bates and is available on HomeBase for free download. 408 988 4004. The name of the disinfector is AIDSOUT.COM. John McAfee ------- End of Forwarded Message ----- End Forwarded Message ----- From: RGLYNN@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: Date: Fri, 15 Dec 89 05:19:32 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 859 (1776) Subject Use of CD-ROMs in U.S. and Canadian Libraries May I say a global 'Thank You' to all the Humanists who replied personally to my enquiry on the above. You were too many for me to reply individually! The information passed on was very helpful. Ruth Glynn Editor, Oxford Electronic Publishing Oxford University Press From: David Stampe <stampe@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu> Subject: MLA online bibliography Date: Thu, 14 Dec 89 22:22:19 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 860 (1777) In his message about MLA activities, Daniel Uchitelle<MLAOD@CUVMB> does not state the price of the tape of the MLA bibliography, $6500 for the first so many terminals for a ONE YEAR LICENSE! Wasn't the compilation of the bibliography since 1981 already paid for by members and subscribers to the now-obsolete annual hard copies? An online union bibliography is a better value, but it is much cheaper to produce. So why the high price? Will dues be reduced accordingly? David Stampe, Linguistics, University of Hawaii stampe@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu, stampe@uhccux.bitnet From: J. K. McDonald <MCDOJK@QUCDN> Subject: Etc. and all the rest Date: Thu, 14 Dec 89 21:35 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1397 (1778) Willard has reminded us that no expressive device in the English (or any human) language should be willed out of existence. Speaking of the "caetera", it is still harder by far to include in our languages those expressive devices which we know are possible but which we fail to develop; or which are available but are left unused. To Willard's evocative suggestion, I'd like to add a couple which touch on grammar. The first is light-hearted: our lack of distinction between habitual present and actual present. My example is "If you drink, don't drive!" I visualize the parking lot of the liquor store crowded with people suspended between their bottles and their car-keys. The second is heavy-hearted: our failure to express the partitive construction. "School children are on drugs." "Men are misogynists." The world would be a lot more peaceful and much less mischievous if these affirmations were rephrased. Why don't speakers of other languages, those who make the partitive distinction, climb all over us for this defect in our linguistic culture? Jim McDonald From: db <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.845 etc. (88) Date: Sun, 17 Dec 89 21:07:04 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1398 (1779) hear hear on etcetera. the fact that some people abuse it does not mean that the usage is obsolete or worthless. if i give some examples of a list and don't want to givew the whole list why shouldn't i write etcetera. how did the nigerian know that it was a reflection of himself? From: BOGGS@URVAX.BITNET Subject: Teaching Joyce; June panel at Monaco Date: Fri, 15 Dec 89 17:25 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1399 (1780) The Twelfth International James Joyce Symposium will be held in Monaco, 11-16 June, cosponsored by the International Joyce Symposium and the Princess Grace Irish Library, under the patronage of H.S.H. Rainier III, Prince of Monaco. Among the many panels and workshops at the conference, two sessions are scheduled to consider the teaching of Joyce's works. Erwin Steinberg and Kathy McCormick (Carenegie-Mellon U.) are chairing a program which will consider the teaching of *Ulysses* from their vantage point in editing the forthcoming MLA volume on that topic. I have been assigned the task of coordinating a second session on other aspects of teaching the works of Joyce and hope to promote a discussion session on the practical problems of selecting and presenting Joyce's works to first readers, especially in undergraduate literature courses. Pramatic pedagogy for Joyeceans may include some of these questions: How can a comprehensive view of Joyce's achievement be developed in a survey course? How many novels can be introduced in standard courses and in what way can they be adapted to the undergraduate experience? Do anthology fragments create faulty impressions? Can instructors develop abbreviated versions from available editions without violating the sacred text? How much and what kind of critical theory can be effective in introductions for the new reader? How effective are the enhancements of films, recordings, video tapes, slides, maps, and elementary computer functions? (More advanced applications of computer technology to Joyce studies will be considered in a separate panel under the direction of Michael O'Shea, Drexel U.) Although we hope to develop an active floor discussion, we shall use a few brief presentations to stimulate reactions and focus on sub-topics If you plan to attend the Monaco session and have ideas for this session which you wish to share, please communicate your interest to me. (To be listed on the program, panelists should be members of the International Joyce Foundation; information will be provided on request.) If you are not involved in Joyce studies but have colleagues interested in our concerns, please pass along this information. Even if you or they do not intend to travel to Monaco, we shall be happy to receive informa- tion about innovative approaches or reports of experiences which we can share. Significant reactions can be reported back to the contributor. Listings of panels should appear later this month in the *James Joyce Newsletter* but the directors of the academic program are urging a speedy development of plans--so I am using bitnet resources to solicit expressions of interest. Symposium organizers encourage the formation of panels with participants from more than one country, and a discussion of experiences in teaching Joyce will obviously be enhanced by variety of perspectives. Inquiries from thoughout the network will be welcome. John C. Boggs Department of English University of Richmond, Virginia 23173 BOGGS@URVAX.bitnet Telephone: office: (804) 289-8194 home: (804) 288-3426 From: Stuart Moulthrop <SMOULTHR@YALEVM> Subject: Jay David Bolter at MLA Date: Mon, 18 Dec 89 11:36:32 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1400 (1781) A supplement to Randy Jones' most helpful listing of computer sessions at MLA. In the session on "Hypertext and Literary Theory," Professor Jay David Bolter of the University of North Carolina, author of _Turing's Man_ and developer of Storyspace, should have been included. Prof. Bolter's talk is called "Authority and Control in Electronic Texts." The session is Friday, December 29 at noon in Monroe East of the Hilton. From: <ltreade@UTS.AM.CC.READING.AC.UK> Subject: Date: Mon, 18 Dec 89 13:14:57 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1401 (1782) IF ANYONE IS USING HYPERCARD AS A LINGUISTIC TOOL THEY MAY WANT TO GET IN TOUCH WITH: RANDY VALENTINE, 195 EDINBURGH STREET, LONDON, ONTARIO, CANADA. N6H 1L8 RANDY IS A MEMBER OF THE SUMMER INSTITUTE OF LINGUISTICS AND HAS DEVELOPED A FINESSE IN THE USE OF HYPERCARD - GRAMMAR STACKS, DEVELOPMENT STACKS ETC. IF YOU GET A CHANCE TO READ THIS BEFORE CHRISTMAS, I HOPE YOU HAVE A REALLY GREAT TIME. FRED EADE (LTREADE%UK.AC.RDG.AM.UTS%AC.RDG) From: JACKA@PENNDRLS Subject: Date: Monday, 18 December 1989 1228-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1402 (1783) ONLINE NOTES NOVEMBER, 1989 [Major headings follow; contents have been deleted] AIX/UNIX SERVER CINEMA PROJECT: BETA TEST OF CINEMA II HYPERCARD PROJECT AT PENN VIRUSES -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. ONLINE NOTE8911. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: "M. R. Sperberg-McQueen " <U15440@UICVM> Subject: Heidelberg degree Date: 18 December 1989 09:08:23 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1403 (1784) There are published immatriculation lists for many German universities; the one I am familiar with is Georg Erler's for Leipzig. It in some instances includes not only the date of matriculation, but also the dates of conferral of degrees. I don't know that there's a similar work for Heidelberg, but I would think it worth looking for. To find it, I would either look under Heidelberg University in my university library's subject catalogue or simply take the question to a reference librarian. They love this kind of inquiry. From: GLOCK@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: RE: 3.853 3D archaeology (69) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 89 05:10:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1404 (1785) Re: the query about CAD programs and archaeology, a couple of articles have appeared recently on this subject in the Archaeological Computing Newsletter (ACN), Alvey on the Hindsight system in ACN 19 and Rains on the Aegis system in ACN forthcoming. For details of ACN contact: Gary Lock Institute of Archaeology University of Oxford 36, Beaumont St Oxford OX1 2PG UK or <GLOCK@UK.AC.OX.VAX> From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.860 MLA Bibliography (23) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 89 05:09:40 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1405 (1786) MLA's price for its bibliography is apparently considerably higher than Stampe suggests. (1) For a campus to put the data on a network for availability to faculty and/or students, the annual license increases substantially to several times the minimum $6500. (2) The data provided is not meaningfully "an analytic reference work" as stated in the posting. You license raw bibliogrphical information; there is no index; and no search software or other tools for turning the data into a useful reference work. (3) As part of the agreement, you agree to develop or adapt search software and an appropriate interface entirely at your own expense. (4) You agree to invent ways to capture useage data and provide MLA with this information. --- David Stampe <stampe@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu> wrote: ... the price of the tape of the MLA bibliography [is] $6500 for the first so many terminals for a ONE YEAR LICENSE!...So why the high price? --- end of quoted material --- From: MLAOD@CUVMB Subject: MLA Bibliography Date: Mon, 18 Dec 89 14:10:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1406 (1787) Modesty and a desire not to transgress the non-commercial mandate of Bitnet has prevented me from making a general announcement concerning the site licensing rate schedule for the MLA Bibliography, so I appreciate Mr. Stampe's gracious entree to this topic. Yes, our rates begin at $6,500 for an annual subscription, which includes all MLA Bibliography records from 1981 to the present plus ten additional tape updates during the course of the year. Rates increase as the number of terminals increase, approaching a rate of $30 per terminal as the number of terminals approaches infinity, with a special category for all state-wide and consortia networks having an essentially uncountable number of terminals. The site license rates set for the Bibliography are approximately 50 percent of the rates charged by another large database producer for a somewhat similar humanities index, and are a still smaller percentage of the rates charged for other social science and humanities databases by other producers. To put this rate in context, the H. W. Wilson Company charges $4,695 for a complete CD-ROM workstation, with an additional $1,495 required for a year's subscription to the MLA Bibliography on CD, total cost (less shipping) $6,190. If you have a library public access catalog, some extra computer capacity, a staff member to load the tapes and configure an interface that matches the one you currently provide, and an extra $310, you can make the MLA Bibliography available at every terminal on campus. The Modern Language Association is a non-profit organization, and as such all programs and activities are designed to maximize services to members, rather than profits. Should site licensing of the MLA Bibliography provide revenues in excess of expenses, this will be used to provide additional services and support to the community of scholars who belong to the Association. The value of membership will be enhanced, though dues might not go down. Production of the MLA Bibliography is not underwritten by membership dues; it's the other way around. From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.860 MLA Bibliography (23) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 89 15:06:56 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1407 (1788) $6500 for a one-year license for the tape of the MLA bibliography..... Those of us who are going to MLA should be asking "our" staff some hard questions. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: BRODY Florian <U3011VAA@AWIUNI11> Subject: Re: 3.845 etc. (88) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 89 07:35:47 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 865 (1789) NO I am not a native English speaker - etc is available in German too I cannot agree with restrictive approaches - (it is a military approach like "don't say YES, say YES SIR" etc.) The main question is the availability of tools in a language for definite and indefinite description. Language is trimmed in a way allowing only definite statements. Thus including a certain demand for safety and correctness: what the speaker says is what he means or at least what he wants to say (Must we mean what we say?) If you see language not as a software handshake or some sort of communication in the sense Shannon (1945) describes it, but as a means for the orientation in a cotectual environement (check Maturana for the correct quotation in English) you need elements to express open ends, unfinished thoughts, ideas that need more thinking (by the speaker and/or the hearer) etc etc. Even worse: The belief that one has said everything - that one's statement is exhaustive is a sign for a bad writer/thinker. etc. can be misued as much as any other word to shade missing knowledge. etc. etc. /// please include your comments here etc. F. Brody -- Austrian Nat'l Library, Vienna From: iwml@UKC.AC.UK Subject: SEASONAL GREETINGS Date: Sun, 17 Dec 89 18:58:23 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 866 (1790) Happy Channuchah A Merry Christmas Have a restful, happy and meaningful break. Ian Mitchell Lambert AIBI co-ordinator & Centre for the Study of Early Christianity From: PD_BACSICH@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK Subject: EUROPEAN ACCENTED LETTERS IN POSTSCRIPT Date: Tue, 19 DEC 89 15:23:46 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1408 (1791) I am putting the finishing touches over Christmas to a PostScript font called EuroTimes which contains almost all the European accented and variant letters from the ISO SGML Added Latin 2 specification. Together with regular PostScript Times it provides almost all the variant latin letters needed for European "latin alphabet" languages, including West, East and minority languages. I intend to make the font generally available over networks such as this; and would appreciate some testers to make the font even better. I can easily send testers the PostScript version since that's ASCII. How can I send a Mac screen font over this net? Any suggestions welcome. Almost all = I haven't done eng and capital eng. Testers' work = I would appreciate advice on positioning of some diacritics, especially ogon(y)eks, carons on some letters, and minutiae of cross-stroke positioning. The font will print nicely on a LaserWriter at 300 dpi since it is completely built up out of Times characters using the Fontographer "composite font" mechanism. Paul Bacsich From: "DAvid S. Miall" <USERMIAL@UALTAMTS.BITNET> Subject: Coleridge Conference Date: Tue, 19 Dec 89 17:09:32 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1409 (1792) Conference Announcement: C O L E R I D G E S U M M E R C O N F E R E N C E 1 9 9 0 July 21st to 25th 1990 The Friends of Coleridge in Somerset Conference Director: David S. Miall The second Coleridge conference will be held at Cannington near Nether Stowey in Somerset, UK, just four miles from the cottage in which Coleridge lived during 1797-98 and where he wrote most of his greatest poetry. In addition to conference papers by major scholars and seminar discussions, the conference will include a day tour of Coleridge's birthplace, Ottery St Mary in Devon, guided by Lord William Coleridge. Opportunities will also be provided to visit Coleridge Cottage at Nether Stowey. -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. COLERDGE CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: PACS Forum <LIBPACS@UHUPVM1.BITNET> Subject: Virus Messages Date: Tue, 19 Dec 89 16:23:12 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1410 (1793) [I suggest the same for members of Humanist particularly concerned about viruses. --W.M.] It has been suggested to me that PACS-L users should subscribe to two lists that deal with computer viruses instead of discussing this topic on PACS-L. These lists are VALERT-L@LEHIIBM1 and VIRUS-L@LEHIIBM1. To subscribe, send one of the following messages to LISTSERV@LEHIIBM1: SUBSCRIBE VALERT-L Your Name SUBSCRIBE VIRUS-L Your Name --Charles ------------------------------------------------------------------ From-> "David R. McDonald" <USERGBPE@UMICHUM.BITNET> Disinfectant 1.4 is available as PC2:UT/DISINFENCTANT from UM.CC.UMICH.EDU I believe Charles provide instructions sometime agao on how to copy files from the University of Michigan. David McDonald University of Michigan ----- From-> Steve Cisler <sac@apple.com> Subject-> Re: virus Apple Library received the new version of disinfectant from Northwestern University only two days ago. Today I ran a check on my internal hard drive as well as a removable hard disk. Both of the desktop files were infected with the WDEF virus. Disinfectant fixed both of them. Kudos to John Norstad and his team (who used the Internet to do this collaborative software project) and to Ed Valauskas for raising this issue). Steve Cisler Apple Library From: Jan Eveleth <EVELETH@YALEVM> Subject: E-dictionaries Date: Tue, 19 Dec 89 15:34:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1411 (1794) I've had two persons requesting electronic dictionaries recently. In each case, they'd like to be able to type in the word and have the dictionary entry appear. The requests are for french, italian, hungarian, and german but I'd be interested in hearing about software for any language. In an ideal situation, these dictionaries would either work in conjunction with a word processor (such as Word Perfect 5.0 or MS Word) and/or as TSR's so that the writing need not be disrupted. Information on such software for either Mac or DOS environments would be appreciated. And might there be foreign language dictionaries such that if I type in a word in english I get a list of foreign equivalents? And vice versa? (Thanks, but no pocket translators please.) Jan Eveleth eveleth@yalevm Yale University From: Eldad Salzmann +972 3 472406 <ELDAD@TAUNIVM> Subject: Looking for E-mail address Date: Tue, 19 Dec 89 16:02:12 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1412 (1795) Dear Willard, One of the students at the Tel Aviv University is looking for the E-mail address of Prof. Michael M.A.E. Dummepp, from the Oxford New College. She will appreciate any help in locating him. Regards, -Eldad PS I am told Prof. Dummepp teaches in the Philosophy Department. Please distribute this piece of mail in the Humanist LIST. I hope someone knows the professor's E-mail address. Eldad From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.862 more on MLA; linguistic HyperCard; Online Notes (73) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 89 02:13:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 869 (1796) There is a slight mistake in denomination of the ONLINE NOTE8911 It should be named ONLINE NOTE1189 to be able to get it from listserv. Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal E-mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca [A thousand apologies! Mr. Lenoble is quite correct. --W.M.] From: Steve Mason <SHLOMO@YORKVM1> Subject: Avoidance of etc: a discipline? Date: Tue, 19 Dec 89 09:59:18 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 870 (1797) The current discussion of etc seems to me to be one of those cases in which all of the participants are right. Those who have declared their abhorrence of the little rascal remind me of my public-speaking teacher. His biggest challenge, I recall, was to tame our wayward hands, which, if left to their own devices, became seemingly autonomous. Driven by their own reserves of nervous energy, these otherwise useful instruments hindered communication by assuming the most inelegant positions. Some new speakers, unaware of the problem, would allow their hands spontanteous freedom of movement; but their speeches were as persuasive as a poorly dubbed martial arts flick. Others among us were somehow aware of the problem, but our ineffectual response was either to grip the podium with the tenacity of a woman in labour or to stick the offending members emphatically in our pockets, where they proceeded to twitch and fiddle with loose change. All of these "beginners' faults" were ruthlessly exposed by our tutor. His remedy? He insisted that, as a discipline, we cultivate the habit of clasping our hands behind our backs, in the manner of British royalty. We had, first, to be able to make our points without any use of the hands whatsoever. Only after we were able to do so were we permitted to retrieve *one* hand for some distinct and appropriate gesture. Only rarely, for the most dramatic crescendoes, could we display both hands. It seems to me that etc is like an unruly hand. Many of us discipline ourselves by removing it altogether from view. But surely we should admire those who have broken the spirit of this little mischief-maker sufficiently that they can, at will, pull it out for effective display with perfect control, Steve Mason Division of Humanities York University From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.862 more on MLA; linguistic HyperCard; Online Notes (73) Date: Tue, 19 Dec 89 03:30:19 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1413 (1798) MLA's price for its bibliography is apparently considerably higher than Stampe suggests. (1) For a campus to put the data on a network for availability to faculty and/or students, the annual license increases substantially to several times the minimum $6500. (2) The data provided is not meaningfully "an analytic reference work" as stated in the posting. You license raw bibliogrphical information; there is no index; and no search software or other tools for turning the data into a useful reference work. (3) As part of the agreement, you agree to develop or adapt search software and an appropriate interface entirely at your own expense. (4) You agree to invent ways to capture useage data and provide MLA with this information. --- David Stampe <stampe@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu> wrote: ... the price of the tape of the MLA bibliography [is] $6500 for the first so many terminals for a ONE YEAR LICENSE!...So why the high price? --- end of quoted material --- From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.864 MLA bibliography (94) Date: Tue, 19 Dec 89 04:09:12 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1414 (1799) Dartmouth has 4,000 undergraduate students; with faculty and staff included there are approxiamtely 5,000 micro-computers on our network with direct access to the library catalog and other network information resources. At the price quoted for the MLA bibliography that comes to $150,000 per year for raw bibliographic data. Comparing this with the price of stand-alone workstations and including the hardware costs of the workstations as the posting did hardly seems germaine. In any case we could buy a ENTIRE LABORATORY OF WORKSTATIONS including CD-ROM driver and the MLA database EVERY YEAR for the same price. Over a seven year period, at current rates the camparison looks like this: MLA data only (no software or hardware): ONE MILLION DOLLARS for our campus Wilson Company: Workstation in every dormatory and classroom building on campus (which could also be used for general purposes) plus search software and interface: c. ONE MILLION DOLLARS A more reasonable strategy given these non-ideal options is to purchase a few stand-alone machines for the library. Even four machines would probably guarantee access to users. Over seven years, the total cost is $50,000 or just 5% of the cost of licensing the data alone from MLA. --- MLAOD@CUVMB wrote: MLA Bibliography records...$30 per terminal as the number of terminals approaches infinity --- end of quoted material --- From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.864 MLA bibliography (94) Date: Tue, 19 Dec 89 08:01:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1415 (1800) How much does a University library pay for a one-year subscription to the print version of the MLA Bibliography? (or do libraries not buy the print version anymore?) I ask because the print version in the library reference room is also consulted by many, many users throught he course of the year, yet no extra charges accrue (or do they) for the number of users. MLA doesn't charge UT Austin or UC Berkeley more for the printed Bibliography than they charge, say, Dartmouth or Middlebury. And, by the same token, the CD-ROM version is $1495 no matter how many users consult it how many times. The only thing I can think of that might justify that $6500 figure is that MLA is attempting to recoup the initial investment required to convert the Bibliography since 1981, which must have been considerable; but if that's true, then the price ought to start coming down. John Slatin University of Texas at Austin From: COLAN@ecs.umass.edu Subject: FINEART Forum Date: Mon, 18 Dec 89 21:21:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 872 (1801) [A useful calendar. My thanks to the fine FineArt forum. --W.M.] _______________________________________________________________________ ___ ___ ___ ____ /_ /__ / /__ / _______________ / / / ___/ /_______________ December Calendar __________________________________ Fine Art, Science & Technology __________________________________ Volume 1 : Number 1 _______________________________________ JANUARY 1990 ______________________________________________ 1 January 1990: Proposals due Millennium III Monument for 2001 Contact: International Society for the Arts Sciences Technology 1442A Walnut St. #75 Berkeley, CA 94709 _____________________________________________ 1 January 1990: Proposals for Manuscripts due LEONARDO Special issue: Visual Mathematics Guest Editor: Michele Emmer Contact: Leonardo 1442A Walnut St. #75 Berkeley, CA 94709 <isast@garnet.berkeley.edu> _____________________________________________ 1--2 January 1990 Documentation of a Document. 1:00 on 1/1/1990 Check-point Charley, Berlin. Contact: Ray Lauzzana Center for Knowledge Technology P.O. 1520 Utrecht 3500 BM The Netherlands <mcvax!hku!ray@uunet.uu.net> _____________________________________________ 5 January 1990: Submission deadline ECAI 90 9th European Conf. on Artificial Intelligence Stockholm, Sweden August 6-10, 1990 Contact: Luigia Carlucci Aiello Dipartimento di Informatica e Sistemistica Universita di Roma 'La Sapienza' Via Buonarroti, 12 I-00185 Roma, Italy _____________________________________________ 5 January 1990: submission deadline SIGGRAPH 90 17th Conf. on Computer Graphics Dallas, Texas August 6-10, 1990 Contact: Lois Blankstein SIGGRAPH ACM HQ 11 W. 42nd St. New York, NY 10036 tel: (212) 869-7440 <blankstein@um.cc.umich.edu> _____________________________________________ 15 January 1990: Entries due The 1989 IBM Supercomputing Competition includes divisions for fineart and the humanities. Prizes are $25,000,$15,000,$10,000. Register abstract by October 2, 1989 Contact: IBM: 914-686-6318 or write Competition Administrator IBM Corp, Dept 72/BNG 44 South Broadway, White Plains NY 10601, USA _____________________________________________ 15 January 1990 Berkeley Art Project Berkeley, California Site specific proposals for Sproul Plaza to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement. Contact: Berkeley Art Project Dept. of Art Univ. of California Berkeley, CA 94720 _____________________________________________ 15 January 1990: Applications due Artists Residencies for May through September 1990 in dance, sound research, performance art, experimental theatre, interdisciplinary and collaborative forms Contact: Yellow Springs Institute 1990 Residency Fellowships-C 1645 Art School Rd. Chester Springs, PA 19425 (215) 827-9111 _____________________________________________ 15 January 1990: Proposals due Cognitiva 90 Madrid, Spain November 20-23, 1990 Symposium intended to stimulate interaction between research in artificial intelligence, cognitive science, linguistics, and psychology. Contact: AFCET-Cognitiva-90 156 bd Periere F-75017 Paris, France tel: 33-1-47662419 _____________________________________________ 20 January 1990: Proposals due I N T E R N A T I O N A L C O M P U T E R M U S I C C O N F E R E N C E Glasgow Scotland 10-15 September, 1990 The conference will take place at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and will feature a series of concerts culminating in a performance by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, including a specially commissioned work by Iannis Xenakis. There will be morning and afternoon paper sessions, workshops and demonstrations and, in addition to these juried presentations, there will be a paper tree where conference delegates may post papers on any subject. Proposals must be postmarked no later than 20 January 1990. No- tification of receipt will be sent immediately. Notification of acceptance or rejection will be posted on 1 March 1990. Final text of papers will be due on 20 April 1990 Contact: ICMC, Glasgow 1990 c/o Scottish Music Information Centre, 1 Bowmont Gardens Glasgow, Scotland G12 9LR ______________________________________________ 31 January 1990: Papers due Eurographics Workshop on Object Oriented Graphics Koenigswinter - Federal Republic of Germany 6-8 June 1990 31 January 1990 Deadline for full paper 12 April 1990 Notification of acceptance of paper 30 April 1990 Latest date for position papers 6-8 June 1990 WORKSHOP 13 August 1990 Deadline final paper (15-25 pages, camera ready) Co-chairmen: Peter Wisskirchen (GMD) and Edwin Blake (CWI). Manuscripts and requests for information should be sent to: Ms. Marja Hegt, O-O Graphics Workshop, CWI, Kruislaan 413, 1098 SJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 20 592 4058. Fax: +31 20 592 4199. Email: marja@cwi.nl (uucp). _____________________________________________ End of F.A.S.T. Calendar 1(1) From: bobh@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Robert Hollander) Subject: Re: 3.871 MLA bibliography, cont. (102) Date: Tue, 19 Dec 89 23:38:19 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1416 (1802) Not that I expect miracles, but I would like to report that I did speak with Victor Brombert, outgoing president of MLA, just a few hours ago, and told him that the remarkable pricing strategy of MLA was gaining the hostile notice it deserves on HUMANIST. As a former member of MLA (who left over policies I consider even more outrageous) I cannot enjoy the pleasure of resigning because of this particular misguided policy, but would otherwise surely consider doing so. Merry Christmas, Robert Hollander From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@UMTLVR.BITNET> Subject: MLA and downloading Date: Tue, 19 Dec 89 23:43 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1417 (1803) Our library has acquired some times ago the MLA CD-ROM bibliography which operates with the winston retieval package. Does anyone know whether it is possible to download the results of a search on a floppy disk instead of having it printed? Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal E-mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca From: MLAOD@CUVMB Subject: MLA Bibliography Date: Wed, 20 Dec 89 10:29:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1418 (1804) David of Dartmouth has raised a valid point regarding the cost of the MLA Bibliography on tape. While the actual cost for Dartmouth will be only a very small fraction of the ONE MILLION DOLLARS he calculates, it's true that the yearly cost, and the hardware/software requirements, will put these tapes out of the reach of some institutions. That's why we continue to produce the date on compact disk, and online through Dialog Information Services, and online through Wilsonline, and in printed hardcover, and in printed softcover. We also sell individual chapters of the Bibliography (the Folklore Section, for example) in paperback, with a further discount for MLA members (annual membership fees begin at $10). If this still puts the information beyond your reach, well, call me and I'll have an MLA staff member perform the database search for you and mail you the results. David, I understand from the Kathy Klemperer, Director of Library Automation at Dartmouth, that Medline and Grolier's Academic American Encyclopedia have already been mounted on your network, and that there is already a user interface to BRS search software in place. It seems, then, that the "raw data" you decry is actually all Dartmouth needs, technologically speaking, to get the MLA Bibliography up and running on your network. In fact, Ms. Klemperer has offered to contract with the MLA to produce BRS-format files from Bibliography data, an offer that interests us very much, since it would be an aid to other BRS-based institutions. For MLA members who wish to take a more active role in the perfection and destiny of the Bibliography, please note that there is a standing committee, the MLA Bibliography Advisory Committee, upon which you may serve. The current chair is James L. Harner, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843. Daniel Uchitelle<MLAOD@CUVMB> Modern Language Association From: A10PRR1@NIU Subject: MLA Bibliography Date: Wed, 20 Dec 89 09:54 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1419 (1805) Why are people so surprised at the cost of the MLA bibliography? Hasn't anyone noticed how much MLA charges for its hard-copy publications? I haven't looked recently, but a year or two ago they were getting $5.00 for some of their pamphlets and $15.00 or more for their small paperbacks. The paperback version of the little Williams/Abbott Intro to Bibliographical Studies is selling for $17.50. H. W. Wilson can justify the charges for their bibliography; they are a business, and the point of a business is to make money. But the MLA, as we were recently reminded by MLAOD@CUVMB, "is a non-profit organization" whose "programs and activities are designed to maximize services to members". Isn't there a character (in Steinbeck?) who tells a story about "service" that ends: "So whenever I hear someone talk about service I always wonder who's getting screwed"? From: John_Price-Wilkin@ub.cc.umich.edu Subject: 3.871 MLA bibliography, cont. (102) Date: Wed, 20 Dec 89 21:17:34 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1420 (1806) Several times we've seen argued costs of tape products compared to costs of CD-ROM products and supporting equipment, as if the cost of a tape license alone were directly comparable to the cost of the CD-ROM subscription and the necessary equipment. I'm not going to argue here the economics of information pricing, but I need to throw in some figures that will emphasize the lack of comparability in products. First of all, the tape alone does not make a database. In order to load records so that they can be used with the dbms of choice, a great deal of programming needs to be done. Some tapeloading programs are sold with dbms like NOTIS. Costs for a tapeloading program are estimated to be more than triple the cost Wilson charges for a CD-ROM workstation. Another factor in the cost of a database leased on tape is the cost of storage. The disk space for a large file from the Wilson company can be as much as $5000, or something like the cost of the CD-ROM workstation. Unlike the CD-ROM workstation, more disk space needs to be provided as the database grows. There are, of course, real operating costs as well. A library or computing center doesn't simply have programmers and support staff twiddling their thumbs waiting for another MLA Bibliography to come along. This too is real cost that is not found with CD-ROM products. After spending considerable time talking to vendors for the past year and a half, I can say that pricing is all over the board. The most unreasonable pricing comes from some of the scientific database producers, who want to charge using a model based on their dealings with the commercial enterprises (e.g., Dialog and BRS). There are many others who are uncomfortable about establishing prices and who are looking to the market for cues, and I suspect this is the case with MLA. On the other hand, there is the producer of another large humanities database who is prepared to offer its database at twice the annual cost of its print product or, for an institution the size of the Univ. of Michigan, about half the price quoted for MLA Bibliography. Incidentally, this price also includes a subscription to the print index as well. (I hope I'll be prepared to share more information about this arrangement soon.) For them, as for us, the issue is access. From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.866 holiday greetings (23) Date: Wed, 20 Dec 89 19:56:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 874 (1807) It's Hanukkah, or Chanukkah, preferably the former, because English speakers cannot recognize the aspirated H, if that is what it is called, and will call it chah, like Charlie. Kessler here at ucla From: karl g heider <N060003@UNIVSCVM.BITNET> Subject: archaeology and cinema Date: Wed, 20 Dec 89 14:41 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1421 (1808) [Please reply both to Humanist AND to Heider at the above address. Thanks. --W.M.] ARCHAEOLOGY & CINEMA: does anyone else teach a course in this? Mainly Shovel Flicks of course. Am interested in getting syllabi. Also, name some feature films starring archaeos/anthros pre-Indiana Jones (The Mummy's Hand, Valley of the Kings, etc). Has anyone done a bibliography? Karl G. Heider, Dept of Anthro, UofSCarolina, Columbia SC 29208 From: Ed Friedman <FRIEDMAN@STEVENS> Subject: Charles Darwin Electronic Texts Date: Wed, 20 Dec 89 18:23 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1422 (1809) We are seeking information about texts in electronic form by Charles Darwin or about Charles Darwin. Please send such information to FRIEDMAN@SITVXB.BITNET or FRIEDMAN@VAXB.STEVENS-TECH.EDU via Internet From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@UMTLVR.BITNET> Subject: ETC... ET cetera... usw... Date: Tue, 19 Dec 89 23:48 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1423 (1810) Being the one who started that ETC debate, I just wish to remind all HUMANIST to scan their E-bookshelves to find how many ETC they are able to spot in literary works, and for the sake of comparison, in scientific writings too. The one who finds the most ETC during these year's end holidays will be given the ETC medal, etc... Yours, Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal E-mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca From: "Guy L. Pace" <PACE@WSUVM1> Subject: etc. Date: Wed, 20 Dec 89 08:25:39 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1424 (1811) I stepped out to change into my flame-proof skivvies. As in any communication between communicator and the target of the message, there is an assumption on the part of the communicator that communication occurred. Of course, we all know what assume did. When vague, indefinite phrases and terms (such as etc.) are used in a message, there is an automatic assumption on the part of the communicator that the target of the message knows what part of the message has been left out, or intuitively understands the implied portion of the message. If your message contains vague or indefinite phrases or terms, and the target of your message is a group of collegues who have the same educational, social, cultural and economic backgrounds as yourself, you can safely expect that most of your message, including its implied meanings and missing items, will be received by the audience. If it isn't important that all of the message be received (and if that's the case, why are you sending the message?) or if you know that your target audience will understand the vague and indefinite parts of the message, then it is not necessary for stringent use of direct, specific terms and phrases. When the target of your message is an audience with broader, dissimilar backgrounds, and it is important that the message is not missunderstood by the audience, then the use of direct, specific terms or phrases is imperative. In journalism, it is critical that the vague and indirect parts of the language be left behind to better insure that the message be readable, understandable and not misleading to the majority of the audience. Therefore, use etc. if you are _certain_ your audience understands your implied meaning or missing examples, and if you can afford to have your message misunderstood. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: etc., redundantly, one more time, and the last? Date: 20 December 1989, 15:15:18 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1425 (1812) I agree with the good person of York who said we were all right about etc. It can be a bad little appendage, doing no good wiggling in the air. But the whole debate brings up proscription of usage vs. letting it all hang out, proscription vs. description. I am mostly concerned with mannerisms in my own writing, so I would proscribe for myself but not even for my composition students. Here is what I avoid, but Willard may find a fresh Nigerian student who will rediscover any one of them and use it freshly: factors, facets, lifestyle, nice, interesting, environment, area, phenomena. I don't much like contact as a verb, I distinctly dislike verb constructions like "facilitate the optimization of" and "prioritize the agenda." I don't like using "authored" for "wrote," though that is very fashionable. I do a "this" edit on anything I write over ten or maybe even five pages, and get rid of all "thises" that aren't very close to the noun they stand for. There is something wrong with "prerecorded," though I can't argue the case against it very well. Some phrases are certainly wordy or redundant: at this point in time, combined together, in the home environment, alleged suspect, end result. Pet peeves (such as dated slang, as with "letting it all hang out," above?), anyone? Roy Flannagan From: Roland Hutchinson <R.RDH@Macbeth.Stanford.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.847 left hand copyrights, right hand steals? (22) Date: Wed, 20 Dec 89 13:43:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 877 (1813) David Bantz writes: "...there seems to be a dichotomy in the attitudes which some might take to express the attitudes of humanities computing folk: OUR intellectual work must be protected, respected, and, if possible profitable; commercial software theft on the other hand is to be encouraged by broadcasting techniques for carrying it off." Now wait just a minute! I think I am entitled to resent the implication that those of us (myself included) who wrote in response to the request for help in moving a Greek font from Mac to IBM-PC were intending in any way to encourage software piracy. The question under discussion was how to take a legitimately purchased copy of a font that has been distributed ONLY for the Mac, and adapt the duely licensed information therein contained for use on a single CPU with a single printer, in (one presumes) complete compliance with the terms of the software license. If we were encouraging piracy by helping someone to do this, then anyone who has ever explained to a colleague who to copy files from one floppy disk to another was also encouraging piracy. Even granting the font developers their controversial legal theories that (1) "boxtop" licenses are legally binding and (2) an algorithmic description of a font is copyrightable, the course of action that I have described above is beyond reproach. In connection with recent discussions about things that require substantial effort to create yet are not protected by current intellectual property laws, I might point out that typefaces are yet another example. The design of a font--that is to say, the shapes of the letters, as distinguished from the tangible expression of a description of those shapes in a programming language such as PostScript--is NOT copyrightable. In the pre-desktop-publishing world "ownership" of font designs was traditionally enforced by registering the font names as trademarks. This did not, of course, prevent the marketing of "lookalike" fonts under similar names, and the practice continues with desktop laser printer fonts. Hence, for example, the Times Roman clones with names like TmsRmn or Dutch. Roland Hutchinson Department of Music Montclair State College Upper Montclair, NJ 07043 INTERNET: r.rdh@macbeth.stanford.edu BITNET: r.rdh%macbeth.stanford.edu@stanford From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.867 accented letters; Coleridge; viruses (130) Date: Wed, 20 Dec 89 03:30:28 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1426 (1814) Use the widely available BINHEX to convert an arbitrary file to ASCII. You may also want to compress files first (including your Postscript version of the font) using Stuffit. --- Paul Bacsich (PD_BACSICH@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK) wrote: How can I send a Mac screen font over this net? Any suggestions welcome. --- end of quoted material --- From: ANNA MORPURGO DAVIES <MORPURGO@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK> Subject: RE: 3.868 e-dictionaries? e-mail address? (55) Date: Wed, 20 Dec 89 06:09:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1427 (1815) About the e-mail address of prof. Michael Dummett (sic). He does not seem to have one. Write to him at New College, Oxford (UK). This address is sufficient. Anna Morpurgo Davies From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Last Things Date: 22 December 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 879 (1816) Dear Colleagues: Humanist was not distributed last night because I fell into a pan-religious celebration of the solstice. It was a strangely joyous and zany parade, mostly in costume, through one of the older districts of Toronto (Kensington Market). Before friends and I gave up the parade because of severe cold, we had dancingly witnessed a pagan ritual of the victory of good over evil -- complete with a fire-breather, witches, a snow-queen, and children bearing roses; a Christian scene, which I could not see because of the crowds; and a telling and singing of the Hanukkah story, with flaming torches. A Sufi celebration was to follow, but although soaring spirits were willing, we fleshly preferred hot food in a local Vietnamese establishment. The parade surprised and delighted most of the residents through whose ethnic streets we wound our shouting way, and puzzled the rest. For me this unlooked for event served the vital purpose of punctuating the season: an end to one world, the beginning of something new, yet untried. Humanist itself has reached such a point of transition. It is my melancholy duty to inform you that circumstances compel me to resign as editor of this seminar. I will of course remain a Humanist, but the job of mothering it along must now pass to someone else. Let no one think that I am tired of the work, or bored with the company, or vexed by complaints. Quite the contrary! In brief, my time is badly needed elsewhere, and I must go. Being editor of Humanist has been a great privilege, has taught me much, and has allowed me to make many friends in near and distant places. More importantly, it has given me the opportunity to contribute somewhat to the field of humanities computing, if it is a field.... I have enjoyed more than I can say helping to recreate what I once found most congenial as an undergraduate: total equality within the seminar, irrespective of social distinctions outside it. I am still young enough to believe that the most important obligation of a university is to allow for the life of the imagination to be lived, against all the devilish odds it faces from all quarters. Humanist has, I think, fulfilled that obligation more often than not. To all of you I therefore express my enormous gratitude. Arrangements are now in progress for a new editor to take over, so do not vex your holidays with worries. I will continue as editor until these arrangements are complete. Although I would never wish for the circumstance that brings me to say this, it may be better that I pass the privilege on to someone else. Variety is life-spicy, and interesting, and it is quite possible that my successor will improve Humanist! Humanist has been run free of charge, and free of any granting programme or agency. It has been the gift of the University of Toronto, if you will, to the international community Humanist has helped to discover. Such gifts are seldom given, since institutions tend to look to themselves, especially when money is not plentiful. Conferences help enormously to keep the international community alive, but unfortunately only a few can attend them, fewer as sources of money dry up. Humanist has shown, I think, something of what the new medium can do, at extremely low cost, to further both computing in the humanities and the renaissance of humanism in an age that so badly needs it. Our immediate subject has been computing, to which we have more or less kept. Because, as Roy Flannigan said some time ago, we have been operating "on the edge of knowledge", the style of Humanist has frequently provoked complaint born of misunderstanding and so pointed the way to what is new. On the one hand, we have heard that Humanist is sloppy, publishing things better left unsaid; on the other hand that it is far too regulated, even sometimes censored, contrary to the liberating potential of the electronic medium. My own conclusion from living with Humanist for about 2 1/2 years is that both species of complaint, although they have some truth to them, miss the point. One misapplies the standards of juried print, the other the liberties of casual speech, whereas the new medium has characteristics of both. In brief, the new medium is new, and so requires a new "model" for understanding. Humanist has, I think, roughly delineated that new model, or at least one version of it. Here is not the place to spell out in detail what I think the characteristics of that model are; in any case my thoughts are inchoate. A discussion on the subject would, however, be very fruitful! My purpose here is to glance back on what Humanist has done and to exhort you, if I may so presume, both to `kiss the joy as it flies' and to do everything you can to keep it in the air. My best experiences in teaching have caused me to marvel that despite all the gibbering nonsense of ordinary life, genuine learning can occur. I hope you are persuaded that Humanist has also, from time to time, provided the opportunity for such learning. Many have helped me with the work. Support has come, first of all, from my own Centre for Computing in the Humanities and its Director, Ian Lancashire; from the University of Toronto Computing Services, which has supplied disk storage, machine time, and the help of Steve Younker, ListServ expert; from Michael Sperberg-McQueen, who wrote editing software that has helped every day for the last 2 years; Steve DeRose, who took over the management of the biographies and devised a fine HyperCard stack to display them; David Sitman, skilled in ListServ and network strategies beyond the ordinary; Jim Coombs, who contributed software for searching the biographies online and for reformatting messages; Abigail Young, for taking over twice in my absence; Lou Burnard, for writing summaries of what has happened. Many others have given good advice and needed encouragement. To all, mille grazie! Analogies are useful, especially when you're sailing into uncharted waters. So, consider: not like Theseus abandoning Ariadne (except in those versions in which Dionysus comes by shortly after); and not like an Anglo-Saxon funeral, at which the body, heaped with treasures, is placed in a boat and pushed off to sea; rather like a wedding, when the parents give up their child to an uncertain but very promising and, we hope, thrilling future. Merry Christmas, joyous Hanukkah, and a happy New Year! Yours, Willard McCarty From: SUSAN@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: SGML Workshop Date: Thu, 21 DEC 89 09:33:15 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1428 (1817) Advisory Group on Computer Graphics Workshop SGML in the UK Academic and Research Community Coseners House, Abingdon, Oxfordshire 5-7 March 1990 The Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) is a standard for the markup and exchange of documents. These documents may include graphics using the Computer Graphics Metafile standard or raster data. There is a need in the community by groups such as AGOCG to exchange documents in a standard way. SGML may provide the answer. This workshop will look at the merits of SGML compared with other possible formats and will make recommendations as to whether this is the right time to move to SGML in the community and will propose a strategy for this. Participants at the workshop will be expected to give a presentation on the workshop theme and to participate in the discussions. This workshop is being sponsored by the SERC and speakers whose papers are accepted for the workshop will have their subsistence expenses met. Applications together with abstracts of papers should be returned by 9th February. Full papers for the proceedings will be required by 23rd February. To obtain an application form please mail: ammumford@uk.ac.lut.multics giving your postal address Or contact: Anne Mumford, Computer Centre, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU. Tel 0509 222312. Fax 0509 267477 From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "My problematic UUNET/UUCP address" Date: Thu, 21 Dec 89 15:43:31 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1429 (1818) Dear Colleagues, Sorry that my UUNET/UUCP address has caused some headaches. Willard long ago switched to my BITNET address, but I think our local mail experts have found the cause of all the problems: UUCP (UNIX) mailers are case sensitive to the user's e-mail name, but NOT to the site (machine) name. I send out almost all my e-mail messages from this account. They are later switched over to BITNET via UUNET. The following addresses will work: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET unhd!PSC90!jdg@UUNET.UU.NET UNHD!PSC90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET etc. The following will NOT work: unhd!psc90!JDG@uunet.UU.NET and all other combinations where "JDG" appears. Some users have reported that "PSC" as well as "JDG" must be in lowercase letters for the addresses to me to be accepted at all points along the way. I recommend the following options: jdg%psc90.UUCP@uunet.uu.net unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET Perhaps Bob Kraft could specify the address that worked for him. Thanks to him for dogged investigative e-mail efforts! --Joel Goldfield From: "M. R. Sperberg-McQueen " <U15440@UICVM> Subject: The cost of the MLA bibliography Date: 21 December 1989 08:01:16 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 881 (1819) I'm getting a bit tired of people complaining that things cost money. Most recently A10PR1@NIU implied that the prices of MLA publications provided circumstantial evidence that the MLA was taking advantage of its members. In the past, products such as NotaBene have been held up as examples of over-pricing. What era do these people live in? You can't buy a cup of coffee for a nickel any more and the hourly wage is no longer 40 cents. A first class letter no longer costs 3 cents. I hate to break it to these folks, but paper costs money. Ink costs money. Mylar costs money. Office space costs money. Etc. (sic) The people at Nota Bene and at the MLA could work for free, I suppose. Why do some people assume that anything they can't easily afford is proof that the person offering the product is not only greedy but probably also dishonest? Why are some people so reluctant to pay for the cost of materials & overhead and to reimburse for time and to reward intellectual effort? --Marian Sperberg-McQueen University of Illinois at Chicago From: Subject: Project Gutenberg Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 882 (1820) "Imagine a library where you could find every occurrence of a given word without turning a single page. Where a thought in one book leads directly to a related thought in another. Where every book could be turned inside out, so its information appears in whatever order it's needed. Those are just a few of the advantages you would enjoy if you were to visit a Digital Library - something that's built into every NeXT Computer." This is part of NeXT's propaganda. With the NeXT computer you get Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesarus (which is linked to the dictionary), the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, and William Shakespear: The Complete Works all on one 256Mb read/write optical disk. There is also the digital edition of The Wall Street Journal for 1988 and they are working on 1989s. I have not been too impressed with the NeXT computer, maybe that is why I still have a Mac II on my desk (not to say the $9,995 price tag has anything to do with that dicision). We have two NeXTs here at EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) and eventhough they don't do much for me, I think you might want to check them out for your Project Gutenberg. I'm still waiting for the color NeXT. Evin D. Planto R&D System Analyst X2904, 6-142 From: Robert Kirsner Subject: etc. Date: Fri, 22 Dec 89 16:39:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1430 (1821) Bond kicked as hard as he could right at Zhnarkovsky's et cetera, and the Russian spy fell to the ground screaming. From: "Leslie Z. Morgan" <MORGAN@LOYVAX> Subject: RE: 3.878 use BinHex; write to Dummett (39) Date: Fri, 22 Dec 89 07:44:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1431 (1822) The title is deceptive. There was a discussion a little while ago about compositions written without a specific letter ("e", for example). I just stumbled across the term for them: lipograms, in case anyone is interested for future reference. (It's even in the OED.) (If you think this isn't worthwhile, don't hesitate to omit it; I enjoy knowing these things and had never seen the term before.) Season's greetings to all-- Leslie Morgan (MORGAN@loyvax) From: NMILLER@trincc Subject: ..and don't forget the draidlakh! Date: Thu, 21 Dec 89 10:09 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1432 (1823) It's Hanukkah, or Chanukkah, preferably the former, because English speakers cannot recognize the aspirated H, if that is what it is called, and will call it chah, like Charlie. Kessler here at ucla Kessler (at ucla) has declared that Chanukkah may be pronounced as in khah and not hah or tchah. As for Khanuka latkes: hooray! From: "Kevin L. Cope" <ENCOPE@LSUVM> Subject: Holiday Greetings Date: Fri, 22 Dec 89 14:55:36 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1433 (1824) - * - * * * * * i * * o * * i i o * * o i * * o * ***************** = = = Holiday Greetings from Kevin L. Cope, Baton Rouge, Louisiana! From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: more last things Date: 31 December 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 884 (1825) Trouble is, we have too many ends of the year. This makes being final rather confusing and less than graceful. Before the riot begins, however, let me wish you all the very best that life can bring in the new year. You'll get enough new decadeism through the public media, so I won't vex you with it here, but allow me to express my profound wish that we have seen the last of the 80s in every sense except those that have caused personal joy! My heartfelt thanks go to those who have sent me the kind words about my stewardship of Humanist. I cannot allow these statements to be published, however, and hope that I am forgiven for this last act of editorial censorship. It's not modesty that rules my heart in this matter, for modesty seldom gives me any problems. I am ruled by the desire not to let recognition for whatever I may have done obscure the fact of Humanist itself. I am not Humanist, all of you are together, and what you admire in it (as well as what you despise) has arisen from the common effort of building a community. This building must continue, you must see to it that what you admire is fostered, for the darkness and dangers with which we are compassed round are as real now as they were in Milton's day. Humanist has to be made strong, the source of its strength understood, and that understanding communicated, if we are to argue successfully for the resources we require. Not just for our pet projects, more for the community, and I mean the one to which Marsilio Ficino and John Milton belong. In an editorial review of the original meeting out of which Humanist came, Joe Raben wrote that computing humanists had a significant advantage over other, more traditional academics in that they could use electronic media to build a strong and coherent community very rapidly. Humanist has demonstrated, I think, just how right he was, back in 1987. Our community is still a tiny minority, however, and the electronic means we use to keep it together is familiar only to a few, and among them not everyone understands just how valuable and significant such things as Humanist really are. So, we are in a very weak position when we come to argue that resources should be put into creating and maintaining them. We can hardly even propose a model capable of explaining that Humanist is itself something and not a deviation from something else into which any right-minded editor would change it! So, there's thinking to be done -- and what better place to do it than here, on Humanist? So, before we all take the lid off and release the nether spirits, allow me as departing Grand Mother of Humanist to urge you to spend some of 1990 answering the question, "What is Humanist?", with other, better questions, each of which will make Blake's light of knowledge burn more brightly. Happy New Year! Yours, Willard McCarty From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Poetics Today Date: 1 January 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 885 (1826) [The following is from Itamar Even-Zohar, the founding editor. --W.M.] POETICS TODAY International Journal for Theory and Analysis of Literature and Communication Editors: Itamar Even-Zohar (Tel Aviv) and Benjamin Harshav (Yale) Poetics Today is the leading international journal in the theory and analysis of literature and culture. Beginning with volume 9(1988), it is published by Duke University Press in cooperation with the Porter Institute for Poetics and Semiotics, Tel Aviv University. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Snail Mail address for Porter Institute: Porter Institute for Poetics and Semiotics Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv 69978, Israel Bitnet: PORTER@TAUNIVM.BITNET Papers on diskette are welcome in Nota Bene or ASCII. If you send them via BITNET, better UUENCODE them if you use Nota Bene. Duke University Press can be accessed (for subscription inquiries) via following BITNET address: DBOOKS@TUCC.BITNET ----------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Poetics Today brings together scholars from around the world, whose research reflects a diversity of approaches and disciplines. Theory of literature, literary criticism and interpretation, literary and cultural history, semiotics of culture, linguistics, rhetoric and communications, cultural anthropology, cognitive studies, translation theory: all these fields, and more, overlap with the interests of Poetics Today. The common denominator of all this diversity is the ambition to understand literary and cultural texts both in their own right and in the context of other cultural systems; to develop advanced theories of literature, communication, and culture, and advanced methods of research; and to integrate the study of literature within the evolving larger field of the human sciences and ultimately that of the sciences at large. [2] "Poetics" means: both the theory and the description and analysis of literature. Not just the literary text as such, but also literature in its institutional, semiotic, historical and cultural context. And not just the literary text, but also cultural texts of all kinds, and beyond that the repertoires of a culture from which models of reality are constructed: culture as text, as system, as system of systems. In this sense, poetics overlaps with theory of literature, literary criticism and interpretation, literary and cultural history, semiotics of culture, linguistics, rhetoric and communications, cultural anthropology, cognitive studies, translation theory, and much else. Today: Today poetics is expanding its frontiers. No longer does it seem responsible or desirable to study literature, or even textuality in general, in a vacuum. Now more than ever poetics aspires to integrate itself within the evolving larger field of the human sciences and ultimately that of the sciences at large. Poetics Today: An international multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary journal, bringing together scholars from around the world, reflecting a diversity of approaches and fields. * * * The 1988 and 1989 volumes of Poetics Today will include four special guest-edited issues: Interpretation in Context in Science and Culture Editors: Peter Bieri and Benjamin Harshav Contributors include philosophers, intellectual historians, philosophers and historians of science, among them: Carl Hempel, Daniel Dennett, Peter Gay. The Rhetoric of Interpretation and the Interpretation of Rhetoric Editor: Paul Hernadi "The volume ... strongly suggests that the principles and operations of contemporary rhetoric and contemporary interpretation invite being studied in conjunction with each other and with the principles and operations characteristic of contemporary descriptions and critiques of ideology." Contributors include literary critics and theorists, intellectual historians, cultural critics, anthropologists, among them: Hayden White, Jonathan Culler, Terry Eagleton, Houston Baker, Richard Ohmann, Dominick LaCapra, Susan Handelman, Renato Rosaldo, Michael Holquist. Literature and Art A special double issue. Editor: Wendy Steiner "Perhaps the greatest advantage of the interart comparison ... is the very richness and wit of its juxtapositions. Though it cannot organize the arts into a structured, coherent system, nevertheless it delivers a copiousness to aesthetic speculation that has long been missed in the restrictive matrix of academic disciplines." Contributors include literary critics and historians, art historians, semioticians, among them: W.J.T. Mitchell, Stephen Nichols, Mary Ann Caws, Charles Altieri, Dick Higgins. The GRIP Project: Episodes in the History of Criticism and Theory Editors: David Shumway and Brian McHale "... literary studies constitutes its own object of investigation by limiting and construing the features a text is presumed to have. If this is the case, the history of criticism and theory becomes vitally important because it can tell us how and why the object has been constituted in the past and at present." Papers from the Group for Research into the Institutionalization and Professionalization of Literary Studies, with a history of the GRIP Project by David Shumway and a commentary by Jonathan Culler. Also: papers by Robert Alter, Douwe Fokkema, Thomas Pavel, Lubomir Dolezel, Benjamin Harshav; book reviews and review articles; New Books at a Glance. From: Jim O'Donnell (Penn, Classics) Subject: Bucharest library Date: 31 Dec 89 00:41:01 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1434 (1827) Others probably saw NBC footage on 30 December graphically showing extensive destruction of what was represented as the `State Library' or `National Library' in Bucharest. I had not seen/heard of this otherwise, but from the video it is clear that a major disaster has occurred: have there been any other reports? From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Kingfisher e-dictionary Date: Sun, 31 Dec 89 20:06:40 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1435 (1828) Has anyone had any experience with the Kingfisher electronic dictionary? Thanks, Michael "Happy New Year" From: hans@kean.ucs.mun.ca Subject: RE: 3.767 meeting; Greek, Hebrew in MS Word (115) Date: 01 Jan 90 19:18 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1436 (1829) I haven't seen anything on the HUMANIST about the foreign language capabilities of WORDPERFECT 5.1. But a first look is very impressive. The hard-coded character limitations of the previous versions are removed, and one can easily use the full Greek, Hebrew, Cyrilic, Japanese character sets with simple dot matrix printers (9-pin and 24-pin) and Lasers. I think this removes all need for second-hand programs and eases multi-lingual writing and research. Of course, you'll still need EGA/VGA/HERC+ cards to display the characters. What's your experience with WordPerfect 5.1? From: John Walter Hill <hill@uiucvmd> Subject: Machine-readable Bible (German) Date: Thu 7 Dec 89 13:32 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1437 (1830) I would be grateful to know about any machine-readable form of Martin Luther's German translation of the Bible, with or without a concordance utility. This would be very helpful to a former Ph.D. student of mine who wants to trace, more thoroughly than has been done hitherto, scriptural allusions in the texts set to music by J. S. Bach. I believe he uses an MS-DOS computer, but a down-loadable file from any source would be welcome. John Walter Hill School of Music University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Suggested Subjects for Discussion Date: Tue, 26 Dec 89 13:22:04 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 887 (1831) I would like to propose the following subjects for discussion: 1. The relationship between copyright royalties and price of media. i.e. If the price of producing a book is cut in half, what will happen to the price the copyright holder is paid? 2. What happens when public domain texts hit the electronic market? 3. What will happen happen when the combined price of media, etexts and distribution is such that anyone with a computer will easily afford a private library comparable to the Library of Congress? Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**) (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET) From: TREAT@PENNDRLS (Jay Treat, Religious Studies, Penn) Subject: Et cetera and discipline Date: Tuesday, 26 December 1989 0155-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 888 (1832) Alfred Korzybski (founder of General Semantics) suggested the use of "etc." precisely as a discipline. Essential to the General Semantic approach is the notion that all language is partial: "The map is not the territory." Korzybski reminds us that every abstraction contains an implicit "etc." and that it often helps us keep our bearings if we make this "etc." explicit. He suggested that writers indicate it by an additional comma (or period, as appropriate) in order to avoid constant repetition. Thus, Jane writes., and Dick paints,. would mean Jane writes etc., and Dick paints, etc. and reminds the reader that Jane's activities are not confined to writing and that Dick does more with his life than paint. The suggested convention never caught on outside General Semantics but would be just as useful as the recent suggestion to use partitives. Regards., Jay Treat, Religious Studies, &c., usw., ktl., vg',. From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.881 complaints about $$$ (39) Date: Sat, 23 Dec 89 10:39:01 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 889 (1833) re: the comments by Marian Sperberg-McQueen about MLA pricing, etc. When other products are being released at prices which make the MLA listings, OED, OTA, etc. seem ridiculously expensive, then comments regarding the price differential are very much in order, especially when profit making operations sell the least expensive products and non-profit operations sell some of the most expensive. Shakespeare On Disk is being sold for $300 for the complete works!! This is without copy protection of any kind, and the license allows for all members of a college to make legitimate copies, whether for study or for theatrical presentation. For a University such as the University of Illinois at Chicago, from whence Marian Sperberg-McQueen sent her note, this would require approximately one cent per person. If Shakespeare On Disk can produce these texts, KEYBOARDED BY HAND, proofread by Shakespearian experts, AND MAKE A PROFIT, then I must, however gently, suggest that the Oxford Text Archive, which charges $30 for the first file, and $5 thereafter till the disk is full, is not being equally concientious concerning its pricing, since prices there would total over $300 for the complete works even if they all could be placed on one disk. Not to mention that the OTA requires, in advance, a signed users' declaration which severely limits these files in terms of copying, and requires the users to obtain similar signed statements from all who use the files. Both Shakespeare on Disk and Riverside Shakespeare are available at $300 and are proofread on a continuing basis. The OTA declarations expressly deny any responsibilities for the accuracy of their texts as they consider themselves a repository rather than a producer. I have further information on the topic of proofreading and updating, if interest is shown. By the way, the Riverside Shakespeare, which is made available by the Electronic Text Corp (ETC) is available on the CD-ROM which is to be unveiled at Midwinter ALA, and which will cost $249 for approximately 300 megabytes of material, of which the Shakespeare will occupy about 5 megabytes. All the materials listed above are copyrighted, even though in some cases there is a liberal copying policy. This is not the case with the OED (excepting the letter U and portions of W which won't be in the public domain for several more years because they were finished so late). However, the OED on CD-ROM is priced at around $1,000, a bit more expensive than the Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia which includes an hour of audio, color maps, charts and graphs, "On-Line" dictionary, etc, for $895. The Compton's is about the same size of 9 million words as is the Grolier's, which was introduced in 1985 a bit ahead of its time. This reply is now approaching one typewritten page which is a self- imposed limit for my contributions so as not to jam the mailer. If more information is desired, it is available. mh From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.882 Project Gutenberg and the NeXT (37) Date: Sat, 23 Dec 89 10:15:36 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1438 (1834) Yes, we have several NeXT machines to use. We actually use one as a mainframe for up/down/loading files, mail, SIG info, etc. When the NeXT was first announced, we were quite interested, and got to work with some of the earliest versions, but our conversations w/ the people at NeXT were unproductive, to say the least. mh From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.882 Project Gutenberg and the NeXT (37) Date: Sat, 23 Dec 89 19:59:51 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1439 (1835) The color NeXT was just announced. It will have 32bit/pixel, which could yield a lot of colors and intensities. mh From: "Michael Sperberg-McQueen 312 996-2477 -2981" <U35395@UICVM> Subject: copyright Date: 2 January 1990 11:53:57 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1440 (1836) At the Modern Language Association convention in Washington last week, I had the opportunity of attending a session on copyright, fair use, and electronic texts, chaired by Helen Aguera of the Research Projects / Tools program of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Since Humanist has always been fond of arguments about copyright, I post the following report. Charlotte Givens of at the Library of Congress began by reviewing the basics of copyright law: its role as one of the three branches of intellectual property law, its protection of original expression without restraint of independent development, its application to music, drama, dance, art, motion pictures, sound recordings, and literary works (including computer programs and, under the rubric of "compilations", electronic data bases). Works created after 1977 are protected under U.S. law for the duration of the author's life, plus 50 years; in the case of works for hire, anonyma, and pseudonyma, the term is 75 years from publication or 100 years from creation. Copyright protects the right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies or phonorecords publicly, perform, and display the work, but the public may make fair use of copyright matter without permission. In determining whether a use is "fair use" the courts consider the purpose and character of the use, whether the work has been published, the amount and substantiality of the use (portion used), and the effect of use on the potential value of the copyright material. She also distributed circulars 1 (Copyright Basics) and 21 (Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians) of the Copyright Office. Richard A. Lanham of UCLA then spoke from his experience as an expert witness in copyright cases, with particular emphasis on the concept of "total concept and feel" introduced into the law in a greeting-card case and since become famous in the computing community thanks to the efforts of Apple to insist that Microsoft stole Xerox technology from Apple. (My interpretation -MSM.) The notion of "total concept and feel", Mr. Lanham argued, has become a loose cannon on the deck, allowing unregulated judicial indulgence in Romantic impressionism and providing judges, in effect, with a way to reach whatever decision they choose without adducing any evidence of specific similarities or differences between two works. Timothy King of John Wiley (and the head of the Committee on Electro-Copying of the Association of American Publishers) discussed the concept of "electro-copying" (basically, copying by electronic rather than photo-electric means) and gave nine sample instances: 1 scanning a copyrighted text with a scanner (I distinctly remember him saying "copyrighted text" -- I don't understand why it's not copying if the text is public domain. -MSM) 2 viewing the text on your PC monitor 3 printing the text on your PC printer 4 transferring the text to a file server or LAN 5 transferring the text to another site or location 6 posting the text to a bulletin board 7 displaying the text from a bulletin board 8 printing the text from a bulletin board 9 copying the text from one medium to another (e.g. disk to disk) These apply, say the AAP, even if only part of the document (e.g. its abstract) is copied. Mr. King described the results of unregulated electro-copying in terms that would be familiar to any reader of Ted Nelson (or of Humanist); ultimately, any scholar could develop a large personal database of relevant texts which could be scanned very fast for relevant passages or items. Unlike Nelson or most Humanists, however, Mr. King appeared to find such an unregulated state of affairs most undesirable. He called for system software and hardware to ensure that all of these activities would be subject to appropriate controls ensuring the integrity of the data, the firm attachment of attributions to the text and all its parts, and the payment of appropriate amounts to the copyright holders. The discussion period was too brief to ask why the AAP committee apparently believes that the English word "copy" includes the sense "look at" or to encourage them to read about Xanadu. Leroy F. Searle of the University of Washington quoted Coleridge as warning a young acquaintance "never pursue literature as a trade", which seemed apposite, and distinguished sharply between the rights of an author (to be distributed and attributed) and those of the publisher, without whom no writer's "trade" could exist at all. The point of transition between one state and another, he suggested, usually takes place about the time when people realize a transition is imminent and call their imaginations into play to predict the new state of affairs -- succeeding, for the most part, only in projecting all the salient characteristics of the old state of affairs into the new. Copyright, he suggested, might well not survive in the electronic age in any recognizable form, which might not be such a tragedy. Royalynn O'Connor of Oxford University Press first distinguished OUP from the Oxford Text Archive and described the liberal licensing terms typically given by Oxford Electronic Publishing. No tracking of copies, individual or site licenses, and different prices for commercial and educational uses. The true tangle, from OUP's viewpoint, is in subsidiary rights, but OUP has never yet, Ms. O'Connor said, denied a permission to anyone to use an Oxford text electronically. Some dickering over terms might well happen, but no flatout noes. Helen Aguera concluded the session by reminding the audience than NEH does not claim copyright on texts prepared with NEH funds (although they do reserve the right to reproduce the texts for governmental purposes without paying royalty). NEH is concerned, though, that some projects might end up working from manuscripts rather than printed editions, solely to avoid copyright complications (thus raising costs and causing scholarly problems), or else that NEH's funds might be further strained by the need to pay royalties for the use of printed editions. In the question period, I was able to put to the experts the hypothetical case discussed a while back on Humanist: assuming a the first volume(s) of the OED are out of copyright b the CD-ROM version has a new copyright covering the new material on the CD-ROM would it be legal to copy the CD-ROM version of the first volume(s) of the OED, if one deleted in the process any new material (e.g. tags) to which the new copyright might apply? Would it be legal, since the matter copied is in the public domain, or illegal, since one would be copying from a copyrighted object? The opinion of the experts was that as described the copying would be legal under copyright law (which seems to confirm Michael Hart's position on the subject), unless of course interim copies were made which did in fact contain new copyrighted material. Whether it would be legal under one's license from TriStar (the publisher of the OED CD-ROM) is another issue. It was not possible to get a clear opinion on whether reading copyrighted material from the CD-ROM into the CPU in order to examine it and copy or delete it would constitute an illegal copying. (The discussions of copyright and shrink-wrap agreements always seem to regard use of I/O devices to copy into the CPU as constituting a copying of the work.) -Michael Sperberg-McQueen University of Illinois at Chicago From: LIBSSD@EMUVM1 Subject: Michael Hart's 3rd question: Date: Tue, 02 Jan 90 13:06:39 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1441 (1837) 3. What will happen happen when the combined price of media, etexts and distribution is such that anyone with a computer will easily afford a private library comparable to the Library of Congress? To me, the main problem that such a scenario raises is not copyright (which will probably be worked out by market forces) but organizational. No individual has the resources to organize a private library comparable to LC or any other large research collection. I would argue that the organizational problem will limit the size of such personal collections for most people. Even if scholars acquire "meta-information" in the form of cataloging data with the electronic texts that they acquire, maintaining control, in the form of a consistent vocabulary over a long period of time, is a task that appears to be beyond the capability of any individual, unless applied to a relatively small collection of (for the sake of argument) somewhere between 10,000 and 100,000 items, which is several orders of magnitude smaller than the Library of Congress. * * * * * * Response by Michael S. Hart I would suggest that, at least in the case of those who collect and produce such vast quantities of etexts, that the advent of programs to assist in an enlightened use of them will quickly follow as in the case of an electronic dictionary and thesaurus for those who use word processors. Now that the same amount of money it originally took to buy an IBM with 10M hard drive will basically buy me a desktop mainframe with 8M of RAM and ??G of hard drive space, we must expect another leap in programming, which will be as much above what we see today as the 640K program space allowed in any any comparison to the previous 64K space and how that compared to 16K, etc. I, myself, am planning a 10G library to be available on CD-ROM, for several hundred dollars in the year 2000. It is quite possible that the program to search the library will cost as much as the library itself, as I expect the search software to occupy at least several megabytes and incorporate expert systems and artificial intelligence techniques. For instance (my personal) programs will know who my favorite authors are, and will search their books first, and they will continue to search in the background for other quotes, even after I have begun to use the first selections. They will also have a reservoir of information concerning the length of quotes I usually use, and another set of indicators for my tastes in related topics, so there will be an indication to me of quotes which involve other topics in which I have an interest. mh From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: Luther Bible (73) Date: Tue, 2 Jan 90 07:11:34 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1442 (1838) I believe the Deutsches Bibelinstitut has an electronic German text of Luther's Bible available for DM 80. I'm sorry I cannot locate the sheet of paper on which I had more details. --- John Walter Hill <hill@uiucvmd> wrote: I would be grateful to know about any machine-readable form of Martin Luther's German translation of the Bible, with or without a concordance utility.... --- end of quoted material --- From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Romanian libraries Date: Mon, 1 Jan 90 21:29:09 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1443 (1839) The university library lost 500,000 books and some manuscripts. The National library's 1.5 million volumes survived intact supposedly because they didn't have a building in which to keep them all and had them in storage all over town. From: The Man with the Plan <KEHANDLEY@AMHERST> Subject: WordPerfect 5.1 and non-English languages Date: Tue, 2 Jan 90 11:50 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 893 (1840) I have used WordPerfect 5.1 for over a month, and here is the dope on non-English characters: WordPerfect will now print every character in its character sets on every graphics printer it supports, that is, almost every non-daisywheel printer. Most of these look fantastic on a PostScript printer, but a few look really cheesy, notably the IJ and ij diagraphs, j circumflex, and the upper- and lower-case Engs. The character sets include many math/ science characters, Hebrew characters and vowels (but not in the same character grid), Greek characters with diacritics (except that a few are not there, like rho with some diacritical), "Full cyrillic character set for ancient and modern applications," "Hiragana--Japanese Kana," and "Katakana--Japanese Kana." If anyone has a question about a particular character or character set, I would be happy to answer it or send a Postscript file of the output (or any other format, if I can possibly get it to him intact). The problem with WordPerfect 5.1 involves displaying the characters as the document is edited. Most of these will not display on the screen. If you have an EGA or VGA (maybe Herc+) you can choose to display Greek characters, but only the unaccented ones. If you use diacriticals, the whole character appears as a small rectangle. When we called WordPerfect to find out about getting more characters to display, they seemed to be working on a utility to allow this, so they wouldn't say much about it. Therefore, as shipped, WordPerfect is not suitable for non-Roman character processing, unless you want Greek with no diacriticals. One might find it useful if he only used the Greek (or whatever alphabet) for a few words at a time. Using it beyond that is probably not impossible with some work and more knowledge than I have of EGA, etc. fonts, but it will involve much work. WordPerfect 6.0 will be graphics-based, so all of these problems should be resolved by that release, due in the second half of 1990, I believe. Again, if anyone has any questions for a user of WordPerfect 5.1, I'm available. Keith Handley User Services Associate Amherst College Academic Computer Center KEHANDLEY@AMHERST.BITNET From: STAIRS@vm.epas.utoronto.ca Subject: IPA Stack Date: Tue, 02 Jan 90 11:22:34 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 894 (1841) Greetings, We are developing something that people may be interested in. It is a Hypercard stack to teach introductory phonetics. Included are a number of exercises translating from English to phonetic and vice versa. Sound is included (i.e. click a button and the word to be transcribed is given). The cards use a number of different formats. We are currently testing it, and will be using it for a introductory phonetics course in the summer. I plan to add some sort of font editor/selector, since IPA is not the only choice. I will also provide an exercise generator, so the instructor can add new exercises. We will be adding some sort of counter to log the common errors students make. Potentially students could be given homework assignments using a modified version of this stack. If anyone is interested, please contact me for more information. Michael Stairs Site Coordinator Centre for Computing in the Humanities University of Toronto 416-978-6391 STAIRS@UTOREPAS From: "Bill Ball" <C476721@UMCVMB> Subject: computer analysis of argument Date: Wed, 03 Jan 90 16:07:45 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1444 (1842) I am beginning a dissertation project on methodologies to make use of empirical evidence in normative discourse. More specifically, I am working within the Liberal paradigm and the discipline of political science--with the ultimate aim of being able to say something useful about the moral questions raised in public policy decision-making. I am currently exploring the applied philosophy/political theory literature relevant to this project: Dewey, Baier, Taylor, Toulmin, and others. However I would like to begin developing some computer-based tools to assist me. In general I have in mind something very like an expert system for the analysis of argumentation. I have been tooling around with Turbo Prolog on the PC and a bit with HyperCard on the Mac. At this point I am extremely interested in finding out who else may be working on computer analysis of argumentation and what applications might be appropriate for my interests. I would greatly appreciate any leads and also any contacts with individuals interested in helping me focus my ideas (I have a draft prospectus which I can Bitnet). Bill Ball Bitnet: c476721@UMCVMB Dept. Political Science Internet: c476721@UMCVMB.MISSOURI.EDU U of Missouri-Columbia From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: the quantative study of literature Date: 3 January 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1445 (1843) Let me draw your attention to an article in Computers and the Humanities 23 (1989) by Willie van Peer (Utrecht), `Quantative Studies of Literature. A Critique and an Outlook', pp. 301-7. In this article, Professor van Peer argues that quantative literary analysis, though based on a kernel of truth, suffers from a fundamental deficit because it views a literary work as a collection of isolated objects rather than a context-bound process. It works well, he points out, at lower levels of linguistic organization (e.g., for grammar and lexis) but is by nature very poor for figurative and hence literary language. He holds that quantative methods should rather be applied to the reactions of real readers (i.e., with respect to reader-response theory) and, in general, be related to the issues of literary theory. He notes that these methods can in turn bring some rigour to theoretical studies. Comments -- after reading the article? Yours, Willard McCarty From: Psychology Newsletter list <PSYCH@TCSVM.BITNET> Subject: Computer-Mediated Education Date: Wed, 3 Jan 90 08:31:53 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1446 (1844) Computer-Mediated Communication in Education: An Electronic Conference edited and moderated by Professor Norman Coombs Rochester Institute of Technology sponsored by Comserve Interested individuals are invited to participate in an electronic conference addressing the uses of computer-mediated communication for educational purposes. The conference will explore how electronic mail and computer conferencing can be integrated into college education. Among the topics addressed will be: uses of electronic mail and computer conferencing to deliver information, conduct class discussions, handle questions and answers; the techniques and technologies that are currently being used and new ones that are envisioned; how these educational technologies influence course content, teaching style, student participation; and studies that have explored the success of these applications. The conference will be edited and moderated by Professor Norman Coombs of the Rochester Institute of Technology. Prof. Coombs has used electronic mail and computer conferencing to teach college courses for the last four years and conducts research in the educational applications of information technology. In 1989, Prof. Coombs won a Masters of Innovation Award from Zenith for his innovative use of computer conferencing in an educational program for deaf students. The conference is scheduled to begin January 15, 1990 and continue throughout the Spring semester. Individuals with experience in computer conferencing applications in education, individuals who are interested in exploring such applications, and graduate students are encouraged to participate. The conference is sponsored by Comserve (the online information and discussion service for the communication discipline) and will take place over the CommEd (Communication Education) Hotline. Those interested in participating in the conference must subscribe to the CommEd Hotline. To subscribe, send an interactive message to Comserve@Rpiecs with the following command: Subscribe CommEd First_Name Last_Name as in Subscribe CommEd Mary Smith or you may send this command (with no other punctuation or words) in an electronic mail message addressed to: Comserve@Rpiecs (Bitnet) or Comserve@Vm.Ecs.Rpi.Edu (Internet) For more information about Comserve, send an interactive message or electronic mail message to Comserve@Rpiecs containing the word "help" (without quotation marks). Further information about the conference will be sent to subscribers when the conference begins. However, if you have other questions about how to subscribe to the conference, send an electronic mail message to Comserve's editors at Support@Rpiecs, or write: Comserve Dept. of Lang., Lit., & Communication Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY 12180 From: PACS Forum <LIBPACS@UHUPVM1.BITNET> Subject: PACS Review (Vol. 1, No. 1) Date: Wed, 3 Jan 90 11:33:21 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1447 (1845) [The following extract is from the inaugural issue of the PACS Review, which will be found in its entirety on the file-server under the name `PACS REVIEW'. Those of you interested in electronic publishing will want to follow this interesting experiment. --W.M.] +--------------------------------------------------------------------- | The Public-Access Computer Systems Review | | Volume 1, Number 1 (1990) | | Editor-In-Chief: Charles W. Bailey, Jr. | University of Houston | | Associate Editor: Mike Ridley, McMaster University | | Editorial Board: Walt Crawford, Research Libraries Group | Nancy Evans, Carnegie-Mellon University | David R. McDonald, University of Michigan | R. Bruce Miller, University of California, | San Diego | Paul Evan Peters, New York Public Library | Peter Stone, University of Sussex | | | Published three times a year (January, May, and September) by | the University Libraries, University of Houston. Technical | support is provided by the Information Technology Division, | University of Houston. | | DEADLINE for the next issue is April 2, 1990. | | Editor's Address: Charles W. Bailey, Jr. | University Libraries | University of Houston | Houston, TX 77204-2091 | (713) 749-4241 | LIB3@UHUPVM1.BITNET +--------------------------------------------------------------------- Articles are stored as files at LISTSERV@UHUPVM1. To retrieve a file, send the e-mail message given after the article abstract to LISTSERV@UHUPVM1. The file will be sent to your account. + Page 2 + +--------------------------------------------------------------------- | Contents +--------------------------------------------------------------------- Editorial (page 4) Communications Text Management Software Sue Stigleman (pages 5-22) An overview of five kinds of text management software: text retrieval, text database managers, bibliography formatting, hypertext, and text analysis. Examines roles for libraries in helping patrons utilize this software. To retrieve this file: GET STIGLEMA PRV1N1 Computer-Assisted Instruction for Music Uniform Titles R. Michael Fling (pages 23-33) Describes Making the Most of the Music Library: Using Uniform Titles, a CAI program at the Indiana University Music Library. To retrieve this file: GET FLING PRV1N1 [material deleted from this spot] +--------------------------------------------------------------------- | Copyright (C) 1990 by the University Libraries, University of | Houston. All Rights Reserved. Copying is permitted for | noncommercial use by computerized bulletin board/conference | systems, individual scholars, and libraries. This message must | appear on copied material. All commercial use requires | permission. From: <STGEORGE@UNMB> Subject: Something for the Humanist List - I have more info if needed Date: Wed, 3 Jan 90 14:16:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1448 (1846) De Orilla a Orilla -- From Shore To Shore A multilingual, cross-cultural network for cooperative learning Dennis Sayers, ORILLAS Brown University 2-1102 Peabody Terrace Cambridge MA 02138 617/497-9524 What is ORILLAS and who is it for? ORILLAS is multilingual educational technology project concerned with language and culture. The project works to form partnerships among elementary and secondary teachers in bilingual education, foreign language, and ESL programs; adult educators working with refugees and immigrants; university professors teaching courses for international students; and other educators interested in cross-cultural learning. What are our goals? ORILLAS Sister Classes are long-distance, team-teaching partnerships between two or more teachers. The goal of ORILLAS is to increase students' language proficiency, academic achievement, self-esteem and interpersonal skills. This is accomplished through cooperative learning projects between the Sister Classes which center on language arts, social studies, math and science. What kinds of classroom activities take place? Sister Classes engage in two kinds of exchanges: (a) monthly Culture Packages, and b) jointly-executed Collaborative Projects. *Culture Packages* are envelopes filled with maps, photos, audio and videotapes, schoolwork, and local memorabilia which are sent on the same day every month. In *Collaborative Projects*, Sister Class teachers and their students plan and complete interdependent activities at each site. Collaborative Projects fall into four major categories. (1) *Shared Student Publications*, such as classroom journalism and student publishing. (2) *Comparative/Contrastive Investigations*, including dual community surveys, joint science investigations, and contrastive geography projects. (3) *Folklore Compendiums and Oral Histories*, such as collections of proverbs, children's rhymes and riddles, fables and folktales, and lullabies and songs. (4) *Experimental/Evolving Projects* in which ORILLAS teachers search for new organizing metaphors and related classroom activities that explore the learning potential of long-distance Sister Classes. How to participate in ORILLAS ORILLAS is housed on several networks, including (in order of increasing connect costs): BITNET (contact jnet%"sayersde@hugse1"); MCI-Mail (send email to username "dsayers" or "kristin brown"); and DELPHI/Boston & DELPHI/Argentina (email "dsayers" or "kbrown"). Send as complete a description as possible of your class and interests. From: Alan Kennedy <ak2w+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU> Subject: silence vs utility Date: Wed, 3 Jan 90 09:20:13 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 897 (1847) [The following thoughtful message I have plucked from the ENGLISH electronic seminar. It is in response to the long silence suffered (or enjoyed) by that group, and although Humanist does not share that problem, what Alan Kennedy says is worth republishing here. My apologies to Humanists who are also members of English. --W.M.] I've been a member of ENGLISH virtually since its inception. I once wrote a long piece about why people were not posting items to ENGLISH, but I thought better of it and didn't post it. I moved to the U.S. this last year and reestablished my connection with ENGLISH to see if anything is going on. It isn't. I think of it as potentially a useful place for me to post job ads and other such self advertisements. (By the way Carnegie Mellon is now offering an enriched Masters programme in literary theory and cultural theory, and in rhetorical theory and professional and creative writing--in addition to our two Ph.D programmes in Rhetoric and in Literary and Cultural Theory. We like to think we have one of the widest ranges of choices for students, and that we are still in the forefront of curricular initiatives. Tell your friends). The piece I didn't post said, roughly, that the bulletin board was reproducing in public the silence and isolation we all seem to crave so much. I thought it was a form of mental retentiveness; or a manifestation of a fear of post- structuralism in the form of atavistic self-possession. I thought part of the problem was that we are all so possessive of, and vain about our 'insights' that we didn't want to share them with anyone else (someone else we might have reason to mistrust?). What would happen in promotion cases etc if we all did our writing in the bb arena? What would happen if one of us happened to put out some small but brilliant off-the-cuff apercu, and then somebody somewhere else wrote a book on the subject before we had the time to claim the idea as our personal property. Professional fear I guess. But now I'm less sure. The silence in here, for three or four years now? makes me think that we just don't have anything to say to each other. And I'm more and more convinced that we don't have anything to say not because we're stupid, but because we don't know what we are supposed to be doing. I make this comment fresh from a session I organized at the recent MLA in which one of the focal speakers was Jerry Herron of Wayne State. He elaborated some of the ideas in his recent book 'Universities and the Myth of Cultural Decline': many of us feel a need to defend an idea(l) of culture that was dead when Arnold tried to revive it. We waste our time struggling with a manufactured fear so we won't have to face the real question: what kind of work are we supposed to be doing? What are we for, now? The answer I tried to propose was very general: the job of an English department is to address as wide a range as possible of the multiple 'uses of literacy' (thanks again Richard Hoggart). This means, in part, that English depts need some constructive accommodation between Rhetorical theory and the newer Literary and Cultural Theory. And that we need to address anew what it means to be, and produce, critical agents. Rhetoric is a body of theory about the production and uses of meanings. So too is literary and cultural theory. If the old avatar of departments of English produces so much silence, and if that silence really comes from a lack of sense of purpose, then there ought to be a wide-ranging discussion of the possible 'uses of literacy', even if only to suggest to the world that we not only don't buy into the Bloom/Hirsch proposals, but we also have some real alternative visions. One final note: one of the things about 'uses' is that some kind of community is needed to make 'use' possible. If we don't have any uses for ourselves it is hardly surprising that other folks wonder what we are supposed to be doing. One answer to some of the questions I posed above (what would happen if we wrote and posted messages to a bulletin board like this?) is that we might some possible definition of our utilities, and some related sense of community. Alan Kennedy Head, English Department Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 412-268-2850 ak2w+@andrew.cmu.edu From: ZAK@NIHCU Subject: Re: 3.893 multilingual WordPerfect 5.1 (55) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 90 08:29:06 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1449 (1848) Concerning Keith Handley's entry about WordPerfect and non-English languages-- Please let the rest of us know what operating system you're referring to when talking about computer applications. Since you didn't mention it, my guess is that you're talking about a DOS-based system. Not everyone uses IBM machines. From: Duane Harbin <DHARBIN@YALEVM> Subject: Re: 3.893 multilingual WordPerfect 5.1 (55) Date: Wed, 3 Jan 90 11:01:22 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1450 (1849) I think it should be pointed out that WordPerfect will still not support right-to-left word processing. So one must still input Hebrew backwards and format the line breaks oneself. Even if 6.0 is to be a graphics application, this limitation to truly multilingual word processing will not necessarily be overcome. Duane Harbin Systems & Planning Manager Yale University Divinity School Library 409 Prospect Street New Haven. CT 06511 USA (203) 432-5296 From: Itamar <B10@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.893 multilingual WordPerfect 5.1 (55) Date: Wed, 3 Jan 90 03:05:14 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1451 (1850) Sorry to sound like Cato (in reverse), but in view of the hairaising account of Keith Handley on WordPerfect, it is evident once more how far more superior Nota Bene is for NORMAL, EASY and FAULTLESS multilingual writing, as I believe it is in any other aspect as well. Indeed, after a long article about the popularity of WP in the US, PC-Magazine's Mendelson states that if you look for a non-graphical word processor, you will find Nota Bene far superior to both WP and Word. As Willard once wrote, the selection of word processors has become such a personal matter that it would be foolish to get invloved in converting people. But since so many reports about the inadequacies of Word Perfect have appered on HUMANIST in recent months that I allow myself to humbly suggest that perhaps SOME people (please don't get offended, all of you who do not fall into this category) have selected WordPerfect becuase they DID NOT KNOW of a better alternative for THEM. In short, why not test several programs before you choose the one you prefer? And if you need Hebrew, Greek (with accents), Russian, Slavonic, Czech and French with German, possibly all in one document, and wish to write all of these with the same ease you write your English texts, without being reduced to a typewriter-like word processor, I believe there is only one choice. Itamar Even-Zohar. From: Steve Cisler <sac@apple.com> Subject: Re: Suggested Subjects for Discussion Date: Wed, 3 Jan 90 08:29:34 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 899 (1851) [Republished from PACS-L with thanks. --W.M.] Michael Harts asks: What happens when public domain texts hit the electronic market? In a statement prepared for the Sept. 15, 1989 Congressional hearing on Computer Technology and the New Age of Information, the Association of American Publishers states: "Use of public domain materials only could create an expectation in the user community that any information in the system could be used freely without regard to copyright. This expectation would be hard to reverse when the system progresses to the inclusion of copyrighted materials." The rest of the statement includes a number of other concerns, though that word is too mild for the tone. Steve Cisler Apple Library sac@apple.com 408-974-3258 From: F5400000@LAUVAX01 Subject: Computer instruction for humanists Date: Wed, 3 Jan 90 21:16:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1452 (1852) I am hoping to put on a session about the use of computers in the humanities for colleagues who have not gone beyond word processing but who would like to know the possibilities available. The following is a list of topics I would like to touch on; I would be grateful if my colleagues could point out gaps in what I propose. 1. Word processing. Alternatives to Word Perfect, useful additional programs (Lettrix, Grab, Catdisk, Gofer). 2. Personal Information Managers; Memory Mate, Tornado, 3 by 5. 3. Text databases and searching programs; Asksam, Ize, TACT. 4. Texts in machine readable form. A. Archival: Oxford Text Archive, TLG, other publications, including some of the Coch/Cosh T-Crunchers. B. On Line: ARTFL, DanteProject, Perseus Project. 5. Computer Aided Instruction; review of programs for English style and grammar; language teaching programs. 6. On line discussion groups beginning of course with Humanist. John Sandys-Wunsch. F5400000@LAUVAXO1.LAURENTIAN.CA From: D.Mealand@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: CAI in study of Religions Date: 04 Jan 90 12:13:28 gmt X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1453 (1853) The use of computer assisted instruction in languages such as Hebrew and Greek has undergone some development. I would be grateful for brief notes from others on any applications of computer assisted learning in the field of theology and religion. Please send these to me as D.Mealand@uk.ac.edinburgh unless you think the items are of interest to all the readers of this bb. The most interesting projects I know of at present are the cd-word project in Texas and the Perseus project for Greek civilisation. But I am sure there are a lot more projects starting up or in the early stages of development and probably using hyper card or similar systems. David M. From: John McRae <JRM@CORNELLA> Subject: Sanskrit diacritics Date: Thu, 04 Jan 90 12:47:09 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1454 (1854) I have a friend who uses Microsoft Word 5.0 on a IBM PS/2 Model 30 286 (E21) and IBM Proprinter X24E. He wonders how to get better-looking Sanskrit diacritics than is available through the international character set. Any suggestions? Come to think of it, I use Nota Bene 3.0 -- without the Special Language Supplement -- and an Epson LQ1000 and could use better printout of diacritically marked characters myself. Any suggestions out there? From: "Kevin L. Cope " <ENCOPE@LSUVM> Subject: Decline of ENGLISH and Academic Prejudices Date: Wed, 03 Jan 90 21:34:38 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1455 (1855) In a recent grammo to HUMANIST, Mr. Alan Kennedy laments the decline of our colleague list, ENGLISH. Although most of what he says merits praise, the coda to the contribution demands blame. Mr. Kennedy declares that what we ought to do is show that we don't buy into the "Bloom/Hirsch" attitude toward humanities education. The first part of his essay seems to call for a discussion of ideas, but his conclusion seems to close it off, suggesting that certain views are to be excluded from discussion, that electronic lists are little more than new vehicles for the leftward-leaning politicos of the academy. There are many scholars in the academy who think that the current wave of canon destruction is self-serving nonsese; an essay broadcast today on National Public Radio (in the United States) criticizes the power-brokering, priestcraft, and elitism of the self-styled de-marginalizers. Yet Mr. Kennedy assumes that everyone in the academic world is stuck in the 1960s, still rebelling against authority and attacking the establishment. Why don't people contribute to lists like ENGLISH? Probably because they sense that these lists aren't for discussion, but for the preservation of the ideological status-quo. Mr. Kennedy should learn to respect marginalized writers, like Bloom and Hirsch, if he wants to affirm the value of a liberal education. From: MHEIM@CALSTATE Subject: Kennedy's note on "silence" Date: Thu, 04 Jan 90 11:50:28 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1456 (1856) I would like to comment briefly on Alan Kennedy's January 3rd remarks on "silence vs utility," posted originally on the ENGLISH electronic seminar. Kennedy raises some probing questions for academic humanists. Doesn't the silence of an electronic bulletin board differ fundamentally from the silence of other media? Electronics is built for the flow of information, for the continuous bleep of messages. When the boards are silent, should we conclude that thinking is not happening, that communication is cut off by vanity or possessiveness? Some media contain silence within them, like calligraphy or sumi painting. Electronic silence is immediately noticable "dead time." Electronic communication does not contain silence within it, as do books. Books contain long pauses in their gestation, production, and in the process of their assimilation. The overall tempo of books is one of quiet musing, best done in private. The tempo of books is not the instant exchange of information through devices processing in nanoseconds. Books are essentially tools for contemplation. A book may take a year or two to reach its public. People raised on books, bookpeople, have not yet assimilated the computer. Harnessing computers for word processing is like treating the automobile as a "horseless carriage." Underneath lies a revolutionary way of treating texts, an electronic equivalent of the shift from oral to written language. We should not be surprised then if humanists have not yet absorbed the new symbolic element. The utility Kennedy seeks in electronic humanism is surely more than a tool for sharing advice about which hardware or software to use. The community he wants to address is a descendant of the great tradition of liberal learning. For centuries, the gathering center of that tradition has been the hand-written or printed book. For a millennium now, humanistic thinking has taken place primarily through books. The book has served as an object of worship, of analysis, and as a guide for oral discourse. Might not the silence of electronics comes from the received nature of humanistic thinking? We have not yet found ways of bringing humanistic thinking--with its thoughtful silences--into the electronic element. Silence may come from vanity or from possessiveness. But it may also come from a pause before the gap of a revolution in history, an awareness that we stand in a period of transition. Humanistic thought will need patient experiments if it is to survive in this new element. Success can only come over the long haul. Mike Heim From: "John J Hughes" <XB.J24@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: Date: Fri, 5 Jan 90 19:59:36 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 902 (1857) SUBJECT: WordPerfect 5.0/5.1 + Greek & Hebrew Dear Humanists, In response to the recent spate of comments on WordPerfect 5.x and multilingual word processing, I would like to draw your attention to a new $79.95 add-on product that allows WordPerfect 5.0 users to enter, display, edit, search, and print properly accented Greek and properly pointed Hebrew. The product is called ScriptureFonts, and it is available from Zondervan Electronic Publishing (ZEP) 1415 Lake Drive, SE Grand Rapids, MI 49506 (800) 727-7759 (orders only) (616) 698-3222 (information; techni06 support) (616) 698-3501 (information; technical support) xDScriptureFonts was released in mid-November at the AAR/SBL meeting in Anaheim. ScriptureFonts, was written by Jeffrey William Gillette in assembler and is fully compatible with WordPerfect 5.0. Jeff is the author of the Duke Language Toolkit and of MicroCALIS. ScriptureFonts is now being made compatible with WordPerfect 5.1. Jeff is writing an additional set of printer drivers to take full advantage of the additional features in WordPerfect 5.1. ScriptureFonts requires: { 1. DOS 2.1 or later 2. WordPerfect 5.0 (dated January 1, 1989, or more recently) 3. IBM PC/XT/AT/PS/2 or compatible 4. 512K RAM 5. 425K free disk space 6. EGA, VGA, Hercules Graphics Card Plus, Hercules InColor Card (CGA and monochrome monitors are not supported) 7. Epson LQ-1000, Epson LQ-1500, Toshiba P321SL, Toshiba P341SL, IBM Proprinter (24-pin), Hewlett-Packard LaserJet +/II (ZEP is in the process of developing printer drivers for the following printers: (a) 9-pin IBM Proprinter, (b) Hewlett-Packard DeskJet, (c) Hewlett-Packard DeskJet+, (d) Hewlett-Packard IIP, (e) Hewlett-Packard IID, (f) Epson FX-80, (g) Epson LQ-800, (h) Epson LQ-510T, (i) Epson LQ-850, (j) Epson LQ-1050, (k) Epson LQ-2550, (l) Epson FX-850, (m) Epson FX-1050, (n) Toshiba P351SX, (o) Panasonic 1124, (p) Panasonic 1180, (q) Panasonic 1524, (r) Panasonic 1624. Drivers also may be written for printers manufactured by NEC, Okidata, Brother, Citizen, and Star.) ScriptureFonts allows users to toggle among English, Greek, and Hebrew keyboards and to display Greek and Hebrew keyboard layouts on-screen in information windows. GREEK: ScriptureFonts allows users to enter properly accented Greek. Greek characters, with and without diacriticals, appear as proper Greek on-screen. All diacritical marks are entered by using intuitive CTRL+letter combinations, e.g., CTRL+A = acute, CTRL+R = rough breathing. No back spacing is required to enter diacriticals. Diacriticals may be entered in any order. Rare characters such as sampi, koppa, digamma, and stigma are included in the available character set. Thus ScriptureFonts offers full support for Hellenistic Greek. HEBREW: ScriptureFonts allows users to enter Hebrew consonants and vowels as proper Hebrew characters. Consonants appear ok on-screen. After entering a vowel, ScriptureFonts automatically creates a WordPerfect overstruck character pair, so that the consonant-vowel combination prints correctly. Vowels may be displayed by using WordPerfect's Reveal Codes command or by using its Print Preview command. Vocalized Hebrew prints properly. The inability to display vowels in their proper positions on-screen is a function of (1) the number of available character slots on VGA and EGA cards, (2) the fact that WordPerfect does not display both components of an overstruck character pair (try this in English, and you will see what I mean), and (3) the fact that WordPerfect can only display characters included in its own character set. The WordPerfect Hebrew character set (set #9) is a modern Hebrew character set. Thus it does not include vocalized/compound Hebrew characters. Hebrew may be entered in two different ways: push-right and lead-left. In the push-right mode, Hebrew is entered left-to- right. The cursor remains stationary and Hebrew letters are "pushed" to the right. In the lead-left mode, the cursor begins flush at the right margin and leads right-to-left, as on a Hebrew word processor. In the lead-left mode, Hebrew wraps correctly, as on a Hebrew word processor. ScriptureFonts includes the following useful pop-up help windows: (1) Hebrew keyboard layout, (2) Greek keyboard layout, (3) Command Summary, and (4) mini online manual. Here is a listing of some of ScriptureFonts' other features: (1) There are no codes to learn. You enter Greek as Greek and Hebrew as Hebrew. (2) You can mix Hebrew, Greek, and English words on the same line and in the same sentence and paragraph. (3) Entering Hebrew and Greek is simplified by allowing users to toggle among English, Greek, and Hebrew keyboards. The key assignments on the Greek and Hebrew keyboards are logical and easy to remember. (4) All accents, breathing, and other diacritical marks are entered with single, intuitive, easy-to-remember keystroke combinations. (5) The utility program (SFCONVRT.EXE) can translate Greek texts in the Zondervan NIVpc format and in the Packard-TLG-Beta format, and Hebrew texts in the Michigan-Claremont-Westminster format into WordPerfect 5.0-compatible files. These files can be displayed within WordPerfect 5.0 as proper Hebrew and Greek characters, including vowels, accents, and other diacritical marks, and they may be printed as proper Greek and Hebrew characters on printers supported by ScriptureFonts I will be glad to send any HUMANIST a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet+ print out of a sample document that displays Greek, Hebrew, and English, as well as a print out of a screen dump that shows how the text of the printed document looks on-screen before it is printed. I also have flyers that I will be glad to send interested parties. John John J. Hughes Product Manager Zondervan Electronic Publishing From: Tom Tomlinson <19910TOM@MSU> Subject: Re: 3.895 analysis of argument? basic quantative flaw? (69) Date: Fri, 5 Jan 90 15:56:37 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1457 (1858) I suggest reviewing issues of The Computers and Philosophy Newsletter, ed by Leslie Burkholder, Center for Design of Educational Computing, C Carnegie-Mellon U, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890. You can E-mail him at lb0q@andrew.cmu.edu. From: Leslie Burkholder <lb0q+@andrew.cmu.edu> Subject: computer analysis of argument Date: Fri, 5 Jan 90 17:16:09 -0500 (EST) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1458 (1859) Bill Ball asks whether anyone is working on computer analysis of (natural language) argument (Humanist vol 3 no 985). Here are some references: Margot Flowers and Michael Dyer, "Really arguing with your computer in natural language", AFIPS Conference Proceedings 1984 National Computer Conference (Reston VA: AFIPS Press). Robin Cohen, "Analyzing the structure of argumentative discourse", Computational Linguistics, vol 13 (Jan-Jun 1987). Wing-Kwong C Wong, "A theory of argument coherence" (AI Lab, University of Texas at Austin, Jul 1986). Trudy Govier, "Against the mechanization of reason", Computers & Philosophy, vol 4 (Dec 1989). Leslie Burkholder From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Freebies Date: Friday, 5 January 1990 1142-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 904 (1860) Marian Sperberg-McQueen asks, rather testily, why humanists have this propensity to always expect "freebies" from other humanists (etc.) rather than being willing to pay fair costs. I don't deny that she has a point, and that her observations probably represent correctly the directions that humanistic scholarship at large have been moving and will continue to move in the forseeable future. But from the perspective of this "old guard" scholar (I just became a grandfather for the first time! and I have academic grandchildren as well!), it should be noted that the feeling that what we have freely invested in scholarship over the years should entitle us to some equally free returns is difficult to overcome. The question of scholarly responsibility to "the field" and the corresponding responsibility of "the field" to the individual scholar has, I think, been affected by the gradual (sometimes not so gradual) changes in the attitudes towards finances and related matters since the 1960s (e.g. "responsibility center budgeting," pay-scale equalization efforts, availability of grants and pressure to get them, allocation of overhead recovery costs, creation of paid executive positions in scholarly societies, etc.). We still are expected, frequently, to give freely of our time and talents (e.g. evaluating manuscripts for scholarly journals, grant proposals for NEH, editing, publishing scholarly articles and monographs, etc.). But it is less obvious these days whether there is an appropriate return in kind from the presumed "support structures" (institutional, professional, collegial). Without condemning this perceived disparity, I would like to see it discussed and defined more clearly, to help each of us (young and old alike) to understand where we came from and where we might be heading as "humanists." Bob Kraft From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.901 the silence of English (96) Date: Fri, 5 Jan 90 09:03:57 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 905 (1861) The comments quoted, in response to a thoughtful piece on the inactivity of the English distribution list, are among the most intemperate, unwarranted and intolerant I have seen for a long time. Apologies due to the original poster. --- In Humanist 3.901 was written: ...the coda to [a recent Humanist] contribution demands blame....suggesting that certain views are to be excluded from discussion, that electronic lists are little more than new vehicles for the leftward-leaning politicos of the academy. [The views attributed to the author are]...self-serving nonsese ...power-brokering, priestcraft, and elitism of the self-styled de-marginalizers....[The author] assumes that everyone in the academic world is stuck in the 1960s, still rebelling against authority and attacking the establishment....[which is] the preservation of the ideological status-quo....[The target of these remarks (and, presumably, the rest of Humanist] should learn to respect marginalized writers, like Bloom and Hirsch, if he wants to affirm the value of a liberal education. --- end of quoted material --- Best-selling authors Bloom and Hirsch, despite wide adulation and featured stories in the media for 'the most important book of the year,' etc., etc. and despite their staunch support of traditional and explicitly elitist education are "marginal"? Whatever can the word mean? From: Wujastyk <UCGADKW@EUCLID.UCL.AC.UK> Subject: Sanskrit diacritics Date: Fri, 5 Jan 90 09:21 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 906 (1862) John McRae asks about Sanskrit diacritics on an IBM PS/2, with Word 5.0 and a 24 pin Proprinter. I have solutions for 90% of this situation, and am happy to share. My solution is pretty simple: I have two bitmaps, one for and EGA screen, and one for a 24 pin matrix printer, each of which has the necessary diacritics for Sanskrit (but not double accents for Vedic). I have avoided changing the French and German characters in the screen fonts, so you can intermix these languages too. But something had to go to the block, and I sacrificed the Greek/math characters. The first version of my stuff was done with the Duke University Language Toolkit, and I strongly advise you to get a copy of this. Send a couple of diskettes to them and tell them what hardware you have. Later, I came across a nicer screen font editor than FED, called E!FONT, and I now use that if I want to adjust the screen font; I also uke the E!FONT loader to load my screen font (SAN.VGA) into the VGA card, although the Duke loader (LOADFONT) is quite okay too. Duke's FED is a good tool for the printer font, though. My printer font was designed for the Toshiba P321SL, but I don't suppose that makes any difference at all. What you will need, though, is a program from Duke to convert the 24 pin font from the output of FED into the input for your Proprinter. I can supply a MS Word 5.0 .PRD file that supports my Toshiba, and you can probably print it out (after ascii-fication) and use it as a basis for modifying your Proprinter .PRD file. I use the same screen font with XyWrite, and I can let you have my keyboard file for that, if you like. I understand that XyWrite control files are obey all the same rules as NotaBene. I don't have a .PRN file for the printer font, for XyWrite, since I use XyWrite on a machine with an HP LaserJet ser. II. But I have a printer file for the HP LJ, of course, which translates the diacritic characters into superscripted hyphens, under dots, and so on. The results are not quite as tidy as having a proper downloadable font for the HP, but they are fine for letter writing and other non-published material. I must do a downloadable HP font someday; it's not hard. Let me know if you would like any of this stuff, and if so, whether you can deal with xxencoded ZIP files. Or send a disk. Dominik ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dominik Wujastyk, | Janet: wujastyk@uk.ac.ucl.euclid Wellcome Institute for | Bitnet/Earn/Ean/Uucp: wujastyk@euclid.ucl.ac.uk the History of Medicine, | Internet/Arpa/Csnet: dow@wjh12.harvard.edu 183 Euston Road, | or: wujastyk%euclid@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk London NW1 2BP, England. | Phone: London 387-4477 ext.3013 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Note that as of May 1989 the Janet-Internet gateway address has changed from "nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk" to "nsfnet-relay.ac.uk"] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: <JBOWYER@UNOMA1> Subject: Software Announcement Date: Thu, 4 Jan 90 21:33 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 907 (1863) White Mountain Software, Inc. recently announced the release of TALLY version 1.01. This program, written by a 1989 Zenith Masters of Innovation winner, is a tool for the analysis of text. With TALLY, a researcher interactively marks segments in a text, then assigns numeric codes to the segments. TALLY, in turn, produces reports based on this encoding. Cost: $19.95 (includes shipping and handling). For additional information, please contact me at JBOWYER@UNOMA1. Jeffrey W. Bowyer University of Nebraska at Omaha From: ENCOPE@LSUVM Subject: Why are Bloom and Hirsch marginalized? Date: Fri, 05 Jan 90 22:05:35 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1459 (1864) A Mr. Bantz asks why I would claim that best-selling authors like Bloom and Hirsch are, to use the current academic cant, "marginalized." As my posting to HUMANIST makes clear, I was railing at, and continue to rail at, the political prejudices of academics. Can anyone seriously pretend that either Bloom or Hirsch have many supporters in the academy? Or can anyone doubt that a reply like that of Mr. Bantz's is the best evidence for my point, to wit, that academics are intolerant of persons with conservative views and that a good many scholars hold the views of the majority, the audience of Bloom and Hirsch, in contempt? If Mr. Bantz would like to see an example of intemperance, he should look at his own posting, which assumes that the opinions of those many persons who adulate Bloom and Hirsch must be wrong! Small wonder that a list like ENGLISH can attract only a small readership if it features condescension. Perhaps ENGLISH should be marginalized. From: <ASNIDEPD@UIAMVS> Subject: Cope Contra Kennedy Date: Sat, 06 Jan 90 01:16 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1460 (1865) Maybe we should attribute it to the paranoid style in American politics. But I was surprised to see best-selling academic authors Allan Bloom and E. D. Hirsch (now add Robert Bork and John Silber) described as "marginalized," part of a beleaguered minority. As for electronic lists forming the exclusive property of "leftward-leaning politicos of the academy," I shudder to think it so. Is no one resolute enough to rescue Humanist and Western civilization itself from this betrayal, and reinstate the canon forthwith? Cordially, Alvin Snider Univ. of Iowa From: Jim Cahalan <JMCAHAL@IUP.BITNET> Subject: VIVA ENGLISH Date: 06 Jan 90 20:24:52 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1461 (1866) Thanks, Alan Kennedy, for stirring up a ruckus on ENGLISH! I'm sending this message to ENGLISH as well as to HUMANIST and MBU (where the reverberations of the conversation›s| that Alan began have also been heard). As much as I am thankful to Willard McCarty, whose HUMANIST was the first newsgroup I joined (and which became my window to other newsgroups), I must surely disagree with his opinion that there "is nothing less interesting than professional chatter about the profession." Au contraire, Will: there's little that many of us find MORE interesting, if we are honest with ourselves! Many of us are interested in new computer developments but in fact find nothing less interesting than the latest posting on the finest points of how to get neoSanskit texts online in computer databases in order to word- count the concordance ›get the idea?|: Ho hum, ye humanistic computer nerds! Just kidding--but how many of us enrolled in a few newsgroups will admit, if we're honest, that we've perfected the fine art of knowing which postings to delete without reading? The latest "chatter" on ENGLISH and provoked by ENGLISH is in fact the most interesting going on at the moment. ENGLISH may have been previously silent, but the opposite approach of MBU-- "blurting"--has its real pitfalls too. How many delete there without reading? Are constant notes to pals, and composition- studies self-congratulations, preferable? As long as I'm completing my grumbling, let me disagree most with Kevin Cope's recent posting on HUMANIST in which he tells Alan Kennedy that he should "respect marginalized writers like Bloom and Hirsch." How can we call anybody with their book sales "marginalized"? C'mon Kevin, really. Those upset by the strong influence of the reactionary Bloom and the simplistic Hirsch on NEH and policy- makers in Washington are not "stuck in the 1960s" as Kevin claims, but rather worried about the 1990s. And they include people like me--to reply now to Tom Adamowski on ENGLISH (just to give equal time, disagreeing with at least one thing on each of the three newsgroups!)--who teach at universities in little mountain towns "in the heart of Pennsylvania hunting country." (My school doesn't officially close on the opening day of "buck season," Tom, but half the students don't show up.) Your implication that faculty at schools such as mine do not share the opposition to Bloom and Hirsch commonly found at the "elite institutions" does itself sound a tad elitist and condescending. Careful. Having said all that, let me express my hope that ENGLISH keeps up such professional chatter. Some of us find our strongest professional identity in English departments, despite or even because of the many ideological and specialized divides that plague us: leftist poststructuralists versus staid traditionalists, literature and criticism versus rhetoric and composition, and the whole bloomin' circus. One of the high points of MLA for me was Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar's delightful satire modelled on and deliberated titled after "Masterpiece Theater." I hope they publish it somewhere. In episodic form, it was a marvellous sendup of the entire spectrum of current cultural wars from Bennett to Scholes, from Irvine to Duke to "Boondock U." Amidst our wars, we need more comic relief of the kind they provided (to a guffawing audience and a standing O at the end). Well, with my break over, I'll go back to "lurking" on these various newsgroups (I do most of my writing in Irish on GAELIC-L!). Bless ye all, ye mad ENGLISH folk! Jim Cahalan, Graduate Literature <JMCAHAL@IUP.BITNET> English Dept., 111 Leonard, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA 15705-1094 Phone: (412) 357-2264 From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.901 the silence of English (96) Date: Sat, 6 Jan 90 01:22:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1462 (1867) I should think that e-mail is more like mail, and less like books or writing. I have written many letters in my lifetime, many thousands, and since the decline of letter writing I find that many friends urge me to publish my letters over the decades, although I have few enough replies over the decades. Is that the silence of dialogues without dialogue? I rather like e-mail since it saves going to the postoffice and quickens conversation, when there is such, with distant friends. What humanism has to do with it, I cannot guess. These days, I mean. Maimonides wrote a lot of letters, but he had no telephone nor e-mail either. So did Erasmus. No support groups for him. I mean no tax support for his email either. E mail is nicely informal not essayistinc, nor even like letter writing , since it is much shorter and less portentous. Let us treat it as nice convenience. Take Mike Heim for instance. A colleague of mine, he is. How many conversations has it been possible to have with him over 20 years? He dont talk much, not to me. He dont eat no lunches wit faculty; he busy with his translation work. Surprised he is even on screen like dis here. What with Prague so lively these days, I am surprised he has time to look at the screen! Best wishes for 1990 . Kessler at UCLA From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: Machine readable texts Date: Mon, 08 Jan 90 12:18:42 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1463 (1868) In response to several questions, including the specific listed above, I would like to reiterate an example of the uses of etexts in classes. A student can now do the research for the following paper, which would hardly have even been attempted without etexts, and can do it in short minutes rather than long months, leaving much more time free-hopefully for increased thought about the actual creation of the treatise. "A COMPARISON OF DEATH AND MARRIAGE AS SEEN IN SHAKESPEARE'S ROMEO AND JULIET, MACBETH, OTHELLO AND HAMLET" Some messages arrive questioning the existence of a program with which to find these references. At most of my demonstrations, I bring these old 4.77 Mhz machines with one floppy to show how easily this is done. For demonstration purposes, I do not even use indexed files, rather an old collection of ASCII texts prepared when Project Gutenberg was in a younger phase. Even so, it takes only a fraction of a second to find, read, and jump to the next reference. Of course, with inverted index, and other tools available, this speed can be obtained with ever larger files and databases. For my demonstrations, I use the straightforward LIST program by Vernon D. Buerg, which allows me to work with 32 plays at the same time, and is a $20 shareware program which I highly praise and recommend. Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**) (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET) From: "John J Hughes" <XB.J24@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: Date: Sat, 6 Jan 90 18:16:16 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 910 (1869) SUBJECT: Printing Hellenistic Greek on IBMs Dear HUMANISTS, Some time ago I put out a plea requesting information about PostScript Greek fonts that could be used on an IBM platform with the word processor Sprint (from Borland). Several HUMANISTs quickly pointed out that (1) PostScript is PostScript and that (2) PostScript font files are pure ASCII files. Thus any PostScript font should be able to be moved from a Mac platform to an IBM platform, and vice versa. To the best of my knowledge, there are only two commercially available PostScript Greek fonts: (1) the LaserGreek font set from Linguists' Software and (2) SMK Greek Keys from Scholars Press, both of which were developed for the Mac. I bought a copy of LaserGreek for $99 and succeeded in moving it from the Mac to my Compaq and in getting it to work with Sprint. I am now able to print properly accented Greek, complete with all diacriticals, in any almost size I choose (since Sprint has an easy-to-use font scaling command), including 4- to 6-inch tall Greek letters (just for fun). I have fully documented the procedure for moving the PostScript font LaserGreek from a Mac to an IBM and in getting the font to work with Sprint. I will be glad to send a copy of this 15-page document to any HUMANIST. To defray the cost of my time and of printing and mailing the material, I'm charging $5 for this information. I hope this isn't too commercial for HUMANISTs! If you would like the 15-page document and copies of the ASCII character-translation file and character-width table to use with Sprint, the price is $10. All materials will be sent via air mail. If you would like the character-translation and character-width files, please be sure to specify your disk preference: (1) 5.25-inch, 360K (2) 5.25-inch, 1.2MB (3) 3.5-inch, 720K You may contact me at any of the following addresses: BITNET: XB.J24@Stanford Phone: (406) 862-7280 FAX: (406) 862-1124 Post: Bits & Bytes Computer Resources 623 Iowa Ave. Whitefish, MT 59937 U.S.A. Please do not send any money. I will send invoices. I am now working on moving the Linguists' Software PostScript Hebrew font from my Mac to my Compaq and then configuring the font to work with Sprint. I'll report later on HUMANIST about this. I would like to thank Dr. Paul Bradley (Bradley@VM.UTCS.UToronto.CA) for his helpful suggestions about moving PostScript fonts from macs to IBMs. Thanks also to Drs. Paul Bacsich (PD_Bacsich@VAX.ACS. Open.AC.UK), Douglas de Lacey (DEL2@Phoenix.Cambridge.AC.UK), and Roland Hutchinson (R.RDH@Macbeth.Stanford.EDU) for their help and encouragement. John Hughes From: PROF NORM COOMBS <NRCGSH@RITVAX> Subject: Humanities and free loading Date: Sat, 6 Jan 90 10:29 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 911 (1870) I want to agree with Bob Kraft and his comments about humanists wanting to get services back in return for services given. Like everyone else on the system, I assume that the articles we write and the papers we give go without any payment. Out of the dozen publications I had in the last 3 or 4 years, I made $100. I made another $100 in return for 6 encyclopedia articles! Wow! We also have become accustomed to free use of libraries, city, university and even when doing research in foreign countries. Hence we often view electronic communications and access to research data within that long, traditional framework. While receiving free use of libraries, we often also need to make out-of-pocket costs for room, board and sometimes travel. I don't know anyone in business who puts out as much for as little return. Business friends are always amazed to hear of scholars publishing without profit and attending conferences on vacation time without overtime pay! The fringe benefits of scholarship seem to me what make it exciting and worthwhile. Norman Coombs From: iTAMAR <B10@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.902 ScriptureFonts: Greek & Hebrew for WP5 (144) Date: Sat, 6 Jan 90 13:49:28 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1464 (1871) Great news for WordPerfect users. But I was referring to normal and easy writing, as part of NB, with all the normal NB features, including the text-base, the data-base and all utilities, not just typing and printing. And a-propos typing and printing, I was referring to the fact that one and a single keyboard easily handles 3-4 languages, like Roman, Greek, Slavic and Hebrew, not different keyboards. And, of course, with one single keystroke, or 2 keys stroke per character. All of the above not as a smart add-on, some extra product, but an integral part of NB. Itamar Even-Zohar. (I have forgotten to add: Sanskrit, full diacritics, Semitic and other languages full scientific transliteration, and more. And again: not in a typewriter manner, but as a full-fledged wordprocessor with all the unrivalled features a *researcher* needs.) From: "Robin C. Cover" <ZRCC1001@SMUVM1> Subject: NOTABENE (DRAGONFLY) IBID. PROGRAM Date: Mon, 08 Jan 90 18:36:15 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1465 (1872) Dragonfly Software's IBID. (Bibliographic) Program and Multilingual Text Processing I have been using the new bibliographic package called "IBID." from Dragonfly Software, which runs under the regular version of NotaBene and under the SLS (Special Languages Supplement) version. In reviewing IBID's case-conversion rules (for academic styles that capitalize non-function-words in English titles), I am struck once again with the necessity of having "language" as a fundamental concept within academic software -- if not within the operating system. Since my comments might appear to reflect negatively on IBID. (and they should not), let me offer some appropriate praise for the IBID. bibliographic program. The fact that IBID. shares with NotaBene a concept of "language" at *some* levels is just one way it seems conceptually superior to other bibliographic programs I have seen. Being able to use IBID. from within the current edit window (accessed with one keystroke) and having the bibliographic data fully integrated with the wordprocessor file is vastly superior to using a standalone reference management program. One inserts a bibliographic reference from the reference database into the current document with a single keystroke after selecting it from a list of matches (selected from author and/or title and/or date). Thus, IBID. stands within the NotaBene tradition by focusing on the user as an *academic* writer for whom economy of time is important. Even in this first release, IBID. provides several functions not even attempted by some mature standalone products. ProCite, for example (in my version at least) attempts no case conversion at all. The Papyrus program (which does have an enviable regular-expression-like formatting language, allowing for conditionals and field inter-dependencies), just punts on case conversion. The Papyrus manual reads: "...Of course, non-English titles follow entirely different rules [for capitalization in titles]. German nouns are always capitalized, French titles generally use sentence style, etc. You're on your own for these!" BibTeX is also very powerful, but most interfaces I have seen are primitive by comparison to IBID.; I think it allows one to bracket characters which should never be forcibly downcased. But personally, I do not believe the academic writer (using TeX/LaTeX) should be pressed into the role of a typesetter anyway. Other good reference management systems I know about are tailored to sub-specialty fields (medicine, natural science, engineering) such that they are not broadly applicable to humanities fields. The trajectory for development of IBID. set in version 1 is very high, and eventually (even immediately) I would expect to see the product attract new users to NotaBene for the bibliographic function alone. Having said that, let me indicate that Dragonfly is tidying up things a bit on the formatting of bibliographic records which contain French, German and other languages in title fields. Does anyone else share the suspicion (or studied conviction) that bibliographic software poses one of the more difficult computational challenges for academic software? The matter of case conversion, simple version, is this: suppose we have a Festschrift or journal with a French or German title, and an essay/article in English; for several popular academic styles which use uppercase "title style" in titles, we expect the software to use an English stop list and perform case conversion on the English article title but not to touch the German Festschrift/journal title. The situation gets really messy when you throw in programmatic control over "titles within titles," or "quotations within quotations," or "quotations within titles," where different languages employ different rules for quoting and citation using italic and/or left and right guillemet (the 'European quotation marks' consisting of double angle brackets = ascii 174 and ascii 175). Someone might say that I am lazy -- can't I defer a few minor details like this to "hand re- formatting" at print time? Maybe (read NO!) -- but details of "foreign" language spelling, punctuation and citation are sometimes the most frustrating to unravel anyway (for a given style). I don't want the LEAST obvious information details missing from the bibliographic database, or deferred until some later time when I must deal with them again: I want them HANDLED by the program so I don't have to think about them. It appears that "bibliography" is another instance powerfully vindicating the general observation that has been made by early proponents of descriptive markup (e.g., members of the Brown Harvard CHUG group), and more recently within the Text Encoding Initiative. It is a fundamental linguistic observation about text, and implies that using an "internationalized alphabet," however rich the character set, is no solution to academic computing at all. We must insist in software development that "text" is not just a stream of characters, but that "text" occurs "in" some language. Being "in" a language determines many things: a certain sort sequence, hyphenation rules, keyboarding conventions, spell-checking dictionaries, thesaurus, stop lists (for function words), fonts, scripts, directionality of writing, handling of dates and other numeric & determinative characters, -- and (in bibliographies) use of case-conversion rules, punctuation rules, (embedded) quotation markers, and so forth. Since SGML allows "language" to be predicated as an attribute of text at any level (character/graph, word, phrase, sentence, paragraph), this standard for descriptive markup would be one obvious way to implement multi-lingualism in bibliographic or other programs. In this connection, I am happy to repeat here a word of praise for Dragonfly Software: I think Dragonfly (with XyQuest) has developed the best conceptual tools for dealing with "multi lingualism" of any commercial DOS-based wordprocessing platform. Though NotaBene currently lacks the concept of text structure (document hierarchy, as supported in validating (SGML) structure editors), the fundamental concepts for descriptive markup and multi-lingualism are there. Apple's Script Manager (with some improvements promised under System 7) tries to achieve some of these effects at system level, but has not been successfully promoted in Mac applications (NISUS being a noteworthy exception in being Script Manager compatible). Academic writers generally know what language they are dealing with in their research (or they certainly should), so manually shifting to "new_language" would be a small price to pay for getting intelligent control over the language-related text features noted above. NotaBene has gone a certain distance in exploiting its language-specific features, but still uses a modeless switch between several Indo-European languages so that the conception of an "internationalized" character set still stands in the way. I do not imply that computational solutions to these problems are easy: I am sure they are incredibly hard, especially working within segmented memory and primitive graphics of (native) MS-DOS. I suggest that getting control over bibliographic data is another case proving the general claim that we will not have adequate multi-lingual text processing software until our programs know that "languages" are, and that "text" is always "in" some language. Comments? Robin Cover zrcc1001@smuvm1.bitnet attctc!utafll!robin.UUCP attctc!cdword!cover.UUCP 3909 Swiss Avenue Dallas, TX 75204 (214) 296-1783 From: "Margaret R. Greer" <MGREER@PUCC> Subject: Date: Sun, 01 Oct 89 10:36:06 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 913 (1873) [Today, cleaning out the Augean Stables of my mailbox -- which, mind you, is to imply nothing whatsoever about the messages I found there, only my housecleaning habits -- I discovered this long abandoned query. Mea culpa! I just hope the person who submitted it is still interested in an answer, hasn't lost her kingdom for want of it, etc. --W.M.] Hello. I'm Meg Greer and I teach Spanish Golden Age literature-primarily drama-at Princeton. I am working on a long-range project of identifying 16th and 17th-century Spanish theatrical scribes, using a database to organize the material. Also, we have succeeded in reading cancelled sections on a Tirso manuscript, using a combination of photographic techniques and computer scanning and analysis to "lift off" the cancelling scribbles. I would like to hear what others are doing. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Pre-HardCopy Publication Date: Saturday, 6 January 1990 1411-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1466 (1874) One thing that HUMANIST is to me is a place to experiment about humanistic materials and procedures. Since I am myself committed to the development of electronic publication, I am offering any interested parties the opportunity to obtain in electronic form the following article (summary attached) that I have just submitted for a forthcoming Festschrift. In return, I expect readers to notify me of any corrections, clarifications, etc., that they might find, with an immediate view of cleaning up the hardcopy form (if the editors will permit), and the more important function of advancing scholarly discussion. Please contact me as KRAFT@PENNDRLS (BITNET). <<Philo of Alexandria and the Sabbath Crisis:>> <<Alexandrian Jewish Politics and the Dating of Philo's Works>> by Robert A. Kraft, University of Pennsylvania [[copyright Robert A. Kraft, 4 January 1990]] My main conclusions and their immediate ramifications are: Philo's negative treatments of Joseph as symbolic for the political person often reflect a specific set of political events experienced by Philo (in Egypt) and involving problematic actions of a Jewish political figure; Philo's positive treatment of Joseph as symbolic for the (Jewish?) political person was almost certainly written prior to the crisis reflected in the negative treatments; the most obvious candidate for sparking the negative treatment would seem to be Philo's nephew Tiberius Julius Alexander, who first appears in preserved sources as a major political figure around 42 ce and disappears from the sources shortly after 70 ce; if Philo is reacting to political activities of Tiberius Alexander, the date of the publication of Philo's allegorical treatises may be considerably later than usually has been assumed. From: THEALLDF@TrentU.CA Subject: Date: Sat, 6 Jan 90 16:20 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1467 (1875) This may be of interest to some member of Humanist or one of her or his colleagues interested in cross disciplinary relations. Please feel free to contact me or to suggest that an interested colleague do so. We envision a session which will not only indicate some of the importance of Joyce's work to students of communication, but will also include presentations concerning Joyce's Dublin and Dublin's Joyce as well as useful information about places of interest in and around Dublin that can be visited while in Ireland. While the program is largely complete, there is still an opportunity for individuals interested in Joyce and communica- tions to make a proposal concerning Joyce and communication or to serve as a respondent. I would appreciate receiving any detailed proposals as soon as possible, since there is some urgency in completing the organization of this session. These should reach me by the end of January at the latest. (I will not be available to respond to email until January 22d.) If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate receiving them. Please write me email, snail mail or call as indicated below. Owing to the usual problems with the mails, I believe it would be preferable to send snail mail to my home address. BITNET: THEALLDF@TRENTU.CA Donald Theall University Professor FAX (705)7481246 Office of the Past President PHONE (705)7481551 c/o University Secretariat (705)7486504 (RES) Peterborough, Ontario, Canada K9J 7B8 Home Address: 1604 Champlain Drive Peterborough, Ontario, CanadLN6 From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.908 Bloom, Hirsch, and noisy English (135) Date: Tue, 9 Jan 90 00:16:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1468 (1876) About this Bloom thing. "Reactionary"? As Lenin wrote, "Who, Whom?" Bloom seems to have been terribly traumatized by the gun-toters at Cornell when he was the re, away back in the delightful '60's. He writes all about the craven capitulation of the Administration to agitprop theater, though the guns may well have been loaded. I wonder how many of those who consider Bloom "marginalized" in the Academy actually bought and read his collected essays, which he made into a best-selling, to his great surprise, book? The Leftists and Rightist of the 80's are a generation behind the world in their politics. As a friend of mine, not an academic, remarked on the phone to me last week, all her Leftist, that is unregenerate Stalinoidal friends, rather regret the phenomenon of Gorbachev! They cannot understand how and why the KGB has taken over the positions of the dissenters. As right now in Romania. The luxury of silliness is a treasure, I suppose, of this hemisphere's Humanist academy. Not that the deans will spring for a computer to process words for English profs! Unless it is IBM. I am astonished at the use of the term reactionary for Bloom. I have seen the attacks on him, by such as Schlesinger in the NY Times, full of nonsense and bad history and out right fabrications. The reactionaries, as in Peru, are on the Far Left. Where are all these civil servants going? Most of us are such, in the State Universities, and thus we are really bureaucrats, beholden to the public's taxes; but you wouldnt know it from the outdated ideas most of them exchange here. Kessler at UCLA. Bloom was and is interested in fine discourse, sharp thinking. The rest seems to be namecalling. He is in his book simply an essayist; but the foaming over of the attacks has been incredible. All the kibes that are galled. Tsk. From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.901 the silence of English (96 Date: Tue, 9 Jan 90 11:00:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1469 (1877) One more for the fray over Alan Kennedy's ENGLISH posting, and particularly Kevin Cope's reply. It seems to me quite possible that focusing on Bloom/Hirsch and remarks about them is misleading-- after all, as Cope rightly points out, Bloom and Hirsch are merely spokespersons for positions held by quite a few people in the academy. What's at issue are their positions, and the positions of those who challenge them. Personally, I don't think the phrase "stuck in the 60s" is an accurate description of those people who seek to broaden our understanding of literature and humankind by bringing into scholarly and classroom discussion texts and authors hitherto neglected or unknown. Such efforts need not be "rebellious," it seems to me-- the term itself suggesting that, in Cope's view, those who would widen the corpus of teachable and discussable literature are merely childish malconents, without legitimacy of any kind. Someone said that it's not a question of being "stuck in the 60s"-- it's a matterof looking toward the 90s, of acknowledging that the world is a bigger place, and its cultures more diverse, than we had imagined. There's nothing wrong with studying Western culture, or with concentrating on the work of white European males; there *is* something wrong, I think, with assuming that that's *all* there is to talk about. John Slatin University of Texas at Austin From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: speechworthy silence Date: 9 January 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1470 (1878) A few days ago I sent a note to English saying, basically, that I thought the long silence there was due to the fact that discussion of a discipline or of the professional life is soporific in the extreme, whereas talk about the subject matter of a real discipline (such as English lang and lit) is inherently exciting, awakening. There was some disagreement, of course. Many people spend most of their waking hours thinking about their profession rather than what they're supposed to be professing, and the fact that I sit comfortably outside that particular profession means I can afford to get bored by it. So, if my answer to the silence of English is wrong, then what is the answer? The only excuse for trying answers out here is that we might throw some light on why some electronic seminars (as I call them) work and other's don't. I have recently been reading some answers, reported by John Richardson, HSUAT Research Centre, Loughborough (UK), in a draft article entitled "The Limitations to Electronic Communication in the Research Community". (If anyone knows when this article will appear in print, and where, please let me know.) Richardson refers to published sociological studies, arguing that "The causes responsible for the failure and the requirements for a successful conference of this type [open forum] have been well documented and described" (p. 6). Some of what he says ring true to me, other claims don't. When I've read his sources I'll let you know, if you're interested, but meanwhile let's grab this Bloom-et-al. bitstream and divert it slightly to a more relevant course. What, in short, is responsible for a successful electronic seminar, i.e., one that is neither uncontrolled, abusive, or silly on the one hand, nor silent on the other? Who knows of interesting, solid studies, and what are these? Raw speculations here, on Humanist, would also be very helpful, at least to me. I cannot emphasize enough (can I? please agree!) that Humanist and English and all the rest are part of a very interesting experiment in human communications. We are building something but don't yet quite know what. Part of the problem is that we don't yet understand the basic materials at hand, and we have only the crudest tools. Sure e-mail has been around for a while, but does that mean we understand it? To paraphrase Mike Heim, how long did it take for the automobile to be understood as a human artifact -- and how long the computer? Shouldn't the noise of one group and the silence of another provide valuable clues about the common medium they are using? Yours, Willard McCarty From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.911 freeloading humanists (34) Date: Tue, 9 Jan 90 00:25:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1471 (1879) Isnt it that Mr Coombs forgets the fact that the libraries and sevices he partakes so freely of are supported by the public, by the State, by taxes, via endowments, gifts, inheritances, etc? Res publica? I recall a poet friend in Budapest, who took me to a concert a few years ago, as a guest of the State, to hear Janos Starker. Wonderful, said I. Very cheap, said he. Who pays? said I. He was startled. The people, I guess. For a few privileged esthetes like us, I said. Has the CP asked the people? No, it takes. There are dangers here. When the people wake up and say they want their crack, every penny, and it is not for the State or the scholars to browse free in libraries, then Prof Coombs will bethink himself. One shouldnt get used to freebies. They have to be fought for and justified, and as one sees since 1950, there is not so much $$$ available for the Humanists. Millions for the new science prof's lab, but not even mail or xeroxing for the likes of us. Kessler at UCLA. From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.904 do ut des, and where we ar Date: Tue, 9 Jan 90 10:00:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1472 (1880) About freebies and expectations: here's a simple instance. I have on my office desk a Macintosh SE HD20, which I received some two years ago as the result of a successful grant application. The machine is listed on my Department's inventory, and tagged with a University inventory label. About six or seven weeks ago, the monitor simply went dead, black. Nada. O woe! Aha, I thought, we can solve this; and I went to the Chair's office, informed him that my (University-owned) Mac was in need of repair. He said there was no money, that it was customary for faculty who had received computers from that particular source to pay for repairs out of their own pockets. I pointed out that much of the information that was now inaccessible to me was related to work I did as part of departmental service (there's also scholarly stuff, of course). To no avail. I lost my temper, said I thought this was unacceptable. He suggested it might be possible to contact the Dean, who would perhaps release the funds. I went to the Dean, told him my sad story. He said, "Have the Chairman write me a letter, and I'll act on it." The Chair wrote the Dean (Associate Dean, actually) a letter-- and the Associate Dean acted on it as he promised: he wrote me a letter saying "No." (Actually he wrote it to the Chair, and sent me a copy.) Is it unreasonable of me, think you, to expect the University (one of the wealthiest in the entire world) to pay a couple of hundred dollars to fix a machine on its own inventory? Does anyone think I'd be expected to pay for repairs myself if I were in, say, the Business School? John Slatin From: Thomas.H.Luxon@MAC.DARTMOUTH.EDU Subject: Networks at Stake Date: Tue, 9 Jan 90 10:10:12 LCL X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 917 (1881) [I circulate the following because, if true, it potentially touches many Humanists right away, and since the US is sometimes taken as a leader in such matters, perhaps all of us later. I say "if true" because we've been burnt before, so perhaps some verification is in order. I know it to be true that various states in the US have in the past separately attempted to "regulate" use of telephone lines for use by modem. I understand that the reason for doing so is that such use tends to occupy a circuit far longer than a voice call, thus causing problems in a system in which the total number of circuits is far lower than the total number of subscribers. Thus the economic impact of widespread modem usage could be (or is) significant. --W.M.] Please read the following forwarded message and act on it as soon as possible. The bureaucrats are at it again. [deleted quotation]Item 323 11:40 Dec29/89 72 lines No responses Todd A. Bakal FCC moves to regulate modem usage Grabbed from Info-Apple. Pass it around if you're concerned... MOBILIZE! Two years ago the FCC tried and (with your help and letters of protest) failed to institute regulations that would impose additional costs on modem users for data communications. Now, they are at it again. A new regulation that the FCC is quietly working on will directly affect you as the user of a computer and modem. The FCC proposes that users of modems should pay extra charges for use of the public telephone network which carry their data. In addition, computer network services such as CompuServ, Tymnet, & Telenet would also be charged as much as $6.00 per hour per user for use of the public telephone network. These charges would very likely be passed on to the subscribers. The money is to be collected and given to the telephone company in an effort to raise funds lost to deregulation. Jim Eason of KGO newstalk radio (San Francisco, Ca) commented on the proposal during his afternoon radio program during which, he said he learned of the new regulation in an article in the New York Times. Jim took the time to gather the addresses which are given below. Here's what you should do (NOW!): 1- Pass this information on. Find other BBS's that are not carrying this information. Upload the ASCII text into a public message on the BBS, and also upload the file itself so others can easily get a copy to pass along. 2- Print out three copies of the letter which follows (or write your own) and send a signed copy to each of the following: Chairman of the FCC 1919 M Street N.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 Chairman, Senate Communication Subcommittee SH-227 Hart Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Chairman, House Telecommunication Subcommittee B-331 Rayburn Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Here's the suggested text of the letter to send: Dear Sir, Please allow me to express my displeasure with the FCC proposal which would authorize a surcharge for the use of modems on the telephone network. This regulation is nothing less than an attempt to restrict the free exchange of information among the growing number of computer users. Calls placed using modems require no special telephone company equipment, and users of modems pay the phone company for use of the network in the form of a monthly bill. In short, a modem call is the same as a voice call and therefore should not be subject to any additional regulation. Sincerely, [your name, address and signature] It is important that you act now. The bureaucrats already have it in their heads that modem users should subsidize the phone company and are now listening to public comment. Please stand up and make it clear that we will not stand for any government restriction of the free exchage of information. From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@UMTLVR.BITNET> Subject: R.A. Zwaan's address? Date: Wed, 10 Jan 90 01:44 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1473 (1882) Does any one of you know the mailing or the e-mailing address of Dr. R.A. Zwaan in the Netherlands? He is the author of a very interesting article in Poetics on Computational Literary Criticism. Thanks. Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal E-mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca From: iwml@UKC.AC.UK Subject: HELP FOR HEBREW! Date: Wed, 10 Jan 90 19:32:43 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1474 (1883) Can I seek assistance with two queries in my present research, please? (1) I am now the proud owner of the Enhanced Biblical Hebrew Character Set for my MegaWriter. But I suddenyl discover that there are many more accents in Massoretic, Tiberian vocalisation and Babylonian vocalisation than I ever dreamed of! Can anyone guide me to a book/reference or a Babylonian who can train me in understanding them, please? (2) I am painstakingly working through the Westminster text of the Hebrew Bible trying to locate the verbs associated with the various names of God, and then transcribing them into MegaWriter. It dawns on me that there may be a shorter way of doing this than comparing the screen with an interlinear bible. Oxford Concordance Programme and Lbase have not "caught" all the names of God, so far. Any ideas on which patterns of transliterated text to apply to these two programs? Additionally, of course, many verbs are not attached to God's names directly, since He is referred to in the second and third persons. I I am exploring the use of a *vav* followed by a *yod* to see whether that speeds things up. Again, any ideas will be most welcome! It may be, of course, that someone out there has already carried out this operation! Many thanks Ian Mitchell Lambert PhD research student Tangnefedd Department of Theology Windmill Road University of Kent at Canterbury Weald United Kingdom Sevenoaks Kent Co-ordinator TN14 6PJ AIBI Network (Association Internationale Bible et Informatique, Maredsous, Belgium) Telephone (UK): 0732 463460 (international): +44 732 463 460 Email JANET: iwml@uk.ac.ukc EARN/BITNET: iwml@ukc.ac.uk or iwml%uk.ac.ukc@ukacrl Telex 265871 MONREF G quoting 72:MAG33187 Telecom Gold mailbox MAG33187 From: NMILLER@vax1.trincoll.edu Subject: The Name of the Bloom Date: Wed, 10 Jan 90 19:19:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 919 (1884) I understand every word that Kessler (of UCLA) writes. Even every phrase and almost every sentence. But, taken all in all, I confess that I have no idea what he's talking about. Since it's unlikely that Kessler is similarly disadvantaged, I have decided that he's really writing Aesopian and that it's up to us to do the decoding. Here is one possible interpretation. A department chair or deanlet at UCLA whose name is either LeFleur or Rosenbaum has written, at the orders of his local Communist Party cell, an attack on left-leaning tax accountants. This attack was intentionally clumsy and over-written in order to produce a boomerang in favor of his supposed targets. For instance, they stand accused of preparing forms with blunt pencils (is it an accident that Blunt was also the name of a notorious KGB agent?), a charge sure to be rejected by those for whom sharp means deceitful. Meanwhile, the CP has ordered its fellow-travellers to com- plain about the dean's tight-fistedness in dispensing office supplies, thus producing another boomerang, this time among watchful taxpayers, in favor of the dean's continued control of the apparatus. The resultant confusion has diverted attention from the impending merger of the party with the National Rifle Association. I know there's even more, but it's as far as this untrained reader can go. From: DJT18@hull.ac.uk Subject: CATH 90: From Rhetoric to Reality Date: Tue, 9 Jan 90 10:03:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1475 (1885) For distribution to all Humanists, please The Computers in Teaching Initiative Centre for Modern Languages is organising a Workshop as part of CATH 90, to be held at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, 2-5 April 1990. "For some time now the promise of a computer revolution has been held out to teachers in the humanities in higher education. But how real are the opportunities it offers? What effect are computers having on the humanities?" Further details of CATH 90 may be obtained from Dr R Dyckhoff, Local Organiser, CATH 90, Dept of Computational Science, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9SS, Scotland, UK. Information about the CTI Centre for Modern Languages, or a free copy of ReCALL with Software Guide may be obtained from Mrs June Thompson, Information Officer, CTICML, School of Modern Languages & Cultures, University of Hull, HU6 7RX, UK, Email: CTI.Lang@uk.ac.hull. Reply to Jan Eveleth's message, Tues 19 Dec 89, re E-dictionaries Harraps multilingual dictionaries on CD-ROM would seem ideal for your purposes. In the UK they are available from Multi Lingua, 61 Chiswick Staithe, Hartington Road, London W4 3TP From: <MG6BE8@PANAM> Subject: International Humor Conference Date: Wed, 10 Jan 90 10:14 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1476 (1886) I would appreciate it if the following announecemnt could be posted. Thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL HUMOR CONFERENCE Sheffield, England The Eighth International Humor Conference will take place at the University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England between July 29 and August 4, 1990. Abstracts for the conference are due on February 15, 1990. The estimated cost of the conference is $450.00 which includes registration and room and board exclusive of transportation to Sheffield. For more information on the conference and abstracts write to: Mark Glazer, President International Society for Humor Studies College of Arts and Sciences The University of Texas at Pan American Edinburg, Texas 78539 (512) 381-3551 e-mail: MG6BE8@PANAM.BITNET From: <MG6BE8@PANAM> Subject: Contemporary Legend Conference Date: Wed, 10 Jan 90 10:16 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1477 (1887) I would appreciate if you could post the following announcement. Thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PERSPECTIVES ON CONTEMPORATY LEGEND THE EIGHT INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR 23-27 JULY 1990 Center for English Cultural Tradition and Language, Sheffield, English. Each summer since 1982 the Center for English Cultural Tradition and Language has hosted a seminar for scholars working in the area of contemporary legend. The encouraging response to these meetings has prompted us to host a further seminar to be held in the summer of 1990. This, it is hoped, will enable those interested in contemporary legend to keep in touch with current research and also provide a forum for the exchange of ideas. The meeting, scheduled to extend over a five day period, will function as a series of seminars in that the majority of those attending will be expected to present papers and/or contribute to the discussion sessions. If you wish to participate in the seminar, abstracts of papers (up to 400 words and typed in double spacing) should reach the convenor at the address below by the 1st of March,1990. Similarly if you would like to propose any special discussion sessions, please do not hesitate to get in touch. For further information regarding the conference, please contact: Paul Smith, The International Association for Contemporary Legend Research, Department of Folklore, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, AIC 5S7. From: "[DCGQAL]A0234" <XB.DAS@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: [DCGQAL]A0234!Eastern Europe Date: Wed, 10 Jan 90 13:25:39 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1478 (1888) On a purely personal and informal basis, I've become involved in an colloquy which appears to be heading in the direction of a project / proposal / effort to help foster some primitive form of electronic communications network behind the Iron Curtain. Perhaps the first way to begin the process is mereley to promote the establishment of store-front computer and copy centers in various cities or on various campuses, similar to Kinko's or Copy Mat. The idea is that such facilities are not raw material dependent, but could support any of a variety of the entreprenureal and free market developments that seem to be emerging all over Eastern Europe, through desktop publishing, computer access, availability of generic software, and perhaps even some computer courses. It will take some initial seed money, maybe a grant or two, or some guardian angel, and a lot of willingness. The results of such an experiment could be particularly interesting, however, and might well be worth while in the long term. As always, there are barriers, legal, bureaucratic, personal, and inertial. I'd be pleased to hear reactions from any HUMANISTs who might contribute suggestions, encouragement, help, or reality checks. Cordially, Chet Grycz Scholarship and Technology Study Project ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Czeslaw Jan Grycz | BITNET: "[DCGQAL]A0234 Grycz" <XB.DAS@STANFORD> University of California | - or - CJGUR@UCCMVSA Kaiser Center, Eighth Floor | AppleLink: A0234 300 Lakeside Drive | MCI Mail: 262-7719 Oakland, California | Phone: (415) 987-0561 94612-3550 | FAX: (415) 839-3573 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =END= From: ROBERTS@UMDC Subject: an Annenberg/CPB special funding Initiative Date: Wed, 10 Jan 90 17:15:37 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1479 (1889) The Annenberg/CPB Project Announces A Special Funding Initiative The Project seeks proposals from a broad range of 2- and 4-year colleges and universities that would use technologies to make academic programs more accessible to more types of students. Priority will be given to projects that can serve individuals who face constraints of schedule, distance, physical impairment, and/or cost. Submission Deadline: May 15, 1990 For guidelines, write or call: The Annenberg/CPB Project 1111 Sixteenth Street NW Washington, DC 20036 (202) 955-5256 or send electronic mail to: roberts@umdc.bitnet From: "[DCGQAL]A0234" <XB.DAS@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: [DCGQAL]A0234!On Electronic Communications Date: Wed, 10 Jan 90 13:27:35 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 921 (1890) Willard's observation that through various "electronic seminars" ..."We are building something but don't yet quite know what." rings true to me. One of the characteristics of the electronic medium is that it permits a polyglot of "levels" of communication, from casual and ephemeral, to modes that look and act increasingly like "official" publication, especially in the academic environment. Not "understand[ing] the basic materials at hand," may derive from a natural consternation which arises in the face of such a hybrid soup. "Navigation" issues are all the rage in network management, but I think there is another quality at issue here. In the world of print, over the course of the last half millennium, we've become sensitized to (and, indeed, reliant on) subtle, but no less effective, "clues" to help us discern quality from chaff. Such clues come from the presentation, obvious editorial attention, design details, and even the manufacture quality of books; quite as much as they do from the formal verifications of a publisher's imprint or a colleague's endorsement on a dust jacket. Indeed, while many were bemoaning the fact that desktop publishing would inaugurate a new era of "uglification," some of us were considering what would happen when a book, _lacking_ any intellectual merit, might nevertheless be packaged in a form that projected the opposite, through its attractive and well-crafted aesthetic presentation. Whether we like to admit it or not, such clues play an important role in our initial reactions to books, and our subsequent willingness to engage ourselves with the ideas books contain. We are, in a certain way, more superficial (or is it "more sensory-sophisticated?") than we readily admit. But we may have to forego the comfort of such clues in the future, or replace them with others which may be considerably different. In the electronic medium (such as the one in which we are now participating), the analagous "clues" have not yet congealed. But there is a far greater _range_ of electronic expression than exists in print. Defining a canon of markers similar to those of print is apt to be difficult. There seems little chance that the homogeneity and formality that characterizes print will be readily transferred to the new medium. Rather its opposite, there will be a variety of forums, legitimizers, imprints, and guides. What is likely to play an increasingly important role is the more human "networking" that permits an exchange of recommendations, endorsements, or independent verifications. This lower form of networking - paradoxically - is facilitated by electronic communication. All this suggests that it will be _content_ (the liveliness and pertinence of commentary) which will be the prime motivator for participating on one electronic seminar over another. This appears to be borne out by the experience of ENGLISH: insufficient material to grab the attention of a critical mass of people. To end on a philosophical note, I find that I am called upon to be more _optimistic_ about my colleagues and electronic friends, _trusting_ that the expression of perhaps half-formed opinions will permit a kind of symbiosis that does not elsewhere exist on a daily basis. These are somewhat strange qualities to emerge from so sandy a technological soil... but so be it. The immediacy of electronic collaborations provides exciting prospects. For that reason, it is a satisfying medium in which to participate. But I fully agree with Willard that we do not yet understand the forces and ramifications of the kinds of communication facilitated by this medium. Perhaps self-reflection will provide some insights. Cordially, Chet Grycz Scholarship and Technology Study Project ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Czeslaw Jan Grycz | BITNET: "[DCGQAL]A0234 Grycz" <XB.DAS@STANFORD> University of California | - or - CJGUR@UCCMVSA Kaiser Center, Eighth Floor | AppleLink: A0234 300 Lakeside Drive | MCI Mail: 262-7719 Oakland, California | Phone: (415) 987-0561 94612-3550 | FAX: (415) 839-3573 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.916 rewards in heaven, not here (68) Date: Wed, 10 Jan 90 01:45:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1480 (1891) Dear Prof Slatin: You answered your own question at the end of your tale of woe in saying that in the Business School it would be taken care of. If you were at UCLA, you wouldnt even have the Mac, if you were in the English Department, grant or no grant. I dont. After 3 years' wait. Seniority? UP to here, I have it. But if you were a TA in Japanese, you would have a computer for every one of you. Not if you were in Chinese studies, though. Who, whom? I say again, as Lenin asked. If you asked for in IBM, though, you might get it, as they are pushing the clunkers everywhere. Them as 'as, gits. But for the deserving poor? GBS described it all decades ago in Major Barbara, no? The poor dont deserve. Meritocracy? One laughs. Kessler at UCLA From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: Date: 10 January 1990, 07:44:07 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1481 (1892) On freebies and the deans: Yes, as Kessler says, we in the academic world are the tools of the states who pay our salaries and buy our equipment--up to the point where free will raises its proud head. I run a journal that brings prestige (nebulously, it is true) to my department, my dean and my university, and the journal happens to run in the black, with incoming funds nearly exactly matching outgoing funds. The department pays for a few phone calls, the university supports my e-mail, the dean occasionally gives me computer equipment courtesy of state funds. The university gets respect. I work at the editorship free, the way James Coombs describes the academic's service to his or her community, but I am well aware that editing a quarterly is something that the outside world generally pays well for. I get, or the journal gets, freebie books, in return for recognition in publishers' markets. The relationship between me and my chair and the dean and the university is fragile and can change from year to year. If things are tough, I would have to pay for all new computer equipment and the university comptroller might just sweep my rotary account of funds, before I paid the printing bills. Everything depends on a beneficent mutual trust, which is that of the fragile academy. If I applied to the dean and got turned down, like the gent in Texas, that process might begin to embitter or taint the process of editing, which might in turn cause subscriptions to go down, which would cause less funds to come in, which would cause my chair to flag the account, and all the rest of the bad things that cause bitterness in the fragile academy. Incidentally, I do have to pay for peripherals and supplies from my own budget, and the problem of the replacement or repair of a large piece of equipment, mercifully, has not come up, especially since the department gets the use of some of my outmoded (but perfectly useful and functional) equipment. When things are loose enough, or trusting enough, in the academy, freebies are traded for freebies, relationships are guarded but peaceful and pleasant, and noone grows bitter or unproductive. Roy Flannagan From: ruhleder@sloth.ICS.UCI.EDU Subject: Date: Wed, 10 Jan 90 09:53:34 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1482 (1893) In response to John Slatkin's message of Jan. 9: John Slatkin wrote about his attempts (futile) at getting the department/school/university to pay for repairs to a Macintosh. I've never thought much about the issue because my department has it's own support staff. When I have a problem, I call support and they deal with it. Now, I'm in a computer science department, so that makes a big difference (I'm a grad student in a ``technology and society'' type of program looking at the computerization of the humanities). So, I called up our department's MSO to ask how things get paid for in our department. In brief, our department gets a lump sum which the Chair allocates. This lump sum is intended to cover everything from printer paper to staff salaries. Our department also pays for support staff who take care of maintenance, etc. HOWEVER, there is another important source of funding for computer service: grants. People who have grants for equipment are expected to also purchase maintenance contracts. People who have other kinds of research grants are ``billed'' for the services they use. So, if someone from the departmental support staff spends 3 hours setting up new equipment for a research group, the grant that the group is on (if there is one) will be billed for three hours of staff time. Now, I'm sure it's true that CS departments start out with a larger lump sum than most humanities departments, but two key factors in our department have been (1) a commitment on the part of the chair to provide computing services to all grads and faculty, and (2) a concerted effort to look elsewhere for funds when possible. All in all, our department is very liberal when it comes to supporting computing-- we have a much more generous environment than many computer sicence departments, much less other departments. By the way, regarding business schools, my advisor is on sabbatical at a Very Famous Business School at a Major Ivy League University (I've been there-- I've seen the Ivy) and computing there, to put it extremely mildly, is abysmal. You can have all the Reputation you want, but try getting computing support, e-mail, disk space.... One concrete suggestion I would make is, any time you purchase equipment, try to purchase a maintenance contract as well. After that, try to work on getting those around you (above you?) to understand that ``computing'' is more than a box on a desk, and successful integration of computing into an academic research environment requires committment to providing support when needed. For more information on how our department manages computing, interested parties may contact Tim Morgan, our Computing Resources Manager (morgan@ics.uci.edu) or Judy Hornaday, our Department Manager (hornaday@ics.uci.edu). Judy Hornaday is going to send me information about a mailing list for deparment managers of computer science departments, which I will post. Karen Ruhleder Department of Information and Computer Sciences University of California, Irvine From: ruhleder@sloth.ICS.UCI.EDU Subject: Date: Wed, 10 Jan 90 10:59:06 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1483 (1894) An addendum to my message earlier today: I should probably note that faculty are not expected to pay for maintenance on departmental machines themselves. The idea is that every faculty, grad, and staff person in the department has (1) access to computing, which generally means a terminal or workstation on their desk, (the department doesn't supply PC's or modems for home use), (2) access to electronic mail, including electronic bulletin boards and news networks, and (3) a workspace, which generally means at least a desk and a chair in an office or cubicle. Any problems with 1, 2, or 3, above, are department problems and are taken care of out of departmental funds. This ``departmental computing philosophy'' has been around for many years here, and has survived many Chairs, so I think it is here to stay. Karen Ruhleder From: "Dana Cartwright, Syracuse Univ, 315-443-4504" <DECARTWR@SUVM> Subject: Date: Wed, 10 Jan 90 07:32:59 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1484 (1895) The posting regarding the attempt of the FCC to impose a surcharge on modem users is probably entirely bogus. Apparently this is an "urban legend" which has been circulating electronically for a number of months. You might consider the source of the information: "Jim Eason of KGO newstalk radio (San Francisco, Ca) commented on the proposal during his afternoon radio program during which, he said he learned of the new regulation in an article in the New York Times." Would any of you accept an entry like that in a bibliography? Aside from that, the author of this "FCC Scare" has his technical facts all wrong. Again I quote: "Calls placed using modems require no special telephone company equipment, and users of modems pay the phone company for use of the network in the form of a monthly bill. In short, a modem call is the same as a voice call and therefore should not be subject to any additional regulation." This is utterly false. Modem users have been getting a free ride for years. Most voice conversations are quite short, and have long periods of silence within them (I say "long" from the standpoint of computers--the pauses between words in human conversation are quite substantial). The telephone company has designed its equipment, and sets its prices, based on human speech and calling habits. Modem traffic imposes a very different, more substantial, load on the switching equipment. Some day we are going to be asked to pay for this! Meanwhile, feel free *not* to write to the FCC! From: K.C.Cameron@exeter.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.917 networks threatened? (103) Date: Wed, 10 Jan 90 08:04:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1485 (1896) [deleted quotation]Date Tue, 9 Jan 90 18:20:58 EST Sender Discussions about Literature <LITERARY@EARN.UCF1VM> [Several people have sent me this posting. My thanks to all on behalf of all. --W.M.] [deleted quotation] Whoops! Everyone, please hold on before you bury the FCC in letters. That note apparently was an old one from 1987 which was never deleted from several bulletin boards. I've included some more info on this that was posted to another list at our site. :-) Lois ------------------------------- enclosure -------------------------------- NOTE: It appears that recent messages about FCC charges for modem usage are antiquated rumors concerning a controversial proposal that the FCC pu aside in late 1987. Old messages about this issue, however, were never removed from certain BBSs, and new readers assume that the issue is still current. This leads to wasted energies for concerned computer users who write & call the FCC, not to mention the time taken up by FCC staff. I have spoken today to FCC staff attorney Regina Harrison, who states that indeed the FCC is not planning to reconsider this issue. PLEASE REPLY TO WHOEVER HAS SENT YOU MESSAGES about this issue and ask them to remove any outstanding/outdated messages on BBSs or elsewhere about this, until such time as the issue might become real again, if ever. Thank you. Roger Burns Bureau of Labor Statistics Washington, DC From: Dr. Gerd Willee 0228 - 73 56 20 UPK000 at DBNRHRZ1 Subject: German e-texts Date: 11 January 90, 10:40:33 MEZ X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1486 (1897) ============================================================ Machine readable texts and lists available in Bonn, FRG: ======================================================= The IKS e.V., related to the University of Bonn, distributes the following machine readable texts and lists on floppies to be used under DOS to scientific users: 1) The works of Immanuel Kant (Vol I - IX of the Akademie-Edition) The texts are marked for page and line respectively, so that an identification of text references in the printed version is possible. contains about 1.4 million current wordforms, 10 MB) As the text had been keypunched originally without indicating the capitals, the texts are available in lowercase only in the moment. The insertion of the capitals is presently being done. - File preindexed with WordCruncher(TM) including the text as plain ASCII-files ........................... 1,250.00 DM - Plain ASCII-files only .............................. 1,000.00 DM ==> The use of the preindexed file is possible only with the ViewETC component of WordCruncher. 2) LIMAS Corpus of Modern Written German a representative corpus compiled following the same principles which have been used for the Brown Corpus, contains about 1 million current wordforms, 10 MB) - File preindexed with WordCruncher(TM) including the text as plain ASCII-file ............................ 1,250.00 DM - Plain ASCII-file only ............................... 1,000.00 DM ==> The use of the preindexed file is possible only with the ViewETC component of WordCruncher. 3) Frequency lists to the LIMAS Corpus (lemmatized) - List of the 2,000 most frequent wordforms ............ 200.00 DM - List of the 10,000 most frequent wordforms ............ 950.00 DM 4) BONNLEX - Word Data Base of Modern German Contains about 300,000 entries (basic forms and wordforms) with morphologicals, syntactic, and semantic indications. The part containing the LIMAS-word forms (about 110.000 entries) (ca. 30 MB) can be obtained either on mag tape or on optical disk (WORM) ................................. 2,500.00 DM Please contact for further information and/or orders IKS e.V. c/o Dr. Gerd Willee Poppelsdorfer Allee 47 5300 Bonn 1, FRG EARN/BITNET: upk000 at dbnrhrz1 All prices listed above are indicated in German Marks. From: munnari!csc2.anu.OZ.AU!dgn612@uunet.UU.NET (David Nash) Subject: Archiving Date: Fri, 12 Jan 90 07:42:22 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1487 (1898) MEETING NOTICE... The Canberra On-line Users Group of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) is convening a seminar "Punch-cards on PCs? : Coping with machine readable records in libraries and archives" Wednesday 28 March 1990 Burgmann College, ANU Canberra It is proposed to consider such questions as: [selection] * how do you restore your backups on DOS 2.3 if you have a new 4.0 machine? * how do you manage today's data so it can be accessed in the future e.g. thirty years time? * how do you supervise access to machine readable records to prevent massaging of data? * is a computer produced map a publication? Programme items include: * Findings of ACLIS Working Party on preservation of Machine Readable Records * Report from Australian Council of Archives Standing Committee on Machine Readable Records * Report on Australian Archives Workshop for Disposal Staff Cost including morning and afternoon teas and lunch: ALIA members $30 non-members $50 For further details contact: Jean Geue Telephone: (062)832303 Geraldine Triffitt Linguistics Bibliographer Library Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) GPO Box 553 Fax: (062)497310 Canberra ACT 2601 Telegraphic: ABINST Telephone: (062)461177 or through the poster of this note, David Nash <dgn612@csc2.anu.oz.au>. From: Norman Hinton <SSUBIT12@UIUCVMD> Subject: supporting computers: supporting scholarship Date: Thu, 11 Jan 90 09:48:19 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1488 (1899) My school seems to be backwards in various ways. I have a University computer at home for my research, and our Department has its own PC, which has never lacked for equipment and repair support. Our Dean has set up a very good desk-top publishing room, available to anyone on the faculty, with a 386 machine, a laser printer, and Ventura. Sigh. However, I was asked to become the editor of the newsletter for a well-established medieval organization. We have all the computer equipment we need for it: the University would have to pay a few hundred dollars for mailing the newsletter. At its previous school, the editor was given released time (we call it Non-Instructional Assignments) to do the job: I agreed not to ask for any such thing. BUT the University Administration informed me that it did not regard such activities as useful to the school and therefore could not allocate any funds for folding/mailing/paper etc. The only moral I can draw from this is that they will get you one way or another: if it isn't the equipment, it's something else. Heigh-ho: if University teaching didn't exist, it would be impossible to invent it as it is..... From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.922 freebies, cont. (161) Date: Thu, 11 Jan 90 10:00:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1489 (1900) To all who responded to my tale of woe about my dead Mac, many thanks. Kessler-at-UCLA is of course right when he points to the unequal distribution of computing resources; that goes for my campus as well. I should note that the wounded (temporarily dead) Mac in question was not paid for with departmental funds, nor acquired for me by my department: it was donated to the University by Apple, and awarded to me as the result of a successful proposal in a competetive process; once I had demonstrated sufficient progress on the project, the machine was transferred to the Department inventory, with the understanding that the Department would then assume responsibility for maintenance. However, there were and are no funds in the Department budget or the College budget for maintenance contracts, though I have been trying for three years now to persuade someone, somewhere in the administration of this august institution that it's damn stupid to have millions of dollars worth of equipment and no provision for keeping it in working order... Karen Ruhleder points out that in many departments computer maintenance, etc. is paid for out of grant money-- again, that's true on my campus as well. But there's very little such money around in the humanities: I'm not aware of any department in the College of Liberal Arts here at UT Austin that has secured such a grant, though of course there may be some (in Psychology, perhaps, which has a very large computing facility) that I don't know about. The Lab I run has a tech whiz who can fix many things, provided he can get the necessary parts-- but we don't have, and never have had, a budget specifically for parts, nor a budget for routine maintenance, etc. Does anyone have information about funding sources for such things? I will cheerfully write up a proposal if I can find out who to send it to... I am convinced (to end on a less whiney note) that much of what's going on here stems from more or elss universal surprise at the computerization of humanities scholarship and research. We've always been relatively cheap (though you wouldn't know it to hear the legislators talk), requiring little more than office space, some books, and maybe a typewriter and a ditto machine (yes, we still use ditto machines), and of course salaries (which are as unevenly distributed as computer equipment). No one expected us to need or want computing equipment, nor did WE expect to need it or want it; and there's no infrastructure to support it. As I said in a previous message, that's one of the ways in which conferences like Humanist are so valuable: they help all of us to get a clearer sense of what's needed in the way of support services, and what common problems we face, and what solutions various people have found. Thanks again to all. John Slatin From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.922 freebies, cont. (161) Date: Thu, 11 Jan 90 12:35:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1490 (1901) I would ask Karen Ruhleder to check out the situation of computing in the humanities departments at UC Irvine. I'll bet it's not nearly so sanguine as in Computer Science. I know that it's not at Berkeley. Departmental budgets are inadequate even for basic supplies and expenses, and the College of Letters and Science has consistently refused to provide support for computing at either the departmental or college level. Nor does there exist a tradition of extramural research funding in the humanities which can make up the difference. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: <ASNIDEPD@UIAMVS> Subject: Books and Reproduction Date: Thu, 11 Jan 90 01:43 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1491 (1902) Chet Grycz's recent contribution suggests that print culture after Gutenberg and before the electronic seminar provided us with material "clues," no longer available, to help us discern quality. In future, we will have to cast aside these crutches since "defining a canon of markers similar to those of print is apt to be difficult. There seems little chance that the homogeneity and formality that characterizes print will be readily transferred to the new medium." I wonder, though, if this interesting argument doesn't elide a distinction between two sets of textual markers, one bibliographical and the other authorial. The academic book, as aesthetic object, has already lost ground, and will probably continue to in the future. (Look closely--but not too closely-- at the paper and "type" of some recent volumes under British imprints.) But I'm not convinced the electronic medium will, by itself, deliver the death blow to book culture in its current form. Say what we will about liberating textuality or the death of the author, the institutional and authorial markings that accompany academic discourse condition our reading of it. Such signs disclose far more meaning than paper quality or design. One example: _PMLA_, despite recent changes, is aesthetically unequal to other journals, but no less authoritative for all that. The electronic medium can, and probably will, replicate a network of institutional validations already in place. It is no accident that Bitnet transmissions appear under a barrage of names, institutions, and official encodings. By contrast, undergraduates in the university where I teach often contribute BBS messages pseudonymously or collaboratively, and thus perpetuate, I suppose, a scribal tradition. It seems to me that scholarly exchange is institutionalized and self-regulated in ways that may unify our writing across the electronic-paper boundary. I don't mean on the surface, where the fissure remains visible, but at the level where difference really counts. Alvin Snider Univ. of Iowa From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.921 electronic communications Date: Thu, 11 Jan 90 12:01:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1492 (1903) Among the "things" being created by electronic conferences like Humanist, ENGLISH, Megabyte U, et al., it seems to me, is a body of material about the nature of work (and the material conditions of work) in the humanities as it's being conducted right now. As Chet Grycz and others have noted, there's a range of "styles" (for want of a better word right now) from very casual to quite formal, but a good deal of what's communicated has to do with the writer's sense of the discipline s/he practices, and of his/her relation to the humanities and the academy more generally. Such a meta-discussion is potentially of great value, as scholarship redefines itself under the impact of the new technology and the new media that emerge from it. John Slatin University of Texas at Austin (eieb360@utxvm) From: dusknox@skipspc.idbsu.edu (Skip_Knox) Subject: Date: Thu 11 Jan 90 09:21:48 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1493 (1904) Chet Grycz mentions "critical mass" as a factor in the success of a forum. I have run a PC-based BBS at my university for three years now. Both on the board itself, and in each of its conferences, I have watched the phenomenon of critical mass at work. With too few members, a forum simply doesn't generate enough dialogue to make the forum immediately interesting to the new member. So the new members tend to visit infrequently and the number of messages stay low. At some point, the forum reaches critical mass, and suddenly seems to take on a life of its own. Perhaps that helps account for the liveliness of this forum over ENGLISH. By way of supporting this, I would point out that the HISTORY list is likewise quiescent most of the time. Very simply, humanism is a broader topic than history or english. It gathers in all of us, whereas the individual topics gather only a subset, in part because talk about the profession _does_ form a significant portion of the talk and such talk really is boring to outsiders. Since people in the humanities are rather behind in their acquisition of both computer technology and computer skills, it's not surprising that the specialty lists have yet to reach critical mass. In short, I'm not convinced that any great philosophical matter is at issue here. -= Skip =- From: Jim Cahalan <JMCAHAL@IUP.BITNET> Subject: FWAKE-L? Date: 11 Jan 90 08:47:27 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1494 (1905) A week or so ago, Ken Steele mentioned in passing FWAKE-L, a newsgroup devoted exclusively to Joyce's FINNEGANS WAKE. Does Ken or anyone else perchance have its full BITNET address? Thanks, Jim Cahalan, Graduate Literature <JMCAHAL@IUP.BITNET> English Dept., 111 Leonard, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA 15705-1094 Phone: (412) 357-2264 From: "maurice m. roumani" <ROUMANI@BGUVM> Subject: social scientist list Date: Thu, 11 Jan 90 15:27:32 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1495 (1906) Dear friends: I have been a member of the Humanist "Club" for the past 2 months, and I guess the time has come for me to gather courage and join in the act. Needless to say, I enjoyed most of the messages that I read and I would li ke to commend those who started the Humanist. For us here, in Beer Sheva, it is a window on the wide world and helps us to keep abreast with what is going o on elsewhere besides politics and politics. It also turned out that I learned a lot about Humanitieis, the MLA, the exposure to different viruses, and the possibility of being beamed out from our orbit by the nasty and greedy telephon e company. (I used to live in the States prior to de-regulation= life was simp ler and CHEAPER then). So, I am basically a Humanist and I want to continue to be so, despite the fact that professionally I am not in the Humanities. As you may have seen from my submitted cv in November, I am a political socio- logist interested in ethnic relations and Sephardi studies. And I am therefore interested to know if there is a Social Scientists Club comparable to that of the Humanist anywhere. I would appreciate any information on this and any suggestions you may have. In the meantime, keep up the good work and the Humanists on the ball! Thanks everyone, Maurice. From: "Ken Steele, University of Toronto" <KSTEELE@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: FWAKE-L and Other Intriguing Lists Date: Fri, 12 Jan 90 00:30:47 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1496 (1907) Jim Cahalan is not the first to inquire about the actual existence of FWAKE-L, so I suppose I should make a public announcement that the list's address (according the the Listserv at Utoronto) is FWAKE-L@IRLEARN. In fact, there's also a list called FWAKEN-L@IRLEARN devoted solely to TEXTUAL NOTES on Finnegan's Wake! A fascinating but little-known command (LIST GLOBAL), sent to the listserv at Utoronto, and quite possibly to any listserv (I'm no expert in these things) will produce a list of almost 2000 BITNET discussion lists. Of those known to Utoronto as of January 1990, the following seem particularly remarkable: AMNESTY AMNESTY@JHUVM Amnesty International list BSRUSERS BSRUSERS@PUCC BSR Software discussion list. CINEMA-L CINEMA-L@AUVM Discussions on all forms of Cinema DANTE-L DANTE-L@DHDURZ1 DANTE-L Distribution list of DANTE members ESPER-L ESPER-L@TREARN Esperanto List FILM-L FILM-L@VMTECMEX Film making and reviews list. FINE-ART FINE-ART@EB0UB011 (Peered) Fine-Art Forum FOLKLORE FOLKLORE@TAMVM1 Folklore Discussion List FWAKEN-L FWAKEN-L@IRLEARN Finnegans Wake - Textual Notes GAELIC-L GAELIC-L@IRLEARN GAELIC Language Bulletin Board HISTORY HISTORY@FINHUTC History HORROR HORROR@PACEVM Horror HUMANIST HUMANIST@UTORONTO HUMANIST Discussion LITERARY LITERARY@UCF1VM Discussions about Literature MORRIS MORRIS@SUVM Morris Dancing Discussion List NOTABENE NOTABENE@TAUNIVM Nota Bene List PHILOSOP PHILOSOP@YORKVM1 Philosophy Discussion Forum REED-L REED-L@UTORONTO REED-L: Records of Early English Drama SCUBA-L SCUBA-L@PURCCVM Scuba diving (Purdue) discussion list SCUG-L SCUG-L@MITVMA Supercomputer Users List SF-LIST SF-LIST@JPNKISCI SF author lists SFLOVERS SFLOVERS@RUTVM1 (Peered) SF-Lovers List SHAKER SHAKER@UKCC Shaker - A list on Shakerism. TEI-L TEI-L@UICVM Text Encoding Initative VALERT-L VALERT-L@LEHIIBM1 Virus Alert List WHIM WHIM@TAMVM1 WHIM - discussion list for "Humour WORDS-L WORDS-L@YALEVM English Language Discussion Group WP50-L WP50-L@UBVM WordPerfect Corporation Products YACHT-L YACHT-L@GREARN The Yachting, Sailing ... 9NOV89-L 9NOV89-L@DB0TUI11 Events around the Berlin Wall Admittedly, this is a (necessarily) small sample of the thousands of choices available, but it really is time that some of these little-known lists were re-announced. (Certainly I had never heard of them!) There are discussion lists for just about every kind of hardware, from Atari to Cray. There are discussions about all sorts of programming languages, specific computer applications -- you name it. I suggest anyone whose curiosity is whetted by the above sample obtain the full listing for a lengthy browse. Ken Steele University of Toronto From: David Sitman <A79@TAUNIVM> Subject: 1. Bitnet topics; 2. FWAKE and lists Date: Sun, 14 Jan 90 14:08:24 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1497 (1908) 1. The director of Bitnet recently announced that there is a file available from LISTSERV@BITNIC called BITNET TOPICS which contains a listing of the topics on which there are discussion groups. There does not seem to be a category into which Humanist fits. Perhaps we should have them add an appropriate topic for us. I append the listing for those who have not seen it. 2. Someone asked about the location of FWAKE-L. A few comments: First of all, FWAKE-L is at IRLEARN, which is in Dublin, of course. Second, I found out by sending the following command to my nearest 'backbone' Listserv: LIST GLOBAL /FWAKE I received a list of all the Listserv lists in the world with the string FWAKE in their title (there are two, the other one is FWAKEN-L, also at IRLEARN). Last, I need not know the location of a list in order to subscribe. If I send a subscription request to a 'backbone' Listserv, it will forward my request to the correct Listserv, or tell me if there are several sites with Listserv lists with the requested name. (Help for the baffled: Humanist's Listserv -- LISTSERV@UTORONTO -- is one of the more than 100 'backbone' Listservs.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BITNET Network Information Center BITNET Topics EDUCOM, Suite 600 1112 16th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036 Nov., 1989 BITNET DISCUSSION TOPICS The following topics are included in BITNET discussion lists (some originating on the Internet). Many of these topics also have support from servers on the network. For a machine-generated list of LISTSERV-run BITNET discussion groups, send the command LIST GLOBAL as the text of a mail message addressed to LISTSERV@BITNIC. For a regularly updated list of servers on BITNET, retrieve the file BITNET SERVERS from LISTSERV@BITNIC or send mail to BITLIB@YALEVM requesting a subscription to NETMONTH, which mailings include the BITNET SERVERS file each month. * * * * * * * * * * Agriculture Amateur Radio Archeology Architecture Arms Control, Disarmament Art Associations Astronomy, Astrophysics Biology, Biological Sciences Business Career Opportunities Chemistry Computing Artificial Intelligence, Expert Systems Computer-Aided Education Computer Science Database Management Systems for the Handicapped Office Automation Personal Computing Software Standards Supercomputers Workstations Current Events, News Dancing Drama Ecology, Environment Economics Education (General) Energy Ethics Folklore Games Genetics Geography Geology Government Agencies Higher Education Computing Centers Financial Planning Grants, Research University Administration History Instrumentation Languages Law Libraries Literature Marketing Mathematics Mechanical Engineering Medicine Gerentology Human Services AIDS Cancer Public Health Meeting Announcements Music Natural Resources Networking BITNET, EARN, ... HEPnet Protocols Services Software Standards Philosophy Photography Physics Accoustics General Physics Gravity Optics Political Science Psychology Real Estate Religion Sociology Space Sciences Sports Veterinary Medicine Weapons World Politics and Culture From: <MDHARRIS@GUVAX> Subject: UT Austin's Funding of Humanities Computing Date: Sat, 13 Jan 90 15:07 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 929 (1909) I cannot resist imparting a historical note about the University of Texas at Austin and its knowledge/understanding of humanities computing. In 1969 my doctoral program was approved to study for a Ph.D. in English literature with a second field in Computer Science. Part of my interest in the subject was fueled by a course I took in the Computer Science department, "Computers in the Humanities" taught by Nell Dale, still in the CS department there. When I began trying to use the computer (a massive punched card input system -- long before PCs or minis were available on campuses), I found that the Dept. of English had no account with the Computation Center and thus no way for me to use the computer. I had to obtain a grant from the Graduate School in order to run any program for an English course. I also used the grant money for the early stages of my dissertation work on collating manuscript poetry. Later when I had left Austin and continued my work long distance from New Orleans, I had to haul two boxes of punched cards back to Austin, beg and borrow computer time from friends and acquaintances, and rent computer time in New Orleans for data input. The final processing was accomplished by using some of the funding set aside for computer processing of D.H. Lawrence at the Humanities Research Center (now the Harry Ransom Center for something or other). I later paid back the HRC out of my own pocket ($100 in 1975). I am telling this story to point out that the University of Texas at Austin has known about humanities computing for quite a long time. They just don't choose to endorse the discipline now any more than they did 20 years ago. By the way, I did get my degree as approved (in 1975), but some esteemed faculty member (and I really don't remember who) vowed that the department would never again approve a program combining English lit. and Computer Science. To my knowledge, they have not broken that vow. Mary Dee Harris 2153 California St. NW Washington, DC 20008 mdharris@guvax.bitnet mdharris@guvax.georgetown.edu From: PARKINSON@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: e-Portuguese Date: Fri, 12 Jan 90 9:39 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1498 (1910) Does anyone have access to or knowledge of machine-readable texts in Portuguese? 19th- and 20th-century Portuguese and Brazilian literature would be of especial interest. Stephen Parkinson, Taylor Institution, Oxford University. From: JONATHAN KANDELL <KANDELL@rvax.ccit.arizona.edu> Subject: RE: 3.921 electronic communications (87) Date: Sat, 13 Jan 90 01:47:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1499 (1911) Does anyone know the address of Animal Rights? From: "Guy L. Pace" <PACE@WSUVM1> Subject: The Dead Mac and other stories Date: Fri, 12 Jan 90 08:18:10 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1500 (1912) The notes of late on the shortsightedness of departments in providing a) computing equipment, b) computing resources, or c) repair funds for existing equipment, displays a definite lack of sound budget management on the part of university department administration. The same holds for many of the departments at this institution, and at others with which I am familiar. The story goes: The department can't seem to find the funds for computing equipment and resources (but can find the $$$ to send the chair to several major conferences per year, all first class). Or the story goes: The department gets a donation, in monetary form or in physical equipment form, for computing equipment, but fails to provide funding to purchase software or printers or other items necessary to make the donation useful. There's another story, closer to me, that goes: The department is pretty smart when it comes to providing the equipment, resources and maintenance for the faculty and staff. However, the technical support person hired is far from capable of providing meaningful hardware advice or support. So, when its time to fix something, or time to upgrade hardware, he's not much help. Are there solutions to these problems? Probably not. Things have gone on like this too long. You don't even have the option of canning the poor technical support person. As anyone familiar with civil service will tell you, it thrives on mediocrity. Once in, nothing short of a nuclear blast will remove a civil service employee. From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.925 support (110) Date: Sat, 13 Jan 90 00:46:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1501 (1913) I have always hypothesized that there is something profoundly at work in the psychology of processes that are temporal, in which one may place the continuum of communication. Examples abound everywhere in the arts and in other public institutions, and they manifest themselves like this: if you want to raise monies for a building, a room, a dedicated place, a decoration, a painting or a sculpture, something that the donor or the the donor agency can put a plaque on, a bronze plate such as we use for cenotaphs in Los Angeles, in lieu of gravestones, by law, then you can find the monies. But--try a string quartet series, a poetry reading series, concerts or whatever, unless they be big rock and pop colosssals, and you wont find the money. Ask for a hospital room? You got it. Solid things that sing the praises of the donor, but not things writ in water, such as the life of the spirit. Is this merely vulgar, as I long thought? Or is it an al/gelt/guilt contempt for the evanescent? When books became cheap they were no longer THINGS, such as the Clerke of Oxenford had, less than two dozen? at his beddeside. But to raise 10K$ for a series of recitals, as subsidies for the to o-small concert hall, which has not enough seat to pay for the Juilliard or any other real quartet onthe basis of audience...it is to laugh. The same 10K$ can be found readily for an extra microscope in the blood lab, maybe, but not the geology lab, as I well know here at UCLA. Solid materialism is what it is and so it has longbeen. You can leave your monument, but the song that is sung? without memory from mouth to ear? But that is not what people give money for the ring givers nowadays. They give it to leave their name on the bronze plate. Look at the donors in the corners of the altar paintings. The word writers are anonymous, no? Even Will Shakespeare didnt seem to care for putting out his own book much, it seems. a monument of deathless verse? No, take the proceeds from the Globe! Odd. Support is not visible monies. I recall a member of the knesset lamenting to me in 1964 that the billionaire Lever family was going to build a hall for the nations concerts etc in Jerusalem, and she did, but didnt give a penny for the janitorial upkeep. And the government, which is pauperish was rather worried. Finally years later it seems she did endow a janitor fund. It seems to be a rule. Let us take heed. How to solve that problem? I ask you all . Kessler at UCLA From: Mark Olsen <mark@gide.uchicago.edu> Subject: Why HUMANIST? Date: Thu, 11 Jan 90 23:09:04 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1502 (1914) I agree with what most of what Skip has to say about critical mass except that he overlooks the vital role that Willard, our genial host and moderator, plays in organizing discussion, eliminating redundant messages, commenting on various conversations on the list, and maintaining the file server, plays in making HUMANIST far more interesting and convenient than either HISTORY or ENGLISH. Given a bit more guidance and organization by an individual like Willard, HISTORY and ENGLISH would, I think, be far more useful and interesting than they are at this time. Mark Olsen University of Chicago From: Michael O'Kelly <MOKELLY@IRLEARN> Subject: Reply to Jim Cahalan's query about the address of FWAKE-L Date: Fri, 12 Jan 90 10:29:14 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1503 (1915) The address of the list for general discussion about Finnegans Wake is FWAKE-L@IRLEARN.UCD.IE. To subscribe to FWAKE-L please send the following one-line message to LISTSERV@IRLEARN.UCD.IE: SUBSCRIBE FWAKE-L your name I started this list about a year-and-a-half ago. So far, like ENGLISH, it has been quiet. It is difficult to talk about Finnegans Wake without feeling whimsical, fanatical or pretentious: anyone who wants to try will be very welcome. There is an additional list for those who wish to share textual notes to Finnegans Wake. This second list is called FWAKEN-L@IRLEARN.UCD.IE Although it has a small number of subscribers, this list has been more successful. If you would be interested in the second list and are in a position to contribute, please mail me: MOKELLY@IRLEARN.UCD.IE Michael O'Kelly From: "J. S. Reed" <UNCJSR@UNC> Subject: Re: 3.927 FWAKE-L? social science group? (59) Date: Fri, 12 Jan 90 10:23:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1504 (1916) Maurice Roumani asks if there is a social-science list similar to HUMANIST. The short answer, I believe, is no, but there are specialized lists for anthropology, psychology, communications, amd political science (addresses on request), as well as one called SOS-DATA (on LISTSERV at UNCVM1) that handles queries and announcements about social-science data sources. --John Reed, Director Inst. for Research in Social Science U. of N.C., Chapel Hill From: Geoffrey Rockwell <Geoffrey_Rockwell@poczta.utcs.utoronto.ca> Subject: Date: Fri, 12 Jan 90 10:27:48 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1505 (1917) Subject: Like any dialogue a successful e-discussion depends partly on the appropriateness of the questions. One of the things I have always enjoyed about Humanist is the "fishing expeditions" that appear regularly. While I rarely have any answers, the questions say more about what people care to learn than the replies. Good questions draw forth discussion and when things get quiet, Willard comes up with an interesting question. Yours, Geoffrey Rockwell rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca From: George Aichele <73760.1176@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Tally Date: 11 Jan 90 20:25:15 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1506 (1918) Re: 3.907 new software: Tally While I wish to encourage announcements of software and hardware of interest to computing humanists, I for one would appreciate it if they would specify system compatibility and any other configuration requirements. George Aichele 73760,1176@compuserve.com om From: Amin Shafie - Univ of Cincinnati Comp Ctr <SHAFIE@UCBEH.SAN.UC.EDU> Subject: SIGUCCS CALL for PARTICIPATION Date: Thu, 11 Jan 90 14:13 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1507 (1919) <-------------------------------------------------------------------- < < SIGUCCS User Services Conference XVIII < Call For Participation < < New Centerings in Computing Services < < September 30 through October 3, 1990 < < Westin Hotel < Cincinnati, Ohio < < <<Attention Directors, Managers, Analysts, Consultants, Programmers, <<Technical Writers, Trainers, and Librarians! << <<The higher education computing scene in the 1990s will present exciting <<challenges. To accommodate users' needs, computing service organizations <<are now visibly transforming in function and structure. The widespread <<adoption of personal computing by all disciplines, the increasing demand <<for desktop access to shared resources, the growth in demand for <<supercomputing capabilities, and the proliferation of powerful desktop <<workstations exert irresistible forces on central computing services. <<In response, the central site grows exponentially in staff and machinery <<at one academic institution; at another, the computing center is disbanded <<to provide distributed computing! At some sites increasing specialization <<is urged; at others, generalization is required. Regardless of the <<transforming strategy adopted by an individual institution, one fact <<seems clear: the user is the center toward which all computing services <<are directed. << <<SIGUCCS '90 invites you to participate in the examination and discussion <<of the myriad challenges facing user services professionals as we enter a <<new decade and of the new centerings computing service organizations are <<discovering to meet them. Please join us! << -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. SIGUCCS CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.919 incomprehension blooms, lovingly (36) Date: Thu, 11 Jan 90 17:40:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 934 (1920) The only key I can imagine to this extraordinary reading of some late night missive is the word Bloom, not Leopold's Virag, but the Chicago flower, not the little one of NYC, the La Guardia, who guarded the city from the Demos once upon a time, or it Daimons? or Daemons? or Demots, Demots Justes, that is, and perhaps that has nothing to do with the non-budgetnoncomputer the Humanities Dean does not come up with for some of us, who choose to question the motives of the userish supportgroup? No, no, what O'Donnell, is it? read he read aright: viz., that perhaps Bloom was too traumatized by the Panthers with Rifles who took over the Administration Bldg at Cornell once upon a time, who intimidated the President, the political "scientists," and "sociologists" who waved joyfully to see the mini-berets manifesto themselves. That is all I alluded to, I believe, though my fingers are not as skilled as they once were with a typewriter keyboard. Aesopian language? from Me? Naw. Was I not clear in remarking that a friend says her friends who are Liberal, so called, and Progressive so-called, regret perestroika, as it discredits their whole lifelong commitment to the bastion of progress, CP SDCP, whatever? That is amusing. My recently deceased Dad used to read the NYTimes and always read it between the lines, as Russians read PRAVDA, turning every statement upside down and inside out and deciphering the reflections from the spaces between lines, the leading, it is called, which belongs there as long it aint in the form of bullets. If we need to finnish our fionnegans, we shall do it, and more, as it said, as we march along hoping to gather at the river, not today, though and not tomorrow? 1990! From: Mary Massirer <MASSIRERM@baylor.BITNET> Subject: help! on PS/2 Date: Mon, 15 Jan 90 08:51 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1508 (1921) I need the advice or suggestions of anyone who has used Lotus 1-2-3 Release 3 on an IBM PS\2 model 30 286. Will the model 30 allow Lotus to run? How does the presence of other software affect the use of memory? I'm thinking of Microsoft Windows especially, but other software as well. Thanks for any information you can share. Mary Massirer, Baylor (MASSIRERM@BAYLOR) From: Amanda C. Lee <ALEE@MSSTATE> Subject: networks in GErmany Date: Mon, 15 Jan 90 14:26:48 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1509 (1922) I'm sure someone out there can help me. A friend of mine in Germany just got a new computer, and I tried to convince him that if he got a modem too we could save a lot of money in phone bills. Unfortunately I didn't have the how's and where's -- that's what I'm trying to find out now. How can he and I link up via BITNET or some other network or whatever? Thanks, Amy Lee alee@msstate.bitnet From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.929 support of humanities comp Date: Mon, 15 Jan 90 10:00:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 936 (1923) Things have improved a little bit, though not all that much, since the University of Texas put Mary Dee Harris through the wringer: Fred Kemp graduated (1988) with a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Computers, and we have several more superb candidates coming along nicely. I must point out, however, that these are not joint English/CS degrees: they're English degrees. We have a very active Computer Research Lab with some very exciting work going on in such areas as hypertext and computer-mediated discourse (especially network based discourse)-- of course, as Director of the CRL, I have a vested interest in describing our work as exciting, but I believe the description is justified. But while we've achieved a certain measure of respect within the Department, and a good deal of support at least as far as staffing is concerned, we have yet to receive the requisite degree of material support: that hasn't changed, but we're working on it. (I'll start by trying to get my Mac fixed...) John Slatin, UT Austin (EIEB360@UTXVM) From: Natalie Maynor <MAYNOR@MSSTATE> Subject: Re: 3.928 discussion groups (207) Date: Sun, 14 Jan 90 23:43:40 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 937 (1924) Ask your local BITNET (or its counterpart) administrators about lists. I was quite surprised to read in the latest HUMANIST posting that this list of lists is not common knowledge. It is almost certainly sitting on your mainframe, easily accessible with a local command. Since BITNET commands are system-specific, there's no point in my telling you our local command for reading the list of lists. And since the file is 8000+ lines long, I'm obviously not going to post it on HUMANIST. I bet you all have it close at hand. Natalie Maynor English Department Mississippi State University From: N.J.Morgan@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.932 e-mail and more about discussion groups (102) Date: Tue, 16 Jan 90 05:26:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1510 (1925) In response to Mark Olsen's observations, I would add that the principle difference between say HISTORY and HUMANIST, apart from the presence of the latter's skilled moderator, is the fact that those who contribute to (and I assume read) HUMANIST do share a clear community of interest, despite the frequent and tedious soul searching that goes on by those who seem to have nothing better to do than type out extensive self- indulgent mailings will alarming regularity (oops !). HISTORY on the otherhand has no view of what it exists for, and of late has become a sort of bar-room courthouse for pseudo-historical discussion on a range of currently topical events. It really is, as Glasgow soccer players are often called, a waste of space. Nicholas Morgan Department of Scottish History University of Glasgow From: Jan Eveleth <EVELETH@YALEVM> Subject: Making E-conferences Work... Date: Tue, 16 Jan 90 09:10:37 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1511 (1926) Willard raises the question of what makes an electronic conference such as HUMANIST succeed? Chet Grycz suggests that "...it will be _content_ (the liveliness and pertinence of commentary) which will be the prime motivator for participating on one electronic seminar over another." I agree. But can this issue of "_content_" be dissected? What do we like about the content? We like the controversies, the intrigues, the harsh voices and the rational voices. We empathize and sympathize with stolen equipment, lack of funds, lack of respect for sweat poured into keyboards in attempts to expand the horizons of the way we do our research. The daily "soap opera" gels from the announcements of grand events and the timid, apologetic voices of individuals making their first postings. HUMANIST has developed into a community because it satisfies our curiosity and our need to be reassured that there are others facing the same computing dilemmas that we face. Oh yes, and the information is important too. How does a new conference succeed? First, the subscribers must represent a broad cross-section of a given population. Too much homogeneity makes for bland conversations. (Maybe this is why some very restricted conferences don't get much traffic.) As stated before, there needs to be a "critical mass" both in numbers of subscribers and particularly in the amount of email traffic. And the messages sent must project something of the sender. It's the person behind the message, within the words, that we are drawn too. HUMANIST has been rewarding because of the diversity of words, the array of personalities, and the willingness of several members to state what they think in explicit, provocative statements. HUMANIST succeeds because no topic is blindly rejected. And, of course, HUMANIST succeeds because of the attentions of Willard McCarty. That is certainly an important variable in defining why HUMANIST succeeds where other electronic conferences flounder. --Jan Eveleth Yale University From: Donald Spaeth 041 339-8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Subject: Hirsch et al. Date: Tue, 16 Jan 90 09:40:14 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1512 (1927) I am reminded of the Tom Lehrer song on racism. To paraphrase, "Some people can't stand their fellow man and I hate people like that!" Need I say more? Don Spaeth University of Glasgow From: Morris Fried <FRIED@UCONNVM> Subject: Re: 3.934 Bloometc (38) Date: Tue, 16 Jan 90 19:20:57 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1513 (1928) Kessler's paean to Chicago's Bloom is inspired, and under Willard's superb baton, makes all of this worthwhile to this observer. Please carry on... From: N.J.Morgan@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.935 Lotus on PS/2? German networks? Date: Tue, 16 Jan 90 05:39:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1514 (1929) Re 123 and Windows etc. I would suggest that if you have to use a ps2/30 286, and if you have to use Windows, that you forget 123 and use MS Excel instead, which works nicely with Windows with 1mb ram, and gives all the advantages of DDE (Dynamic data exchange). This may not work so well, however, if your ps2 is linked to a network, where memory overheads may well slow the system down far beyond the user's tolerance. Nicholas Morgan Department of Scottish History University of Glasgow From: <NEUMAN@GUVAX> Subject: Portuguese Date: Tue, 16 Jan 90 11:26 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1515 (1930) In a recent posting, Stephen Parkinson (parkinson@vax.oxford.ac.uk) asked about machine-readable texts in Portuguese or Brazilian. Lita Taylor and Geoffrey Leech, in their Lancaster Preliminary Survey of Language Corpora (May 1989) mention a corpus of Portuguese currently under development at the Maria Tereza Camargo Biderman Institute of Arts, Social Sciences and Education at Araraquara, Brazil. Sorry, no contact person or address available. The textbank, designed for a frequency dictionary of modern Portuguese, consists of 3 million words of Brazilian Portuguese, 1 million words of Portuguese Portuguese, and 1 million words of African Portuguese. Novels, plays, journalistic sources, and scientific writings comprise the sources used for the textbank. Mike Neuman Georgetown Center for Text and Technology (202) 687-6096 From: ENCOPE@LSUVM Subject: Veteran E-Mailer To Turn Poet at Famous Convention Date: Mon, 15 Jan 90 22:06:38 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1516 (1931) Veteran e-mailer KEVIN L. COPE wishes to invite members of all lists to attend the forthcoming conference of the Mississippi Philological Association, now only two weeks away. The conference will feature the debut of old-timey e-mailer KEVIN L. COPE as a poet. Cope will read from such recent compositions as "Memo to a Department," "The Greasiad," "Ode to the Lennon Sisters," and "The Liberace Suite." Thousands of other papers and compositions in the literary arts will be featured. Interested parties should immediately contact Harry Donaghy, of the Department of English at Mississippi State University, in University, Mississippi, near Starkville. The conference will convene January 26-27, with accommodations at the palatial Ivy Guest House. From: JLD1@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Arabic Computing Conference Date: Tue, 16 Jan 90 10:53:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1517 (1932) Literary and Linguistic Computing Centre and Centre of Middle Eastern Studies University of Cambridge jointly announce 2nd Conference and Exhibition on Bilingual Computing in Arabic and English 5-7 Sep. 1990 To: Ahmad Ubaydli, Convenor. Please send me: Registration documents Exhibition information I wish to contribute a paper: Yes No on theme no. (see list of themes): (PLEASE ENCLOSE A 100 WORD ABSTRACT) Deadline for abstracts: 15 February 1990 Deadline for submission of camera-ready copy: 14 May 1990 Name and address to appear in the list of participants: Surname: Title and other names: Affiliation: Address: Phone: Fax: Telex: E-mail: c/o Literary & Linguistic Computing Centre Sidgwick Avenue Cambridge CB3 9DA UK Telephone: +44 (223) 335029 Telex: 81240 CAMSPL G Fax: +44 (223) 335110 EMail: AU100@UK.AC.CAM.PHX [JANET] AU100@PHX.CAM.AC.UK [EARN/BITNET] Call for papers: Papers for the following themes are invited. Camera-ready copy for papers to be presented at the conference must be submitted by 14 May 1990. Conference proceedings will be available at registration. The main language of the conference will be English, but papers in Arabic will be considered. It may be possible for these to be used together with English abstracts or full translations. THEMES (1) Software copy protection problems in the Arab World (2) Bilingual data bases: compiling classical Arabic sources, contemporary data banks (3) Publications on bilingual computing: magazines, books and manuals (4) Computer based lexicography and machine translation (5) Teaching of Arabic by computer Hardware and Software Exhibition Conference Proceedings: It is intended to have the conference proceedings available at registration in order to facilitate discussion. There will be a limit of 10 pages per paper. The deadline for camera-ready copy will be 14 May 1990. There will be a modest charge for the conference proceedings, which will reflect a proportion of the production costs. If sufficient high-quality papers are submitted it is hoped that these can be published in book form after the conference. It may be possible to include papers for which there was insufficient time during the conference. Overnight Accommodation in Cambridge: Accommodation is available at modest rates at St Catharine's College. Bookings should be made by application to the Conference organisers and paid for at least 2 weeks before the start of the conference. Late bookings cannot be accepted. If hotel accommodation is required a list of hotels in Cambridge can be supplied. It is not possible for LLCC staff to make hotel bookings on behalf of participants. You are advised to book well in advance as Cambridge hotels are always very full. Accommodation charges will be in addition to the conference registration fee. Social Programme: (1) Official reception and conference dinner (2) Khalil Hawi memorial reception (3) A concert of European and Arabic music performed by Bottisham Opera and the Cambridge Instrumentalists Conference fees: Paid before 16 June 1990: 60 pounds Paid after 16 June 1990: 75 pounds Student Rates: Paid before 16 June 1990: 25 pounds Paid after 16 June 1990: 40 pounds Exhibitor's fees (per 5 square metres): 250 pounds (Cheques payable to University of Cambridge, in pounds sterling drawn on a British Bank or Eurocheques in pounds sterling). From: HAHNE@UTOREPAS Subject: Bibliographic and textual database manager Date: 16 Jan 90 14:02:40-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1518 (1933) I want to announce a database manager designed especially to meet the needs of scholars, students, writers and others who work with a lot of textual and bibliographic information. I wrote LIBRARY MASTER because the limitations of typical database managers (fixed length fields, column oriented reports and limited support for non-English text) make these programs less than adequate for the type of information people in the humanities work with. LIBRARY MASTER is designed for easy entry of text of arbitrary length, rapid powerful searches, and flexible report formatting in common word processor file formats. It allows a scholar to keep track of tens of thousands of articles and books, and to take research notes on these works. The flexible report generator automatically produces annotated bibliographies formatted according to various style sheets, such as MLA, Chicago, APA and Turabian. Here are a few of the special features that make LIBRARY MASTER of particular interest to humanities scholars: 1. Variable length fields and records up to 65000 characters long. 2. Built in editor has common word processor capabilities including extensive cursor movement and text delete commands, wrap around, search and replace, block operations, and fonts such as underlining, boldface, italics, superscript and subscript. 3. Accented western European language characters can be easily entered, searched and properly sorted. 4. "Point and select" listing of field contents simplifies searching and data entry for repetitious fields (such as subject categories). 5. Multiple record types allow different types of data in the same database (e.g., books, journal articles, articles in books, dissertations, unpublished manuscripts, video recordings, interviews, etc. Each record type can have different fields and can be formatted differently in a report or bibliography. 6. A wide variety of data types including text, names, dates, numbers and literature references. 7. References to literary works such as books of the Bible, ancient Greek and Latin literature, Shakespeare, etc. can be searched by a range of references (e.g., Jn. 3:5-20; 1QS 5:20-24; Ex. Rab. 3-4). This is particularly useful when you are cataloging articles that contain an analysis of other literary works. 8. Data compression on repetitious fields saves disk space and speeds up searches. 9. Powerful search capabilities on any combination of fields using Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT). Whole field, subfield or beginning of field can be searched for equals, not equals, greater than, greater than or equals, less than, less than or equals, and sounds like. 10. B-tree indexes allow rapid searches and updates. 11. Searches can run concurrently in the background while the user browses through matching records. 12. Flexible report generation allows reports with textual information to be arranged in almost any manner. Bibliographies are automatically formatted according to common manuals of style. New Style Sheets and report formats are easily designed. 13. Reports can automatically include formatting codes used by popular word processors, such as underline, boldface, margins, line spacing, headers, tabs, page numbers, accented characters, etc. 14. Keystroke macros allow automation of frequently repeated tasks. 15. Flexible data import capabilities allow data to be imported from online information services and library catalogs, other databases and text files. The import program can be customized to work with almost any type of file. Planned future enhancements include support for languages using non- Latin alphabets, in particular Greek and Hebrew. LIBRARY MASTER requires an IBM PC compatible with at least 384K of memory. The program may be purchased for $179 ($199, Canadian) and includes a 200 page manual. If you want a more detailed information sheet, let me know and I can BITNET it to you. If you give me your mailing address, I can send you a demonstration version of the program to try out for free. It includes most program features but limits the database size. Harry Hahne Wycliffe College, University of Toronto 5 Hoskin Ave. Toronto, Ont. M5S 1H7 From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: Date: 16 January 1990, 15:55:08 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1519 (1934) I have been asked to serve on an Ohio State Board of Regents advisory group that will project the perfect scholar's work station: the computer-linked, communication center, desk-top publisher, library-searching, all-purpose professor's dream electronic office. Since this is a project growing out of what is also a projected linking up of all state libraries, the emphasis will be on scholarly research via libraries. In the past, Humanist has discussed the design of centers for computing in the humanities, and has discussed incidentally the scholar's work station, but may I ask for a design for the perfect scholarly electronic office, with instant access to the library? One advantage of such networked offices, as explained to me by a director of our library, would be automated library functions such as notification to the scholar of all books coming through Acquisitions within his or her stated fields. One service might be the delivery of books to the scholar (really to keep office space in the library free for library use); another service might be semi-automatic copying of journals at the scholar's request, from the holdings of any library in the state (or any library linked with the Ohio OLIS system). Any suggestions either for equipment, communication links, services? Roy Flannagan From: ENCOPE@LSUVM Subject: OH NO IT'S CURSOR TROUBLE GET ME A COMPU-DOC KWIK CWICK QWIK! Date: Mon, 15 Jan 90 22:02:41 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1520 (1935) Does anyone have a program that will enlarge the almost invisible cursor on the Toshiba laptop, specifically the T-1200 with a very hard disk? Kevin L. Cope Department of English Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 ENCOPE@LSUVM From: LNGDANAP@UOGUELPH Subject: Address request Date: Mon, 15 Jan 90 23:20:26 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1521 (1936) I would very much appreciate it if fellow HUMANISTS at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem could send me the e-address for Gabrielle Schorr (Department of French). If she has none, could someone pass on a brief message to her? Many thanks. From: STAIRS@vm.epas.utoronto.ca Subject: Network Charging Date: Thu, 18 Jan 90 12:11:33 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1522 (1937) Fellow Humanists, Greetings! I am wondering if anyone out there knows of some software that we could use to keep track of pages printed on a Novell network? We have a lab for students to use. We provide both dot-matrix and laser printers for their use. Currently we only charge for the laser printers. These involves a member of the staff counting sheets of paper, then loaning out the paper tray with X sheets. When the student brings the tray back they pay for how much they have printed. I recall accounting facilities on mainframes keeping track of the number of pages printed, and charging accounts accordingly. Does anyone know if an equivalent utility is available for PC networks (especially Novell)? It seems a terrible waste of staff time carrying on the way we have in the past. Any leads would be greatly appreciated. Michael Stairs Site Coordinator Centre for Computing in the Humanities University of Toronto 416-978-6391 STAIRS@UTOREPAS From: AEB_BEVAN@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK Subject: Back messages on e-journals bundled into file? Date: Thu, 18 JAN 90 16:32:40 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1523 (1938) Past messages on Electronic Journals There has been quite a traffic on the pros and cons of electronic journals in HUMANIST over the past year. Unfortunately, I didnt keep copies of these -and Ive just been asked for comments by colleagues who want to start such a journal in the business strategy field. Has anyone got these messages extracted and filed, and if so could they send me a copy? This would save me having to do a complete trawl though the HUMANIST archives... Thanks! Edis Bevan Open University, United Kingdom From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: initiation? Date: 17 January 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1524 (1939) A query about a matter unrelated to computing (if anything can be), asked in my capacity as curious private citizen. I am interested in the comparative religious study of initiation, especially with regards to the symbolism. Mircea Eliade has, I know, written much on this subject, e.g. Rites and Symbols of Initiation, but I am uneasy about relying solely on Eliade's work, although it seems to be just right for my purposes. What makes Eliade so useful is his attention to modes of thought, and hence imagery and metaphor, supposedly characteristic of initiation. My interest is specifically in tracing initiatory patterns in the Hebrew Bible. Any advice or references would be greatly appreciated. Yours, Willard McCarty From: Natalie Maynor <MAYNOR@MSSTATE> Subject: Re: 3.938 e-seminars; more on Bloom et al. (106) Date: Thu, 18 Jan 90 08:19:12 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 943 (1940) Although I agree, of course, that we have Willard to thank for much of the success of HUMANIST, I'm writing to tell those of you who subscribe to only a few lists that there are certain advantages of unmoderated lists. True, unmoderated lists often include junk- mail: requests that should be sent to the listserv are sometimes sent to the whole list, redundant answers are given to a question, etc. (sorry about that -- I *like* "etc."). In spite of having to delete junk-mail, I prefer the fast flow of unmoderated lists. Because they are making full use of the speed of e-mail, the discussions tend to be livelier. And because each posting arrives separately, it is easier to delete unread or partially read those not of interest -- i.e., grouped mailings require wading through three postings not of interest in order to reach number four. Again let me say that there are trade-offs and that clearly Willard's work has made HUMANIST an efficient list. Recent postings, however, have made me think that some of you may not be aware of the cornucopia of lists out there, many of which are quite active and quite interesting -- unlike ENGLISH, which is neither of the above. From: George Aichele <73760.1176@CompuServe.COM> Subject: computers and humanities (again) Date: 17 Jan 90 20:52:54 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 944 (1941) I have been receiving the HUMANIST e-mailings for about two months now, with great interest. One of the more fascinating themes has been the question of support for computer-assisted research and publication in the humanities, in relation to other questions of academic politics, the future of the humanities, prospects for electronic publication, and even, recently, the civil service! I note (from the membership list which I was sent when I joined HUMANIST) than the vast majority of members are affiliated with large state or wealthy private universities. Much of the discussion in HUMANIST supposes a reader at such a school, where funding for research and publication (computer-assisted or not) is readily available--at least compared to the sort of place where I work. I do not object to this emphasis, but I would like to call attention to the rather different problems faced by some computing humanities scholars (even if there's not many of us on HUMANIST). The goal of this posting is neither to win your pity, nor to fill you with gratitude for your good fortune. But... I work at one of those places where we're all supposed to be "dedicated to the liberal arts tradition" or some such thing--in short we're supposed to care more about teaching than we do about salaries, teaching loads, or working conditions. Along with no "publish or perish" comes no support for research or publication. Our entire faculty is probably smaller than some of your departments. This gives each individual a much larger role in the workings of the whole. However, our endowment is laughable. Budgeting and planning is a day-by-day, hand-to-mouth affair, and the administration is terrified at the thought of raising tuition. The college uses a beat-up old mainframe which (so I'm told) does not have the capacity for a BITNET connection. Unlike nearly all of you, I pay for my HUMANIST access by the minute, via the INTERNET gateway on Compuserve, which I call on my computer at home. All my computer costs are paid out of my own pocket--and at a salary roughly 2/3 that of my state university counterparts (according to the AAUP). (If my wife didn't work, I might have to get a real job!) There's no particular point to these ramblings, except to remind you that the "Big State U." model is rather foreign to some of us--at least in relation to our present situations. And, of course, I haven't addressed the situation of the "independent scholar," who may even be looking with some longing at my job! George Aichele Adrian College 73760,1176@compuserve.com From: J.C.Smith@GDR.BATH.AC.UK Subject: Date: Wed, 17 Jan 90 15:50:05 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1525 (1942) CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS HOW TO DO THINGS WITH PRAGMATICS: PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS TO THE TEACHING OF FRENCH The 1990 conference of the British Association for French Language Studies will be held at the University of Liverpool, U.K., from lunchtime on Monday 10 September to lunchtime on Wednesday 12 September. The theme will be `How to do things with pragmatics: principles and applications to the teaching of French'. Papers (in English or in French) are invited on any aspect of the analysis of French above the level of the sentence (including pragmatics, text grammar, and discourse analysis) and on the pedagogical applications of such research in the areas of syllabus design and teaching methodology. SIX copies of an abstract of not more than half a page of A4- size paper should be submitted by 1 MARCH 1990 to the programme committee, care of: John Charles Smith School of Modern Languages and International Studies University of Bath Claverton Down BATH BA2 7AY ENGLAND telephone: (+44) 225-826171 fax: (+44) 225-826099 email: mlsjcs@uk.ac.bath.gdr (BITNET, EARN, JANET) from whom further details of the conference are available. Note that this conference will immediately precede the Autumn Meeting of the Linguistics Association of Great Britain at the University of Leeds. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: KDEM III parts Date: Thursday, 18 January 1990 1451-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1526 (1943) We are pleased to report that we now have in place a Kurzweil 4000 scanner, replacing two old model III scanners that had outworn their usefulness. The Kurzweil company graciously provided the model 4000 in exchange for the functional boards, scanning units, and some other parts of the model IIIs. Thus we are left with the following items that must be discarded if noone wants them. If you have any interest in any of these, please speak up immediately. You must pay costs of handling and shipping. Two shells for the KDEM model III scanner. One of them is stripped of all except the three fans, the sockets for the boards, and the sockets for plugs. The other includes the above items plus the two poser supplies (for Scanner and MAX) and the voltage transformer. One half-height shell for the Diablo 3200 Disk Drive. Two disk drive drawers (boards removed) -- that is, the mechanical portions of the disk drives. We also have some related items that MIGHT be available if someone is interested, possibly with minimal (negotiated) charges involved: Several of the removable disk packs (the current contents would need to be erased first, somehow), and a functioning HP 2649A terminal. Interested parties please contact me immediately. We will dispose of the bodies early next week (they are obstructing a hallway at present). Bob Kraft, CCAT From: STAIRS@vm.epas.utoronto.ca Subject: IPA Stack Date: Thu, 18 Jan 90 12:21:16 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1527 (1944) Greetings, I posted a notice a couple weeks ago regarding an IPA transciption teaching tool we are developing. We were overwhelmed by the response. Please do not think that my silence means that I did not receive your messages. Rather than respond to each request individually, I am posting this notice to Humanist so everyone gets it. The program, a HyperCard stack called Phthong, is still under development. We shall be testing it in a course here in the early summer. It is my intention that we have a product ready to distribute for the fall term. We were not prepared for such a large response, but it is added incentive to press on. I hope to develop the program in such a way that it could run on either Macs or PCs. However, I expect the first release will run on Macs only. We are currently trying to figure out which is the best way to market the program. Like most of you I expect, we are neither familiar with the marketing steps necessary to bring a new product out, nor do we care to ever know these steps. So, right now we are trying to convince the unversity administration to set up sort of marketing mechanism for new products which we could then take advantage of. This all means that we are unclear how the program will be distributed, but we are developing it regardless. By the time the program is completed we should have all these details sorted out. The program will include a number of exercises designed to teach students the art of transcription. It will include some facility for the teacher to create her/his own exercises. In this way the program should have a broad appeal. Anyone who is interested should feel free to send me a note, and I will add their name to the list. When we are finished the production I will send a notice to everyone who has asked to be notified. Michael Stairs Site Coordinator Centre for Computing in the Humanities University of Toronto 416-978-6391 STAIRS@UTOREPAS From: Norman Hinton <SSUBIT12@UIUCVMD> Subject: BIG cursor Date: Wed, 17 Jan 90 09:35:53 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1528 (1945) Please note: I have no personal experience with this software. But for several years, Infoworld has had an ad for software titled No-Squint: the ad (on p. 78 of the Jan 8 issue) says that it provides a "BIG and BOLD and BLINKing" cursor. Cost is 39.95 plus $2 shipping: the makers, SkiSoft Publishing Co, 1644 Massachusetts Ave., Suite 79, Lexington MA 02173 (U.S.A.) have an 800 number: 800-456-8465. The ad specifically mentions the Toshiba 1000: it should be worth a free phone call to see if the cursor routine works on a 1200.... From: Osman.Durrani@durham.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.913 (Meg Greer) Date: Thu, 18 Jan 90 09:16:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1529 (1946) Herewith a response from our resident Hispanists to your query Nr 3.913. Meg Greer: your message re SCRIBES has arrived with me via many! Our G-A colleague -- Dan Rogers -- won't come near a screen, but I've taken a hard copy of your message to show him. Chris Perriam, Dept of Spanish and Italian, SML, Durham University, Durham, England. (spk0 @ uk.ac.dur.mts) From: Daniel Boyarin <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.941 ideal workstation? enlarged cursor? address? (67) Date: Wed, 17 Jan 90 13:16:51 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1530 (1947) to lngdana at guelph or something like that. i will be happy to pass on a message to gabrielle schorr if you send it to me. From: Donald Spaeth 041 339-8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Subject: Charging for Laser printing Date: Fri, 19 Jan 90 18:14:47 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1531 (1948) This is a real problem, and I'd love to hear of a software solution. I've been at two universities which have solved the problem differently. At one, where the laser printer was attached to a mini, an operator removed printed paper and weighed each print "job". At the second, a charge device was wired into each laser printer. Users bought "charge" cards with magnetic strips which recorded how much money they had left. When they printed they inserted their card and the device debited it one unit for each page printed. If no card was inserted the printer behaved as if it was out of paper. The latter system has the advantage that users can control their own printing, and no operator staff is needed to run it. But there are logistical problems, e.g. what if someone prints a page by accident (possibly without even knowing they've done so) or has no card or money on it--everyone else must wait. It also does not integrate well with print spooling, although it can work if people are watchful. One small helpful utility would one which told a user when their job was ready to print so that they could then insert their card. Some of you may be wondering what the fuss is; why not just count the pages in software? But there is no necessarily relationship between the length of a document (either in number of pages or amount of toner used) and the number of bytes/records sent to a printer. Newpage is a character like any other, which tells the printer to eject the current sheet. And clever techniques can probably be circumvented by clever users. Donald Spaeth University of Glasgow From: "Michael E. Walsh" <WALSH@IRLEARN> Subject: Charging for print (originally network charging) Date: Fri, 19 Jan 90 17:55:01 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1532 (1949) There is no neat solution. Our approach is to minimise staffing overhead and not to try to recover costs for resources already consumed. Our current approach is to attach a magnetic stripe card control unit to the laser printers, costing about $500, and to sell the cards. The cards are good for 50 or 100 pages and the cost per card is set to establish your desired page print cost. This is working very satisfactorily at a number of Colleges in Ireland. It is even possible to recover your capital costs in the first days card sales. Remember that the cost of running a real accounting and invoicing operation can be much greater than the revenue would justify. Avoid it if at all possible. Michael Walsh University College Dublin Ireland From: Leslie Burkholder <lb0q+@andrew.cmu.edu> Subject: e-journals Date: Fri, 19 Jan 90 09:46:40 -0500 (EST) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 948 (1950) Edis Bevan asks for a collection of past postings to the HUMANIST on electronic journals. I too would like to see such a collection or references on the subject. I can supply the following references for those interested: Brailsford and Beach, "_Electronic Publishing_ - a journal and its production", The Computer Journal vol 32 (1989). Seiler, "The future of the scholarly journal", Academic Computing (Sep 1989). Rogers and Hurt, "How scholarly communication should work in the 21st century", The Chronicle of Higher Education (18 Oct 1989). Seiler and Raben, "The electronic journal", Society (Sep/Oct 1981). Leslie Burkholder From: Richard Goerwitz <goer@sophist.uchicago.edu> Subject: teaching english as a foreign language - software? Date: Fri, 19 Jan 90 11:11:12 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 949 (1951) A friend of mind from India - whose English is pretty good, but not quite good "enough" - has asked me whether I know about software designed for foreigners learning/sharpening up on English. Not just for her sake, but for my own infor- mation, I'd like to know whether anything along these lines exists (for Mac, PC, whatever). If any subscribers to this list have any information that might lead to the apprehension of such a program (and happen to have a moment to spare!) could they please, please drop me a line? -Richard L. Goerwitz goer@sophist.uchicago.edu goer%sophist@uchicago.bitnet rutgers!oddjob!gide!sophist!goer From: Thomas Zielke <113355@DOLUNI1> Subject: Re: 3.900 instruction? Date: Fri, 19 Jan 90 07:20:36 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 950 (1952) RE: Instruction Dear John Sandys-Wunsch, I do not know how much time you have to teach the varieties of computing, so I wouldn't know whether my ideas can be included in your curriculum, but anyway: 1) How about graphic data processing (business-style charts, maps etc.)? 2) And have you thought of statistical packages (SPSS, SPSS-PC)? 3) Would you also teach DOS-Utilities like PC-TOOLS or the Norton Utils.? 4) More advanced Humanists could also be shown the possibilities of TeX, AutoCAD, Fortran (never mind how often you hear that Fortran is dead, it's a good introduction to programming anyway...), C, Lisp etc., but that would be dependent of what your students will like to hear. I hope that I could help you a bit with my suggestions, but I'm sure that you will be flooded with other ideas as well... Yours Thomas Zielke From: "Vincent B. Y. Ooi" <eib014@central1.lancaster.ac.uk> Subject: Public-domain ADA compiler Date: Mon, 22 Jan 90 08:37:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1533 (1953) Does anyone know of a public-domain ADA Compiler that's available via e-mail? I'm asking on behalf of a student and would appreciate any info as well as a copy, if available. Many thanks. Vincent -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- |Vincent B. Y. Ooi : |Unit for Computer Research on the English Language (UCREL) : |Linguistics, Bowland College | |Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YT | |UNITED KINGDOM : : : :E-mail (JANET) address: eib014@central1.lancs.ac.uk | From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1534 (1954) DATE: 23 JAN 90 10:28 CET FROM: A400101@DM0LRZ01 SUBJECT: The last shall be first ... I've only just (22.1) received the original mailing about the Dead Mac, though I've been reading the replies for days - same goes for other topics recently. Am I the only victim of this kind of thing, or is it normal? Is there any explanation from the network gurus for arbitrary delays in the delivery of e-mail? (I could understand _big_ files getting shunted to one side, but not HUMANIST postings). And how do we fit this into the idea of electronic bulletins as the new means of scholarly communication? Call it hypertext with a random element designed to provoke thought, perhaps? Timothy Reuter Monumenta Germaniae Historica Postfach 34 02 23 Tel. 089 21 98 381 D-8000 Muenchen 34 (FRG) E-mail A400101@DM0LRZ01 From: "Paul H. Bern" <PHBERN@SUVM> Subject: GENERAL INQUIRER AND OTHER SOFTWARE Date: Tue, 23 Jan 90 13:46:41 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1535 (1955) [Please direct all answers both to Humanist AND to Mr. Bern. --WM] I am a doctoral student in Mass Communication at Syracuse University. I am in the process of preparing my dissertation proposal and need some advice on software for content analysis. Specifically, I wish to content analyze open-ended responses collected in persuasion experiments. Each subject reads a message, lists his or her thoughts or reactions to the message in 1 to 5 or more sentences. I would need to compare the lists with the message, as well as compare the lists of subjects who read different messages. Eventually, I will need numeric data to perform factor analysis and analysis of variance, as well as some other analyses; I would like to do this in SAS. Would the General Inquirer "do" what I need it to, or is there another package that you think would be better? I would prefer IBM software (mainframe or PC), but I do have access to MacIntosh hardware. If you have it, could you please send me the address to which I can write or BITNET for more information on the General Inquirer? [NB The General Inquirer is now being distributed by the Zentrum fuer Umfragen, Methoden, und Analysen (Mannheim); for more information, contact Dr. Peter Ph. Mohler, O05@DHDURZ2, and see the ZUMA-Nachrichten. --W.M.] I have searched through "Tools for Humanists 89", "Humanities Computing Yearbook(88)" and back issues of "Computers and the Humanities." Paul H. Bern Rm. 488 NCC II Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 13210 (315) 443-4081 PHBERN@SUVM From: David Owen <OWEN@rvax.ccit.arizona.edu> Subject: New Philosophy List Date: Fri, 19 Jan 90 14:19:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1536 (1956) Here is the latest list of machine-readable texts in philosophy. If you have further entries, please let me, or Leslie Burholder, know. David Owen Machine-readable texts Prepared by Leslie Burkholder Date of this version = 12 Jan 1990. Thanks for contributions to: Mike Neuman, Stephen Clark. For information on text-analysis software see The Humanities Computing Yearbook 1988 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), chapters 25-27. Contains descriptions of various programs and references to articles about computer-aided text-analysis. Peter Abelard. [Works]. In Latin. For information contact: Literary & Linguistic Computing Center, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Ave., Cambridge CB3 9DA, England. Anselm of Canterbury (Saint Anselm). Opera Omnia. In Latin. For information contact: Literary & Linguistic Computing Center, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Ave., Cambridge CB3 9DA, England. -------------------- [A complete version of this listing is now available on the file-server, s.v. PHILOSFY ETEXTS. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: "David M. Mark (716-636-2283)" <GEODMM@UBVMS.BITNET> Subject: Call for Participants: NATO Advanced Study Institute Date: Mon, 22 Jan 90 23:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1537 (1957) Please distribute to other interested parties: Call for Participants: NATO ADVANCED STUDY INSTITUTE "COGNITIVE AND LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF GEOGRAPHIC SPACE" July 8-20, 1990 Las Navas del Marques, Spain The Scientific Affairs Division of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has awarded a grant to support an Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on the topic of "Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space". Subject to final confirmation, this ASI will be conducted July 8-20, 1990, at Castillo-Palacio "Magalia" in Las Navas del Marques, Provincia de Avila, Spain. The Director of the ASI is David M. Mark, of the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA), Buffalo, New York, USA; the Associate Director of the Institute is Andrew Frank, NCGIA, Orono, Maine, USA. The NCGIA is a co-Sponsor of the meeting, and the official language of the ASI will be English. The objective of the ASI is to provide high-level instruction and discussion in areas of cognitive science, linguistics, mathematics, artificial intelligence, computer science, cartography, anthropology, and behavioral geography to scholars wishing to improve geographic information systems, or to use GISs in their basic research on various topics. The ASI also will provide a forum to extend the research agenda on the topic. Human geography has a long tradition of concern for spatial cognition, and for the ways in which mental representations of geographic space influence spatial behavior. Spatial cognition is also of central concern to cognitive science. Implementation of cognitively-sound models should lead to improved geographic information systems (GIS) user interfaces, spatial query languages, and spatial inference methods, and will require application of topology, geometry, and artificial intelligence. Such models will be crucial in the removal of impediments to cross-linguistic transfer of GIS technology. The ASI will begin with introductory lectures on the workshop topic and on Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Then, invited Lecturers will present on specific topics. Confirmed lecturers for the ASI include: Mark Blades, (Psychology, University of Sheffield, England); Maria Catedra Tomas (Antropologia Social, Universidad Complutense Madrid, Spain); C. Grant Head (Geography, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada); John Herring (Mathematician, Intergraph Corporation, USA); and Ewald Lang (Linguistics, University of Wuppertal, Federal Republic of Germany). We have tentative indications that the following will also be lecturers: Jean-Gabriel Ganascia (Universite de Paris Sud, Orsay , France); Reginald Golledge, (Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA); and Zenon Pylyshyn (Psychology and Computer Science, University of Western Ontario, Canada). Because of the capacity of the site, this ASI is limited to a maximum of 60 "student" participants. (The term "student" is used by NATO to describe all ASI participants who are neither invited lecturers nor organizers.) Ideally, NATO prefers that ASI "students" be of recent post-Doctoral status; however, they may include senior scholars, current post-graduate students, or employees of government or private agencies. ASIs are governed by NATO rules. Among these is a requirement that no more than 20 percent of the total number of "students" may come from countries outside of NATO, and no more than 25 percent may come from any particular NATO country. (For NATO ASI purposes, a person's "country" is defined by current place of residence and work or study, and not by citizenship.) Thus, we have a quota of at most 15 additional participants from each NATO country, meaning that competition for places among potential participants from some NATO countries will be high. We also have a limited ability to provide financial support (mainly in the form of living expenses) to participants from NATO countries. There will be no registration fee for the meeting. Because places in the ASI are strictly limited, we are proposing a rigorous application procedure. Anyone wishing to attend the ASI should submit an application in writing (by electronic mail, FAX, or post), so as to arrive in Buffalo on or before March 15, 1990. Applications must contain the following information: (1) a one page resume or abbreviated curriculum vitae, emphasizing experience or training relevant to the ASI topic, and including current country of residence and highest academic degree earned, with year; and (2) a one page statement of interest, indicating the reason for wishing to attend the ASI, and the applicant's potential contribution to the ASI. Persons wishing to present a research paper, which will be rigorously peer- reviewed for possible inclusion in the ASI Proceedings, should submit with their application: (3) a paper title, and a one page abstract or proposal. However, this is optional, and willingness to present a paper will NOT be a condition for acceptance into the ASI. Estimated living costs at "Magalia" for the 13 days of the ASI are $US 655, including all meals. Since funds from the ASI for participants are limited, applicants should apply for travel and living expenses other sources. Persons wishing financial assistance directly from the organizers of the ASI must submit with their application: (4) a one page (or less) request for funds, with justification. For further information, contact David M. Mark at the addresses below. Also, submit applications to these same addresses: Electronic Mail: geodmm@ubvms.BITNET or geodmm@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu TeleFAX: 716 636 2329 Telephone: 716 636 2283 Post: David M. Mark National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis Department of Geography 415 Fronczak Hall State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo, New York 14260 USA From: RKENNER@Vax2.Concordia.CA Subject: ESL softwaree Date: Tue, 23 Jan 90 09:41 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 953 (1958) In response to Richard Georwitz's call for ESL software for computer- assisted learning, I am afraid that he will find that most of the most interesting material in this field consists of authoring systems and template programs that are designed to be closely supervised by the teacher. Programs such as Storyboard, Sequitur, and Quartext come to mind. These are all "text reconstruction" type activities. He can get in touch with a distributor called RDA [p.o. box 848, Stony Brook, New York, 11790] for a catalogue (EuroCentres outside North America). If he wants the more traditional grammar based drills, which can be used in a stand-alone, remedial way, I can suggest two sources: 1) The Language Company [1666 Cross Center Drive, Norman, OK, 73072) has produced an entire corpus of English grammar drills. They are not the most imaginative CAI activities ever produced, but the breadth of coverage makes up for it. The series is called Parlance 2) The American Language Academy [Suite 200, 11426 Rockville Pike, Rockville MD 20852] have some grammar-based materials. There are surely other sources. A problem he will find, however, is that few developers have covered the entire scope of basic English grammar. In ESL teaching circles this entire approach is out of fashion. As I mentioned, the mainstream is into teacher-intensive "holistic' activities which foster communication in front of the computer and language acquisition . This is fine, except that it leaves libraries and other users who would want a reference of grammar materials out in the cold. Roger Kenner Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, CANADA RKENNER@VAX2.CONCORDIA.CA From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.947 charging for network print Date: Mon, 22 Jan 90 21:01:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 954 (1959) About the way laser printing fees are handled: at the University of Texas at Austin, the Computation Center offers Individually Funded (IF) accounts for its laser printing services: you put your money down first (a minimum of $5), then you're given an account number which is automatically billed every time you log on to the system (via modem, or at a computer or terminal in a Computation Center fcility)-- the rate is $.08/page (including one cover sheet for each job). John Slatin From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: Dead Mac story has happy ending Date: Wed, 24 Jan 90 09:00:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 955 (1960) A postscript to my woeful tale about my dead Mac: it's back! live and working and on my desk! A renewed request, this time to a new department head, did the trick. But, happy as I am to have my beloved machine back again, and pleased as I am that the new Chair was willing to approve the expenditure (it turned out to be $217.53 for a new analog board and labor), the basic situation remains unchanged: as the Chair put it to me, "Well, hell, there's no way we're going to make it to May on this money anyway, might as well spend it now." And the same day he approved the money to fix the Mac, the controller card on the fileserver for our classroom network failed, minutes before the first class of the day (with five more scheduled to follow)-- and there was no one in the Department office to approve the $140 with which to purchase a new one: so a colleague and I climbed into his car (I'm visually impaired and don't drive) and went to The Computer Doctor and bought, on my credit card, a controller card and installed it in the server. We only lost one class, therefore, and it will only be a few weeks till I get my $140 back... All thanks to my colleague Jim Kinneavy as well: it was above and beyond the call for him to run me out to the store that rainy morning. And two more of our five-year-old EGA monitors failed that morning as well, and we've none left to shift around. So the Mac story, seen as a self-contained little episode, has had a happy ending; but the general story continues. John Slatin From: N_EITELJORG@cc.brynmawr.edu Subject: Re: 3.941 ideal workstation? enlarged cursor? address? (67) Date: Tue, 23 Jan 90 10:28:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 956 (1961) In response to Roy Flannagan's question about the ideal scholars' workstation, I would like to suggest that many scholars need images as much as most of us need words. Those images may be photos or line drawings, and they may be in black-and-white or color. A truly ideal workstation, then, should be designed to make available to those who need them high-resolution color (or b&w) images. In today's world of hardware, high resolution probably means 1280 x 1024 max. Nick Eiteljorg From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: MLA Discussion Group, call for papers Date: Tue, 23 Jan 90 19:22:36 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 957 (1962) *** INVITATION TO SUBMIT ABSTRACTS OR PAPERS *** Discussion Group on Computer Studies in Language & Literature Modern Language Association Convention, Dec. 27-30, 1990 Chicago, Illinois TOPIC: "Quantitative Methods in Language and Literature Studies: Uses & Abuses" Two or three discussions of intelligent, successful case studies, methodological and/or strategic applications of quantitative thinking in language or literature studies will be featured in this program. At least one other study will, we hope, focus on a significant misapplication or error in the use of quantitative methods or, alternatively, outline and illustrate the theoretical and applied pros and cons of computers and quantitative methods in language and literature studies. The Executive Committee will tend to favor the work of colleagues who state that they will not read more than 50% of their presentation. Please mail or e-mail a 1,000-word abstract or a paper (5-8 pages, double-spaced) as well as a list of any anticipated equipment needs by March 15, 1990, to: Postal mail: Dr. Joel D. Goldfield Dept. of Foreign Languages Plymouth State College Plymouth, NH 03264 USA E-mail: JOELG@PSC.bitnet (Telephone: 603-536-5000, ext. 2277) NOTES: All prospective presenters must be members of the MLA by April 1, 1990. All e-mail submissions should be followed as soon as possible by a clearly readable printout which must arrive by March 22, 1990, in order for the paper to be considered. We will inform all applicants of their status by April 9th. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: C. Ruth Sabol, West Chester University (1990) Joel D. Goldfield, Plymouth State College (1991), Chair Nancy M. Ide, Vassar College (1992) Robert Ponterio, State Univ. College of New York, Cortland (1993) Willard L. McCarty, U. of Toronto (1994) From: (Robert Philip Weber) WEBER@HARVARDA Subject: content analysis? (105) Date: Tue, 23 Jan 90 00:21:24 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 958 (1963) Paul H. Bern <PHBERN@SUVM> writes: [deleted quotation] The General Inquirer will do a good deal of what you want to do, but written in an earlier era of computer software, it is not user friendly. There is now a microcomputer version of Textpack that is quite user friendly and runs in an MSDOS environment. It, too, is available from ZUMA in Mannheim. One of the differences between Textpack and the General Inquirer is that the latter includes the ability to distinguish among the senses of homographs. This increases the precision of classification. Also, the distribution tape for the Inquirer includes three general purpose dictionaries. Before going further, I would recommend looking at my *Basic Content Analysis* (Sage, 1985) to determine whether the modes of analysis described there match the substantive problems that you want to address. Beyond that, I would also look at the following: Zuell, Cornelia, Robert Philip Weber, and Peter Philip Mohler. 1989. Computer-assisted Text Analysis for the Social Sciences: The General Inquirer III. Mannheim, FRG: Center for Surveys, Methods, and Analysis (ZUMA). Namenwirth, J. Zvi and Robert Philip Weber. 1987. Dynamics of Culture. Winchester MA: Allen & Unwin. Zuell et al., is available from ZUMA also. Regards Bob Weber --------- Robert Philip Weber, Ph.D. | Phone: (617) 495-3744 Senior Consultant | Fax: (617) 495-0750 Academic and Planning Services | Division | Office For Information Technology| Internet: weber@popvax.harvard.edu Harvard University | Bitnet: Weber@Harvarda 50 Church Street | Cambridge MA 02138 | From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.955 support: dead Mac reborn! (36) Date: Thu, 25 Jan 90 15:37:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1538 (1964) [in reply to John Slatin's "dead Mac" saga] Your emergency work is wonderful, and fully professional. However, to be cynical, if you had cancelled all the classes on the spot, as unable to be conducted, perhaps they would have found those pitiful few dollars you need. They are exploiting you. When there was no money at all at UCLA, during the crisis ten years ago, or before or about the time of Proposition 13, they were lining their offices in the Admin building with new carpeting and installing comforts like air conditioning and all that, while there wasnt even, and still is not, a typewrter avaialble to type a letter of recommendation on. Let alone a computer to word process today, and you should see the millions that have recently gone into re-doing the Admin building! Those people know how to spend money on creature comforts and how to pad the rolls of the administratively employed. the U of Cal has had a perhaps 10,000% increase in adminsitrative staff, I mean thousands, over the last 25 years, of vice chancellors and assistant vc's and assistnats to them, and as for teaching staff? ...it is all support and no education, in pro portion. We all see it and run around doing beyond and above the call fo even professional duty, and they know it and laugh at us...and professors who become administrators are often full of contempt, a bad emotion, for their former colleagues, even in well-run places like the UC system, more or less well run, judging by the horrors in so many other places....one hears of, that is. Slatin, a streetwise fellow (not me) might say, wise up, or whatever the word is today. I say all this to amuse you, not appall you. I am myself appalled at the amenities that have appeared over the decade in Admin...and no computers, no Macs avaialble except if the Apple wants to dump. And they have the nerve to offer grants here in finding wasy to assist teaching with computers! Without a computer to play with and and see what can be done? It is really preposterous, which is alt in for arsyversy or as-backwards, you know. Kessler at UCLA From: DS001451@VM1.NoDak.EDU Subject: Re: 3.955 support: dead Mac reborn! (36) Date: Thu, 25 Jan 90 12:23:45 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1539 (1965) I've been enjoying the raveling Slatin saga, chuckling with my colleagues about it at tea. But the truth of the matter is that it's much funnier from my perspective than his. In my limited attempts to incorporate the new technologies into my teaching, I've run into all manner of nightmarish hardware and software problems. I've even found myself shaking with trepidation as I entered a lab full of excited students. I mutter beneath my breath, "What in the sam hell can possibly go wrong today?" My question is usually answered rather quickly, "All kinds of things." Given our size and location, we have reasonably good facilities and equipment here--much better, in fact, than many others. But things seem to fail constantly, and when things aren't failing on their own, students are most imaginative at creating sundry failures no manual ever addresses. Is this the new entropy? From: Michael W Jennings <MWJENNIN@PUCC> Subject: OCR Software Date: Thu, 25 Jan 90 09:46:36 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1540 (1966) Does anyone have experience with or know of OCR software that will run on a Mac IIcx with an Apple Scanner; we specifically need software that recognizes or can be trained to recognize foreign languages (German and Greek). Thanks Mike Jennings German Princeton University MWJENNIN@PUCC From: <NEUMAN@GUVAX> Subject: French dictionary Date: Thu, 25 Jan 90 16:21 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1541 (1967) A colleague in the French Department, new to computers and not yet conversant with BITNET, would like to find a thorough French dictionary (French-English would be ok) in electronic form. If you reply directly to me, I'll forward your suggestions. Thanks. Mike Neuman Georgetown University BITNET: neuman@guvax Internet: neuman@guvax.georgetown.edu From: bobh@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Robert Hollander) Subject: Re: 3.957 call for papers: MLA 1990 (62) Date: Thu, 25 Jan 90 02:49:38 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 961 (1968) No longer a member of MLA, I find myself wondering that this profession is willing to go along with the exclusionary rules and procedures of that august organization. I can only imagine the hue and cry if NEH were to require membership in a National Humanities Society, even with dues considerably less dear that MLA's, before individuals were allowed to participate in NEH-sponsored conferences. I have raised this issue over the past few years with various MLA directors, presidents, and other honchos. Their withers are unwrung. Such taxation seems to me tyrannical. See you elsewhere. There must be a better way..... From: Daniel Boyarin <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: cd-rom Date: Fri, 26 Jan 90 05:35:13 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1542 (1969) Just a report on the cd-rom database of rabbinic literature after several weeks of use. This is one of the best designed pieces of software I have *ever* seen. A brilliantly simple interface that enables one to create Boulian searches without even knowing that that is what one is doing, and the quickest searches I have ever seen incluidng on main-frames. Hits can easily be captured to a file as well or printed out. Heartily recommended for research institutes dealing with Jewish Studies or ancient history , Bible, religion etc. Only real fault is the high cost. From: walker@flash.bellcore.com (Don Walker) Subject: ACL Conference Information Date: Fri, 26 Jan 90 14:22:45 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1543 (1970) Association for Computational Linguistics ACL CONFERENCE INFORMATION January 1990 COLING-90 IN HELSINKI THIS AUGUST; NEW PROGRAM STRUCTURE 5TH EUROPEAN CHAPTER (of ACL) IN EAST GERMANY IN APRIL 1991 BERKELEY SITE SELECTED FOR ACL-91 3RD APPLIED CONFERENCE (on Natural Language Processing) SET FOR APRIL 1992 IN ITALY -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. ACL CNFRNCES. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: dschuler@cs.washington.edu (Douglas Schuler) Subject: Conference of interest to your group... Date: Fri, 26 Jan 90 13:58:32 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1544 (1971) Call for Papers DIRECTIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF ADVANCED COMPUTING DIAC-90 Boston, Massachusetts July 28, 1990 Computer technology significantly affects most segments of society, including education, business, medicine, and the military. Current and emerging computer technology will exert strong influences on our lives, in areas ranging from work to civil liberties. The DIAC symposium considers these influences in a broad social context - ethical, economic, political - as well as a technical context. We seek to address directly the relationship between technology and policy. We solicit papers that address the wide range of questions at the intersection of technology and society. Within this broad vision, we request papers that address the following suggested topics. Other topics may be addressed if they are relevant to the general focus. -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. DIAC-90 CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Clarence Brown <CB@PUCC> Subject: French Radio and TV Date: Sat, 27 Jan 90 15:25:35 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1545 (1972) Humanists who live within range of WNYE, New York, are probably aware that the station broadcasts Radio France Internationale daily at 6:30-8:30 and 23:00-1:00 on FM (91.5) and "Antenne Deux," the French evening news tele- cast, every evening at 19:00 on Channel 25. But they evidently need to justify this eccentricity to whoever provides their funds. It would be very useful to starved francophones beyond the range of Radio Canada if you would write enthusiastic letters to WNYE at 112 Tillary Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11201. From: "John J Hughes" <XB.J24@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: Date: Sat, 27 Jan 90 20:02:45 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1546 (1973) The BITS & BYTES REVIEW is looking for qualified persons to write full-length reviews of IBM and Macintosh software. The BITS & BYTES REVIEW is published for academic computer users in the humanities and has an international readership. The BITS & BYTES REVIEW is seeking to involve more persons in reviewing software, so that a broader spectrum of interests is represented, a broader range of programs is covered, more programs are reviewed, and so that the publication appears on a more regular basis. Articles in the BITS & BYTES REVIEW are abstracted in INSPEC, Information Science Abstracts, and Software Reviews on File. Each volume of the BITS & BYTES REVIEW contains nine issues. Persons interested in writing software reviews for the BITS & BYTES REVIEW should: (1) Be involved in academic computing in one of the humanities disciplines at a college, university, or other institution of higher learning. "Involved" in this context can mean anything from "uses a computer for research and writing" to "writes computer programs." (2) Be an experienced computer user, not a neophyte. "Experienced" in this context does not mean "expert"; it means "knows how to use a computer and knows something about their many academic uses." (3) Have a sound knowledge of some basic types of programs, such as word processing, database management, and desktop publishing, for example, even if you predominantly use only one type of program in your work. (4) Have a reasonable understanding of how computers work. "Reasonable" in this context does not mean "almost as thorough as Peter Norton!" It means that you have a basic understanding of how computers do what they do. (5) Consistently read at least one or two major nonacademic computers publications per month, for example, PC Magazine, MacUser, PC World, Publish. (6) Be curious, teachable, and willing to learn. (7) Be able to express themselves clearly, concisely, and in an engaging fashion. (8) Be able to compare programs. (9) Be detail-oriented and able and willing to write detailed, thorough reviews, such as the ones that have appeared in the BITS & BYTES REVIEW since its beginning in 1986. (10) Be able to discern the academic potential of commercial programs. (11) Be willing to review commercial programs, as well as those designed predominantly or exclusively for academic use. (12) Be able to review programs in terms of their functions, features, and potential uses for academicians, while avoiding philosophical issues. (13) Be able to explain technical concepts in simple terms without being simplistic. (14) Be able to stay within assigned word-count/article-length limits. (15) Be able to set and keep deadlines. (16) Own an IBM-compatible or a Macintosh computer. (17) Be willing to have the editor of the BITS & BYTES REVIEW edit their submissions. (18) Send a Curriculum Vitae or a Resume to the editor and publisher of the BITS & BYTES REVIEW at the address listed below. If possible, please include a sample of your writing that shows your ability to write technical software reviews. A modest remuneration will be paid for each article accepted for publication. As needed, the BITS & BYTES REVIEW will supply new, full working copies of software to persons who qualify as reviewers and who enter into an agreement with the BITS & BYTES REVIEW to write a review. Reviewers may keep the software, as long as they supply an acceptable review on time. Persons not familiar with the BITS & BYTES REVIEW may receive a complimentary sample copy by contacting the editor. Interested parties should contact: John J. Hughes, Editor & Publisher Bits & Bytes Review 623 Iowa Ave. Whitefish, MT 59937 U.S.A. XB.J24@Stanford.BITNET CIS: 71056,1715 MCI Mail: 226-1461 Voice: (406) 862-7280 FAX: (406) 862-1124 From: iwml@UKC.AC.UK Subject: CALL FOR PAPERS _ AIBI-3: TU"BINGEN AUGUST 1991 Date: Sat, 27 Jan 90 07:44:12 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1547 (1974) The Association Internationale Bible et Informatique (AIBI) invites you to participate in the 3rd International Conference to be held at Tu"bingen from the 26th to 30th August, 1991. The Katholisch Theologisches Seminar of the Eberhard-Karls-Universita"t, Tu"bingen has accepted the invitation to host the Cofnerence, and to organise it under the Chairmanship of Prof Dr Harald Schweizer. The Conference language will be English. The Conference will work to the following topics: 1 Interpretation of a specific text 2 Metholodology 3 Preparation of the text 4 Software-design/programming 5 Hermeneutics -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. AIBI-3 CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: "HELEN ARISTAR-DRY" <islhad@es.uit.no> Subject: addresses Date: Fri, 26 Jan 90 11:38:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1548 (1975) Recently I've seen a number of questions about basics come over the net. Good! It gives me the courage to ask something I've always wanted to know: how are e-mail addresses structured? I mean: what's the difference between @ and % and ! and . , which all seem to be separators. And, if you don't know someone's address--or, in my case, if you know the address that worked in the USA but not what to add to make it work from Europe--what do you do? Are there paths that knowledgeable people know to try, on the chance? Are there directories? If some knowledgeable person would give me a short primer, I'd be very grateful. Helen Aristar-Dry U. of Tromso islhad@es.uit.no From: "DAVID STUEHLER" <stuehler@apollo.montclair.edu> Subject: query Date: Sun, 28 Jan 90 11:35:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1549 (1976) Two questions: A few days (weeks) ago, someone posted a message describing some bibliography software and offering an examination copy. If anyone has the reply address of that message, I would appreciate hearing from them. A friend has some information the original source of which was a bulletin board on something called USENET. What is Usenet and how does one access it? Dave Stuehler Montclair State College, NJ Bitnet: E989003@NJECNVM Internet: Stuehler@apollo.montclair.edu [The bibliographic software announced here was Library Master. The author is Harry Hahne, hahne@vm.epas.utoronto.ca. --W.M.] From: DAN MANDELL (219)284-4610 <XLYKN8@IRISHMVS.BITNET> Subject: Orillas Project Date: Sun, 28 Jan 90 11:11 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1550 (1977) I have a fragment of message from Humanist (1/3/90) describing the Orillas project, a multilingual educational project involving cultural exchanges administered by Dennis Sayers at Brown University. The Bitnet address provided ran something like jnet%"sayersde@hugsel" but I have been unable to contact Mr. Sayers. Has anyone a reliable Bitnet address for Dennis Sayers at Brown? From: Amanda C. Lee <ALEE@MSSTATE> Subject: re:perfect workstation Date: Fri, 26 Jan 90 19:55:58 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 964 (1978) The *almost* perfect workstation is the sun sparkstation, but those of us who have little money do have other alternatives. The best microcomputer around is the amiga. It is much faster than the mac, and the newest model (to be released next month) will have 2048 x 1024 resolution, with around 2 billion colors. With the rumored educational discounts offered by Commodore-Amiga, this is a mighty tasty deal. Jeff Allegrezza alee@msstate.bitnet From: "Christopher W. Donald" <DONALD@UKANVM> Subject: OCR software Date: Fri, 26 Jan 90 09:30:52 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 965 (1979) Re the OCR software question, I asked a similar question last december and have yet to compile the responses. I will post them this weekend. People may want to also look at comp.fonts on the USENET system The short answer to the users inquiry is that the best package out currently is TEXTPERT. I will have more details on that in my posting. Christopher Donald The University of Kansas Division of Government From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.959 dead Macs, comfy offices, Date: Fri, 26 Jan 90 22:01:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 966 (1980) Thanks to Kessler-at-UCLA for the sympathetic words. It's been said to me before (rather frequently, in fact, by my wife) that I should wise up; and I did in fact make it clear that if no reimbursement for that controller card were promised I would feel quite free to pull the damn thing and take it home, having paid for it anyway. Where they've got us of course (They, I mean) is that we love what we're doing: they could put the blame on us, perhaps, for putting the temptation to exploit that love so squarely in their way. But I keep hoping things will get better-- hope not being hope, as Marianne Moore says, till all ground for hope has vanished. I had a talk with the Provost yesterday about a project I've been working on; it meets all his criteria, as he acknowledged, but then he went on to bemoan the dehumanizing of education represented by the intrusion of the computer into the instructional environment-- this from a man running a university with 50,000+ students and not a jot of real support for teaching. There weren't, he said, enough faculty members working the add/drop tables the day before the semester began: how sad it is, he thinks, that faculty don't give a damn about their students. It continues to amaze me that I held my tongue so firmly in check. I don't know whether to congratulate myself for that or not. Argh. John Slatin From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: the MLA and its works Date: 17 January 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 967 (1981) Dear Colleagues: I am withholding two messages about the MLA, one in support, one continuing the attack, and I ask that no more be sent. I'm sure much can be said on both sides, but since the discussion has nothing whatever to do with computing and is likely to lead nowhere worth the trouble of going, I see little point. For what it's worth, I'll offer the observation that the MLA is bound to reflect the state or states of the disciplines it covers. I should also say that some interesting things are happening in that corner of the MLA concerned with computing in the humanities. Perhaps some of you would like to suggest what sessions might be organized at the MLA with respect to computing. Some other Humanists may be able to help. Yours, Willard McCarty From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.960 OCR software? French e-dictionary? (49) Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 12:34:47 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1551 (1982) We are using OmniPage (Caere Corporation, Mountain View, CA) with a Mac IIcx and Apple Scanner. There is a foreign language version which will handle most (all?) of the modern European languages with Roman character sets. I don't know about Greek, but I doubt that it can do it. We have been using it with Spanish. It handles straight text quite well if the copy is good. It was not very good with a critical edition of 18th-c. poetry with a complicated apparatus. So far we've only run some tests, but we will be going into production mode this semester. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.965 scanning software (22) Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 15:29:37 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1552 (1983) I have researched both TextPert and OmniPage, and found OmniPage the more flexible. mh From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.960 OCR software? French e-dictionary? (49) Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 11:28:39 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1553 (1984) Omni Page recognizes diacritics but is not trainable. AccuText (from Xerox) we find to be generally more accurate, but it does not recognize diacritics (that is promised in the future). TextPert is *supposed* to be able to deal with Greek and Russian as well as roman-based languages, but there is no working demo from them, and we haven't gotten the courage to send in the $800 or so to purchase it. --- Michael W Jennings <MWJENNIN@PUCC> wrote: Does anyone have experience with or know of OCR software that will run on a Mac IIcx with an Apple Scanner; we specifically need software that recognizes or can be trained to recognize foreign languages (German and Greek). --- end of quoted material --- From: Malcolm Brown <mbb@jessica.Stanford.EDU> Subject: OCR software: don't crown TextPert yet! Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 16:11:13 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1554 (1985) I'm currently working on an article that will be a survey of Mac OCR programs. Much to my surprise, the results I have obtained with the latest release of OmniPage have been *very* impressive. I haven't run OmniPage through all my tests, but the results so far have been quite good, outdoing TextPert and even the Kurzweil 4000. I'm working with OmniPage 2.1. Indeed, one of the big objections to Omnipage, from the scholar's point of view, has been removed: the program now supports a variety of latin-based character sets. One of my tests involved scanning some photocopied pages of "Also sprach Zarathustra." Behold! not only did OmniPage get the umlauts correct, it distinguished correctly between majuscule U and majuscule U with an umlaut, something other programs seem to always get wrong. Moreover, it scans pages in half the time of TextPert (at least when using the HP ScanJet+, as I am doing) The primary disadvantage of OmniPage is that it requires so much RAM. Just thought I'd muddy the waters a bit --- also begann der Untergang... Malcolm Brown Stanford From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: studies in German Romantic poetry Date: 29 January 1989 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1555 (1986) A non-networked colleague of mine here wants to undertake a study of phonetic patterns in German Romantic poetry. He is specifically interested in Brentano and von Arnim's collection, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, and the collected poetry of von Arnim, Brentano, Eichendorff, Wilhelm Mueller, Heine, Rueckert, Platen, and Hoelderlin. Does anyone know where he might obtain electronic versions of these texts? More importantly, my colleague would very much like to find software capable of transforming German text into the phonetic alphabet of the IPA/API. Any suggestions? Please send all replies to Humanist. Many thanks. Yours, Willard McCarty From: N.J.Morgan@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.959 dead Macs, comfy offices, and nothingcangowrong (74) Date: Fri, 26 Jan 90 09:17:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1556 (1987) What in the sam hell is sam hell ? Can any HUMANIST explain ? Nicholas Morgan Department of Scottish History University of Glasgow Glasgow From: "John J Hughes" <XB.J24@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 18:18:49 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1557 (1988) SUBJECT: SGML Dear HUMANISTs, Does any HUMANIST know of a definitive, authoritative, published definition of SGML? If so, I would be grateful to receive any pertinent information. Thank you. John John J. Hughes XB.J24@Stanford From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Electronic Addresses Date: Monday, 29 January 1990 0933-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1558 (1989) The following situation with regard to electronic addresses may be relevant for some other HUMANISTs. It took some effort to identify the problem, so I pass the results along. The facility I use for BITNET at the University of Pennsylvania is CMS or some variation thereof (IBM mainframe). The mailer system in use gives such information as "From" and "To" with each incoming message, and seems to reproduce appropriately the "From" address, including distinctions of upper and lower case. The mailer for outgoing mail, however, seems automatically to change all "To" addresses to upper case, even if I type them in with mixed case, or in lower case. Thus when I received a note from Joel Goldfield with the "From" address of unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET, when I tried to reply to that address, the software in use for mailers in my computer center changed the address to all upper case thus: UNHD!PSC90!JDG@UUNET.UU.NET. Usually such a change makes no difference in the operation of electronic mail, but there are some systems that are "case sensitive" with regard to addresses. My message to Joel was rejected. After some investigation and testing (using another, not case sensitive address that Joel has), the problem was identified as the change from lower to upper case in some of the components of his address -- psc90 and perhaps also jdg needed to be lower case. The solution was for me manually to change back to lower case those parts of the address that the software had made into upper case. Then the messages got through. I would be interested to know if it is possible to predict from the "From" address whether case sensitivity is an issue. I suspect that addresses using "!" as a separator on the left side of the "@" may be problems in this regard. Advice? Bob Kraft From: A10PRR1@NIU Subject: E-mail addresses Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 13:54 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1559 (1990) There have been several recent questions to this list on the subject of how to find e-mail addresses, nodes, etc. A number of these issues are regularly discussed on the INFONETS list, and some HUMANIST readers may wish to subscribe. To do so, send your subscription request (SUB INFONETS your name) to your local LISTSERV. Philip Rider Northern Illinois University From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.960 OCR software? French e-dictionary? (49) Date: Sun, 28 Jan 90 20:57:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1560 (1991) Send such e-mail news availability, i.e., French/eng Dictionary, around here too, since it would be handiest to have. Thanks. J Kessler From: "John J Hughes" <XB.J24@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: Date: Sun, 28 Jan 90 23:25:15 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1561 (1992) SUBJECT: Programs for Bits & Bytes Review Dear HUMANISTs, As you see, use, hear about, or read about software or hardware that you would like to see reviewed in the BITS & BYTES REVIEW, please drop me a line on BITNET and let me know: (1) The name of the program or hardware, (2) What computer it runs on or is used with, (3) And the phone number or address of the company that manufactures the program. The BITS & BYTES REVIEW reviews commercial and noncommercial programs for Macintoshes and IBM compatibles. Thank you. Sincerely, John J. Hughes Editor & Publisher XB.J24@@Stanford CIS: 71056,1715 Tel: (406) 862-7280 FAX: (406) 862-1124 From: Harry Gaylord <galiard@gufalet.uucp> Subject: iso Date: Sat, 18 Nov 89 10:14:11 MET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1562 (1993) I am afraid this has grown into a longish technical report. To understand current discussions on ISO standards, it is necessary to know some of the history of these discussions. We must begin with the basic structures of ISO character sets. They have a minimum of 2 parts: a C-set (= control charac- ters) and a G-set (= graphic characters). This is clearly laid out in ISO 2022-1986. This standard first appeared in 1973 and establishes code extension techniques for ISO 7-bit and 8-bit coded character sets. One can have multiple C and G sets and in the latest version even multiple byte G sets. In 7-bit ASCII we have a C0 (= control characters in the first 32 positions) and a G0 set (= SPACE (32), 94 graphic characters, and DEL (127)). This G0 set has been further defined by ISO-646. The latest draft proposal for revision of 646 I have seen is dated April 1989. In fact it has two versions, one called the Basic code table (with decimal positions 35-36, 91-94 and 123-126 reserved for country specific characters) and the other 646-IRV (International Reference Version). -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. ISO STANDRDS. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Natalie Maynor <MAYNOR@MSSTATE> Subject: Re: 3.963 network queries and others (77) Date: Sun, 28 Jan 90 21:17:52 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1563 (1994) I'm sure that people far, far more knowledgeable than I am will give better answers to Helen Aristar-Day's questions about addresses. But here's my tuppence worth: (1) Re @ and % and !, don't worry about what they mean -- just include them as given. I *think* they have something to do with the fact that gateways get confused by more than one @ in the same address -- so a % converts to an @ at the appropriate moment. (2) Were the addresses that worked for you in the U.S. BITNET addresses? Depending upon where in Europe you are, you may need to add .bitnet to the addressses that formerly worked. (It never hurts to add .bitnet anyway.) (3) There is no complete directory of e-mail addresses, probably because it would be impossibly large. Although there are various ways to track down addresses, the easiest way is to ask the person for it. Whenever I have a question about odd addresses, I send a note to our BITNET postmaster, who responds immediately with the answer. Oops. That's right. I had almost forgotten the user-support discussion from a while back. Maybe other people aren't so lucky. Another source of information about addresses or anything else related to the world of e-mail (like how to access USENET) is the list INFO- NETS@THINK.COM. Warning: it's a very active list. I delete about 75% of its mail unread -- based on subject headers. But if you have a question, it's an excellent place to ask it. I subscribed to INFO-NETS by sending the subscribe command to LISTSERV@UGA (a BITNET address). I'm not sure how one subscribes from other networks. Since INFO-NETS is not a BITNET list, there are obviously ways to subscribe from elsewhere. I hope this makes sense. Am writing fast sans proofreading. Natalie Maynor English Department Mississippi State University From: "Dana Cartwright, Syracuse Univ, 315-443-4504" <DECARTWR@SUVM> Subject: Network Addresses Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 07:04:41 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1564 (1995) Helen Aristar-Dry of the University of Tromso asks (regarding network addresses) "what's the difference between @ and % and ! and . , which all seem to be separators. And, if you don't know someone's address--or, in my case, if you know the address that worked in the USA but not what to add to make it work from Europe--what do you do?" The very best technical advice I have been able to get, in years of using both BITNET and the Internet, might be "Yes, there is a God, but She doesn't have all the answers either." My very best technical consultants consistently turn me down when I ask them to "just write a short technical publication for our users which will help them form return addresses, and translate US addresses into UK address, and so on and so forth." In frustration I turned to the literature and read "The Matrix, Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems Worldwide" by John Quarterman (Digital Press, 1990, order #EY-C176E-DP, ISBN 1-55558-033-5). And now I know why they have so consistently turn me down. The Matrix is 718 pages long. It is not highly technical, but it gets well into the answer to your query. And here's my summary: There are dozens (if not hundreds) of networks in the world, each with its own peculiar way of forming addresses. There are things called "gateways" (physically they are computers) which interconnect these networks. Each gateway "understands" the differences in addressing for the particular two networks it interconnects. E-mail may typically pass through a number of gateways to reach its destination. So, the address of the sender and receiver get translated over and over again in this transit. Supposedly, if you know exactly which gateways a particular message will traverse, you can determine how to form a suitable address. All those delimiters (% and ! and " and @) are useful in getting the gateways to "understand" the address. This is one reason that there is no simple "reply" function for e-mail: no one has ever figured out an automated scheme for getting all the delimiters just right. If networks were static I suppose someone would eventually fix this problem....at least the correct addressing schemes could be written down somewhere. But the networks change all the time. So who has the time and energy to describe how the networks worked in 1989? Or 1988? I sympathize with the plight of the networking gurus. Even the most skilled networking folk use trial and error to find proper addresses..... -Dana Cartwright, Director, Academic Computing Services, Syracuse University From: "John J Hughes" <XB.J24@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: Date: Sun, 28 Jan 90 23:24:07 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 973 (1996) SUBJECT: Programs to Review for BBR Dear HUMANISTs, The BITS & BYTES REVIEW is looking for qualified software reviewers to review the following programs. Interested persons should contact: John J. Hughes XB.J24@Stanford CIS: 71056,1715 Tel: (406) 862-7280 FAX: (406) 862-1124 I will be glad to provide more details on any of the programs listed below. Articles in the BITS & BYTES REVIEW are abstracted in INSPEC, Information Science Abstracts, and Software Reviews on File. Each volume of the BITS & BYTES REVIEW contains nine issues. A modest remuneration will be paid for each article accepted for publication. As needed, the BITS & BYTES REVIEW will supply new, full working copies of software to persons who qualify as reviewers and who enter into an agreement with the BITS & BYTES REVIEW to write a review. Reviewers may keep the software, as long as they supply an acceptable review on time. * * * * * (1) The following group of content-analysis programs should be reviewed as a set: A. A Concept Dictionary of English with Computer Programs for Content Analysis--MS-DOS B. Textpack V--MS-DOS C. SATO--MS-DOS D. Disc-An--MS-DOS (2) The following group of text-retrieval programs should be reviewed as a set: A. Get-A-Ref 4.0--MS-DOS B. AnyWord--MS-DOS C. GATOR--Generalized Automated Text Organization and Retrieval System--MS-DOS D. Textal--Macintosh & MS-DOS E. Architext--Macintosh F. TextSearch--MS-DOS (3) The following group of stylistic analysis programs programs should be reviewed as a set: A. MicroEYEBALL--MS-DOS B. TTR (Type Token Ratio)--MS-DOS (4) The following group of structural-analysis programs should be reviewed as a set: A. STRAP--MS-DOS B. MicroARRAS--MS-DOS C. MTAS--MS-DOS D. TACT--MS-DOS (5) The following group of bibliographical programs should be reviewed as a set: A. BibSearch--MS-DOS B. Notebook II--MS-DOS. C. BIB--Macintosh HyperCard stack D. BIB.Notes--Macintosh HyperCard stack E. Biblio 2.4--Macintosh HyperCard stack (6) The following group of logic programs should be reviewed as a set: A. Boole, Jevons, Frege--Macintosh B. QED Proof Checker--MS-DOS C. Proof Tutor--MS-DOS D. Trans Tutor--MS-DOS E. Thrills (Leeds Logic System)--MS-DOS F. The Logic Works--MS-DOS G. SymLog--MS-DOS H. Bertie II--MS-DOS I. Venn--Macintosh J. There are at least a dozen other logic programs. (7) The following group of CD-ROM Bible programs programs should be reviewed as a set: A. MasterSearch Bible--MS-DOS B. CDWord--MS-DOS C. FABS Reference Bible--MS-DOS D. The Bible Library--MS-DOS (8) The following group of flashcard programs should be reviewed as a set: A. MILM--Hebrew flashcards--MS-DOS B. MemCards--Greek and Hebrew flashcards--MS-DOS (9) The following group of U.S. history programs programs should be reviewed as a set: A. American History I--MS-DOS B. Simulations in United States History--MS-DOS (10) The following group of MS-DOS utility programs should be reviewed as a set: A. DOSUTILS B. Lightning--disk speed-up program C. Cruise Control--cursor control program with screen dimmer D. Dejaview--environment saver E. Disk Wiz--disk & printer manager utility F. PC-Fullbak--hard-disk backup utility G. Show Me!--directory & file viewing utility H. Norton Commander--DOS shell I. X-Tree Gold--file manager J. TakeTwo Manager--hard-disk backup and file-manager utility K. RAM Lord--manager for RAM-resident programs L. Tornado--notes program M. SmartNotes--notes program N. PrintQ--spool-to-disk print queue program O. Vopt, Vfeature, Vcache--disk organizer, optimizer, caching P. Norton Utilities Q. Mace Utilities R. Spoolmaster--printer spooler S. Flash--disk speed enhancer T. TallScreen--screen size extender U. SpeedStor--hard-disk utility software V. CoreFast--hard-disk backup (11) Other text-management and text-analysis programs A. Mercury/Termex--Lexical text-base manager; MS-DOS B. KWIC-Magic--Key Word In Context Morphologically Analyzed Glossed Item Concordance; MS-DOS C. IT--interlinear text processing; Macintosh & MS-DOS D. SoftQuad Author/Editor--An SGML context-sensitive text entry system; Macintosh E. TextMap--Correspondence and cluster analysis; MS-DOS F. HyperBase--Statistical and documentary software for the exploitation of large corpora; Macintoshes G. LexiTex--textual analysis software; MS-DOS (12) Word processing programs: A. Multi-Lingual Scholar--MS-DOS B. Lotus Manuscript--MS-DOS C. T3--MS-DOS D. MegaWriter--MS-DOS (13) Database programs: A. Revelation--database program; MS-DOS B. 4th Dimension--database program; MS-DOS (14) Dictionaries A. Reference Series--Concise dictionary of 26 languages in simultaneous translation; MS-DOS B. Funk & Wagnall's Standard Desk Dictionary--MS-DOS C. Proximity Merriam Webster Dictionary--MS-DOS (15) Greek and Hebrew programs A. CATSS-Base--Morphologically analyzed and aligned Masoretic Text and Septuagint; concordance and text-analysis tool; runs under 4th Dimension on Macintoshes. B. Grapheion--System of HyperCard stacks that integrate Greek texts, translations, and a parser and glossary; Macintosh (16) LitTerms--Tutorial for understanding poetry, fiction, and drama; MD-DOS (17) Micro-TUSTEP--Scholarly information processing software; MS-DOS (18) OED CD ROM--MS-DOS (19) WordFinder--thesaurus program for Macintosh and MS-DOS (20) MacProof--style analyzer; Macintosh (21) PC-CASE--Computer-assisted scholarly editing--MS-DOS (22) mcBOOKmaster--Multilingual authoring system; MS-DOS (23) Glatt Plagiarism Screening Program--MS-DOS (24) KAMAS--outlining software; MS-DOS *****END***** From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.966 support: tongue-checking & other survival skills (33) Date: Sun, 28 Jan 90 21:08:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1565 (1997) Dear John Slatin: You can tell your Provost that at UCLA there hve not been ADD /DROP tables for 2 decades! It is all computerized, and that takes care, fairly well, what with pre-enrollment, of 34,000 students, including Grads. And that is a Quarter system we are on, so it happens 3x/year. Texas should at least inq uire to see what they could get going for them! Most Departments here are not computerized, except for Art, which was done by a dyslexical Serbian artist and sculptor friend because he saw it was impossible to keep track of kids who we re fooling around for 6-7 years and not 4 years, and taking course scattershot and not in proper sequence for art majors. But add/drop tables? Gawd! Lines aro und the campus? Faculty wasting days on that stuff instead of boning up for the ir first week of lecturing? Huh! Kessler. He could buy the package I bet from UCLA, or rent it, or pay it off. Think of the man-hours saved for Ph.Ds. A lot they care about Ph.Ds. anyhoo. Kessler here in LA From: Jim O'Donnell (Classics, Penn) Subject: Tongue checking Date: 28 Jan 90 21:25:59 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1566 (1998) I think a standing ovation is in order for John Slatin's self-control in the presence of his provost. But maybe this is a good time to ask a question his provost begs: where does the `de-humanizing' epithet come from in relation to computers? Why does it stick? It seems to me that exactly the opposite claim can be made, e.g., the contact with the wide world of BITNET and all the cheerfully diverse people in it certainly seems a positive, and very humanizing force. I can understand ordinary fear of a strange machine: I'll break it, it'll bite me, it'll go on a rampage and take over the world -- irrational, but perfectly understandable. But why this attitude, which is not fear so much as it is an utterly off-the-wall snobbishness? From: NMILLER@vax1.trincoll.edu Subject: Sam Hill Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 22:00:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1567 (1999) Eric Partridge says that Sam Hill or Hell is a 20th Century Cockney euphemism for hell. Mitford Mathews, however, finds it in the United States as early as 1839. But then, E.P. seldom got things quite right. From: Richard Hacken <RDH@BYUVM> Subject: Sam "Hell" Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 18:23:57 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1568 (2000) According to the Facts on File Folks, Colonel Samuel Hill of Guilford, Conn. was a perpetual political candidate (who was apparently so unsuccessful that except for the Encyclopedia of American Politics [1946], there is scarce evidence for his having ever existed). In any case, he inspired the saying to "run like Sam Hill", or "go like Sam Hill." This served neatly as a personified euphemism for hell amongst our [American] Puritan ancestors. No wonder nobody in Glasgow knows who in the Sam Hill he was. From: Dan Mosser <MOSSERD@VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.969 German poetry? samhell? SGML? (74) Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 08:40:42 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1569 (2001) I think the expression you are asking about is "Sam Hill." The Random House Di ct'y cites the expression as a slang term for "hell . . .used esp. in WH-quetio ns as a mild oath expresing exasperation and usually prec. by *in* or *the*): * Who in Sam Hill are you?* [1830-40, *Amer.*; *Sam* (orig *salmon*, var of *Sal( o)mon* an oath ) + *hill*, euphimism for HELL." Hope that helps (* = itals.) From: Ray Wheeler <DS001451@VM1.NoDak.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.969 German poetry? samhell? SGML? (74) Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 15:10:35 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1570 (2002) RE: Samhell. Sorry for the confusion. I used to use this expression when I was a kid back in Kansas, as did most of my friends, to mean hell. My Calvinist parents would allow that term but never allow hell. According to The New Dictionary of American Slang, the term should be Sam Hill, an expression used in the 1800's to mean hell. Presumably, it was used in polite company as a substitute for hell. It must be similar to the way some amateurs substitute "goldarn" for the real thing. Now I use samhell if the phrase needs another syllable for a little extra punch. I wouldn't care to be in the company of anyone so polite as to be offended by "hell." --Ray Wheeler From: "J. S. Reed" <UNCJSR@UNC> Subject: Re: 3.969 German poetry? samhell? SGML? (74) Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 15:07:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1571 (2003) I've always assumed that "Sam Hill" was a euphemism, probably Southern, for "hell." Certainly that's how it was used ca. 1950 in East Tennessee: i.e., "What in Sam Hill do you think you're doing?" Of course making it "sam hell" removes the point, but it doesn't have much point anyway, any more. (By the way, my friend Samuel S. Hill, Jr., professor of religion at the University of Florida, usually makes an anticipatory joke when introducing himself.) From: Marshall Gilliland 306/966-5501 <GILLILAND@SASK.USask.CA> Subject: e-dictionary still wanted (11 lines) Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 21:26 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1572 (2004) I must add my voice to those pleading for a French and Spanish dictionary. But I want to repeat a request of mine from long ago: does anyone have a reasonably long word list in French, Spanish, or another language? It is quite possible to create dictionaries in WriteNow, Microsoft Word, and DictDA on the Macintosh--but you need a decent word list, which I have not been able to get despite my several pleas. Just in case you've wondered: the French version of Microsoft Word (Mac) has a dictionary, but it will NOT work with the English version of Word. In hopes that someone will come to the rescue-- Marshall Gilliland, GILLILAND@SASK, U of Saskatchewan From: Peter Lafford <IDPAL@ASUACAD> Subject: Is Paris burning? Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 09:22:25 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1573 (2005) In trying to reach via bitnet the University of Granada, Spain, from Arizona, I seem to have been stymied by a LINK FRMOP22 NOT ACTIVE. At least, that is the return message I get when requesting the TIME in Barcelona, through which email to Granada passes, I believe. This has been the case only since last Friday, 1/26/90. Have the well- publicized storms in Europe damaged the network in France, where FRMOP22 is located? (Is Paris burning?) Is there any way around it, or is it expected to be restored soon. Since it is currently the primary medium of communication with my wife, Dr. Barbara Lafford, this semester, I am anxious to re-establish contact. Perhaps someone who *can* reach Grenada could forward messages to her <ATBAL@UGR.ES>. This may be a problem with wide interest. Any insights? From: O MH KATA MHXANHN <MCCARTHY@CUA> Subject: bibliographical request Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 12:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1574 (2006) I have been trying to locate a dissertation on the kenning in Greek, I. Waren, Ge^s ostea. The Kenning in Pre-Christian Greek Poetry, (Uppsala, 1951). It seems that it is not available through the Interlibrary Loan system, but if anyone happens to own it privately, I would be very grateful to obtain from him/her a photocopy for which, of course, I will pay what seems a fair recompense for materials, time, and effort. If I.Waren is still among us and wants a royalty, or if Uppsala wants one, I'll be happy to pay that too. Do you get the impression that I would simply like to read this book...? W. McCarthy Washington, D.C. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: Missing Brits? Date: 30 January 1990, 19:00:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1575 (2007) Has anyone heard from friends in the UK in the last several days? How is the disastrous weather affecting communication? Is Devonshire still there? Roy Flannagan From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Professional Societies on HUMANIST Date: Monday, 29 January 1990 2309-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1576 (2008) In pondering the range of exposure that items on HUMANIST receive, it occurs to me to inquire which professional societies are represented by HUMANIST members? The following occur to me immediately. What others? I will volunteer to compile the list and report back to HUMANIST as it grows. What I would also like to know is the extent to which these assorted professional groups (other than those with a built-in computer component) are taking active steps to incorporate computer oriented materials into their programs, journals, research operations, etc. See my recent OFFLINE columns for some fleshing out of these concerns. Society of Biblical Literature (electronic archiving project and an active Computer Assisted Research Group that coordinates demonstrations and a program segment each annual meeting) American Academy of Religion (some special computer program sections at annual meetings; cooperation with SBL) American Schools of Oriental Research (computer committee and some attention to program section, displays; cooperation with SBL) American Philological Association (archive of texts, editorial board for non-print publications, exhibits at annual meetings) American Society of Papyrologists (close cooperation with APA) Modern Languages Association (various activities, electronic publications, program segments and exhibits; details of how it is all coordinated organizationally are welcome) Association for Computers and the Humanities Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing I can guess about societies for History, Philosophy, Music, Art, etc., but it would be better to hear from representatives first hand. My primary interest is to determine if and how the various fields are being affected by computer technology, in terms of their professional meeting structures and programs. Bob Kraft (Univ. of Penn) From: (Robert Philip Weber) WEBER@HARVARDA Subject: Re: 3.963 network queries and others (77) Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 19:34:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1577 (2009) [deleted quotation] Addresses for email is an arcane science only fully understood by a few wizards on the west coast. However, a good place to begin is an article that appeared in the Communications of the ACM entitled Notable Computer Networks in 1986. I don't have the exact citation handy, but you should have no problem finding. Stuehler's query regarding USENET news is partially answered in the same article. What you need to find is a computer that has the USENET news feed. On UNIX machines USENET news is often accessed with the RN (read news) command. There are other programs that do the same thing. The data bases for USENET news are quite large; they are usually supported by some central computing organization, at least in universities. Other computers on the network then can read the news over the network with RN or some other program. There are a few hundred topics covering a wide variety of topics. Regards Bob Weber --------- Robert Philip Weber, Ph.D. | Phone: (617) 495-3744 Senior Consultant | Fax: (617) 495-0750 Academic and Planning Services | Division | Office For Information Technology| Internet: weber@popvax.harvard.edu Harvard University | Bitnet: Weber@Harvarda 50 Church Street | Cambridge MA 02138 | From: Paul Jones <pjones@mento.acs.unc.edu> Subject: Re: 3.970 e-addresses Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 09:36:28 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1578 (2010) I've been acting as postmaster for the better part on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus for several years now which includes sites on DECnet, Internet, BITNET, and UUCP (UUCP was invented between Chapel Hill and Duke). My bibles are: Quarterman's Matrix (which is expensive and detailed), The European R & D E- Mail Directory (from the European Unix Systems User Group -- its hard to get in the States, but the introduction does a good job of explaining addressing and the rest is a sort of e-mail yellow pages for Western Europe), !%@:: A Directory of Electronic Mail Addressing Networks (concise and cheap from O'Reilly and Associates, the Nutshell Handbook folks; they devoted two pages to each network). I also refer to even more technical books to which you might refer your local systems folks: Comer's Internetworking with TCP/IP, UNIX Communications (by the Waite Group), and Nutshell's Using UUCP. The first document I hand folks interesting in addressing problems is the enclosed short artcle by Byron Howes. Written in 1986, it is still accessable and useful. Folks desiring more detailed explainations of specific addresses may contact me directly if they would like at pjones@mento.acs.unc.edu. "Try again, fail again, fail better" S. Beckett Paul Jones ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Internet Addressing Byron C. Howes -- NCECS The objective of internet addressing is to provide a simply understandable standardized form of electronic mail addressing that takes into account the historical nature of network and domain growth yet allows for unique addresses for every mailbox. Internet addressing, while an objective used for most mail systems in this area, is incompletely implemented with respect to all networks. This is an address: Amailbox@Asite.Adomain It is comprised of three parts: -------------------- [A complete version of this document is now available on the file-server, s.v. INTERNET ADDRESNG. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Paul Brians <HRC$04@WSUVM1> Subject: Re: 3.970 e-addresses; e-resources (85) Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 08:34:36 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1579 (2011) On E-mail addresses: I find that my Mac II's ampersands @ character fails to do the job it should when writing e-mail addresses. I have to type "at" with a space on either side of it instead. From: dgn612@csc2.anu.OZ.AU (David Nash) Subject: Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 16:41:27 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1580 (2012) As published in _Weekend Australian_, 20-21 January 1990: AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF ABORIGINAL STUDIES VISITING RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP COMPUTER TEXT ARCHIVE (Readvertisement) The Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies is funding a Visiting Research Fellowship, tenable at the Institute in Canberra, for three years. With the increasing use of personal computers considerable quantities of data and text are being assembled on diskettes (machine readable data files). This represents an important new dimension for both archival activity and research initiatives. The Institute seeks to appoint a Fellow who will create an environment for processing such data files, making them accessible and usable by developing research tools that will be useful to a wide range of researchers. The Fellow will also supply copies of materials on request to Aboriginal and Islander communities and other researchers. It is anticipated that the archive will be maintained on an Apple Macintosh with access to other larger systems. Post-graduate qualifications in a relevant area are required as well as knowledge of and experience in Aboriginal studies. Applicants should also possess an understanding of anticipated research processes in one or more disciplines as they would relate to such an archive, as well as a good understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research projects currently utilising machine readable data files. The appointee will have a knowledge of computer archiving, with skills in programming and relevant systems management. Salary will be within the range $32,197 to $34,954 or $34,954 to $37,710 depending on qualifications and experience. Further details can be obtained by contacting Dr K Palmer, Director of Research, at the Institute of Aboriginal Studies (tel. 062 461161). Written applications, including the names, addresses and telephone numbers of three referees should be directed to: The Principal Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies GPO Box 553 Canberra ACT 2601 Closing Date: 23rd February, 1990. From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" <ERIC@SDNET> Subject: ENGLISH POSITION Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 06:36:47 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1581 (2013) ENGLISH FACULTY POSITION (Search Reopened) Dakota State University is seeking applications for a full-time tenure-track English faculty position in the College of Liberal Arts beginning Fall Semester 1990. Qualifications include a Ph.D. in English. Familiarity with computer applications for writing important. Responsibilities include teaching composition on MS-DOS microcomputers. Rank and salary will be based on qualifications. Dakota State University is located in Madison, South Dakota, approximately 50 miles northwest of Sioux Falls, in the southern lakes region of the state. Dakota State is dedicated to providing leadership in computer and information systems, and the integration of this technology into other academic disciplines. A letter of application, resume, and the names, addresses and telephone numbers of three references should be sent to Eric Johnson, Dean College of Liberal Arts Dakota State University Madison, SD 57042 Applications will be accepted until April 27, 1990, or until the position is filled. DSU is an Equal Opportunity Employer. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: OFFLINE 27 Date: Monday, 29 January 1990 2306-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 979 (2014) Attached is the draft of OFFLINE 27, which will be submitted for hardcopy publication to the listed newsletters. Comments from HUMANIST readers are welcome, especially if they enhance accuracy and clarity. RAK <<O F F L I N E 2 7>> by Robert Kraft [29 January 1990 Draft, copyright Robert Kraft] [HUMANIST 29 January 1990] [Religious Studies News 5.2 (March)] [CSSR Bulletin 19.2 (April)] The number of this column should be OFFLINE 27a. It is a rewrite, more or less, of column 27 which has gone off to electronic heaven (or wherever) with the other materials on my suddenly defunct harddisk. As someone was overheard saying at a computer conference, "A fool and his data are soon parted!" While I don't usually compose on my IBM XT, and I don't usually turn it off without transferring material to another system or to diskette, this time I did, and I hadn't. Some of you may be feeling mixed emotions of empathy and self-exoneration. I'ts happened to you, and even the "experts" screw up. Yes. Do as I say, not as I do. Be sure to make backups! Anyhow, the column theme is "Computer Assisted Instruction" (CAI) or, as some prefer, "Computer Assisted Learning" (CAL). In the lost original column I said some clever things about how OFFLINE has promised for a long time to deal with CAI/CAL but has not done so. I won't be so clever this time around. It's Saturday morning, and I have other things to do. The reason for this theme at this time is that the Computer Assisted Research Group proposes to have a session on CAI at the 1990 annual meetings of SBL/AAR/ASOR in New Orleans, so I'm priming you to think about that subject. And the reason I have not talked much about it before in OFFLINE is that I have very ambivalent feelings personally about CAI. Now is a good time to try to explain (or to figure out) why. <Computing and the Educator-Scholar in General> I have no abmivalence whatsoever about the value of the computer in the life of the academic. "Wordprocessing" alone is usually worth the price of the equipment. Not only can I write and store (make backups!) books and articles and reviews, but also syllabi, recommendations, letters, memos, addresses, telephone numbers, bibliographical items, and so on. All of this is easily possible in wordprocessing mode, although some things can be handled even more effectively with other special software (e.g. bibliographies, indices, address lists). On the record keeping side (grades, budgets, taxes, etc.), a good "spreadsheet" program is extremely useful, and can even be adapted to various other needs that depend on column structure for non-mathematical materials (e.g. word lists with definitions and analysis). Updating and printing the results of these various endeavors is usually a quite simple matter, and very fancy "hardcopy" products are often possible (e.g. multilingual text, inclusion of graphs or maps or even pictures). At the various levels of basic research and information access that undergird the life of an educator-scholar, the computer can also greatly facilitate matters. For some things you will need to be connected to an electronic network of some sort -- for example, to access library catalogues or collections of texts and data available only "online," or to get at student records and other "administrative" data, or to interact with colleagues and centers electronically. Some things might still be done most effectively on a "large" mainframe or a medium sized mini-computer, although in the humanities, the number of such tasks seems to have shrunk dramatically. In my own work, I use the mainframe as an access to electronic networks (Libraries, BITNET, etc.), as a means for manipulating certain 9 track tape formats, and for running a complex morphological analysis program; I use a mini mostly for largescale editing, uncomplicated tape handling, and preparing data for CD-ROM publication. Otherwise, mindboggling types and amounts of academic work can be done on one's own personal "micro" machine. And you don't need to be very expert, if you know how and where to find the information and advice you need. Among the most obvious general sources of which I am aware are John Hughes, BITS, BYTES, & BIBLICAL STUDIES (Zondervan 1987), which will continue for years to be an extremely useful introduction and detailed reference tool despite the fact that many of the programs and projects it describes will have changed (or perhaps disappeared) in the period since the book was researched; THE HUMANITIES COMPUTING YEARBOOK (volume 1 = 1988), edited by Ian Lancashire and Willard McCarty at the University of Toronto (Oxford, starting 1989), which updates and considerably expands some of the information in Hughes; Susan Hockey, A GUIDE TO COMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN THE HUMANITIES (Johns Hopkins 1980), which provides a good overview of the sorts of things that researchers can do with computers, although now the machinery has changed radically from 1980. To try to keep up with the various aspects of humanities scholarly computing today (articles, conferences, books and reviews, etc.), consult the special journals in the field, especially LITERARY AND LINGUISTIC COMPUTING (Oxford) and COMPUTERS AND THE HUMANITIES (Kluwer). And see that your local academic library has them! As I have mentioned before, and will continue to mention, there often is a frustrating rift between the regular ongoing activities of the older professional societies and the relevant activities of computer oriented research. Journals such as JBL, JAAR, RSR and BASOR need to be more aggressive about including information on computer tools -- e.g. reviews of software or of electronic data that is directly relevant to the clientele, or even review articles covering computer related areas. By all indications, the number of scholars who would profit from such innovations is significant and growing. These needs deserve to be addressed in the traditional contexts. Let the appropriate persons in your professional societies know if you share these concerns, and volunteer to be involved (e.g. as reviewers) if you are in a position to do so. <Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL)> But I am avoiding the main announced subject of this OFFLINE column, namely CAI/CAL. By this I mean the use of computers in the formalized student/teacher relationship, either by actually incorporating computers as part of the formal classroom experience or by using them as a formal part of the extra- classroom components of the course (laboratory type drills, homework assignments, supplementary assistance/tutorials, examinations, teacher/student communication and interaction, etc.). Most OFFLINE readers are probably actual or potential CAI/CAL users. My suspicion is that in general, except for language courses, the formal use of computers in classrooms is rare in religious studies and associated fields. Although I do not myself teach language acquisition at a formal level, I would almost certainly try to use CALL techniques if I did. Some of the reasons are obvious, in view of the subject matter. Linguistic relationships are mostly predictable. Practice and standard drills are usually important for acquisition of language skills. What has traditionally been done in language textbooks and workbooks can be done even more effectively through interactive computer software. The students can move at their own pace, to some degree, learning and practicing everything from the formation of letters (e.g. using an electronic drawing pad) and even sounds (on appropriate equipment) to the analysis of lexical forms (morphology) and relationships (syntax), to the simple meanings and usage of words and constructions, to more advanced exercises. They can test themselves, with cleverly written software assisting them to understand their predictable errors. They can play educational games (e.g. hangman) that help overcome feelings of monotony or drudgery in the learning experience. In this type of educational situation I have no serious ambivalence. For some examples of what is available, see the literature mentioned above (especially Hughes' book and the YEARBOOK). The same factors that make CALL attractive for foreign language learning are also applicable to some other subjects, to some degree. A wide variety of programs have been developed to assist with English composition, for example, both for native English speakers and for "English as a Second Language" (ESL). This is still "language learning," of course, but at a more advanced level. And to the extent that one is uncomfortable about dictating that everyone should write in the same general style (e.g. regarding sentence length, use of particles, repetition of vocabulary, sentence structure, punctuation, etc.), the appeal of using software that might suggest such a norm may lessen. Far along at the other end of this discussion is the often controversial topic of "Artificial Intelligence" (AI). To the extent that our machines can be programmed to think like we do, to that extent our software for such things as English composition can be sufficiently sophisticated to avoid being guilty of deceptive oversimplification. In many ways, subjects such as music or art would seem to have aspects similar to language learning, for which CAI/CAL approaches have obvious value, to a point. And some teachers have been exploiting these situations. As the computer technology gets more sophisticated with respect to sound and graphics, its appeal for such fields will become all the greater. Those of us who experienced the rock video demonstration presented by Virginia and Norman Badler to the CARG session in Atlanta in 1986, as an example of possible archaeological modelling, will appreciate the possibilities. More recently, the Perseus Project directed by Gregory Crane at Harvard is combining various linguistic, literary, archaeological, artistic, topographic, encyclopedic, and other approaches to knowledge in a data bank for classicists that will enable a much broader and more integrated approach to CAI/CAL in that subject matter. <CAI/CAL Ambivalence and Frustration> Although my students, especially the graduate students, are well aware of the value of computers in the sort of work we do, I have not yet set up any formal CAI/CAL components in my courses. (I am not counting the times that individual students are encouraged to so some searching of ancient texts on IBYCUS or other systems; or when I wheel a terminal into class to illustrate some point or another.) The reasons for this are varied, but probably the most important one is that I do not know of any appropriate software already developed for the classes I am teaching (mostly on Judaism and Christianity in the Greco-Roman worlds), and I have not considered it a priority to take time to develop such software at this point. In the very near future, I plan to try at least one CAI/CAL experiment, using John Abercrombie's CINEMA software that assists the instructor in adding various supplementary types of information and enlightenment to a video disk production. We propose to annotate the film "The Last Temptation of Christ" for use in a course on Jesus. There are already humanistic subjects and courses (other than CALL types) for which appropriate CAI software does exist. Information about these projects is available from a variety of sources. The large microcomputer manufacturers have funded such developments and have established such aids as the periodical entitled WHEELS FOR THE MIND (Apple Computer, P.O. Box 810, Cupertino CA 95015), on Mac oriented projects by and for educators, or the "WiscWare" distribution center for academic software prepared with IBM Educational Grant funding (tel 800- 543-3201 or 608-262-8167). A variety of users groups (or "special interest groups" = SIG) have been established over the years and have often collected and distributed CAI/CAL software of various sorts and in various stages of development as well, with oganizations such as "National Collegiate Software" (Duke University Press, 6697 College Station, Durham NC 27708) refining that model. Indeed, the problem is not so much locating sources for CAI/CAL type software, but in actually choosing from the virtually undifferentiated mass of available items some that might possibly be relevant and operative for your purposes. That also takes time, and often at least an intermediate level of computer competence. But even if one has time to discover and search the available catalogues of possibly useful CAI/CAL software, and is able to obtain and test potentially attractive items, and actually finds something appropriate, what then? To my knowledge, there are few schools equipped to deal with serious CAI/CAL humanities situations, my own included. Our audio- visual center has not yet made the transition to computer centered AV, although it is moving in that direction. We have one small "humanities" workroom equipped with some IBM and some Apple Mac machines, but hardly enough to conduct a class of 20 or more students comfortably. And there are many demands on that room, especially for use by the "computers and humanities" courses as well as for CALL needs. Probably more than half of our students have their own computers, but they are not all the same make of computer and usually are not networked to the University. Thus there is no easy way to make classroom use of computers or to require extra-classroom assignments that go beyond personal wordprocessing types of activity or to communicate with the students electronically. <An Optimistic Projection> It will probably be several years before adequate facilities and software exist to make effective classroom CAI/CAL in the humanities a reality for most of us. We all have our own approaches to the subject matter, and it would be unusual to find that software developed by one teacher in a particular situation would be fully acceptable to another. Neverthless, just as we now make use of required "textbooks" to provide a common base of knowledge for our students, it should soon become commonplace for course assignments to include electronic data and approaches. General "authoring systems" are being developed which establish a context in which the individual teacher ("author") can tailor the subject matter to the computer program. Whether and to what extent these will prove successful in humanities courses remains to be seen. For predictable "quiz" type of activities, with the instructor supplying (modifying, annotating, etc.) questions and acceptable ranges of answer (which could be automatically graded and to some extent commented upon), this could be an obvious benefit. For those of us who do not normally use this type of quiz procedure, however, it is not so attractive. And as the desired coverage becomes more broad and less predictable (as in historical "modelling," where students can change certain variables in the past historical situation to determine what might have happened if ...), it becomes more difficult to develop effective software. Both in the short run and in the long run, the CAI/CAL possibility that attracts me most is development of the electronic "textbook," similar to the Perseus project for classics mentioned above. Compact disk (CD-ROM) and related technologies are making it possible for a wide assortment of data and data types (text, notes, bibliography, graphs, maps, still and moving pictures, sound and music, etc.) to be integrated on a single disk, which can then be accessed in a myriad of combinations directed by the user. These are the textbooks of the near future, and they will be both exciting and highly effective as educational tools. They need to be produced by experts in the subject matter, working in cooperation with experts in the presentation technology. They depend on the availability of a large range of electronic data that can be successully integrated, and on the sophisticated software that can make it easy to get at such data in a high variety of configurations. Assignments of the "find out all that you can about ..." type will challenge the skills of the individual users to move through, and beyond, the available data in physical contexts of their own choosing (at home, in the library, in labs), and to enter class more solidly prepared for discussion and presentation (I'm such an optimist!). It is not an easy road to the realization of such hopes. Encoding of even textual data is still in its infancy in most fields, not to mention graphical and sound data. While CD-ROM technology is becoming widely used, it still tends to be located in libraries and labs rather than on "private" machines, and it cannot yet be considered "inexpensive." But things change rapidly (do we need to be reminded!?) and our very anticipation of the future may itself be an important factor in making it arrive more quickly. One can already obtain glimpses of that future in such products as the OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY on CD-ROM with special searching software, or in GROLLIERS ENCYCLOPEDIA on CD-ROM, including pictures and sound. Somewhere down the line I see an educational environment in which the students and instructors have powerful portable machines with CD-ROM type devices and electronic hypertextbooks for consultation in private or in class, and a resultingly enhanced educational experience for all. There will be stations for plugging into networks or into special printers for particular needs, and "drill" type of assignments, and electronic quizzes, but the heart of it all will focus on interactive information access on the one side, and interactive discussion with knowledgeable students and instructor on the other. Thus assisted by computers, the instruction and learning will hopefully be greatly enhanced. <Brief Notes> The SBL ATARI ST User Group Newsletter 4.1 (January 1990) is now available from Douglas Oakman, 870-120th Street South, Takoma WA 98444 (tel 206 537-2376; OAKMAN_D1@PLU1.BITNET), with the usual menu of valuable information (including some attractive print samples in Hebrew, Greek, Coptic and Syriac). Two articles in the September 1989 issue of ACADEMIC COMPUTING on the ideal "scholar's workstation" may be of special interest to OFFLINE readers, and also the article on "The Future of the Scholarly Journal" (in an increasingly electronic environment). The American Philological Association has established an Editorial Board for Non-Print Publications which will review electronic materials including scholarly literature, utilities and research tools for possible publication with Scholars Press. This is a step to be lauded and emulated. <-----> 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. BITNET address: KRAFT@PENNDRLS. 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 HUMANIST discussion group FileServer (UTORONTO.BITNET). From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Re: Provosts finding computers dehumanizing Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 22:28:34 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1582 (2015) I suppose the proper counter argument is that of assuming the devil's advocate position of noting that typewriters were a hugh dehumanizing influence when they replaced quill pens. If we'd all return to using quill pens, there would be so much more humanness in the writing and consequently in the use of language. Calligraphers would become valued members of society again, preparing all manner of official documents.... Of course, adds and drops were a technological advance many years in the future at that time. One probably waited in lines to tell a clerk something which was then painstakingly written in a huge ledger---How did one register for courses in the 19th century? From: Natalie Maynor <MAYNOR@MSSTATE> Subject: Re: 3.974 tongue-checking applauded (57) Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 20:45:19 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1583 (2016) Jim O'Donnell asks, "But why this attitude [that computers are 'de-humanizing'], which is not fear so much as it is an utterly off-the-wall snobbishness?" I contend that it *is* fear of the "strange machine." But would a provost (to use the example given -- this fear is not limited to provosts) want to say that he/she is afraid of computers? It's easier to say that computers are "de-humanizing." From: Subject: Re: 3.964 the perfect workstation (22) Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 11:56:35 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1584 (2017) Tell me more about Amiga, esp. for wordprocessing. I don't give a rip about colors or drawing pictures. How about the other stuff? Can it do things like Mac's hypercard? From: FLANNAGA@OUACCVMB.BITNET Subject: The Ideal Workstation: Summing Up Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 22:41:24 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1585 (2018) After conferring on the subject for most of this past Monday--watching three hours of demos, listening to several high-powered speakers, sitting around a table talking--a few things seem to come clear about the ideal humanist scholar's workstation. First, the gritty problem of cost. There is no way that what I am describing below will cost much less than $10,000, so that some of the Administrative money for capital improvements that Kessler has been talking about must move over into paying for the active scholar's desk. There could be a meter or two ticking at that desk, one for usage (no administrator wants 10K worth of equipment lying anywhere unused) and another for increased productivity and valuable output in the form of improved instruction, greater quantity and quality of scholarship and greater departmental service (everything from a better department brochure to more effective communication with job-candidates). MEMORY (volatile, non-volatile, static): The ideal workstation should have at least 4Mb RAM, to help with various operating systems and programs that eat RAM during operation. It should have over 100MB of storage, preferably removable and read/write, and it should have easy access to static storage media such as CD-ROM and videodiscs. SPEED: It should operate at least at maximum present capacity (at the moment the safest seems to be 33MHz), with software and hardware caches to help in the rapid swapping of data. Cache size? At least 128K? MULTITASKING OPERATING SYSTEM AND SOFTWARE: It should be run with an operating system that allows multitasking, multiple windowing and hypertext activities easily, so that no software will have to operate at only one level. Multitasking in this case should allow access to visual media in color and motion, should allow the hardware to reproduce sound and music with CD-quality , AND SHOULD PROVIDE EASY AND RAPID ACCESS TO networks outside of the workstation either in the form of local or wide-area networks or access to electronic mail systems such as BITNET. PROGRAMMING: It should allow humanists with limited knowledge of programming to define and easily manipulate icons so as to modify existing programs or to create new ones. The interface of the entire system needs to use icons that are clear enough so that even "word people" can't misunderstand them. DESKTOP PUBLISHING: It should allow writers, artists, designers, typesetters and publishers to combine forces easily to design and produce newsletters, brochures, pamphlets and even books (both in print and in electronic forms). Thus the memory and speed of the hardware, combined with software that can create subtle variations in type, in spacing of bodies of type and in the combining of type and image on each "page," should be able to create attractive and readable published material. PERIPHERALS: The workstation should be capable of being used either by scientists who need the highest-resolution of image (for CAD/CAM three-dimensional images or for mathematical formulas) or editors and desk-top publishers who also need enough of a high-resolution image so that two pages (say typewriter-sized) of text and graphics might be examined side-by-side. It must therefore have a monitor and video-card that can produce such well-defined images, preferably in color. It should also be able to print such images by means of a stand-alone or networked laser printer (for the best-quality reproduction) and a rapid dot-matrix printer, to produce less- expensive pages as with letters and memos. It should also be able to access either networked or standalone sources of static information such as CD-ROM or videodiscs. Access to other storage media, from 3 1/2" floppy disks holding 1.44MB of information to optical read/write storage, should be available for back-up. Need I mention a mouse? And access to OCI hardware and software for entering text and images? A FAX-MODEM CARD IS ALSO BECOMING A NECESSITY. The only already-assembled combination of hardware and software that can do all of the above at the moment seems to be the NeXT--but just saying that should bring all the Mac and DOS and Sun and Unysys people out for some lively discussion. From: ENCOPE@LSUVM Subject: Professional Organizations Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 22:01:28 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1586 (2019) Among major organizations with HUMANIST ties are SCSECS (South-Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies), best represented by Robert Bode (RFB8135@TNTECH) and ASECS (American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies) represented by myself, Steve Dill (UGA108@SDNET), Janet Wolf (WOLF@LEMOYNE), and David Macneil (WARMCN@DALAC). -- KLC From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Professional Societies on Humanist Date: Tuesday, 30 January 1990 2341-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1587 (2020) To avoid wasting the time of HUMANISTs, I will update this list as significant new information arrives. Once the list seems to have stabilized, perhaps more precise types of information can be added on types of computer involvement, contact persons, etc. Bob Kraft List of Professional Societies Represented on Humanist (1/30/90) American Academy of Religion (some special computer program sections at annual meetings; cooperation with SBL) American Dialect Society ("making use of computer technology") American Philological Association (archive of texts, editorial board for non-print publications, exhibits at annual meetings) American Schools of Oriental Research (computer committee and some attention to program section, displays; cooperation with SBL) American Society of Papyrologists (close cooperation with APA) Archaeological Institute of America (various computer activities) Association for Computers and the Humanities Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing Association for Women in Computing Medieval Academy of America (no indication of computer involvement) Modern Languages Association (various activities, electronic publications, program segments and exhibits; details of how it is all coordinated organizationally are welcome) Society for American Archaeology ("great interest in computers") Society of Biblical Literature (electronic archiving project and an active Computer Assisted Research Group that coordinates demonstrations and a program segment each annual meeting) Southeastern Conference on Linguistics ("making use of computer tech.") From: Peter Ian Kuniholm <MCG@CORNELLC> Subject: Re: 3.976 queries (130) Date: Wed, 31 Jan 90 09:11:02 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1588 (2021) Re. professional associations: add Archaeological Institute of America,.. in bits and pieces so far, but more joining daily. Peter Kuniholm From: dusknox@skipspc.idbsu.edu (Skip_Knox) Subject: Date: Wed 31 Jan 90 14:18:26 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1589 (2022) Add the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association. The AHA, at least, sponsors "computers in history" type stuff. I've never been a member of the OAH. Those two are the big ones; there are scads of regional/topics organizations. From: Andrew Gilmartin <ANDREW@BROWNVM> Subject: The myth of the scholar's workstation Date: Wed, 31 Jan 90 11:49:40 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1590 (2023) We might praise the architecture of the campus library but without periodicals, books, circulation, and reference librarians it is useless. Why then do we constantly dream about computer architectures? Maybe because it avoids the more difficult questions. These questions involve what constitutes adequate (humanist) computing support, how to provide access to remote libraries of electronic texts, and just want are the tools needed/desired to investigate these texts. The scholar's workstation is not great hardware but adequate hardware to access powerfull *remote* services rather than weak *desktop* services. The hardware in a Macintosh Plus and a Windows/286 platform are just such hardware. Rather than spending $7000 per NeXT per faculty member why don't we spend $1000 on a Macintosh Plus and invest the remaining $6000 in campus wide networks, large (tera-byte) centralized storage, and powerful remote CPUs. I am not suggesting that we return to 80x25 character terminals. What I am suggesting is that we let microcomputers do what they do well-- display information in textual, graphical, and aural forms--and let large centralized computing handle what it does well--intensive processing. At the campus level then, what is the ideal scholar's "environment"? -- Andrew Gilmartin Computing & Information Services Brown University Box 1885 Providence, Rhode Island 02912 andrew@brownvm.brown.edu (internet) andrew@brownvm (bitnet) From: Amanda C. Lee <ALEE@MSSTATE> Subject: re: the perfect workstation Date: Wed, 31 Jan 90 11:32:31 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1591 (2024) In response to the question about the Amiga's word processing capabilities, it is much like the mac, with a few exeptions. If you want a powerful word processor, Word Perfect is out for the Amiga, and there are many others that can incorporate color graphics onto the page. Also, the desktop publishing programs for the Amiga are excellent. In fact, the Amiga has consistantly been the leader in desktop publishing. The reason that no one knows about the Amiga is Commodore's rotten advertising campaign. An example of this is the fact that "hypermedia" was out for the amiga five years ago, but no one knew about it. Then the mac advertising machine plastered the word "hypermedia" all over the place. I am not flaming the Mac. I think that it is an excellent machine. But it is overpriced, and there are other alternatives. I suggest, if you are considering an Amiga, that you go to a local dealer and try a few word processing programs...Maybe you'll be surprised. Jeff Allegrezza From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Observations on computing-oriented sessions at the MLA & elsewhere?" Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 16:40:03 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1592 (2025) Perhaps some colleagues might like to summarize the sessions related to computing which they attended at the MLA or other conventions. Randall Jones listed every one of the MLA computing sessions, as he has done so obligingly for the past few years. See Vol. 3, No. 255, Monday, 18 Dec. 1989. Regards, Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH) joelg@psc.bitnet From: Knut Hofland +47 5 212954/55/56 FAFKH at NOBERGEN Subject: Digital image processing in Art History Date: 30 January 90, 15:12:21 EMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1593 (2026) The Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities, Bergen, Norway is presently engaged in studies of methods and technologies to digital image processing and analysis in art history. As part of our work we will make a visit to individuals/research groups (also in North America) active in this field. Information on ongoing activities will be most welcome! Knut Hofland FAFKH@NOBERGEN.BITNET The Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities Street adr: Harald Haarfagres gt. 31 Post adr: P.O. Box 53, University N-5027 Bergen Norway Tel: +47 5 212954/5/6 Fax: +47 5 322656 From: J.C.Baker@newcastle.ac.uk Subject: Hypercard stacks for Japanese and Chinese. Date: Wed, 31 Jan 90 06:35:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1594 (2027) This is a plea for help. I have been told that there are, somewhere, (Berkley?) some stacks for teaching Japanese kanji and Chinese characters... Does anyone know anything about this (do they exist / if so, where / if so, how do I access them etc)? Many thanks. Judy Baker, Language Centre, University of Newcastle upon Tyne. From: "[DCGQAL]A0234" <XB.DAS@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: [DCGQAL]A0234!Valentine Date: Wed, 31 Jan 90 07:23:04 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1595 (2028) Please excuse this frivolousness. I am to attend a luncheon with some interesting and genteel individuals, who have made it a requirement that participants be prepared to read a Valentine verse. I thought it might be fun (and incidentally self-serving) to see if HUMANISTS had some suggestions to help me out. Cordially, Chet Grycz Scholarship and Technology Study Project ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Czeslaw Jan Grycz | BITNET: "[DCGQAL]A0234 Grycz" <XB.DAS@STANFORD> University of California | - or - CJGUR@UCCMVSA Kaiser Center, Eighth Floor | AppleLink: A0234 300 Lakeside Drive | MCI Mail: 262-7719 Oakland, California | Phone: (415) 987-0561 94612-3550 | FAX: (415) 839-3573 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =END= From: CSMIKE@VAX.SWANSEA.AC.UK Subject: Query for HUMANIST Date: Wed, 31 Jan 90 10:30:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1596 (2029) Semantic Differential technique? A psychologist colleague is looking for a PC program to model the variety of distances between objects in three-dimensional space. Currently he uses wooden dowel rods and plasticine; he feels that some more hi-tech method might be more respectable! Mike Farringdon, University College of Swansea, Swansea, UK. BITNET: CSMIKE@VAX.SWAN.AC.UK From: Niko Besnier <UTTANU@YALEVM> Subject: Oh, that Montpellier link! Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 21:40:49 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1597 (2030) Some recently asked about problem s/he was having with the e-mail node FRMOP22. The said node is not in Paris, but in Montpellier. And it goes down periodically, sometimes for long periods of time. And since a large volume of mail between North America on the one hand and Europe and the Middle East on the other goes through it (e.g. even mail to Ireland goes that way), things do have a tendency to get either backed up or bounced back. There isn't much one can do, as far as I know, unless you want to tackle French bureaucracy yourself. :-) (As the carrier of a French passport, I'm entitled to make fun.) Keep trying to send your message to Granada. Atentamente, Niko Besnier Department of Anthropology Yale University From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "More on address eccentricities" Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 15:37:01 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1598 (2031) Here is some information to supplement Bob Kraft's recent message concerning return addresses and case problems: UNIX (and related flavors of ULTRIX, XENIX, etc.) is case sensitive. VMS, and many other non case-sensitive systems, changes addresses to upper case before sending them. For an address tobe properly entered, it must be quoted to "protect" it from the normal functioning of the mailer, such as, when on our VMS system, we send messages to our UNIX machine (a Pyramid 98x) via a university system mailer, UNHD: UNHD::"psc90!jdg" The UNIX address is passed intact to UNHD, which, as an ULTRIX system, knows what to do with it. Colleagues sending messages to a UNIX address should check on a "quoting scheme" that works for them, and then define a logical (or whatever the term might be for their system) for the successful address. Regards, Joel Goldfield joelg@psc90.bitnet unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET From: Helen McLean <HLMCU@CUNYVM.BITNET> Subject: CUNYVMV2 <--> FRMOP22 link Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 15:03:36 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1599 (2032) There have been many problems with the CUNY/FRMOP link this past week-and-a-half, resulting in a TREMENDOUS backlog of files on tape. (TREMENDOUS= 66000+ as of 12:41 EST 30Jan90) The phone companies are working to restore this link. In the meantime we continue to offload files to tape, and are investigating shipping files to France on tape to be loaded onto a VM system there. Please advise your users that files are NOT being lost. There is no need to resend files - they'll only end up on tape as well. With the link down, we are dumping an average of 15000 files per day to tape. --> commentary: Sure would be nice if someone else had a link to Europe, don't you think? Any volunteers to share this load?? <-- Let's hope the telephone companies get the line up soon. Randi Robinson (rlrcu@cunyvm) City University of New York/UCC From: Stephen Clausing <SCLAUS@YALEVM> Subject: dehumanizing computers Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 22:15:40 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1600 (2033) Regarding the thesis, recently propounded by an administrator, that computers were dehumanizing, let me add this simple anecdote. My 7 year old son has a computer game that allows him to play against the computer or against another human. Whenever one of his friends comes over, they invariably play TOGETHER against the computer, not against each other. The explanation is simple: they would rather lose against the computer than against a friend. I suspect that students prefer CAI for similar reasons. They would rather be told by a computer that they have made a mistake than be ridiculed in a classroom or marked down by a teacher. Computers are actually quite non-threatening. Is this dehumanizing? From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.974 tongue-checking applauded Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 10:00:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1601 (2034) Well, I *did* suggest (in a quiet voice, and only once) that we were finding, over in our networked classroom, that it was possible to achieve *greater* contact with students that way: the Daedalus InterChange program (which has been described elsewhere), and other parts of the Daedalus system, encourage a great deal of back and forth, and I've had much more discussion with students there than I've ever been able to manage, even at my tip-top teaching form, in a more conventional classroom setting. He said, "Oh," and went back to what he'd been saying, so I dropped it. The most recent battle (this never ends!) was with the Associate Chair of my department-- with whom I fight this out every semester at least once. I tell him how many people I need to staff the lab and support both the research activities going on there and the people teaching in the classroom across the hall; he tells me OK, then a week later changes his mind and wonders if I can't take a slight reduction in staff (this semester he did this after classes had started). Yesterday's battle was about summer session-- the secretary who handles scheduling had asked me how many sections of freshman English I wanted designated Computer Assisted for summer; I told her three for each of the two sessions (out of 26 sections offered during the first session, and 21 in second session); and my Ass. Chair. came in a couple of hours later to tell me that we couldn't do that. First, the previous Chairman had not, as he had told me he would, asked for money to pay me for administering the computer lab/classroom; I was, instead, scheduled to teach the first half of the American lit survey, something I used to do quite regularly and still enjoy from time to time. I said I'd prefer to teach freshman comp and teach it in the computer classroom, so we were back to that point again. First, he said, these are provisional students (most of the freshmen and -women we get in the summers are admitted provisionally, because they don't quite meet the standards for regular admission; it gives them a chance, if they make it through with nothing lower than a B in 4 courses, to gain regular admission), and most of them will fail anyway; this was, in his mind, apparently a reason for not teaching them with our best resources. I said I didn't buy that, so he tried again: this time, he said it wouldn't be fair to the other provisional students, the ones who *wouldn't* get to take the class in the computer classroom! So I said that of course he must be right-- we really should make sure that all those students had an absolutely equal chance at failure. Then I said I didn't want to talk about it any more, not until he'd at least been over to the damn lab to see what we were doing, to sit in on a class or two and to take a look at the literary research going on in the lab. He said he would, and suggested we see the chairman together to iron this out. Well, we didn't need to see the chairman together: I got a note this morning informing me that I had my administrative appointment, *and* I had my three classes per session, *and* I had one (1) staff person (FTE) per session. One ain't enough, but it was a lot better than I thought I was going to do. Can things be looking up and down at the same time? John Slatin From: Jim O'Donnell (Penn, Classics) Subject: Kennings among the Greeks Date: 30 Jan 90 22:14:44 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 987 (2035) Try ILL again s.v. Ingrid Waern (not Waren). Berkeley's TELNET accessible unified California catalogue (type TELNET 35.1.0.11, tell the you have IBMPC and follow prompts) reports a copy at UCLA's URL (which I take to be University Research Library), and RLIN (accessible only to account holders, which Penn generously arranges for faculty) reports another copy at University of Iowa. Other handiest library I have found is Michigan (TELNET 35.1.1.6, tell them you want MIRLYN and carriage return through a couple of screens), which has a large collection of its older material already on line (Penn's catalogue is good, but only goes back to 1968 on computer) and also allows access to WILSON DISC, which is an ongoing index of scholarly journals: not perfect, not much older than 1983 that I've noticed, but a useful way to snoop around. TELNET accessible, but also through INTERNET I believe (don't know the protocols). Saves lots of time. From: "Pierre Hamel" <HAMEL@INRS-URB.UQuebec.CA> Subject: Date: THU, 01 Feb 90 11:51:01 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1602 (2036) Re: French e-dictionary Permettez-moi de vous suggerer un logiciel qui tourne sur IBM PC et compatible et dont les performances sont proprement impressionnantes. Il s'agit de " HUGO PLUS ", (Manseau et al.) un verificateur orthographique et grammatical compatible avec WordPerfect 5.0 et WordPerfect 4.2, MicrosoftWord 5, Wordstar 4 et autres. Cout: 84,95 $CAN Par ailleurs, la meme maison propose un autre logiciel grammatical qui fonctionne comme un systeme-expert particulierement sophistique et qui convient bien aux regles tordues de la langue francaise: " Le Grammairien " (Simard et MacHan) Cout: 694,95 $CAN Logidisque Inc. C.P. 10, succ. "D" Montreal, QUEBEC H3K 3B9 Telephone: (514) 933-2225 Telecopie: (514) 933-2182 J'essaierai de me negocier un pourcentage sur les ventes ... Pierre J. Hamel, INRS From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.984 queries, various and interesting (135) Date: Thu, 1 Feb 90 05:06:44 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1603 (2037) We have a large (75 MB) HyperCard stack for learning hanzi (Chinese characters) which includes digitised images of brush pen hanzi written by a calligrapher, "ball point pen" (uniform stroke width) versions, pronunciation by male and female native speakers (digitized sounds), Pinyin, English translations, smooth animation of the writing of the hanzi, and links between simplified and non-simplified versions of the characters. The stack has 2500 hanzi (with variant forms included in the count, about 3500)--the "basic literacy set" as defined by the PRC. The stack supports search by Pinyin with disambiguation among homonyms, creation of arbitrary subsets of characters, and creation of stand-alone subsets to fit on a diskette. At 75 MB we are distributing this stack on CD-ROM; it also includes extensive interactive help and additional software from Dartmouth (including additional software for Chinese). Request a brochure to be sent snail-mail from Humanities Computing, 101 Bartlett Hall, Hanover, NH 03755-1870 --- J.C.Baker@newcastle.ac.uk wrote: ... Does anyone know anything about stacks for teaching Japanese kanji and Chinese characters... (do they exist / if so, where / if so, how do I access them etc)? Many thanks. Judy Baker, Language Centre, University of Newcastle upon Tyne. --- end of quoted material --- From: O MH KATA MHXANHN <MCCARTHY@CUA> Subject: kana stacks Date: Wed, 31 Jan 90 22:47 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1604 (2038) Hiragana and katakana stackware is available from Anonae Software P.O. Box 7629 Berkeley, CA 94707. The stacks are well done and helpful for beginners; sounds are included, and one can catch on to the proper stroke order rather quickly because of the "self-calligraphing" of charac- ters. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Case-sensitive addresses on CMS Date: Wednesday, 31 January 1990 2106-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1605 (2039) I have now learned that on this CMS type system, if I type the prompt "(case m" after the bitmail address to which I am sending, the software will not change everything to uppercase. On other similar systems, the procedures may be slightly different (e.g. "mixed" -- all representing "case mixed" as on IBM's "xedit" system). In any event, similar procedures probably exist for other similar systems. Thus the command line bitmail mccarty at UTOREPAS (case m will produce exactly that address (except @ replaces "at"). Yes, our software requires us to type " at " not "@". Bob Kraft (U. Penn) From: Amanda C. Lee <ALEE@MSSTATE> Subject: telecommunications in Germany Date: Wed, 31 Jan 90 18:11:58 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1606 (2040) Thanks to everyone for the replies to my query about telecommunications in Germany. I've passed on what information I gathered to my friend in Germany -- we'll see if he can do anything with it on his end. Again, thanks to all! Amy Lee alee@msstate.bitnet From: Jim O'Donnell (Penn, Classics) Subject: Liveware failure Date: 01 Feb 90 09:30:46 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1607 (2041) In my posting last night about TELNET library access, I gave a wrong number. The California MELVYL system is addressed at TELNET 31.1.0.11. The number I gave (35.1.1.6) gets you to Michigan. Apologies. From: "Bill Ball" <C476721@UMCVMB> Subject: online catalogues Date: Wed, 31 Jan 90 20:30:45 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1608 (2042) Jim O'Donnell's recent note listed the telnet addresses for the Michigan and California catalogues. It would be nice if there was a list of online library catalogues and other bibliographic databases accessable through telnet. I have not found one in the Humanist's files. Does anyone know if such a list exists? It would particularly helpful if one could discover not only the addresses but at least a bare minimum of instructions for getting on each list i.e. I tried the Michigan database and got logged on but couldn't get the terminal-type set up to produce more than gibberish on my screen. Bill Ball Dept. Pol. Sci. U. Mo. - Columbia c476721.UMCVMB.MISSOURI.EDU From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Professional Societies Update2 Date: Wednesday, 31 January 1990 2103-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1609 (2043) In the following cumulative list, new entries begin with "+". If you know of a more or less official representative or email address for such societies represented on HUMANIST, please let me know and I will add that information. Bob Kraft List of Professional Societies Represented on Humanist (1/31/90) + indicates added since last version of the list American Academy of Religion (some special computer program sections at annual meetings; cooperation with SBL) American Anthropological Association (see ANTHRO-L@UBVM ListServer) [Zubrow] +American Association of University Presses (much computer talk) [Perry] +American Conference on Irish Studies [Cahalan; see GAELIC-L and FWAKE-L ListServers] American Dialect Society ("making use of computer technology") [Maynor] +American Historical Association ("computers in history" things) [Knox] +American Library Association [Jacobs] American Philological Association (archive of texts, editorial board for non-print publications, exhibits at annual meetings) +American Philosophical Society (has committee on computer use and subcommittee on electronic texts; program sessions) [Owen; see ACH Newsletter 11.2(1989) 13] +American Political Science Association [Jassel] American Schools of Oriental Research (computer committee and some attention to program section, displays; cooperation with SBL) +American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies [Cope ENCOPE@LSUVM, Dill, Wolf, MacNeil] +American Society of Church History (not much computer involvement) [Zinn] American Society of Papyrologists (close cooperation with APA) [Kraft] Archaeological Institute of America (various computer activities) [Walsh, Kuniholm] Association for Computers and the Humanities Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing Association for Women in Computing +Association of Public Data Users [Jacobs] +College Composition and Communication [Cahalan] +International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) [Jacobs] +International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature [Cahalan] +International Congress on Medieval Studies (sessions, workshops) [Zinn] +Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) [Jacobs] Medieval Academy of America (no indication of computer involvement) [Zacour, Zinn] Modern Languages Association (various activities, electronic publications, program segments and exhibits; details of how it is all coordinated organizationally are welcome) +National Council of Teachers of English [Cahalan; see MBU network] +Organization of American Historians [Knox (non member)] Society of American Archaeology ("great interest in computers") [Zubrow] Society of Biblical Literature (electronic archiving project and an active Computer Assisted Research Group that coordinates demonstrations and a program segment each annual meeting) [Kraft] +South-Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies [Bode RFB8135@TNTECH (Cope)] Southeastern Conference on Linguistics ("making use of computer tech.") [Maynor] From: Germaine Warkentin <WARKENT@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Professional Organizations Date: Wed, 31 Jan 90 21:39:35 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1610 (2044) I belong to a number of scholarly organizations in Canada and abroad. Filtering out those a number of other humanists might belong to, could I cite: International Association for Neo-Latin Studies, International Society for the History of Rhetoric, Renaissance English Text Society, Society for the History of Discoveries, The Bibliographical Society, and here in Canada of course the Canadian Society for Renaissance Studies, Canadian Society for the History of Rhetoric, Toronto Renaissance and Reformation Colloquium, Association of University Teachers of English, Association for Canadian and Quebec Literatures, Bibliographical Society of Canada. And that's enough of that! Germaine Warkentin -- Warkent@utorepas Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies -- CRRS@utorepas Victoria University in the University of Toronto From: Jim Cahalan <JMCAHAL@IUP.BITNET> Subject: societies Date: 01 Feb 90 09:03 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1611 (2045) I'd add to your list the following: NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) and CCCC (College Composition and Communication), both of which you'll probably hear more about from other people. On the network MBU or "Megabyte University" at the moment there's been some talk and information about building an NCTE "net," in particular. My other two are two organizations in my particular specialty that I belong to, neither of which has much going yet with Email networks but are ones in which I'd like to see more such activity: ACIS (American Conference on Irish Studies) IASAIL (International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature) I'm on GAELIC-L, the Irish-language network, and also FWAKE-L (the _Finnegans Wake_ one), but to date have found no other Irish studies or Irish literature networks, and would very much appreciate a more generalized Irish Literature/Studies network. Jim Cahalan, Graduate Literature <JMCAHAL@IUP.BITNET> English Dept., 111 Leonard, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA 15705-1094 Phone: (412) 357-2264 From: D.Mealand@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: LANS and Multilingual Scholar Date: 29 Jan 90 16:30:14 gmt X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1612 (2046) Has anyone else had problems trying to run Multi-Lingual scholar in a LAN environment ? We are using ethernet with os2 and 3+open. We can't get MLS to print unless each machine has a direct link to a printer. Presumably someone somewhere is developing a LAN version. Does anyone know if even a beta test version is around yet. Also is anyone succesfully printing from MLS on a laser printer ? We have used MLS for at least 2 years before the LAN came along and would like to continue using it. But if no lan version turns up we may have to shift our users to alternative software. David M. From: Oxford Text Archive <ARCHIVE@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK> Subject: FolioViews/Intelex Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 13:41 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1613 (2047) I'd like to hear from any Humanist who's obtained texts+software from Intelex. What's it like? What can you do with 'folio views' text search package? what do the texts look like? thanks in advance Lou Burnard OTA From: MFFGKGN@CMS.MANCHESTER-COMPUTING-CENTRE.AC.UK Subject: Ping-pong virus Date: Tue, 30 Jan 90 15:02:53 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1614 (2048) 29.1.90 Manchester, England. A FEW WEEKS BEFORE CHRISTMAS THERE WAS A LOT OF DISCUSSION RE. THE PING PONG VIRUS. IF ANYBODY HAS SUCCEEDED IN FINDING A *REMEDY* COULD THEY PLEASE LET ME KNOW. MFZXREP@UK.MCC.CMS From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.986 humans and computers (87) Date: Wed, 31 Jan 90 10:00:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 992 (2049) Stephen Clausing suggests one reason why computers might be humanizing rather than de-, as my Provost suggested the other day, when he (Clausing, that is) tells the story of his son and his son's friends teaming up against the computer. But the CAI environment I work in doesn't have much to do with reporting error, one way or another: the primary function of our classroom system is to enable *communication*, which occurs to a far greater degree and with far greater freedom than I've ever experienced in my more traditional classrooms; maybe it has something to do with my telling them (as I have to do at the beginning of every semester) that there's no time, in a real-time environment like ours, for me to worry about their bloody spelling; what counts is what they say, not whether they've misspelled it. But I have this sneaking suspicion that my provost, along with about 200 million other Americans, regards "English teachers" as being concerned primarily with correcting one's spelling and pointing out one's teensiest grammatical blunders, so I decided not to tell him about that... John Slatin From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.983 perfect workstation: myth, dream, mystery? (76) Date: Wed, 31 Jan 90 20:50:46 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 993 (2050) The Amiga. Compatibility is the main problem. If all of your colleagues are using Macs and/or MS-DOS machines, then it doesn't matter how "good" the Amiga (or anything else) is in abstract terms. No campus can afford to support all platforms; and most people will opt for those that are already are supported. Of course, if you don't interact with anyone else and use the machine in stand-alone mode .... Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: N_EITELJORG@cc.brynmawr.edu Subject: 3-d graphics for psychology experiments Date: Fri, 2 Feb 90 11:29 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1615 (2051) Sorry to say that I lost the original message while cleaning the file, but someone wanted to know about 3-d graphics programs for representing relationships in psychology studies. A number of computer-assisted drafting and design (CADD) programs should do the job. Although AutoCAD (release 10 only for 3-d) is the best know, it's expensive and probably overkill. One should be able to find a half-dozen or more PC programs which can handle 3-d positioning adequately. Be sure to have fully 3-dimensional locations supported (and enterable from the keyboard); colors and layers would be helpful I suspect; attributes and blocks would also be helpful. It will take some time be locate the *right* program, but, in the process, I think one may find that a good program will provide some surprising benefits and make possible some new ways of looking at the relationships. Nick Eiteljorg (n_eiteljorg@brynmawr) From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Chinese character stacks; response to J.C. Baker" Date: Thu, 1 Feb 90 10:20:14 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1616 (2052) Although David Bantz will probably want to supply more specific information, let me quickly answer J.C. Baker's "plea for help" of 31 Jan. There's an impressive CD-ROM/Mac stack program called "Hansi Assistant" that humanities computing administators, programmers, teaching assistants and Chinese scholars have been working on for the past few years. It has just been released by Dartmouth College. Regards, Joel Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH) From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: new Internet Library list Date: 2 February 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1617 (2053) Within the next few days, Dr. Art St. George will be sending to Humanist a revised version of his Internet Library List, i.e. a catalogue of library catalogues and other resources accessible by the Internet protocol. You will be notified when it is available. My thanks to the several members who pointed out Art St. George's very valuable service to us all. Yours, Willard McCarty From: Marc Eisinger +33 (1) 40 01 51 20 EISINGER at FRIBM11 Subject: Date: 2 February 90, 10:04:36 SET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1618 (2054) Subjet : Link fail between US and France As some of you might know, the only link between America and Europe/Middle East is a link between CUNY and Montpellier (yes, there's other cities in France than Paris). This link had been down for a while and telecommunication people are working on it. I found very interesting some of the "US side" reaction i.e. if it doesn't work it's the "other side" fault ... No, Paris is not burning and England didn't sink. And some people should think and/or ask. It helps. Marc From: JLD1@PHOENIX.CAMBRIDGE.AC.UK Subject: Email addresses Date: Fri, 02 Feb 90 15:14:21 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1619 (2055) A very useful book which gives maps and diagrams of most countries' email networks is "A Directory of Electronic Mail Addressing and Networks", published by O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. It is available in Europe from UNIX Book Service, 35 Bermuda Terrace, Cambridge CB4 3LD, UK (by mail order) or phone (0223) 313273. Cost is 19.95 pounds + postage and packing. John Dawson (University of Cambridge). From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: bibliographic database software? Date: 1 February 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1620 (2056) Another non-networked colleague of mine here, Stephanie Gould, is looking for bibliographic management software to satisfy the requirements of her project. The following is a brief description of that project. Any suggestions would be most welcome. --W.M. "A new project at the University of Toronto - York University Joint Centre for Asia Pacific Studies studying Canada- Hong Kong Relations, will collect and store materials on all aspects of the relations (for example, trade, immigration, adaptation of Hong Kong people to Canada) from many Canadian, American, British and Hong Kong sources. It will contain newspaper, magazine, periodical, journal and other scholarly articles; government publications; books; and perhaps lecture material and student papers. We will store bibliographic information, an abstract for each entry and, in some cases, the full text in a database on an IBM compatible PC. We estimate 30,000+ entries over four years. Some of the particulars of this bibliographic project include: up to ten people will assist in compiling and entering this information into the database; information from it will eventually be made available to the general public, as well as business, government, academic and media people on a cost return basis; information will be retrieved for a multitude of unforseeable purposes." Please send all replies to Humanist. Many thanks. Yours, Willard McCarty From: "Pieter C. Masereeuw" <PIETER@ALF.LET.UVA.NL> Subject: russian texts Date: Fri, 2 Feb 90 13:33 MET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1621 (2057) Is there anybody who knows of an electronic version of the following 17-18th century russian texts by S.I. Kotkov: 1. Moskovskaja rec' v nacalnyj period stanovlenija russkogo nacional'nogo jazyka 1974 2. Moskovskaja delovaja i bytovaja pis'mennost' XVII veka 1968 3. Gramotki XVII - nacala XVIII veka 1969 4. Pamjatniki moskovskoj delovoj pismennosti XVIII veka , 1981 I realize there is not much change. Pieter Masereeuw University of Amsterdam The Netherlands PIETER@ALF.LET.UVA.NL From: Vic Drescher <VSDRESCH@IUP.BITNET> Subject: Costa Rica Date: 02 Feb 90 11:14 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1622 (2058) I have just been named to teach in the College of Language Science at the National University of Costa Rica, in Heredia, starting August 1st for a full year. I plan to take wife and two daughters but have never been to Costa Rica. If any of our members have ever living experience in Costa Rica, I would be truly grateful for any information they could give on cost of living, travel to Costa Rica, school systems for American teenagers, anything at all. Thanks Vic Drescher From: The Man with the Plan <KEHANDLEY@AMHERST> Subject: Luther's Bible e-text sought Date: Fri, 2 Feb 90 14:41 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1623 (2059) Professor Donald Price from Amherst College is looking for an e-text of Luther's Bible. Any leads any of the members of Humanist can give me will be appreciated by the professor and me. Please send information to me. Thank you. Keith Handley User Services Associate, Amherst College Academic Computer Center Kehandley@Amherst.BITNET From: "Guy L. Pace" <PACE@WSUVM1> Subject: administrative bugbears Date: Fri, 02 Feb 90 09:19:58 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1624 (2060) Just a note to applaud John Slatin's efforts and successes. Keep up the fight, John. From: <EDHARRIS@CTSTATEU> Subject: dehumanizing? Date: Fri, 2 Feb 90 11:20 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1625 (2061) We have recently begun an assistive technology lab which employs diverse hardware and software to make computers accessible to those to whom they haven't been. Machines that speak what is on the screen are used by blind students, machines that anticipate what will be typed and machines with huge keyboards are used by students with motor disabilities. The machines aren't human, of course, and disabled students remain disabled. Still, as post-secondary education seems continually to imply increasing access to computers, computers are accessible in ways that I think most resources are not, or have not been. Disabled students using computers can do what temporarily able-bodied (as the jargon goes) students using computers can do. There is a level pitch for every course which is enhanced through a student's use of computers. And watching the disabled kids realize they can do this kind of work is a moving sight. A recent article germane to this issue, "Challenging the Myth of Disability," by Alan Brightman appeared in Educom Review 24:4, pp. 17-23. It's available from listserv@bitnic as disabili brightma (I think). Ed. Harris, Academic Affairs Southern Ct State U, New Haven, CT 06515 (203) 397-4320, 397-4207 (Fax) From: <RUDMAN@CMPHYS> Subject: Call for Papers Date: Fri, 2 Feb 90 08:14:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 998 (2062) A.C.H.-SPONSORED SESSION AT MLA, CALL FOR PAPERS **** INVITATION TO SUBMIT ABSTRACTS OR PAPERS **** The Association for Computers and the Humanities is sponsoring the following session at the Modern Language Association Convention, December 27-30, 1990 in Chicago, Illinois: "COMPUTER ASSISTED AUTHORSHIP ATTRIBUTION" Papers dealing with specific Authorship Attribution studies, studies of methodologies, or theoretical overviews are invited. Please mail(or e-mail) inquiries, a 1,000 word abstract, or the entire paper by March 15, 1990 to: Dr. Joseph Rudman Department of English Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 U.S.A. Rudman@CMPHYS (412) 268-2775 Prospective presenters must be members of the MLA by April 1, 1990. All who submit an abstract or a paper will be informed of the acceptance decision no later than April 9, 1990. From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Student writing in the MS-DOS vs. Mac environment" Date: Thu, 1 Feb 90 19:12:32 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 999 (2063) A curious and troubling article has just appeared in _Academic Computing_, Jan. 1990, pp. 16-19 & 45. I quote one passage dealing with the results of 20 essays run through the _Writer's Workbench Text Analysis_ programs on a VAX mainframe by the author, Marcia Peoples Halio: The Mac students were writing far fewer complex sentences than the IBMers (30 percent compared to 49.5 percent). They were also using many more "to be" verbs (32 percent compared to 23 percent), a sign according to composition theorists of weak and lifeless prose. Readability scores (as judged by the Kincaid scale) averaged 12.1 (college level) for the IBM students, but the Mac users obtained a score of only 7.95 (slightly less than 8th grade). Closely tied to the readability scores was the measure of sentence length: an average of 16.3 words for the Mac students and 22.6 for the IBM students. And the Mac students -- much more than the IBM students -- used the subject of their sentences as the sentence opener (80 percent Mac; 66.5 percent IBM). Teachers know that weak writers generally rely on subject openers, while more sophisticated writers employ more varied openers .... Finally, the Mac students were noticeably poorer proofreaders than the IBMers, averaging fifteen mispellings per essay, compared to four for the IBMers. ["Student Writing: Can the Machine Maim the Message," p. 18.] The results for perhaps 1,000 students in English Comp. at the U. of Delaware were dramatically different depending upon their use of an IBM or Mac microcomputer. I'd be interested in reading what my colleagues think after digesting the whole article. Regards, Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH) BITNET: joelg@psc From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Professional Societies Update3 Date: Thursday, 1 February 1990 2312-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1000 (2064) LIST OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES REPRESENTED ON HUMANIST (2/01/90) + indicates added since last version of the list If you know of a more or less official representative or email address for such societies represented by members of HUMANIST, please let me know and I will add that information. Bob Kraft +American Academy of Advertising [Bern] American Academy of Religion (some special computer program sections at annual meetings; cooperation with SBL) American Anthropological Association (see ANTHRO-L@UBVM ListServer) [Zubrow] +American Association for Public Opinion Research [Bern] American Association of University Presses (much computer talk) [Perry] American Conference on Irish Studies [Cahalan; see GAELIC-L and FWAKE-L ListServers] American Dialect Society ("making use of computer technology") [Maynor] American Historical Association ("computers in history" things) [Knox] American Library Association [Jacobs] +American Musicological Society (creating database of texts) [Mathiesen (Perry)] American Philological Association (archive of texts, editorial board for non-print publications, exhibits at annual meetings) American Philosophical Society (has committee on computer use and subcommittee on electronic texts; program sessions) [Owen; see ACH Newsletter 11.2(1989) 13] American Political Science Association [Jassel] +American Psychological Association: Consumer Psychology, Media Psychology, and Personality and Social Psychology divisions [Bern] American Schools of Oriental Research (computer committee and some attention to program section, displays; cooperation with SBL) American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies [Cope ENCOPE@LSUVM, Dill, Wolf, MacNeil] American Society of Church History (not much computer involvement) [Zinn] American Society of Papyrologists (close cooperation with APA) [Kraft] Archaeological Institute of America (various computer activities) [Walsh, Kuniholm] +Association for Asian Studies (occasional panel, newsletter column) [Parker] +Association for Canadian and Quebec Literatures [Warkentin] Association for Computers and the Humanities +Association for History and Computing [Spaeth] Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing Association for Women in Computing +Association Internationale Bible et Informatique [AIBI Network, contact IWML@UKC.AC.UK (Lambert)] Association of Public Data Users [Jacobs] +Association of University Teachers of English [Warkentin] +Bibliographical Society [Warkentin] +Bibliographical Society of Canada [Warkentin] +Canadian Society for Renaissance Studies [Warkentin] +Canadian Society for the History of Rhetoric [Warkentin] College Composition and Communication [Cahalan] +College Music Society [Perry] +Consortium for Computers in the Humanities / Consortium pour ordinateurs en sciences humains +International Association for Neo-Latin Studies [Warkentin] International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) [Jacobs] International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature [Cahalan] International Congress on Medieval Studies (sessions, workshops) [Zinn] +International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (one sponsor of the Computer Assisted Tools for Septuagint Studies project at the Univ. of Penn and at the Hebrew Univ. in Jerusalem) [Kraft] +International Society for the History of Rhetoric [Warkentin] Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) [Jacobs] Medieval Academy of America (no indication of computer involvement) [Zacour, Zinn] Modern Languages Association (various activities, electronic publications, program segments and exhibits; details of how it is all coordinated organizationally are welcome) +Music Library Association (computer applications a "hot topic") [Papakhian] National Council of Teachers of English [Cahalan; see MBU network] +North American Patristics Society (no organized computer activity) [Kraft] Organization of American Historians [Knox (non member)] +Renaissance English Text Society [Warkentin] +Society for Music Theory [Perry] +Society for the History of Discoveries [Warkentin] Society of American Archaeology ("great interest in computers") [Zubrow] Society of Biblical Literature (electronic archiving project and an active Computer Assisted Research Group that coordinates demonstrations and a program segment each annual meeting) [Kraft; contact SBLEXEC@UNIX.CC.EMORY.EDU] South-Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies [Bode RFB8135@TNTECH (Cope)] Southeastern Conference on Linguistics ("making use of computer tech.") [Maynor] +Toronto Renaissance and Reformation Colloquium [Warkentin] From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: intoxication Date: 2 February 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1001 (2065) To commemorate Humanist's 1001st message in its 3rd year of life, I thought I would share with you, on this gloomy Friday evening, a humorous piece from my favourite periodical, the Times Literary Supplement. The review in question is "A Universal Urge" by Michael Gossop, who is Head of Research, Drug Dependence Unit, Maudsley Hospital, London, and author of *Living with Drugs* (1987). Dr. Gossop essays to review Solomon H. Snyder's *Brainstorming: The Science and Politics of Opiate Research* and Ronald K. Siegel's *Intoxication: Life in Persuit of Artificial Paradise*. In the course of discussing the latter book, Dr. Gossop has the following to say: `Insects and birds, rats and mice, cats and dogs, apes and elephants have all had their moments of intoxication. Here you will find robins stoned on Pyracantha berries, reindeer on hallucinogenic mushrooms, elephants on opium, even earthworms on LSD. "Earthworms become disorganized after receiving LSD and aimlessly crawl and burrow through the topsoil." How can he tell? To me earthworms generally look disorganized and aimless, but then this is not my field. One of the stars of Siegel's show is Marty Mouse, who lived in the police department vault in San Jose. Confiscated bags of marijuana had been broken into and the contents were scattered or missing. The suspect was captured by a marijuana and butter trap and taken to Siegel's laboratory for further investigation, prompting student protest on the UCLA campus complete with "Free Marty" T-shirts and bumper-stickers. One of Siegel's oddest stories is that of the insects which in 1545 attacked and destroyed the wine grapes and vineyards of St. Julien. A formal complaint was made against the insects and they were duly brought to trial. The prosecution argued that lower animals should be subject to the laws of man, and the defense argued that the insects were merely exercising their biblical right to be fruitful and multiply. The archives show that the judge deliberated for a long time but the final decision is unknown -- the last page of the surviving records was destroyed by weevils.' In case someone should think that this message has nothing whatever to do with humanities computing, let me add something from Clifford Geertz's essay, "Religion as a Cultural System": `The perception of the structural congruence between one set of processes, activities, relations, entities, etc., and another set for which it acts as a program, so that the program can be taken as a representation, or conception -- a symbol -- of the programmed, is the essence of human thought.' Yours, Willard McCarty From: A10PRR1@NIU Subject: SGML Date: Mon, 05 Feb 90 10:49 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1626 (2066) In response to John J Hughes' request for "a definitive, authoritative, published definition of SGML": I don't know if this fits all the conditions, but you might try James H. Coombs, et al., "Markup Systems and the Future of Scholarly Text Processing," COMM. OF THE ACM, vol. 30, no. 11 (Nov. 1987), 933-47 and Thomas W. Smith, "Desktop Publishing in the University," ACADEMIC COMPUTING, May 1989, pp. 26ff. Phil Rider Northern Illinois University From: J.C.Baker@newcastle.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.984 queries, various and interesting (135) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 90 10:40:22 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1627 (2067) With reference to: [deleted quotation] Sounds wonderful. [deleted quotation] Will do. Many thanks for the lead. ______________________________________________________________________ Judy Baker (091) 222 6000 University of Newcastle upon Tyne J.C.Baker @ uk.ac.newcastle ______________________________________________________________________ From: DENNIS CINTRA LEITE <FGVSP@BRFAPESP> Subject: RE: 3.991 antisocial MLS? Intelex? pingpong virus? (62) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 90 12:01:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1628 (2068) Regarding the pong-pong virus, someone at the University of Sao Paulo seems to have put together a program called "leucocitus" which kills of the stupid thing. I could mail a copy to the list moderator for distribution. Alternate solution would be to use the sys command to recopy your MSDOS system files to your hard disk since the virus lives inside one of the three system files. Just put an uninfected dos diskette (write protected) in your diskette drive and type "sys c:" and the thing is done. From: Daniel Boyarin <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.996 queries, fascinating (112) Date: Sun, 4 Feb 90 20:32:22 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1629 (2069) for willard's friend; it sounds to me like notabene might handle the job. i hestiate to say so, because i know that willard knows nb inside out and wonder why he didn't think it suitable. i'll be interest to hear his comments. [Yes, I think that NB Ibid could do the job, if the jobs Daniel and I have in mind are the same one, namely bibliographic management for the Pacific Rim project. There's no requirement for non-alphabetic characters. I did not mention NB in the query because (1) I didn't want to limit the range of recommendations, and (2) the person in question may well not want to switch wordprocessors. I think she's using WordPerfect. NB Ibid's strength -- seamless integration into the NB environment -- is also its fatal weakness for those unwilling to switch wordprocessors, however much some of us think they should. --W.M.] From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Email address no longer working Date: Sat, 03 Feb 90 15:51:52 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1630 (2070) Can someone provide me with an address for: GERARD VANDERLEUN <trend%well@LLL-WINKEN.LLNL.GOV> This one was working, but stopped. Bitnet preferred. Thank you, Michael S. Hart From: Lloyd Gerson 926-1300 ex. 3374 GERSON at UTOREPAS Subject: Translation of German philosophical works Date: 5 February 90, 10:21:12 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1631 (2071) A colleague asks if anyone knows of the existence of English translations of the following works: Erlaueterungen ueber des Herrn Professor Kant Critk der reinen Vernunft (1784,1791) and Pruefung der Kantischen Critik der reinen Vernunft (2 v., 1789), both works by Johann Schulze. My colleague is exploring the desirability of producing translations of these works himself. Many thanks. From: N_EITELJORG@cc.brynmawr.edu Subject: Re: 3.981 the ideal workstation Date: Fri, 2 Feb 90 11:44:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1632 (2072) I would like to take issue with a couple of the comments made recently about the ideal workstation. One, 4 MB of RAM (particularly if one is using CADD or desktop publishing software) is insufficient unless virtual memory is available. Even then it is marginal. Without virtual memory 8 MB is a minimum. Two, the NeXT has recently been reviewed in BYTE. The review showed the machine to have been more than a little over-hyped. It's slow - and that's without color. Three, I question the need for large disks at the workstation. Storage can be more economically done centrally. Nick Eiteljorg From: Amanda C. Lee <ALEE@MSSTATE> Subject: re:perfect workstation: myth,dream,mystery? Date: Sun, 04 Feb 90 19:26:16 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1633 (2073) The Amiga is one of the only computers that can be mac compatable, ibm compatable, or both. In fact, you can run ibm programs and amiga programs at the same time, with both running at full speed. From: S200@CPC865.EAST-ANGLIA.AC.UK Subject: Date: Mon, 5 FEB 90 13:42:14 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1634 (2074) "Workstations for Humanists" This is to be the title of a panel discussion to be held at the joint ALLC/ACH conference at Siegen, West Germany in June 1990. Hence, as chairman, I find the current discussion of great interest. However unlike the science community, I am not sure whether humanists agree on what is a workstation. A scientist's workstation tends to be a UNIX system such as a SUN Sparkstation, a DEC 3100 or a Silicon Graphics IRIS. They are usually purchased to perform a single interactive CPU/Graphics intensive application. Electronic circuit design, geographic information systems, molecular modelling are typical applications. Properly configured systems rarely cost less than 15000 pounds sterling. However even at small UK universities such as UEA, money is raised to buy and maintain such systems. BUT as yet I do not see Humanists, especially literary Humanists, rushing to buy such systems. I am not aware of many Humanist applications available for such systems. Word processing, desk top publishing, trivial databases can all be catered for on relatively cheap IBM micros or MACs. Multi-megabyte databases are possibly best held on a mainframe system and accessed using micros. Biblical scholars probably do have a modest workstation available to them. However if you wish to capture, store and selectively display high resolution coloured images of illuminated manuscripts the scientific workstation will have its uses. Perhaps a humanist's workstation is much more modest. Perhaps it has to be cheaper. Perhaps the computer industry has already provided Humanists with most of the software it really needs. Humanists! Come out of the woodwork and describe your workstation. Describe what applications you run on your workstation beyond the most obvious, but be practical and only consider what you can afford. If we all disagree, the panel session at Siegen should be invigorating. John Roper, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK S200@CPC865.UEA.AC.UK From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1635 (2075) DATE: 05 FEB 90 15:55 CET FROM: A400101@DM0LRZ01 SUBJECT: Perfect workstation or perfect mainframe? Andrew Gilmartin criticises dreams of ideal workstations (here I tend to agree - sounds like hot-rodding to me), and then suggests as an ideal not autarchy but division of labour between micros and "large centralised computing". It's attractive, but I can think of several large buts. a. a timeshared large computer isn't necessarily quicker than a modern micro (especially if you have to shunt lots of data over the link). b. mainframes (I know this begs a question, but let's use the term as shorthand for large central facilities) are expensive discrete items. You can't buy half one year and half the next (whereas with micros you can buy say 100 one year and another 100 the next). That has several consequences: 1. people other than humanists (notably engineers, chemists, physicists, economists and computer scientists) with more financial clout will dictate *what* mainframe gets bought, and they have in practice other priorities (for example, number crunching rather than terabytes). 2. the possibilities for staggering the replacement of one mainframe by another are limited. That means, with a life cycle of five to ten years for mainframes, that we all have to spend a good deal of our computer- using time coming to terms with new operating systems (or with new versions of existing ones, which can be almost as bad). Alternatively, the mainframe providers may choose to stick for generations with a particular type of mainframe + OS combination even though it's unsatisfactory for some purposes (probably ours), because there is too much know-how etc. invested to make the change easy. Probably in principle one could now get round these problems by having a "virtual operating system" simulating some kind of standard OS, with changing real computers and real operating systems underlying it - but it wouldn't be efficient or easy, or it would already have been done. With a micro I can largely decide for myself whether I am happy with what I've got or whether I want to make changes to take on new possibilities. I can't protect myself from the unwanted consequences of technological advance altogether, but I can keep a lot of them at bay. Given enough storage space I can reduce my need for centralised computing to the minimum I can cope with (and hence also reduce my need for junk knowledge about access, command syntax, etc). The more computing services are provided remotely, the more this decision is taken out of my hands, and the more I'm forced to make frequent changes in my working habits, whether I want to or not. Timothy Reuter From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.992 being human with computers, cont. (30) Date: Fri, 2 Feb 90 15:32:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1636 (2076) Well professor S., they now have spelling checkers, which should heop them learn to spell abit, but they dont seem to think that precision is demanded in language and its mechanics, whereas in this culture, as I tell them, it seems much to matter how the foot is placed in the starting block, how the pole is held, the bat is held, the racquet is held, the stroke is made. They are experts in being coached for the right moves in sports, but have contempt for the eye hand and ear, and the history of our strange orthography, which is no harder to learn than long division if it is taught from childhood on. I pity them only if they are dyslectical, and then is lexical? and then there is a reason, the hard wiring is crossed. Kessler From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.997 humans and computers, cont Date: Sat, 3 Feb 90 10:00:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1637 (2077) I just wanted to thank Ed Harris for his note about disabled students and computers at Southern Connecticut; Ed, would you mind tell ing us a bit more about the setup you've got up there-- or, if you don't wnat to broadcast to Humanist at large, I'd very much appreciate a note. I'm acutely aware that my own lab and classroom aren't nearly as accessible as they should be-- and I'm visually impaired myself. What equipment have you got, and how is it (gulp) funded? John Slatin From: Donald Spaeth 041 339-8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Subject: De-humanizing computers Date: Mon, 05 Feb 90 11:58:00 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1638 (2078) Many people were introduced to the concept of computers through either mailing lists (which kept spelling their name wrong after numerous attempts at correction), billing systems (which kept charging them erroneously for items they hadn't purchased despite numerous attempts at correction) or "hole-in-the-wall" bank machines (which replaced tellers)--events which were indeed de-humanizing. The initial impressions often still remain, even in people who use computers. Of course, the computers were not at fault and humans were. Donald Spaeth University of Glasgow From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.999 the quality of writing: IBM vs Mac (46) Date: Sat, 3 Feb 90 01:57:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1639 (2079) But it was common knowledge from the earliest ads that the "Mac was made for the rest of us (dummies), including Ph.D's...I couldnt understand an IBM menu if I tried, though I dont use the icons of the mac either, but its alphabetical directories. As for the students...gee what a damning result. But somehow it does nt sound too objective a test. I think you get what you train people on. No? Kessler at UCLA From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.999 the quality of writing: IB Date: Sat, 3 Feb 90 10:00:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1640 (2080) I agree that the Halio article in *Academic Computing* is troubling. What troubles me, however, is not simply that there seems to be a qualitative difference between the writing done by students who use Macs and the writing done by students who use MS-DOS machines: what troubles me is the easy assumption that there is a *causal* relationship between the use of the Mac and poor or sloppy writing on the one hand, and use of the PC and competent (or at least better) writing on the other. That I just don't buy; sorry; at least not without a whole lot more evidence and much more rigorous argumentation; it would help, too, if the article itself were better written (and better edited by the folks at *Academic Computing*). It seems to me it's at least conceivable that students who weren't particularly comfortable with writing in the first place, and who thought of a required writing course is something to be survived rather than as an opportunity to manifest their talents, might well have been inclined to choose the Mac when given the choice between a machine consistently billed as having a "friendly" and "intuitive" interface and a more forbidding, character-based PC with its command-line interface, etc. I've been teaching writing in a computer-based classroom for four years now (an IBM-based classroom), and I've seen both obsessively neat, spell- and grammar-checked essays, and unbelievably sloppy, error-ridden essays. I've also gotten lots of essays produced on both Macs and IBMs by students in other classes, and I honestly can't say that the ones done on the Mac have been either better or worse than those done on the PC. I've gotten some wonderfully inventive work, particularly in the use of graphics, from students working on the Mac; but those graphically-innovative essays were also, with few exceptions, carefully executed and conceptually rich as well. I've seen terrible work, sure-- from people using Macs, from people using IBMs, from people using typewriters, from people using legal pads... And then there are long-winded, unedited outbursts from people like me who can't forbear composing on-line. Halio raises important points about what happens to writing when it's done in a graphic-based environment, and about the usefulness/ reliability of computer-assisted measurements. I believe quite firmly that the design of the interface has an important impact on the way the user/writer conceives of the writing project (for that matter, WordPerfect differs from MS Word in that respect), and I'm prepared to believe that there's a correlation between holistic evaluation of student work and the kind of score produced by, e.g., Writer's Workbench or less cumbersome tools like Grammatik (which also generates readability indices). But the logic of the essay is seriously flawed. John Slatin Department of English University of Texas at Austin From: Bob Taylor <BOBT@UORDBV> Subject: MacAdemia'90 conference in Rochester, NY Date: Sat, 3 Feb 90 00:22 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1007 (2081) Dear Humanists, MacAdemia'90, a conference to focus upon the effective uses of Macintosh technologies in support of university education, will be held in Rochester, New York from May 29 through June 1. MacAdemia is being co-hosted this year by the University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Apple Computer. I'm working on the Program Committee for the conference, and I hope that we'll have a strong track in the humanities. If you have developed new and effective ways to use the Macintosh in your research or in your campus classroom or lab, please consider sharing your experience with others at this year's MacAdemia. I'm expecting 600 to 900 people to attend this year's conference, a mix of educators and computing staff. Apple Computer will pay for all travel and conference expenses for presenters on the conference program. If you'd like to receive a copy by electronic mail of the call for proposals and the presentation proposal form, drop me a note. I'll send it to you right away. You may submit your presentation proposal by e-mail, fax, or snail mail. Proposals should be "postmarked" by February 16, 1990. We'll be notifying presenters in early April. MacAdemia was hosted by Brown University last year; MacAdemia'88 was held in Philadelphia, co-hosted by the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel. Preference is given to proposals submitted from schools in Apple's Northeast Region, but a limited number of outstanding proposals from other regions can make the final program. Cheers, Bob Taylor Faculty Computing Resource Center University of Rochester 43 Taylor Hall Rochester, NY 1627 Internet: bobt@cc.rochester.edu Bitnet: bobt@uordbv Phone: (716) 275-2811 Fax: (716) 461-1328 From: "M. R. Sperberg-McQueen " <U15440@UICVM> Subject: Why do you want telnet access to library catalogues? Date: 3 February 1990 10:18:32 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1008 (2082) Perhaps I should direct the following question directly to Bill Ball or to Jim O'Donnell, but perhaps other members of Humanist will have responses to it as well. Why does one want telnet access to online catalogues at other universities? I'm assuming--perhaps incorrectly--that these other universities are ones at which one does not have borrowing privileges, except through one's inter-library loan service. My question is in part motivated by genuine curiosity, but there is also a bit more to it than that: When I was a graduate student, I looked in my university's card catalogue to determine whether the book I needed was immediately available. If it wasn't, I filled out an interlibrary loan form, indicating the source for my bibliographic reference, turned in said form, and generally received the item in question in due course. AACR2, the computer cataloguing of library holdings, and the public accessibility of said computerized catalogues has made what was a simple process in the halcyon days of 1975-81 when I was a grad student into an ordeal. My university library's card catalogue was closed off due to AACR2--and has not, of course, been entirely retrospectively converted to electronic form. Thus, as a minimum, I must now check both the card catalogue and our computerized catalogue to determine whether our library holds a given work. If it does not, I must then search another computerized catalogue to determine whether any library in my state library system holds the item. The state-wide holdings are in two separate databases, both of which must be searched, and the search commands for the two databases are different one from the other and from the search commands used for searching my own library's computerized catalogue. The search commands for one of these in particular are so far from being friendly that I think "hostile" not an inappropriate epithet. Should it turn out that I cannot find the item in the state, I must them search the OCLC catalogue to see if an OCLC member holds the item and to extract the OCLC number for my interlibrary loan department. (Another set of unfriendly commands.) If I strike out there, I must go to the NUC. After all this, the last thing I want is to be able to search other libraries' holdings on line. Yes, the ideal solution would be to have an interlibrary loan department that would do all this for you. Probably part of the reason mine doesn't offer such a service is that they lack sufficient staff (i.e., we're underfunded, and who isn't). But I suspect that there's another reason: I suspect that librarians have decided that having catalogues on line is wonderful and a blessing and a solution to all problems. They think they're doing users a service by making them available. And they think that on-line catalogues are so much better than card catalogues that they manage to overlook the fact that they are not always easy to use, that multiple databases with multiple search routines make the locating of an item a time consuming and often irritating task. Should we go back to card catalogues? Sometimes I wish we could: there's something very reassuring about their tangibility-- and the fact that they don't go "down." But no librarian I have ever spoken to seems to share my affection for card catalogues, so I guess that's out of the question. (I have also been bombarded with figures proving how expensive they are to maintain.) But at the very least I wish librarians would show a little more understanding for the fact that on-line catalogues are not immediate nirvana, and that they would agitate for more support for them and the users rather than simply presenting them to users and then leaving us on our own. It's wonderful that one can search so many databases. But I wish that libraries saw locating needed items for their users as one of the basic services they can offer their users (as, clearly, the interlibrary loan dept. at my grad. school did) rather than assuming that by giving us some tools they had relieved themselves of the responsibility for that service. I should hasten to add that the librarians at my university library are absolutely tops: when I ask for help with a search, they bend over backwards to assist--I never cease to be amazed at how willing they are to help one with one's work. The problem I seem to be carrying on about is, I think, at another level: while the persistent and pesky individual user can ask for and get help, there's no general procedure in place to assist those who are unwilling to pester the reference librarians or who lose heart earlier or who simply don't know how forthcoming the librarians are. And the user who like myself is willing to ask for help on a case by case basis uses/loses/wastes a lot of time in the process of asking for help for those many individual cases. This has turned into quite a little diatribe. But to return to the original question: I am genuinely curious what people are looking for when they want telnet access to other libraries. Do they simply want to verify the availability of an item? Are they hoping to find items they don't know of otherwise? (Which would, I assume, require that the catalogue in question had decent facilities for subject searching.) Are they trying to confirm the accuracy of a reference? (Which would assume that looking at a database entry is as good as autopsy--which is demonstrably not the case.) --Marian Sperberg-McQueen University of Illinois at Chicago From: "Bill Ball" <C476721@UMCVMB> Subject: online catalogs Date: Mon, 05 Feb 90 23:43:36 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1641 (2083) Thanks to the several people who responded to my request, Some with a copy of the INTERNET LIBRARY file--i have included the first several lines of this file at the end of this note. In response to Marian Sperberg-McQueen: the reason to ask about access to catalogs at other universities is to see what is out there. I had no idea how useful Bitnet would be in my work until I got onto some lists and established some contacts. Similarly, until I try out the various catalogs I don't know how useful they will be. May be a lot. Maybe not so much. I'm willing to risk wasting my time to find out. Concerning electronic catalogs in general: I share your frustration at times. Ours doesn't cover the entire collection and crashes pretty much on the hour. Moreover its capabilities seem at times pathetic--it won't alphabetize more than 30 titles (c'mon my watch can do that) and it won't allow the Boolean NOT in searches. But, on the other hand, I can log on to it at 2 a.m. from my home, put together a bibliography, save it on disk for future annotation, and know what the circulation status of each book currently is. Too bad they won't take orders via the computer and then deliver :-) Seriously, electronic catalogs are clearly superior in concept and utility. Their implementation may be a bit lacking however. Bill Ball Dept. Pol. Sci. U. Mo. - Columbia c476721@UMCVMB ---------------file:-INTERNET-LIBRARY--------------------------------- INTERNET-ACCESSIBLE LIBRARY CATALOGS & DATABASES November 8, 1989 Send corrections and additions to Art St. George: STGEORGE@UNMB (BITNET) or STGEORGE@BOOTES.UNM.EDU (Internet) Section 1: Catalogs & Databases accessible without charge [Please note: Dr. Art St. George supplies the most recent version of his Internet list to Humanist on a regular basis; the latest will be coming shortly. --W.M.] From: Jim O'Donnell (Penn, Classics) Subject: Why Telnet libraries? Why not? Date: 06 Feb 90 01:08:56 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1642 (2084) Michael Sperberg-McQueen says so many things I agree with, and then almost answers his own question at the end, that I fear I will seem to be flippant in responding: Why not Telnet libraries? For me, it's one more resource. Sometimes finding a book [this all started when MCCARTHY@CUA couldn't get his ILL people to find something, and I found it in two places in five minutes on TELNET], sometimes it's improving a reference [e.g., I have a note that such-and-such was published in 1961 and now I see a footnote that says 1964: if one or two library catalogues say unequivocally 1961, I feel better: yes, autopsy is always better, but sometimes of course the ref. is from something I ILL'ed two years ago and forgot the Xerox the title page], sometimes it's vulgar curiosity [that Michigan has the Wilson Disc humanities periodical index hooked to their computer terminal lets me play with that without going to the library, so I can look up all my friends and see what they've published lately], but sometimes it's what I would call high-class curiosity, and it's of that I want most to speak. When you find yourself in the card catalogue of a decent library, you are normaly encumbered. Briefcase, notepad, pile of books from the stacks, perhaps hat and coat. (I should say that at PENN, our own computer system is good from about 1968, which means that a troglodyte like myself still needs the card catalogue a lot. I have access, by the way, to the PENN computer catalogue from home, and now regularly enter the library with a fistful of printouts, already sorted by floor and catalogue number: I can also download information to my disk at home directly.) So perhaps you are looking at something in the B's, when a stray and vagrant thought passes through your mind of a connection, for which you would have to schlepp all the way to the S's. Well, perhaps by the time you finish what you're doing in the B's, it slips your mind; or you're tired and cranky and don't feel like schlepping back there; or in a hurry. So you don't follow it up. Not so from home: the most vagrant thought leads you flitting through the alphabet in seconds. Dry hole? No problem: no pain, no loss, and you can look another way. I take that, small as it sounds, to be a major gain in the opportunity for serendipity. I have found myself, with one or another of the libraries I can call, browsing for an hour, wandering up one side of the library and down the other, without ever leaving my desk. Oh, I can't look at the books, but I never could look at the books at midnight from my desk at home before anyway. My education is being enhanced. Now, there are other palpable advantages as well. If from home, I'm trying to find whether something exists at all, or what its title or author might be, the Penn catalogue that only goes back to 1968 is a hindrance on older stuff. I cited Michigan and Berkeley in an earlier posting because they're relatively easy to use (esp. Michigan) and they seem to have a lot more older stuff on line. RLIN is even better in some ways (though moderately hostile): I don't have OCLC, but I know someone whose institution lets him have that. I'd LIKE to have NUC pre-'56 on-line, but that's for the sweet by-and-by. But in the meantime, Michigan, for example, let's me search not by author/title/subject (where subjects are rigidly controlled by librarian's subject categories, and we all know how tricky a business they are), but by keyword: a keyword search generally draws three or four times as many items as a subject search -- lots of dross to sort out sometimes, but also some nuggets you would otherwise miss. I think every user will find different kind of nuggets for different purposes, and that's as it should be. Clearly, all this is an intermediate stage. One thing that our people at PENN tell me may happen is that we will be able to place the actual ILL orders from our terminals, and their ILL office will become a postage-and-handling station, with reference librarians helping you with the really difficult track-downs. Further, I assume that libraries will put more and more information on-line this way: I'd like to have access to a good encyclopedia this way (anybody know anybody on TELNET who's put even a mediocre encyclopedia on line this way? when you're trawling the card catalogue and find somebody interesting you've never heard of, it would be handy to have an encyclopedia article within finger's reach). I'd like to have a kind of Borges-ian Library of All Libraries that would always tell me immediately where anything was in a vast chain of facilities. In the meantime, we've got 1990. Not a bad sort of place to hang out, when you come to think about it, not yet reaching its full potential, but with more resources than we once had. Yes, it drives you nuts sometimes trying to track things down; and other times it's as much fun as Flight Simulator, and more useful. Lege feliciter! From: "Matthew B. Gilmore" <GY945C@GWUVM> Subject: telnet to other catalogs Date: Tue, 06 Feb 90 00:50:24 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1643 (2085) Marian: It is a shame that UIC hasn't done a good job automating its catalog. I think that is part of the problem--not having finished the job and junked the card catalog. It is difficult and frustrating to try to find things with so many different systems. Sounds like a botched job. Also ILL is undersupported, which again complicates the user's life. Does UIC have point-of-use guides for all these systems? And classes too? I sympathize with the tangibility factor--a card is there and doesn't go down. But card catalogs are really hard to use _well_. They are tricky--there are filing rules, there are Library of Congress Subject headings to know, there is name order to remember, and access points are far fewer. Anybody can use it, but the tangibility factor works against its *proper* use. If you don't find it *it isn't there*. (At least for most users.) With an online catalog, the user realizes he/she is dipping into a black box and might not find everything. That awareness is helpful--particularly if it means the user searches more creatively and diligently, or *asks for help*. Librarians are there to help. I start to loose patience/sympathy with those who won't ask questions or who aren't willing to learn. Yes, librarians are trying to foster self-help--teaching the user to fish--but that is part of education. Systems should be easy to use, so that the process is simpler. As for telnet access to other catalogs, there are several reasons for such access. a. Subject searching. Until OCLC brings up its new system, and it is available for the end-user (patron), telneting to other catalogs may be the only subject access to resources outside your own institution. Some systems have good subject access, others not. ****It is worth noting that numbers of telnet accessible sytems all run on similar/the same software system--NOTIS--and use the same search commands. b. Currency. Other institutions may have greater financial resources and may be able to buy more and have the most recent books-- the University of California, for example, is usually pretty up to date. c. Serendipity. Who knows what someone else might have found and added to their collection? d. Verification. Partial cites are often useless in OCLC but more flexible systems may help find the elusive information. (If you had not guessed, I am a librarian, but also an researcher. Maybe we really need to user inculcate patience and curiousity, while fixing the systems we've been lumbered with/have lumbered ourselves with.) From: Peter Roosen-Runge <CS100006@YUSol> Subject: Why I telnet to other libraries Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90 00:45:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1644 (2086) My own university library has fairly reasonable software (NOTIS) to access its online catalogue, but the library is "new" and underfunded. So I find I get a better picture of areas of interest if I browse in larger libraries especially since they tend to get new books more rapidly and more comprehensively. I could use FELIX at the University of Toronto but I find the software maddening. Even Melvyl (University of California) for all its warts is better. FELIX is, so far as I know, not available through telnet; at any rate, I dial it directly. Melvyl is readily and quite reliably available through telnet. So far my most productive uses of Melvyl has been filling in partial references (e. g., only author and date, or part of a title), exploring obscurities (e. g. "The Tired Businessman's Adventure Library") and collecting book titles for a course reading list into a file, which can then be edited and passed to the Library as a set of purchase requests. (I find they are pretty good about ordering if the request is tied to a course. As a result, my reading lists are quite imaginative not to say creative.) To sum up: if your own university or college library is small and uneven in scope, the catalog of a very large one can itself be a valuable resource. And even a small online catalog is far more valuable for exploration and collecting references than a card catalog or microfiche -- for the obvious reasons that you can interleave catalog searching with writing and research at your workstation without having to leave your office or your house, and you can capture the bibliographic data as a file. ............... Peter Roosen-Runge From: ENCOPE@LSUVM Subject: Reasons to TELNET to Other Libraries Date: Tue, 06 Feb 90 11:48:11 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1645 (2087) I'm a frequent user of TELNET for the purpose of using the catalogues of "foreign" libraries. At LSU, the library removes books from the online catalogue when they are lost or stolen, which means that the titles do not appear in a subject search, which means that a true, complete subject search can only be carried out using a less zealous (or perhaps less efficient) online catalogue. Another common occurence at LSU is the presumptive demise of a book. A book that gets mis-shelved is presumed lost (once report as missing), then removed from the catalogue after a waiting period (I don't know how long it remains in the catalogue under the "lost" heading). Many times, such legally dead books tumble off the shelves, get put back in the right place by good samaritans, and return to a half- or zombie life, available but not living in the catalogue. On several occasions I have looked up a book in a foreign library via TELNET, then found that book on the shelves of my library under the same call number, even when listed as missing in or deleted from our catalogue. So there are a couple of reasons to use TELNET. From: dusknox@skipspc.idbsu.edu (Skip_Knox) Subject: Date: Tue 06 Feb 90 10:28:11 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1646 (2088) I would like to echo Marian Sperberg-McQueen's sentiments about on-line catalogs and about the uses of telnet to get to other libraries. I work at the data center at my university, but my Ph.D. is in history. When the university went onto Internet, one of the first things our systems programmer did was to drag me over to his terminal and log on to the library system at Brigham Young University. He was tickled by the technology, as was I, but he also thought I would be very excited by the prospect of being able to browse the holdings of BYU. He was a tad disappointed, I think, when my reaction was, why in the world would I want to do that? Similarly, when I got my first list of Internet nodes, I was disappointed to see endless lists of libraries. So what? I share Sperberg-McQueen's recollection of dissertation research -- check my library for the book, then go to Interlibrary Loan (bless them one and all). With Internet, what had been a simple task involving paper and pencil and a minute or two, is turned into an arcane text adventure with dubious payoff. Yet and still, everyone seems so very excited. So I, too, wonder, am I missing something here? From: "A. Ralph Papakhian" <PAPAKHI@IUBVM> Subject: Re: 3.1008 why telnet to other libraries? (136) Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90 12:42:30 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1647 (2089) Providing telnet access to other library catalogs is simply another reference resource. At least for a century (probably more) research libraries have been purchasing book catalogs of other libraries. More often than not, these catalogs were placed in reference sections. More than likely, no two of these catalogs were arranged in the same way or used the same type face, or even used the same system of bibliographic description. They are not easy to use and they are frequently in non-English languages. But they have been useful reference resources for a variety of purposes. I really so no difference between purchasing the book catalog of, say, the Azalia E. Hackley Collection at the Detroit Public Library and putting it our reference section or providing telnet access to the vast Univ. of Calif. online catalog. I shouldn't say "no" difference. To use the book catalog, our clientele have to come to the library and find it on the shelf and use it in the library (since it is a reference book that doesn't circulate). To use the telnet access, many of our clientele can accomplish that from machines in their offices or homes or from terminal/pc clusters located around the campus. I just don't understand why there is a question about providing such reference resources. Am I missing something? Most sincerely, ##### @@@@ ### @@@@ MUSIC @@ ### @@ A. Ralph Papakhian, Music Library @@ ### @@ LIBRARY Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 @@ ### @@ (812) 855-2970 ### ##### From: Ivy Anderson <ANDERSON@binah.cc.brandeis.edu> Subject: RE: 3.1008 why telnet to other libraries? (136) Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90 17:15:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1648 (2090) In response to Marian Sperberg-McQueen's message about the confusing plethora of library catalogs and databases with which she is apparently required to cope at the University of Illinois at Chicago, I'd like to pipe up ever so humbly for the faceless number of "librarians" you wish would understand your plight. We do. I think the interlibrary loan situation you describe is rather unique; most libraries, certainly this is true at Brandeis, don't make you do the work of locating your own lending institution. That's their (our) job, and it's a lot more efficient if the library does it; staff can be trained in efficient search techniques, in knowing what institution is likely to lend what sort of material, etc. The attendant complaint about a variety of search interfaces is also one with which we librarians are concerned. There are at least two NISO (National Information Standards Organization) standards designed to deal with this problem: (1) Common Command Language for Information Retrieval, which when implemented would require a conforming library retrieval system to support a uniform set of search commands regardless of (i.e. in addition to) the system's native command mode; and (2) Z39.50, whose English name I disremember, which defines a standard way for independent systems to interoperate so that one can query any number of remote systems transparently from a single local system. That's the good <a href="news:">news:</a> the bad news is that none of this is implemented yet, at least not anywhere that I know of. There are a number of development efforts and pilot projects in place however. Carnegie Mellon in particular is working on one such project. And additional strategies are being explored at some libraries, e.g. using HyperCard as a front-end to a variety of disparate databases. All of which is to say, we do understand the problem, and spend a great deal of our professional time (collectively speaking) trying to come up with solutions. That may be little comfort in the bibliographic haze you are confronted with today, but perhaps tomorrow... As for your larger question "why telnet to other libraries?", I leave that to your colleagues to answer. I too am interested in the responses. Ivy Anderson Brandeis University Libraries From: 6500rms@UCSBUXA.BITNET Subject: Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90 08:50:19 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1649 (2091) Dear Humanists, I would like to announce the release of Searcher 2.0, a program which provides basic access to the Greek texts on the TLG CD-ROM #C and the Latin texts of the CCAT/PHI CD. It provides search, browse, and offload capability for these two CD's as well as searching for the PHI CD-ROM #2, the Duke Data Bank of Documentary Papyri. I have appended a copy of our flyer, which gives more details, hardware requirements, and ordering information. This is not a public domain or shareware program; it is copyrighted by the Regents of the University of California. Searcher is the product of academic research and is provided to others to aid with their research. The program includes source code so that changes can be made to the system. If anyone is interested in obtaining a copy, please let me know. Randall M. Smith 6500rms@ucsbuxa.bitnet ----------------------------------------------------------------- SEARCHER 2.0 by Randall M. Smith, Mark D. Smith and Darl J. Dumont Original BROWSER written by Tony Smith Description SEARCHER is a program for IBM compatible computers running MS-DOS which performs word searches through the texts on the TLG CD-ROM #C, the PHI/CCAT CD-ROM #1, and the PHI CD-ROM #2. The program is composed of two principal parts: a section which searches the texts and a section which allows one to browse through the texts. The search portion performs a linear search through the text files looking for occurrences of the specified string. There is no morphological parsing, so specific forms which do not share a common stem, especially in the case of verbs, must be entered separately. Up to three words may be combined in a Boolean search expression. AND, OR, and NOT operations are supported, and the range of the Boolean operation can be specified. Searcher also alows access to the global indices on the TLG CD-ROM #C. The browse portion of the program allows one to read the texts, starting either from the beginning of a work or from the location of a word which was found by the search portion of the program. Additionally, any portion of the text may be placed in a file or printed. The supported formats and devices are listed below. Lists of authors and words may be entered so that extensive searches may be left running unattended. The source code is included so that changes and additions can be made. Except for the actual text scanning routine, which is written in Assembly Language, the entire program is written in C. We used the Microsoft C Compiler 5.0 to compile the program, but it should be adaptable to other compilers. I do ask that any changes be sent to me so that others may benefit from these improvements. Many of the changes in this new version of Searcher are based on suggestions sent by people using the program for their own research. We will try to fix any problems which are brought to our attention. Hardware Requirements The program should work on any IBM compatible computer, but the best performance is obtained on a high speed 80286 or 80386 computer. A hard disk is required due to the size of the output files which are generated by searches for common words. Searchernow uses a Gra following graphics systems: Hercules Monochrome, EGA color, or VGA color (including PS/2 video adapters). In addition, 640K of RAM is required. A mouse is strongly recommended but not required. The program can output Greek for the Toshiba 321/351 printer family and for the Nota Bene Special Languages Supplement. Other formats can be added by editing the code in a translation table and recompiling the program, but we have no plans to include other equipment. The program will also output TLG Beta Code which can then be converted by any program designed to work with Beta Code. Any CD player which has a High Sierra device driver should work with the program. (N.B. I have heard that some 80386 AT compatible computers have trouble running the Microsoft CD-ROM Extensions, especially with Hitachi CD drives. If you can run Microsoft Bookshelf or Programmer's Library then you can use this program.) The newer CD players are much faster and will give much better performance. Searcher also allows text files to be copied to the hard disk for faster searching. Ordering Information This is not a commercial venture. This program is a product of research at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and copies are provided to others to assist in their research. A copy of Searcher may be ordered from the address below. (N.B. The TLG has requested that you not order from them directly.) Please specify disk size (3.5" or 5.25"). Please send $10 US to cover the cost of disks, copying charges, and postage (unfortunately, we are not able to accept purchase orders or credit card numbers). Checks (US funds drawn on a US bank) or International Money Orders should be made payable to: Department of Classics, University of California at Santa Barbara. To order a copy of the program or for further information, please contact me at the following address: Randall M. Smith Department of Classics University of California Santa Barbara, CA 93106 Phone: (805) 961-3556 FAX: (805) 961-8016 E-mail: 6500rms@ucsbuxa.bitnet From: Simon Rae <COM3RAE@TRENT.AC.UK> Subject: job advert for the UK. Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90 17:15 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1650 (2092) Nottingham Polytechnic Computing Services I.T. Co-ordinator - Faculties of Education and Humanities c 13,000 - 16,000 pounds Are you a good communicator? Do you have a sound working knowledge of Information Technology and its applications in Education and Humanities? As an I.T. Co-ordinator you will assess the computer requirements of the academic community, specify appropriate hardware and software and advise on technological advances. You will also manage a suite of rooms containing networked or stand-alone microcomputers and terminals. Ideally you will have a relevant degree or equivalent. This is a full-time post, covering two Faculties. We will also consider two part-time applicants, each covering one Faculty. For details and application form, write to The Personnel Office, Nottingham Polytechnic, Burton Street, Nottingham, UK. NG1 4BU (0602 418418 ext 2659). Post number A0700. Closing date 19 Feb 1990. From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1006 Mac/IBM and quality in writing (80) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 90 23:58:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1651 (2093) I think, Dear John Slatin, the logic of the essay is flawed because it began with some sort of subtext, some hidden assumption about macs and IBMS, which is part of the silly rah-rah culture we have lived in for decades, since the first cars showed up. Fetishism about machines. You are correct from your experience, I think, empirically correct. People do or dont, can or cant, and it is a truism from the first scribes on down. People are born with eye hand ear coordination and have it trained or they are not, which says nothing about their brain powers! as I have seen from the mini-sample of my own three offspring, and the incredible powers of a dyslectic brotherinlaw who is world famous. given an award for achievement nationally as a dyslectic, one of his colleagues remarked: he has written 40 famous books and cant read a single one of them! Let us not sink into the trivia of fetishism about machines. I thank human powers for every one that helps, such as for instance the highspeed watercooled drills my dentists have used for two decades! And I am 50,000$ into advanced misery and gerontological dentistical travails! Kessler at UCLA From: Jim O'Donnell (Classics, Penn) Subject: Mac vs. IBM, prosaic. Date: 06 Feb 90 01:14:09 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1652 (2094) The quality of orthography on Macintoshes will improve sharply when they make a decent keypad standard. I use both and my thumbs are all over the place on a Mac, and I notice the same problem in my students' papers. Lots of extra periods and spaces. From: <J_CERNY@UNHH> Subject: Some comments on the Halio article. Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90 08:18 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1653 (2095) I'm glad Joel Goldfield introduced the Halio article for discussion. It certainly raises many questions and answers few, if any. I also hope that someone who knows her points out that the article is under discussion here. In the end I was disappointed that Halio did not say more about her research plans except: "Presently, I am in the midst of conducting a more controlled experiment ...". That seems to me to be the essence of this. People will be able to cite anecdotal evidence forever, but the necessary thing is to conduct a rigorous planned experiment with randomization, multiple factors, etc. It would be nice if the situation at Delaware allows for that. Jim Cerny, Computing and Information Services, Univ. N.H. From: J.C.Baker@newcastle.ac.uk Subject: Hypercard stacks for Japanese and Chinese Date: Fri, 02 Feb 90 16:21 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1012 (2096) To: J.C.Baker @ uk.ac.newcastle Cc: ed shreeves <cadatkts@bitnet.uiamvs> Ed Shreeves, Assistant University Librarian for Collection Development at the University of Iowa Libraries, forwarded to me your message about hypercard stacks for Chinese and Japanese. Since I am not a member of the Humanities Bulletinboard, I am sending a reply directly to you. Please add it to the other replys on the Bulletinboard if you feel it would be interesting to others. I do not have an answer to your question, but I do have a suggestion: perhaps you would do well to send a message directly to Kazumi Hatasa at Purdue University (KAZUMI@PURCCVM). In a recent issue of the JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF JAPANESE, Mr. Hatasa announced that he would like to form a special interest group for microcomputer applications in Japanese language pedagogy. I assume, therefore, that he might have some good answers to your question. I suspect that he also would be interested in reading some of the other replies you have received. Karl Kahler Asia Librarian University of Iowa Libraries Iowa City, Iowa 52242 From: "Michael E. Walsh" <WALSH@IRLEARN> Subject: Re: 3.970 e-addresses; e-resources (85) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 90 14:57:18 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1013 (2097) With reference to case sensitive e-mail addresses, a good rule of thumb is that all unix systems are case sensitive, in that the user name should be lowercase. If using the 'old form' of unix network address, everything before the @ symbol should be lowercase. If it helps make life simpler, I have not found any system which REQUIRES the user name in uppercase. I also use a VM/CMS system for sending and receiving e-mail and do not have the problem that Robert Kraft describes. The case of the address is controlled by the MIXED/NOMIXED option on the MAIL or SEND command, and is defaulted to MIXED since version 88.01.00 This default can be set for your personal use, and the setting can be changed if required with the OPT MIX or OPT NOMIX command. I hope this helps Michael. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: HUMANIST's Societies Update3 Date: Monday, 5 February 1990 2300-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1014 (2098) LIST OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES REPRESENTED ON HUMANIST (2/05/90) + indicates added since last version (update3) of the list. Information desired: (1) Name of Society/Group, (2) Notice of any computer related activities such as program segments and exhibits, electronic publications, reviews and information about computer related scholarship/research, (3) Electronic contact address, if any. Thank you. Bob Kraft American Academy of Advertising [Bern] American Academy of Religion (some special computer program sections at annual meetings; cooperation with SBL) American Anthropological Association (see ANTHRO-L@UBVM ListServer) [Zubrow] +American Association for Artificial Intelligence [Kulas; contact AIMAGAZINE@AAAI.ORG, MEMBERSHIP@AAAI.ORG] American Association for Public Opinion Research [Bern] American Association of University Presses (much computer talk) [Perry] American Conference on Irish Studies [Cahalan; see GAELIC-L and FWAKE-L ListServers] American Dialect Society ("making use of computer technology") [Maynor] +American Folklore Society (has computer applications section) [Glazer] American Historical Association ("computers in history" things) [Knox] American Library Association [Jacobs] American Musicological Society (creating database of texts) [Mathiesen (Perry)] American Philological Association (archive of texts, editorial board for non-print publications, exhibits at annual meetings) American Philosophical Association (has committee on computer use and subcommittee on electronic texts; program sessions) [Owen; see ACH Newsletter 11.2(1989) 13] American Political Science Association [Jassel] American Psychological Association: Consumer Psychology, Media Psychology, and Personality and Social Psychology divisions [Bern] American Schools of Oriental Research (computer committee and some attention to program section, displays; cooperation with SBL) American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies [Cope ENCOPE@LSUVM, Dill, Wolf, MacNeil] American Society of Church History (not much computer involvement) [Zinn] American Society of Papyrologists (close cooperation with APA) [Kraft] Archaeological Institute of America (various computer activities) [Walsh, Kuniholm] +Aristotelian Society [Smith] +Associated Writing Programs [RKessler] +Association canadienne des sociologues et des anthropologues de langue francaise (e-network) [Hamel, Laplante; contact ACSALF@UQUEBEC] +Association des demographes du Quebec (e-network) [Hamel; contact ADQ@UQUEBEC] Association for Asian Studies (occasional panel, newsletter column) [Parker] Association for Canadian and Quebec Literatures [Warkentin] +Association for Computational Linguistics [Kulas; contact WALKER@FLASH.BELLCORE.COM] Association for Computers and the Humanities +Association for Computing Machinery [Kulas; contact ACM, 11 West 42nd St, NYC 10036, 212-869-7440] Association for History and Computing [Spaeth] Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing Association for Women in Computing Association Internationale Bible et Informatique [AIBI Network, contact IWML@UKC.AC.UK (Lambert)] Association of Public Data Users [Jacobs] Association of Canadian University Teachers of English [Warkentin] Bibliographical Society [Warkentin] Bibliographical Society of Canada [Warkentin] Canadian Society for Renaissance Studies [Warkentin] Canadian Society for the History of Rhetoric [Warkentin] +Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (occasional computer session) [Hurd] +Cognitive Science Society [Kulas; contact Alan Lesgold, LRDC, U. Pittsburgh, PA 15260] College Composition and Communication [Cahalan] College Music Society [Perry] +COMMUNIK -- reseau de chercheurs en communication (e-network) [Hamel; contact COMMUNIK@UQUEBEC] +Computer Society of the IEEE [Kulas; contact 1730 Mass Ave, Washington DC 20036-1903] Consortium for Computers in the Humanities / Consortium pour ordinateurs en sciences humains +EDUC -- reseau de chercheurs en education (e-network) [Hamel; contact EDUC@UQUEBEC] International Association for Neo-Latin Studies [Warkentin] International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) [Jacobs, Ruus] International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature [Cahalan] International Congress on Medieval Studies (sessions, workshops) [Zinn] International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (one sponsor of the Computer Assisted Tools for Septuagint Studies project at the Univ. of Penn and at the Hebrew Univ. in Jerusalem) [Kraft] +International Society for Contemporary Legend Research [Glazer] International Society for the History of Rhetoric [Warkentin] +International Society for Humor Studies [Glazer] +International Society of Anglo-Saxonists [Conner, ed ANSAXNET; contact U47C2@WVNVM] Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) [Jacobs] Medieval Academy of America (no indication of computer involvement) [Zacour, Zinn] +METHO -- groupe francophone d'echange et de discussion sur les methodes quantitatives utilisees en sciences sociales (e-network) [Hamel; contact METHO@UQUEBEC] +Milton Society of America [Flannagan, McCarty] Modern Languages Association (various activities, electronic publications, program segments and exhibits; details of how it is all coordinated organizationally are welcome) Music Library Association (computer applications a "hot topic") [Papakhian] +MythoPoeic Society [DeRose] National Council of Teachers of English [Cahalan; see MBU network] +North American Nietzsche Society [MBrown] North American Patristics Society (no organized computer activity) [Kraft] Organization of American Historians [Knox (non member)] +Philosophy in Britain [Clark = PA01@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK, who also runs PHILOS-L] +Regroupement quebecois des sciences sociales (e-network) [Hamel, Laplante; contact RQSS@UQUEBEC] Renaissance English Text Society [Warkentin, Flannagan] +Renaissance Society of America [Flannagan] +Societe canadienne de science economique (e-network) [Hamel; contact SCSE@UQUEBEC] +Societe quebecoise de science politique (e-network) [Hamel; contact SQSP@UQUEBEC] +Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy [Smith] +Society for Critical Exchange (is setting up an information service for literary theorists to begin in mid-March 1990) [Stonum = gxs11@PO.CWRU.EDU] Society for Music Theory [Perry] +Society for Scholarly Publishing [Grycz] Society for the History of Discoveries [Warkentin] Society of American Archaeology ("great interest in computers") [Zubrow] Society of Biblical Literature (electronic archiving project and an active Computer Assisted Research Group that coordinates demonstrations and a program segment each annual meeting) [Kraft; see OFFLINE; contact SBLEXEC@UNIX.CC.EMORY.EDU] South-Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies [Bode RFB8135@TNTECH (Cope)] Southeastern Conference on Linguistics ("making use of computer tech.") [Maynor] +Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (nothing organized on computers) [Hurd, Kraft] Toronto Renaissance and Reformation Colloquium [Warkentin] From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Why telnet to a distant library catalog Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90 22:20:18 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1654 (2099) I think I see a pattern in the responses. For some types of searches, one finds a lot of possibly useful material--but then has to verify its utility by looking at the works in person; This mode of work seems to be associated with historical scholars. And in these cases people find remote telnet access to another library's catalog somewhat infuriating, i.e. ``I haven't got enough to do as it is--you expect me to worry about works I can't look at now too!'' However for OTHER types of searches one can't find anything relevant and in these cases the widest possible casting of the net (pun there) is needed to catch whatever exists anywhere. Acquiring two or three new works which one never knew existed isn't at all difficult--finding out that they exist can be exceedingly difficult. Thus remote access to a far-off library catalog with the chance of something new being found can be very useful. This user might typify their problem area as one in which there just aren't more than a handful of works known or one in which there is no known book that deals exclusively with the subject, i.e. ``Look, I think I already know the name of every work on this topic, and it will only take a few seconds to check, so if there is the slightest chance there is something I don't know of I'd take it.'' Additionally, there are other uses for such a system. (a) checking the status of a field by determining the number of works on its subject. (b) a check of what call numbers go along with a given subject, esp. in another classification system than the one used in one's own library. (c) looking for citations to new words for building a dictionary in the title keywords. (d) answering quick questions about what date a work was written, what an author's full name is, what publisher publishes works in a given subject area. (e) assessing the capabilities of a different library system interface to point out to one's local computer support staff what to add or not to do in bringing up a local system (f) transcripting bibliographic records for other uses From: "Michael Sperberg-McQueen 312 996-2477 -2981" <U35395@UICVM> Subject: library conversion Date: 7 February 1990 08:57:57 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1655 (2100) Matthew Gilmore describes a library which has closed its card catalog without having completed a retrospective conversion of its holdings as having done a "botched job" of automation. While I agree with Marian Sperberg-McQueen that having to consult multiple catalogs for a single library is a drag, this condemnation (it happens to be the library I serve in my small way as a computer programmer) makes me a bit defensive. Does M.G. regard the automation process as having been botched at all the schools which have closed their card catalogs? Many of them, including all the really large ones I know of, have not yet completed a retrospective conversion, and those that did closed the card catalog long before the retrospective projects ever finished. How many research libraries did *not* close their pre-AACR2 card catalog when they moved to AACR2? Stanford, Princeton, the Library of Congress -- all botchers? If closing an old catalog before it has been completely converted to a new form is a "botched job", then clearly it is not UIC but the majority of the Anglo-American library community which M.G. regards as having botched things. This is not an unheard-of opinion, but it's not quite what I heard him say. Sorry if this sounds a bit tetchy, but MG's dig caught me fairly square in the ribs. Michael Sperberg-McQueen From: "Tom Benson 814-238-5277" <T3B@PSUVM> Subject: Contacting MIRLYN Date: Wed, 7 Feb 90 12:59 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1656 (2101) Because I'd find it useful to consult the Wilson files on the University of Michigan system, I tried logging on to the MIRLYN system (at 35.1.1.6). Logging in went through properly, but my screen filled with garbage. Local consultants tell me that it is because I am using a VT100 emulator (YTERM) to log on to my university's mainframe in CMS, from an IBM PC. Does anyone know of a way to get MIRLYN to talk without this problem? Thanks. Tom Benson Penn State University T3B@PSUVM From: Jim Cahalan <JMCAHAL@IUPCP6.BITNET> Subject: Telnet how-to? Date: 07 Feb 90 15:23 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1657 (2102) The several postings singing the praises of Telnet convince me that it's worth looking into. May I bashfully ask for advice for the uninitiated? How does one access Telnet? Can one do it from one's home computer over BITNET? Or does one have to do it through one's home library that is already hooked up to Telnet? Clarifications (and specific directions, if feasible) for the layperson would be appreciated. Thanks, Jim Cahalan, Graduate Literature <JMCAHAL@IUP.BITNET> English Dept., 111 Leonard, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA 15705-1094 Phone: (412) 357-2264 From: FMOFFETT@OBERLIN Subject: Response to discussion group referred to me by colleague Date: Wed, 7 Feb 90 12:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1658 (2103) Subject " Why do you want telnet access to library catalogues? Marian Sperberg-McQueen largely answers her own question by speculating that telnet access to other university catalogues extends the opportunities offered by such databases as OCLC and RLN to verify bibliographic information, to discover additional items, to ascertain access, and to expedite action on interlibrary loan requests. But what she herself describes as a "diatribe" on the subject of card catalogs is frankly puzzling to me, and seems to reflect a locally bad experience. I don't recognize the difficulties she describes, and suspect she needs to spend some time schmoozing with a good reference librarian at UIC in order to improve her search strategies. At the least she might disabuse herself of the notion that librarians operate under some naive illusion about how easy it is for users to search online databases independently, that they regard "online catalogs" as nirvana (!), that by providing access to new library search tools librarians think they have "relieved themselves of responsibility for service," etc. etc. Did anyone else appreciate the irony of an e-mail call for the return of the card catalog? Wow! William A. Moffett, Director of Libraries and President, ACRL FMOFFETT@OBERLIN From: Mark Olsen <mark@gide.uchicago.edu> Subject: E-Bible Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90 19:18:00 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1659 (2104) Can anyone point me to French and German editions of the Bible in electronic form? Thanks in advance. Mark Olsen ARTFL Project University of Chicago mark@gide.uchicago.edu From: MCBRIDE@MYRIAD.LIB.MIDDLEBURY.EDU Subject: Hypercard applications for teaching music Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90 16:27:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1660 (2105) HUMANIST readers might have some information relevant to this question. Please respond to MCBRIDE@myriad.lib.middlebury.edu. Thanks. Ralph Papakhian, Indiana University Music Library. ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- I am very interested in knowing of people who have developed Hypercard programs for the purpose of teaching music. Two of the professors here at Middlebury College are working on such projects. One program teaches students the princi- ples of fugal composition through an analysis of the C minor fugue from Bach's Well Tempered Clavier. The other teaches the acoustic principles involved in electronic music composition. If you know of anyone who is working on a Hypercard program, please send me their name, title, and brief description of the program. I'll distribute the results. From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@UMTLVR.BITNET> Subject: E-address of the Robarts Library... Date: Wed, 7 Feb 90 00:41 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1661 (2106) The first HUMANIST to send me the telnet identificator of the Robarts Library of Toronto University will be awarded the GOLDEN ET CETERA HUMANIST OF THE YEAR... By the way, folks, you are using an awfull lot of etc. these days. Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal E-mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca From: Richard Kidder <KIDDER@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: OCR software Date: Tue, 06 Feb 90 19:02:05 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1662 (2107) Fellow Humanists, For the past few days a friend of mine has been threatening to go out and buy Logitech's Scanman as soon as it is available bundled with a new soft- ware package from Logitech called Catchword. Considering the recent discus- sion about systems like OmniPage and TextPert here, Logitech's claims about Catchword, if well-founded, would seem to make it an interesting alternative for certain kinds of documents: it is non-trainable, meant to be able to re- cognize characters from 6 to 20 point with very high accuracy across the extended ASCII character set, and to sew text back together that has had to be scanned twice because of the 4.5 inch width of the scanner. It is also claimed to be capable of recognizing print styles that range from dot-matrix to kerned. Is this too good to be true? Do any of you have experience with this software? Eagerly awaiting your replies, Richard Kidder kidder@vm.epas.utoronto.ca Programme in Comparative Literature University of Toronto From: "Robin C. Cover" <ZRCC1001@SMUVM1> Subject: SOURCE OF POETIC LINE Date: Wed, 07 Feb 90 12:27:39 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1663 (2108) I should know, of course...but can someone help me with the source of the poem containing the line ..."nature red in tooth and claw" ? Thanks, Robin Cover zrcc1001@smuvm1.bitnet From: Elliott Parker <3ZLUFUR@CMUVM> Subject: Date: Tue, 06 Feb 90 20:35:08 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1664 (2109) Two new discussion lists have been started that may be of interest to some Humanists: On Desktop Publishing both for IBM and Macintosh: Standard Listserv commands to: LISTSERV@INDYCMS Postings to: PAGEMAKR@INDYCMS On Chinese computing (so far, mainly word processing in Chinese): Standard Listserv commands to : LISTSERV@UGA Postings to: CCNET-L@UGA Has anybody run across a list called RUSTEX that deals with "Russian TeX and Soviet Email?" Any additional info. would be appreciated. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elliott Parker BITNET: 3ZLUFUR@CMUVM Journalism Dept. Internet: eparker@well.sf.ca.us Central Michigan University Compuserve: 70701,520 Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 BIX: eparker USA UUCP: {psuvax1}!cmuvm.bitnet!3zlufur From: Subject: job posting for humanist Date: Wed, 7 Feb 90 05:46:53 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1665 (2110) University of Glasgow Department of Scottish History Lectureship in Scottish History (New Academic Appointments Scheme) Applications are invited for the above lectureship under the terms of the above scheme. It is anticipated that this post will be available from 1st October 1990. The intention of the scheme is to enable universities to recruit younger academic staff. Applications are invited from those in history and related disciplines with appropriate research experience. Applicants, preferably under 35 years of age, may be interested in any period and should have an interest in innovative approaches to teaching and research. Salary within Lecturer A scale 10,458-15,372. Applications (8 copies of your current c.v. with 8 copies of a covering letter, not later than 27th February 1990) to, and further details from, Academic Personnel Office, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ. From: info-matrix-request@aahsa.tic.com (John S. Quarterman) Subject: the service Date: Wed, 7 Feb 90 12:28:41 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1666 (2111) [Some of you will know about John Quarterman's book, The Matrix: Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems Worldwide (Digital, 1990). The following message from Quarterman describes his plans for an online counterpart of that book. --W.M.] -------- Hi, Here is a short description of the service of Matrix, Inc. Presumably all of you have seen the book, The Matrix. Its contents can be described as network descriptions, together with background information such as history and legal issues. You may also have seen the Users' Directory of Computer Networks by Tracy L. LaQuey. The most recent edition of it was published by the University of Texas in July, 1989, and an updated edition will be available from Digital Press in a few months. This is a directory, containing detailed host and domain lists. Both books have network access information and extensive indexes. There are other books in the same general area, but these two serve to illustrate the subject area we're dealing with: directory and contextual information services about computer networks. The problem with a paper book is that it can't be updated quickly and it's too small (unless it's a thirty volume encyclopedia, in which case it's even harder to update). Not to mention you can't search it online, neither linearly nor by logical query combinations. Matrix, Inc. intends to provide similar information in electronic form. Specifically, we plan to distribute a product with three main parts: 1) A CD/ROM of information, updated quarterly, with 2) much of the information in a relational database, with SQL interface 3) an interactive visual mouse-and-menu user interface In addition, we will provide 4) continual updates through dial-up UUCP connections and probably through dedicated leased lines and through existing networks. The most basic service is intangible, and consists of the context gained through five years of research and our worldwide contacts, which allow us to provide large, well-integrated, and constantly updated information. This is a quick sketch which simplifies a number of things. For example, CD/ROMs will probably not be the only physical distribution medium, and there are numerous subsidiary services we plan to provide eventually. John From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Professional Societies List, update 4 Date: Wednesday, 7 February 1990 1118-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1018 (2112) LIST OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES REPRESENTED ON HUMANIST (2/05/90) + indicates added since last version (update4) of the list. Information desired: (1) Name of Society/Group, (2) Notice of any computer related activities such as program segments and exhibits, electronic publications, reviews and information about computer related scholarship/research, (3) Electronic contact address, if any. Thank you. Bob Kraft American Academy of Advertising [Bern] American Academy of Religion (some special computer program sections at annual meetings; cooperation with SBL) American Anthropological Association (see ANTHRO-L@UBVM ListServer) [Zubrow] American Association for Artificial Intelligence [Kulas; contact AIMAGAZINE@AAAI.ORG, MEMBERSHIP@AAAI.ORG] American Association for Public Opinion Research [Bern] American Association of University Presses (much computer talk) [Perry] American Conference on Irish Studies [Cahalan; see GAELIC-L and FWAKE-L ListServers] American Dialect Society ("making use of computer technology") [Maynor] American Folklore Society (has computer applications section) [Glazer] American Historical Association ("computers in history" things) [Knox] American Library Association [Jacobs] American Musicological Society (creating database of texts) [Mathiesen (Perry)] American Philological Association (archive of texts, editorial board for non-print publications, exhibits at annual meetings) American Philosophical Association (has committee on computer use and subcommittee on electronic texts; program sessions) [Owen; see ACH Newsletter 11.2(1989) 13] American Political Science Association [Jassel] American Psychological Association: Consumer Psychology, Media Psychology, and Personality and Social Psychology divisions [Bern] American Schools of Oriental Research (computer committee and some attention to program section, displays; cooperation with SBL) American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies [Cope ENCOPE@LSUVM, Dill, Wolf, MacNeil] American Society of Church History (not much computer involvement) [Zinn] American Society of Papyrologists (close cooperation with APA) [Kraft] Archaeological Institute of America (various computer activities) [Walsh, Kuniholm] Aristotelian Society [Smith] Associated Writing Programs [RKessler] Association canadienne des sociologues et des anthropologues de langue francaise (e-network) [Hamel, Laplante; contact ACSALF@UQUEBEC] Association des demographes du Quebec (e-network) [Hamel; contact ADQ@UQUEBEC] Association for Asian Studies (occasional panel, newsletter column) [Parker] Association for Canadian and Quebec Literatures [Warkentin] Association for Computational Linguistics [Kulas; contact WALKER@FLASH.BELLCORE.COM] Association for Computers and the Humanities Association for Computing Machinery [Kulas; contact ACM, 11 West 42nd St, NYC 10036, 212-869-7440] Association for History and Computing [Spaeth] Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing Association for Women in Computing Association Internationale Bible et Informatique [AIBI Network, contact IWML@UKC.AC.UK (Lambert)] Association of Public Data Users [Jacobs] Association of Canadian University Teachers of English [Warkentin] Bibliographical Society [Warkentin] Bibliographical Society of Canada [Warkentin] Canadian Society for Renaissance Studies [Warkentin] Canadian Society for the History of Rhetoric [Warkentin] Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (occasional computer session) [Hurd] Cognitive Science Society [Kulas; contact Alan Lesgold, LRDC, U. Pittsburgh, PA 15260] College Composition and Communication [Cahalan] College Music Society [Perry] COMMUNIK -- reseau de chercheurs en communication (e-network) [Hamel; contact COMMUNIK@UQUEBEC] Computer Society of the IEEE [Kulas; contact 1730 Mass Ave, Washington DC 20036-1903] Consortium for Computers in the Humanities / Consortium pour ordinateurs en sciences humains EDUC -- reseau de chercheurs en education (e-network) [Hamel; contact EDUC@UQUEBEC] +EURALEX -- European Association for Lexicography [(McCarty)] International Association for Neo-Latin Studies [Warkentin] International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) [Jacobs, Ruus] International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature [Cahalan] International Congress on Medieval Studies (sessions, workshops) [Zinn] International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (one sponsor of the Computer Assisted Tools for Septuagint Studies project at the Univ. of Penn and at the Hebrew Univ. in Jerusalem) [Kraft] International Society for Contemporary Legend Research [Glazer] International Society for the History of Rhetoric [Warkentin] International Society for Humor Studies [Glazer] International Society of Anglo-Saxonists [Conner, ed ANSAXNET; contact U47C2@WVNVM] Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) [Jacobs] Medieval Academy of America (no indication of computer involvement) [Zacour, Zinn] METHO -- groupe francophone d'echange et de discussion sur les methodes quantitatives utilisees en sciences sociales (e-network) [Hamel; contact METHO@UQUEBEC] Milton Society of America [Flannagan, McCarty] Modern Languages Association (various activities, electronic publications, program segments and exhibits; details of how it is all coordinated organizationally are welcome) Music Library Association (computer applications a "hot topic") [Papakhian] MythoPoeic Society [DeRose] National Council of Teachers of English [Cahalan; see MBU network] North American Nietzsche Society [MBrown] North American Patristics Society (no organized computer activity) [Kraft] Organization of American Historians [Knox (non member)] Philosophy in Britain [Clark = PA01@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK, who also runs PHILOS-L] Regroupement quebecois des sciences sociales (e-network) [Hamel, Laplante; contact RQSS@UQUEBEC] Renaissance English Text Society [Warkentin, Flannagan] Renaissance Society of America [Flannagan] Societe canadienne de science economique (e-network) [Hamel; contact SCSE@UQUEBEC] Societe quebecoise de science politique (e-network) [Hamel; contact SQSP@UQUEBEC] Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy [Smith] Society for Critical Exchange (is setting up an information service for literary theorists to begin in mid-March 1990) [Stonum = gxs11@PO.CWRU.EDU] Society for Music Theory [Perry] Society for Scholarly Publishing [Grycz] Society for the History of Discoveries [Warkentin] Society of American Archaeology ("great interest in computers") [Zubrow] Society of Biblical Literature (electronic archiving project and an active Computer Assisted Research Group that coordinates demonstrations and a program segment each annual meeting) [Kraft; see OFFLINE; contact SBLEXEC@UNIX.CC.EMORY.EDU] South-Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies [Bode RFB8135@TNTECH (Cope)] Southeastern Conference on Linguistics ("making use of computer tech.") [Maynor] Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (nothing organized on computers) [Hurd, Kraft] Toronto Renaissance and Reformation Colloquium [Warkentin] /end/ [everything seems ok on this end] From: FLANNAGA@OUACCVMB.BITNET Subject: The ideal workstation and the quality of life with computers Date: Tue, 06 Feb 90 22:11:10 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1667 (2113) As soon as I learned in the early Eighties that one did not have to hit a carriage-return with a word-processor, I was hooked on computers for the humanities. That and automatically-reformatted paragraphs and pushing footnotes to the end of the documents--all those goodies were more than marvellous. Of course that initial intoxication was matched by having to edit batch files in EDLIN and other nasty and impossible jobs the computer and its programmers made me do. The demonstrable increase in productivity was matched by lower quality of life, which is the modern trade-off all over. The modern automobile is a marvellous machine, a little island of mechanical marvels that eases our aching back and plays us easing Bach, but what does that all mean if we are caught in gridlock? The ideal workstation is a great tool for productivity and efficiency in the hands of people who see its potential for releasing creativity--no matter what their field. One thing that lowers the quality of life around the use of the computer are the Babelings over which system looks best. IBM is tainted by its association with arrogant Big Brother Business, the Mac is an overpriced and undersupported toy used by illiterate picture people, the NeXT is yet another toy of Stephen Jobs that is overhyped and untested, the Amiga is out of the mainstream and incompatible, the Sun is for engineers who can afford it. Besides, our deans won't let us have anything more expensive than the lowest of the clones. The marvellous machines that we so fell in love with are bewitched by software that never quite works the way it is supposed to, never quite does what it is hyped to do. And if the software don't get you, the virus will, so we live in a paranoid and suspicious world that can't trust the software people to give us something that really does do what it says it will do and we can't even trade disks freely for fear of contamination. Despite the lowered quality of life caused by our loss of faith in the machine, we academic computer people are now expected to live a more-efficient, more productive, more businesslike life, now that we have access to machines. We are expected to take even more of our work home with us. We are expected to construct wonderful teaching programs with the computer, instruct students on how to become as good writers and productive scholars as we are. We can't see ourselves living without the computers but we are going mad with having to live with their complexity and the complexity of life caused by humanity's often evil interaction with computers, from over-hyped advertising to underdone programming. No wonder we get discouraged sometimes. From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.1004 ideal workstation! (144) Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90 12:16:36 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1668 (2114) For me, the single most important function of a workstation (right now) is its multi-tasking abilities. Unless yu've done it, you cannot believe how convenient it is to open up a window and log on to an on-line catalogue, search for a bibliographical reference and (1) paste it into a bibliography or (2) into a mail window to request the library delivery service to bring you the item in question. This is on a Sun 3/50, by the way. I think that the model we will be looking at our LAN's with gigabyte (or more) file servers and workstations. That way you minimize the problems of system administration, backups, etc., while still maintaining response time and local user control. To illustrate the problems with systems that do not support multi-tasking: I currently have a large data base system on a PS/2 model 70 running DOS 4.0. In order to keep a set of notes to myself on problems to be solved, either with the system itself or with the data, I have to shut down the data base and open up the word processor, which means (a) that unless the problem is "important" enough, I don't do it, or (b) I waste a certain amount of time--and over a long enough period that time adds up. Thus I see the humanist workstation, right now, primarily as a productivity enhancer. As they become more prevalent, however, they will also allow us to do things which we would never have considered with lesser systems--like hypertext CAI or critical editions. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley more of our work home with us. We are expected to construct wonderful teaching programs with the computer, instruct students on how to become as good writers and productive scholars as we are. We can't see ourselves living without the computers but we are going mad with having to live with their complexity and the complexity of life caused by humanity's often evil interaction with computers, from over-hyped advertising to underdone programming. No wonder we get discouraged sometimes. From: FLANNAGA@OUACCVMB.BITNET Subject: The ideal workstation and the quality of life with computers Date: Tue, 06 Feb 90 22:11:10 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1669 (2115) As soon as I learned in the early Eighties that one did not have to hit a carriage-return with a word-processor, I was hooked on computers for the humanities. That and automatically-reformatted paragraphs and pushing footnotes to the end of the documents--all those goodies were more than marvellous. Of course that initial intoxication was matched by having to edit batch files in EDLIN and other nasty and impossible jobs the computer and its programmers made me do. The demonstrable increase in productivity was matched by lower quality of life, which is the modern trade-off all over. The modern automobile is a marvellous machine, a little island of mechanical marvels that eases our aching back and plays us easing Bach, but what does that all mean if we are caught in gridlock? The ideal workstation is a great tool for productivity and efficiency in the hands of people who see its potential for releasing creativity--no matter what their field. One thing that lowers the quality of life around the use of the computer are the Babelings over which system looks best. IBM is tainted by its association with arrogant Big Brother Business, the Mac is an overpriced and undersupported toy used by illiterate picture people, the NeXT is yet another toy of Stephen Jobs that is overhyped and untested, the Amiga is out of the mainstream and incompatible, the Sun is for engineers who can afford it. Besides, our deans won't let us have anything more expensive than the lowest of the clones. The marvellous machines that we so fell in love with are bewitched by software that never quite works the way it is supposed to, never quite does what it is hyped to do. And if the software don't get you, the virus will, so we live in a paranoid and suspicious world that can't trust the software people to give us something that really does do what it says it will do and we can't even trade disks freely for fear of contamination. Despite the lowered quality of life caused by our loss of faith in the machine, we academic computer people are now expected to live a more-efficient, more productive, more businesslike life, now that we have access to machines. We are expected to take even more of our work home with us. We are expected to construct wonderful teaching programs with the computer, instruct students on how to become as good writers and productive scholars as we are. We can't see ourselves living without the computers but we are going mad with having to live with their complexity and the complexity of life caused by humanity's often evil interaction with computers, from over-hyped advertising to underdone programming. No wonder we get discouraged sometimes. From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.1004 ideal workstation! (144) Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90 12:16:36 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1670 (2116) For me, the single most important function of a workstation (right now) is its multi-tasking abilities. Unless yu've done it, you cannot believe how convenient it is to open up a window and log on to an on-line catalogue, search for a bibliographical reference and (1) paste it into a bibliography or (2) into a mail window to request the library delivery service to bring you the item in question. This is on a Sun 3/50, by the way. I think that the model we will be looking at our LAN's with gigabyte (or more) file servers and workstations. That way you minimize the problems of system administration, backups, etc., while still maintaining response time and local user control. To illustrate the problems with systems that do not support multi-tasking: I currently have a large data base system on a PS/2 model 70 running DOS 4.0. In order to keep a set of notes to myself on problems to be solved, either with the system itself or with the data, I have to shut down the data base and open up the word processor, which means (a) that unless the problem is "important" enough, I don't do it, or (b) I waste a certain amount of time--and over a long enough period that time adds up. Thus I see the humanist workstation, right now, primarily as a productivity enhancer. As they become more prevalent, however, they will also allow us to do things which we would never have considered with lesser systems--like hypertext CAI or critical editions. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: George Aichele <73760.1176@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Workstations Date: 07 Feb 90 21:45:43 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1671 (2117) I support the views of both A.Gilmartin and A.C.Lee (or was it J. Allegrezza?) re computer workstations for scholars. And I'm glad to hear that someone else is using a micro other than a Mac or IBM-type. But C.Faulhaber makes an important point: incompatibility seriously limits every computer, and users of the minority types necessarily bear the worst of it. Text/data exchange between different computers is readily achieved via modem, but more work needs to be done on the problem of program compatibility. I recently learned that WordPerfect documents can be transferred by modem to a different type of computer without loss of wordprocessing codes, provided the receiving machine also runs WordPerfect--I'm not sure that this will work for every possible combination of computers or editions of the program, however. Also, by adding presently-available hardware to my Apple IIGS (which, like the Amiga, is an odd duck in higher education), I can run almost any PC application on it--but not MacIntosh or Commodore or Atari programs. (The hardware isn't cheap, but it's cheaper than buying another computer!) Are these cases unique, or are there other possibilities for compatibility out there? The question is not merely theoretical--I'm presently part of a group writing/editing project which, among its various members, is using three different types of microcomputer, plus assorted mainframes. I'm sure we're not alone. George Aichele 73760,1176@compuserve.com From: Geoffrey Rockwell <Geoffrey_Rockwell@poczta.utcs.utoronto.ca> Subject: 3.1019 ideal workstation, M-I Date: Thu, 8 Feb 90 20:12:13 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1672 (2118) Here are some of the things I would like to see in a working station: 1) The ability to handle video with the ease we can handle text. That would mean being able to save and play TV quality video in real time. (Waiting for a file to load is "fake time.") That would probably mean compression hardware and large removable storage devices. Why video? For one thing, it would mean one doesn't have to "animate" things are best recorded with a video camera. For another, the same hardware could store large amounts of pictures - one could keep thousands of images and sounds. One could also cut down on the number of storage devices kept around the house (VCR, Record Player, Tape Deck, Hard Drive, Floppy, and CD.) The computer could manage a single storage system for all the different types of information we like to keep. 2) I would like hypertextual tools to be built into the system so that they are available to any well behaved program. All the hypertext systems I've seen so far work only with files they create. If the hypertextual tools were part of the distributed system software, developers could give you links with little additional work. I could be in my word-processor and create a link to a another file that is maintained by the operating system. The interface to the operating system would also display the links and let one browse them. The publish feature promised in system 7 of the Mac OS promises less than this. 3) Above all, I appreciate portability. I have a Mac II at home and a T1000 laptop. Guess which one I use the most. The laptop is where I want it when I want it. It goes to the library with me and leaves room in my briefcase for a book or two. Geoffrey Rockwell rockwell@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca From: <PU6MI6Q5@ICINECA2> Subject: Request for Info Date: Thu, 8 Feb 90 18:45 N X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1673 (2119) This is an urgent request regarding library software for Macs. I work in a small research lab, which has a large variety of material to classify. Previously we used Hypercard to do all the cataloging, but it is very slow and top-heavy for doing searches. We would like some software which is less CPU intensive, can easily dump a galley report in ASCII for use by other programs and for other conversions in the future, and yet can permit searches by title, author, subject, technical report, internal communication, memo, other media, etc. Most of our machinery are Macs, but we have a PC and Unix world (Suns) as well. We are looking to devote one microcomputer to this problem (for a library from 500-1000 items). Does anyone know of good software which will do the trick, and requires the minimum of personnel overhead (ie. just data entry)? Thanks to all who respond (either to HUMANIST or myself directly. I cannot respond regularly, but I will be collecting the data that I see. -Joe Giampapa pu6mi6q5@icineca2.bitnet DIDA*EL Milano (Italy) From: hcf1dahl@UCSBUXA.BITNET Subject: Computers & Europe Date: Thu, 8 Feb 90 15:58:34 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1674 (2120) A visiting faculty member from Hungary is considering purchasing a Macintosh computer here and taking it back to Europe with him when he returns in the fall. Questions of power variations are a concern. Would it be better for him to wait and buy the equipment in Germany during his return trip? Advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Eric Dahlin Univ. of Calif., Santa Barbara hcf1dahl@ucsbuxa.bitnet From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1011 the quality of writing is (not) machined (74) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 90 15:43:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1675 (2121) Fro Jim O'donnell. I solved that problme long ago: Data desk Intrnational's key board for the various macs is both comfrotable and splendid to use, and tactile ly very satisfactoryindeed, and it offers macros and programs to speed up all s ort os your work too, with software that acesses at one stroke anything you lik e and everything that usually takes 4-5 steps to access. Kessler at UCLA, and i t is cheaper if ordered from the discount telephone warehouses, and they have t ech support too by phone, when you can get Teresa, say, in Van Nuys.... From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.1011 the quality of writing is Date: Thu, 8 Feb 90 04:00:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1676 (2122) Bob Kessler, Others too have suggested (is "Others too" redundant? sure sounds like it. Oh well) that Halio must have had some prior animus against the Mac, some hidden agenda; I don't see it, myself-- I just think she's flat wrong, and that the paper's a sloppy job. John Slatin From: Jim O'Donnell (Penn, Classics) Subject: Telnet Date: 07 Feb 90 21:35:48 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1677 (2123) YTERM and VT100 don't seem to be the problem with Michigan. I've accessed them with YTERM, CMS, etc., and CR'ed my acquiescence to the allegation that my (IBM PC/AT) was actually a VT100, and the system worked perfectly well. Any other technical suggestions anybody can think of? For making a TELNET connection, consult your local computer support person to find out what the protocol is. It will vary from system to system, but basically TELNET is a kind of MCI or Sprint for computers, congruent to BITNET or INTERNET. Get the access code to Telnet, then dial the number, and you're there. From: John_Price-Wilkin@ub.cc.umich.edu Subject: 3.1015 Telnetting: responses and queries (175) Date: Wed, 7 Feb 90 22:46:26 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1678 (2124) I think I might be able to answer Tom Benson's question and clarify something about the connection, though I might be making an unfounded assumption. Someone from Penn State's computing center called to ask what might be the problem with trying to log into MIRLYN from an IBM mainframe. Because of the way access to MIRLYN is mediated by our computing environment, only VT100 and VT100 emulators will interpret the control characters correctly. Because your (Tom) connection is being made through the mainframe, your your mainframe rather than your VT100 emulator is the problem. If you can make a connection directly over the Internet, you shouldn't have any problem. About the Wilson products: (1) someone has called them Wilsondisc products connected to our catalog; in fact, they are the Wilson databases loaded into our NOTIS software; (2) as I understand it, they're licensed for use by U of Michigan affil. persons, and as soon as we're able we're supposed to have password protection up. Get it while the gettin's good. John Price-Wilkin U. of Michigan john_price-wilkin@ub.cc.umich.edu usergc8z@umichum From: Amanda C. Lee <ALEE@MSSTATE> Subject: telnet libraries Date: Wed, 07 Feb 90 22:27:06 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1679 (2125) After reading the recent postings about "why bother with other libraries," I decided my reasons for doing it were somewhat lowly, but after the prompting of a friend, I decided to send along my opinions anyway. I won't speak for university libraries in general, but ours is notorious for myscrewing up subject headings to high heaven. Especially foreign language ones. I find it easier to get onto MELVYL, look up my subject (assuming that Mississippi State probably doesn't have much that California doesn't have), get authors and titles, and then look those names up in our catalog. I figure it's alot harder to screw up relatively concrete names than sometimes mysterious subjects. Of course, a few problems still occur, when there's a _von_ or a _de_ or such in the author's name, but at least then I know what mistake was made, and where to find the card. So, no, I don't (or haven't as of yet) use the catalogs to find obscure publishing dates or other such scholarly stuff, just BOOKS!! Besides, it's fun to play around with, since we miserable wretches here at MSU still have to plow through those oh-so-tangible cards (at a library whose operating hours are quite ridiculous, might I add). Amy alee@msstste.bitnet From: "David G. Durand" <DURAND@brandeis.bitnet> Subject: Answer: what is telnet Date: Thu, 8 Feb 90 09:40 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1680 (2126) I hope this is not the first of a flood of messages explaining the same thing, but since I've locally just done most of the technical work to connect our campus to the Internet, I have a spiel ready on the tips of my fingers. Telnet is a program that allows remote login to computers that may be very far away as if you had a local terminal connection. It does require special software and hardware to get connected, and this is unfortunately different from the setup required for bitnet access. The telnet program can be used without a connection to the outside world, but is typically only useful if one has a connection the the "Internet" -- a large US research network connecting government, academic and commercial research sites. In using Email, you have probably noticed that some addresses have a large number of periods in the names of the machine. These are addresses in the form that is required for the internet. One can have both Internet and Bitnet access at the same site -- we do here at Brandeis -- but many bitnet sites do not, as a major advantage of bitnet for non-IBM sites is that the cost required for connection to bitnet is typically much less than connection to the internet. Anyone who wants to access library catalogs via telnet should ask their local computer center or campus network organization if full Internet access is available. The part about ful access is important, as the person you ask may be thinking of mail access, rather than remote login: electronic mail can be automatically routed from one network to the other, but telnet access requires a direct conection to the Internet. I hope that I've been able to fight my own tendancy to use computer jargon well enough that this will be useful. From: dusknox@skipspc.idbsu.edu (Skip_Knox) Subject: Date: Thu 08 Feb 90 10:02:51 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1681 (2127) Herewith a salvo fired from the other side regarding Telnet. I've heard the reasons put forth in favor of do-it-yourself on-line searches of other libraries and I remain unconvinced. This simply does not sound like the way I work, so I shall set out the way I work and see if maybe what's involved here is simply a difference in research styles. If I'm to tackle a subject that is outside my field (as in, I took a course on it once), I go to my local library to see what we have. To pick a specific example, let's do Carolingian economic history. So I go get a couple of books on Charlemagne and check their bibliographies. I take that list back to my library and see what we have, including monographs, sources and journals. We'll have a couple, anyway. From those works I compile a larger list, this time of works that our library does not have. Time for a trip to ILL. I go through that iteration some number of times, depending on how thorough I intend to be. Eventually I wind up with a short list of "unavailable" for whatever reason, usually of books that are very old and rather obscure. I supplement this search strategy with trips to the AHA RPA - that's the American Historical Association's publication called Recently Published Articles. This lets me do a search of recently-appearing stuff (it is also a publication that has had a rocky history in the 80s; forgive me if its status has changed again, as I've not looked at it in two or three years). Similar bibliographic resources are available in the field of medieval history, and I would consult those as well. By the end of this process, which of course weaves through the course of actual research and writing, I wind up with a veritable mountain of material, plus a small pile of "unavailable." The way I read the E-search advocates, they now want me to search some several libraries, compiling lists that will in large part duplicate the stuff I have already, on the off chance that I will score a hit from my "unavailable" list. Truly that does not seem worth the effort. The other so-called advantage is that I could go Telnetting as soon as I had my initial "not in my library they ain't" list and circumvent ILL entirely. Again that seems a poor use of my time. I don't know if this is at like the way others search, but it has always produced for me far more books and articles than I knew what to do with. And I honestly don't see a place in this for E-searching other libraries. The one use I can see, and it is a real if rare one, is to find that book that is so crucial to one's research, which my ILL says it cannot find but which I just KNOW is out there somewhere. Of course, chances are, it will be in some library that won't lend. Oh drat, I told myself I wouldn't do sour grapes. I'd be interested to hear (read?) if those who do use E-search regularly have a research strategy that is significantly different from this. From: Richard Giordano <rich@welchlab.welch.jhu.EDU> Subject: Telnetting to online catalogs.... Date: Thu, 8 Feb 90 11:41:59 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1682 (2128) The real question in my mind is why look at a group of online catalogs instead of going to a single source, such as RLIN or OCLC, whose database will encompass those at the local institutions? (RLIN is composed of many the large research universities, OCLC has virtually everybody else.) As far as can tell, the answer is cost. Telnetting to, say, Columbia or Princeton doesn't cost the user anything directly, other than a charge, if any, of using your local computer system. If you telnet to OCLC or RLIN, you--or someone--has to pay for the search time you use on those systems. Like others who have responded, I think that Sperberg-McQueen's situation regarding ILL is unique. Further, in my own experience, I don't see much of a problem in searching a variety of online catalogs. One reason why is, for better or for worse, so many research libraries are using NOTIS software that if you learn one catalog, you've learned a good portion of the others. Richard Giordano Council on Library Resources Project Director Lab for Applied Research in Academic Information School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University From: Randal Baier <REBX@CORNELLC> Subject: AACR2 and TELNET library catalogs Date: Thu, 08 Feb 90 14:49:50 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1683 (2129) In reply to M.R. Spelberg-McQueen (2/3/90): Actually, a small point, but AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, 2nd ed.) is not responsible for the fact that library catalogs are now computerized. AACR2 is a standardized format for the desciption of bibliographic and non-bibliographic items (kits, videos, cassettes, etc.) so that virtually any material that libraries collect can reside with each other under the same "laws." The card catalog at UIUC has cards that were created under AACR2, AACR2-revised 1988, AACR1 (ca. 1970), and older rule systems. Computerized library catalogs use another standard known as MARC (MAchine Readable Cataloging) which interprets the AACR2 standard into data fields that contain similar types of information. For instance, titles are entered into field 245, edition statements into 250, and so on. When you look for an item on a computer catalog (e.g. TI=Finnegan's Wake) the computer searches a MARC database/index for all occurrences of that string of words in all 245 fields. What appears on screen is then a choice of items that are formatted to "look like" catalog cards that use the AACR2 format. Actually, a search such as my example above will look in all fields that contain "title" information, such as an article on Finnegan's Wake that was part of a larger collection on Joyce (provided, of coarse, that it was cataloged/coded that way in the first place). From: <BCJ@PSUVM.PSU.EDU> Subject: Brand New 18th-Century Interdisciplinary Discussion List Date: Wed, 7 Feb 90 23:58:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1684 (2130) Greetings! As of 5:00 this afternoon, Penn State's Virtual Machine is the new home of C18-L -- the long-awaited 18th-century discussion list. It is open, unmoderated, and archived on a monthly basis. We home to attract free-ranging discussion of topics of interest to students and scholars of the 18th century everywhere. What the list becomes is up to the contributors, of course, but we hope to see a wide range of functions -- including calls for papers, notes & queries, arguments, friendly backchat, and so forth. To subscribe, send an interactive command (TELL LISTSERV AT PSUVM SUBSCRIBE C18-L <Your name here>. Send messages to C18-L@PSUVM. We look forward to hearing from you. Kevin Berland BCJ@PSUVM From: Elliott Parker <3ZLUFUR@CMUVM> Subject: RUSTEX-L list Date: Thu, 08 Feb 90 08:00:09 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1685 (2131) In Humanist 3.1017, I asked about a new list on Russian typesetting and email. Matthew Gilmore (GY945C@GWUVM) sent the answer. It is a very new list, so that is why it didn't show up on the List-of- lists. Standard listserv commands to LISTSERV@UBVM Postings to RUSTEX-L@UBVM Elliott Parker BITNET: 3ZLUFUR@CMUVM Journalism Dept. Internet: eparker@well.sf.ca.us Central Michigan University Compuserve: 70701,520 Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 BIX: eparker USA UUCP: {psuvax1}!cmuvm.bitnet!3zlufur From: djb@harvunxw.BITNET (David J. Birnbaum) Subject: rustex-l Date: Thu, 8 Feb 90 08:32:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1686 (2132) Elliott Parker <3ZLUFUR@CMUVM> writes: [deleted quotation] Rustex-l, originally set up to discuss Russian TeX, now covers many topics pertaining to computing and Cyrillic. This includes Russian TeX, Soviet Email, Cyrillic word processing, spelling checkers, thesauri, hyphenation routines, character set standards, keyboard layouts, and other matters that I have probably forgotten. It is not for political discussion. The address is rustex-l@ubvm.bitnet. The ListServ owner is Dimitri Vulis (dlv@cunyvms1.bitnet), a graduate student in mathematics at CUNY and the author of an M.A. thesis on Russian hyphenation algo- rithms. --David David J. Birnbaum djb@wjh12.harvard.edu [Internet] djb@harvunxw.bitnet [Bitnet] ...!wjh12!djb [UUCP] From: Paul Jones <pjones@mento.acs.unc.edu> Subject: What is the Internet? Date: Thu, 8 Feb 90 11:51:40 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1687 (2133) What is the Internet? by Paul Jones Academic Computing Services University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC (pjones@samba.acs.unc.edu) Permission to reprint and distribute given only if this attribution is also given. "In the beginning there was the ARPAnet, a wide area experimental network connecting hosts and terminal servers together. Procedures were set up to regulate the allocation of addresses and to create voluntary standards for the network. As local area networks became more pervasive, many hosts became gateways to local networks. A network layer to allow the interoperation of these networks was developed and called IP (Internet Protocol). Over time other groups created long haul IP based networks (NASA, NSF, states...). These nets, too, inter-operate because of IP. The collection of all of these interoperating networks is the Internet. " So begins The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet , a text prepared in 1987 by Ed Krol. Since those ARPAnet days, the Internet has grown and divided without losing interoperability, allowing researchers, scholars, students, and even introverted computer nerds to interact with thousands of their peers around the world. As of August 1989, there were over 118,000 sites (computers) directly connected to the Internet. Each site has from 2 or 3 to several thousand people using the computer at that site. Thus the Internet has a population size close to that of a major city. The resources of this city include some of the world's fastest super-computers, some of the world's most sophisticated computer software (which is often shared), library card catalogues of many major universities, and often intelligent discussions with experts (accredited and self-proclaimed) on every subject under the sun. -------------------- [A complete version of this document is now available on the file-server, s.v. INTERNET WHAT_IS. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Gary Stonum <gxs11@cwns6.INS.CWRU.Edu> Subject: SCE/MMLA Call for papers Date: Thu, 8 Feb 90 14:40:16 -0500 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1688 (2134) "Theory and Theory-Work in an Electronic Age" Society for Critical Exchange panels at the Midwest Modern Language Assn. annual meeting, November 1-3, 1990 in Kansas City, Missouri Papers of up to 8 (single-spaced) pages are invited on either (or both) of two related topics: the implications for criticism and theory of modern information technology and also specific applications of such technology to scholarly work in criticism and theory. Deadline for submissions is April 9, 1990. Inquiries and submissions should be directed to: Gary Lee Stonum Department of English Case Western Reserve Univ. Cleveland, OH 44106 216-368-3342 Internet: gxs11@PO.CWRU.EDU Or to put this in a format and a dialect that is a little less wall-posterish: we're interested in reports and speculations of all kinds about how the tasks and opportunities of literary theory change when reading and writing go on-line, become increasingly interactive, and can telecommunicate with persons, archives, databases, etc. For instance, what happens to notions of a text; of an author; of reading as a private, normatively silent activity; of literary works as portable objects; of originality, plagiarism, genius, and other issues of copyright and intellectual property; and of a lot of other ideas that haven't occurred to the organizers yet. From: Malcolm Brown <mbb@jessica.Stanford.EDU> Subject: Date: Thu, 08 Feb 90 10:05:12 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1025 (2135) Subject: Although I have not used the Logitech system that Richard Kidder mentions, it general one does well to be quite suspicious of the vendor's claims. There can be no substitute for an extended trial with the system to see if really will meet your needs. Most vendors make it seem as if their system makes only occasional mistakes. Ridiculous! Even if a recognition system achieves 99% accuracy, that still means 20 errors per 2,000 bytes. That's alot of cleanup work! A vendor may cite 98% accuracy as "very high" --- indeed, 98% correctness may earn a student an A+ on a test, but for text entry it's alot of work. test thoroughly before purchasing!! Malcolm Brown Stanford From: mnewton@kean.ucs.mun.ca Subject: Humanist Posting Date: 08 Feb 90 16:47 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1689 (2136) Our college is planning to expand to a four year degree granting institution. We are at present designing degree programs that would lead to a liberal arts/science degree of an interdisciplinary nature. On behalf of those of us here who teach in the humanities I am looking at existing programs in the humanities that would give undergraduates a wide but thorough grounding in a range of subjects that might come under the heading of something like "the Western Cultural Tradition." If you are involved in such a program I would like to hear from you and would be pleased to receive course outlines and calendars. Michael Newton mnewton@mun.bitnet mnewton@kean.ucs.mun.CA Sir Wilfred Grenfell College Memorial University of Newfoundland Corner Brook, Newfoundland, A2H 6P9 Canada. From: Jody_Gilbert@cc.sfu.ca Subject: Date: Thu, 8 Feb 90 12:02:30 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1690 (2137) Is anyone out there interested in starting a mailing list on the topic of Thomas Pynchon? With the publication of _Vineland_, I think Pynchon is going to become more popular. I and several of my colleagues, both locally and across the wires, have things we would like to discuss about Pynchon in general and _Vineland_ in particular. The problem here is that our E-mail mavins at Simon Fraser University tell me that we do not have LISTSERV capability, and even if I decided to forward all the messages manually, creating an off-campus mail group is tedious and unreliable if not improbable. So......What I need is some generous Pynchophiliac to volunteer the services of her LISTSERVER and set up a Pynchon mailing list, and then announce it over HUMANIST, ENGLISH, LITERARY, and any other list or E-journal they can think of. Any takers? Jody Gilbert Department of English Simon Fraser University Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6 ID=DOG1@SFU.BITNET From: <NEUMAN@GUVAX> Subject: Tooth and Claw Date: Wed, 7 Feb 90 22:49 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1691 (2138) Robin Cover asks for the source of the quotation "Nature, red in tooth and claw." Tennyson uses the line in section 56 of "In Memoriam A.H.H." Man, her last work, who seemed so fair, Such splendid purpose in his eyes, Who rolled the psalm to wintry skies, Who built him fanes of fruitless prayer, Who trusted God was love indeed And love Creation's final law -- Though Nature, red in tooth and claw With ravine, shrieked against his creed -- The poem was written between 1833 and 1850, years before Darwin's Origin of Species (1859). Thanks, Robin, for the opportunity to think about an issue of significance. Mike Neuman Georgetown University From: Paul Delany <USERAARY@SFU.BITNET> Subject: 3.1019 Ideal workstation Date: Thu, 8 Feb 90 23:23:54 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1692 (2139) Re Charles Faulhaber's example of multitasking: what software was he using at his end, other than Sun/OS? What was the on-line library catalogue running, and how was it possible to cut and paste from it? From: HAHNE@UTOREPAS Subject: Ideal Workstation Date: 9 Feb 90 09:39:22-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1693 (2140) I agree with Charles Faulhaber that multitasking is one of the essential features of a good humanities workstation. But I disagree when he complains that he cannot run his database and word processor at the same time on an today's IBM PC systems. I have been running a DOS multitasker called EZDOSIT for over 4 years on an ordinary 8086 based Compaq deskpro. I regularly download files and work on my database or word processor at the same time. I also run Word Perfect and the LIBRARY MASTER database manager at the same time. This allows me to keep my research notes and bibliographic references on the database and do my writing with my word processor. At the push of a button I can send a note or part of a note or a bibliographic reference formatted in the style sheet of my choice from the database to my word processor document. This inexpensive (under $100) program is probably the most useful single program I own, in terms of increasing productivity. Other solutions include DOUBLE DOS (which does multitasking) and Multiple Choice, which is shareware. The latter option does not give you multitasking, but only context switching so you can have both programs in memory in different virtual machines and switch between them in a fraction of a second. But it is very cheap and greatly increases the productivity of a database program like LIBRARY MASTER, since it simulate the convenience of an integrated program like NOTABENE, by allowing you to run the word processor and database of your choice at the same time. Of course for someone like Charles the obvious solution is WINDOWS 386 or DESKVIEW. These programs allow a 386 based machine (such as his Model 70) to run multiple DOS applications in different windows. If I could afford it, I would buy a 386 clone and one of these programs. It is as close to an ideal workstation as you can get with today's hardware. We can always hope and wait for the "ideal" system, but unfortunately our work can't wait for the ideal arrive. Today's work has to be done today. Harry Hahne <HAHNE@UTOREPAS> From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Re: [3.1004 ideal workstation! (144)] Date: Fri, 9 Feb 90 11:46:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1694 (2141) Sounds like I have the ideal workstation, according to at least many of the comments I have read. All applications open at once, I can get email and stick it straight into any other application without problems. It cost me 200 pounds sterling, and you can add to the wish-list absolute portability, almost total silence and the ability to pour coffee on the keyboard. It's the Cambridge Z88. Regards, Douglas de Lacey, Cambridge UK. From: Andrew Gilmartin <ANDREW@BROWNVM> Subject: A Scholars Environment Date: Fri, 09 Feb 90 13:08:51 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1695 (2142) Attempting to answering my own question I would like to suggest not the ideal but a practical environment that is extensible. Workstation The basic configuration is a Macintosh Plus with 2.5Mb of memory, a 40Mb hard disk, and a network connection. Where departments or individuals can afford better hardware they should consider the Macintosh SE/30 and the Macintosh IIcx. Network A department's workstations are connected together via PhoneNet (presumably with Star Controllers). These departmental networks are then connected to a campus wide ethernet backbone with Kinetics gateways. Upon the ethernet lives centrally maintained unix boxes (I don't know enough about unix boxes to suggested which kind to buy). It is important to highlight that unix boxes are very difficult to maintain but offer the greatest reward in terms of configuration flexibility and long term growth: As you need more power buy another unix box and it to the pool of existing unix boxes. Software I am here concerned not with microcomputer applications but more with campus wide file access, electronic mail, and remote login to the unix boxes. For campus-wide file access each Macintosh has the AppleShare workstation software installed. The unix boxes have the Columbia AppleTalk Protocol (CAP) installed (providing AppleShare like servers). With this configuration, a unix box's volumes can be mounted by any Macintosh and, more importantly, be used just like any other Macintosh volume (diskette or hard disk). For campus wide electronic mail and remote login to the unix boxes each Macintosh has MacTCP software installed. This allows the Macintoshes access, via the Kinetics gateways, to TCP/IP servers. These services include telnet, SMTP, and POP2. Telnet service allows remote login. NCSA Telnet is a Macintosh application that uses these services. SMPT and POP2 services have to do with electronic mail. While the details are complex, Stanford's MacMH is a Macintosh application that uses these services to provide electronic mail. I think unix access is very important for it is there that you can find the tools necessary to do the types of data processing needed in many fields including the humanities. Support This is the most difficult to solve. At the minimum you need a network support organization that maintains the campus wide "plumbing." A systems organization that maintains the unix boxes, does backups, dispatches printed output, etc. A general user support organization that handles everything from getting a new account to doing footnotes in Microsoft Word. Lastly, and most importantly, you need a project support group. User services organizations can not handle the tasks involved in supporting a humanities project. Any project needs planning, in the humanities this planning must come from people that know both computing and the field. Those on HUMANIST has spoken often and clearly about this need. What I haven't made clear is how this configuration helps the humanist. In essence, every user now has on her desktop a Macintosh for preparing new documents and otherwise looking into the world, a unix workstation for processing the texts, very large disks that someone else backs up, and lastly electronic communication. As someone who works primarily with technology the above seems like a productive environment. Comments? -- Andrew Gilmartin Computing & Information Services Brown University Box 1885 Providence, Rhode Island 02912 andrew@brownvm.brown.edu (internet) andrew@brownvm (bitnet) From: N_EITELJORG@cc.brynmawr.edu Subject: Re: 3.1020 ideal workstations (85) Date: Fri, 9 Feb 90 10:35:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1696 (2143) George Aichele asks about data interchange across computer platforms. In the computer-assisted drafting and design area, that is one of the most important benefits of AutoCAD. Data files are transparently interchangeable across various platforms. Macs, PCs, Unix (Sun, at least) files are all the same and can be transferred from one to another without translation. Nick Eiteljorg (n_eiteljorg@brynmawr) From: MHEIM@CALSTATE Subject: etext library and Halio Date: Thu, 08 Feb 90 19:59:51 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1697 (2144) Colleagues: Yesterday the Governor of California broke the ribbon on a new building on our campus at California State University, Long Beach. The building is the world's first no-books library. It is a very large building with many places for students and faculty to study. But it has terminals instead of bookshelves. You can get texts, like Shakespeare's works, online, and you can use the terminals to order books from the south campus library. Today a student editorial in the /Daily Forty-Niner/ took a strong stand: "LIBRARY MORE OF A DATA CENTER Searching for information is always a tedious task, and with the opening of the new $50 million North Campus Library, that job just got easier. But while it will be much easier to gather information through the use of computers, we hope that not every future library will be like this. Libraries have always been the homes of books, not computers. Books are, and have always been, the keys to knowledge and truth. We hope that never changes. A library that does not have the musty smell of old paper and book stacks piled to the ceiling cannot really be called a library. Therefore, we suggest that the new structure on Lower Campus not be called a library, but an information center that will streamline the painful process involved in doing research papers. If a person cannot find a good book to sit down and read in this new building, it is not actually a library." If we agree that something is lost if electronic texts replaces books, then maybe we should also look into the psychic impact of writing when it occurs electronically rather than with pen or typewriter. Maybe the students recognize the fundamental difference between information and contemplative thought. Could it be that Halio's findings about the MACHINE vs PC suggest an even more far-reaching impact of computerized writing technology? Might it be that word processing affects the way we think and write? Wild idea? This speculation was the thesis behind ELECTRIC LANGUAGE: A PHILOSOPHICAL STUDY OF WORD PROCESSING (Yale, 1987). Mike Heim From: "Guy L. Pace" <PACE@WSUVM1> Subject: The Quality of Writing Date: Fri, 09 Feb 90 08:29:28 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1698 (2145) Maybe the question brought up by the article in *Academic Computing* (I haven't read it, yet) isn't whether the users of one type of machine are smarter or better at writing than the users of another. My first reaction was to hold the note up to a Mac friend as evidence that I, by my use of the PC, hold some monopoly on brains. Turns out it isn't my choice of computer, but something else. Anyway, what should be examined in a study of this nature is the background of the users. It is likely that those more oriented toward print (termed print learners by some) would likely choose a PC over a MAC. Also, those print learners would have stronger language skills, generally. Pattern learners (those who learn mostly through patterns and symbols) would be more attracted, generally, to the MAC. Their weakness in language skills would be evidenced in a comparative examination. What is needed here, it seems, is a more scientific, complete study of why some people choose one computer over another. The study must cover cultural and social background of the users. If I were to make a SWAG as to which computer my TV addicted children would select, it would be the MAC. But, as I suspect a solid study would show, the MAC did not cause their poor grammar and lack of basic writing skills. Regards, Guy L. Pace, Washington State University From: Donald Spaeth 041 339-8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Subject: 3.999 Quality of writing Date: Fri, 09 Feb 90 12:35:11 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1699 (2146) I heard a paper with similar findings at the Fifth Technology and Education Conference held in Edinburgh in 1988, although in this case the software being compared were two PC database packages, one that was command based and one that was menu-based. I don't have the reference to hand, I'm afraid, although I remember that the research was Dutch! (And a big help that is too, I hear you say!) What they found was this. Students learned quicker with a menu-based system but they did not develop as sophisticated query strategies as those who learned on a command-based package. Their sample was small, about 26 students, 13 of whom who were taught first on one package or the other, evaluated, tested on the other and evaluated again. Problems: the sample sizes are too small; there are other factors besides menu vs command (e.g. how well designed is the dialog box or what have you in the menu system?). But I was not surprised by their findings (if that means anything). I'm very fond of menu systems, but they do tend to insulate the user from what they're doing and may get in the way of a proper understanding of what is going on. Another paper I heard several years ago suggested that the greatest cognitive problem that computer users encounter is that their analogies for the ways computers work (e.g. like humans) turn out to be poor models, distant from reality. Perhaps menus encourage the construction of unreal models. (They try to, after all; desktops, wastebaskets, etc.) Don Spaeth University of Glasgow From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1022 Mac/IBM and writing, cont. (41) Date: Fri, 9 Feb 90 14:17:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1700 (2147) Jascha Kessler, that is, not Robert. But here at UCLA, even at ORIon, hte big l ibrary e-mail hookup, faces glaze, faces, not eyes, when one uttes the syllable MAC. I go blank looking at IBM menus myself. But I dont have contempt for IBM, whereas the IBM people seem to sugges to the our user supporrt staff that mac is some sort of toy, whereas THEY have those great fat (empty) boxes with big d esks that THEY use. There is some predisposition to resent the students, who bu y macs, I think, and some disdain for those who arent engineered into the syste m that IBM, belatedly of course, offered people with the PC they brought out, a piece of junk as have been most of their offerings for personal workstations, off the shelf compents in big boxes with not an idea baout software in their he ads, or convenience for those who not engineered into the office culture of the world. Anyone who has read what business produces int he way of sentences, wil l see how fallacious that is. Anyway, the paper sounded silly and pointless, I agree, and perhaps poorly done, and why would it have been done anyway, when th e issue is, Can you construct a sentence or two? a paragraph or two? Best, and let us lay it to rest...Kessler here. From: hcf1dahl@UCSBUXA.BITNET Subject: Mac Questions Date: Fri, 09 Feb 90 08:38:18 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1701 (2148) [deleted quotation] Try sending your questions to INFO-MAC@SUMEX-AIM.STANFORD.EDU. To sign on to the list, Send mail to info-mac-request@sumex-aim.stanford.edu. From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.1021 Library software for Mac? Mac in Europe? (61) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 90 15:58:34 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1702 (2149) A visiting faculty member from Hungary is considering purchasing a Macintosh computer here and taking it back to Europe with him when he returns in the fall. Questions of power variations are a concern. Would it be better for him to wait and buy the equipment in Germany during his return trip? Advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Eric Dahlin Univ. of Calif., Santa Barbara hcf1dahl@ucsbuxa.bitnet --- end of quoted material --- From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Re: [3.1022 Mac/IBM and writing, cont. (41)] Date: Fri, 9 Feb 90 11:39:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1703 (2150) Kessler might be right that DDI's keyboard is better than the Mac's own, but the quality of his message makes it a little optimistic to say that he has 'solved that problem' (viz, suprfluous spaces, &c)! Or maybe Halio is not so wrong after all? Douglas de Lacey, Cambridge UK. %CO:B,12,60%%CO:C,12,48%%CO:D,12,36%%CO:E,12,24%%CO:F,12,12%E From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1021 Library software for Mac? Mac in Europe? (61) Date: Fri, 9 Feb 90 14:10:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1704 (2151) I think Mac advertises that the machines are universally power/usable, but one would urge a powerful filter for spikes and dropouts. The portable is supposed to be adaptable anywhere, even built in. It is worth asking about it. I have th einfo in various manuals, but any store that sells macs would advise. And it is my impression that the discount would be much more favorable if purchased thor ugh the university bookstore mac tie-in that it would be in very tough currenci ed marks. Kessler at UCLA From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" <ERIC@SDNET> Subject: FOR HUMANIST Date: Fri, 9 Feb 90 06:43:22 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1705 (2152) In answer to the question from Robin C. Cover, "Nature, red in tooth and claw" is from Alfred Lord Tennyson's "In Memoriam" (LVI, 15). Speaking of which, does anyone know how to obtain the electronic texts of poems by Tennyson or Robert Browning? Eric Johnson ERIC@SDNET.BITNET Dakota State University From: "Robert T. Trotter, II" <CMSRTT01@NAUVM> Subject: audio input to computers Date: Fri, 09 Feb 90 08:08:40 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1706 (2153) The nature of my ethnographic research dictates that I record very lengthy interviews. Many of the interviews are extremely open ended and it is common to reinterview a particular informant multiple times. For every hour of interview, I face between four and six hours of transcription, since I feel I need verbatim transcripts, rather than summaries, for analysis. There is new software/hardware available that has been discussed on a couple of networks that allows visually impaired individuals to hear their screens. I would like to know if there is any equipment that would allow us to move information in the other direction. We need to be able to play a tape and have it transcribed into the computer. Does anyone out there know if all or part of this processes can be accomplished? I would be happy to summarize any responses sent to me, for the network. RTT From: <PWILLETT@BINGVAXC> Subject: RE: Telneting Date: Fri, 9 Feb 90 08:13 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1707 (2154) As to why telnet other university library catalogs instead of RLIN or OCLC, there is a dirty library secret: some (many? all?) libraries will correct records or holdings only on their local system, and not on RLIN or OCLC. This means that the local systems are more accurate than the national databases. It would be optimal to search all of these local systems consecutively; I believe that there are people in the library world looking at this possibility. As to why some people use telnet to access other university catalogs *at all* while others don't see any benefit: there are many paths to the Tao. Perry Willett Main Library SUNY-Binghamton From: nsabelli@ncsa.uiuc.edu (Nora Sabelli) Subject: HUMANIST nore re The Matrix Date: Fri, 9 Feb 90 10:42:48 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1708 (2155) HUMANIST posted recently information about on-line accessiblity of The Matrix. Do you have an idea, even if preliminary, of the cost that will be associated with its access? Thank you. Nora H. Sabelli National Center for Supercomputing Applications University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign nsabelli@ncsa.uiuc.edu 10241@ncsavms (Bitnet) From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Societies List update5 Date: Thursday, 8 February 1990 2229-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1032 (2156) LIST OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES REPRESENTED ON HUMANIST (2/08/90) + indicates added since last version (update4) of the list. Information desired: (1) Name of Society/Group, (2) Notice of any computer related activities such as program segments and exhibits, electronic publications, reviews and information about computer related scholarship/research, (3) Electronic contact address, if any. Thank you. Bob Kraft American Academy of Advertising [Bern] American Academy of Religion (some special computer program sections at annual meetings; cooperation with SBL) American Anthropological Association (see ANTHRO-L@UBVM ListServer) [Zubrow] American Association for Artificial Intelligence [Kulas; contact AIMAGAZINE@AAAI.ORG, MEMBERSHIP@AAAI.ORG] American Association for Public Opinion Research [Bern] American Association of University Presses (much computer talk) [Perry] American Conference on Irish Studies [Cahalan; see GAELIC-L and FWAKE-L ListServers] American Dialect Society ("making use of computer technology") [Maynor] American Folklore Society (has computer applications section) [Glazer] American Historical Association ("computers in history" things) [Knox] American Library Association [Jacobs] American Musicological Society (creating database of texts) [Mathiesen (Perry)] +American Oriental Society [Wujastyk] American Philological Association (archive of texts, editorial board for non-print publications, exhibits at annual meetings) American Philosophical Association (has committee on computer use and subcommittee on electronic texts; program sessions) [Owen; see ACH Newsletter 11.2(1989) 13] American Political Science Association [Jassel] American Psychological Association: Consumer Psychology, Media Psychology, and Personality and Social Psychology divisions [Bern] American Schools of Oriental Research (computer committee and some attention to program section, displays; cooperation with SBL) American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies [Cope ENCOPE@LSUVM, Dill, Wolf, MacNeil] + [note also the new 18th c list = C18-L@PSUVM (Kevin Berland)] American Society of Church History (not much computer involvement) [Zinn] American Society of Papyrologists (close cooperation with APA) [Kraft] +American Theological Library Association (bibliographic databases) [Harbin] Archaeological Institute of America (various computer activities) [Walsh, Kuniholm] Aristotelian Society [Smith] Associated Writing Programs [RKessler] Association canadienne des sociologues et des anthropologues de langue francaise (e-network) [Hamel, Laplante; contact ACSALF@UQUEBEC] Association des demographes du Quebec (e-network) [Hamel; contact ADQ@UQUEBEC] Association for Asian Studies (occasional panel, newsletter column) [Parker] Association for Canadian and Quebec Literatures [Warkentin] Association for Computational Linguistics [Kulas; contact WALKER@FLASH.BELLCORE.COM] Association for Computers and the Humanities Association for Computing Machinery [Kulas; contact ACM, 11 West 42nd St, NYC 10036, 212-869-7440] Association for History and Computing [Spaeth] +Association for Institutional Research (e-newsletter) [Flaherty; contact IRMUFFO@VTM1, CHULAK@FSU (membership)] Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing Association for Women in Computing Association Internationale Bible et Informatique [AIBI Network, contact IWML@UKC.AC.UK (Lambert)] Association of Public Data Users [Jacobs] Association of Canadian University Teachers of English [Warkentin] +Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute [Wujastyk] Bibliographical Society [Warkentin] Bibliographical Society of Canada [Warkentin] +Canadian Association of Public Data Users [Humphrey, Piovesan, Ruus; see CAPDU-L ListServer ?@SFU ?] +Canadian Information Processing Society [Swenson] Canadian Society for Renaissance Studies [Warkentin] Canadian Society for the History of Rhetoric [Warkentin] Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (occasional computer session) [Hurd] Cognitive Science Society [Kulas; contact Alan Lesgold, LRDC, U. Pittsburgh, PA 15260] College Composition and Communication [Cahalan] College Music Society [Perry] COMMUNIK -- reseau de chercheurs en communication (e-network) [Hamel; contact COMMUNIK@UQUEBEC] Computer Society of the IEEE [Kulas; contact 1730 Mass Ave, Washington DC 20036-1903] Consortium for Computers in the Humanities / Consortium pour ordinateurs en sciences humains EDUC -- reseau de chercheurs en education (e-network) [Hamel; contact EDUC@UQUEBEC] +EDUCOM [Swenson] EURALEX -- European Association for Lexicography [(McCarty)] +European Ayurvedic Society [Wujastyk] +Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas [Wujastyk] International Association for Neo-Latin Studies [Warkentin] International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) [Jacobs, Ruus] International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature [Cahalan] +International Association for the Study of Traditional Asian Medicine [Wujastyk] International Congress on Medieval Studies (sessions, workshops) [Zinn] International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (one sponsor of the Computer Assisted Tools for Septuagint Studies project at the Univ. of Penn and at the Hebrew Univ. in Jerusalem) [Kraft] International Society for Contemporary Legend Research [Glazer] International Society for the History of Rhetoric [Warkentin] International Society for Humor Studies [Glazer] International Society of Anglo-Saxonists [Conner, ed ANSAXNET; contact U47C2@WVNVM] Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) [Jacobs] Medieval Academy of America (no indication of computer involvement) [Zacour, Zinn] METHO -- groupe francophone d'echange et de discussion sur les methodes quantitatives utilisees en sciences sociales (e-network) [Hamel; contact METHO@UQUEBEC] Milton Society of America [Flannagan, McCarty] Modern Languages Association (various activities, electronic publications, program segments and exhibits; details of how it is all coordinated organizationally are welcome) Music Library Association (computer applications a "hot topic") [Papakhian] MythoPoeic Society [DeRose] National Council of Teachers of English [Cahalan; see MBU network] North American Nietzsche Society [MBrown] North American Patristics Society (no organized computer activity) [Kraft] Organization of American Historians [Knox (non member)] Philosophy in Britain [Clark = AP01@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK, who also runs PHILOS-L] Regroupement quebecois des sciences sociales (e-network) [Hamel, Laplante; contact RQSS@UQUEBEC] Renaissance English Text Society [Warkentin, Flannagan] Renaissance Society of America [Flannagan] +Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland [Wujastyk] +Royal College of Science [Wujastyk] Societe canadienne de science economique (e-network) [Hamel; contact SCSE@UQUEBEC] Societe quebecoise de science politique (e-network) [Hamel; contact SQSP@UQUEBEC] Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy [Smith] +Society for College and University Planning (e-newsletter) [Flaherty; contact BUDLAO@UCCVMA, USERTD8Q@UMICHUM (membership)] Society for Critical Exchange (is setting up an information service for literary theorists to begin in mid-March 1990) [Stonum = gxs11@PO.CWRU.EDU] Society for Music Theory [Perry] Society for Scholarly Publishing [Grycz] Society for the History of Discoveries [Warkentin] Society of American Archaeology ("great interest in computers") [Zubrow] Society of Biblical Literature (electronic archiving project and an active Computer Assisted Research Group that coordinates demonstrations and a program segment each annual meeting) [Kraft; see OFFLINE; contact SBLEXEC@UNIX.CC.EMORY.EDU] South-Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies [Bode RFB8135@TNTECH (Cope)] Southeastern Conference on Linguistics ("making use of computer tech.") [Maynor] +Southern Humanities Council [Wilson] +Southern Historical Association [Wilson] Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (nothing organized on computers) [Hurd, Kraft] Toronto Renaissance and Reformation Colloquium [Warkentin] /end/ From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1029 Mac questions & answers (119) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 90 15:34:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1709 (2157) To de Lacey. Sorry about my fingerings, but I dont mess up on my MSS. I just do these things late at night, and am still digesting my dinner wine. It is Calif ornia and we have good ones. NO, no the keyboard is really good. I am not good, and I dont give a damn much anymore, because I dont. I used to be a greattypis t. I can barely sign my name to a check legibly these days! dont confuse my wor k with my recommendation of the tool. The finest hammer, car, whatever, in the hands of the aging handler, especially the transposer of letters after 60 years of age! Good thing I am not playing Scarlatti for you. Or any other keyboard I used to hammer at. Kessler From: The Man with the Plan <KEHANDLEY@AMHERST> Subject: correction of my latest posting Date: Fri, 9 Feb 90 10:40 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1710 (2158) A week ago I requested information about a Luther Bible e-text. I wrote that this was for Donald Price, a professor at Amherst College. Actually it was for Donald White, a professor at Amherst College. Donald Price is a professor at UC Davis and graduate of Amherst. I hope this clears up any confusion that might have occurred. While I am here, thank you to those who sent us information. Keith Handley User Services Associate, Amherst College Academic Computer Center From: ENCOPE@LSUVM Subject: SOUND INPUT Date: Fri, 09 Feb 90 21:56:48 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1711 (2159) One HUMANIST grammoteer wonders whether there is a system that can transfer tape recordings into a computer. This grammotist is doing field recordings (would he like to record me? I'm becoming oral history here in my department). Why, I ask, would one bother with the intermediate step, the tape recordings? Radio Shack/Tandy has direct input digitizing microphones and boards on their PCs. Surely the board that runs this application could be plugged into a portable computer--e. g., a laptop--and taken directly to the recording site. I've seen a whole music system, including voice input, output, and digitizing, on a card small enough for my little Toshiba. Could someone supply exact instructions for Mr. Trotter? -- KLC. From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: Audi input Date: Mon, 12 Feb 90 10:00:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1712 (2160) Re: Robert Trotter's request for information on storing audio information. There are two problems: first, storing digitzed audio simply EATS disk space: a 2-minute blurb recorded with the Farallon MacRecorder took hundreds of Kbytes of disk space; I can't even imagine how much disk you'd need to store all those hours o taped interviews! Many CD-ROMs, I'd guess. That's one problem; the other would be how to index it all (assuming you had the storage problem licked) so you could retrieve only the portions you wanted. I'm no expert on this stuff, but it strikes me someone might have to lick the continuous speech recognition problem first, in order to have intelligible indexing of recorded speech. You might take a look at Raymond Kurzweil's article on speech recognition technology in BYTE a couple or three issues back (I'm not sure of the date, but it wsa in the last quarter of 89 sometime! sorry I can't be more precise). Kurzweil's working hard on this stuff John Slatin From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1029 Mac questions & answers (119) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 90 15:30:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1713 (2161) Wait a bit on the IIcx with 80megdrive. Crabs in MACWEEK wrote a steaming colum n in which he reports a 90-100% failure of the drives in one two weeks or a bit later! He advises against the thing enteirely. U of Chicago manager and column ist and Mac fanatic though he is. An associate of mine would never buy the inte rnal mac drives. He buys only reliable external drives. My Mac II crashed the f irst week: motherboard no good. Two weeks later the 40 meg drive went with eery thg on it, all my applications. Never had a momebent trouble before with super mac external drive. Crabs article was published a week asgo! Trouble here, not on the horizon. NO matter what Mac says! And I am a Mac fellow from 1984 on. Do pay attention to that IIcx problem. Do not believe the vendor! From: Donald Spaeth 041 339-8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Subject: Macs to Hungary Date: Mon, 12 Feb 90 10:43:32 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1714 (2162) Exporting a Mac to Hungary is more likely to be a political problem than an electrical problem. As far as I know, it is still an offense to export U.S. computer technology to certain eastern countries, and I doubt that the law has kept up with the pace of political change! Whether (1) Hungary was included, or (2) export for personal use is included in the legislation I do not know. But Apple licence agreements (e.g. for HyperCard) include a clause forbidding unauthorised export to certain countries. Donald Spaeth University of Glasgow From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: addresses needed Date: 9 February 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1715 (2163) Would any Humanist who knows the electronic or conventional address of any of the following please let me know? Sheizaf Rafaeli, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (e-mail only) Jerome Durlak Starr Roxanne Hiltz Lee Sproull Sara Kiesler Computerized Conferencing and Communication Center, New Jersey Institute of Technology (e-mail only) Thanks very much. Yours, Willard McCarty From: ENCOPE@LSUVM Subject: VAX vs. IBM--Can I Make the Transition? Can I do it? Date: Fri, 09 Feb 90 22:03:54 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1716 (2164) I'm going to Oxford and will be e-mailing from a VAX machine instead of my usual IBM thingamajiggy here is Baton Rouge. Is the mail system more or less identical in these two devices, or will I need to learn a new system? As our basketball coach says, I'm a moron in a coma, so do keep explanations accessible. -- KLC. From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Printer info query" Date: Fri, 9 Feb 90 15:24:42 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1717 (2165) Have any colleagues information on using the HP-LaserJet II with UNIX? It seems that BSD 4.3 and any other BSD versions I've heard of don't supply printcap entries for the HP-LaserJet series. Any ideas on how we can connect this thing for our Foreign Language Dept. to use with our Pyramid mainframe running BSD 4.3? I have a funny feeling somebody is already expecting me to write sed-scripts to take care of mapping accent mark conventions from standard to extended ASCII.... Thanks, Joel D. Goldfield Dept. of Foreign Languages Plymouth State College joelg@psc.bitnet From: nye@UWYO.BITNET (Eric W Nye) Subject: Bated breath... Date: Sun, 11 Feb 90 19:09:28 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1718 (2166) About ten days ago (HUMANIST 3:995) the prospect was raised of a new and improved list of Internet-accessible libraries, to be shared through the considerable courtesy of Dr. Art St. George. I'm stalling a minor research project in hopes the list will be out soon. Could we make it a permanent, updateable part of the UTORONTO listserver? Many thanks to all who make this possible. Eric Nye (NYE@UWYO), Dept. of English, University of Wyoming From: Mark D. West <mdwest@ecsvax> Subject: Request for e-mail address, "Revue" Date: Mon, 12 Feb 90 13:27:27 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1719 (2167) Humanists: Does anyone out there have an e-mail address for J. Denooz, the editor of _Revue: Informatique et Statistique dans les Sciences humaines_? Or, perhaps better, is there a domestic source for _Revue_? ( For those who haven't seen it, _Revue_ is a publication of the Centre Informatique de Philosophie et Lettres at the Universite de Liege, and contains an interesting selection of articles on humanities computing. ) -- M. D. West MDWEST@ECSVAX ( bitnet ) From: Donald Spaeth 041 339-8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Subject: Call for information on history teaching software Date: Mon, 12 Feb 90 16:04:49 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1036 (2168) The UK Centre for History and Computing (CTICH) was established in 1989 to serve as a clearinghouse for information on the use of computers in higher education. Similar centres were set up in other humanities subjects, including Literature, Modern Languages, Music and the Humanities in general. (A longer description of the Centre's activities has been provided for the Listserver.) CTICH is now collecting information about historical software, teaching datasets and computer-based teaching materials, which will serve as the basis for a 'Guide to Software' for the entire historical community. The first edition of the Guide, to be published this spring, will simply be a handlist of materials which have come to our attention, but subsequent editions will include reviews, focusing particularly on the suitability of software for teaching history. If you have written, are using or know of software or other materials for computer-based history teaching, we would very much appreciate it if you could draw these to our attention. Software may either be either commercial or educational, general purpose or devoted specifically to history/humanities teaching. We are particularly interested in hearing of software developed outside the UK, e.g. in Europe or North America. Types of software of interest include database, spreadsheet, text retrieval/analysis, hypertexts, simulations and teaching datasets. A brief form describing the kind of information we need follows. The first 3 questions are the most important; if you don't know complete details, please just send what information you have. SURVEY OF SOFTWARE FOR COMPUTER-BASED HISTORY TEACHING 1. Name of software/material 2. Computer (and operating system) it runs under 3. Name and address of author, publisher, distributor or other contact (also telephone number and email address, if known) 4. Cost 5. Minimum technical requirements (e.g. hard disk, 512K RAM, EGA graphics) 6. Brief description (4-6 lines), with comments if you've used it 7. Would you be willing to write us a longer review of the package? Many thanks for your assistance. Please send details of software to the following address. Donald Spaeth Research Officer Centre for History and Computing email: ctich @ uk.ac.glasgow.vme (from JANET sites) ctich @ vme.glasgow.ac.uk (from BITNET/EARN sites) postal address: History Computing Laboratory 2 University of Gardens University of Glasgow Glasgow G12 8QQ UK [A longer document on The Computers in Teaching Initiative, Centre for History and Computing (CTICH) is now available on the file-server, s.v. HISTORY CTICH. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: "R.J. Shroyer" <66_443@uwovax.uwo.ca> Subject: Re: 3.1030 e-Tennyson, Browning? audio input? (55) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 90 08:33:53 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1720 (2169) In reply to Eric Johnson's request for electronic Browning and Tennyson, I have the poems and plays of Browning prepared in Oxford Concordance Program format for a concordance that is nearly ready for publication. Ricks' one-volume Tennyson was entered and encoded by Laurence Mazzeno of the United States Naval Academy and is being revised to reflect Ricks' recent three-volume Tennyson. T.J. Collins and I are now editing Tennyson's plays and will add them to the electronic poems by summer 1990. R. Shroyer R.J. Shroyer: Department of English, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada N6A 3K7. (519)-679-2111, ext. 5839 or 5834 Canada: Shroyer@uwovax.uwo.ca From: Oxford Text Archive <ARCHIVE@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK> Subject: e-texts and pricing Date: Mon, 12 Feb 90 14:17 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1721 (2170) [delayed by wonky line between OUCS and rest of world] Electronic versions of texts by both Browning and Tennyson are available from the Oxford Text Archive, an institution with which I must confess I had assumed all Humanists were by now entirely familiar. There is a reasonably up to date list of all the texts we hold available freely from the LISTSERV as the file OXARCHIV SHRTLIST. To obtain any of the texts listed there in category U, you need to send us an order form (available online by request) with your signature and payment. The signature is to confirm that you are going to use the text for research purposes only, and not for profit. We do that to protect our depositors' rights in their material: most of which does not belong to us. For texts in category A the same rules apply, but you have to get explicit permission from the depositor as well. And there are texts in category X which we can't copy for you at all - mostly because someone else is distributing them already. As our pricing policy seems to have been the subject of some rather ill-informed gossip of late, I hope you'll let me sputter (rather than flame) on a bit about that. Our preferred medium is magnetic tape. For texts supplied on tape, we charge a flat rate of 5 pounds per text, irrespective of size, plus a media charge of 15 pounds in Europe or 25 pounds elsewhere for each tape needed. Smaller texts are available on diskette, but at the outrageous price of 15 pounds per diskette. This price is set deliberately high as a deterrent: at present all the stuff is on tape on the VAX, and every order for a diskette means someone has to sit around for ages downloading the stuff. But I expect we'll see reason eventually. Just for those who don't know what a magnetic tape is, you can get up to 40 or 50 megabytes on one tape: i.e. nearly two hundred diskettes. Maybe our prices are not so unreasonable after all. Lou Burnard Oxford Text Archive From: "Vicky A. Walsh" <IMD7VAW@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1020 ideal workstations (85) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 90 16:36:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1722 (2171) I don't believe there is, or necessarily should be, an IDEAL workstation for everyone. Even if a machine could be produced to do everything (well?) would any one of us need all of it? The thing to do is assess what YOU do and therefore what you need and then see which software does it and only then which hardware platform supports it. Your ideal machine is not my ideal machine and perhaps what is more necessary is the ability to move things between lots of different machines (some of which can be done now). Also, perhaps the ideal to strive for is the ideal system/network/workspace that allows easy access to all the pieces many Humanists have mentioned; you don't need to 'own' all these things on your machine. Vicky Walsh UCLA Humanities Computing From: "Steven J. DeRose" <IR400011@BROWNVM> Subject: Workstations and portability Date: Sun, 11 Feb 90 21:12:06 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1723 (2172) 2 notes: I suspect that however far we progress, the "ideal workstation" will simply be a computer with speed, storage, display, and software about 3 times better than we have. It was not long ago at all that the "ultimate scholar's workstation" was thought to be the "3M": 1 Meg RAM, 1 Meg pixels (1024*1024, or a little larger than the "2 page" display now fairly common), and 1 Meg instructions per second (e.g., half a Mac II). I'm puzzled by the side discussion of "portability" of data, wherein the examples cited as wonderful have been single programs that run on several machines, such as WordPerfect. I'd call that software marketing, not portability. Portability is when I can use the file you send me even if I *don't* have WordPerfect (I don't) or "nifty word processor X". It is standardization of *data* that matters, not of software, nor even of how the data looks on with screen/printer/font/layout/etc. Insert positive rumblings about SGML and TEI here. Steve From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Perfect Workstation Blues Date: 12 February 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1724 (2173) To the extent that the Perfect Workstation Blues cause us to think clearly about what it is that we do, then I'm certainly in favour of a long discussion. Faster, ok, but why? Big storage space, ditto. Multitasking the same. Functions we don't even have a name for. Why? What are we after? Answers of the form "so I can download files, write my essay, and calculate my grades all at the same time" are really not very helpful, even though they may be true. I like to think of Hephaestus and Daedalus, the original gadgeteers of Western culture. What were they up to? Why did the latter, for example, keep getting caught in traps of his own devising? Yours, Willard McCarty From: "Patrick W. Conner" <U47C2@WVNVM> Subject: 3.1028 the quality of writing and thinking (170) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 90 00:59:11 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1039 (2174) In his note on Halio's flawed study of the development of writing skills of students using PC's versus the development of writing skills of those using Mac's, Guy Pace says: -It is likely that those more oriented toward print (termed -print learners by some) would likely choose a PC over a MAC. Also, those -print learners would have stronger language skills, generally. Pattern -learners (those who learn mostly through patterns and symbols) would be -more attracted, generally, to the MAC. Their weakness in language skills -would be evidenced in a comparative examination. I want to know what evidence exists for the notion that print learners would have stronger language skills than pattern learners who would evince weakness in languages skills. Language is not about alphabets or syllabaries, or print recognition. It is about patterns and symbols. Rhetoric is, indeed, the study and mastery of pattern in language, usually for the purpose of either comprehending a writer's special effectiveness or enhancing one's own effectiveness as a writer. Good writing is based on a sophisticated sense of patterning. Semiotics is the study of the complex techniques of symbolizing, without which human language (at least, as we know it) would be impossible. The dichotomy, as Pace expresses it, strikes me as absurd. Does it have a basis in objective research or is it based, as Halio's article appears to be based, on ignorance of the relation- ship between writing and language? From: "PHILIP E. YEVICS UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON PA 18510" Subject: A different twist to the copywrite discussions Date: Mon, 12 Feb 90 19:58 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1040 (2175) An interesting twist to the copyright discussions that have taken place on this forum is provided by the debate over patenting "transgenic" (genetically modified) animals. The ethical issues are summarized in an April 1989 _Special Report_ of the Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress, _New Developments in Biotechnology: Patenting Life_ (OTA-BA-370, Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office). The Report is summarized in the November 1989 Issue of _Ethics and Medics_ (Vol. 14, No. 11). The summary in _Ethics and Medics_ begins "A mouse developed - but not educated - at Harvard was patented last year (Patent #4,736,866)". It then notes the increasing dis-ease with such developments, and summarizes arguments for and against such patents, as quoted below: "ARGUMENTS FOR PATENTING TRANSGENIC ANIMALS: * Patent law regulates inventiveness, not commercial uses of inventions. * Patenting promotes useful consequences such as new products and research into solutions of problems. * Patenting is necessary if the nations biotechnological industry is to be able to compete internationally. * If patenting is not allowed, inventors will resort to trade secret protection which could hinder the sharing of useful information. * Patenting rewards innovation and entrepreneurship. "ARGUMENTS AGAINST PATENTING ANIMALS: * Patenting raises metaphysical and theological concerns (e.g. promotes a materialistic conception of life, raises issues of the sanctity of human worth, violates species' integrity). * Patenting will lead to increased animal suffering and inappropriate human control over animal life. * Other countries do not permit the patenting of animals, leading to potential adverse economic implications for the Third World. * Patenting promotes environmentally unsound policies. * Patenting produces excessive burdens on American agriculture (increased costs to consumers, concentration in production of animals, payment of royalties of succeeding generations of animals)." Philip E. Yevics PEY365@Scranton Theology/Religious Studies University of Scranton PA 18510 USA [I cannot resist the following quotation: "For books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them to be as active as that soul whose progeny they are; nay, they do preserve as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them.... he who destroys a good book kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were, in the eye... slays an immortality rather than a life." John Milton, Areopagitica (1644) --W.M.] From: Jim O'Donnell (Penn, Classics) Subject: Query Date: 12 Feb 90 22:37:18 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1725 (2176) Way out of my usual neighborhood and groping around for anything substantial in a field where it could be hidden *anywhere*: Does anybody know of good studies of the decline of reading aloud in modern times anywhere on continental Europe or the Americas? What kind of evidence is there for how long reading aloud continued to be part of educational institutions, social gatherings, family fireside life, etc. [a licit use of etc., I hope]? Likewise what kind of evidence for the decline of such? Also medical: at what point did physicians begin to leave off recommending reading aloud as a healthful exercise? The zippy way of saying why I'm interested is that I think people started to get bored with Cicero when they stopped hearing the grand, rolling organ music of his prose: even when he's *utterly* boring, he plays Latin the way Miles Davis plays a trumpet. From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: electronic critical editions Date: Tue, 13 Feb 90 10:45:21 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1726 (2177) For an introduction to a special issue on textual criticism for <emp>Romance Philology</emp> I am writing an introduction on the critical edition of the 21st century, which, as I see it, will be essentially some sort of hypertext system. I am currently struggling to figure out the relationship between hypertext and SGML, not so much as SGML descriptions of hypertext systems (the subject of one query not so long ago), but rather the relative merits of coding a particular feature via SGML or linking a region of text to another node in the system. Let us suppose, for example, that one is interested in marking all examples of religious imagery in a particular text. Under SGML one would tag each of those samples with something like <rel.img></rel.img>. In a hypertext system one would mark off the region of text, and link it to a node called "Religious imagery," which might or might not have a short description of some kind with it. The link in turn would be coded with one or more attributes, such as TYPE = imagery. The user, presumably, would be able to use a filter in both systems to locate all of the examples of religious imagery and then work with that set for whatever purposes he or she might conceive. One of my problems is that I have little experience with an SGML system and no experience with hypertext. In terms of text preparation, however, coding for imagery in both systems would take roughly the same amount of time (a lot), since all of the coding and linking would have to be done manually. In some other examples, such as indication of sources and parallels, it seems to me that hypertext is clearly superior because of the fact that it allows for linkages between two separate texts. But for text-internal references I'm not so sure. In any case, I would greatly appreciate hearing from anyone who has either knowledge or strongly held opinions. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley bitnet ked@ucbgarne internet cbf@athena.berkeley.edu From: stephen clark <AP01@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK> Subject: Re: invented beasts Date: Tue, 13 Feb 90 05:00:32 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1727 (2178) Could I invite the philosophically inclined amongst HUMANISTS (a class wider than the class of professional philosophers) to write on the problem of invented - and patented - life-forms? Between 3000 and 6000 words, please. The best - assuming a reasonable general standard (!) - will be published in JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHILOSOPHY, of which I am incoming editor. You can send versions to me at AP01@UK.AC.LIVERPOOL.IBM, though I'd prefer the final copy to be typescript. Stephen From: langconf@louis-xiv.bu.edu (BU Conference on Language Development) Subject: BU Conference on Language Development -- Call for Papers Date: Tue, 13 Feb 90 11:25:37 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1728 (2179) The 15th Annual BOSTON UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE ON LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 19, 20, & 21 October, 1990 Keynote Speaker: Ursula Bellugi, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies * CALL FOR PAPERS * Papers in the following areas are encouraged, although other topics in Language Acquisition will be fully considered: Linguistic Theory Speech perception and production (syntax, semantics, phonology, morphology) Discourse processing Development of the lexicon Discourse Deafness and spatial languages Input and interaction Historical linguistic change Parent-child co-construction Creolization Literacy Neurolinguistic development Sociolinguistics Exceptional Language & Language Disorders Bilingualism in relation to FIRST & SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION REQUIREMENTS 1) Original research which has never been presented or published 2) 450-WORD SUMMARY for anonymous review 3) 150-WORD ABSTRACT with title, topic, name and affiliation (to appear in conference handbook) SUBMIT 1) SIX copies of the summary, clearly titled 2) TWO copies of the abstract 3) ONE 3 x 5 card stating: a) Title b) Name(s) c) Affiliation(s) d) Current address e) Summer address f) Topic area g) Audiovisual needs h) Telephone number i) Summer number j) e-mail address NOTE NEW ADDRESS Conference on Language Development Boston University 138 Mountfort Street Telephone:(617) 353-3085 Boston, MA 02215 USA e-mail:langconf@bu-mfl.bu.edu DEADLINE: All submissions must be POSTMARKED BY *May 1, 1990*. Please include self-addressed, stamped postcard for acknowledgement of receipt. Notification of acceptance or rejection will be sent by *June 30, 1990*. From: UC445252%UMCVMB.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu Subject: Writing on Macs vs PCs Date: Wed, 07 Feb 90 13:56:02 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1043 (2180) According to Graeme's synopsis of Halio's article, Mac's cause poor writing as verified by a test with no control whatsoever. Even with my single course in statistics I can sense this travesty of justice! It may be fair to say that writers with lesser skill may be attracted the ease of the Macintosh. This can make the process of writing (which is VERY painful to those of us who are poor writers) almost pleasant. It may even be assumed that "Good writers" (people who feel good about their writing, people who have been writing for quite a while because they feel good about it) have been using IBM type "archaic" word-processors since before Macs were readily available. Naturally, people tend to stick with software that they are used to. Easier-to-use software may not be preferable to I-already- know-how-to-use software. Be careful, utilities such as VAX text analysis may seem to give credibility to such a study, but the results are meaningless with the shoddy testing used. You could have experts scan this BITNOTE for days, and there would be no way to tell whether the poor writing was because of factor A (poor writing skills) or factor B (an easy-to-use word-processor). Macintosh should be commended for making writing an easier and less painful experience. More people write down their ideas, now that we have Macs. (I realize I have no proof, but I'm not publishing an article) Without them, we (poor writers) find ways around writing. P.S. Please ignore the spelling and grammar used in this BITNOTE, it was composed on an IBM mainframe, where it is seldom worth the effort needed to proofread and spell-check! Outraged by the ignorance and injustice of this "study" (I use the term lightly).... Gre7g. From: Paul Brians <HRC$04@WSUVM1> Subject: Macs to Hungary Date: Tue, 13 Feb 90 11:32:28 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1729 (2181) I helped a Soviet citizen buy a computer last year to take home. It was a nightmare of red tape. There were veeery specific guidelines about how fine the resolution of the screen could be, how fast the clock speed, etc. Mac Pluses were allowable. But then late last summer the regulations were eased. Talk to your nearest Commerce Department representative--and if you don't connect right away, try your congressman or representative for help. I had great help, but then I live in Tom Foley's district. It should be easier now. Check it out. From: Grace Logan - ACO <grace@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca> Subject: Oxford Mail Date: Tue, 13 Feb 90 09:41:48 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1730 (2182) I'm sorry that I failed to save the address of the HUMANIST who wondered about e-mail at Oxford. I can tell him that he'll have no trouble. i don't know just what version of MAIL his IBM machine runs, but he'll have no trouble learning the VMS mailer. Takes about five minutes and the staff are very friendly and helpful -- used to dealing with foreign visitors trying to keep in touch with their home campuses. I wish him a wonderful stay in Oxford. I have happy memories of my time there. cheers, grace From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.1035 various queries (120) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 90 22:30:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1731 (2183) Adresse de la revue REVUE - CIPL Comme la REVUE publie en francais, je vous donne l'information en francais. J'ai l'adresse de Christian Delcourt a l'Universite de Liege et comme son bureau est a quelques metres de celui de Denooz, votre message risque d'arriver Delcourt Christian, Universite de Liege 3, Place Cockerill B-4000 LIEGE Belgique E-mail u017101@bliulg11 Bien a vous Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal E-mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca From: Christian Boissonnas Subject: Cataloging software Date: Fri, 09 Feb 90 08:49:14 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1732 (2184) ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- I know of no MAC software to do what you want, although it is very possible that vendors of cataloging software who specialize in the library market have some. I expect it is likely to be expensive and more than you need, but I can pursue that if you want. I think that there is cheap PC software available as Shareware. I think I remember seeing some in a recent catalog that, unfortunately, I have at home. I will check it tonight when I go home and let you know. There is lots of PC commercial software. Again, it is probably more than you want at a price you don't want to pay. Still, I can send you names of vendors if you want. From: "Christian Boissonnas, Cornell" <CBY@CORNELLC> Subject: Cataloging software Date: Mon, 12 Feb 90 07:55:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1733 (2185) ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Here are three PC software packages that you might want to consider. REFERENCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CR4a.0/CR4b.0) Requires 512K, a hard disk is recommended. Version 2.4b of this system for bibliographic reference organization has fields for author(s), title, source information, keywords, sponsor, special codes, and a short abstract. Daata entry, maintenance and searches are quite easy. Reports of selected references can be made to disk files for inclusion in word processing documents. Uses dBase III compatible files. Shareware, registration fee $45-60. BUSINESS LIBRARIAN (CR18.1) Tracks books and publications by author, title, issue, page, location, key words, and more. Both short and detailed reports. Easy and concise. Suited for business libraries or for home use. Shareware, registration fee $15. CATALOG REFERENCE (Comes on the same disk as Business Librarian) Tracks books, journals, movie, or tape libraries. There is space for plenty of keywords and an abstract. The powerful search can find specific entries given just about any information to go on. The reports are formatted to styles established by the MLA, APA, and CGE. This system is completely menu-driven. Documentation is minimal but adequate. Written in compiled dBase III. Ver. 2.0. Shareware, registration fee $35. The above description are out of the Public Brand Software Shareware Catalog & Reference Guide, Vol. 6, No. 1, p. 24. If you are not familiar with this company, it maintains an extensive inventory of public domain and shareware software, evaluates it, and distributes it for $5.00 per disk. The $5.00 is in addition to the software writer's registration fee, if any. The point is, you don't pay the regis- tration fee for programs that you just try and decide not to use. If you decide to use a program, you register with the writer, pay your fee, and get the latest version available, documentation, and manuals. To order from Public Brand Software, write: Public Brand Software P.O. Box 51315 Indianapolis, IN 46251 or call: 1-800-426-3475 or 1-317-856-7571 You will need to quote their order numbers. For the programs above, they are in parentheses following the name of the progam. I hope all this will be helpful. From: Norman Zacour <ZACOUR@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Choosing a computer system Date: Mon, 12 Feb 90 22:51:42 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1046 (2186) Halio's article has generated much very warm talk about choosing this or that computer system as a function of what - ways of perception? In the past five or six years I have watched about 30 people choose computers - not one of them did so by comparing Mac or IBM compatible. Rather, they were introduced to one or the other (never both) by some friend or colleague. It's like choosing the language you speak; it depends on which mother the good lord gives you. This is not usually in one's own hands, or depends on one's spatial or verbal skills. But I have also noticed in a very few cases where a novice meets with both before making any heavy commitment, that she or he might move from IBM compatible to Mac. I have never seen a novice go the other way. I wonder why not. From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: getting a list of members Date: 14 February 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1734 (2187) One Humanist has written asking for a list of members again to be circulated. Since this list is about 600 lines long, I am reluctant to circulate it to everyone. It is in fact very easy for any member to obtain simply by asking the ever obedient software. The basic command is REVIEW HUMANIST. The interactive form of this command is TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO REVIEW HUMANIST. See your Guide to Humanist for further details. Yours, Willard McCarty From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: IASSIST conference Date: Wed, 14 Feb 90 08:37:14 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1735 (2188) IASSIST90 May 30 - June 3, 1990 Poughkeepsie, New York USA Numbers, Pictures, Words and Sounds: Priorities for the 1990's Call for Papers IASSIST 16th Annual Conference The International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) is an international association of individuals who are engaged in the acquisistion, processing, maintenance, and distribution of machine readable text and/or numeric social science data. Founded in 1974, the membership includes social scientists, data archivists, librarians, information specialists, researchers, programmers, planners and government agency administrators. Their range of interests encompasses hard copy as well as machine readable. The 1990 IASSIST conference has as its central theme "Numbers, Pictures, Words and Sounds: Priorities for the 1990's". This title reflects the ever-expanding universe of data types, as well as related hardware and software development. The program will consist of presentations on a wide variety of topics. The Program Committee is now soliciting contributions in the forms of papers, proposals for panel discussions, roundtables, poster sessions and workshops to be presented at the conference. -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. IASSIST CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: ENCOPE@LSUVM Subject: Call for PATTERNS! Date: Wed, 14 Feb 90 16:00:21 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1736 (2189) My excellent colleague, Dr. Clifford Pickover, is undertaking an important and attractive new project. Dr. Pickover, an expert in computer graphics at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, is preparing a big "Pattern Book." The book will feature a wide variety of patterns, most but not all drawn by computer. Typical entries might include tiling patterns, symmetrical shapes, synthesized or real patterns "from" nature, biological and botanical shapes, recursive or chaotic shapes, mathematically derived forms, and hand-made artistic forms. The book will thus be both futuristic and traditional, technical and crafty. Humanists, folklorists, and dix-huitiemistes might consider historical textiles, engravings from historical scientific texts, patterns from old books, and so forth--people working with as many out-of-the- way materials as we do could doubtless discover dozens of possibilities. Dr. Pickover plans to accumulate patterns over the next several months, then publish his work in a glorious volume. Anyone who has seen Dr. Pickover's awesome CV will know that he knows how to publish; anyone who has seen his spectacular work--most recently published in the February OMNI magazine--will know that he is an aesthetician who is more than a little acquianted with nature, science, and all the finer arts. Entries to THE PATTERN BOOK must follow a specific format, one page being devoted to the pattern and the other being dedicated to specific text entries. Contributors will want to obtain a copy of Dr. Pickover's entry sheet. Owing to his overly-computered lifestyle, Dr. Pickover prefers to correspond by ordinary mail (Dr. Clifford Pickover, c/o IBM Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York, 10598). If there is no other way, however, he can be reached at CLIFF@YKTVMT. Please, however, respect his preference for paper. This poor man spends his life in front of a screen, and, as the deconstructionists used to say, is doubtless craving textuality. Happy patterning! KLC From: Chuck Bush <ECHUCK@BYUVM> Subject: External vs Internal Hard Disks Date: Wed, 14 Feb 90 16:23:30 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1048 (2190) Kessler@UCLA suggests buying a Macintosh without the internal hard disk, then getting a good-quality external drive. I would add another advantage: when the CPU is kaputt, the data is still intact--all you have to do is hook the drive up to another computer. We use external disk drives on the network server in our Mac lab. When the server SE died, I was able to simply replace it with one of the student station SE's, re-attach all the cables and power everything up. We were back in operation in ten minutes. Of course there are some disadvantages: the extra box to find room for on the desk, the extra power cord to plug in somewhere, the extra switch to remember to turn on, the extra cable clutter.... (Are four dots an acceptable substitute for "etc."?) Chuck Bush Humanities Research Center Brigham Young University p.s. I'm rather sorry to learn that Kessler's unique orthography is simply due to fumbly fingers. I was hoping there might be some e.e. cummings-like significance. From: "Michael Sperberg-McQueen 312 996-2477 -2981" <U35395@UICVM> Subject: writing on microcomputers, commenting on writing on microcomputers... Date: 14 February 1990 09:32:47 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1737 (2191) The most interesting thing about the article by Halio in *Academic Computing* has been how many of us, while not claiming to have read the article itself, nevertheless feel free to disparage its author for shoddy research practices! Michael Sperberg-McQueen From: "Guy L. Pace" <PACE@WSUVM1> Subject: quality of writing Date: Wed, 14 Feb 90 10:23:19 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1738 (2192) At the risk of attracting more flames, I will respond to Patrick Conner's message that the concept of "print and pattern learners" is invalid. The point wasn't that language and rhetoric are not loaded with symbols and patterns, but that humans develop a tendency to learn in particular ways. The terms "print" and "pattern" are probably poor selections for the concepts, however, you'll have to take your chances with Marshall McLuhan if you want to complain about that. You'll find most of the original work on this subject in McLuhan's _Verbi-voco-visual explorations (1967). Other works which touch on the subject include _From cliche to archetype (1970), and _War and peace in the global village (1968). McLuhan is not the only source of research on learning and the application of learning psychology to training and teaching. I stand by the statement that a person's particular learning style would heavily influence that person's selection of a computer. The language skills a person brings to the machine should be unaffected by the machine. A person's language or writing skills are affected by the person's learning style. Learners who are heavily pattern oriented usually skip over details, while learners who are heavily print oriented tend to want every detail. This probably has little impact in some areas of life. It does affect how adults approach things like computers and automobiles. We choose cars and computers based on how we perceive their use. If a car will require a great deal of maintenance (twiddling) it attracts the car buff with a lot of mechanical background. Vehicles with long maintenance contracts and reputations for few mechanical problems attract buyers not interested in doing their own maintenance. Similarly, computers requiring little effort up front (like the Mac) attract those users who do not want to be bothered with the details of "archane" operating systems. They just want to get to work. Computers that allow access to the operating system and let the adventurous types "twiddle bits" attract users with a more technical interest. This is not to make any value judgements. Again, the point is that the computer itself has little to do with how well a person writes or communicates (or anything else). That was determined before the person attached his- or her-self to the machine. From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.1043 quality of writing, cont. (92) Date: Wed, 14 Feb 90 12:02:44 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1739 (2193) I cannot understand how anyone can comment on an article (e.g., Halio's in Academic Computing on the difference between papers produced by Mac and IBM users without having read it). The synopsis offered, while generally accurate, was by no means complete, and many of the points mentioned by other commentators are in fact covered in the article. I think a lot of Mac people got their buttons pushed. But to make any serious criticisms of the article, the study it reports, or the whole problem is simply silly without reading the article. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: Wujastyk (on GEC 4190 Rim-C at UCL) <UCGADKW@EUCLID.UCL.AC.UK> Subject: electronic editions Date: Wed, 14 Feb 90 09:58 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1740 (2194) Charles Faulhaber (hi!) wonders about the relative merits of Hypertext and SGML for representing textual editions. I believe that there is a category error here: SGML is just a way of defining a set of tags in a rigorous fashion. Once you have decided what tags you want to define (e.g., <link page = 10> might be defined to mean "at this point stop reading this document and go and read another at page ten") then you sprinkle them liberally throughout the document you wish to code up. Hypertext (about which I know virtually *nothing*) is -- I gather -- a genre of application program. There seems to me no particular problem in a Hypertext program being designed in such a manner as to be able to read and comprehend texts tagged up using SGML-defined tags. In fact, I think that is part of the point of SGML. To quote ISO 8879 (thanks, Lou): 2 Field of Application The Standard Generalized Markup Language can be used for documents that are processed by any text processing or work processing system. It is particularly applicable to : ) Documents that are interchanged among systems with differing text processing languages. b) Documents that are processed in more than one way, even when the procedures use the same text processing language. Documents that exist solely in final formatted form are not within the field of application of this International Standard. Dominik From: "Michael Sperberg-McQueen 312 996-2477 -2981" <U35395@UICVM> Subject: SGML and hypertext Date: 14 February 1990 09:42:00 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1741 (2195) It's hard to answer Charles Faulhaber's request for enlightenment as to "the relative merits of coding a particular feature via SGML or linking a region of text to another node in the system." This sounds to me too much like an inquiry "which is to be preferred for expression, the Latin alphabet or the English language?" SGML is a (means of defining) markup languages. Markup languages are used to mark characteristics of text for storage or interchange, or to guide processing by systems which have been told (separately) what to make of the markup and what to *do* when they see it. Hypertext systems are processing systems which make it easy to express and work with various non-linearities in text. Those non-linearities must be marked, for storage or interchange, with some codes which we may call markup (since they fit the definition of that term). SGML-based markup languages, like a vast host of other markup languages, may be invented to describe these, like any other, types of textual features. Most hypertext systems will not use SGML forms for their disk format (let alone for their in-core storage), but that does not prevent them from using SGML-based languages as export or import languages. (Some SGML systems don't use exportable SGML for their disk storage formats, either. Let's face it, non-portable, proprietary, opaque languages can easily be more compact than portable, open, legible languages. No surprises there.) Perhaps I have misunderstood the question. If the question is "which is more convenient, (a) writing proprietary hypertext-link codes into an ASCII file with an ASCII editor, (b) writing SGML-based codes into an ASCII file with an ASCII editor, (c) making hypertext links with a mouse or cursor in a running hypertext system, or (d) making hypertext links with a mouse or cursor in a running SGML system?", then my answer would be that it all depends on the user interface of the postulated hypertext systems (whether SGML-based or not) and the user interface of the ASCII editor one is using. (And on how well one knows or cares to know the programs. Some people never leave Emacs, and may find (a) easier than (c) because they *know* emacs and not the hypertext system.) Of the four, I'd lean toward (c) or (d) over (a) or (b), assuming reasonable user interfaces. Of (a) and (b), I'd probably choose (b) because it would be easier to make my existing software print out nice proofs for me to check the markup; on (c) and (d) I'd express no opinion beyond pointing out that unless the system of choice (c) allowed a clean ASCII export of all links, I wouldn't put anything into it in the first place, just because I expect ASCII files to be readable 50 years from now, but I don't expect any software made by the keystrokes of human beings to be running 50 years from now, except for the Cobol programs in banks and oil companies where I hope not to be working. A great sage of hypertext (none other than our own Steve DeRose) once put it in a nutshell when he said, "SGML and Hypertext -- two great tastes that go great together." Which is preferable? Both. -Michael Sperberg-McQueen University of Illinois at Chicago From: Malcolm Brown <mbb@jessica.Stanford.EDU> Subject: status of links and tags Date: Wed, 14 Feb 90 09:47:45 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1742 (2196) Charles Faulhaber's inquiry brings up an interesting point concerning the status of links and tags in their respective computing environments (hypertext and SGML). To my knowledge, in many (if not most) hypertext systems the links are not part of the data. Hence you cannot retrieve links in the way you might retrieve text; it is impossible, in such systems, to "search for all links to file x". Indeed, some systems cannot give any overview of the link structure. On the other hand, it seems important to be able to do just exactly what Charles suggests. Conceptually, hypertext Links are indeed part of the data, just as SGML tags are part of the data in a marked up file. This is why I've been less than wildly enthusiastic about many of the hypertext systems I've looked at. Until links are part of the data, hypertext systems will be useful for displaying canned sequences (and hence be useful for lower level instruction). But their usefulness for research will be limited at best. Malcolm Brown Stanford From: N_EITELJORG@cc.brynmawr.edu Subject: Re: 3.1036 call for information: CAI for history (90) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 90 10:17:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1051 (2197) Donald Spaeth asked about programs for teaching history. What follows is *not* a description of programs, but a description of a budding data base and information center which should be of interest. Computer-assisted drafting and design (CADD) programs, originally developed for architects and engineers, can provide scholars or students architectural history or archaeology with three-dimensional drawings and accurate data about buildings or excavations (all dimensions). Users may create virtually any view the mind might imagine quickly, easily, and accurately. Furthermore, CADD techniques involve the placement of different elements on separate "layers" (comparable to transparent overlays on a paper drawing) so that groups of material may be viewed in a variety of combinations and without the distractions of temporarily unwanted information, e.g., only elements of the drawing from specific time spans or only elements made of specified material(s). The use of layers also permits competing reconstructions to be kept together in a common drawing. Each reconstruction must be properly connected to the actual finds, but each can be seen independently. The Center for the Study of Architecture (CSA) was established to apply CADD technology to the recording of information about ancient structures and excavations. The Center will maintain an archive of full and accurate information regarding buildings and excavations - in CADD form - for all who are interested. Personnel at CSA will also work to make certain that architectural historians and excavators have the opportunity to examine and evaluate the most current technological aids as they work. Personnel will also work with scholars to assist them in choosing the appropriate CADD program(s), learning to use them, modifying them for individual needs, and setting up appropriate recording techniques. As CADD programs develop, the Center will serve as a clearing house for archaeologists so that advances in the technology will be publicized promptly and so that all may learn from the experience of others who are using the new technology. To that end CSA publishes a newletter on a qua rterly basis (available at no charge) and has published two booklets, one about CADD for scholars, and one about 3-d surveying techniques (out of print as of this writing). Harrison Eiteljorg, II, Director, CSA, Bitnet or internet: n_eiteljorg@brynmawr; P.O. Box 60, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, U.S.A. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: Reading aloud Date: 14 February 1990, 06:22:58 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1743 (2198) For anyone with young children, certainly, reading aloud is not dead. Everyone in my family--mother, father, sister--gets a chance at least once a day to read a story to our almost-two-year-old. Not Cicero yet, but stories in English, French, Italian and Spanish, depending on the capabilities of the reader. One reading opportunity that has been lost in most American homes, possibly for fear of thumpers on the subject, is reading of the Bible to the family, so that the cadences and the rich and often beautifully simple imagery (as in "The race is not to the swift ...") will become part of a child's written and spoken vocabulary. I hope, too, that most of us who teach read often but not boringly to our students. Roy Flannagan From: ENCOPE@LSUVM Subject: Call for Participants: International Seminar on Beckford Date: Wed, 14 Feb 90 13:20:50 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1744 (2199) My dear colleague Kenneth Graham plans to organize a plenary roundtable on Beckford at the forthcoming International Congress on the enlightenment (Bath/Bristol, England, last week in July, 1991). Ken would like to receive proposals from any and all interested scholars. He must receive them QUICKLY in order to qualify for "roundtable"status, which is something a bit more fancy than ordinary "session" status. Ken prefers proposals that deal with Beckford's non-Vathekian aspects--his miscellaneous and travel writings, poems, connoisseurship, habits of collection, family, politics, etcetera--but he'll consider anything relevant to "England's Wealthiest Son." So the Caliph isn't out of the picture. If you're interested, please write to Ken IMMEDIATELY: Prof. Kenneth Graham, Department of English, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, CANADA. -- KLC. From: JSCHWARTZ%desire@WSU Subject: Holocaust Studies Date: Wed, 14 Feb 90 13:27 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1745 (2200) HOLOCAUST STUDIES PROJECT This project involves a study of the fate of children during the German occupation. All children -- Jewish and Gentile -- will constitute the subject of the study. Representative areas to be investigated include 1. deportation to Germany for hard labor 2. Germanization of "Nordic" types 3. medical experimentation 4. terrorization and execution. Anyone having any information about these topics, or anyone who can provide any assistance whatsoever, please contact me through my BITNET address JSCHWARTZ%DESIRE@WSU.BITNET Thanks. Jim Schwartz From: <COLE@IUBACS> Subject: "humanities" Date: Tue, 13 Feb 90 23:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1746 (2201) Do we have a listing in the archives or can someone tell me in a paragraph or two - what disciplines are included in the "Humanities". Where does one draw the line? Thanks. From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: constructing tabla musical notation Date: 14 February 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1747 (2202) Today I suggested to a colleague of mine that he investigate CAD/CAM software as a means of constructing traditional tabla (Indian drum) notation, which I'm told uses a circle of varying radius as the principal organizing figure. I was at a loss, however, to name a suitable package for the Mac, his computer of choice. I suppose that such a package should make it very easy to produce circles, expand and contract them, place other figures on their circumference (to indicate beats of various kinds or absence of beat), make labels (can we hope for the Arabic alphabet?), and so forth. Any suggestions? Yours, Willard McCarty From: "Dana Cartwright, Syracuse Univ, 315-443-4504" <DECARTWR@SUVM> Subject: constructing tabla musical notation Date: Thu, 15 Feb 90 09:12:20 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1748 (2203) Responding to Willard's query about software for use on the Macintosh for constructing tabla musical notation, before wading into true CAD/CAM software, take a long look at MacDraw II (Claris Corp, expensive) or SuperPaint 2.0 (Silicon Beach, reasonable price). Both are excellent general-purpose drawing packages. From the original query I was not certain that the capability of writing text other than in standard straight horizontal form was needed. That is, does one need to "label" a circle with text that follows the circumference? Neither MDII nor SP2.0 allow one to have text follow along arbitrarily drawn curves...for that you might look at one of the illustrating software packages (Aldus Freehand, for example). I use both MDII and SP2.0 for creating floor plans, electrical circuit schematics, and drawing of all construction projects (I no longer cut into sheets of either metal or plywood, nor do I attack an expensive pile of oak lumber, without first creating a complete, dimensioned drawing of the project on the Mac). My point is that "simple" drawing packages are often the right solution to the task of producingigures, rather than leaping immediately into CAD/CAM systems. From: "Patrick W. Conner" <U47C2@WVNVM> Subject: tabla notation Date: Thu, 15 Feb 90 00:53:42 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1749 (2204) HyperCard or SuperCard could do it easily. If he will learn a little about scripting in Hypertalk (which is awfully easy) he can even build in sounds to correspond to the notation when clicked upon. There are Arabic alphabets available (Check MacUser or MacWeek), and these can-- as can any font--be read and used in HyperCard. --Pat From: Marshall Gilliland 306/966-5501 <GILLILAND@SASK.USask.CA> Subject: notating tabla beats Date: Thu, 15 Feb 90 17:43 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1750 (2205) Except for the label-making, at least in anything approaching an easy way, your friend can create a notation system with SuperPaint, or ANY of the moderately sophisticated freehand graphics programs for the Mac. Circles and points in or on them are easy to make as a wet or dry martini. The labels are another matter. If all you want to do is print a sheet of labels that you cut apart with scissors and then glue or tape on an envelope, then you can do this with the same paint program. And yes, you can draw the Arabic characters, individually and then connect them--you can't type them. Or at least not easily. If what you want is a "sheet of labels" to print onto a page of blank labels, then the problem is complex, but there are solutions readily available--the budget determines which you get. You can even do this with the paint program, but it will take some fiddling to get the template just right. From: N_EITELJORG@cc.brynmawr.edu Subject: Re: 3.1053 what are the "humanities"? CAD/CAM for Macs? (45) Date: Thu, 15 Feb 90 08:56:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1751 (2206) CAD programs for the Mac are now fairly widely available. They range from the fairly primitive to the fully 3-dimensional and complex. The choice is probably not much dependent upon features, though, because, with the exception of the desire for Arabic, the needs are not difficult to meet. I would suggest starting with AutoCAD as the place to look for two reasons: It is so widely available that there may be an Arabic version, and its data files are transparently interchangeable from Mac to PC to Unix machine. A US dealer may not know whether there is an Arabic version, but the parent company, Autodesk, maintains a forum on Compuserve, and I understand that responses to questions posed there are very quick and full. Less expensive programs are also available, and even something rather simple, like MacDraw, would probably do the trick (except for the Arabic). Autodesk also makes a simpler version of AutoCAD called Autosketch. If they supply an Arabic font for AutoCAD, perhaps they also do for Autosketch, but I don't think Autosketch is available for the Mac. Nick Eiteljorg From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: HUMANIST Societies Update6 Date: Thursday, 15 February 1990 1912-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1752 (2207) LIST OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES REPRESENTED ON HUMANIST (2/15/90) + indicates added since last version (update5) of the list. Information desired: (1) Name of Society/Group, (2) Notice of any computer related activities such as program segments and exhibits, electronic publications, reviews and information about computer related scholarship/research, (3) Electronic contact address, if any. Thank you. Bob Kraft American Academy of Advertising [Bern] American Academy of Religion (some special computer program sections at annual meetings; cooperation with SBL) American Anthropological Association (see ANTHRO-L@UBVM ListServer) [Zubrow] American Association for Artificial Intelligence [Kulas; contact AIMAGAZINE@AAAI.ORG, MEMBERSHIP@AAAI.ORG] American Association for Public Opinion Research [Bern] American Association of University Presses (much computer talk) [Perry] American Conference on Irish Studies [Cahalan; see GAELIC-L and FWAKE-L ListServers] +American Comparative Literature Association [Lavagnino] American Dialect Society ("making use of computer technology") [Maynor] American Folklore Society (has computer applications section) [Glazer] American Historical Association ("computers in history" things) [Knox] American Library Association [Jacobs] American Musicological Society (creating database of texts) [Mathiesen (Perry)] American Oriental Society [Wujastyk] American Philological Association (archive of texts, editorial board for non-print publications, exhibits at annual meetings) American Philosophical Association (has committee on computer use and subcommittee on electronic texts; program sessions) [Owen; see ACH Newsletter 11.2(1989) 13] American Political Science Association [Jassel] American Psychological Association: Consumer Psychology, Media Psychology, and Personality and Social Psychology divisions [Bern] American Schools of Oriental Research (computer committee and some attention to program section, displays; cooperation with SBL) +American Society for Aesthetics [Hancher] American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies [Cope ENCOPE@LSUVM, Dill, Wolf, MacNeil] [note also the new 18th c list = C18-L@PSUVM (Kevin Berland)] American Society of Church History (not much computer involvement) [Zinn] American Society of Papyrologists (close cooperation with APA) [Kraft] American Theological Library Association (bibliographic databases) [Harbin] Archaeological Institute of America (various computer activities) [Walsh, Kuniholm] Aristotelian Society [Smith] Associated Writing Programs [RKessler] Association canadienne des sociologues et des anthropologues de langue francaise (e-network) [Hamel, Laplante; contact ACSALF@UQUEBEC] Association des demographes du Quebec (e-network) [Hamel; contact ADQ@UQUEBEC] Association for Asian Studies (occasional panel, newsletter column) [Parker] Association for Canadian and Quebec Literatures [Warkentin] Association for Computational Linguistics [Kulas; contact WALKER@FLASH.BELLCORE.COM] Association for Computers and the Humanities Association for Computing Machinery [Kulas; contact ACM, 11 West 42nd St, NYC 10036, 212-869-7440] Association for History and Computing [Spaeth] Association for Institutional Research (e-newsletter) [Flaherty; contact IRMUFFO@VTM1, CHULAK@FSU (membership)] Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing Association for Women in Computing Association Internationale Bible et Informatique [AIBI Network, contact IWML@UKC.AC.UK (Lambert)] Association of Public Data Users [Jacobs] Association of Canadian University Teachers of English [Warkentin] Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute [Wujastyk] Bibliographical Society [Warkentin] Bibliographical Society of Canada [Warkentin] +Canadian Association for Irish Studies [Cahalan] Canadian Association of Public Data Users [Humphrey, Piovesan, Ruus; see ListServer CAPDU-L@ULATAVM] Canadian Information Processing Society [Swenson] Canadian Society for Renaissance Studies [Warkentin] Canadian Society for the History of Rhetoric [Warkentin] +Canadian Society for the Study of Religion (electronic address book) [contact HANS@MUN (Rollmann) or (Tom) PARKHILL@UNB] Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (occasional computer session) [Hurd] Cognitive Science Society [Kulas; contact Alan Lesgold, LRDC, U. Pittsburgh, PA 15260] College Composition and Communication [Cahalan] College Music Society [Perry] COMMUNIK -- reseau de chercheurs en communication (e-network) [Hamel; contact COMMUNIK@UQUEBEC] Computer Society of the IEEE [Kulas; contact 1730 Mass Ave, Washington DC 20036-1903] Consortium for Computers in the Humanities / Consortium pour ordinateurs en sciences humains EDUC -- reseau de chercheurs en education (e-network) [Hamel; contact EDUC@UQUEBEC] EDUCOM [Swenson] EURALEX -- European Association for Lexicography [(McCarty)] European Ayurvedic Society [Wujastyk] Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas [Wujastyk] International Association for Neo-Latin Studies [Warkentin] International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) [Jacobs, Ruus] International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature [Cahalan] International Association for the Study of Traditional Asian Medicine [Wujastyk] International Congress on Medieval Studies (sessions, workshops) [Zinn] International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (one sponsor of the Computer Assisted Tools for Septuagint Studies project at the Univ. of Penn and at the Hebrew Univ. in Jerusalem) [Kraft] International Society for Contemporary Legend Research [Glazer] International Society for the History of Rhetoric [Warkentin] International Society for Humor Studies [Glazer] International Society of Anglo-Saxonists [Conner, ed ANSAXNET; contact U47C2@WVNVM] Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) [Jacobs] +Linguistic Society of America [Hancher, Langendoen; contact Margaret Reynolds = ZZLSA@GALLUA] Medieval Academy of America (no indication of computer involvement) [Zacour, Zinn] METHO -- groupe francophone d'echange et de discussion sur les methodes quantitatives utilisees en sciences sociales (e-network) [Hamel; contact METHO@UQUEBEC] Milton Society of America [Flannagan, McCarty] Modern Languages Association (various activities, electronic publications, program segments and exhibits) + [for details contact Daniel Uchitelle = MLAOD@CUVMB] Music Library Association (computer applications a "hot topic") + [Papakhian; see MLA-L@IUBVM ListServer] MythoPoeic Society [DeRose] National Council of Teachers of English [Cahalan; see MBU network] North American Nietzsche Society [MBrown] North American Patristics Society (no organized computer activity) [Kraft] Organization of American Historians [Knox (non member)] Philosophy in Britain [Clark = AP01@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK, who also runs PHILOS-L] Regroupement quebecois des sciences sociales (e-network) [Hamel, Laplante; contact RQSS@UQUEBEC] Renaissance English Text Society [Warkentin, Flannagan] Renaissance Society of America [Flannagan] Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland [Wujastyk] Royal College of Science [Wujastyk] Societe canadienne de science economique (e-network) [Hamel; contact SCSE@UQUEBEC] Societe quebecoise de science politique (e-network) [Hamel; contact SQSP@UQUEBEC] Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy [Smith] Society for College and University Planning (e-newsletter) [Flaherty; contact BUDLAO@UCCVMA, USERTD8Q@UMICHUM (membership)] Society for Critical Exchange (is setting up an information service for literary theorists to begin in mid-March 1990) [Stonum = gxs11@PO.CWRU.EDU] Society for Music Theory [Perry] Society for Scholarly Publishing [Grycz] +Society for Textual Scholarship [Lavagnino] Society for the History of Discoveries [Warkentin] Society of American Archaeology ("great interest in computers") [Zubrow] Society of Biblical Literature (electronic archiving project and an active Computer Assisted Research Group that coordinates demonstrations and a program segment each annual meeting) [Kraft; see OFFLINE; contact SBLEXEC@UNIX.CC.EMORY.EDU] South-Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies [Bode RFB8135@TNTECH (Cope)] Southeastern Conference on Linguistics ("making use of computer tech.") [Maynor] Southern Humanities Council [Wilson] Southern Historical Association [Wilson] Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (nothing organized on computers) [Hurd, Kraft] Toronto Renaissance and Reformation Colloquium [Warkentin] From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: SSSR Members? Date: Thursday, 15 February 1990 1902-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1753 (2208) The flow of information on HUMANIST professional societies representatives has slowed considerably, and the resultant updated list will appear soon. It can still be updated, of course, but it is time to consider how to make best use of the list for various purposes. My own initial interest was to determine in what professional areas computer related things were going on at an official level, and in what areas they were not, with a view to considering how to get the "not" areas more involved. Perhaps a reasonable followup would be to issue a list of those organizations in which no known formal computers activities were occurring, and let members pare the list accordingly. Any other ideas? [deleted quotation]surprised to find that noone on HUMANIST confessed to belonging to the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Is this accurate? Are SSSR members more likely to hob-nob with sociologists? Or can we expect that a number of organizations represented by HUMANIST members are yet to be identified? Bob Kraft From: "Robin C. Cover" <ZRCC1001@SMUVM1> Subject: RE: ELECTRONIC CRITICAL EDITIONS Date: Thu, 15 Feb 90 17:32:48 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1056 (2209) Re: Faulhaber on "electronic critical editions" (Vol 3 No. 1041) Responses by Dominik Wujastyk, Michael Sperberg-McQueen and Malcolm Brown (Vol 3 No. 1050) on the relationship between SGML and Hypertext have addressed the key element in the original posting: SGML and Hypertext are very different things, even if part of the same menu. I might add that the relationship between these two "great tastes" (DeRose) is under discussion in several forums, including ISO; I append at the end of this posting a listing of several bibliographic sources known to me. The matter of encoding "electronic critical editions" cited in Faulhaber's subject line is quite another matter. As for the credentials specified by Faulhaber, I am neither "knowledgeable" nor "strongly opinionated" (I hope), but I am working on the problem as a member of the Text Representation Subcommittee for the TEI (Text Encoding Initiative). I would welcome assistance and interaction from any HUMANISTS who wish to contribute to a private discussion in connection with this TEI effort. The Text Representation Subcommittee will discuss the matter of "encoding textual variants" at a meeting in Oxford later this month; more information may be available at that time. (Check back) Briefly: I feel a lot of work remains to be done before we are prepared to assess how we may best represent knowledge about "textual variation" (textual evolution, textual parallels) using SGML markup languages or other "portable" formalisms. In the simplest textual arenas, or in the event that someone wishes to represent in electronic format JUST what is visible on a printed page of a critical edition, the challenge may not be too difficult. Several schemes are currently in use by scholarly editing and text-processing systems which can be expressed in an SGML language. By "simple" textual arenas, I refer to: (a) cases in which all textual witnesses are written in the same language and the same "scripts" (= one level within a stratified orthographic system); (b) cases in which the witnesses can be seen in close genetic/stemmatic relationship, not as products of complex textual evolution through heavy recensional/editorial activity; (c) cases in which the number of witnesses and amount of necessary textual commentary represents a small body of information; (d) cases in which one is not concerned about paleographic information and other character-level annotations or codicolgical information. But I think the assumptions above will not pertain to the work of a significant number of humanities scholars. The goal of encoding "JUST what is visible on a printed page" (a traditional apparatus criticus, for example) might constitute an important and economical step in the creation of a text-critical database, if assumptions (b) and (c) and (d) were also germane. But when the textual data and published knowledge about that "textual" data become very rich, the standard critical apparatus represents (increasingly) a concession to the limitations of the traditional paper medium: both physical space and the ability of a reader to absorb (synthesize, evaluate) large amounts of textual information in complex relationships. In these more complex situations (biblical studies, for example), the paper app crit will contain a selection of data, not all the data (excluding orthographic variants, for instance, which may be important for historical linguistics); it will indicate THAT a certain manuscript or manuscript tradition bears testimony to a certain reading, but will not indicate the steps of principled evaluation which were used to make this judgment (language retroversions, for example); it will tell you THAT a certain manuscript tradition (e.g., "Syriac" in support of a certain variant of the Hebrew Bible) supports a given reading, but not which manuscripts exactly, or where, precisely (machine-readable terms) these Syriac readings may be found. It is my opinion, then, that to model the "electronic critical editions" of the 21st century (Faulhaber's quest) after paper editions would, in some cases, represent a short-sighted goal. Rather than just "encoding" or "marking up" modern critical editions (a necessary or desirable step, perhaps), we need to think rather about representation of the knowledge about textual variation, held in critical editions, to be sure, but also in textual commentaries and in fully-encoded manuscripts (primary documents) which themselves constitute the primary data. In short: we need the encoding of ALL the human knowledge about physical texts, textual "variants" AND the scholarly judgments about processes of textual evolution. "Hypertext" and "SGML-based" encoding can then be put to work in applications software which allows us to study the text with multiple views, even hypothetical documents created with the aid of an SQL/FQL and the text-critical database. We may then dispense with the static (sometimes overly-selective, sometimes overfull, sometimes inaccurate) app crits and instead enjoy dynamic user-specified app crits containing particular classes of text-critical information we wish to see at a given moment; we may have several different app-crits on the screen, simultaneously. We will be able to do simulations and test hypotheses by dynamically querying hypothetical texts reconstructed from an FQL expression. It is also my judgment that we are quite a distance away from knowing how to encode knowledge about textual relationships in which inter-dependencies are complex ("variants," recensions, parallels, allusions, quotations, evolutionary factors, hermeneutical- translational factors). But I think SGML embodies one indispensable ingredient in getting there: encouraging us to assign unique names to objects in our textual universe, and to other properties of text and textual relationships. Our conceptions about these textual (literary, linguistic) objects will inevitably prove to be crude approximations, but by coding our current understanding about them in syntactically- rigorous ways (using SGML-based languages), we at least contribute to a legacy of preserving the text and our understanding of it. This conception of encoding that is self-documenting represents an advance upon the less thoughtful processes of antiquity (and in some modern conceptions of text), which were usually self-destructing. Robin Cover = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Selected bibliography on SGML and HYPERTEXT (Annotations are removed which sometimes provided the basis for the collocation of the two terms). _______ "Hypertext and SGML." <cit>EPSIG News</cit> 1/3 (May 1988) 4. [Note on Owl International's IDEX product, which reads SGML-structured documents. See also "Product and Services Update. Owl." <cit>SGML Users' Group Newsletter</cit> 10 (November 1988) 12; "News from Vendors. Owl International Incorporated." <cit>SGML Users' Group Newsletter</cit> 8 (April 1988) 5.] _______ "Hypertext Standards Committee Formed." <cit><TAG></cit> 10 (July 1989) 18. _______ "Hypertext Standards Working Group." <cit>SGML Users' Group Newsletter</cit> 13 (August 1989) 14. _______ "Other ISO News. Hypertext." <cit><TAG></cit> 14 (October 1989) 3. [Brief mention of a NWI (New Work Item) out for ballot in SC 2, Character Sets and Information Coding, pertaining to "Multimedia and Hypermedia Information Coded Representation."] _______ "Publications and Articles. Programmed Hypertext and SGML." <cit>SGML Users' Group Newsletter</cit> 13 (August 1989) 9-10. [Discusion of a paper ("Programmed Hypertext and SGML") by Tim Niblett and Arthur van Hoff, both of the Turing Institute in Glasgow. Address: The Turing Institute; 36 North Hanover Street; Glasgow G1 2AD UNITED KINGDOM; tel 44 31 552 6400.] Andrew, K. "Electronic Publishing Futures: Organizational and Technical Issues." <cit>Electro/88 Conference Record</cit> [10-12 May 1988 Boston, MA]. Pp. 15/1/1-4. Los Angeles: Electron. Conventions Manage, 1988. Barnard, David T.; Crawford, Robert G; Logan, George M. "Text Mark-Up and Editing. Creation and Use of a Complex SGML-Tagged Text: Hayakawa's Synonymy." Pp. 65-67 in <cit>The Dynamic Text. Conference Guide</cit> </cit> [6-9 June 1989 Toronto]. Toronto, Ontario: Centre for Computing in the Humanities, 1989. Burnard, Lou D.; Corns, Thomas N.; Flannagan, Roy. "Text Mark-up and Editing. A Milton Database: Descriptive Markup, Multiple Manuscript Versions, and the Use of Hypertext." Pp. 67-68 in <cit>The Dynamic Text. Conference Guide</cit> [6-9 June 1989 Toronto]. Toronto, Ontario: Centre for Computing in the Humanities, 1989. [Describes a project underway to create a machine-readable of Hickey, Thomas B. "Using SGML and TeX for an Interactive Chemical Encyclopaedia." Pp. 187-195 in <cit>National Online Meeting Proceedings of the Tenth National Online Meeting</cit> [9-11 May 1989 New York, NY]. Medford, NJ: Learned Information, 1989. [ISBN 0-938734-34-2] Rubinsky, Yuri. "Standards for Hypertext Interchange Need Not Come out of Thin Air." <cit><TAG></cit> 11 (October 1989) 4-5. Rubinsky, Yuri. "Comments on an SGML Application for Hyper- and Multi Media Interchange. Informal Report from the GCA Hypertext/Hypermedia Standards Forum." <cit><TAG></cit> 11 (October 1989) 5-6. [Report on the GCA-sponsored one day workshop, July 25, 1989, in Boston.] Tompa, Frank Wm; Raymond, Darrell R. "Database Design for a Dynamic Dictionary." Technical Report OED-85-05, University of Waterloo Centre for the New Oxford English Dictionary, June 1989. 16 pages. submitted by: Robin Cover 3909 Swiss Avenue Dallas, TX 75204 (214) 296-1783/841-3657 BITNET: zrcc1001@smuvm1 INTERNET: robin@txsil.lonestar.org UUCP: attctc!utafll!robin UUCP: texbell!txsil.robin From: kfoster@NeXT.COM Subject: NeXT announcements Date: Sun, 4 Feb 90 20:50:04 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1057 (2210) The GNU Source Code Disk is now available to order. It costs $150. The NeXT order number is: N5501. Included in the package are: GNU Source Code on Optical Disk GNU Licensing Agreement NeXT Letter ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SAS has asked for information on accounts expressing interest in SAS on the NeXT to give them positive feedback to push the project along. If you send me information, I'll be sure to pass is along, also the contact at SAS is: Armistead Sapp SAS Institute Inc. SAS Circle Box 8000 Cary, NC 27512-8000 Tel # 919-467-8000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- C++ is shipping from Oasys for $1500. The phone number is (617)890-7889. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- IBM TO OFFER NEXTSTEP ON AIX WORKSTATIONS NEW YORK, February 5, 1990 . . . IBM and NeXT, Inc. today announced that IBM plans to offer NextStep on AIX. IBM's NextStep offering will provide AIX users with a major new application environment for enhanced business and professional productivity. NextStep is an application software development and user interface environment, created by NeXT and licensed to IBM in 1988. IBM will support the same applications programming interfaces (APIs) as NextStep, providing compatibility and consistency so that developers can offer applications on both machines, resulting in a larger market for their efforts. NextStep will join OSF/Motif as graphical user interface offerings planned for the IBM PS/2 and RISC computers running AIX, IBM's open-standard UNIX operating system based on AT&T System V and BSD 4.3. Specific product offerings and availability will be made at a future date. "The innovative NextStep application environment will offer outstanding ease- of-use and development productivity," said Nick Donofrio, president of IBM's Advanced Workstation Division. "We're especially excited about the benefits of the NextStep Interface Builder and Application Kit, which bring significant value to our customers." The UNIX operating system offers sophisticated features such as powerful networking and multitasking, but it may been considered, by some users, to be too complicated for those who are not UNIX experts. NextStep, which hides the complexity of the UNIX operating system under an object-oriented environment, will allow users to take advantage of the benefits of UNIX. "We believe IBM's support of NextStep will have profound implications + over time," said Steven P. Jobs. "UNIX is destined to be a crucial operating system this decade. NextStep tames UNIX so business users can tap its power. NextStep offerings from both IBM and NeXT will be a dynamic combination." [Abstracted from NeXT announcements. -- W.M.] From: "Patrick W. Conner" <U47C2@WVNVM> Subject: 3.1049 quality of writing, cont. (95) Date: Thu, 15 Feb 90 00:35:55 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1754 (2211) Having read Halio's article (our dean xeroxed it and sent it around the campus, although it is not clear to me why), I stand by my statement (made after reading it) that it is flawed. And the flaws are evident and have been well-rehearsed here. I maintain, however, that Guy Pace's notion that print-learners are more likely to be better writers than patter-learners (which is what you wrote, Guy) simply not borne out by several areas of language analysis, and I think it rather unlikely that you will find studies of unimpeachable methodologies which will support that, McLuhan's grand syntheses notwithstanding. the so-called print-learner may be a better editor, but that doesn't mean she's a better writer, and the the so-called pattern-learner may be more sensitive to tone or paragraph structure, and yet still write the opaque line. (Having reread this, I realize I need a better editor right now; unfortunately, I'm working in line mode, and it's too awkward to go back....) Was there ever a poet who was not a pattern learner and was there ever a technical writer who was not a print learne? Which are you going to call the better writer and why? --Pat Conner From: DENNIS CINTRA LEITE <FGVSP@BRFAPESP> Subject: RE: 3.1049 quality of writing, cont. (95) Date: Thu, 15 Feb 90 07:29:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1755 (2212) Could someone transcribe Halio's article article to Humanist? AT least we would know what we are arguing about! (Do people who can't write choose a Mac or is it the other way around:If you choose a Mac you won't be able to write?) From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Augustine-Pelagius Texts Date: Wednesday, 14 February 1990 2226-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1756 (2213) A postgraduate history student from Macquarie U (Australia) has inquired about the availability of primary texts relating to the Augustinian and Pelagian corpora (especially Pelagius, Epistola ad Demetriadem) on diskette (presumably IBM/DOS). I know OxfordTA lists selections of Augustine and Pelagius on the Pauline Epistles. I suspect that CETEDOC (Belgium, Louvain-le-Neuve) has much of this sort of material, and perhaps others do as well. What can I tell the anxious inquirer? Whom may he contact with hopes of success? Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Kodak DataShow CGA Date: Wednesday, 14 February 1990 2234-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1757 (2214) DAK Industries is offering the first generation Kodak DataShow CGA 640x200 resolution (for use with overhead projector) Projection System for $499 for either IBM/DOS or Apple II (apparently one display will not fit both; but the Apple II "composite adapter" [card?] is thrown in for the above price). Does anyone have experience with this equipment? Can alphanumeric characters be read with relative ease on the projected image? The price seems reasonable if the machine is adequate and reliable. Telephone 1-800-325-0800 (plastic accepted), but don't buy them all out before you tell me I should be ordering one! Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: UZR106 at DBNRHRZ1 Subject: Date: 15 February 90, 08:46:50 MEZ X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1758 (2215) MAC and Music: We have problems with PROFESSIONAL COMPOSER, MAC II and HP DESK WRITER. On the IMAGE WRITER the output looks nice, but on the DESK WRITER we got missing lines and unexpected gaps. Is there anyone who has experience with the DESK WRITER configuration ? Norbert Stief, UZR106@DBNRHRZ1 From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Ph.D. theses; conference proceedings. How important? Date: 15 February 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1759 (2216) Two questions: (1) I am attempting to understand the relative standing usually given to Ph.D. theses or their equivalents in various parts of the world. It seems fair to say that in the humanities in N. America, although the dissertation is still regarded as having to make an original contribution to its field, it is clearly not a book and is usually not regarded as such. Furthermore, it is almost never published without changes, and if the dissertation is well written, these are principally to remove those things that make it look like a thesis. So, when we want to say what important work has been done on subject X, we seldom if ever list dissertations. The assumption is, I suppose, that if the dissertation is any good, it will appear as a book, and so be respectable to cite. Since they are not regularly published, dissertations are also hard to obtain, or at least harder than books are. If the above is not fair, then please let me know. In any case, I am particularly interested to know the status of the dissertation in other parts of the world. To what extent, for example, would you feel obligated to list doctoral dissertations in your bibliography of subject X? (2) What status would you give to conference proceedings? These vary in quality widely, of course. Some are little better than xeroxed copies of the papers submitted, without further editing; some are done with care. Would your ranking depend on the state of studies in the given field? On how results in that field are normally disseminated? Thanks very much. Yours, Willard McCarty From: "DAvid S. Miall" <USERMIAL@UALTAMTS.BITNET> Subject: Humanities Computing book Date: Wed, 14 Feb 90 19:56:06 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1760 (2217) Book announcement: Humanities and the Computer: New Directions Editor: David S. Miall Oxford University Press (Clarendon Press), March 1990 25.00 Pounds, 232 pages. ISBN 0-19-824244-1 Authors include Peter Denley, David Bantz, Roger Martlew, David Miall, Nicholas Morgan, Richard Trainor, Arthur Stutt, R.A. Young, Charles Henry, Edward Friedman, Susan Hockey, John Slatin, Alan Dyer, Alison Black, Paul Davis, Frank Knowles, Felicity Rash, and Sebastian Rahtz. The dustjacket blurb reads as follows: Computers are now making a significant impact on research and teaching in the Humanities. The primary focus of this book is on assessing these developments in a range of Humanities disciplines, from English literature to archaeology. Does the computer challenge conceptions about a discipline, pointing to new theoretical models and opening up new research questions? Does the computer serve to make learning an teaching more effective? Are there dangers in the too-ready adoption of computer methods? Each chapter is written by an author actively involved in the teaching of a Humanities discipline with the aid of the computer. The book shows that imaginative use of the computer will serve both to defend and enhance the distinctive values of the Humanities. From: Charles Ess <DRU001D@SMSVMA> Subject: resource persons Date: Wed, 14 Feb 90 22:48:09 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1761 (2218) The yearly Summer Seminar for Drury faculty is titled "The canon: whose is it, and where is it pointed?" -- and is largely concerned with questions of "canonicity," e.g., how do "canons" emerge in especially the Western tradition (reflecting what political/economic/social/gender/ race/class/ethnicity factors); what roles do educational institutions play in defining, transmitting, and reforming the canons; and, in the age of electronic text, the fluid word, and the global village, what canons, if any, should we be teaching. We do _not_ want to simply repeat the Stanford debates regarding curriculum reform -- though much of our discussion will take place with an eye towards reform of both general studies curriculum and a Freshman Studies program currently focused on Western literary and philosophical classics. We _do_ seek a resource person with an exceptionally broad, multi- disciplinary and multicultural overview of the issues involved, including awareness of questions raised by gender/race/class/ethnicity differences. This person will be invited to reside on our campus for ca. 1 week, pre- ferably in May, to direct intensive reading and discussion among faculty selected to participate in the seminar. Expenses, per diem, and a fairly generous stipend will be provided to the resource person. This query is both a request for suggestions from fellow HUMANISTS regarding more specific foci (perhaps as a result of similar discussions and concerns on your own campus) AND/OR a request for nominations for/ applications to serve as such a resource person. Queries and replies should be sent to: Dr. Charles Ess BITNET: DRU001D@SMSVMA Philosophy and Religion Applelink: U1066 Drury College 900 N. Benton Ave. Springfield, MO 65802 (417) 865-8731 Thanks in advance -- From: SUSAN@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: SGML and hypertext Date: Thu, 15 FEB 90 10:20:16 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1762 (2219) HUMANISTs within reach of Oxford might like to know that Steve DeRose will be giving a talk on SGML and hypertext at the Computers in Teaching Initiative Centre for Literature and Linguistic Studies, Oxford University Computing Service on 1 March 1990. This is part of an afternoon on 'Hypertext in the Humanities' Susan Hockey CTI Centre for Literature and Linguistic Studies ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CTI Centre for Literature and Linguistic Studies 'Hypertext in the Humanities' The following talks will be given on Thursday 1 March 1990 at Oxford University Computing Service, 13 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6NN, starting at 2.15pm Steven DeRose (Providence, RI), "Navigating highly structured text: SGML and Hypertext for Humanistic Research"? Two recent developments in information management systems combine to suggest a computing environment well suited to the needs of humanities scholars. SGML provides not just a standard for text encoding, but one which emphasizes the conceptual or authorial, rather than the mechanical or typographic. Hypertext provides a range of tools which allow users to navigate efficiently through large collections of literature, just as the tools of librarianship do now. This talk will describe goals for a system which can effectively support humanists in their normal work of research, writing, and communication. Elli Mylonas (Harvard), "The Perseus Project: An Electronic Library and Laboratory for the Classics" The Perseus Project is building a hypertextual database of textual and visual material pertaining to Classical Greece. This talk will discuss how and why Perseus is being made, and the scholarly issues that have arisen as it comes into being. It will be accompanied by a demonstration. Robin Cover (Dallas) "Online Biblical Reference Tools: Easing the Burden of Foreign Language Learning in Theological Education." Professor Cover will discuss the results of the CDWord project (Dallas, Texas) in which a number of original-language biblical texts, English translations, Greek lexicons, grammatical databases and other tools have been placed in a hypertext environment to facilitate easier access to the biblical texts. The digitized reference tools have been structured with SGML markup. If you would like to attend these talks, please contact Grazyna Cooper, 13, Banbury Road, Oxford, phone 0865-273225, e-mail: GRAZYNA@OX.VAX (JANET). From: edwards%cogsci.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Jane Edwards) Subject: transcripts on computer Date: Wed, 14 Feb 90 21:32:04 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1061 (2220) [The following query is from someone about to join Humanist. Please post all replies both to her directly and to Humanist. --W.M.] Jane Edwards (edwards@cogsci.berkeley.edu edwards@ucbcogsc.bitnet ) ----------------------------------------------------- I am preparing a list of computerized archives of spoken and written language data and would like to ask your help in making it more complete. Below I summarize the ones I know about; if you know of others, I would like very much to hear from you. The largest archive of language data available on computer medium seems to be the Oxford Text Archive, which lists about 450 separate collections of written or spoken language, including those of 4 other archives: U. of Cambridge, U. of Pisa, U. of Pennsylvania, and Brigham Young U. Oxford Text Archive email address: archive%vax.ox.ac.uk@ukacrl.earn (BITNET), archive%vax.ox.ac.uk@ucl.cs.edu (EDU), archive@uk.ac.ox.vax (JANET). Most of the Oxford holdings are written works (such as literary classics, and Biblical works), but it also has several well-known spoken language corpora (described below). Most are in English, but the following languages are also represented: Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Fufulde, Gaelic, German, Greek, Hebrew, Icelandic, Italian, Kurdish, Latin, Latvian, Malayan, Mayan, Pali, Portuguese, Provenc\al, Russian, Sanskrit, Serbo-Croat, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, and Welsh. Of Oxford's WRITTEN ENGLISH corpora, the best known may be the BROWN CORPUS, composed of 500 written language samples of 2000 words each from a range of written styles of English printed in 1961 (described in Kucera & Francis, 1967, _Computational analysis of present-day American English_). This corpus is not currently used widely in Linguistics (though perhaps in Literature, or the Humanities) because the data are: (a) from written rather than spoken sources, and (b) 30 years old. The large "Australian Corpus Project" (described in Kyto, et al. (eds.), 1988, _Corpus linguistics: hard and soft_, and in the book review in _Language_, 1989, 65(4), 843-848), may provide a needed updated sampling of a wide range of written (Australian/British) English, and will include also some spoken English. The best known corpus for SPOKEN ADULT BRITISH English is probably the London-Lund corpus (described in Svartvik & Quirk, 1980, _A corpus of spoken English_, and Svartvik, et al., 1982, _Survey of Spoken English_), available through the Oxford Text Archive. These data include conversations by people of various ages, occupations, etc., recorded under various circumstances, and have rich prosodic marking. Another large archive of spoken (British) English is the Lancaster-Oslo-Bergen (LOB) archive (52,000 words in length, sampled to be as close to RP as possible, rich prosodic marking), also available through the Oxford Text Archive. The Collins-Birmingham archive includes among other things the complete transcript of the 18-month-long inquiry into the plan for constructing the Sizewell nuclear power station, used for the 1987 "COBUILD" ("Collins Birmingham University International Language Database") English language dictionary. There is as yet no archive of the size of London-Lund for SPOKEN ADULT AMERICAN English discourse. At Berkeley, we have a collection of various types of spoken interaction (from conversations, to the Oliver North trial, to lectures), mostly contributed by professors here and their students. The CHILDES archive at Carnegie-Mellon (Brian MacWhinney, brian@andrew.cmu.edu), in addition to its child language data, distributes the written and spoken language corpora from the CORNELL project. The spoken samples range from abortion debates to the Patty Hearst trial to TV sit. coms. The ethno- methodology hotline (reachable through the ComServe fileserver, or support@rpiecs.bitnet) is sometimes used for exchange of transcripts though not an official archive. An enormous archive is currently in the planning stages at UC Santa Barbara, to meet the need for large-scale sampling of discourse types, situations, etc. Concerning PHONETICS data bases, the DARPA Speech Recognition Research Database consists of phonetic transcriptions of sentences read aloud by American adults from various parts of the country. Digitized versions are also available. (see W. M. Fisher, G. R. Doddington, and K. M. Goudie-Marshall, _Proceedings of the Speech Recognition Workshop_ Feb. 1986, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Information Processing Techniques Office report number AD-A165 977.) A similar data base may exist at the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International in Osaka, Japan (details unknown). The 1987 Linguistics Society of America questionnaire turned up many transcript data sets, but only relatively few of them on computer. The trend toward doing so is increasing, and with it, discussion of standards, normalization, etc., and as that happens more of them may come into common domain. In Germany, I know of two large archives (are there others?). One is in Mannheim and contains various types of data in the German language (obtainable through the Oxford Text Archive). The other is at Univ. of Ulm (designed and coordinated by Erhard Mergenthaler, LU07@DMARUM8.bitnet, author of _Textbank systems: Computer science applied in the field of psychoanalysis_ 1985), and contains a large number of psychotherapy sessions and interviews (most in monolingual German, some in monolingual English). In the Netherlands (Max-Planck-Institut fuer Psycholinguistik, Nijmegen, Helmut Feldweg, helmut@hnympi51.bitnet), there is the European Science Foundation Second Language Data Bank, containing transcripts of 10 groups of adult migrant workers learning the language of their resident country (e.g., Turks learning German or Dutch, Punjabis learning English, Moroccans learning French, Spaniards and Finns learning Swedish, etc.) including several types of language use, gathered systematically in three data cycles over the course of 2 1/2 years. So, these are all of the ones that I know about. If you know of others, or have additional information concerning those mentioned above, I would very much appreciate hearing from you. Thanks, Jane Edwards (edwards@cogsci.berkeley.edu) From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: Mac IIcx/drives Date: Fri, 16 Feb 90 05:11:37 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1763 (2221) I've read Crabb's report on high early failure & DOA rate of the IIcx internal drive. However, our experience has been considerably better. Of half a dozen IIcx machines all with 80MB internal drives in routine use we've had no drive problems. This is in contrast to the half dozen Mac II machines, the internal drives of which often fail to start up without heroic and sometimes desperate measures. For a three-day workshop we had 15 brand new IIcx / Apple (i.e. Quantum) 80 MB drive workstations delivered a few hours before the beginning of the workshop. They were hastily set up in one building, hastily carted over in piles (literally) to the workshop room in the dead of night, brusquely set up for the workshop in a wood-heated (i.e., unevenly heated) somewhat smoky cabin. In three days of intense use not a single hardware error of any kind was noticed on any of these machines. The 80MB internal drive in the IIcx is a Quantum P80s; you can buy the same drive [and many others of course] on the open market with a one or two year warranty (as opposed to Apple's 90 day) at less than Apple's list price. However, at the AUC price there is little difference in price. If you think Don Crabb's experience is typical, you'll want to avoid the Apple version of the Quantum and try another manufacturer's drive, or at least get a longer warranty on the Quantum. Of course you can also purchase third party internal drives which are cheaper and more convenient for routine use. The drives slip out of one machine and into another in about 90 seconds, so you can take your data (i.e., drive) to another machine, should you need to. From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1034 audio input; Mac troubles (95) Date: Fri, 16 Feb 90 18:12:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1764 (2222) It may not be "exporting the mac to Budapest" at all, but sinmply carrying one in, which is importing, and that shouldnt be difficult, as people have been buy ing IBMS etc for some time now. Whether it is trouble withe copyright and dupli cating diskettes, etc, but Budapest belongs to the Universal copyright conventi on, as I well know, since they pay their royalties promptly and in $$$ for the books I have done with their permission, translations of poetry and fiction, th at is into English, up until the book I just put out in December. If a Hungaria n national carries a Mac in, it is his import dutyheprobably should fret over, but of course he can pay it in $$$, since he is earning them at Sta Barbara, ri ght? Kessler offering off the top of the head. If we took Rubiks' cube, they ca n have the Mac, with all its warranty problems and uncertain internals hardware , as I should know, having been only Mac since 1984, one of the first with 128K Yours, JK From: ENCOPE@LSUVM Subject: Applying for Beckford Seminar Date: Thu, 15 Feb 90 10:44:18 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1765 (2223) Your may recall my announcement yesterday of Ken Graham's call for QUICK proposals for his international Beckford roundtable. A very generous colleague of Ken's has come forward to volunteer to receive e-mailed proposals, thereby saving the time of international or even intra-Canadian postal transmission. Send your proposals to Dana Paramskas (LNGDANAP@UOGUELPH) and Dana will send them on to Ken Graham. Please do NOT send them to me (Kevin Cope) as I'm leaving shortly for sabbatical research in Britain. Thanks, and thanks to Dana! -- KLC From: "R. Jones" <JONES@BYUVM> Subject: ALLC/ACH 1990 International Conference Date: Fri, 16 Feb 90 16:20:48 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1766 (2224) ALLC/ACH International Conference First Announcement The ALLC/ACH (Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing, Association for Computers and the Humanities) 1990 International Conference will be held June 5-10 in Siegen, Federal Republic of Germany. Below is an outline of the conference. Names of speakers and a more detailed description of the conference will be given later. Monday, June 4th Arrival, registration, reception Tuesday, June 5th 8:30 Registration 9:30 Welcome and opening remarks 10:00 Plenary talk: "The Humanities Workstation: Environments for Today and Tomorrow" 10:45 Break 11:15 Plenary panel on workstations for the humanities 12:30 Lunch 14:00-17:30 Parallel sessions & demonstrations Wednesday, June 6th 9:00 Plenary talks: "Electronic Texts: Issues and Concerns" (two speakers) 10:30 Break 11:00 Plenary panel on electronic texts 12:30-17:30 Same as Tuesday Thursday, June 7th 9:00-12:30 Text Encoding Initiative Workshop 14:00-17:30 Media Conference Friday, June 8th 9:00 Plenary talks: "Methods and Applications in Humanities Computing" (two speakers) 10:30 Break 11:00 Plenary panel on humanities computing 12:30-17:30 Same as Tuesday 19:00 Conference dinner Saturday, June 9th 9:00 Plenary talk: "The Humanist and Electronic Communication" 10:00 Plenary panel on electronic communication 11:00 Break 11:30 Closing session Afternoon free Sunday, June 10th Excursion to Kassel Additional information will be posted later as it becomes available. For registration and hotel information write to: 1990 ALLC/ACH International Conference Professor Helmut Schanze University of Siegen Adolf-Reichweinstr. 5 D-5900 Siegen Federal Republic of Germany e-mail: ANGST@DSIHRZ51 The registration fee will be approximately DM200 for ACH and ALLC members if received by April 1st, 1990; slightly higher for non- members and late registration. Randall L. Jones Brigham Young University Executive Secretary, Association for Computers and the Humanities From: iwml@UKC.AC.UK Subject: COMPUTERS AND BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS Date: Fri, 16 Feb 90 12:07:25 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1767 (2225) Invitation to comment: In preparation for the coming conference organised by l'Association Bible et Informatique (AIBI) in Tu"bingen in August 1991, Ferdinand Poswick, at Maredsous, has suggested that some of the preliminary questions should be considered in advance, with a view to obtaining a wide range of ideas. To that end, I list below some of the questions from the more difficult area - hermeneutics. The session is due to be chaired by Alan Groves at Westminster, and raises basic questions about how far the computer can be used as a tool in the area of hermeneutics. (1) What limitations are there to using a computer as a tool in hermeneutical studies? (2) What is the influence of the theory of communication? (3) Is there a false ideal of objectivity? (4) What presuppositions exist regarding the text and the tool (the computer)? (5) Who will benefit from scientific research in this area? (6) The computer restricts research mainly to linguistic concerns. Are pragmatic aspects completely excluded? (7) The tool requires a high degree of logic and precision. What about the psychological and religious dimensions of a biblical text? (8) How do we build a bridge between computer-linguistics and pastoral work? It would be good to have ideas and responses to individual questions, groups of questions, or just a response to the general point. It would also be of benefit to have responses from colleagues outside the area of biblical studies as well as inside! Many thanks Ian Mitchell Lambert PhD research student Tangnefedd Department of Theology Windmill Road University of Kent at Canterbury Weald United Kingdom Sevenoaks Kent Co-ordinator TN14 6PJ AIBI Network (Association Internationale Bible et Informatique, Maredsous, Belgium) Telephone (UK): 0732 463460 (international): +44 732 463 460 Email JANET: iwml@uk.ac.ukc EARN/BITNET: iwml@ukc.ac.uk or iwml%uk.ac.ukc@ukacrl Telex 94082452 Answerback: CSECL Microlink (+Dialcom + Goldnet) mailbox MAG33187 From: "HELEN ARISTAR-DRY" <islhad@es.uit.no> Subject: RE: 3.1037 e-Tennyson, e-Browning (74) Date: Thu, 15 Feb 90 05:20:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1768 (2226) Having just read Lou Burnard's message on pricing, I think I'll put in a plug for the Oxford Text Archive. Not only do they have the most extensive list I know of for e-texts, but the people who fill the orders have occasionally gone out of their way for me--getting rush orders filled before I left the country, talking about prices and formats from Oxford to Texas, etc. I don't know of any other "supplier" who offers that quantity of product with the quality of service I've always received--allied to such a low price. As Burnard reminds us, one megbyte tape is approx. 3 Victorian novels! Helen Aristar-Dry islhad.es.uit.no From: Jim O'Donnell (Classics, Penn) Subject: Augustine-Pelagius e-texts Date: 15 Feb 90 21:42:01 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1769 (2227) The complete corpus of Augustine's writings has been put into the computer by the editors of the Augustinus-Lexikon at the University of Wuerzburg. This includes all A.'s own works plus such works of others as are usually incorporated in editions of A.: letters from others, the extensive fragments of Julian, Faustus, and others, to which A. responds by quoting passages. It does not include other works such as the ep. ad Demetriadem. Some of those others may be in machines controlled by the two corpora of editions (CCSL and CSEL, in Turnhout and Vienna respectively), esp. texts from relatively (??? post-1970 or so ???) recent editions published in those series. Access to all these e-texts is difficult. CETEDOC has all of Augustine and threatens to publish a microfiche concordance (12,000 pages on microfiche): I have advised our university library not to purchase this $1000 dinosaur. Vienna has about half the total corpus of Augustine on machine and is publishing fragments of a linguistic lexicon of Augustine's language. None of these sources is willing to part with copies of their texts to interested customers: experto credite, Teucri, I've tried. Oh, I've tried. The Wuerzburg corpus, however, is willing to release some information directly and they have made rather better access possible indirectly. If you write to Wuerzburg and ask for specific word-searches to be done on the data-base, they will comply, sending you floppy disks and an invoice. But they have also now released a copy of the entire data-base to Villanova University (both Wuerzburg's Aug.-Lex. and Villanova U. are run by the Order of Saint Augustine), where steps are being taken to make it more accessible. I have been allowed to do word-searches by modem; within limits of practicality, they are willing to work out similar arrangements with other interested scholars and would probably require only minimal reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses. Interested parties should e-mail to FITZGERAL@VUVAXCOM.bitnet. Fr. Fitzgerald is not on HUMANIST, but I will send him a copy of this note to warn him that others may write. From: Oxford Text Archive <ARCHIVE@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK> Subject: spoken archive corpora Date: Fri, 16 Feb 90 15:53 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1770 (2228) Thank you for the nice things you say about the Text Archive; I'm sending in a separate message a slightly more up to date list of our holdings than that which your report derives from. You will see that we no longer include information about the holdings of other centres: this is because of the difficulty of getting such information in a reasonably accurate form that can also be easily loaded into our database. We do however maintain lists of such information and On written English corpora, you dont mention the Lancaster-Oslo-Bergen corpus, which is probably the most important (and certainly the most extensively analysed) corpus after the Brown. It was designed as an exact counterpart tothe Brown, but of British rather than American English. It has been extensively syntactically analysed and tagged and (unlike the Brown) is freely available in this form. You list this under spoken english, which is wrong. There are other corpora in preparation or available which follow the brown Corpus model and represent other varieties of English. A detailed survey of these and several other corpora was recently (last summer) made available - I think on Humanist - by Lita Taylor of the University of Lancaster. If you have not read this file, you should. It contains a description of the Polytechnic of Wales corpus of childs language for example, which should interest you. Two recent acquisitions at Oxford (not yet in the catalogue) which might interest you include a copy of the Ulm Textbank, to which you refer, and the PIXI Project Data, which you probably dont know of. This is a highly detailed analysis of a corpus of book -shop encounters in both English and Italian. I wish you every success in gathering information about corpora of spoken language. I hope you will share the information with us. And of course we are always very interested in new acquisitions... Lou Burnard Oxford Text Archive From: "R. Jones" <JONES@BYUVM> Subject: Pfeffer Spoken German Corpus Date: Fri, 16 Feb 90 16:21:29 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1771 (2229) AVAILABILITY OF THE PFEFFER SPOKEN GERMAN CORPUS The Pfeffer Spoken German Corpus was collected in 1961 under the direction of Professor J. Alan Pfeffer, then of the University of Buffalo. It contains 400 12-minute spontaneous interviews covering 25 different topics, recorded in 60 locations in The Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, Austria and Switzerland. The speakers reflect demographic statistics with regard to gender, age, education and geography. The interviews were transcribed and encoded for the computer at Stanford University in 1984. For information on ordering the Pfeffer Spoken German Corpus write to: Randall L. Jones Department of German 4096 JKHB Brigham Young University Provo, Utah 84602 e-mail: JONES@BYUVM Tel: 801-378-3513 From: mis@Seiden.com (Mark Seiden) Subject: cad for tabla Date: Thu, 15 Feb 90 11:52:03 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1772 (2230) such a package would perhaps be called arabiCADabra (but seriously, if you're talking about laying down circles and test almost any capable cad package should do... macworld dec 89 has a long article on what architects are doing with the mac (including a sidebar of programs that do various things)... m. Mark Seiden, mis@seiden.com, mis@usenix.org, mis@berkeley.edu, 203 329 2722 From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.1054 Mac'ing tabla notation (104) Date: Fri, 16 Feb 90 06:22:37 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1773 (2231) While I don't understand the discussion of "tabla beats" apparently folks are worried about typing and printing proper Arabic. Two approaches work to get better results than merely using an Arabic font with a graphics program: (1) Arabic word processors are available for the Mac; you should be able to cut and paste text from the word processor, which will have produced proper ligatures and letter forms based on position (and this is the advantage over simply using an Arabic font in a Roman system and application. (2) Arabic system software for the Mac allows you to switch between Arabic and Roman input methods; many, but not all programs will work with the Arabic system. HyperCard does. From: Dennis R Short <SHORT@PURCCVM> Subject: Mac Software Date: Thu, 15 Feb 90 16:05:14 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1774 (2232) I would recommend to CADD packages. CANVAS 2.0 is excellent and works as a DA. You can be working in oh say WORD and do complex drafting type tasks under the DA. Excellent output and color cabability. The color makes it a bit pricey. Second would be McDraw II. Good solid 2D with just the right types of bells and whistles. CLARIS CAD is an extension of MACDRAW II but for most uses CANVAS is better than CLARIS CAD for the language task you described. We have a least one copy of all available MAC CAD or Graphics packages in our department. On the drive failures of Mac IIs its just the CIs that have been a problem at present. IICXs are find ,no problems (just got in 68+ CXs and have had another 22 for several months). I have 22 CIs on order and haven't cancelled. Apple is replacing the drives. Problem was the drive vendor and problem is similar to one IBM had a while back. From: elli@wjh12.harvard.edu (Elli Mylonas) Subject: Re: 3.1053 CAD/CAM for Macs? Date: Fri, 16 Feb 90 14:22:50 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1775 (2233) MacDraw II? you can make and store libraries of objects, too. From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Halio's article & HUMANISTs' reactions" Date: Wed, 14 Feb 90 23:32:44 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1776 (2234) I'm glad to see that so many colleagues took a serious interest in pointing out serious flaws in an article (Halio's) of interest to this membership. One of us mentioned soon after my original posting that we should mention to her (Halio) that this discussion was taking place. May I assume that she hasn't been contacted yet? If I don't hear to the contrary, I will let her know & include my original comments & quotation with information on how to contact Willard about accessing HUMANIST. Regards, Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH) joelg@psc.bitnet From: Tzvee Zahavy <MAIC@UMINN1> Subject: Halio article and Academic Computing Date: Thu, 15 Feb 90 23:39:35 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1777 (2235) As a new member of Humanist I am intrigued by the debate over the Halio article which I plan to read this weekend. The exchange over that piece has prodded me to ask a question that has bothered me for some time now: What the heck is this magazine anyway? Is it a journal? Not by any measure. Is it a useful magazine? Without reviews and letters to the editor? Why doesn't the magazine have reviews of software in education? I like Academic Computing -- but what is it? From: DENNIS CINTRA LEITE <FGVSP@BRFAPESP> Subject: RE: 3.1049 quality of writing, cont. (95) Date: Thu, 15 Feb 90 07:29:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1778 (2236) Could someone transcribe Halio's article article to Humanist? AT least we would know what we are arguing about! (Do people who can't write choose a Mac or is it the other way around:If you choose a Mac you won't be able to write?) --- end of quoted material --- From: <THEOBIBLE@STMARYTX> Subject: ALLIANT MINISUPERCOMPUTER Date: Thu, 15 Feb 90 22:19 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1779 (2237) ST. MARY'S UNIVERSITY WILL SOON RECEIVE A DONATED ALLIANT MINISUPERCOMPUTER THAT WILL MULTIPLY THE POWER OF OUR CURRENT 11/780 VAX BY TWENTY TO FORTY TIMES. OUR ENGINEERS ARE, OF COURSE, DELIGHTED. BUT AS DEAN OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, I WOULD LIKE SOME HELP IN GATHERING INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT KINDS OF SOFTWARE PACKAGES IN THE HUMANITIES ARE AVAILABLE FOR THAT MUCH POWER. WHAT CAN WE DO WITH THE ALLIANT THAT WE CAN'T DO WITH PC'S OR MACS? THANKS FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE. CHARLES H. MILLER (theobible@stmarytx) From: "Pieter C. Masereeuw" <PIETER@ALF.LET.UVA.NL> Subject: Searching in tagged text corpora. Date: Fri, 16 Feb 90 11:06 MET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1780 (2238) Dear Humanists, I would like to raise a discussion about programs that search for patterns in tagged text corpora. With "tagged text corpora" I mean electronic texts that have been enriched with some kind of information, for instance, a tag and/or lemma (="dictionary entry") for each word. A good example of a tagged corpus is the Brown corpus of American English, developed at Brown University by Francis and Kucera. Of all text corpora, tagged corpora are a minority. This is of course because it is much harder to produce a tagged corpus than an ordinary one. Tagged corpora are of course much more useful for linguistic and literary research. There must be many programs around that perform searches in such corpora. Of course, there are WordCruncher, AskSam, Freebase and the like, but these programs are more fit for ordinary texts than tagged corpora (though with some tricks, they can do some useful things). What I am interested in is: o what features should a program for searching in tagged text corpora ideally have o what programs are there already in use and what features do they have In my view, such a search program should have the following features: o it should have a knowledge of things like sentences (maybe even broader than that), words, punctuation marks, lemmata and tags o it should be able to search patterns that are constituted by sequences of these elements (sentences, words, etc.) o in the patterns, one should be able to use wildcards, boolean operators and sequence operators in order to create more complex patterns o for corpora with a more advanced tagging system, the program should allow different levels of information, all of which can be combined in a search pattern. These levels have not necessarily a (hierarchical) relation with each other. Several kinds of levels can be imagined: - The word level This level contains the text "just as it is" - The lemma level This level contains the lemmata of the words in the word level. Note that it is in principle possible to have one lemma correspond with more than one word: think of constructions like in German: "Gestern RIEF er seinen Bruder AN". One might even think of a hierarchy of lemmata, where ANRUFEN is the general lemma with in this sentence the hierarchically lower lemmata "RUFEN" and "AN". - The word-tag level Like lemmata, one tag can in principle correspond with more than one word (e.g. in periphrastic verb constructions, which are found in many languages, among which English "He HAD CALLED his brother"). - The clause-tag level This level contains syntactic tags like "NP" "SUBJECT" and so on. This level should not only allow hierarchy; maybe it should even allow recursion (for instance, a NP being subordinate to another NP). A special problem in this respect is that the order of tags in this level can dramatically deviate from the order of the words that are 'covered'. This is especially true for free word-order languages like Latin. o finally, the program should perform its tasks fast and behave itself in a user-friendly way. Here in Amsterdam, we developed (some 12 years ago) a program that was (surprisingly) called Query. It was developed for the "Eindhoven corpus" (a Dutch variant of the Brown corpus) and has been succesfully employed for other corpora, such as the Brown corpus itself, the Lob Corpus (British English), the Lund corpus (spoken English), the Liege corpus (Latin), Hungarian, Russian, Quechua, Swedish, Greek and maybe more. The query program searches for sentences that contained patterns of words, lemmata and codes, which could be combined by boolean operators (and, or, not), sequence operators (followed by) on the word, code and sentence level. There are wildcards for words, letters and tags. For a program with a lineair search algorithm, it performed its task surprisingly vast (10 minutes for the entire Brown corpus on a Data General MV/4000 computer). Destiny wants this program to be replaced by another program within one year, since our good old MV/4000 is being replaced by a Digital Vax with VMS (no one asked for it, but we had to buy it). The Query program itself is practically not portable: it has partly been written in assembler and partly in a foreign tongue called DG/L. We have some expertise to create a new search program for Vax/VMS and micros. Before we even contemplate the design of such a program, we would like to know what is already there in the world (and if it is useful) and what properties could be imagined by others. Pieter C. Masereeuw Dept. of Computational Linguistics University of Amsterdam The Netherlands email: PIETER@ALF.LET.UVA.NL From: Tzvee Zahavy <MAIC@UMINN1> Subject: Computer Applications in Judaic Studies Date: Thu, 15 Feb 90 08:54:08 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1781 (2239) I would be grateful for any information on the subject of computers and Judaic Studies for use in an article I am writing. I will include information on (1) research applications, (2) teaching applications, (3) databases, (4) wordprocessing, (5) other. Please reply via bitnet or ordinary mail: Professor Tzvee Zahavy, University of Minnesota, Classical and Near Eastern Studies, 176 Klaeber Court, Minneapolis, MN 55455. Thank you. From: Malcolm Hayward <MHAYWARD@IUPCP6.BITNET> Subject: Humanist Question Date: 16 Feb 90 08:47 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1782 (2240) A graduate student of mine in a poetics class last semester used a spread-sheet program for prosodic analysis. Kind of interesting results were achieved. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone working with this sort of thing. Malcolm Hayward MHayward@IUP Department of English Phone: 412-357-2322 or IUP 412-357-2261 Indiana, PA 15705 From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: hypetext and sgml Date: Thu, 15 Feb 90 09:31:54 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1783 (2241) Thanks to Dominink, Michael, and Malcolm The point I was trying to make is that I can mark up the text by coding for certain features or I can link those features to some node outside of the base text without marking it up. I will assume a sophisticated editor which will allow me to do either one of these operations relatively painlessly (remember, we're talking 21st century here). Are there advantages or disadvantages, theoretical or practical, to doing it one way or another? I can see clear advantages to hypertext for linking up separate texts. What doesn't seem clear is what to do about making connections WITHIN a text. I will also assume a sophisticated text retrieval system so that verbal parallels of all sorts could be handled on the fly, by the user, rather than having to be specifically prepared by the editor. I quite agree with Michael that any hypertext system which cannot import and export standard ASCII texts (or standard SGML texts) would not be a suitable choice. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: "James H. Coombs" <JAZBO@BROWNVM> Subject: Re: electronic critical editions (SGML vs. hypertext) Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1990 22:26:42 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1784 (2242) Charles Faulhaber writes: I am currently struggling to figure out . . . the relative merits of coding a particular feature via SGML or linking a region of text to another node in the system. In some hypertext systems, one can "block" selected text and use the block as the bearer of attributes. Blocks can also function as end points of links, but people are beginning to concede to them a primacy over links. From one perspective, links depend on the existence of blocks---no link can exist without two end points. But blocks can exist even after the last link has been deleted. Furthermore, blocks can be created without any links being created. Note that the trend is to refer to blocks as "anchors", but the term "anchor" fails to capture the independence of blocks from links. I got excited about these issue some months ago when discussing a Milton edition with Roy Flannagan (his). It seemed to me then that one might create blocks to mark up the allusions, for example. Then, should the text of the Iliad become available, one would link the blocks to the referent. To generate the SGML version of the document (sans links), one would insert the block information into the text in SGML format. These seemed to me a very intuitive way to markup a document. Unfortunately, blocks can overlap each other, but SGML entities cannot normally overlap. More practically, we do not have a hypertext system with such export capabilities. Also, specifying the mapping of block explainers onto SGML tags might well be complicated. Whoops, I think I forgot to mention that blocks have explainers. Also, they should have keywords. Types do not seem to be needed along with explainers. In addition, one would like to have a "rubber stamping" facility or even keystroke macros to simplify the process of assigning the same explainer or keyword to many blocks. The advantage of such a system over an SGML editor might be the built-in filtering capabilities as well as the ability to build on the markup to link things together. There is some risk here of confusing a data model with an interface practice or even with a particular implementation. One could argue that an SGML markup scheme is semantically equivalent to a hypertext interface and database, at least to the extent that both can contain the same information, so it would be a little bit confused to say that an SGML editor does not or would not provide the same abilities: Give me a list of all blocks with the keyword allusion. Give me a list of all blocks with the keyword allusion, that I own and have modified in the last six months. ... Well, an SGML editor could provide similar capabilities, although if it did I think we would tend to call it an SGML/Hypertext system. I suppose that I should raise one final, related concern. What can it mean to compare SGML and hypertext? I don't have the answer to this. SGML is a markup definition language and hypertext is a.... Well, Ted Nelson says that we have been speaking hypertext all of our lives and just did not know it. Others say things like non-sequential or non-linear reading and writing. Others talk about things like networks and cards, sometimes treating links as computed similarity measures. I am working on a more precise characterization than I have seen so far, but it will be very fuzzy compared to SGML. In the end, it might be fairest to compare SGML editors with hypertext editors. I think Charles is comparing hypertext editors (or systems) with the use of a generalized editor to type in SGML tags. One possibility would be to compare current SGML editors with current hypertext systems. This might be a little fairer, given that the state of the art in SGML is beyond the generalized editor and that most people do not have access to either hypertext or SGML editors. --Jim Dr. James H. Coombs Senior Software Engineer, Research Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship (IRIS) Brown University, Box 1946 Providence, RI 02912 jazbo@brownvm.bitnet From: Richard Goerwitz <goer@sophist.uchicago.edu> Subject: Macs, PCs, Suns, etc. Date: Wed, 14 Feb 90 22:04:52 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1069 (2243) For what it is worth, working with Macs, PCs, and various Unix- based machines has led me to believe that all have advantages. It is very, very important that we avoid falling into a kind of brand loyalty. Though it is nice to think otherwise, computer manufacturers probably are not motivated by altruism. Their re- lationship to us is fundamentally a business one. If we want the best prices and the most productive competition in the marketplace we probably ought to cultivate a willingness to change operating systems and architectures, or at least to speak well of ones we are not currently using :-). -Richard L. Goerwitz goer%sophist@uchicago.bitnet goer@sophist.uchicago.edu rutgers!oddjob!gide!sophist!goer From: MTRILEY@CALSTATE (Mark Timothy Riley) Subject: RE: 3.1052 Notes and Queries (88) Date: Fri, 16 Feb 90 13:58:48 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1785 (2244) James O'Donnell <JODONNEL@PENNSAS> asks a good question (about reading aloud). I can comment on one aspect, and I have a request. I have always read my kids to sleep, and my youngest at age 9 is still addicted to the habit--I hasten to say I haven't tried to stop it, since I enjoy the reading too. Right now we are working thru' Sherlock Holmes, at about 1/3 a story per night. (I made the mistake of beginning with the Speckled Band; I had to read the whole thing and the kid wouldn't go to sleep until 2 AM thinking of the snake coming thru' the vent.) I have found that books vary greatly in their suitability for reading aloud. The Hobbit is great, but the Lord of the Rings is terrible (too slow and discursive; Tolkien was being self-indulgent). Beatrix Potter is good for younger kids; the many imitations (Racey Helps is one writer) are bad. The Little House series by Laura Wilder is OK, but generally the books written for children to read themselves (Bobbsey Twins, Hardy Boys) are intolerably wordy for reading aloud. (This is not a criticism of these series for their intended purpose.) I wonder what the crucial differences are? Has anyone looked into the "orality" in the everyday sense of novels and short stories? On a more practical note, I'd like some suggestions of books I can read after we finish Sherlock. I have thought of Treasure Island. Any suggestions of more recent books? Mark "Hoarse" Riley Sacramento, California MTRiley@CalState From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Dissertations Date: Friday, 16 February 1990 1126-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1786 (2245) I think that there may be somewhat different attitudes to dissertations in different subdividions of the humanities. In Religious Studies, we have an organization called the Council for Graduate Studies in Religion that represents most of the PhD granting programs and attempts to coordinate information about dissertations in progress and completed. Virtually all dissertations represented by the CGSR schools are deposited with the University Microfilms in Michigan and are thus "published" in that way. Frequently they are listed and used by other researchers. Furthermore, both the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) and the American Academy of Religion (AAR) have "Dissertation Series" that are published through Scholarls Press. One of the aims of the SBL Dissertation Series is to NOT require revision, but to publish the dissertations in basically the same form as they were accepted (maybe some adjustment with regard to appendices, etc.). The point was to rescue new PhDs from the task of (mostly minor) revision for publication, with attendant delays, and to encourage the graduate programs to exercise better quality control in accepting dissertations. To a significant extent, this strategy has worked, and thus many dissertations from SBL type people (perhaps the same is true of AAR, regarding which I have less awareness) are indeed soon published in the original form. For significantly revised studies, there is an SBL Monograph Series as well. In sum, I suspect that dissertations in biblical studies, and perhaps in religious studies in general, are more widely listed and used than your original inquiry would suggest. Similarly with our conference related materials, the SBL and AAR produce two separate publications for each annual meeting, (1) a book of abstracts for presentations to be made at the meeting and (2) a book or books of "seminar papers" that are circulated prior to the meeting so that program segments called "seminars" (and similar discussion based groups) can assume that the members have read the papers and can launch into discussion after minor review of the work. While the Abstracts seem to be fairly ephemeral, relative to scholarly use (listing, citing), the Seminar Papers are often quoted or listed as publications. Sometimes, of course, a paper that has appeared in the Seminar Papers will be redone and published elsewhere as well. But many are not. Bob Kraft (U. Penn.) From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.1059 queries (108) Date: Fri, 16 Feb 90 14:27:30 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1787 (2246) For Hispanic studies in North America I'm not sure that I would agree with Willard. Certainly in linguistics significant work is published in dissertations and is cited constantly. In literature this is less true. Nevertheless, if I were working in subject X, I would in fact try to get hold of dissertations dealing with it. Whether I would cite them in the bibliography depends on whether I cite them in the study itself. Conference proceedings are very uneven and generally not worth citing. They're a good indication of what sorts of topics people are working on, however. In Spain, the situation for conference proceedings is probably the same. Spanish dissertations are universally ignored because they are impossible to obtain. There is no clearing house, and they are rarely microfilmed. Even Spanish scholars rarely cite dissertations done at other institutions. Charles Faulhaber From: David Stampe <stampe@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu> Subject: Ph.D. theses; conference proceedings. How important? (108) Date: Fri, 16 Feb 90 15:18:24 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1788 (2247) Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> asks whether Ph.D. theses and conference proceedings are "important" and "respectable" enough to cite in bibliographies. Well, as they say, you can't judge a book by its cover. You have to read it. A thesis IS a published work. That's why classified research can't be accepted as a thesis. Whether, beyond its being accepted as a thesis, a work is also accepted by a "publisher" for printing or even reprinting says only that it was expected to be profitable. As for conference proceedings that merely xerox the authors' papers, this speeds distribution, and it avoids the errors that editors and typesetters invariably introduce even in proofs. As it becomes easier to exchange papers in electronic form, authors will prefer conferences and journals that don't meddle with content, and perhaps even with form. And readers will prefer not to have editors and committees deciding for them which papers are worth reading. If works become available in electronic form, without restrictive copyrights, readers can decide for themselves what they need, and in what form (selections, compilations, translations, hypertext, big type, braille, synthetic speech, whatever). There is nowadays no good reason for authors to let "publishers" limit the dissemination of their work, or for readers to let others - editors, bibliographers, or committees, censors, or the marketplace - limit what they should read. David Stampe <stampe@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu> From: Gunhild Viden <viden@hum.gu.se> Subject: Re. Ph.D.-theses Date: 16 Feb 90 17:02:16 EST (Fri) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1789 (2248) Swedish doctoral theses used to be A Great Achievement in the so-called Good Old Days, with the result that people spent 20 years and more working on that master-piece. Some 15-20 years ago the authorities decided to change that: the thesis should not take more than 2-3 years and be part of the education, not the masterpiece of a lifetime. In the humanities my feeling is that we ended up somewhere halfway between: 5-6 years seem to be minimum for the writing of a thesis, 10-12 years, alas, not unusual (well, it has got something to do with students having to work for their bread, too), and the result is perhaps not as heavy-weight as in the Old Days, but not quite light-weight either. Most theses are published before the disputation; when they are not the author usually takes a year or so to work it over before publishing. Yes, Swedish theses are definitely included in bibliographies and reviewed in periodicals. The difference in quality compared to the older theses comes out in the fact that earlier you could obtain a higher academic title (docent) if your thesis was really good; nowadays you have to have written something besides the thesis (even if it is a good one) to get that title. Gunhild Viden University of Gothenburg, Sweden From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@UCLAMVS.BITNET> Subject: Re: 3.1058 Halio's article on machined writing, cont. (51) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 90 12:16 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1790 (2249) But of course this is mostly nonsense, pseudopsychosocioscience. ONe chose the Mac because it was a Friendly interface once upon a time. It was Xerox's idea a nd they failed to exploit it. The problem of designing machines with people in mind, not engineers, is a design problem, and the same for software. Sure the k ids, me too in 1984--because it was known to those who knew that for wordproces sing IBM was hopeless, with hundreds of commands secretaries tacked on to their keyboards, and programs that need who knows how many hours to learn? --were so ld on the Mac's user friendliness, icons and pictures and all that, pointing fo r commands, and to point and have the dumb thing DO is a satisfaction of the in fantile desire of omnipotence (Freud called it the omnipotence of thought), but still, I got the Mac, whereas my wife had been on an Apple II for some years, and still is, refusing to relearn new programs! languages, she calls them, or c odes of operation for keyboards... nad plugged it in impatiently, and didnt rea d the manual, and struggled for a hour with obvious differences between IT and the Selectric IBM typewriter, and began to write a paper that I needed to go ov erseas with in a week, and wrote it and printed it and all and never learned at that time all the things one could do to prepare a format for a readable paper . That told me something, as I saw colleagues struggling with Nth commands and IBMs to learn to type, all over again and get the things done... Friendliness f rom machines, to b sure, not intimacy and cutesy sturf from the ads iswhat matt ers, and all this pattern and reading stuff is rabbiting after funds for more " studies." Enough of that is enough, even as a joke. Onde doesnt need to read th e article by Halio, perhaps, to know it be a hoax in itself. A joke on humorles s people like us'ns here? If not, really. You pays your money and you takes you r choice, no? As for WRITING better essays? Over 40 years have taught me this about students. If they have to take Eng Comp to get through, and you tell stud ents theya re seriously getting F's until they write a theme without more than 3 major errors, like agreement of subject/verb, dangler, incongruity, etc., mix ed figures and all, they will learn real fast. In a few weeks. If you grade the m, as I have with F's until they get a b or c (the a's going to the naturals an d well-prepared in secondary schl), then you get results. Of course, in two yea rs when some of them return for advanced exposition, or essay writing, one find s that even the former A students start off with D and C again. It does not tak e. It takes only with professionals, and even their MSS remain deplorable, your s and mine, until rewritten and rewritten. We all know that. As for the sublite ratues and illiterates we get by the million in the US, well neither Mac nor I BM will help, since pen and paper are useless too. Dont tell the Dean this. Tel l the taxpayers, tell the culture that demeans teachers from 1st grade on. It i s an open secret. No amount of computer teaching will change it, I fear.Kessler here, rather realistic after 39 years at it. From: "James S. Dalton" <USERGDY7@RPITSMTS> Subject: 3.1041 decline of noisy reading? SGML and hypertext? (85) Date: Sun, 18 Feb 90 13:58:06 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1791 (2250) Although I can't give specific advice on reading aloud, I do think that the question has a broader context and that is the relationship of the development of print in the late medieval and early modern period. I would suggest that you look at the work of Fr. Walter Ong who argues that print brought an end to oral culture in the West. There is also a volu- minous literature on the impact of print media on modern Western cul- ture. My suspicion is that this somewhat philosophical discussion might provide a rich context for the habit of reading aloud (a survival perhaps?). Jim Dalton USERGDY7@RPITSMTS From: DONWEBB@CALSTATE (Donald Webb) Subject: Reading aloud Date: Sun, 18 Feb 90 14:28:51 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1792 (2251) Continuing Mark Riley's discussion on oral reading, it appears to me that the texts that best lend themselves to reading aloud are those which reproduce, at least to some extent, the rhythms of the spoken language. It is not always easy to predict, at a glance, whether a story will be easy to listen to. It's a good bet to choose stories with lots of characters and dialogue, but they don't always work. Verse is often entertaining to listen to, but not always: even if read expressively, a monotonous rhythm may lull the listener into a slight trance - if not to sleep - and lose the meaning. I have successfully read "Casey at the Bat" to entertain kids - on one occasion - and to put them to sleep - on another. The effectiveness of oral reading depends, obviously, on the reader's skill in conveying the emotion of the passages. It helps to have a knack for reading lines "cold," as it were, like an actor improvising from a fresh script in a play reading. Not everybody can do that without practice; some teachers, even though the local curriculum requires daily oral reading, feel inadequate to the task. The reason may be that oral reading - as opposed to the recitation of a memorized text - requires a trace of the skill of the simultaneous interpreter: the reader must be able to scan ahead even while speaking in order to determine how the sentence is to be punctuated by intonation. As for particular books, _Treasure Island_, which Mark mentioned, should be excellent for a 9-year old. In my own experience, the classics are usually dependable, but you can stumble over some unexpected and sometimes unexplainable goodies: Patricia Clapp's gothic romance, _Jane Emily_ made a spectacular hit, and I can't account for it. Likewise, J.G. Ballard's "Build-Up," "The Voices of Time," and "The Waiting Grounds" went over well, for some reason, but I was surprised that school-age children found any reader interest in those stories. More generally, Judy Blume's books seem to lend themselves to oral reading, as do those of Beverly Cleary, Ruth Gannett and Bill Peet (my favorite is _The Wump World_), to name only three authors... On the other hand, _The Boxcar Children_ is also said to read well aloud, but the rest of the series, apparently, does not. C.S. Lewis is a crashing bore even for rapid-learner classes; his _Out of the Silent Planet_ (my favorite) is best read silently. Maurice Sendak, among many others, has some readable stories, but you have to pick and choose carefully; by age 8, children are moving from picture books to "chapter" books, even though illustration remains crucial in marketing. If others contribute their findings, we should be able to come up with a nice list of books to read aloud and books better left for silent reading. Incidentally, I'm still looking for an old favorite of mine, which must by now have become virtually a rare book: _The Sword and the Scythe_. Anybody know where I can get a copy? From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: communicating with ListServ Date: 19 February 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1793 (2252) Several Humanists have recently been having trouble communicating with ListServ, e.g., to order a list of members successfully. Apparently the trouble lies with a nicety of ListServ: your message with the ListServ command (such as REVIEW HUMANIST) or your interactive command must match the address ListServ has for you *exactly* -- both with respect to form and content. Thus, if you are listed with ListServ as "REALMNSH@UTORONTO", you won't be given anything if you communicate as "realmnsh@UTORONTO" or "RealMnsh@UTORONTO", nor if you use an equivalent address, such as "REALMNSH@VM.UTCS.UTORONTO.CA", and certainly not if you use an entirely different address. So, look at the address ListServ uses to mail Humanist to you and make sure the address you use for ordering material is the same as ListServ's. I hope this helps. Yours, Willard McCarty From: "Michael E. Walsh" <WALSH@IRLEARN> Subject: Conference announcement Date: Mon, 19 Feb 90 07:55:49 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1794 (2253) EARN/RARE JOINT NETWORKING CONFERENCE 1990 GREAT SOUTHERN HOTEL KILLARNEY - IRELAND MAY 15TH/17TH 1990 The EARN (European Academic and Research Network) Association - providers of the EARN Network, the general purpose computer network supporting academic research in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and The RARE (Reseaux Associes pour la Recherche Europeenne) Association - the Association representing all European national and international research networks, and coordinating the development of research networking in Europe have come together to organise the most important conference on computer networking for research in Europe - the EARN/RARE JOINT NETWORKING CONFERENCE, 1990 To be held on 15-17 May, 1990 in Killarney, Ireland. -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. EARNRARE CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: ENCOPE@LSUVM Subject: Conference Proceedings Are Beautiful Date: Fri, 16 Feb 90 22:44:59 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1795 (2254) Both the International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies and the International Comparative Literature Association publish quadrenniel international congress proceedings that are beautifully produced, fully professional, and doggedly rigorous. Because they are virtually uncensored, they contain many more interesting essays than do most professional journals. They also look impressive on the bookshelf. And, being weighty, they can serve as a handy weapon against ignorance. -- KLC From: Ron Zweig <H27@TAUNIVM> Subject: PhD Dissertations, Proceedings Date: Sun, 18 Feb 90 16:13:36 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1796 (2255) In response to Willard's query on the use of dissertations and proceeedings: I definitely cite dissertations, as there is often a very long time lag between their deposition in a library and the publication of whatever book emerges from the manuscript. Proceedings as such, however, as a verbatim or lightly edited protocol of what was said as a conference, are next to useless. It is far better to wait for the publication of an article or book resulting from the research in question. Or, alas, more usually, to refer to work already published that has been regurgitated at a conference. The only conference-based literature worth using is that which has been </>selected</> and </>rewritten</> and </>edited</> for publication in a collection of essays which may, incidentally, have first seen the light of day at a conference. Anyone who has organized a conference and then contemplated the publication of the proceedings knows, in the deepest recesses of their hearts, that only a few of the lectures ever merit the effort. Ron Zweig Tel Aviv University From: "HELEN ARISTAR-DRY" <islhad@es.uit.no> Subject: RE: 3.1059 queries (108) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 90 06:18:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1797 (2256) Just a quick reply to Willard's query about the status of Ph.D. theses: I expect this varies considerably from field to field. As someone with a foot in both linguistics and literature, I think that W's observations are accurate for English but not for linguistics. In linguistics, theses rarely come out as books--the field still has relatively few full- length books--but are regularly cited. Indeed, I think it would be a great breach not to cite a Ph.D. thesis in a subsequent article on the same topic. Helen Aristar-Dry islhad.es.uit.no From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Reminder about Archives Lists Date: Saturday, 17 February 1990 1500-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1798 (2257) Jane Edwards' recent posting, and Lou Burnard's appendix to it, motivate me to remind older HUMANISTs and inform newer ones that the attempt to compile as complete a list of humanist type archives as possible is being carried out by Michael Neuman and his staff at Georgetown University -- contact NEUMAN@GUVAX.bitnet. Various provisional forms of that list have appeared on HUMANIST and elsewhere, and the new and/or updated information contained in the recent HUMANIST postings will help in making it more complete and accurate. Perhaps Michael Neuman can give us an update on his progress (last I knew, about 250 archive type endeavors were on the list, arranged geographically). Bob Kraft (CCAT, U. Penn) From: DAN MANDELL (219)284-4610 <XLYKN8@IRISHMVS.CC.ND.EDU> Subject: Licensing and Acquisition of E-Texts? Date: Sun, 18 Feb 90 23:36 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1799 (2258) Our faculty are increasingly agitating for access to E-texts and have asked me to make the following inquiries: 1. Are digital texts available in a form easily distributed to desk top PC's - PC's for the most part 2. Are these texts usually purchased on a single use type of licensing arrangement, (in a form that would prohibit multiple copies being downloaded) ? 3. Are catalogues available from Oxford Text Archive and other sources? If the content area be important, the present focus of interest comes from our Philosophy Department, and Religious Studies departments. Is it possible (or even desirable to acquire simple text versions of texts, without benefit of a markup language and accompanying software to facilitate searches. Dan Mandell From: Stig Johansson <h_johansson%use.uio.uninett@nac.no> Subject: electronic texts Date: 19 Feb 90 10:45 +0100 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1800 (2259) Lou Burnard's comments on the message from Jane Edwards clarified many points. Note also: 1. There is a Lancaster Spoken English Corpus of approximately 52,000 words (contemporary spoken British English), available in orthographic and prosodic transcription and in two versions with grammatical tagging. 2. There is a Polytechnic of Wales Corpus, which contains transcriptions of child language with detailed grammatical tagging. 3. There is an Indian English counterpart of the Brown Corpus, called the Kolhapur Corpus. 4. A supplement to the London-Lund Corpus of contemporary spoken British English will be made available later this year. 5. The "Australian Corpus Project" aims at compiling an Australian counterpart of the Brown Corpus, In addition, it is part of a larger project: the International Corpus of English project coordinated by Sidney Greenbaum, University College London. Parallel corpora of spoken and written texts will be compiled for a number of regions (in addition to Australia: UK, US, Canada, India, East Africa, Nigeria, etc), using uniform classification and encoding schemes. In addition, there are plans for non-regional supplementary corpora of written translations into English, international spoken communication, and EFL teaching texts. 6. The Brown Corpus is indeed still widely used. For people interested in grammatical and stylistic aspects of English (as opposed studies of recent words) it is very valuable. But there is a need for larger and more recent sources of material, and we have seen a lot of progress in the last few years. 7. The Helsinki Corpus of Historical and Dialectal English is as good as completed. Information on English computer corpora is given in the ICAME Journal, which can be ordered from: Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities, P.O. Box 53, N-5027 Bergen, Norway. This centre also distributes copies of corpora for non-profit academic use: versions of the Brown Corpus, the Lancaster-Oslo/Bergen Corpus, the London-Lund Corpus (including the new supplement referred to above), the Kolhapur Corpus, the Lancaster Spoken English Corpus, the Polytechnic of Wales Corpus, and the Melbourne-Surrey Corpus (100,000 words of Australian newspaper texts). Stig Johansson University of Oslo From: "Hardin Aasand, Dickinson State U." <DS014805@NDSUVM1> Subject: ChiWriter and Russian/Greek Fonts Date: Sun, 18 Feb 90 16:34:06 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1075 (2260) Fellow Humanists, A colleague of mine who teaches physics translates physics articles from Russian into English, and he would be interested in any observations from anyone who has used ChiWriter software in their research/work, in particular with respect to the use of the software in writing Greek and Russian characters. Is ChiWriter compatible with WordPerfect and the Epson 1e model? Using the WordPerfect Macros is not always successful nor easy. I would appreciate any feedback you might offer. Thanks, Hardin Aasand DS014805@NDSUVM1 From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.1069 workstations (26) Date: Sun, 18 Feb 90 16:20:47 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1076 (2261) Workstations et al. We should also INSIST on interoperability and portability when we talk to computer manufacturers. I do not wish to think about the time I have wasted trying to get data from one incompatible format into another, or trying to find a version of a program which works satisfactorily on one platform onto another. Life is too short to have to deal with non-problems. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: C. David Perry <carlos@ecsvax> Subject: RE: Kodak DataShow CGA Date: Mon, 19 Feb 90 08:22:20 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1801 (2262) The DataShow is fine for the first thirty minutes or so. After that it overheats and the projected letters lose resolution. Not worth $499. David Perry UNC Press carlos@ecsvax.bitnet carlos@uncecs.edu From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.1067 queries, various and interesting (169) Date: Sun, 18 Feb 90 16:17:19 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1802 (2263) In re prosodic analysis. One of my colleages, John Polt, has written a program in Pascal for the Mac which produces prosodic analyses of Spanish verse with about a 98% accuracy rate (i.e., 98% of the time it produces an analysis which agrees with John's manual analysis. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: Norman Zacour <ZACOUR@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Humanists Date: Fri, 16 Feb 90 23:18:56 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1078 (2264) Aasand, Hardin <DS014805@NDSUVM1> Abercrombie, Jack <JACKA@PENNDRLS> Adler, William <N51NH301@NCSUVM> Adman, Peter <P.ADMAN@HULL.AC.UK> Aichele, George <73760.1176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Algazi, Gadi <GALGAZI@DGOGWDG1> Altman, Jonathan <JONATHAN@ELEAZAR.DARTMOUTH.EDU> Amsler, Robert <AMSLER@FLASH.BELLCORE.COM> Anderson, Cliff <bucliff@CCM.UMANITOBA.CA> Anderson, Ivy Lee <ANDERSON@BRANDEIS> Aristar, Anthony <ISLAA@ES.UIT.NO> Aristar-Dry, Helen <ISLHAD@ES.UIT.NO> Aronson, Shlomo <SHLOMO1@HUJIVMS> Arora, Shirley <ILX3ARO@UCLAMVS> Artur, Antonio-Paulo Ubieto <HISCONT@CC.UNIZAR.ES> Bacsich, Paul <pd_bacsich@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK> Badagliacco, Joanne M. <JMB@POMONA> Baehr, Emily <seb5609@OCVAXA.OBERLIN.EDU> Baier, Randal <REBX@CORNELLC> Bailey, Elsie <BAILEYE@VTVM1> Baima, John <john@UTAFLL.LONESTAR.ORG> Baldini, Pier Raimondo <ATPMB@ASUACAD> Balestri, Diane P. <BALESTRI@PUCC> Ball, Bill <C476721@UMCVMB> Bandstra, Barry L. <BANDSTRA@HOPE> Bantz, David <DBANTZ@DARTMOUTH.EDU> Barnard, David T. <BARNARD@QUCDN> Barnett, Gerald <8122313@UWAVM> Barr, David L. <DBARR@WSU> Batke, Peter <L64A3779@JHUVM> Beal, Dave <DAVEBEAL@UWLAX> Beckman, Roger <BECKMANR@IUBACS> Benjamin, J. <FAC2090@UOFT01> Benson, Jim <GL250012@YUVENUS> Benson, Tom <T3B@PSUVM> Berghof, Oliver <mschwab@ORION.OAC.UCI.EDU> Berland, Kevin J.H. <BCJ@PSUVM> Bern, Paul H. <PHBERN@SUVM> Besemer, Susan P. <BESEMER@SNYFREBA> Besnier, Niko <UTTANU@YALEVM> Bestul, Thomas <TBESTUL@CRCVMS.UNL.EDU> Bevan, Edis <AEB_BEVAN@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK> Bing, George <XBINGJG@UCLASSCF> Birnbaum, David <DJB@HARVUNXW> Bit.Humanist Gateway <NEWSMGR@URVAX> Bjorncrantz, Leslie <bjorncrantz@NUACC> Blumenthal, H J <AR01@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK> Boggs, John <BOGGS@URVAX> Boissonnas, Christian <CBY@CORNELLC> Borchardt, Frank L. <DUCALL@TUCCVM> Borge, Knut <humanist@IFI.UIO.NO> Born, Rainer <K270190@AEARN> Borowiec, Edward J. <POLEAX@CALSTATE> Boss, Judith E. <ENG003@UNOMA1> Bowyer, Jeffrey W. <JBOWYER@UNOMA1> Boyarin, Daniel <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Boyarin, Jonathan <ejs@WELL.SF.CA.US> Braam, Hansje <NW@HLERUL5> Bradley, John <BRADLEY@UTORVM> Brasington, Ron <RON.BRASINGTON@READING.AC.UK> Brett, George <GHB@UNCECS.EDU> Brewer, Jeutonne P. <BREWERJ@UNCG> Brians, Paul <HRC$04@WSUVM1> Brook, A. <ABROOK@CARLETON> Brown, Clarence <CB@PUCC> Brown, Malcolm <GX.MBB@STANFORD> Brugger, Judith M. <J2MX@CORNELLC> Bryson, Tim <LSXLSLS@UCHIMVS1> Buchwald, J. Z. <BUCHWALD@VM.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA> Burkholder, Leslie <LB0Q+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU> Burt, John <BURT@BRANDEIS> Bush, Chuck <ECHUCK@BYUVM> Butler, Chris <ALZCSB@VME.NOTT.AC.UK> Butler, Malcolm <hkucs!hkucc!hraubut@UUNET.UU.NET> Butler, Terry <TBUTLER@UALTAVM> Bynum, Terrell Ward <BYNUM@CTSTATEU> Byrd, Don <DJB85@ALBNYVMS> Bzdyl, Donald G. <BZDY609@CLEMSON> Cahalan, James Michael <JMCAHAL@IUP> Caldwell, Price <PCALDWEL@MSSTATE> Cameron, Keith <CAMERON@EXETER.AC.UK> Camilleri, Lelio <CONSERVA@IFIIDG> Capobianco, Joseph P. <JOE$REG@QUEENS> Carpenter, David <ST_JOSEPH@HVRFORD> Carroll, Joseph <J_CARROLL@UPRENET> Cartwright, Dana <DECARTWR@SUVM> Caskey, Elizabeth <ELIZABETH_CASKEY@MTSG.UBC.CA> Centre for the Study of Violence <PSDMSPIN@BRUSP> Cercone, Nick <NICK@LCCR.SFU.CDN> Cerny, Jim <J_CERNY@UNHH> CETEDOC, Belgium <THOMDOC@BUCLLN11> Chadwick, Tony <CHADANT@MUN> Chang, Andrew <SOCCCT@NUSVM> Chapelle, Carol <S1.CAC@ISUMVS> Chesnutt, David R. <N330004@UNIVSCVM> Choueka, Yaacov <CHOUEKA@BIMACS> Church, Dan M. <CHURCHDM@VUCTRVAX> Cioran, Sam <CIORAN@MCMASTER> Clark, Stephen <AP01@IBM.LIV.AC.UK> Clausing, Stephen <SCLAUS@YALEVM> Cloutier, Andre <ACLOUTIER@LAKEHEAD> Cole, Robert <COLE@IUBACS> Conner, Patrick <U47C2@WVNVM> Connolly, M. 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J. <B_SPACKMAN@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK> Spaeth, Donald <gkha13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Sperberg-McQueen, Marian <U15440@UICVM> Sperberg-McQueen, Michael <U35395@UICVM> St.George, Art <STGEORGE@UNMB> Stahl, J. D. <STAHL@VTVM1> Stairs, Mike <STAIRS@UTOREPAS> Stampe, David <STAMPE@UHCCUX> Stanley, Thomas A. <hkucs!hkucc!hrahsta@UUNET.UU.NET> Starbuck, Scott Richard Austin <Q2835@PUCC> Steele, Kenneth <KSTEELE@VM.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA> Stevens, Wesley M. <UOWWMS@UOFMCC> Stewart, Doug <DSTEWART@UCSD.EDU> Stief, Norbert <UZR106@DBNRHRZ1> Stonum, Gary Lee <gxs11@PO.CWRU.EDU> Stuart, Christopher <ST5@CORNELLA> Stuart, Ralph <RMGTRBS@UVMADMIN> Stuart, Thomas W. <C078D6S6@UBVM> Stuehler, Dave <E989003@NJECNVM> Stump, Eleonore <ESTUMP@IRISHMVS> Suhl, Alfred <ANT01@DMSWWU1A> Sveinbjornsson, Jon <JSVEINB@RHI.HI.IS> Svennerstam, Bjorn <BJORN_SVENNERSTAM@NORRKOM.UMU.SE> Swenson, Eva V. <ESWENSON@UTORVM> Swenson, Melinda <MSWENSON@IUBACS> Tallon, Andy <6035tallona@MUCSD> Taylor, Paul <PNT12@PHOENIX.CAMBRIDGE.AC.UK> Taylor, Richard <6297TAYL@MUCSD> Taylor, Robert Lee <bobt@CC.ROCHESTER.EDU> TeBrake, William H. <TEBRAKE@MAINE> Teich, Laura <LTEICH@AUVM> Tetreault, Ronald <TETRO@DALAC> Theall, Donald <THEALLDF@TRENT> Thompson, June <CTI.Lang@HULL.AC.UK> Thomson, Tom <tom@NW.STL.STC.CO.UK> Tomlinson, Tom <19910TOM@MSU> Tompa, Frank <TOMPA@WATDCS> Tompkins, Kenneth <H156004@NJECNVM> Tosh, Wayne <wtosh@CS.UTEXAS.EDU> Touwen, L. J. <LETTXC@HLERUL2> Tov, Emmanuel <HUUET@HUJIVM1> Treat, Jay <TREAT@PENNDRLS> Trotter II, Robert T. <CMSRTT01@NAUVM> Turner, John D. <CLAS056@UNLCDC3> Tweyman, Stanley <YFPL0007@YORKVM1> Ubaydli, Ahmad Y. <AU100@PHX.CAM.AC.UK> Unger, Richard W. <USERPVIF@UBCMTSG> van der Laan, Hans R. <RCDILAA@HDETUD1> van Halteren, Hans <COR_HVH@HNYKUN52> Van Nooten, Barend <6VANNOOT@VIOLET.BERKELEY.EDU> Vanderbeek, Kraig <KVANDERBEEK@UNLVAX1> Verboom, A.W.C. <AADV@HLERUL5> Verbrugghe, Gerald P. <VERBRUGGHE@CANCER> Wall, Geoffrey <GW2@VAXA.YORK.AC.UK> Wallmannsberger, Josef <C60903@AINUNI01> Walsh, Vicky <IMD7VAW@UCLAMVS> Walter, Hill John <HILL@UIUCVMD> Ward, James H. <J_WARD@UPRENET> Warkentin, Germaine <warkent@VM.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA> Wasserman, Robert D. <WASSERMAN@FORDMULC> Waters, Stacy <93651@UWAVM.ACS.WASHINGTON.EDU> Webb, Don <DONWEBB@CALSTATE> Weber, Robert Philip <WEBER@HARVARDA> Webster, Sarah P. <ACDSPW@SUVM> Weinshank, Donald J. <WEINSHANK@MSUEGR> Weitenberg, J.J.S. <LETTJW@HLERUL2> Welsch, Erwin K. <EWELSCH@WISCMACC> Werner, Stefan <WERNER@FINUJO> Wesselius, Jan Wim <A512JANW@HASARA11> West, Mark <MDWEST@ECSVAX> Wheeler, Ray <DS001451@NDSUVM1> Whitelam, Keith W. <wwsrs@VAXA.STIRLING.AC.UK> Whittaker, Brian <BRIANW@YORKVM2> Wiebe, M. G. <WIEBEM@QUCDN> Willee, Gerd <UPK000@DBNRHRZ1> Willett, Perry <PWILLETT@BINGVAXC> Willett, Tom Wayne <TWILLETT@IUBACS> Wilson, Eve <ew@UKC.AC.UK> Wilson, Harold Stacy <HSW100U@ODUVM> Wilson, Noel <QGHU21@UJVAX.ULSTER.AC.UK> Wimmer, Franz Martin <A6102DAC@AWIUNI11> Winder, Bill <WINDER@UTOREPAS> Winter, Frank <WINTER@SASK> Wolcott, Rogge Rena <rogge@PILOT.NJIN.NET> Wolter, Claus Friedrich <CFWOL@CONNCOLL> Woods, Jorie <A014@UORVM> Woolley, James <WOOLLEYJ@LAFAYETT> Wujastyk, Dominik <WUJASTYK@EUCLID.UCL.AC.UK> Wupper, Axel <UPG202@DBNRHRZ1> Wytek, Rudolf <Z00WYR01@AWIUNI11> Yanos, George <U08208@UICVM> Yevics, Philip E. <PEY365@SCRANTON> Young, Charles M. <YOUNGC@CLARGRAD> Zacour, Norman <ZACOUR@UTOREPAS> Zahavi-Ely, Naama <ELINZE@YALEVM> Zahavy, Tzvee <MAIC@UMINN1> Ziegler, Delphine <6500DELP@UCSBUXA> Zielke, Thomas <113355@DOLUNI1> Zinn, Grover <FZINN@OBERLIN> Zubrow, Ezra <APYEZRA@UBVMSC> Zweig, Ron <H27@TAUNIVM> *****END***** From: DJT18@hull.ac.uk Subject: format for computerized classical lexica Date: Tue, 20 Feb 90 09:46:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1803 (2265) Preliminary Notice The Electronic Scholiast A Conference to Develop a Standard International Format for Computerized Classical Lexica to be held in July, 1991 at the University of Leeds, UK The conference will bring together scholars from different countries who are actively involved in developing computerized dictionaries of Greek and Latin and those who are developing uses for such dictionaries in automated lemmatizers, parsers, translation aids and intelligent tutors. The conferees will identify and coordinate the needs and possibilities faced both by developers and the reports of the Text Encoding Initiative, (especially those on lexical structure and the encoding of dictionaries) to Greek and Latin. For more information or if you are interested in participating, please contact either Prof Francis Cairns, The School of Classics, The University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, England, tel 0532 333538; of Prof Daniel McCaffrey, Classics Department, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, VA 23005, USA tel 804 752-7276. From: <EDHARRIS@CTSTATEU> Subject: Humans and machines Date: Tue, 20 Feb 90 17:03 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1804 (2266) There is a very nice article in today's (2.20.90) NY Times, p. C9, "Putting Disabled in Touch," by Peter Lewis. He lists a number of sources for information on computer assistance for the disabled. Although I still don't have the list of the hard- and software we are using in our assistive technology lab that John Slatin asked for (though I've requested it), I wanted to mention this article quickly so that those for whom a day-old Times is a scarce item might still have a chance to find one. (There's also a terrific article on culture and anthropology on page 1 of section C.) --Ed. Harris [Note also, in the Sunday NY Times Review of Books, section 7, page 1, Bill Holm's account of teaching literature, "In China, Loving Lady Chatterly". Inspirational, even if the path to inspiration leads from dispair and back. --W.M.] From: Malcolm Hayward <MHAYWARD@IUPCP6.BITNET> Subject: Reading Aloud Date: 19 Feb 90 21:07 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1805 (2267) I missed how we ever got onto this topic, but let me plunk for my favorite: Booth Tarkington's Penrod books (Penrod, Penrod Jashber, and Penrod and Sam). The syntax is convoluted, the vocabulary seems far above what a 10 or 12 year old should be able to read--but two out of three of my kids really enjoyed them. In fact, for both I read through all three twice. Why did they enjoy them? Sometimes I think it is in spite of the old fashioned prose; sometimes I think it is because of it. Certainly Tarkington has clear insights into the way kids think. Maybe with the prose the way it is the child realizes, Hey, he is not talking down to me but rather expressing the way that I think in words that I would use were I able to use words that way. Of course the kids do not use such words for their realizations. Anyway, I guarantee at least a 66% chance that the children will respond to Penrod in ways you would not be able to predict--at least if you expect that the best books are ones that, as Donald Webb says, reproduce the rhythms of the spoken language. The experience of the Penrod books suggests exactly the opposite. Malcolm Hayward MHayward@IUP Department of English Phone: 412-357-2322 or IUP 412-357-2261 Indiana, PA 15705 From: JackFruchtman_8302850 <E7U4FRU@TOWSONVX.BITNET> Subject: Reply to Mark Riley and Reading Aloud Date: Tue, 20 Feb 90 12:01 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1806 (2268) There is plenty of fine children's literature that may be appropriately read aloud to children, even older children. Examples: Jean George's _My Side of the Mountain_, Lynn Reid Bank, _The Indian in the Cupboard_, Katherine Paterson's _Bridge to Terabithia_, Zilpha Snyder's _Egypt Game_. And then, of course, there is everything by Lloyd Alexander. Good reading! From: KESSLER <IME9JFK> Subject: Re: 3.1059 queries (108) Date: Sat, 17 Feb 90 16:19 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1807 (2269) Dear Willard, I have argued with colleagues for years that the Diss should be written as a book, at least in the Humanities. They turn a deaf ear, since most have them dont know how to write a book, and are not serious in any case. We waste umpteen dollars and strength and youth of our grad students in making them write Dissertations that we then say will be their ticket to a job, and then they must take 3-5 years making the stuff into a book in hopes of getting it published, while teaching heavy loads and starting families and all that. Criminal proceedings, and when compared to scientists' approach, worse than criminal. People used to get their (Germ+French) Diss published in Europe, perhaps, which had a Kultur for the Diss. We have copied that literally, but left the meaning out of it. It is a set of hurdles to be surmounted, purposelessness incarnate. I find it loathesome, but, the whole thing is surely silly by now. I was skeptical as a lad of Pound's strictures against the profession, since I was entering it, but of course looking back, he was correct in scorning the American+Germanic Diss, which produced almost nothing. Now of course lok at the Univ Press lists and see whatis being produced! That needs an essay of its own, but first I want to win a lottery, and then try cutting at their Achilles/Artemisial tendons. Kessler here. From: "Leslie Z. Morgan" <MORGAN@LOYVAX> Subject: citing PhD theses Date: Tue, 20 Feb 90 08:12 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1808 (2270) For the language/literature field, in the question of to cite or not re PhD theses, there is another underlying issue: how the thesis was originally conceived. There is a difference in institutions. Certain large state universities do not grant the PhD if a publishable dissertation is not produced. In that case, the dissertation IS a book, and becomes cited as such. (This policy has side effects, of course, which I will not go on about here, but which merit discussion.) At other institutions, the dissertation is an apprenticeship, from which articles and/or a heavily revised book may be produced later. In that case, citing the dissertation is necessary. From: ENCOPE@LSUVM Subject: Organism Cope Reinforced for Citing Dissertations Date: Mon, 19 Feb 90 22:47:32 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1809 (2271) In my first published article (the beginning of a long series of happy errors!), I cited several dissertations from _DAI_ and its predecessor, _DA_. The reader for the journal, a well-known editor of Rochester, congratulated me (anonymously) for having been _so_ thorough as to go looking through dissertalia. This should be empirical proof that dissertations are worth something. Indeed, citing them initiated my career (and without that odd event, their would be no "veteran e-mailer" on these lists). -- KLC From: <YOUNGC@CLARGRAD> Subject: Chiwriter is now Megawriter Date: Mon, 19 Feb 90 16:26 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1082 (2272) Hardin Aasand asks about Chiwriter. Chiwriter is now Megawriter and is published by Paraclete Software at 1000 E. 14th St., Suite 425, Plano, TX 75074 (phone: 214/578-8185). According to version 3.01a of the manual, dated 1988, Megawriter is compatible with Word Perfect in that one can convert from WordPerfect files. I don't know what the Epson 1e model printer is, but the pro- gram seems to support a lot of printers and it may support that one. According to the manual, it's not difficult to write one's own printer driver. I've only played around with a friend's copy of the program, so my com- ments are not particularly well-informed. But: entering text is not easy, and not helped by a very ugly screen display, even with VGA. But the printed output is very nice, at least on a laser printer. (I've got a IIp.) Best wishes, Charles Young Philosophy Claremont Graduate School Claremont, CA 91711 youngc@clargrad.bitnet From: Knut Hofland +47 5 212954/55/56 FAFKH at NOBERGEN Subject: Re: Archives 3.1061, 3.1064 and 3.1074 Date: 20 February 90, 13:26:16 EMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1083 (2273) Just a couple of additions to the points made by Stig Johansson in 3.1074. I have just sent an updated version of the file SURVEY CORPORA which have been available at the HUMANIST file server. This is the same survey that Lou Burnard refers to in 3.1064 and which is made at the university of Lancaster. As Stig Johansson mentions in his note, we distribute several text corpora from Bergen both on diskette (PC or Mac), tape and microfiche (KWIC concordances). We have indexed versions of the LOB and Brown corpus for WordCruncher and are planning to index more material both with WordCruncher, TACT and TEX (for Mac). We will also try to make a CD-ROM with ICAME text material, probably at the end of this year. We publish ICAME Journal once a year, next number will be out in April/May 1990 (no. 14). We also run a primitive file server (we have no LISTSERV operative in Bergen) with information about ICAME (International Computer Archive of Modern English). Send a mail to FAFSRV@NOBERGEN.BITNET with Subject: DIR to get an information file from the server. Knut Hofland The Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities Street adr: Harald Haarfagres gt. 31 Post adr: P.O. Box 53, University N-5027 Bergen Norway Tel: +47 5 212954/5/6 Fax: +47 5 322656 From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Tabla musical notation" Date: Fri, 16 Feb 90 15:58:14 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1084 (2274) Regarding Willard's recent posting about tabla notation, I have a strong feeling I read an article on just this topic -- analyzing & displaying tabla music & notation -- in '88 or '89. Does anyone else recall something like this in _T.H.E. Journal_, _Academic Computing_ or a similar publication? Bon courage ! Regards, Joel From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Oi moi, mail lost! other editorializings Date: 22 February 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1085 (2275) Dear Colleagues: Because of a very peculiar failure of software on my mainframe system, some messages sent to me, directly or through Humanist, may have been lost. These would have arrived here sometime between the early evening of 20 February and about the same time on 21 February. So, if you sent something for which you expected a response and have not yet seen any, please resend. My apologies on behalf of the software. As a fellow Humanist pointed out to me, you cannot control the form of your address when you send an interactive command to ListServ or issue a command by inserting it into a regular piece of e-mail. If you are unsuccessful in commanding ListServ, e.g. to REVIEW HUMANIST or fetch some file from the server, you should, however, compare your address as given to you with the one ListServ knows. If there is ANY difference, then you certainly may ask me to change ListServ's notion of your userid and nodename. Any such difference will cause ListServ, simple-minded as it is, to reject your command. With regards to my resignation as editor of Humanist, please rest assured that a proper succession is being arranged. I wasn't just crying wolf. The wolf is indeed here, and soon you will be able to admire her beauty and be inspired by the timbre of her growl. Yours, Willard McCarty From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Warning: ChiWriter - Megawriter Split Date: Tuesday, 20 February 1990 2338-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1810 (2276) Although I am unable this moment to put my hands on the actual pieces of paper somewhere in this room, a communication arrived just this week to the effect that ChiWriter, on which MegaWriter is/was based has recinded (or words to that effect) its agreement with Paraclete Software for the latter to develop and market MegaWriter. Various reasons are given. In any event, if anyone out there wants details, I'm sure the letter will resurface at some point. Or simply contact ChiWriter, which seems committed to developing and supporting the multilingual capabilities along the lines of MegaWriter's designs. I don't know where this leaves MegaWriter. Bob Kraft (U. Penn) From: "Steven J. DeRose" <IR400011@BROWNVM> Subject: SGML and hypertext Date: Tue, 20 Feb 90 22:46:26 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1811 (2277) Much as I appreciate Michael's posting, I would make 2 adjustments: First, I think "great sage" rather overstates my stature in the hypertext community (though I'm working to get there!). Second, regarding the quote: "SGML and hypertext: two great tastes that taste great together." This should be attributed to another Humanist, namely David G. Durand. I fully support his sentiment, and quoted it in a paper at Hypertext '89 (which may be the source of the association). David's sagacity in SGML and Hypertext has helped many, myself included, to see the issues much more clearly and deeply. Steve DeRose From: "Steven J. DeRose" <IR400011@BROWNVM> Subject: Annotated e-texts, retrieval Date: Tue, 20 Feb 90 22:50:11 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1812 (2278) In response to Pieter C. Masereeuw: Substantial work has recently been done with both tagged corpora, and the automatic tagging of corpora. (Also, the Brown Corpus is still much in use, e.g., for my dissertation last year) But I don't know of any full-featured programs for the kind of search and retrieval sought, except perhaps GramCord, which has (so far as I know) been applied only to Biblical texts. The features you described are basically the extensions of everyday search tools to ***hierarchical*** documents. For example, in most texts sentences and words are demarcated, but not discourse units above the sentence, nor elements smaller than words, such as morphemes. Any scheme which represents these levels should allow annotations at all levels. One program I know supports word- and morpheme-level annotations ("IT", for PC and MAc, from the Summer Institue of LInguistics, Dallas TX); no program I know supports annotations at an unbounded set of levels, though SGML provides the necessary syntax. Committees of TEI are working on some of these issues, and would no doubt welcome your input. In conclusion: no, there's no magic bullet, but it's a very saleable tool if someone builds a good retrieval engine for annotated, hierarchical texts, based on SGML. Steve DeRose From: KESSLER <IME9JFK> Subject: Re: 3.1080 N&Q: reading aloud; PhD dissertations (124) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 90 10:29 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1813 (2279) Let me add that I received yesterday an advance copy of Professor Page Smith's latest work, which takes up this whole area of discussion and how! It is from V iking Press, and is titled, KILLING THE SPIRIT, Higher Education in America. He takes a historical approach, showing the history of higher studies, and its fi nal "flowering" in the 20th Century. I thinkany discussion might best begin fro m a widespread perusal of his new work. I know Page, and i know he has been fig hting this battle for decades, to the point of having resigned ten years ago as Provost of the first College at University of California Sta Cruz, Cowell coll ege, which he helped found in 1963-64, over a dispute in a tenure case: he havi ng vowed resignation if they did grant tenure to a young acolyte whose teaching was far better, or shall we substantiated? than the records of his publication , and perhaps the case was that Page backed the fellow into the putting of his efforts into students and not into the safe first book. Page of course is a pro lific writer in any case. Still he put his career where his rhetoric was, and d id indeed resign...going on to write his multivolume A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF AMER ICA for the Bicentennial, etc. Now he seems to be going for the heart the matte r, his dispute with the distortions of Academe. Les deformations professionelle s. I think that will not change things, his book, but it certainly is sueful fo r us all in 1990! Including other areas of the University of course. Kessler From: Tzvee Zahavy <MAIC@UMINN1> Subject: E-Version of Halio article. Date: Wed, 21 Feb 90 21:08:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1814 (2280) Someone announced through Humanist that they would try to get permission to distribute the Halio article so that the debate over IBM vs. MAC could continue on a more informed level. I thought that was a good idea and noticed that my secretary had some time. I do have an E-Version of the article ready to go if the permission can be obtained. Last week Kinkos Copy Center obtained a permission for me from Harper Row over the phone to photocopy several chapters of a book for my mega-course of 400 students in Jewish Studies. Perhaps a phone permission could be obtained for the Halio article. Will the party who volunteered to do so please step forward? From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: humans and machines Date: Wed, 21 Feb 90 12:01:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1815 (2281) Thanks to Ed Harris for the posting about Peter Lewis' article in the NYT. Oddly enough, this afternoon I'm due to go to a meeting with a group of people from foreign language depts about setting up an interdepartmental computer research-and-instruction facility, and the guy who called to set up the meeting tells me that the people who teach Arabic want machines equipped with speech output devices-- that would dovetail nicely with the needs of visually impaired and print-handicapped students and faculty. Strange partnerships! John Slatin From: nye@UWYO.BITNET (Eric W Nye) Subject: Telnet on the Internet outside NA? Date: Tue, 20 Feb 90 20:30:31 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1816 (2282) The February revision of Art St. George's very helpful list of Internet-accessible library catalogues has led me to wonder whether any of our fellow HUMANISTs outside of North America have experienced remote real time access to one of our nodes? Do the various trans- oceanic gateways permit Telnet-style sessions on North American hosts? For example, could a scholar on sabbatical in Britain log on through a computer like the Phoenix in Cambridge, connect to his account at his home university, perform operations which would be debited against his allocation there, and finally log off back to the Phoenix? Clearly someone must pay for the link through the gateway. But who? Are there obstacles not apparent to me? Is Telnet (a VAX utility, I think) not widely used across the water? Are the Internet libraries thus accessible only to North Americans? Eric W. Nye, Assoc. Prof. Dept. of English, Box 3353 University of Wyoming Laramie, WY 82071 U.S.A. voice: 307-766-3244 network: NYE@UWYO From: D.Mealand@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: Greek expert system ? Date: 21 Feb 90 13:02:12 gmt X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1817 (2283) There is a chance that a brief project might be considered to devise something of an expert system for the study of Greek. One possible project which occurs to me is an automatic syntax analyser. An expert system must be the kind of thing which looks at evidence and makes decisions, not something which feeds users with existing info or lets them browse. I would be grateful for suggestions for this project which I will pass on to the organisers. Please mail replies to me as D.Mealand%uk.ac.edinburgh@ac.uk David Mealand JANET ADDRESS: D.Mealand@uk.ac.edinburgh BITNET ADDRESS: D.Mealand%uk.ac.edinburgh@ac.uk but if your system won't do that please instead use: ARPA ADDRESS: D.Mealand@edinburgh.ac.uk or D.Mealand%edinburgh.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ucl.ac.uk PHONE: +44 31 445-3713 any reasonable hour or +44 31 225 8400 office only POSTAL: Dr.D.L.Mealand, N.T.Dept, University of Edinburgh,Mound,Edinburgh Scotland, U.K. EH1 2LX or Dr.D.L.Mealand, 1,Buckstone Place,Edinburgh,Scotland,U.K.,EH10 6UB From: grgo@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Greg Goode) Subject: Nota Bene and Hebrew? Date: Wed, 21 Feb 90 16:30:02 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1818 (2284) I have a colleague who would like to know whether Nota Bene will allow one to: - use a Hebrew keyboard - type in Hebrew, using right-to-left cursor movement and word-wrap on the left - print Hebrew characters If the answer to at least one of these is NO, how about recommendations for a Hebrew word processor for use in the U.S on IBM PC/AT-type machines?? Send responses either here or to Humanist; I'll summarize what I get. ____________________________________________________________ | \ | | Greg Goode \ BITNET: | | University Computing Center \ GRGO@UORDBV.BITNET | | University of Rochester > | | Rochester, NY 14627 / Internet: | | Tel. (716) 275-2811 / grgo@uhura.cc.rochester.edu | |__________________________/_______________________________| From: (Robert Philip Weber) WEBER@HARVARDA Subject: ArchiText Date: Thu, 22 Feb 90 00:18:54 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1819 (2285) has anyone explored ArchiText, a hypertext program for MACs? Comments? Thanks Bob Weber --------- Robert Philip Weber, Ph.D. | Phone: (617) 495-3744 Senior Consultant | Fax: (617) 495-0750 Academic and Planning Services | Division | Office For Information Technology| Internet: weber@popvax.harvard.edu Harvard University | Bitnet: Weber@Harvarda 50 Church Street | Cambridge MA 02138 | From: walker@flash.bellcore.com (Don Walker) Subject: COLING '90 Information on registration and tutorials Date: Wed, 21 Feb 90 16:32:15 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1089 (2286) C O L I N G - 9 0 CONDENSED 2ND ANNOUNCEMENT The 13th International Conference on Computational Linguistics, COLING-90, will take place on the premises of the University of Helsinki, on August 20 through August 25, 1990. PRE-COLING tutorials take place on August 16 - August 18, 1990. During COLING-90, some 160 topical papers will be read, selected from the 650 papers submitted for consideration. In addition, more than 50 project notes with software demonstrations will be presented. There will also be a large commercial exhibition of linguistically relevant software and hardware. The overriding theme of the PRE-COLING tutorials is "Theories, methods, and tools for large-scale linguistic processing of dictionaries and running text". The detailed programme is as follows: Branimir Boguraev & James Pustejovsky, "Knowledge representation and acquisition from dictionary sources" (10 h) Kenneth W. Church, "Basic Unix for linguists" (6 h) Lauri Karttunen, "Lexical computations" (6 h) Judith L. Klavans & Patrick Hanks, "The role of large text corpora in building natural language systems" (8 h) Hiroshi Uchida, "Electronic dictionary" (5 h) Facilities for on-line demonstrations and practice will be available (workstations, dictionaries, corpora). Deadline for advance registration is May 1, 1990. Before that date, the following registration fees obtain: COLING-90: students 400 FIM, others 750 FIM PRE-COLING: members of the academic community 500 FIM, representatives of commercial organizations 1500 FIM Late registration fees (after May 1, 1990) are: COLING-90: students 600 FIM, others 1200 FIM PRE-COLING: members of the academic community 800 FIM, representatives of commercial organizations 2500 FIM Please request the detailed 2nd announcement, including information on accommodation and the requisite registration forms, from: Fred Karlsson Department of General Linguistics University of Helsinki Hallituskatu 11 SF-00100 Helsinki, Finland e-mail: COLING@FINUH.BITNET fax: +358 0 653726 telex: 124690 unih sf From: "Matthew B. Gilmore" <GY945C@GWUVM> Subject: citing theses & dissertations Date: Thu, 22 Feb 90 01:06:38 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1090 (2287) Doesn't citing theses and dissertations have something to do with their accessibility? Why do you cite anything at all? Verification and proof of your sources. Well, at least until recently, theses and dissertations were hard to get a hold of, both bibliograpically and physically. They are not "published" in the same way a book/article is, and are not as readily available. So what good did it do your reader to know that something could be found in a dissertation-- they didn't have access. Now access is just expensive and time consuming--either through UMI or through the university for those who do not submit copies to UMI. Level of sophistication might be an issue in whether to cite a MA/MS thesis. For some fields if the work was not done for the PhD it probably just is not seen as part of the scholarly communication of that discipline. Comments? Matthew Gilmore From: Oxford Text Archive <ARCHIVE@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK> Subject: telnet on the internet Date: Fri, 23 Feb 90 11:11 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1820 (2288) Yes, us funny old Europeans do have access to the INTERNET. JANET users can get an account at UCL.CS.NSS, log onto that and just type TELNET to connect to any US site in so-called real-time. (I say so-called because the response is sometimes a bit jerky). Getting an account at UCL involves sending a request to LIAISON@uk.ac.ucl.cs.nss and filling in the form they send back. You have to make a fairly good case. On the other hand, it *doesnt cost any money* - so far. There was a good deal of bickering some time ago about who was picking up the bill - originally it was the D o D (maybe they thought it would help StarWars) - now I believe the British Dept of Education & Science (the ministry responsible for provision of academic computing facilities) is actually paying. The main problem is getting information about addresses. The TELNET implementation at UCL has only a few names in its address book, so you need to know the numbers. Did someone already post where an uptodate address list could be obtained from? if so, I missed it. I should say that there may well be other routes into the INTERNET. An enquiry to your local comms person should help. Lou Burnard From: Knut Hofland +47 5 212954/55/56 FAFKH at NOBERGEN Subject: RE: 3.1088, Telnet from Europe to NA Date: 23 February 90, 22:12:21 EMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1821 (2289) As long as a person has a Ethernet connection from his PC or Mac or host machine he can get a connection to machines on the world wide Internet (machines with a 4 part IP number). I have tried several of the machines mentioned in the file INTERNET LIBRARY. In Norway it is quite common to make FTP connections to download programs and data from the great amount of machines with archives on the Internet. (FTP is a parallel to Telnet for file transfer). At the moment we don't pay anything for this, the lines is kept by the Norwegian University Network Group, which gets its money direct from the government. If we want to make a connection via X.25 to Bix or Compuserve then our institution have to pay. But if we use mail or file transfer through Internet, Bitnet or X.400 systems, this is "free". Knut Hofland The Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities Street adr: Harald Haarfagres gt. 31 Post adr: P.O. Box 53, University N-5027 Bergen Norway Tel: +47 5 212954/5/6 Fax: +47 5 322656 From: F12016@BARILAN.BITNET Subject: TELNET OUTSIDE NA Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 07:32 O X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1822 (2290) I don't know about England or Europe, but here in Israel, we do not have FTP connection capability to NA, though it is promised to us in about two years time. Chaim Milikowsky Bar Ilan From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Summer grants with computer applications for foreign lang. & lit. Date: Thu, 22 Feb 90 18:54:43 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1823 (2291) Dear Colleagues, This announcement may prove of interest for foreign language and literature professors at U.S. institutions east of the Mississippi River. Regards, Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH) joelg@psc.bitnet - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Nominations and applications now being accepted for the FINAL PROGRAM of THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE / DANA FOUNDATION COLLABORATIVE Summer Term, June 18 - August 18, 1990 Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH The goal of the collaborative language program is to develop materials that improve the pedagogy of language instruction in the United States. Visiting Fellows will demonstrate an initiative in a program which, ideally, will have far-reaching implications for the educational field nationally as well as at their own home institutions. They will share an energizing experience of interaction with colleagues from Dartmouth and from other private four-year liberal arts institutions east of the Mississippi. The Visiting Fellows actively participate in the development of computer-assisted and video language instruction projects which will expand their own understanding of language training as well as produce valuable curricular and teaching innovations. These projects may be developed according to the individual's interests or specific needs. Honoraria will be received by those candidates who elect to teach in Dartmouth's intensive summer language programs, which provide an opportunity for Visiting Fellows to incorporate newly acquired methodology. Fellows will receive recognition for participation in a program dedicated to improving pedagogy as individual and collaborative efforts are published. For further information on the program and its elegibility requirements contact: Professor John Rassias Dartmouth/Dana Collaborative Wentworth Hall - Room 101 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH 03755 (603) 646-2922 E-mail: John.A.Rassias@mac.dartmouth.edu From: Andrew Oliver <ANDREWO@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: TEXTES ELECTRONIQUES Date: Fri, 23 Feb 90 16:33:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1824 (2292) Les Editions Paratexte, associees avec *The Electronic Text Archive* de l'Universite de Toronto, preparent un recueil de textes litteraires francais (ce sont de veritables textes critiques). Sont disponibles immediatement: *Eugenie Grandet* de Balzac et *Le Rouge et le noir* de Stendhal. Pret dans un proche avenir: *Adolphe* de Benjamin Constant. Titres projetes: *Le Pere Goriot*, *Madame Bovary* , *Germinal*, *Dominique* (Fromentin), *La Chartreuse de Parme*, *Trois contes* . Pour de plus amples renseignenemts contacter: Andrew Oliver, Les Editions Paratexte, Trinity College, Toronto M5S 1H8 (ANDREWO@UTOREPAS) From: Steve Cisler <sac@apple.com> Subject: New OTA Document: Critical Connections Date: Sun, 25 Feb 90 06:07:20 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1825 (2293) Copies of the report "Critical Connections: Communication for the Future'' can be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,Washington, DC 20402-9325, GPO stock No. 052-003-01143-3. $17.00 U.S.; $21.25 International. I have the ascii version (without charts, illustrations, and sidebars) in 1.5 mb. files. One is the whole document; the other is divided in to chapters with the footnotes following each chapter. I would like to propose several courses of action: 1) find a LISTSERV that would put CRITICAL CONNECTIONS online. That would benefit the BITNET community; 2) mount it on apple.com for anonymous ftp within the Internet community 3) make the discs available to BBS operators and others who would like to disseminate this. The Mac disc is about 700Kb in compressed form; I imagine an ARCed or ZIPed DOS disc would be about the same. Steve Cisler Apple Library sac@apple.com 408-974-3258 P.S. There is also a 52 kb. summary that is chapter one. From: ben@cs.UMD.EDU (Ben Shneiderman) Subject: Date: Sun, 25 Feb 90 22:08:37 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1826 (2294) PRELIMINARY AGENDA (2/14/90) DIRECTIONS IN CORPORATE ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING Sponsored by the Hyperties User Group APRIL 23 - 24, 1990 University of Maryland, College Park Center for Professional Development, University College Contact: Richard Jaffeson, 301-985-7206 -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. ELECPUB CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: "Christopher W. Donald" <DONALD@UKANVM> Subject: PD Dictionary Date: Thu, 22 Feb 90 20:10:59 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1827 (2295) I am looking for a Public Domain dictionary, (or a real cheap commercial product) that contains simply words, and their parts of speech. This is going to be used with a simple parser. Christopher Donald The University of Kansas Division of Government From: Niko Besnier <UTTANU@YALEVM> Subject: Laptops and airlines Date: Fri, 23 Feb 90 14:36:18 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1828 (2296) A down-to-earth query: I'm about to hop over to London for a working weekend on the 1st of March and have to take my Zenith 286 laptop along. I haven't taken a computer on an international flight in several years, and suspect that security has gotten tighter. What sort of experience have fellow Humanists had in the last few months in this respect? If I'm forced to feed the machine through the x-ray machine, how dangerous is this? (Of course, I'll be making a backup of everything on the hard disk before leaving, but I still need software and files when I get to London!) Is airport security (at JFK in this case) happy to have laptops booted in front of their eyes these days? I tried asking some of these Qs to the airline (BA) on a couple of different occasions, but got very muddled and contradictory answers every time. I'll be grateful for any piece of wisdom. Niko Besnier Department of Anthropology Yale University From: <BCJ@PSUVM.PSU.EDU> Subject: limiting access to macs? Date: Sat, 24 Feb 90 11:40:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1829 (2297) One of my tasks is to act as advisor to the student newspaper. They produce the paper on a Macintosh computer and laser printer, using Aldus Pagemaker. They work in a room frequented by many students, a number of whom have started using the computer and printer for their own projects (some academic, others not). The editor and I are concerned about the cost of laserprinting and the safety of newspaper files and programs. Is there some kind of program we could install that would limit access to the hard disk and/or to the printer -- maybe something using a password or personal id numbers? We aren't especially worried about people using the computer to write essays or play games -- but the budget won't support infinite printer usage, and we've already suffered through one hard disk crash... Thanks Kevin Berland From: <NEUMAN@GUVAX> Subject: Georgetown Catalog of Projects in Electronic Text Date: Thu, 22 Feb 90 17:11 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1830 (2298) In a recent posting on HUMANIST, Bob Kraft generously mentioned Georgetown's project of maintaining a catalogue of archives and projects in machine-readable text. Because he suggested that a progress report would be welcome, I've compiled the following brief sketch. Since April of 1989 we have gathered information (in varying degrees of completeness) on 274 projects in twenty-five different countries. Of these projects, 82 emphasize linguistics and language study, while 192 focus on other disciplines in the humanities. Arranged in geographical order, the entries contain ten categories of information: 1. Identifying Acronym 2. Name and Affiliation of Operation 3. Contact Person 4. Disciplinary Interests 5. Focus (period, location, individual, or genre) 6. Language(s) Encoded 7. Intended Use 8. Format 9. Forms of Access 10. Source(s) of Archival Holdings Because of the flow of correspondence and the lag time in updating entries, the information is always in a state of flux; therefore, we have been reluctant to distribute obsolescent drafts of the catalogue. Nevertheless, Jean Feerick, our Project Coordinator, responds directly to inquiries about archives or disciplines on which we have information, and we are constructing a database that will support dial-in, on-line access. We're grateful for the on-going support we've received from Bob Kraft (who provided the initial vision and the original data for the project), Marianne Gaunt and Bob Hollander of the Rutgers-Princeton Project (a major source of information about specific texts in electronic form), Lou Burnard of the Oxford Text Archive (the primary repository of etexts in the humanities), Ian Lancashire and Willard McCarty for the valuable information in the Humanities Computing Yearbook, and the many project directors who have responded to our surveys and follow-up letters. A complete account of our indebtedness would require a separate file on the listserv. Michael Neuman Georgetown Center for Text and Technology Georgetown University Washington, DC 20057 (202) 687-6096 neuman@guvax.bitnet neuman@guvax.georgetown.edu From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Books on disk Date: Fri, 23 Feb 90 11:56:21 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1831 (2299) I note most of the discussion involves books with accompanying disks. It does not seem clear whether the disks are an extension of the books or an exact copy. At the libraries I work with, the book are available on disk, and all the students and staff have to do is bring a floppy and copy the files to take back to their own machines for research. The licenses include use by all members of the college and the price breaks down to between a penny and a dime per student for the complete works of Shakespeare. Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**) (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET) From: John Baima <D024JKB@UTARLG> Subject: RE: Annotated e-texts, retrieval Date: Fri, 23 Feb 90 10:00 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1832 (2300) In response to Pieter C. Masereeuw and Steven DeRose: Steven DeRose states: "The features you described are basically the extensions of everyday search tools to ***hierarchical*** documents. For example, in most texts sentences and words are demarcated, but not discourse units above the sentence, nor elements smaller than words, such as morphemes. Any scheme which represents these levels should allow annotations at all levels." This is precisely what Lbase allows as a search retrieval engine. Lbase supports hierarchical, recursive, multilingual tagged texts. Recursion is a necessary feature for a retrieval engine because recursion is a common feature. Tags can range from a single character to about 4,000 characters. Lbase allows regular expression like searches on the tags, including specifying agreement between tags on different elements (e.g., give me all instances of an infinitive followed by an indicative, but they have to have the same dictionary form). So far, only Greek, Hebrew and Roman alphabets have been supported, although others could be added and probably will be for the next release. Besides searches, Lbase can also make word concordances based on tags at the word or morpheme level. For example, if one of the tags at the word or morpheme level is the dictionary form, Lbase can make a word concordance based on that dictionary form. While the search engine of Lbase supports all this, there are a couple of problems with making this practical today. One problem is that Lbase runs under MS-DOS and I am limited by 64k segments. Since a search must often backtrack, this size limitation makes it impractical to search an element that is larger than 64k. Thus it is not practical at this time to allow paragraph or larger elements because they could exceed that limit, although there is no built in limitation with the search engine. The second and main problem is that there has never been a standard for encoding such tests. Thus I have several different "drivers" for the different texts that Lbase knows about, but even the format of these texts changes from time to time without warning. Since I am not on any of the TEI committees, I am eagerly awaiting to see what they recommend. Hopefully, they will provide us all with a usable standard. I have had many requests to support brand X file format, but it is simply not economically feasible support a new format to make one sale. (Lbase has never received any outside funding.) One other note. While the Summer Institute of Linguistic's "IT" program helps in creating a text that is tagged at the word or morpheme level, it lacks a search engine. Lbase can search these files also. Lbase also supports the TLG and PHI/CCAT CD-ROM's. If anyone wants more information, please write and I will try to answer. John Baima email:silver@utafll.lonestar.org Silver Mountain Software 7246 Cloverglen Dr. Dallas, TX 75249 (214) 709-6364 From: Tzvee Zahavy <MAIC@UMINN1> Subject: E-Version of Halio article. Date: Wed, 21 Feb 90 21:08:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1833 (2301) Someone announced through Humanist that they would try to get permission to distribute the Halio article so that the debate over IBM vs. MAC could continue on a more informed level. I thought that was a good idea and noticed that my secretary had some time. I do have an E-Version of the article ready to go if the permission can be obtained. Last week Kinkos Copy Center obtained a permission for me from Harper Row over the phone to photocopy several chapters of a book for my mega-course of 400 students in Jewish Studies. Perhaps a phone permission could be obtained for the Halio article. Will the party who volunteered to do so please step forward? --- end of quoted material --- From: HOKE ROBINSON <ROBINSONH@MEMSTVX1> Subject: RE: 3.1071 writing by machine, reading aloud (147) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 90 12:18:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1834 (2302) On reading aloud: I can no longer recall the source, but a professor of mine in Germany said that in classical and medieval times, all reading was aloud, and even had a story of a monk who, having developed the ability to read silently, was suspected of being a witch. Does anyone have the source of this story, or a refutation of it? Hoke Robinson Philosophy Dept. Memphis State Univ. Memphis TN 38152 USA (ROBINSONH@MEMSTVX1.BITNET) From: Norman Zacour <ZACOUR@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Citing theses etc. Date: Thu, 22 Feb 90 21:52:42 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1097 (2303) Matthew Gilmore asks rhetorically why we "cite anything at all, and promptly replies, as "verification and proof of our sources." Might there not be another reason: to acknowledge the work of someone else upon which our own depends? As for the pointlessness of citing a thesis which, by its very nature, is difficult of access, it is difficult to accept this as an excuse for failure to cite or even quote at length, say, unique material drawn especially from out-of-the-way archives, private collections, and the like. It is precisely because material may be difficult of access that it should be drawn to the attention of others. Much the same can be said, mutatis mutandis, about theses - if it contributes to one's study I should think one is obliged to cite it on two grounds, to announce its usefulness and to acknowledge its assistance. Norman Zacour Dept. of History Univ. of Toronto zacour@vm.epas.utoronto.ca From: The Man with the Plan <KEHANDLEY@AMHERST> Subject: Kodak Datashow Date: Thu, 22 Feb 90 15:48 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1098 (2304) About the Kodak Datashow: It only supports IBM CGA mode, I think (certainly not EGA or VGA or Hercules), and it is monochrome. Thus, if you need to differentiate between colors for your application it is not the item to buy. Also, if your program has blue text on a green background, both may map as black to the Datashow, making the text effectively invisible. You should also think hard about the uses you might have for a Data- show. I really don't like looking at the projected image (but I've only seen it with a non-halogen overhead projector). I would recommend only using it for short periods of time (which negates the problem of the crystals heating up and the corresponding loss of contrast in the display). $499 (US) is a good price for the Datashow, though, and I think that DAK has a good return policy (I saw it work well about four years ago). There are better models available now (I think Kodak is out of this business), but they are expensive. I am sorry that I can't quote brand names (I saw a demonstration, but had little to do with the buying end). There is a display that does a number of shades of gray and works with both Macs and IBMs. We are buying one, but it has not yet arrived. The cost was about $1800 (US). We also saw a color display (IBM and Mac), which was far from impressive. You would really have to tweak your program to make the overhead display match the correct colors on your CRT screen. It only displays eight colors, but there should be a 16 color display from the same vendor within the year. The price for the color display was really hefty, $4000-5000, I think. A final note: if you drop any of these on the floor, they break (al- though they may not look broken). Keith Handley User Services Associate, Amherst College Academic Computer Center P.S. I wonder if I broke the Humanist record for number of parentheses in a posting. I will work on fixing my style a bit. From: <NEUMAN@GUVAX> Subject: Variorum Editions Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 11:06 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1835 (2305) A friend is working on a variorum edition of Shakespeare's The Tempest, and he would like to organize the many emendations proposed in a wide range of editions. Can anyone suggest micro-based software (for either an IBM or Mac environment) to simplify the task? Responses sent directly to me will be summarized in a future posting on HUMANIST. Thanks. Mike Neuman Georgetown Center for Text and Technology (202) 687-6096 neuman@guvax.bitnet neuman@guvax.georgetown.edu From: D.Mealand@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: e-Latin Fathers Date: 26 Feb 90 15:48:34 gmt X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1836 (2306) A postgrad working here would be very grateful to know of the existence of any e-texts of Ambrose, Paulinus or Jerome. The recent info on Augustine is good news - it would be even better if more access could be arranged. Please reply to D.Mealand as below. Thanks David M. David Mealand JANET ADDRESS: D.Mealand@uk.ac.edinburgh BITNET ADDRESS: D.Mealand%uk.ac.edinburgh@ac.uk From: <NEUMAN@GUVAX> Subject: Longfellow Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 13:54 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1100 (2307) An electronic version of the poetry of Longfellow is not included on the most recent Shortlist of the Oxford Text Archive, nor is it included on the latest CD-ROM from the Electronic Text Corporation. Can anyone direct me to an electronic Longfellow? Gratefully, Mike Neuman Georgetown neuman@guvax.bitnet neuman@guvax.georgetown.edu From: Terrence Erdt <ERDT@VUVAXCOM> Subject: Kodak Datashow (LCD Panels) Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 13:45 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1101 (2308) Those Humanists following the discussion of the Kodak Datashow may wish to consult _PC Magazine_ (Feb. 27, 1990, v.9, no. 4) which features a survey of LCD Panels. Earning "Editor's Choice" is the ViewFrame II + 2, manufactured by nView Corp. and selling for around $2000. Terry Erdt Villanova University From: Peter Ian Kuniholm <MCG@CORNELLC> Subject: Re: 3.1094 dictionary? flying laptops? limiting Macs? (78) Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 09:58:30 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1837 (2309) Re: Besnier's question about airport security. Usually a boot-up is considered sufficient by most airport folk. However, in Zurich they are unusually hard-nosed, and last summer they ran my Toshiba 1600 right through their scanner. I was sure that was the end of THAT machine, but, no, it works as well as ever. Peter Kuniholm From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Laptops and Airlines Date: Monday, 26 February 1990 1123-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1838 (2310) Normally I take my antique HP Laptop with me everywhere I travel, which has included various places in the US plus Canada, Great Britain, Belgium, Israel and Egypt. Normally, the security checkpoint staff has permitted me to bypass the electronic checker by opening the machine and showing a working screen. For travel to Israel, I was told that the Laptop (and cameras, etc.) had to go through the checking machine, and since I had been in line an hour or so and everyone around me was equally impatient, I did not argue (a knowledgeable Israeli traveler later told me I could have raised a fuss and avoided this -- perhaps). Since there did not seem to be any ill-effects on the Laptop or its software, I actually have occasionally (when in a real hurry) passed it through the security scanner on a couple of later occasions, with no noticeable problems. But usually I try to play it safe and bypass the security scanning machine, and have met with good cooperation from the checkers in most instances. Bob Kraft From: Ken Steele <KSTEELE@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Re: 3.1094 dictionary? flying laptops? limiting Macs? (78) Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 13:34:09 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1839 (2311) Ian Lancashire was kind enough to lend me his Toshiba 286 laptop for a wek while I was forced to be in sunny Florida rather than the drifts of Toronto. While my experience last week was not with an inter-continental flight, it is at least current. In Toronto, security expected me to pass the laptop through the X-Ray machine, and as I had previously been assured and as subsequent diagnostic checks demonstrated, no damage whatsoever occurred to data or programs on the laptop's 20 mb hard disk. In fact, I was treated to a rare view of the inner workings of the machine via the X-Ray monitor, and could tell how much memory was installed and what options were included. I don't think they worried much about the possibility of explosives with a view like that, but then they probably also don't question Canadians en route to Florida in February. The security in Atlanta was a little more suspicious (perhaps it was my Ponte Vedra Beach T-Shirt) and asked me to boot the machine for them, after the X-Ray, but that was all. I am reluctant to trust the X-Ray machine with much, I admit -- although the operators insist it won't harm film under 1000 ASA, I kept my camera and film out of the machine. (Security was more concerned to check the inside of the camera than the laptop). The hard drive was not affected by the X-Ray process, but of course FLOPPY DISKS CAN BE ERASED so whatever you do, keep your backups out of the luggage! Good Luck and have a pleasant trip, as the captain would say. Ken Steele University of Toronto From: "Now that's what I call a *dead* parrot." Subject: Laptops and airlines Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 09:41 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1840 (2312) Niko Besnier asked about laptops on airlines. I have traveled cross-country (USA) several times in the past year, and I have taken software with me. The airlines should have no problem allowing it. Usually I just handed the bag of software to attendants at the metal detector, and they let me pass through with out a problem. In this case, you are leaving the country, so you might want to contact the airlines about any special policies about software/hardware on trans-Atlantic flights. Good luck, and let me know how it turns out. I am going on a trip to Europe this summer for several weeks, so the information would be very helpful. Jim Wilderotter Villanova University 22433177@Vuvaxcom.Bitnet From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: travelling around with a laptop Date: 26 February 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1841 (2313) Two years ago, May to July 1988, I travelled around Europe and the Near East with a laptop (Toshiba 1000), to Italy, Israel, France, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and the UK. The only trouble I had concerned the possible (and illegal) resale of the computer once I was admitted to one of those countries -- I could have made a 300 to 400% profit. I simply had to convince a customs official (whose gaze was more penetrating than any x-ray machine) that I had no intention of selling my computer. No one ever was nervous about my laptop, but then I never resisted the suggestion that it should go through the x-ray machine. I also never had any electronic troubles as a result. I recall having to show that it actually worked, once. In one of those countries I was grilled for 45 minutes by a relay of officers, as I was about to leave, about my purpose for being in the country -- because I had stupidly disposed of all the papers inviting me to a conference there, thus establishing my purpose. On that occasion no one took the slightest notice of my laptop, though it did pass through a machine later. All that said, it should be noted that customs people have a large amount of discretionary authority. If they don't like your looks or answers, then you may be subject to an experience worth recounting later. I find it difficult to be upset with them, however, when I think about what they are trying to prevent from happening on the airplane I am about to board. Yours, Willard McCarty From: judy brugger <J2MX@CORNELLC> Subject: Re: 3.1096 machined writing, reading outloud (67) Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 11:05:35 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1842 (2314) Much of the discussion on reading aloud has focused on children's books, a topic about which I know very little. I do know that in New York City this past winter, marathon readings of both Gertrude Stein and James Joyce were held. I remember in Iowa City (the Mecca of the Midwest) some 15 years ago that a reading of Berryman's Dreamsongs was "staged" ("aisled"?) over the course of several nights in a bar called the Sanc- tuary. Mostly though when I find myself someplace where people are reading aloud, it is at a dinner, party, or other private gathering where some- body recites a cherished poem in an impromptu context, or rummages around in the bookcase to be able to recite without error: "Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness..." Not much seems to get read on the radio anymore-- either prose or poetry. There was a radio station for the visually-impaired in New Orleans that used to read the entire newspaper, including the ads!, every day. I don't know if that's that common though. From: dusknox@skipspc.idbsu.edu (Skip_Knox) Subject: Date: Mon 26 Feb 90 11:43:22 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1843 (2315) On reading aloud in the Middle Ages: I don't have my St. Augustine here, but I sure I recall him writing about this. It was either he or someone he knew who read silently, an activity that was remarkable though not sorcerous. That such an inter- pretation could be placed on silent reading later in the Middle Ages sounds reasonable to me, though I don't know of any source confirming that. -= Skip =- From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: silent and noisy reading Date: 26 February 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1844 (2316) Humanist's logs for July 1989 (HUMANIST LOG8907D) and August (HUMANIST LOG8908B) contain several references to silent and noisy reading. I still think that every member of this group should have all of Humanist at hand. I regularly download Humanist so that I can scan our collected chatter and find such references. (Soon, soon .... but, alas, I cannot tell...) Yours, Willard McCarty From: DJT18@hull.ac.uk Subject: Contributions to ReCALL Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 08:52:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1105 (2317) For distribution to all Humanists, please:- The editors of ReCALL, the journal of the Computers in Teaching Initiative Centre for Modern Languages, are seeking contributions in the form of articles on any aspect of the use of computers in the teaching of languages, including English as a Foreign Language, and Classics. Alternatively, we would welcome reviews or other information about relevant software. For full details please contact June Thompson, CTI Centre for Modern Languages, University of Hull, HU6 7RX, UK. Next issue out April/May - Copy Deadline 31 March. From: hcf1dahl@UCSBUXA.BITNET Subject: Macs in Europe Date: Tue, 27 Feb 90 16:06:26 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1106 (2318) Thanks to all who contributed advice and suggestions on the issue of buying a Macintosh in this country and taking it to Europe. Our Hungarian colleague is much reassured, at least about the technological aspects. Eric Dahlin Univ. of Calif. at Santa Barbara From: "Marjorie (Jorie) Woods" <A014@UORVM> Subject: reading aloud Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 21:38:31 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1845 (2319) St. Augustine comments in his CONFESSIONS about how rare it was that St. Ambrose was able to read silently. Paul Saenger has an article in VIATOR about 1983 or so on the development of silent reading during the Middle Ages; it might have the witch allegation Robinson requested. Marjorie Woods Department of English, University of Rochester BITNET: A014@UORVM INTERNET: A014@VM.CC.ROCHESTER.EDU From: Jim O'Donnell (Penn, Classics) Subject: Augustine and silent reading; other Latin fathers in e-text Date: 26 Feb 90 22:30:19 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1846 (2320) What goes around comes around and bites you on the behind. I posted the original query about modern silent reading, which has evolved into discussion on medieval silent reading, which has evolved into Willard remembering that there was some discussion of this last August, which reminds me that last August it was *I* who posted the news that Augustine gets credit for having detected the invention of silent reading (watching Ambrose do same), but that the issues are more complicated than that and Bernard Knox (interesting to compare to cyberhandle of latest querier) wrote the current standard article in *Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies* c. 1968, showing that knowing *how* to read silently existed far earlier in antiquity; and it is generally agreed (many scholars, see esp. P. Saenger in *Viator* c. 1980) that the habit of silent reading did not significantly exclude reading aloud until much, much, much later. (Inter alia, I'm curious to know when `moving your lips when you read' -- a vestige of reading aloud in a silent reading culture -- began to be something kids get criticized for in school, as a sign of inability to perform the supposedly higher task of reading silently. The most interesting thing I've found since posting my query a couple of weeks ago is a little book by a Cornell professor of the turn of the century, Hiram Corson, *The Voice and Spiritual Education*, making a strong case for teaching `reading aloud' as an essential part of education. Me, I think he's right. Meanwhile, thanks to others who have publicly or privately responded to my query.) Latin fathers (not Aug.) on e-text: situation similar to worse. What CETEDOC has is one thing, likewise Vienna, likewise (linked with CETEDOC) the Corpus Christianorum series, and what an interested user can get his/her hands on for practical use is *quite* another thing. It's discouraging, but if anybody knows of anything about any late antique Latin texts, patristic or otherwise, I'd be delighted to know. My colleague Bob Kraft is the wizard of these things and would be delighted to talk about helping get things into the widest possible circulation. From: Brian Whittaker <BRIANW@YORKVM2> Subject: Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 23:07:05 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1847 (2321) Subject: St. Augustine, in his Confessions, writes of how he came upon his mentor, St. Ambrose, reading silently. This spectacle so fascinated Augustine that he watched for some time as Ambrose went through all the motions of reading, except that he remained silent. Augustine gives this information as one of the remarkable facts about Ambrose. The various monastic Rules, including The Rule of St. Benedict, call for the reading aloud of instructional material by one monk while the others eat in silence (a scene to which much prominence is attached in Umberto Ecco's novel The Name of the Rose and in the film based on the novel). Jean LeClerc, in The Love of Learning and the Desire for God, discusses at length the signicance of reading aloud in the Benedictine tradition. In the library, monks were to read aloud. The carrell would serve a double function, cutting down on the din of others reading and reinforcing the sound of one's own reading. The purpose of reading aloud in this context is so that the reader learns the text not just with his mind but also with his body. The Benedictine is to learn a few texts, but learn them so well that recall is immediate and accurate. As a postscript, I would add that I have had my Old English students chant their declensions and conjugations in class, just as I chanted my Latin conjugations and declensions in high school and just as the monks chanted their Psalms. The technique is dramatically successful. Brian Whittaker Department of English, Atkinson College, York University From: "DAVID KELLY" <dkelly@apollo.montclair.edu> Subject: SILENT READING Date: 27 Feb 90 16:31:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1848 (2322) The passage referred to by one correspondent is from the Confessions of St. Augustine. He came upon St. Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, reading silently and was amazed. "Sed cum legebat, oculi ducebantur per paginas et cor intellectulm rimabatur, vox autem et lingua quiescebant....sic eum legentem vidimus tacite et aliter numquam...(Book 6, 3, 3). David Kelly, Classics, Montclair State College From: Norman Zacour <ZACOUR@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Silent reading Date: Tue, 27 Feb 90 17:54:40 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1849 (2323) "When he was reading, he would draw his eyes across the pages and his heart searched for the sense; but his voice and tongue kept silent. Often...we saw him reading silently, never otherwise...." Augustine, Confessions, 6.3.3. Referring to Ambrose, of course. Norman Zacour Dept. of History Univ. of Toronto zacour@vm.epas.utoronto.ca From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: also consider ordinary speaking Date: 27 February 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1850 (2324) You know me, always trying to think of ways to subvert discussions so as to bring in the technological, computational perspective. This is another such attempt, but also an excuse to mention what I take to be a splendid book on a subject closely related to Humanist's medium. John J. Gumperz, in _Discourse Strategies_ (Cambridge, 1982), notes that the sociolinguistic study of ordinary conversational language was not really possible until the advent of modern technology allowed spoken discourse to be captured for transcription. For this reason, Gumperz wrote 8 years or more ago, some very basic questions about this sort of discourse are yet to be addressed. One of the things that makes for interesting questions is the cultural and other diversities very common now, especially in urban centres. To a much greater extent than ever before, people are obliged to communicate a great deal about themselves and their situation in order to establish common ground (or apparent common ground) with others. Now it strikes me that electronic "conversation" makes for a very fruitful application of sociolinguistics: you've got the diversity in spades, you've got a medium that depends crucially on command of language -- all other social cues are absent -- and you've got it all already transcribed! Does anyone know if a sociolinguist has tackled electronic discourse? Any suggestions? Any sociolinguists out there want a very fine research project? Yours, Willard McCarty From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Books on disk Date: Fri, 23 Feb 90 11:56:21 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1108 (2325) [Mr. Hart has asked that I republish this note, which he regards as having been improperly buried amidst some others of different subject. --W.M.] I note most of the discussion involves books with accompanying disks. It does not seem clear whether the disks are an extension of the books or an exact copy. At the libraries I work with, the book are available on disk, and all the students and staff have to do is bring a floppy and copy the files to take back to their own machines for research. The licenses include use by all members of the college and the price breaks down to between a penny and a dime per student for the complete works of Shakespeare. Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**) (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET) From: "N.R. Coombs" <nrcgsh@ultb.isc.rit.edu> Subject: (#100) Announcing world distance ed conference 118 lines Date: Tue, 27 Feb 90 10:29:15 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1109 (2326) [deleted quotation] THE AMERICAN CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF DISTANCE EDUCATION announces a preconference workshop RESEARCH IN DISTANCE EDUCATION: SETTING A GLOBAL AGENDA FOR THE NINETIES In Caracas, Venezuela --- Fri.-Sun. Nov. 2-4, 1990 in conjunction with the XV WORLD CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION One of the major goals of ICDE is to promote and conduct research and scholarship on distance education. A workshop on international research in distance education sponsored by the American Center for the Study of Distance Education in conjunction with ICDE will be held November 2, 3, and 4, immediately prior to the World Conference in Caracas. The objectives are to exchange information on current research initiatives around the world, and to lay the foundation for future collaborative research. There will be three days of thought-provoking sessions, information-sharing time, and idea-generating discussion with world leaders in distance education research. It is hoped that projects conceived at the workshop will help formulate ICDE's agenda for research for the period 1990-1992 and will qualify for preliminary funding as official ICDE projects. Participants should plan to bring a short, written statement of their research ideas. -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. DISTED CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: <YOUNGC@CLARGRAD> Subject: Re: Laptops and airlines Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 10:52 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1851 (2327) Niko Besnier asks about laptops and airport security systems. This is an issue that comes up fairly regularly on Compuserve's IBM Hardware Forum. When it does come up, consensus seems quickly to be reached on 3 points: Letting the laptop and disks go through the scanner is better than handing it through, where it may get oo close not to xrays but the machine that produces them. 2. There's no reason to think that floppy disks or hard disks get damaged by the scanner. 3. You'll almost certainly be asked to fire the machine up to prove that it's a 'pute. Best wishes, Charles Young Department of Philosophy Claremont Graduate School From: Tom Thomson <tom@nw.stl.stc.co.uk> Subject: re: Laptops and airlines Date: Tue, 27 Feb 90 09:57:02 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1852 (2328) I guess Niko Besnier shouldn't worry too much. I buzz about Europe lugging an Amstrad portable and have no problems with airport security. The X-Ray machines are not going to hurt hard discs or floppy discs; but there are some airport security guys that think they will and will ask you whether there's anything vital on the discs before you put it through the machine - if you say "yes" they bypass the machine but demand you boot it up and ask for a demo of something [carry a simple game for that]. Mostly my machine just goes through the X-ray gadget and no demo is wanted. I think I do well because I don't have any batteries in the machine, just carry a mains adaptor (batteries look like packed explosive on the x-ray, I'm told; colleagues who carry batteries in the machine get asked for demos almost always). From: TRACY LOGAN <LOGANT@lafayett> Subject: something for query column, possibly Date: Tue, 27 Feb 90 08:36:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1111 (2329) One of our users seeks leads on translations of Mozart's operas (those originally in Italian). Most libretti are too "poetic" and not literal enough for her needs. Ellen Bleiler's translation of Don Giovanni suits her needs beautifully. Can anyone supply information on equivalent translations of Idomeneo, Le nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan tutte, and La clemenza di Tito? If not the entire libretto, then translations of the duets alone? Please reply to LOGANT@LAFAYETT From: Robin Smith <RSMITH@KSUVM> Subject: Ancient reading Date: Tue, 27 Feb 90 19:41 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1853 (2330) Last fall's postings on HUMANIST concerning reading aloud throughout history were, as I remember, fairly thorough in covering the main sources. But Hoke Robinson might find W. V. Harris, _Ancient Literacy_ (Harvard UP, 1989) at least of passing interest (though it won't answer the story about the medieval silent monk--a story which sounds suspicious to me, unless it's the very early Middle Ages). And if Hoke Robinson should happen to be reading this, Hi there. From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1107 silent reading; electronic discourse (184) Date: Wed, 28 Feb 90 00:46:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1854 (2331) And is there not work that shows that even with silent reading the vocal chords are moving subvocally, so to say? That the sound is suppressed but not the physical activity of pronunciation? That has been measured, I believe, so that it implies that the body does the reading too. Kessler From: "HALPORN,JAMES,CLAS" <halpornj@ucs.indiana.edu> Subject: HUMANIST: READING ALOUD Date: Wed, 28 Feb 90 10:03:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1855 (2332) Like Jim O'Donnell I am amused (but also bored) by the reappearance of last year's silent reading contest to see how many humanists have read Augustine's *Confessions* (through Book IX at least). On reading *aloud*, you might consider the novel by Raymond Jean, *La Lectrice*, Arles: Editions Actes Sud, 1986 (not translated into Eng.) or the even more amusing movie based on the book, also called *La Lectrice* and now available for VCR. Jean chose as the epigraph for his novel this remark of Jacques Lacan: "Il y a dans toute femme quelque chose d'e'gare'... et dans tout homme quelque chose de ridicule." J.W. Halporn (Classics/CompLit, Indiana U.) (HALPORNJ@UCS.INDIANA.EDU) From: onomata@bengus (nissan ephraim) Subject: reading aloud. Date: Wed, 28 Feb 90 17:08:53-020 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1856 (2333) The Hebrew verb for "reading" is qara, that is the same for "shouting". "Naming" is "qara [his name] ..." Learning traditional texts by reading them aloud (or, at least, by buzzing them aloud) is a standard that still survives. In her Judeo-German diary, Glueckel of Hammeln states that she taught herself to forget about the city she was born in, and resign to life in a small town, by listening to her father-in-law's humming his daily lesson. Moving lips while praying is a related practice, and orthopraxis manuals used to prescribe that a person that finds moving lips silently difficult, could hum the text, instead, provided this does not disturb other persons also tring to concentrate. Seemingly, reading aloud ("letting one's ears hear what one's mouth says"), or, anyway, not completely silently, has to do with helping concentration, in the case of Judaism, rather than with stressing oratorial qualities of the text. Would experts comment on this? Ephraim Nissan BITNET: onomata@bengus From: Bronwen Heuer <BRONWEN@ccvm.sunysb.edu> Subject: Re: 3.1104 reading, silent and noisy (70) Date: Wed, 28 Feb 90 12:00:50 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1857 (2334) To share just one of the more delightful traditions among my groups of friends is an annual holiday gathering where A Child's Christmas in Wales is read aloud. [despite my welsh name, I was not the organizer of it and am probably the only welsh person at the gathering]. It is well loved by people of all ages, religions, and ethnicities....and I think everyone wishes we did more readings together. bronwen heuer room 137 phone(516)632-8054 coordinator of user services computing center state university of ny bitnet: bronwen@sbccvm stony brook, ny 11794 internet: bronwen@ccvm.sunysb.edu "I arrange things by cosmo-equational mathematics, that's how I swing." Sun Ra From: CHAA006@VAXA.RHBNC.AC.UK Subject: Multinational character-set support on IBM PS/2s Date: Wed, 28 FEB 90 15:03:28 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1113 (2335) The Department of French at RHBNC is considering replacing its Digital VAXmates with IBM PS/2s. For this department, the great advantage of the VAXmate was its ability to compose accented characters, using a two or three-key `compose' sequence (e.g. to achieve e-acute, one entered <compose> `e' `acute'). The PS/2, as standard, does not appear to possess such a feature; instead, one creates accented characters using obscure <ALT> key combinations (the <ALT> key followed by three digits from the numeric cluster). We are sure that most humanists would not tolerate this nonsense, and wonder how they configure their PS/2s so as to achieve direct accented-character entry. We should add that we would want to continue using a U.S. QWERTY keyboard, not migrate to an AZERTY keyboard, and that we would want a general solution which is applicable both to simple text editors such as PC-EDT, as well as more sophisticated word-processors such as `Microsoft Word' or `Word Perfect'. Your comments would be much appreciated. La Section de Frangais ` RHBNC envisage de remplacer ses Digital VAXmates par des IBM PS/2S. Pour la Section de Frangais, le grand avantage des VAXmates itait de permettre l'accentuation avec deux ou trois touches (par exemple, pour rialiser +i;, on utilise +compose;, +e;, et +';). Le PS/2, parant-il, n'est pas doti d'une telle faciliti; on crie les caracthres accentuis avec des combinaisons obscures (la touche +alt;, suivie de trois autres touches). Nous sommes persuadis que la plupart des humanistes ne tolireraient pas un tel rituel, et nous serions intiressis de connantre la manihre dont ils arrangent leurs PS/2s pour crier les caracthres accentuis de fagon plus directe. Il convient d'ajouter que nous aimerions continuer ` utiliser le clavier amiricain +QWERTY; pluttt que d'adopter le +AZERTY;, et qu'il nous faudrait une solution ginirale qui s'adapte ` des iditeurs simples tels que PC-EDT en mjme temps qu'` des traitements de texte plus sophistiquis, tels que `Microsoft Word' ou `Word perfect'. Vos observations seraient trhs bienvenues! Nous vous en remercions vivement ` l'avance. From: Donald Spaeth 041 339-8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Subject: Call for information on history teaching software Date: Wed, 28 Feb 90 14:10:05 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1114 (2336) The UK Centre for History and Computing (CTICH) was established in 1989 to serve as a clearinghouse for information on the use of computers in higher education. Similar centres were set up in other humanities subjects, including Literature, Modern Languages, Music and the Humanities in general. (A longer description of the Centre's activities has been provided for the Listserver.) CTICH is now collecting information about historical software, teaching datasets and computer-based teaching materials, which will serve as the basis for a 'Guide to Software' for the entire historical community. The first edition of the Guide, to be published this spring, will simply be a handlist of materials which have come to our attention, but subsequent editions will include reviews, focusing particularly on the suitability of software for teaching history. If you have written, are using or know of software or other materials for computer-based history teaching, we would very much appreciate it if you could draw these to our attention. Software may either be either commercial or educational, general purpose or devoted specifically to history/humanities teaching. We are particularly interested in hearing of software developed outside the UK, e.g. in Europe or North America. Types of software of interest include database, spreadsheet, text retrieval/analysis, hypertexts, simulations and teaching datasets. A brief form describing the kind of information we need follows. The first 3 questions are the most important; if you don't know complete details, please just send what information you have. SURVEY OF SOFTWARE FOR COMPUTER-BASED HISTORY TEACHING 1. Name of software/material 2. Computer (and operating system) it runs under 3. Name and address of author, publisher, distributor or other contact (also telephone number and email address, if known) 4. Cost 5. Minimum technical requirements (e.g. hard disk, 512K RAM, EGA graphics) 6. Brief description (4-6 lines), with comments if you've used it 7. Would you be willing to write us a longer review of the package? Many thanks for your assistance. Please send details of software to the following address. Donald Spaeth Research Officer Centre for History and Computing email: ctich @ uk.ac.glasgow.vme (from JANET sites) ctich @ vme.glasgow.ac.uk (from BITNET/EARN sites) postal address: History Computing Laboratory 2 University of Gardens University of Glasgow Glasgow G12 8QQ UK From: N.J.Morgan@vme.glasgow.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.1094 dictionary? flying laptops? limiting Macs? (78) Date: Wed, 28 Feb 90 04:36:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1858 (2337) re flying laptops Yes it will go through x-ray - it did no harm to the Toshiba with a 20Mb harddisc that I have flown with - you will probably also be asked to switch it on to demonstrate that it works. Just make sure no one trys to attack it with a screwdriver..... Nicholas Morgan University of Glasgow From: "Patrick W. Conner" <U47C2@WVNVM> Subject: 3.1094 dictionary? flying laptops? limiting Macs? (78) Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 14:33:06 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1859 (2338) I think Kevin Berland's problem of student's using the computers for other projects, using up laserprinter resources, and endangering the hard disk, would be better handled administratively than technically (i.e., forbid use you consider inappropriate and take offenders rights to the machines away from them), but it's easy to handle technically. Put HyperCard on your harddisk, set a password for the home stack (see your manual on protecting a stack), then choose HyperCard as your startup application. When the machine is turned on, it will begin by booting the hard disk, and then it will automatically open hypercard, but will demand the password before allowing an operator access. If you know the password, you enter hypercard, quit it and open PageMaker or whatever. This can be gotten around fairly easily by booting the machine with a system disk in the internal drive, but almost no one who is used to turning the machine on and booting it from the harddrive will think of that. You might also check places like CompuServe for protection software, but it seems to me that a reminder is all you really need; get too forceful in your protection and you'll have thrown down a gauntlet. From: edwards@cogsci.berkeley.edu (Jane Edwards) Subject: Re: 3.1107 silent reading; electronic discourse (184) Date: Tue, 27 Feb 90 22:58:55 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1860 (2339) I have heard of two projects relating to email discourse. One with Alessandro Duranti, Anthropology, UCLA, raduran@uclasscf.bitnet Another with Ron Scollon, at the University of Fairbanks, Alaska. I don't know any further details. -Jane Edwards (edwards@cogsci.berkeley.edu) From: "Michael E. Walsh" <WALSH@IRLEARN> Subject: Re: 3.1059 Internetting outside N. America (90) Date: Tue, 27 Feb 90 14:32:22 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1861 (2340) On Internet access in Europe: The TCP/IP protocols are widely used throughout Europe for Campus-wide networking but the question of wider access from the Campus is both a technical and a political question. Some countries and regions, such as the Nordic countries (Nordunet) support TCP/IP based interconnectivity, as well as other protocols. An initiative call RIPE (Reseaux IP Europeens) was started late in '89 to begin effective coordination between the various internet 'islands' in Europe, and to ensure coordinated links with the US. This is necessary both to provide better connections for network users and for technical reasons, to avoid the chaos which would follow if connections were made arbitrarily. This activity has lead very quickly to the establishment of a European Internet, based on resource sharing agreements between organisations, with formal connections to the US. Whether one has access to it from your local institution network will depend on local and national circumstances. European international networking is seeing much development at the moment. If anyone has specific questions I'll try to answer them directly rather than tire Humanists with local technical and political detail. regards, Michael Walsh. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Kodak DataShow Reviews Date: Thursday, 1 March 1990 0020-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1862 (2341) Thanks to everyone who responded to my request for an evaluation of the original Kodak DataShow projector that is being "remaindered" now by DAK Industries for $499. All users agree that the device overheats when used with a normal overhead projector (someone mentioned that using a cool running overhead would help, also placing a thick glass pane between the overhead and the device was suggested). The first 10 to 15 minutes are fine, then the contrast starts to fade. It can be adjusted usefully for another 15 minutes or so, but then the device must be turned off (or removed from the heat). Presumably by adding circulation or reducing the heat that reaches the device, the useful time can be prolonged. Similar devices without the overheating problem retail in the $1000 range (and upward, for color projection). Thus, in some situations, a $499 machine with overheating problems might be worth considering, but let the buyer be forewarned. Will I invest? Probably not, since even $499 is difficult to come up with these days for a device that is not really a necessity, but a possible convenience. But I will perhaps notify our AudioVisual people of the situation. Currently, they have nothing at all for projecting computer screen output! Bob Kraft (CCAT at U Penn) From: Nancy Duffrin <NDUFFRIN@ccvm.sunysb.edu> Subject: Re: 3.1101 LCD panels: ViewFrame II+2 (23) Date: Thu, 1 Mar 90 16:24:38 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1863 (2342) The microlab has PC magazine. My subscription ran out. By the time you go to purchase a viewer, the review will be out of date. They change so fast. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: MegaWriter/ChiWriter Date: Wednesday, 28 February 1990 2356-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1864 (2343) The plot thickens. Last week I reported on a letter sent by ChiWriter that seemed to be withdrawing the use of ChiWriter from Paraclete Software, which handles MegaWriter. The ChiWriter letter said that henceforth, ChiWriter would handle itself, and alluded to perceived problems with the operations at Paraclete - MegaWriter. This week a Federal Express packet arrived from Paraclete containing a "Press Release" on the 4th year celebration by Paraclete of its "serving the computer industry with its unique software products." The rest of the two page (single spaced) "Press Release" deals with the relation of MegaWriter to "ChiWriter 'The Scholar's Edition'" -- from which MegaWriter developed -- and with support and development of MegaWriter. Users are urged to register ChiWriter "The Scholar's Edition" and/or MegaWriter with Paraclete, and a new version of MegaWriter is promised "very soon." Obviously, something is going on behind these scenes, but I do not know what. I have good working relationships with Charlie Thrall of Paraclete, and can probably get his side of the story if that is of any use to any HUMANISTs. But at present, it seems that Paraclete is going ahead with development and support of MegaWriter, while claims are being made from the original ChiWriter developers (?) that ChiWriter will be withdrawn from Paraclete and marketed by the originators. Any light from other sources? Bob Kraft (CCAT at U of Penn) From: LAPLANTE@CC.UMONTREAL.CA Subject: RE: 3.1113 character sets on PS/2? (46) Date: Thu, 1 Mar 90 10:05:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1865 (2344) What you seem to want looks a lot like the standard DOS 3.3 French Canadian keyboard emulator. It is a small program, part of the DOS as released by IBM (actually it is a more general program that allows to emulate different keyboards), that is activated when you boot by a call from CONFIG.SYS. Once loaded, this program allows the user to switch from the emulated keyboard back to the American original keyboard and vice-versa at any time. In case you don't know, the French Canadian keyboard is a QWERTY keyboard that allows for the use of all the French diacritics that are part of the extended ASCII (that is, almost all of them) without the need to ask them through the use of the numeric keypad. You should be able to get the program you need (KEYBOARD.COM) from your IBM dealer as well as the stickers to customize the keyboards. Benoit Laplante Departement de sociologie Universite de Montreal LAPLANTE@CC.UMONTREAL.CA LAPLANTE@UMTLVR.BITNET From: HAHNE@UTOREPAS Subject: Re.: 3.1113 Multinational character-set support IBM PC's Date: 1 Mar 90 10:19:43-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1866 (2345) The question of how to enter accented characters on IBM PC's was raised by CHAA006@VAXA.RHBNC.AC.UK. Unfortunately there is no universally accepted solution for all software. There are several ways the problem has been dealt with, any of which are more convenient than using the <ALT> plus number key combination: 1. Keystroke macros. Using a shareware program like Newkey or a commercial one like Prokey, you can assign any sequence of keys to any other key. You could set up the <ALT> keys to produce all of the accented characters. With Word Perfect 5, you would use these macros to automatically operate the the "Compose" feature which allows you to enter non-ASCII characters. In Word Perfect version 4, you could assign the <ALT> and <CNTL> keys to represent other characters, including the extended ASCII characters. 2. Alternate keyboards. Some programs allow you to switch to a completely new keyboard layout on the fly, thus allowing entry of special characters not found on the normal keyboard. This is available in Word Perfect 5, Nota Bene, Megawriter, T3, etc. 3. Dead keys are used by some programs such as Nota Bene. In this case you press a special key which creates an accent but does not move the cursor. When you enter a vowel, the combination character is produced on the screen. 4. Other programs allow you to enter the vowel and the acccent and automatically produce the combination character on the screen. This is similar to what you are used to on the VAXmate. This method is used by LIBRARY MASTER, a textual database manager with multilingual capabilities and automatic bibliography generation. You enter the vowel, then press the overstrike key, then the accent and the accented character is produced on the screen. Printer character translation tables make sure that these special characters print out properly. A similar arrangement is used by Scripture Fonts, for using Greek and Hebrew with Word Perfect. Harry Hahne <HAHNE@UTOREPAS> Wycliffe College, University of Toronto From: "Pieter C. Masereeuw" <PIETER@ALF.LET.UVA.NL> Subject: RE: Multinational character-set support on IBM PS/2s Date: Thu, 1 Mar 90 15:47 MET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1867 (2346) In reply to the query about Multinational character-sets on PS/2 machines (I deleted the mail and don't remember the sender's name): I made a solution for that problem for ordinary PC-s by making a small modification of the BIOS keyboard driver. To make an accented letter, you type the accent (single quote, double quote, tilde, and so on) and then the letter, just like we did when typewriters were still with us. The program (called DEADKEYS) works with any MS-DOS application that does not redefine the BIOS driver (and most standard applications don't do that). It was designed to work with the american keyboard. If it does not work for PS/2 machines (whether or not with OS/2), it should not be too hard to adapt it. Let me know if you are interested in a (free) copy of the (MASM) source. Pieter C. Masereeuw University of Amsterdam Computer Dept. of the Faculty of Arts pieter@alf.let.uva.nl From: RKENNER@Vax2.Concordia.CA Subject: French Characters on PC's Date: Thu, 1 Mar 90 14:05 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1868 (2347) For those desiring an easy way to enter French characters from the keyboard on an IBM, I am afraid that I have bad news. Unless someone posts information I have not come across, there is no generic way to enter these characters. Many programs will come up with their own routines for entering the characters, but they are seldom standard. The [ALT] + ascii code combination does not work from within all program either. I feel that the designers of the PC would subconciously rather that we all just change our languages to adapt to 26 Roman letters with no diacritics. For those of us that insist, they were kind enough to provide some extra characters for most of the European languages as part of the built-in character set. (In that they must be applauded, as most computers of the time did not even provide this.). No one ever gave any thought to entering these characters from the keyboard. If you are interested, I have written a routine in BASIC which can allow for keyboard entry of French characters, using a two-keystroke approach: letter + accent. It can easily be adapted to other languages, but will only be helpful in original programming. It will not help you with your text editor or word processor. (You face an even greater problem in getting printers to all agree on how to print the characters.) Roger Kenner Concordia University, Montreal RKENNER@VAX2.CONCORDIA.CA From: N_EITELJORG@cc.brynmawr.edu Subject: Re: 3.1103 flying laptops (152) Date: Tue, 27 Feb 90 01:08:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1119 (2348) Regarding laptops and film at the x-ray counter. I agree that you'll most likely find that you need only turn on the computer and show that something is on the screen. For film, all should realize that x-rays on film are cumulative, as they are on us. Even slow film, if exposed too often, especially if it happens to pass through the machine at the same angle, can be ruined. Also, many x-ray machines in out-of-the-way places are much too strong. If the photos really matter, a double-strength lead-foil bag is cheap insurance. Nick Eiteljorg From: James McFarlane <G050@CPC865.EAST-ANGLIA.AC.UK> Subject: Workstations Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 17:08:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1120 (2349) Top priority for me in devising a workable Humanist workstation would be the provision of a sensible Humanist keyboard. The existing standard full-size keyboards are - within my limited experience, admittedly - quite ludicrous when seen from the viewpoint of the lettrist ser. The numeric keypad uses up more than 10 percent of the available keyboard in giving me useless duplication, either (a) an extra set of number keys when my purposes are perfectly adequately met by the number keys along the top row, or (b) with `Num Lock' off, a second and wholly superfluous set of cursor keys and others - such as PgUp and PgDn, etc - which are already there on the keyboard. Moreover, one doesn't have to look very far elsewhere on the keyboard to find other instances of conspicuous duplication (like the mathematical operators) which I have to assume are of positive help to the mathematician or statistician but which I could happily do without. Instead of this (to me as a humanist) wasteful provision, what I would dearly like is some kind of `alphabetic pad', preferably programmable, to give me a wider range of common international alphabetic characters - those with accents and other diacritics and the like. If the then available keys were all fully shiftable (with Alt, Shift and Control), I would have another forty-four characters available on a one-stroke basis - a marvellous extra for anyone who regularly (or even occasionally) writes in or quotes from a foreign language. But - you may ask - why don't I simply re-configure the keyboard within my regular word-processing package to make the numeric keyboard do just what I have suggested? I can only report what happens in WordPerfect (ver.5.0); and I wait eagerly to hear from colleagues whether other packages do differently. If I re-configure the _figures_ of the numeric keypad, I also lose the standard figures along the top row and am left entirely numberless; if I re-configure the cursor (etc) keys on the numeric keypad, I lose all the other standard cursor (etc) keys as well. Both ways I lose out. I find myself driven to another and rather messy solution: instead of re- configuring a range of individual _keys_ within the one keyboard setup, I have configured two separate _keyboards_ and written a short macro to toggle between them. Taken individually and separately, both of these keyboards are deficient; together they make reasonable sense, given my requirements. But I resent the inelegance of it all, and I yearn for the simplicity of an `alphabetic pad'. May I enquire whether others have found a more acceptable way of dealing with this? James McFarlane. Univ East Anglia UK g050@cpc865.uea.ac.uk From: Sheizaf Rafaeli (313) 665 4236 21898MGR at MSU Subject: Date: 1 March 1990, 00:11:19 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1869 (2350) Re: McCarty's cite of Gumperz. The use of communication to deal with diversity, and e-mail. I believe you hit the nail on the head. Though I'm not familiar with Gumperz, he, too, has a point. E-mail is indeed studied from this perspective, including some rather quatitatively inclined content analyses in the communication research literature. Look for the work of Ronald Rice, Charles Steinfield, Janet Fulk, L. Hellerstein, myself and others. To make a presumptious collective statement, we are interested in- (and have been looking at-) the use of such media and the communication situations fostered by these media in relation to diversity, emotions, etc. Are there any others (in the humanities) we should know about? Sheizaf Rafaeli From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: humanists on e-mail Date: 27 February 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1870 (2351) This in response to Sheizaf Rafaeli, above. I repeat Dr. Rafaeli's call for the names of humanists who are working or have worked on electronic discourse. I know of only a few. Walter Ong, _Orality and Literacy_, may be well enough known not to require mention. Also see Michael Heim, _Electric Language: A Philosophical Study of Word Processing_ (Yale), and his article, "Grassi's Experiment: The Renaissance Through Phenomenology", _Research in Phenomenology_ 18 (1988): 233-59 and ff, which has some fascinating hints; Richard A. Lanham, "The Extraordinary Convergence: Democracy, Technology, Theory, and the University Curriculum" _South Atlantic Quarterly_ 89 (1990): 27-50. Many things stretch further into the background, e.g., Harold A. Innis, _Empire and Communication_, and of course Roman Jakobson's work, conveniently gathered into _Language in Literature_ (Belknap). If I may also hazard a broad statement -- and what else is Humanist for? -- I think we need to know about several things in order to understand e-mail: the nature of "computer-mediated communication"; the sociology and social psychology of electronic communities; the rhetorical qualities and linguistics of electronic text; and what else? More fundamentally, perhaps, we need to have some notion of text adequate to the swiftly moving bitstream of chatter. This is a very new medium for a very old activity. To me this suggests that (a) our old wisdom about language and literature is called into play, and (b) we must remember that style and content, medium and message, are finally inseparable. Suggestions? Comments? Yours, Willard McCarty From: Roland Hutchinson <R.RDH@Macbeth.Stanford.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1109 distance education conference (57) Date: Wed, 28 Feb 90 19:31:22 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1871 (2352) Okay, I'll rise to the bait. What in Sam Hill is Distance Education? Roland Hutchinson Vistiing Specialist in Early Music Department of Music Montclair State College Upper Montclair, NJ 07043 INTERNET: r.rdh@macbeth.stanford.edu BITNET: r.rdh%macbeth.stanford.edu@stanford ------- From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Ca se comprend ?" Date: Wed, 28 Feb 90 22:59:09 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1872 (2353) With all due respect to my fellow polyglots, did anyone else have some difficulty deciphering "CHAA006"'s French (28 Feb. 1990)? What kind of keyboard are they using over there? Regards, Joel D. Goldfield From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: HUMANIST Societies update7 Date: Wednesday, 28 February 1990 2319-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1123 (2354) Unless there is a popular outcry, or significant new material, this will be the last "update" on the list of scholarly societies represented by HUMANISTs. It is a formidable collection! If there is further information regarding such things as electronic addresses or supported computer related activities, I will add it to the list. But the question that needs to be addressed now is whether to do something with the list -- beyond depositing it on the ListServer -- and if so, what? I have quenched my own thirst for this information, and gladly hand the results over to whomever might want to pursue it further! Bob Kraft (CCAT at U Penn) LIST OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES REPRESENTED BY HUMANISTs (2/28/90) + indicates added since last version (update6) of the list. Information desired: (1) Name of Society/Group, (2) Notice of any computer related activities such as program segments and exhibits, electronic publications, reviews and information about computer related scholarship/research, (3) Electronic contact address, if any. Thank you. Bob Kraft American Academy of Advertising [Bern] American Academy of Religion (some special computer program sections at annual meetings; cooperation with SBL) American Anthropological Association (see ANTHRO-L@UBVM ListServer) [Zubrow] American Association for Artificial Intelligence [Kulas; contact AIMAGAZINE@AAAI.ORG, MEMBERSHIP@AAAI.ORG] American Association for Public Opinion Research [Bern] American Association of University Presses (much computer talk) [Perry] American Conference on Irish Studies [Cahalan; see GAELIC-L and FWAKE-L ListServers] American Comparative Literature Association [Lavagnino] +American Council of Learned Societies (articles in Newsletter) [umbrella organization for many of the major societies] American Dialect Society ("making use of computer technology") [Maynor] American Folklore Society (has computer applications section) [Glazer] American Historical Association ("computers in history" things) + [Knox, Jensen; contact Janice REIFF@CWRU] American Library Association [Jacobs] American Musicological Society (creating database of texts) [Mathiesen (Perry)] American Oriental Society [Wujastyk] American Philological Association (archive of texts, editorial board for non-print publications, exhibits at annual meetings) American Philosophical Association (has committee on computer use and subcommittee on electronic texts; program sessions) [Owen; see ACH Newsletter 11.2(1989) 13] American Political Science Association [Jassel] American Psychological Association: Consumer Psychology, Media Psychology, and Personality and Social Psychology divisions [Bern] American Schools of Oriental Research (computer committee and some attention to program section, displays; cooperation with SBL) American Society for Aesthetics [Hancher; contact Roger Shiner = RASH@UALTAMTS] American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies [Cope ENCOPE@LSUVM, Dill, Wolf, MacNeil] [note also the new 18th c list = C18-L@PSUVM (Kevin Berland)] +American Society for Information Science (computer oriented) [Cover] American Society of Church History (not much computer involvement) [Zinn] American Society of Papyrologists (close cooperation with APA) [Kraft] American Theological Library Association (bibliographic databases) [Harbin] Archaeological Institute of America (various computer activities) [Walsh, Kuniholm] Aristotelian Society [Smith] Associated Writing Programs [RKessler] Association canadienne des sociologues et des anthropologues de langue francaise (e-network) [Hamel, Laplante; contact ACSALF@UQUEBEC] Association des demographes du Quebec (e-network) [Hamel; contact ADQ@UQUEBEC] Association for Asian Studies (occasional panel, newsletter column) [Parker] Association for Canadian and Quebec Literatures [Warkentin] Association for Computational Linguistics [Kulas; contact WALKER@FLASH.BELLCORE.COM] Association for Computers and the Humanities Association for Computing Machinery [Kulas; contact ACM, 11 West 42nd St, NYC 10036, 212-869-7440] Association for History and Computing [Spaeth] Association for Institutional Research (e-newsletter) [Flaherty; contact IRMUFFO@VTM1, CHULAK@FSU (membership)] +Association for Jewish Studies [Zahavy] Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing Association for Women in Computing Association Internationale Bible et Informatique [AIBI Network, contact IWML@UKC.AC.UK (Lambert)] Association of Public Data Users [Jacobs] Association of Canadian University Teachers of English [Warkentin] Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute [Wujastyk] Bibliographical Society [Warkentin] Bibliographical Society of Canada [Warkentin] Canadian Association for Irish Studies [Cahalan] Canadian Association of Public Data Users [Humphrey, Piovesan, Ruus; see ListServer CAPDU-L@ULATAVM] Canadian Information Processing Society [Swenson] +Canadian Philosophical Association [Owen Canadian Society for Renaissance Studies [Warkentin] Canadian Society for the History of Rhetoric [Warkentin] Canadian Society for the Study of Religion (electronic address book) [contact HANS@MUN (Rollmann) or (Tom) PARKHILL@UNB] Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (occasional computer session) [Hurd] +Canadian Theological Society (no organized computer activity) [Potworowski = CPOTWOR@vax2.concordia.ca] +Catholic Biblical Association (lists email addresses of members) [Cover] Cognitive Science Society [Kulas; contact Alan Lesgold, LRDC, U. Pittsburgh, PA 15260] College Composition and Communication [Cahalan] College Music Society [Perry] COMMUNIK -- reseau de chercheurs en communication (e-network) [Hamel; contact COMMUNIK@UQUEBEC] Computer Society of the IEEE [Kulas; contact 1730 Mass Ave, Washington DC 20036-1903] Consortium for Computers in the Humanities / Consortium pour ordinateurs en sciences humains +Early Music America [Hutchinson] EDUC -- reseau de chercheurs en education (e-network) [Hamel; contact EDUC@UQUEBEC] EDUCOM [Swenson] +Electronic Publishing Special Interest Group (Newsletter) [Cover] EURALEX -- European Association for Lexicography [(McCarty)] European Ayurvedic Society [Wujastyk] +Graphic Communications Association (computer oriented) [Cover] Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas [Wujastyk] International Association for Neo-Latin Studies [Warkentin] International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) [Jacobs, Ruus] International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature [Cahalan] International Association for the Study of Traditional Asian Medicine [Wujastyk] International Congress on Medieval Studies (sessions, workshops) [Zinn] International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (one sponsor of the Computer Assisted Tools for Septuagint Studies project at the Univ. of Penn and at the Hebrew Univ. in Jerusalem) [Kraft] International Society for Contemporary Legend Research [Glazer] International Society for the History of Rhetoric [Warkentin] International Society for Humor Studies [Glazer] International Society of Anglo-Saxonists [Conner, ed ANSAXNET; contact U47C2@WVNVM] Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) [Jacobs] Linguistic Society of America [Hancher, Langendoen; contact Margaret Reynolds = ZZLSA@GALLUA] Medieval Academy of America (no indication of computer involvement) [Zacour, Zinn] METHO -- groupe francophone d'echange et de discussion sur les methodes quantitatives utilisees en sciences sociales (e-network) [Hamel; contact METHO@UQUEBEC] +Midwest Jewish Studies Association [Zahavy] Milton Society of America [Flannagan, McCarty] Modern Languages Association (various activities, electronic publications, program segments and exhibits) [for details contact Daniel Uchitelle = MLAOD@CUVMB] Music Library Association (computer applications a "hot topic") [Papakhian; see MLA-L@IUBVM ListServer] MythoPoeic Society [DeRose] National Council of Teachers of English [Cahalan; see MBU network] North American Nietzsche Society [MBrown] North American Patristics Society (no organized computer activity) [Kraft] Organization of American Historians [Knox (non member)] Philosophy in Britain [Clark = AP01@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK, who also runs PHILOS-L] Regroupement quebecois des sciences sociales (e-network) [Hamel, Laplante; contact RQSS@UQUEBEC] Renaissance English Text Society [Warkentin, Flannagan] Renaissance Society of America [Flannagan] Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland [Wujastyk] Royal College of Science [Wujastyk] +SGML User's Group (computer oriented) [Cover] +Social Science History Association [Jensen; contact Howard Allen, Southern Illinois U at Carbondale] Societe canadienne de science economique (e-network) [Hamel; contact SCSE@UQUEBEC] Societe quebecoise de science politique (e-network) [Hamel; contact SQSP@UQUEBEC] Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy [Smith] Society for College and University Planning (e-newsletter) [Flaherty; contact BUDLAO@UCCVMA, USERTD8Q@UMICHUM (membership)] Society for Critical Exchange (is setting up an information service for literary theorists to begin in mid-March 1990) [Stonum = gxs11@PO.CWRU.EDU] +Society for Mesopotamian Studies (some electronic data) [Cover] Society for Music Theory [Perry] Society for Scholarly Publishing [Grycz] +Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas (includes "computer user's corner" in Newsletter) [Cover] Society for Textual Scholarship [Lavagnino] Society for the History of Discoveries [Warkentin] Society of American Archaeology ("great interest in computers") [Zubrow] Society of Biblical Literature (electronic archiving project and an active Computer Assisted Research Group that coordinates demonstrations and a program segment each annual meeting) [Kraft; see OFFLINE; contact SBLEXEC@UNIX.CC.EMORY.EDU] South-Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies [Bode RFB8135@TNTECH (Cope)] Southeastern Conference on Linguistics ("making use of computer tech.") [Maynor] Southern Humanities Council [Wilson] Southern Historical Association [Wilson] Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (nothing organized on computers) [Hurd, Kraft] Toronto Renaissance and Reformation Colloquium [Warkentin] +Viola da Gamba Society of America [Hutchinson] /end/ From: Norman Hinton <SSUBIT12@UIUCVMD> Subject: reading aloud again Date: Thu, 01 Mar 90 15:09:29 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1124 (2355) (I suppose I should note that I've read the passage in Augustine also!) This morning I proved to my own satisfaction one more that students without a solid background in 18th century English poetry don't like Pope until they have heard it read aloud....I suspect the same goes for Milton, and I know it's true for Chaucer. In fact, whenever we study a poem or passage from a poem short enough to be read without losing the class, I read it aloud before we discuss it "as a way of getting it on the table for discussion", as I tell the students. And I keep telling them to read aloud at home but I suspect they don't do it most of the time. The same is probably true for prose, but I don't teach prose very often. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Network Gurus, Help! Date: Thursday, 1 March 1990 1944-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1873 (2356) Here is a new one on me -- and I'm not handling the rejection very well! When I try to contact Peter Lafford who is IDPAL@ASUACAD, the messages are returned from ASUACAD with the line "Unknown network sender PENNDRLS KRAFT" I'm pretty sure I exist and my address exists (Peter Lafford wrote to me successfully at that address!), so what is going on? I've tried the usual things like upper/lower case, addressing the postmaster at ASUACAD, but it all comes back. Bob Kraft, the unknown sender From: David Gillison <DAGLC@CUNYVM> Subject: Distance education? Date: Thu, 01 Mar 90 21:48:29 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1874 (2357) Without wishing to appear dense for the life of me I have never heard of DISTANCE EDUCATION! Are we talking secondary education via the stars? Could someone help? From: Leslie Burkholder <lb0q+@andrew.cmu.edu> Subject: E-publishing SIG Date: Fri, 2 Mar 90 09:23:44 -0500 (EST) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1875 (2358) The list of professional societies represented on HUMANIST recently posted by Bob Kraft included: Electronic Publishing Special Interest Group (Newsletter) [Cover]. Could someone please provide me with information about this group? Thanks, Leslie Burkholder From: U245 at ITOCSIVM Subject: bibliography for WordCruncher Date: 2 March 90, 17:24:21 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1876 (2359) Could anyone help me to collect a scientific bibliography concerning WordCruncher? I'd be interested in reviews of the software and paper concerning research accomplished using WordCruncher. I'd like to receive the data at my e-mail address, and like also to receive a paper copy of what you think could be interesting. After collecting this bibliography I could send it to Humanist, as well as a paper copy of it to all the people that contributed a title and the related paper copy. Thank you in advance. Maurizio Lana From: C.Massey@uk.ac.swurcc Subject: ladies Date: Fri, 2 Mar 90 14:29:42 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1877 (2360) To: lou@uk.ac.ox.vax hello, you're the most literary person i can think of, so maybe you'll know. have you ever heard of "The Ladies of Llangollen"? i've come across a reference to them in a book & the expression is vaguely familiar. a colleague suggested that they may have been the people who made the tea & biscuits for the eisteddfodd, but i don't think this can be right.... clive Please reply direct to Clive if you can help! From: CHAA006@VAXA.RHBNC.AC.UK Subject: CD-ROM `jukeboxes' Date: Thu, 1 MAR 90 17:06:05 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1878 (2361) My Director has expressed an interest in the availablity and use of CD-ROM `jukeboxes'. We have a local-area ethernet (thin-wire, thick-wire and fibre) linking a VAX 6430 and multiple lesser VAXes with an assortment of PCs. We would like users anywhere on the ethernet to be able to access the ROMs at random, and to be able to search them. At the moment, the data stored on the ROMs is undefined, but one might assume that initially it will be straight ASCII text; multi-lingual text, multi-font text, hypertext and video data might then be envisaged as future applications. Have any humanists any experience of this sort of CD-ROM usage ? We would be interested to learn of your experiences, and of your recommendations for suppliers of CD-ROM `jukeboxes', methods of connection (PC or VAX ?), and location of search software (local PC, VAX, CD-ROM server PC ?). How does one synchronise multiple simultaneous accesses to CD-ROM ? I apologise if this question has been asked before; we store only the most recent Humanist mailings, and a search of these has not revealed any correspondence on the subject. I would be most grateful if any replies could be sent direct to me, as well as to `Humanist'. Many thanks in advance. Philip Taylor Royal Holloway and Bedford New College <P.Taylor@Vax.Rhbnc.Ac.Uk> From: Mark Olsen <mark@gide.uchicago.edu> Subject: German Wordlist Date: Fri, 2 Mar 90 13:27:45 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1879 (2362) Does anyone have a modern German wordlist that they would be willing to send over the network. We need to strip out common non-French wordlists in lists we are using for a phonetic study. The UNIX spelling checker does a pretty nice job for English, and I hope to do the same for German. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Mark Olsen From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Keyboard flexibility" Date: Thu, 1 Mar 90 23:20:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1880 (2363) I find James McFarlane's perceptions utterly reasonable. To repurpose (as current jargon goes) the numeric keypad for diacriticals would be extremely useful. But I wouldn't want to lose the functionality of the upper row of numbers on the standard keyboard part, just as McFarlane points out. --Joel D. Goldfield, Plymouth State College (NH, USA) From: <CIORAN@MCMASTER> Subject: Keyboard remapping programs Date: Fri, 2 Mar 90 07:40 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1881 (2364) The most sophisticated and versatile keyboard remapping program which I have come across is *FLT* (Foreign Language Toolkit) written by Chris Priest of Integral Software Development (#204-361 Jackson St West, Hamilton, Ontario L8P 1N2, 416-521-9595). You can either map characters to a single key stroke, or use the *dead key* method (diacritic key followed by the appropriate vowel or consonant). You can create multiple keyboards. The documentation is clear and precise. The price is around $30 or $40 (Canadian). We have been using it for the past two years on all the software used by our language students for French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish (approx. 800 students per annum) and we distribute it together with our second language courseware to other universities, colleges and school boards in Canada. I should confess that I am not a totally disinterested observer since I did the original program design together with Chris Priest. However, I do not receive any royalties on sales. Sam Cioran Humanities Computing Centre Chester New Hall, Rm 424 McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L9 CIORAN@MCMASTER From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.1113 character sets on PS/2? (46) Date: Fri, 2 Mar 90 11:39:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1882 (2365) Contact Andre Paquet at the centre de calcul of the Universite de Montreal. He is the guy in charge of micro installations and says it is easy to do. His e-mail is paquet@cc.umontreal.ca From: "Dana Cartwright, Syracuse Univ, 315-443-4504" <DECARTWR@SUVM> Subject: X-Rays Harmful to Laptops? Date: Fri, 2 Mar 90 08:47:48 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1127 (2366) I'm curious as to the origins of the notion that x-rays (from whatever source) will erase magnetic disks. It seems implausible, somehow. X-rays are highly energetic photons, but are otherwise just like visible light (which is also photons, just less energetic). Now, camera film is designed to react to light, and it's not terribly surprising that it also responds (rather well, in fact) to the more energetic photons of X-rays. But surely magnetic disks are not particularly sensitive to light, right? Shining even a very bright light on a floppy disk, for example, doesn't seem likely to erase it (this is an appeal to one's intuition, clearly, not an appeal to the laws of nature). So, why do we (all) seem to think that x-rays would erase disks? I'm well aware that the readers of this list are humanists, not physicists. Do we have access to an expert who can shed serious light on this subject? From: BML@PSUARCH.Bitnet Subject: further on computers and writing Date: Thu, 1 Mar 90 21:38 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1128 (2367) I am forwarding comments on the Halio article from Davida Charney in the English Department here at Penn State. (per Bernie Levinson, Religious Studies) = = = = I have read the article and consider Halio's research shoddy to say the least. Academic Computing is not a refereed journal--I seriously doubt that her research would have passed reviewers who took empirical research methods seriously. What she did was to analyze and compare writing samples from freshman writing classes in which students used Macintoshes to write papers to those from classes using IBM-PCs. She claims that students writing with Macs had many more grammatical errors and 'decorated' their papers, rather than taking language seriously. The problem with the research is that the students themselves chose which class to take and therefore which computer they would use. Obviously, under these conditions, any number of factors might have skewed which students enrolled in which classes. For example, students with stronger visual than verbal facility might have chosen Macs because their greater graphics capability is well known. Or weaker writers might have chosen Mac classes thinking that Macs are 'easier' and wishing to avoid learning a more difficult system while struggling to learn to write. Halio could have tested some of these possibilities by looking at average GPAs or Verbal SAT scores for students in the two kinds of classes to see if the students' 'base-line' abilities were roughly equivalent--but she did not. In short, without having randomly assigned students to computers, she should not have drawn the conclusions she did. The students who wrote poorly on Macs (according to her very narrow criteria of writing, by the way) might have written just as badly--or even worse--using IBM-PCs. We chose Macs for our writing classes because we believed that they would be easier for students to learn and would allow us to raise sophisticated issues of graphics and page design. Our assumptions about the advantages of Macs have been borne out by our experience training both teachers and students and using the Macs in the classroom--currently we offer over 100 sections of writing each term, involving nearly 50 teachers and 2000 students. As an experienced user of both IBMs and Macs, I have never seen any evidence that using Macs deteriorates one's syntax or leads to more frivolous thinking. Certainly, I know of no teachers of English 202 who have complained of a decline in grammar or other writing skills since the introduction of Macintoshes. Davida Charney IRJ@PSUVM English Department, Penn State University University Park, PA 16802 (814) 865-9703 From: <GC130@DSIHRZ51> Subject: PROGRAMME ALLC-ACH 90 Date: Mon, 5 Mar 90 18:08 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1129 (2368) ALLC - ACH 90 The New Medium 17th International Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing Conference and 10th International Conference on Computers and the Humanities 4 - 9 June 1990 University of Siegen Federal Republic of Germany Dear Colleague, The University of Siegen is proud to host the first joint conference of ALLC and ACH in Europe. ALLC-ACH 90 will give a profound state of the art report on humanities computing. 'The New Medium' and computer science are challenging the whole field of humanities. Workstations, Software, Environments, Electronic Texts, Digital Images, Computational Methods and Networking are changing the world of learning. You will be in Germany during a thrilling period of political change. Enjoy your stay in the heart of Europe. Yours sincerely Helmut Schanze Conference Organizer ALLC-ACH 90 Sponsors Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Ministerium fuer Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen Sponsoring Associations: - Association for Computers and the Humanities (ACH) - Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing (ALLC) Supporting Sponsor: - Gesellschaft fuer Linguistische Datenverarbeitung (GLDV) Corporate Sponsors: - IBM Deutschland, Fachbereich Forschung und Lehre - Philips Kommunikations Industrie AG - Digital Equipment Corporation - Apple Computers The Conference The conference "The New Medium" will take place in Siegen, Federal Republic of Germany, on 4-9 June 1990. The International Programme Committee is made up of the following representatives of the two organizations: Paul Bratley, Universite de Montreal (ALLC) Paul Fortier, University of Manitoba (ACH) Jacqueline Hamesse, Universite Catholique de Louvain (ALLC) Susan Hockey, Oxford University (ALLC) Nancy Ide, Vassar College (ACH, ALLC) Randall Jones, Brigham Young University (ACH) Robert Oakman, University of South Carolina (ACH) Helmut Schanze, Universitaet Siegen (ALLC) Antonio Zampolli, University of Pisa (ALLC) Participants will come from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Finland, France, East Germany, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, and elsewhere. The major topics of the conference are: 'workstations for the humanities'; 'electronic texts: issues and concerns'; 'methods and applications'; 'networks and communication'. These are adressed in plenary lectures and panels. Parallel Sessions deal with computational linguistics, databases, stylistic analysis, text generation, text editing, manuscripts and hypermedia. There will also be an introductory workshop on the Text Encoding Initiative and a special session on 'Media and Computers'. Local Committee (Universitaet-Gesamthochschule Siegen): Gerhard Augst (Germanistik/Linguistik) Thomas Herz (Soziologie/Empirische Sozialforschung) Manfred Kammer (Germanistik/Literaturgeschichte) Jochen W. Muench (Hochschulrechenzentrum) Burkhard Schaeder (Germanistik/Kommunikation) Helmut Schanze (Conference Organizer) Organization Assistant: Rolf Grossmann Local Organizer: Professor Dr. Helmut Schanze ALLC-ACH 90 Conference Universitaet Gesamthochschule Siegen Postfach 101240 D-5900 Siegen Federal Republic of Germany Phone (0271) 740-4110 E-Mail: GC130@DSIHRZ51.BITNET Conference Registration Registration is being handled by Congress Partner GmbH Tiefer 2 D-2800 Bremen 1 Federal Republic of Germany Phone: 0421/ 32 00 28 Fax: 0421/ 32 43 44 Registration fees are payable by means of a certified bankers cheque in German Marks (= DM) or by credit card. The early registration fee until April 1 is DM 190 for members and DM 220 for non-members. After April 1 the fees are 240 for members and 270 for non-members. Students may apply for fee reduction. The fee includes a Get Together Cocktail on June 4, coffee breaks on all convention days, a full day excursion through the beautiful region of North Hessia, to its former capital Kassel with its famous artificial waterfalls on Sunday, June 10 or a shuttle service from Siegen to Frankfurt Airport on Sunday, June 10. Prices per room/night including a buffet-style breakfast are DM 68,- for a category D hotel to DM 125,- for a category A hotel and for dbl. rooms DM 103,- in category D to DM 130,- in category B. The handling fee for hotel reservation is DM 35,- per room. Cancelling the hotel reservation before April 1, 1990 will result in forfeiture of DM 50,- per room; and until May 1, 1990 DM 65,- per room will be charged. Thereafter the total invoice price for the first night will be charged for no-shows without prior notice. For registration forms please write or fax to the address mentioned above. The registration form will only be accepted when accompanied by two separate cheques for a) registration fee and b) first night hotel/social programme deposit plus handling fee or when all details for credit card payment are indicated. The hotel vouchers will be sent upon receipt of total payment. The University of Siegen The Universitaet-Gesamthochschule-Siegen was founded as a comprehensive university in August 1972. However, the university tradition traces back to 16th century when the Nassovian university resided in Siegen. Of the many research projects we list only a few: - Computer-Oriented Methods of Measuring and Control (Automation) - Mobility in History and Changes of Norms - Mass Media and Communication - Materials Science and Materials Technology - Monetary Macro-Economics (Research Center, sponsored by the German research Foundation DFG) - Aesthetics, Pragmatics and History of Screen Media: Television in the Federal Republic of Germany (Research Center, sponsored by the German Research Foundation DFG) - Special research projects of the Department of Physics with DESY, CERN, ALEPH and NASA The excellent quality of teaching at this university is proven by its selection as the best German university 1989 in the ranking list (quality of teaching) of the magazine "Der Spiegel" (no. 50, vol. 43, Dec. 11, 1989) Siegen and Siegerland-Wittgenstein Siegen, formerly residence of the House of Nassau-Orange with its two castles and birthplace of the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, is the urban center of the scenic Siegen-Wittgenstein County in the State of North-Rhine-Westphalia. The city is situated in the center of West Germany, 100 Kilometers north of Frankfurt, 100 Kilometers east of Cologne. It can be easily reached by frequent trains from Frankfurt or Cologne Main Stations, or by car, via A4/A45 from Cologne, or via A5/A45 from Frankfurt. Demonstrations The following demonstrations will be presented at the conference. Additional demonstrations are to be announced. Jay Bodine (Colorado State University), The Foreign Language TroubleShooters Harrison Eiteljorg (Center for the Study of Architecture, Bryn Mawr), Computer-Assisted Drafting and Design Programs for Architectural Historians and Archaelogists Marjorie Hoefmans (Antwerpen), Using the Computer in Education - LATCON Edward M. Jennings (University of Albany), An Electronic Journal for a Post-Literate Culture Monique Jucquois-Delpierre (University Heinrich Heine), A Data Base for Philosophy: PHILIS Barry W. K. Joe (Brock University, Ontario), Hypermedia and Direct-Manipulation Interfaces R.-Ferdinand Poswick (Centre "Informatique et Bible", Maredsous), The Sample of the FINDIT Bible Products Martin Ryle (University of Richmond), Interactive Games in History Instruction F. J. Smith (The Queen's University of Belfast), BIRD, QUILL and MICROBIRD - A Successful Family of Text Retrieval Systems Tania Pickering (Oxford University Press), The Complete Works of Shakespeare, The Oxford English Dictionary Borland International, Paradox 3.0, SQL Facilities Digital Equipment Corporation, Database Workstation IBM Deutschland GmbH, Character Recognition, Speech Recognition, Textprocessing and DTP, CD-ROM Applications Philips Kommunikationsindustrie AG, MEGADOC, (Optical Database Management System) Conference Overview (subject to change, draft February 28, 1990) Monday, 4 June after lunch ALLC Committee Meeting ACH Executive Committee Meeting 6:00pm Get Together Tuesday, 5 June Main Topic: Humanities Workstations 8:30-9:30am Registration 9:30-10:00am Opening Session Welcome: Helmut Schanze; Antonio Zampolli/Susan Hockey, ALLC; Nancy Ide, ACH 10:00-10:45am Plenary Lecture: The Humanities Workstation. Environments for Today and Tomorrow (Paul Kahn, Brown University, Providence) 10:45-11:15am Coffee Break 11:15-12:30pm Panel: "The Humanities Workstation. Environments for Today and Tomorrow." Chair: John Roper (University of East Anglia, Norwich) Panelists: Paul Kahn, N.N., N.N. 12:30-2:00pm Lunch Break 2:00-5:30pm Parallel Sessions/Panel Discussions/Demonstrations 2:00-3:30pm Parallel Session (Chair: N.N.) Neural Text (Anthony M. McEnery, Lancaster University; David Reid/Michael P. Oakes, Liverpool University) Shakespeare on CD-ROM. Integrating Database, Expert System, and Hypermedia (Heinz J. Neuhaus, Westfaelische Wilhelms-Universitaet Muenster) Annota: An Experiment and Prototype in Scholarly Note Management (Geoffrey Rockwell/Willard McCarty, University of Toronto) 2:00-3:30pm Parallel Session (Chair: N.N.) Computerized Dictionaries (Termbanks) and Related Database Systems (Ingrid Doerre/Renate Mayer, Fraunhofer-Institut IAO, Stuttgart) Refining Taxonomies Extracted from Machine- Readable Dictionaries (Nancy M. Ide, Vassar College New York; Jean Veronis, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Marseille) A Common Basis for Automatical Content Analysis, Multilingual Translation, Knowledge Storage and Information Retrieval (Georg F. Meier, Olching) 2:00-3:30pm Panel: "Hypermedia" Chair: Robert L. Oakman (University of South Carolina) Panelists: Otmar Foelsche (Dartmouth College), N. Palm (Universiteit Antwerpen), T. Verdonck (Universiteit Antwerpen), Paul Samuel di Virgilio (University of Toronto) 2:00-5:30pm Panel: "Early Manuscripts - Documentation and Information Exchange via Computer" Session 1 Chair: Menso Folkerts (Universitaet Muenchen/Deutsches Museum Muenchen) Panelists: Jean-Luc Minel/Agnes Guillamont (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris), Renate Schipke (Deutsche Staatsbibliothek, East Berlin), Thomas L. Amos (St. John's University, Minnesota), Wesley M. Stevens (University of Winnipeg) Session 2 Chair: Warren van Egmond (Arizona State University, Tempe) Panelists: Nan L. Hahn (University of Winnipeg), Andreas Kuehne (Deutsches Museum and Universitaet Muenchen) Panel Discussion: "How Should the Manuscript Consortium Relate to Its Source Projects and to Potential Users?" Chair: Warren van Egmond 3:30-4:00pm Coffee Break 4:00-5:00pm Parallel Session (Chair: N.N.) The harmless drudge's New Medium: A Hypertext Environment for the Development of Lexical Information Systems (Josef Wallmannsberger, Universitaet Innsbruck) The Automated Production of Hypertext Documents (Eve Wilson, University of Kent at Canterbury) 4:00-5:00pm Parallel Session (Chair: N.N.) Collections Information Management Systems Development at the Toronto Historical Board: Lessons Learned from Oracle (Richard H. Gerrard/Margaret A. Knowles, Toronto Historical Board) The Challenge of Small Museum Computerization (Ron Kley/ Jane Radcliffe, Museum Research, Maine) 4:00-5:30pm Parallel Session (Chair: N.N.) Natural Language Processing in a Practical Setting: Project Otfrid (Stephen Clausing, Yale University) WIZDOM - a flexible multi-purpose tutorial system based on AI-TECHNIQUES (Juergen Handke, University of Wuppertal) INTEXT/PC - ein Programmpaket fuer Textanalysen (Harald Klein, Muenster) 5:00pm Open Meeting SCAAC Wednesday, 6 June Main Topic: Electronic Texts 8:30-9:00am Registration 9:00-10:30am Plenary Lectures Electronic Texts: Legal Aspects (Cathleen Blackburn, Oxford) Cataloging [Working Title] (Marianne Gaunt) 10:30-11:00am Coffee Break 11:00-12:30pm Panel: "Electronic Texts: Issues and Concerns" Chair: Randall Jones (Brigham Young University, Provo) Panelists: Ruth Glynn (Publisher), Michael Neuman (Georgetown University, Washington), N.N. 12:30-2:00pm Lunch Break 2:00-5:30pm Parallel Sessions/Panel Discussions/Demonstrations to be continued. See seperate demonstration list. 2:00-3:30pm Parallel Session (Chair: Louis T. Milic, Cleveland State University) Data Base for 19th Century Reading-Books and Anthologies of German Poetry at School (Hans Braam, Kleve) The political pamphlet textbase and complex pattern matching (SNOBOL/ICON) (Fritz-Wilhelm Neumann, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen) Daniel Defoe: An Authorship Attribution Study (Joseph Rudman, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh) 2:00-3:30pm Parallel Session (Chair: N.N.) Dependency Syntax and Parsing (Kimmo Kettunen, Research Center for Domestic Languages Helsinki) Simulation of Lexical Acquisition (James Kilbury, Universitaet Duesseldorf) A Prototype of a Sanskrit Wordparser (A. W. C. Verboom, Institute Kern, Leiden) 2:00-3:30pm Parallel Session (Chair: Jacqueline Hamesse, Universite Catholique de Louvain) The RIM Project - A Progress Report (Paul Bratley, Universite de Montreal; Jaqueline Hamesse, Thomas Falmagne, Universite Catholique de Louvain) Studying Xenophon's Athenaiwn Politeia Authorship by Means of Correspondences Analysis (Maurizio Lana, University di Torino) 3:30-4:00pm Coffee Break 4:00-5:30pm Parallel Sessions 4:00-5:30pm Parallel Session (Chair: N.N.) Polybius and the Style of Acts (David L. Mealand, University of Edinburgh) Project Litera: Computer Aids in Restoring Partly Preserved Letters in Papyri (Epsen S. Ore, Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities) Semantic Analysis and Fictive Worlds in Ford and Conrad (C. Ruth Sabol, West Chester University) 4:00-5:30pm Parallel Session (Chair: N.N) Sequence Comparison and Old-Spelling Texts (Thomas B. Horton, Florida Atlantic University) Compression of Parallel Texts (Craig Nevill/ Timothy Bell, University of Canterbury, New Zealand) Traitement de Tradition Manuscrites: Approches Informatiques (Textueberlieferungen und EDV) (Jean Schumacher, Universite Catholique de Louvain) 4:00-5:30pm Panel: "Authors" Chair: N.N. Panelists: Joel D. Goldfield (Plymouth State College), Pier Baldini (Arizona State University), David R. Chesnutt (University of South Carolina), Roy Flannagan (Ohio University) 6:00pm Annual ALLC General Meeting Thursday, 7 June 8:30-9:00am Registration 9:00-12:30pm Main Topic: Text Encoding Introduction:Susan Hockey (Oxford University), Nancy M. Ide (Vassar College, New York) TEI - Workshop Directed by Michael Sperberg-McQueen (University of Illinois at Chicago), Lou Burnard (Oxford University) 12:30-2:00pm Lunch Break 2:00-5:30pm TEI Workshop to be continued 2:00-5:30pm Main Topic: Media and Computers (Special Session, Research Center sfb 240: Aesthetics, Pragmatics and History of Screen Media: Television in the Federal Republic of Germany) Panel: "Digital Screen Media: A Challenge for Film and Television" Chair: Christian W. Thomsen (Head, sfb 240) Panelists: Franz Kluge (Author and Film Producer), Stephan Boeder (ARD-Design, WDR Koeln), Manfred Eisenbeis (Founding Director, Hochschule fuer Kunst und Medien, Koeln), Sharon Blume (Deputy Director, Museum of the Moving Image, New York, USA), George McDonald (Director, Canadian Museum of Civilization), Nigel Gardner (University of Oxford), Heide Hageboelling (Hochschule fuer Kunst und Medien, Koeln) Friday, 8 June Main Topic: Methods and Applications 8:30-9:00am Registration 9:00-10:30am Plenary Lectures Computers in the Humanities: Methods and Applications [Working Title] (Paul A. Fortier, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Tom Corns, University College of North Wales) 10:30-11:00am Coffee Break 11:00-12:30pm Panel: "Methods and Applications of Computer Science in the Humanities" Chair: Jacqueline Hamesse (Universite Catholique de Louvain) Panelists: Wilhelm Ott (Universitaet Tuebingen), Manfred Thaller (Universitaet Goettingen), Paul A. Fortier (University of Manitoba, Winnipeg), Tom Corns (University College of North Wales) 12:30-2:00pm Lunch Break 2:00-5:30pm Parallel Sessions/Panel Discussions/Demonstrations to be continued. See seperate demonstration list. 2:00-3:30pm Parallel Session (Chair: N.N.) Deduction of Implicit Information in a Text Understanding System (Francesco Antonacci, IBM Scientific Centre, Rome; Cecilia Calamani/Mirella Schaerf, University "La Sapienza", Rome) Some Reflexions About Current Practice in Stylometry (Christian Delcourt, Universite de Liege) Topographie des Termes et Structure des Textes Technoscientifiques (Philippe Thoiron, Universite Lumiere, Lyon) 2:00-2:30pm Parallel Session (Chair: N.N.) Knowledge-based CL/MT Systems and Chinese as a Formal Language - Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems in the Humanities (Qian Feng, Universitaet Salzburg, Yu Zhong-jun, East China Normal University, Shanghai) Splitting AVTOSLOV (Harry Gaylord/Harry Overdijk, Ferdinand de Haan, University of Groningen) The Total of the Distances between the Languages as an Index of the Compactness of the Language Families (Yuri Tambovtsev, Lvov Lesotechnical Institute) 2:00-3:30pm Panel: "Electronic Writing" Chair: Walter Creed (University of Hawaii at Manoa) Panelists: Bettina Harriehausen (Institut for Knowledge Based Systems, Heidelberg), Richard Sammons (San Francisco), Dominique Maret/Ian Johnson (Lexpertise Linguistic Software, Vaumarcus) 3:30-4:00pm Coffee Break 4:00-5:30pm Parallel Sessions 4:00-5:30pm Parallel Session (Chair: N.N.) Automatic Generation of Texts Without Using Cognitive Models: Television News (Ulrich Schmitz, Universitaet Duisburg) Analyses de Niveau Discursif et Texte Ecrit: A la Recherche d'un Format de Presentation Adequat. (Richard Patry, Universite de Montreal) A Planning Mechanism for Generating Story Text (Tony C. Smith, University of Calgary) 4:00-5:30pm Parallel Session (Chair: N.N.) Analyse Linguistique de Textes Orales avec SATO (Systeme d'Analyse de Textes par Ordinateur) (Karin Flikeid, Saint Mary's University, Halifax) Verarbeitung sprachlicher Sonderzeichen und graphische Datenrepraesentation im Bereich der Dialektologie (Hans Geisler, Universitaet Muenchen) An Electronic Dialect Atlas Prototype (John Kirk/George Munroe, The Queen's University of Belfast) 4:00-5:30pm Parallel Session (Chair: N.N.) Valorisation d'une Description Syntaxique Automatique: Analyse de la Determination dans les Enonces du Discours (Jules Duchastel/Louis- Claude Paquin/Jaques Beauchemin, Universite du Quebec a Montreal) Possible and Impossible Pronouns: The Role of Text Bases and Natural Language Generation in Linguistic Analysis (Greg Lessard/M. Levison, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario) Computational Discourse Analysis vis-a-vis Automatic Text Disambiguation Through a Topologic Model (Sally Yeates Sedelow/ Walter A. Sedelow, Jr., University of Arkansas/Little Rock) 4:00-5:30pm Panel: "Forensic Linguistics" Chair: Raimund H. Drommel/Udo W. Loehr (Universitaet Siegen) Panelists (not yet confirmed): Lubomir Dolezel (University of Toronto), Wolfgang U. Dressler (University of Vienna), Alvar Ellegard (University of Goeteborg), Ture Johannisson (University of Goeteborg), Hans Karlgren (Kval Institute for Information Science, Stockholm), M. W. A. Smith (University of Ulster at Jordanstown), R. N. Totty/R. A. Hardcastle/J. Pearson (Home Office Forensic Science Laboratory, Burmingham), Norbert R. Wolf (Universitaet Wuerzburg) 6:00pm ACH General Meeting 7:30pm Banquet (Siegerlandhalle) Saturday, 9 June Main Topic: Networks and Communication 8:30-9:00am Registration 9:00-9:45am Plenary Lecture The Humanist and Electronic Communication (Willard McCarty, University of Toronto) 9:45-10:30am Panel: "Humanities Computing and Electronic Communication Chair: May Katzen (University of Bath) Panelists: Dieter Haupt (President, DFN Forschungsnetz, Universitaet Aachen) Helmut Schanze (Universitaet Siegen), Willard McCarty (University of Toronto), Wolf Paprotte (Westfaelische Wilhelmsuniversitaet, Muenster), N.N. 10:30-11:30am Coffee Break 11:30-12:30pm Closing Session Daniel Brink (Arizona State University), N.N. 12:30-2:00pm Lunch Break 4:00-6:00pm Open Meeting Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing (ALLC) What is the ALLC? The Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing is an international association which brings together all who have an interest in using computers in the analysis of text. The ALLC was founded in 1973 and its members are drawn from subjects such as literature, linguistics, lexicography, psychology, history, law, and computer science. What the ALLC offers The ALLC offers conferences, courses, representatives for subject and geographical area and a major journal, Literary and Linguistic Computing, published by Oxford University Press, which all members receive. ALLC Members are also entitle to reduced rates at ALLC-sponsored gatherings. Representatives The ALLC has representatives in over thirty countries throughout the world. Recognised experts advise on over twenty-five subject areas including Machine Translation, Computer-Assisted Learning, Software, Lexicography, Structured Databases, Literary Statistics, Textual Editing besides language-oriented groups for texts in many different languages. Conferences Recent ALLC conferences have been held at Pisa (1982), San Francisco (1983), Luvain-la-Neuve (1984), Nice (1985), Norwich (1986), Gothenburg (1987), Jerusalem (1988), and Toronto (1989). Literary and Linguistic Computing In 1986 the ALLC's own publications, the ALLC Bulletin (1973-1985) and the ALLC Journal (1980-1985) were merged to form a major new journal published by Oxford University press. Literary and Linguistic Computing is published four times per year and appeals to all who have an interest in computer usage and the humanities. The Editor-in-Chief is Mr. Gordon Dixon, Institute of Advanced Studies, Manchester Polytechnic, Manchester, UK. Membership is gained through subscribing to Literary and Linguistic Computing, for information contact: Journals Subscriptions or Journals Subscriptions Oxford University Press Oxford University Press Walton Street 200 Madison Avenue Oxford OX2 6DP New York, NY 10016 UK USA Association for Computer and The Humanities (ACH) What is ACH? Founded in 1977, The Association for Computers and the Humanities is an international organization devoted to encouraging the development and use of computing techniques in humanities research and education. ACH fosters computer-assisted research in literature and language, history, philosophy, anthropology, art, music, dance, computational linguistics, and cognitive science. What the ACH offers ACH membership includes a subscription to its quarterly newsletter as well as the scholarly journal Computers and the Humanities. ACH sponsors the bi-annual International Conference on Computers and the Humanities (ICCH) and a bi-annual conference on Teaching Computers and the Humanities, as well as sessions at the annual meetings of the Modern Language Association and the National Educational Computing Conference. For more information, contact: Joseph Rudman, Treasurer Association for Computers and the Humanities Department of English Carnegie-Mellon University Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213 E-Mail: Rudman@CMPHY Sonderforschungsbereich 240 (sfb 240) Aesthetics, Pragmatics and History of Screen Media: Television in the Federal Republic of Germany (Special Research Program 240), sponsored by the German Research Foundation DFG The research program started in 1986 with 3 sections and 11 projects. Up to now the total number of projects has risen to 17. Section A deals with the historical, structural and functional aspects of the forms of communication involved in television broadcasting, Section B investigates the special forms of presentation, whereas the emphasis in Section C is placed on the systematic investigation of institutional roles in the field of television. The research unit is organized as collaborative research program for more than 100 scholars and research assistants. REGISTRATION FORM ALLC-ACH 90 THE NEW MEDIUM 17th International Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing Conference and 10th International Conference on Computers and the Humanities 4-9 June 1990, University of Siegen, Federal Republic of Germany Please send or fax to: Congress Partner GmbH Tiefer 2 D-2880 BREMEN FAX: (O421) 32 43 44 Federal Republic of Germany ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Participant/Name First name Congress fee =DM ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Participant/Name First name Congress fee =DM ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Accomp.pers/name First name Congress fee =DM ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Accomp.pers/name First name Congress fee =DM ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Adress/Country ZIP City Street No Phone ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Registration fees Total = DM........... attached by means of a certified bankers cheque in German Marks (= DM) or by credit card Early Registration fee (by April, 1) DM 190,- member DM 220,- non-member Late Registration Fee (after April,1) DM 240,- member DM 270,- non-member Accompanying persons are only charged for the congress fee if they want to attend the conference. DM 50,- per accomp.person (only Excursion or Airport shuttle) Students may apply for fee reduction Registration fee includes the following services: - Get Together Cocktail on June 04, 1990 - Coffee breaks on all convention days - Full day excursion throughout the beautiful region of the Siegerland to the famous city of Kassel on Sunday, June 10, 1990. or - for those already leaving on Sunday an Airport shuttle service from Siegen to Frankfurt Airport on Sunday, June 10, 1990. Hotel accomodation / social program Prices per room/night including buffet-style breakfast Category A Category B Category C Category D Queens Hotel Siebelnhof Haus a. Sonnenh. Siegboot Kochs Ecke Johanneshoehe Roemer, Buerger Haus am Hang Stahlberg ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Sgl 125,- 85,- 75,- 68,- Dbl ./. 130,- 120,- 103,- ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– All rooms with shower or bath/WC The Kur- and Sporthotel "Der Rothaartreff" at Bad Laasphe is recommended for your pre- or post-convention stay. Package price for a 3-days-stay with buffet style breakfast and some other amenities DM 243,-(Sgl.)/396,- (Dbl.). Available dates are June 01-04, 1990 or June 10-13, 1990. Please make following reservations: ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Hotel Category SGL DBL in: out: = nights Excursion to Kassel Sunday, June 10, 1990 for person(s) - free of charge or Airport shuttle Sunday, June 10, 1990 for person(s) - free of charge Farewell Dinner, Friday, June 08, 1990 for .... person(s) DM 70,-- =...........DM ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– [ ] Attached to this registration form please find 1 cheque in DM for registration fees of total DM ............ 1 cheque in DM for deposit for hotel/social program for DM 60,- p.per. of total DM ......................... or [ ] I want to pay by credit card. Congress Partner is allowed to charge my credit card ...................... No: ............ Expires: .......................... with registration fees and deposit - upon receipt of my registration form as well as with balance 4 weeks before arrival. Eurocard/Mastercard/American Express are accepted. (Please fill in with blockletters or typewriter) Signature Date –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– General Conditions Registration form will only be accepted when accompanied by two separate cheques for a) registration fee and b) first night hotel/social programme deposit plus handling fee or when all details for credit card payment are indicated. Our handling fee for your hotel reservation is DM 35,- per room. Cancellation of hotel reservation before April 01, 1990 will result in forfeiture of DM 50,- per room, and before May 01, 1990 DM 65,- per room will be charged. Thereafter the total invoice price for the first night will be charged for no-shows without prior notice . Verbal agreements are without obligation unless confirmed in writing. Hotel vouchers will be sent upon receipt of total payment. There is no claim for compensation for lost travel documents From: Mary Massirer <MASSIRERM@BAYLOR.BITNET> Subject: laptops, not flying Date: Mon, 5 Mar 90 11:33 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1883 (2369) A graduate student friend of mine is interested in buying a laptop and needs information about brands. She has a chance to buy a Bondwell but knows nothing about it. She is also interested in Epson and Toshiba. Compatibility is not a problem, but like most grad. students, she is short of funds. Do any of you have any advice, especially about the Bondwell? I will share your responses with her. Mary Massirer, Baylor (MASSIRERM@BAYLOR) From: Mark Olsen <mark@gide.uchicago.edu> Subject: X-rays and magnets Date: Sat, 3 Mar 90 10:34:55 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1884 (2370) I have it on good, but anonymous authority, that X-RAYS will not damage mag disks, but that the machines can because they use magnetic fields to generate the X-RAYS. When you create an electric field you wind up generating a magnetic feild. If X-RAYS did destroy magnetic disks, you could not keep them at high altitude where there are more natural X-RAYS. Keeping physicists and mathematicians as friends does pay off once in a while... :-) Mark From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: X-rays and magnets Date: Fri, 2 Mar 90 23:33:02 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1885 (2371) One reason X-rays may have been associated with danger to magnetized material is that there are typically very large magnets in most x-ray equipment and bringing a magnetized material near such equipment can be hazardous. I have been told that the safest route is often THROUGH the scanner rather than being passed around the machine. The absolutely worst possibility would be to place the magnetic material directly on top of the scanner to avoid passing it through it. The magnets are usually on top. From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.1125 a fascination of queries (152) Date: Sat, 3 Mar 90 15:47:57 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1886 (2372) CD-ROM jukeboxes. Contact Raymond Neff at Case-Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, who has implemented (or is in the process of implementing) a CD-ROM jukebox designed to allow access over a network. The first thing the system does is allow the user to download the search software from the particular CD-ROM. Unfortunately, I have no details, nor Dr. Neff's e-mail address. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: "Bill Ball" <C476721@UMCVMB> Subject: keyboards Date: Sat, 03 Mar 90 01:09:16 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1887 (2373) Some comments with respect to the recent discussion on remapping keyboard keys: There is software out there which will remap & otherwise change the function of keys but there is also a hardware solution. Several companies make replacement keyboards which have more keys than the regular part--and more importantly allow the user to arbitrarily assign functions to keys. In some cases this adds up to 150+ keys with the ability to assign whole macro commands to each one. One major advantage to going this route is that its all done in the keyboard--no possible conflicts with your software. For what they do these keyboards seem reasonably priced: $125 to $200. Unfortunately, I haven't saved up enough pennies to actually acquire one but doing so seems clearly superior to trying to make something work in software. Bill Ball Dept. Pol. Sci. U. Mo. - Columbia c476721@UMCVMB From: dusknox@skipspc.idbsu.edu Subject: Date: Mon 05 Mar 90 11:45:02 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1888 (2374) Davida Charney takes Halio to task for not being scientific. When I read the article, I did not get the impression she was trying to be. She was relating anecdotal information saying, in effect, "isn't this interesting?" She admits more work would need to be done and offers some tentative explanations for observed behavior. I do not doubt that she observes what she says she observes. Her guesses sound at least intuitive, which is probably one good reason for trying to prove or disprove them rigorously. IBM picked up on the article, obviously, because it is favorable to their machines and puts Macs in a bad light. OK, that's standard industry stuff; no reason to get excited. What surprises me (not really) is the vehemence of the reaction among Mac users. C'mon, folks, the lady never claimed she had PROVED anything. And, as Charney says, the article appeared in an industry rag, not in a scholarly journal. This whole thing comes under the heading of "interesting if true, but needs more work." Which is just about what Halio said. BTW, Charney closes his note with just the same anecdotal evidence, replete with citing numbers in an attempt to lend validity, as Halio put in her article. Until someone does carefully controlled studies, such claims are not enough for real conclusions. Further by the way, I do think that a study ought to be done. Not to deal a killing blow in the endless Mac-IBM wars, but as a way to see if the medium really is the message. It could affect the way we teach. Skip DUSKNOX@IDBSU Boise State University From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1124 noisy reading (27) Date: Sat, 3 Mar 90 15:42:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1889 (2375) Indeed, one never really "heard" the subtleties, and they are superrefined ones, of a poet like Robert Frost , until one heard his recordings. Dylan Thomas of course, but to have heard him recite Hardy that was a treat. Eliot of course is splendid in his recordings, and yet there are hundreds of poets, mostly Americans who read their own things wretchedly, and one cannot really form an opinion of the structure their verse (or their minds) without the text too. But a poet like Frost is a good example because of his Classical learning and adaptation of Horace into his own vernacular, etcetera Obvious points, but then many of our colleagues dont read aloud too well for that matter, even their own prose.. J Kessler From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Approaching the year 2000 with e-etexts Date: Sun, 4 Mar 90 15:46:53 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1890 (2376) I am very curious as to why, when it is so obvious that the paper libraries are going to be replaced by electronic libraries, and that textbooks are to be replaced with disks, as to why such a great proportion of our electronic mail readers (who should be more likely to accept electronic books) are not interested or actively showing negative interest in e-etext and e-libraries. Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**) (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET) From: DS014805@NDSUVM1 Subject: Turbo-Font Date: Mon, 05 Mar 90 09:31:52 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1891 (2377) Fellow Humanists: I would appreciate any information and description you might have of a font package called "Turbo-Font": what are its strengths, weaknesses, general qualities. Many thanks, Hardin Aasand From: MFFGKGN@CMS.MANCHESTER-COMPUTING-CENTRE.AC.UK Subject: Word-processing for ancient Greek Date: Mon, 05 Mar 90 16:43:40 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1892 (2378) Calling all ancient Grecists! ---------------------------- The University of Manchester's wholly-owned software house, Vuman Computer Systems Ltd., has recently launched a much-improved version of its special purpose scientific/linguistic/etc. word-processor. VUWRITER II offers proportional spacing on the screen, a virtually unlimited facility for combining characters sets and font styles within the same document, and so on. Vuman Ltd. are now attempting to construct an enlarged character set for academic work in ancient Greek which will suit a larger number of uses than has so far been available. I have been asked to consult as widely as possible with potential users over such questions as a. the range of characters (alphabetic and other) which should be provided, b. what different types of Greek font would be welcome (this question to be construed as covering such things as point size, variations such as bold or italic modes, etc. as well as actual style of typography). It would be very useful if any HUMANIST subscriber with strong views on the above and related matters would get in touch with me as soon as possible. If a significant number of you make contact, it would seem appropriate to broadcast the results over HUMANIST by way of report. Meanwhile, if anybody wants further information about VUWRITER II, I shall be glad to put them in touch with Vuman. Or contact them direct at: Vuman Computer Systems Ltd., Enterprise House, Manchester Science Park, Lloyd Street North, Manchester, M15 4EN, U.K. (Fax no. 061 226 5855) Any help very much appreciated. Gordon Neal, Greek & Latin, Manchester, U.K. 5.3.90 E-mail address: MFFGKGN@UK.AC.MCC.CMS (via JANET). From: LNGDANAP@UOGUELPH Subject: New book on CALL Date: Mon, 05 Mar 90 00:14:04 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1893 (2379) The Proceedings of the First Conference on Canadian Computer- Assisted Language Learning (held at the University of Guelph and York University in April 1989) have been published under the title: CALL: Papers and Reports M.-L. Craven, D.M. Paramskas and R. Sinyor, eds Contact the publisher: Athelstan PO Box 8025 La Jolla, CA 92038-8025 (619) 552-9353 The director of Athelstan is Dr. Michael Barlow, who can be reached via e-mail: barlow@ucselx.SDSU.edu Cost: US $14.95 plus postage ($3 to Canada) From: Jan Snoek <RCIVJAN@HDETUD1.TUDELFT.NL> Subject: EARN/Bitnet interconnection problems Date: Mon, 5 Mar 90 10:32:15 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1894 (2380) pour info --------- Date Thu, 1 Mar 90 11:55:22 GMT Sender EARN Users Group Discussion List <EARN-UG@IRLEARN> [deleted quotation]Subject EARN/BitNet interconnection problems Laurent deSeze <BABS@FRSAC11.BITNET> In the end of January (27 to 31 ?) the line CNUSC-Montpellier to CUNY-USA was out of order. The second week-end of February (9 to 11) CUNY stopped all its IBM mainframes for upgrade. No problem, or may be daily life on any net. The problem is that I am still receiving messages posted in the USA between the Jan 15 and Jan 30 (I can send a copy of these one-month-in-late messages to EARN managers, if they need evidence). Two weeks ago I was answered by JL Delhaye that all this troubles were due to the fact that in the end of January CUNY send to Europe magnetics tapes with unprocessed spooled messages. Well, it seems that all this bottleneck *is* still in processing. This brings me to the question of whether we should have an information on this kind of long troubles distributed to NADs. Another point is - have we enough bandwidth on Atlantic line (the bottleneck decreases *very* slowly) ? Is EARN-BitNet still reliable network ? Anyway, I consider that distributing a clear information is better that keeping users in the dark and letting them discover by themselves that EARN-BitNet network can deliver mails with one month of delay. Elisabeth Porteneuve From: munnari!csc2.anu.OZ.AU!dgn612@uunet.UU.NET (David Nash) Subject: 3.1109 distance education Date: Sat, 3 Mar 90 18:27:29 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1895 (2381) Since you ask, Roland Hutchinson <R.RDH@Macbeth.Stanford.EDU>, David Gillison <DAGLC@CUNYVM>, I presume that the document on the LISTERV (which I haven't received yet) uses the term "distance education" in the same sense that it has here in Australia, where it has been widely used in the last few years for what other jargon might call "remote educational service delivery". Correspondence courses, stuff like that. Outback Australia has had School of the Air networks for some time (listen for the lessons and the teacher-pupil conversations in the HF band around 4 to 6 MHz). Recently I heard of some pilot scheme where Commodores or Apple IIs or suchlike were provided to some school kids on cattle stations and other places where there are only a few pupils (not enough to get justify a regular class), and these are linked (packet radio, or Aussat?) to a teacher. That's distance ed. Another project I heard of recently is increasing the range of electives at rural high schools by linking smallish schools by interactive video to e.g. a Latin or geology teacher at a regional larger school for a few hours a week. David Nash Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) | Dept Linguistics GPO Box 553 Fax: (062)497310 | ANU Canberra ACT 2601 Telegraphic: ABINST | GPO Box 4 Phone: (062)461166, 461111(PABX) | Canberra ACT 2601 AARNet: dgn612@csc2.anu.oz.au From: elliot@library.uucp (Elliot Kanter) Subject: Re: 3.1125 a fascination of queries (152) Date: Sun, 4 Mar 90 16:31:55 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1896 (2382) SUBJECT: "What is distance education?" In general it refers to education made possible or augmented by remote computer and network links. For example, an isolated rural community where the school can conect with electronic correspondence courses; or networked science classes around the country (or world) working together on joint projects. I came across the concept last Summer with the announcement of an online Journal of Distance Education (subscription to a Bitnet fileserver at no charge). Colntact Jason Ohler, at the University of Alaska Southeast, JFJBO@ALASKA. The print journal Electronic Learning also gets into the subject. Elliot Kanter University of Calif., San Diego Research Services Dept/Central University Library ekanter@ucsd From: LNGDANAP@UOGUELPH Subject: Distance education Date: Sun, 04 Mar 90 23:56:18 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1897 (2383) In case no one has already answered this query, Distance Education is a situation in which the teacher and the student are not in each other's physical presence. The means of course delivery vary from correspondence (old term for same phenomenon) to phone contact, to interactive computer conferencing, not to mention audio tapes, slides and a host of other ingenious means of overcoming distance in the name of the learning process. From: "Diane P. Balestri" <BALESTRI@PUCC> Subject: Distance Learning Date: Mon, 05 Mar 90 09:09:50 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1898 (2384) "Distance learning" is a rather unlovely title to give a large and increasingly important aspect of higher education: the education of students who for a wide variety of reasons can't come to a campus regularly, if at all, to learn. In the past, correspondence courses via the mail, audio cassettes, and occasionall y television were the media for this kind of learning. Some institutions, such as the British Open University or NY's Empire State, have been pioneers in seeking nontraditional learners and providing them with courses and teachers. Today, a very wide range of technologies can be combined to provide learners with even better access to learning materials, to teachers, and to fellow student s, even though they may not be able to study at conventional times and/or in co nventional places. A number of states in the US, I believe, are also committing resources to extending their systems of higher education to distant learners. The Annenberg/CPB project is also devoted to funding projects in this area. From: (Robert Philip Weber) WEBER@HARVARDA Subject: Electronic Publishing sig Date: Sat, 3 Mar 90 00:15:25 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1899 (2385) In a recent Humanist, Leslie Burkholder <lb0q+@andrew.cmu.edu> wrote: [deleted quotation] Could whoever answers this query please post to the list also, since I am interested in the answer too. Thanks. Bob Weber From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.1125 a fascination of queries (152) Date: Sat, 3 Mar 90 11:11:51 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1900 (2386) "Unknown" in this case means, of course, unknown to ASUACAD. Machines can refuse to accept and store mail except from senders explicitly given permission (just as most refuse to accept logons unless "known"). Your mail clearly DID arrive at the host. Your correspondent will have to get the system administrator to allow incomming mail from you. --- KRAFT@PENNDRLS wrote: When I try to contact Peter Lafford who is IDPAL@ASUACAD, the messages are returned from ASUACAD with the line "Unknown network sender PENNDRLS KRAFT" I'm pretty sure I exist and my address exists (Peter Lafford wrote to me successfully at that address!) From: TBESTUL@crcvms.unl.edu Subject: The Ladies of Llangollen Date: Sat, 3 Mar 90 20:07:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1901 (2387) The Ladies of Llangollen are minor heroes of the feminist movement. Early in the nineteenth century they eloped from Ireland and settled in Llangollen, North Wales. They are noted for being the first female couple in modern times to live more or less openly what we would call a lesbian lifestyle. The ladies were learned and literary. Their home in Llangollen was a lively center of cultural life, and the ladies were visited by many prominent writers and artists. For a fascinating account, see Elizabeth Mavor, *The Ladies of Llangollen: A Study of Romantic Friendship*, London, 1971, reprinted by Penguin, 1981. The ladies' house in Llangollen has been preserved as they left it, and is open to the public. It is beautifully situated and well worth visiting. yours, Tom Bestul University of Nebraska-Lincoln tbestul@crcvms.unl.edu or tbestul@unlvax1 (bitnet) From: Laine Ruus <LAINE@vm.utcs.utoronto.ca> Subject: Ladies of Llangollen Date: Mon, 05 Mar 90 14:33:03 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1902 (2388) Compliments of the librarians in Robarts Reference Division: ...without including the Ladies and their house. They were two unmarried women of Irish Connection. Lady Eleanor Butler and the Hon. Sarah Ponsonby, who decided to elope together - the expression is apt since they conducted the affair without telling their families. They settled first in the town of Denbigh in 1776. From there they removed to a cottage in Llangollen, which they enlarged into the present Plas Newydd (New Place). They dominated what was then a village, and summoned various men of distinction to their Place demanding forms of tribute in the shape of curios, particularly pieces of oak, carved if possible. One visitor, Wm Wordsworth, went so far as to offer a sonnet as a gift, but unfortunately he referred to the Place as a low-roofed cottage, which debarred him from ever having another invitation. It is certainly a curious house, over-timbered rather than half-timbered, and there is nothing else quite like it anywhere...... source: The Shell Guide to Wales, 1969 From: unhd!psc90!jdg@uunet.UU.NET (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Final call for MLA Discussion Group abstracts & papers" Date: Mon, 5 Mar 90 23:36:26 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1903 (2389) *** INVITATION TO SUBMIT ABSTRACTS OR PAPERS *** Discussion Group on Computer Studies in Language & Literature Modern Language Association Convention, Dec. 27-30, 1990 Chicago, Illinois TOPIC: "Quantitative Methods in Language and Literature Studies: Uses & Abuses" Two or three discussions of intelligent, successful case studies, methodological and/or strategic applications of quantitative thinking in language or literature studies will be featured in this program. At least one other study will, we hope, focus on a significant misapplication or error in the use of quantitative methods or, alternatively, outline and illustrate the theoretical and applied pros and cons of computers and quantitative methods in language and literature studies. The Executive Committee will tend to favor the work of colleagues who state that they will not read more than 50% of their presentation. Please mail or e-mail a 1,000-word abstract or a paper (5-8 pages, double-spaced) as well as a list of any anticipated equipment needs by March 15, 1990, to: Postal mail: Dr. Joel D. Goldfield Dept. of Foreign Languages Plymouth State College Plymouth, NH 03264 USA E-mail: JOELG@PSC.bitnet (Telephone: 603-536-5000, ext. 2277) NOTES: All prospective presenters must be members of the MLA by April 1, 1990. All e-mail submissions should be followed as soon as possible by a clearly readable printout which must arrive by March 22, 1990, in order for the paper to be considered. We will inform all applicants of their status by April 9th. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: C. Ruth Sabol, West Chester University (1990) Joel D. Goldfield, Plymouth State College (1991), Chair Nancy M. Ide, Vassar College (1992) Robert Ponterio, State Univ. College of New York, Cortland (1993) Willard L. McCarty, U. of Toronto (1994) From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Gutnberg subscriptions Date: Tue, 06 Mar 90 15:44:20 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1904 (2390) Several subscriptions have arrived with email addresses containing ! as referral points for @ in other bitnet type addresses. **WOULD THOSE WHO HAVE SUBSCRIBED IN THIS MANNER PLEASE SEND "UNSUB" COMMANDS TO "GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD" - I should see this and be able find the proper manner in which to write this command. Local efforts to delete these subscriptions are proving difficult. Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**) (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET) From: "[DCGQAL]A0234" <XB.DAS@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: [DCGQAL]A0234!SGML and EPSIG Date: Tue, 6 Mar 90 15:27:42 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1905 (2391) Bob Weber asks about EPSIG. After SGML was being crafted into an ISO and NISO standard, the American Association of Publishers spent considerable sums of money producing a subset of SGML for publication texts. This effort, administered by the Aspen Institute, petered out for dearth of funds, just at the time when it was ready to be marketed and widely promulgated, causing a kind of disfunctionality on bringing the AAP standard to the attention of its constituencies. OCLC (the large bibliographic database provider) took the standard and its promotion under its wing, and now administers various publicity and publications efforts intended to bring SGML to the awareness of its constituents. The person responsible for EPSIG may be reached at the following address: Betsy Kiser EPSIG Manager (MC 278) c/o OCLC 6565 Frantz Road Dublin, Ohio 43017-0702 Betsy also has the full text of the Standard (and guides for its implementation for Authors, Mathematical Applications, and Tabular Materials) available at an unconscionable price. ---- On a related, though separate topic, I noticed in the March 5 issue of InfoWORLD that Microsoft intends to incorporate SGML functionality (presumably an SGML compliant style sheet along with a few user-friendly capabilities) into future versions of Microsoft WORD. Anything to make SGML more easily useable ought to be encouraged, and this appears to be a step in the right direction. Cordially, Chet Grycz Scholarship and Technology Study Project From: Lou Burnard <LOU@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK> Subject: New product announcement from Sema Date: Wed, 7 Mar 90 07:15:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1906 (2392) Sema Group recently announced a new structured document editor for SGML. Called WriteIt, the product operates either as a smart SGML editor, as a word processor or as a friendly user interface to version 3 of MarkIt (not yet released). I saw the product briefly demonstrated by Martin Bryan (its author) yesterday and was quite impressed. --------------- The blurb says: --------------- Tags are inserted by selection from the menu. The structure is validated interactively, so selecting a tag automatically results in a new series of tag options being presented. This allows local enrichment of the structure by the use of optional or repeatable elements. WriteIt supports tag minimisation (such as ShortTag) on loading an existing document, and Omit tag interactively. The user interface includes windowing, optional mouse and pull down menus including extensive Help screens. A comprehensive range of word processing functions are provided in addition to the SGML capabilities. Editing functions include cut and paste between windows with automatic revalidation of the structure. To minimize the risk of tag errors, cuts containing nest elements must include both start and end tags for all nested elements within the cut. WriteIt is available for DOS pcs and requires a minimum of 640K of memory. Versions for MS-Windows and UNIX will be available later in 1990. No pricing information is available yet. For more information, contact Yard Software Systems Avonbridge House Bath Road Chippenham Wilts SN15 2BB From: "Robin C. Cover" <ZRCC1001@SMUVM1> Subject: EPSIG Date: Tue, 06 Mar 90 11:54:01 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1139 (2393) Here are some details on EPSIG, requested for HUMANIST; excerpted from an SGML bibliography: 7. EPSIG (Electronic Publishing Special Interest Group) Ms. Betsy Kiser c/o OCLC, Mail Code 278 6565 Frantz Road Dublin, OH 43017-0702 (614) 764-6195 FAX: (614) 764-6096 *EPSIG was initiated by the AAP, and its functions are to: (1) Promote the adoption and proliferation of the Electronic Manuscript Standard (not to be confused, however, with the SGML "Standard," adopted in ISO 8879) <cit>Standard for Electronic Manuscript Preparation and Markup. (ANSI/NISO Z39.59-1988</cit>. Version 2. American Association of Publishers, August, 1987. [Document developed over several years as the "AAP Standard," it is now designated by the AAP as "the Electronic Manuscript Standard" or simply as the "Standard." The document has been recommended for "fast track" ISO approval by working group 6 (TC 46/SC 4/WG 6).] (2) Organize and present tutorials and technical programs (3) Provide an infordation clearinghouse for documents pertaining to the Standard, EPSIG, and electronic publishing (4) Provide electronic mail to EPSIG members (5) Provide a toll-free helpline to provide advice and assistance with the Standard (6) Publish a quarterly newsletter (7) Publish and sell current and future EPSIG manuals related to the Standard (8) Coordinate standards input from members as revisions to the Standard are required *Betsy Kiser and EPSIG are to be praised for making basic "subscriber" membership rates affordable to members of the academic community ($25 annually). Receipt of <cit>EPSIG News</> is a benefit of subscriber status. EPSIG's newsletter <cit>EPSIG News</> is published quarterly (ISSN: 1042-3737). *EPSIG members receive discounts on SoftQuad products; see "SoftQuad Discounts for EPSIG Members" in <cit>SGML Users' Group Newsletter</> 13 (August 1989) 9. *See "OCLC to Operate and Administer the AAP EPSIG," <cit>SGML Users' Group Newsletter</> 12 (June 1989) 3-4. *EPSIG is co-sponsor (with NIST) of the Electronic Publishing '90 Conference (September 18-20, Washington DC) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology; see "EPSIG to Co-Sponsor EP 90," <cit>EPSIG News</> 2/2 (June 1989) 14-15. Robin Cover 3909 Swiss Avenue Dallas, TX 75204 (214) 296-1783/841-3657 BITNET: zrcc1001@smuvm1 INTERNET: robin@txsil.lonestar.org or robin@utafll.lonestar.org From: Robin Smith <RSMITH@KSUVM> Subject: Searcher Date: Tue, 6 Mar 90 06:43 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1907 (2394) I seem to have thrown away the recent announcement of 'Searcher' (a program which searches the TLG and runs on MS-DOS machines). Can anyone help me? From: Alfred Suhl <ANT01@DMSWWU1A> Subject: Call for information on Gramcord Date: Tue, 06 Mar 90 14:16:00 MEZ X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1908 (2395) It would help me very much, if there is anyone who could give me informa- tion on the following items as soon as possible (already tomorrow mor NING?). I AM PROFESSOR FOR NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS AT THE PROTESTANT FACUL- TY IN MUENSTER. I HAVE SOME DIFFICULTIES IN WRITING A CORRECT ENGLISH. NEVERTHELESS I DO HOPE, YOU CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT I MEAN. TOGETHER WITH OUR CATHOLIC FACULTY WE GOT THE MONEY NOW FOR INSTALLING NETWORK WITH ONE SERVER and 20 workstations for our students. I have to take care for some useful tools for theological research. I asked Mr.Miller for INFORMATION ON HIS GRAMCORD, that I am very interested in, but I did not get the answer as soon AS IT IS NECESSARY FOR ME, FOR I HAVE TO MAKE MY DECISION THIS WEEK. THEREFORE I WOULD BE VERY OBLIGED TO EVERYONE WHO WOULD HELp me soon by answering the following questions: 1. What is the actual price for GRAMCORD and GRAMGREEK? 2. What would be the licence fee if we put the programs on our server and let the students work at their stations? 3. Does GRAMGREEK still work only together with CHIWRITER or does it work with WORD or - even better - with WORDPERFECT, too? 4. If there are different versions for GRAMGREEK - what are the actual prices for a single licence or for the above mentioned network-licence? 5. Is there anyone who knows Mr.Miller personally and would tell him that I would prefer to get his response - either via bitnet or via telefax as I wrote to him? I am in such a hurry because we got the money for our network just now. I worked at the university of Duisburg for one year, so I forgot to get the information I need now in due time. Of course it is my fault. But as I like to help other people - may be, there is anyone who likes to help me now? I WILL LOOK TO MY READERLIST TOMORROW MORNING AND WILL BE THANKFUL TO EVERYONE WHO GIVES ME A HINT. ALFRED SUHL From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Gertrude Stein Date: Tue, 06 Mar 90 14:40:15 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1909 (2396) We are looking for information leading to as many etexts of Gertrude Steins as possible, including variants. Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**) (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET) From: elli@harvunxw.BITNET (Elli Mylonas) Subject: Latin Dictionary Date: Tue, 6 Mar 90 18:41:36 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1910 (2397) Has anyone heard of "MetaVerbal Technologies" a person or persons in Evanston Illinois, who are marketing a Latin English Dictionary? They say it has 25,000 entries, but don't state which dictionary (paper) it comes from or how many Mb it is. It supposedly is in raw text format, and can be licensed for $49.95 1 copy, $129.95 for a departmental site license. A letter with this information was sent to my department, and they are wondering whether they should get it. It sounds as if it is rather a tool for research, more than a stand alone dictionary. As such, it may not be the best buy without a person to massage it into usable shape. However, there is so little work in Latin on computer that this sounds intriguing to me! I am trying to find the Metaverbal folks, but if any Humanist knows anything, please write me. All I have for them is a paper mail address, no phone, no e-mail. They are also, apparently, working on Latin scansion and parsing. Thanks in advance for any leads. --elli mylonas From: <JBOWYER@UNOMA1> Subject: Welcome to the Machine Date: Tue, 6 Mar 90 21:09 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1911 (2398) A Fulbright scholar from Czechoslovakia at our university just bought a PC this weekend. He's learned the basics of MS-DOS already (an amazing feat in itself for someone who has never touched a computer before). Now we're trying to find some software that meets his needs. 1. He has a shareware Czech word processor, but we both soon realized that it doesn't work well. He called home and discovered that his colleagues use a program called Multi-Lingual Scholar. Has anyone heard of this program? Do you know where I can get a copy at the cheapest price? 2. He wants to start collecting English language learning software. Is there anyplace where I can access public domain versions of such programs (perhaps via FTP)? Thanks for your assistance. Sincerely, Jeffrey W. Bowyer University of Nebraska at Omaha From: "HALPORN,JAMES,CLAS" <halpornj@ucs.indiana.edu> Subject: HUMANIST: KEYBOARD MAPPING Date: Sat, 3 Mar 90 13:51:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1912 (2399) The discussion of keyboard mapping by various gurus and programmers reminds me of the exchange between Owen Glendower and Hotspur in I Henry IV.3.1: Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep. Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man: But will they come when you do call for them? If you think of the relationship between keyboard, display, and printer, I think my meaning is clear. Jim Halporn (Classics/CompLit, Indiana U -- HALPORNJ@UCS.INDIANA.EDU) From: Alfred Suhl <ANT01@DMSWWU1A> Subject: E-Bible, Anfrage Mark Olsen Date: Tue, 06 Mar 90 12:37:08 MEZ X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1913 (2400) Mark Olsen fragt: >Can anyone point me to French and German editions of the Bible in electronic form?< Die Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft in D-7000 Stuttgart, Balinger Strasse 31 verkauft mehrere Versionen der Luther-Bibel auf Diskette und CD-ROM. Auf der CD-ROM - Version gibt es ausserdem andere deutsche Bibeluebersetzungen sowie ein sehr leistungsfaehiges Suchprogramm COBRA. Ausserdem gibt es im deutschen Buchhandel die Luther-Bibel im ASCII-Code auf 7 oder 10 Disketten fuer nur DM 80.- und ausserdem die Elberfelder Bibel auf Diskette fuer DM 70.- Leider habe ich im Augenblick den Katalog nicht bei mir; bei bedarf gebe ich gern die Preise und Bestellnummern fuer die Stuttgarter Bibelgesell- schaft bekannt. ASuhl From: Jim O'Donnell (Classics, Penn) Subject: Turbo-fonts; VUWRITER Date: 05 Mar 90 21:53:35 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1914 (2401) Turbo-fonts is an add on to give screen and printer Greek capacity to word processing. I used it several years ago with WordPerfect 4.1, found it cumbersome and not especially pleasant to look at on the page, and so have not paid attention to any later developments. The main problem was that it provided Greek by replacing ASCII characters 128 through 255, but since it needed a different character for every combination of accent/vowel/breathing, it ran out of space (there are more than 128 `characters' counting that way in Greek) and so was reduced to backspace/overstrike combinations that did not screen display and that were variously problematic on the page. The VUWRITER question urges the classicist to fantasize. There is no program in either Mac or IBM now putting Greek on screen and paper that is fully satisfactory, but it must be admitted that Mac is far ahead, with a program called SMK Greekkeys (distributed now through the American Philological Association) that works with Microsoft Word and produces very acceptable near-typeset-quality output: I'm involved in a publishing project that uses it all the time. Even that could be better, and nothing in IBM is anywhere near as good. NotaBene is a very good word processor and does do Greek, but screen display is a little cramped and (I hear this may change soon) laser fonts are limited. WordPerfect is obtusely uninterested in the subject (they *think* they already do Greek in 5. 1, which is true in one sense and not true at all in another); I know of one add-on (Scripture Fonts) that gives Greek and Hebrew, but the printer output there is still very limited. It would be *very* good to have a high-quality word processor that gave you as much variety and choice among Greek, both on screen and paper, as we have among Roman characters. This would require a very large character set (to include all brackets, dotted characters, etc. used by papyrologists and epigraphers: any company putting together such software should get a good young Grecian with a lot of papyrus/epigraphy experience to consult in great detail on this), and a variety of fonts, both sizes and styles. A rather cursive font is the standard (e.g., Oxford Classical Texts, who call their type `Porson Greek' after a famously brilliant drunkard: a Cambridge man), but by no means necessarily: the fine old Complutensian Polyglot Bible of Cardinal Ximenes from the 16th century offers a handsome example of what a squarer font can be. Somehow I doubt the fantasy will come true any time soon. Real software developers find themselves making tradeoffs very early on that limit the fantasy. The main thing is the character set, the second thing is legibility on screen and paper. (Also important is compatibility: there is an international standard, because of TLG/Irvine, for Roman-alphabet representation of Greek texts, so-called Beta format. Any processor should at a minimum provide a conversion program to turn Beta Greek into Greek it can read, and the ideal processor would include an out-migration conversion program that would turn *its* Greek back into Beta format for sharing with others who have different programs. But software developers seem *never* to be interested in compatibility questions, at least not out-migration questions. Sigh.) From: Stuart Moulthrop <SMOULTHR@YALEVM> Subject: machined writing Date: Mon, 5 Mar 90 21:53:03 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1915 (2402) "Skip" from Boise State replies to Davida Charney's critique of Marcia Halio by observing that Halio does not advance "scientific" claims for what she sees on her campus. Quite so. But it's plain to any reader of the article that Halio tries to pass off as "fact" an enormous load of untested, unverified, entirely subjective assumptions. It's enough just to catch that section heading "Suspicions Confirmed" to understand what's going on. The article "confirms" nothing. But it DOES make plenty of assumptions as if it had presented ample proof and it DOES call for some pretty strong action (writing teachers should be warned against the "pitfalls" of friendly user interfaces). Charney is right. This is bad scholarship and bad journalism. Stuart Moulthrop Expository Writing Program Yale University From: Malcolm Hayward <MHAYWARD@IUPCP6.BITNET> Subject: Reading Aloud Date: 05 Mar 90 20:30 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1916 (2403) Who was the first to read silently? A Taiwanese student remarked she could not understand how anyone could read a NOVEL or a BOOK aloud. When reading she reads by sight not by sound as I suppose all do who read from a writing system not based on sounds. Of course! I thought; a hundred generations of Chinese readers must have been reading text after text before Augustine came along, with nary a one of them moving their lips. It was an Ah ha! experience. Malcolm Hayward MHayward@IUP Department of English Phone: 412-357-2322 or IUP 412-357-2261 Indiana, PA 15705 From: John Morris <JMORRIS@UALTAVM> Subject: Eschewing e-texts Date: Mon, 05 Mar 90 22:03:59 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1917 (2404) In response to Michael Hart's query: I like e-texts, but only for certain purposes such as for concording, collocational analysis, style analysis, or even just for quick searches for a passage I want. I wouldn't actually want to read one, though. Call me atavistic, but I like the feel of books and the sense I get of the size of a work by whether or not it's breaking my knees on the bus. As for actually spending the hours necessary to read a whole e-text--well, it's a lot like staring into a light bulb. As a graduate assistant, I proof- read nearly a thousand pages of medieval poetry for an authorship study, and although grateful for the opportunity to read that much poetry at one time, there were days when I thought my eyes would fall out and roll across the table. John Morris, Graduate English, University of Alberta. From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: etexts not the same Date: 6 March 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1918 (2405) Michael Hart, in suggesting that repositories of e-texts will soon replace conventional libraries, has raised the question of what experts in computer-mediated communication call the "substitution mentality". This rests on the notion that a new technology can simply replace an older one, bringing about improvements of a purely quantitative nature without affecting in any substantive way the context in which that technology is applied. I am beginning to think that McLuhan was wise to formulate the essential interdependence of form and content in that outrageous sentence, "The medium is the message", since we seem to be so thick on this point. Of course we tend at first to see the new in terms of the old, but understanding begins with the uneasy feeling that the old model simply doesn't fit the new circumstance very well. Folks of a particularly stubborn bent may want to argue that the parts which don't fit are insignificant, but others will see the possibility for an entirely new paradigm. I would certainly like to know of a study in the history of technology that deals with the cultural assimilation of new things. Kuhn's notion of scientific revolutions is related, I suppose. I think we should take the title of the next ALLC/ICCH conference, "The New Medium", quite seriously and try to understand what an adequate paradigm for it might be, instead of wondering how soon we'll be able to curl up in bed with a good computer instead of a good book. One vital question for us professionally is whether computing in the humanities itself offers anything substantially new. Can we get to an answer by continuing to think of computing as a fast and accurate servant of the old ways? Certainly, to take another example, we will not understand e-mail as long as we keep thinking of it either in terms of print or of speech. As a new medium it behaves according to new rules and has certain inherent tendencies that need to be taken into account. A considerable body of work has been done by the social scientists to delineate its behavioural characteristics. One interesting conclusion from this work is that computer-mediated communication is profoundly rhetorical. It tends, because of the absence of "social context cues", to depend on language alone, so that literacy is primary, and those who have a facility with language become the most influential. This conclusion would seem to make e-mail the proper preserve of the humanists, indeed of Humanist. Comments? Yours, Willard McCarty From: TRACY LOGAN <LOGANT@lafayett> Subject: success story, following a header Date: Wed, 7 Mar 90 05:45:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1919 (2406) [deleted quotation] I promised two sentences, but couldn't get it quite as tight as your two above! Edit if it serves the cause (PS: I hope your relief turns up before you get desperate!) -tracy +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A query of mine appeared on February 27 (Vol. 3, No. 1111): [deleted quotation] By the 29th, I had three replies, from Princeton, Washington State, and Appalachian State. They were varied and ingenious. A fourth reply came from a music librarian who saw the request on "the Music Library listserv" -- some kind Humanist forwarded it, I guess! My client was delighted, and so was I. -- Tracy From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.1140 diverse queries (150) Date: Wed, 7 Mar 90 16:32:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1144 (2407) Multi-Lingual Scholar was reviewed by Whitney Bolton in our bible COMPUTER AND THE HUMANITIES vol.23, no.3 June 1989 and one of the last issues of Canadian Humanities Computing. I hope this will be of any help to you Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal E-mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca From: <GC130@DSIHRZ51> Subject: Updated ALLC/ICCH Conference Programme Date: Wed, 7 Mar 90 12:39:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1920 (2408) ALLC - ACH 90 The New Medium 17th International Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing Conference and 10th International Conference on Computers and the Humanities 4 - 9 June 1990 University of Siegen Federal Republic of Germany Dear Colleague, the University of Siegen is proud to host the first joint conference of ALLC and ACH in Europe. ALLC-ACH 90 will give a profound state of the art report on humanities computing. 'The New Medium' and computer science are challenging the whole field of humanities. Workstations, Software, Environments, Electronic Texts, Digital Images, Computational Methods and Networking are changing the world of learning. You will be in Germany during a thrilling period of political change. Enjoy your stay in the heart of Europe. Yours sincerely Helmut Schanze Conference Organizer ALLC-ACH 90 -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. NUMEDIUM CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: laura ann <GUY@WISCMACC> Subject: CONFERENCE BLURB Date: Wed, 7 Mar 90 09:18 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1921 (2409) Humanists concerned with data library and data archive issues will find this conference of great interest. ----- IASSIST90 May 30 - June 3, 1990 Poughkeepsie, New York USA Numbers, Pictures, Words and Sounds: Priorities for the 1990's IASSIST 16th Annual Conference The International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) is an international association of individuals who are engaged in the acquisistion, processing, maintenance, and distribution of machine readable text and/or numeric social science data. Founded in 1974, the membership includes social scientists, data archivists, librarians, information specialists, researchers, programmers, planners and government agency administrators. Their range of interests encompasses hard copy as well as machine readable. The 1990 IASSIST conference has as its central theme "Numbers, Pictures, Words and Sounds: Priorities for the 1990's". This title reflects the ever-expanding universe of data types, as well as related hardware and software development. The program consists of presentations reflecting cross-national viewpoints on a wide variety of topics. -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. IASSIST CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: PACS Forum <LIBPACS@UHUPVM1> Subject: Access to Electronic Government Information, Part I Date: Wed, 7 Mar 90 10:47:05 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1146 (2410) Part I, 104 lines From->Ivy Anderson <ANDERSON@brandeis.bitnet> Subject->Access to Electronic Government Information A recent PACS-L posting alerted us to impending legislation which would limit public access to electronic government information, but I thought PACS-L subscribers might be interested in this more detailed report being circulated by GODORT. Interestingly, this was forwarded to me by a member of our computer science faculty, who received it from a colleague at Digital Equipment's Cambridge Research Lab. Ivy Anderson Brandeis University Libraries ----------------------------- GODORT Government Documents Round Table/American Library Association DATE: January 31, 1990 FROM: GODORT Executive Committee TO: National Action Alert Network Contacts, Librarians, and Library Users On January 23, 1990, Rep. Jim Bates, and others, introduced a bill, HR 3849, To amend title 44, United States Code, to reform the public information functions of the Public Printer and the Superintendent of Documents. If passed into law unaltered, this legislation could very well firmly establish a formal structure for the imposition of user fees for access to public information existing only online with the federal government. It would also limit the Depository Library Program to distributing government information in electronic format only on compact discs or computer tape, and ultimately prevent the Government Printing Office from becoming the type of electronic publisher it will need to be for it to be viable in the next decade and into the 21st Century. HR 3849, as introduced by the Committee on House Administration, will do this in three ways: 1. By legislating that agreements for disseminating electronic services must describe terms for users and libraries to share the cost of disseminating online electronic information, the bill establishes, for the first time in the 100 year history of the Depository Library Program, that users of government information may be required to pay directly for access to the information their taxes paid to accumulate. The bill proposes adding to 44 USC, section 1902 (b), which states in part that access to information services MAY be made available to depository libraries subject to specific agreements between the Superintendent of Documents, head of the GPO, and the government agency issuing the the service. The agreements must "describe the terms and conditions of access...such as contributions from service users...." 2. By changing the definition of "government publication" the bill will effectively exclude electronic information services, such as bulletin boards and other online data, from being considered government publications. New language amending section 1901 of title 44 will define "publication" as any "...tangible format, medium, or substrate..." and effectively exclude electronic "services" from being considered as government information which falls into the category of that which should be disseminated freely as part of an agency's informational mission. CD-ROMs and computer tapes would be covered under this definition, but any database requiring telecommunications access would not! 3. By changing the definition of "printing" the bill would restrict the publishing of the Government Printing Office to only printed materials, that is paper and microform. In addition, government agencies would not be required to cooperate with the GPO in developing and distributing electronic products, as they would be with "printed" materials. With the language that HR 3849 would amend in sections 501 and 502 of title 44, "printing" to be done at the GPO would be strictly of the 19th Century variety, and procurement of information products would be again limited to a "tangible format, medium, or substrate." An additional new section, 1723, would also limit GPO distribution and sales to the "tangible" definition! This bill could destroy the only available avenue of "no-fee" access to all electronic forms of government information, and restrict the Depository Library Program from providing access to the ever increasing number of electronic databases being used by the government to replace printed materials. These amendments to the current law will stifle a program that, as originally intended by Congress, has provided EQUITABLE access to government information for ALL citizens in an environment unencumbered by political or economic motive. Depository libraries already bear a large share of the cost of disseminating government information to the public. Government fees for the use of public data online could mean that many libraries will not be able to afford to disseminate vital information to the citizens of many congressional districts. Other legislation pending before Congress (S 1724 & HR 3695) would require agencies to consider the availability of an electronic information product or service in the private sector before development could proceed. If passed within that overall legislative context, as more and more information is available only electronically, and as increasing amounts of it are available only from private publishers, this bill will shift more and more costs to users and libraries, and mean less and less access to government information. (Continued in Part II) --------- Robert Philip Weber, Ph.D. | Phone: (617) 495-3744 Senior Consultant | Fax: (617) 495-0750 Academic and Planning Services | Division | Office For Information Technology| Internet: weber@popvax.harvard.edu Harvard University | Bitnet: Weber@Harvarda 50 Church Street | Cambridge MA 02138 | From: Asher B Samuels <abs@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu> Subject: e-texts just can't replace the old thing Date: Wed, 7 Mar 90 20:10:19 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1922 (2411) As both a Computer Science major at Columbia University and a Talmud major at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, I am stuck between both positions on this issue. While the computer is useful for many tasks, such as preparing a concordance, comparing two difering versions of a text, etc., There are some things it just can't do. The most important of these, at least in Talmud, is a sense of revrence. You just can't really get a sense of a CD-ROM disk as holy. I guess in English Lit. a similar problem would occur, in that a manuscript just isn't the same when its an image on a screen. As a side note, I guess this is why, in an era of Stereo VCRs, etc. people still go to the movies. Asher Samuels abs@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu From: <ASNIDEPD@UIAMVS> Subject: shock of the e-text Date: Wed, 07 Mar 90 15:34 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1923 (2412) The problematic "newness" of the electronic medium, mentioned by Willard McCarty, raises an issue that deserves discussion. Computation has long surrounded itself with utopian rhetoric, from the early days of the graphics-based revolution in California to recent claims that Western consciousness itself has undergone a digitized transformation. I'm sympathetic to such claims, but also unsettled by them. Has the millennium arrived or is it yet-to-be? Can we all expect redemption or just those who use particular operating systems? If libraries really will become museums, should they immediately suspend acquisitions and invest the money in powerful workstations? Back in the Renaissance, writers singled out three technological innovations as especially noteworthy: printing, the compass, and gunpowder. Now, computers cover all three categories, with significant humanistic, scientific, and military applications. Anyone who offers me evidence from the last two domains employs the argumentum ad ignorantiam. But when I'm told about the profound influence computers have on the way readers conceptualize meaning--comparable to cuneiform writing or the codex book--I think about reading and writing as historical practices. E-texts are different from printed texts, the argument runs, because they are interactive, unstable, iconographic, dynamic, and inherently democratic. We can, however, locate most of these attributes at earlier stages in the history of textual production. Reading is _normally_ a dynamic process, and bound books escape rigid linearity in the hands (literally) of an experienced reader. Similarly, why not consider electronic "publication" as a return to the conditions of manuscript circulation, and e-lists as a type of coterie readership? Thus, the electronic medium revives a traditional form of going public without going into print--one in which, incidentally, textual corruption (call it radical instability or "code cracking" if you prefer) inevitably ensued. This is all very sketchy, but brevity is supposed to be the essence of our medium. I want only to suggest that we scrutinize claims of amazing novelty and not caricature the book as monolithic and authoritarian. To paraphrase another prophetic McLuhanism: the Law of Implementation is that the newest awareness must be processed by established procedures. The present may indeed mark a transitional stage in the history of literacy, with vestigial elements of the book facilitating new modes of cognition. But maybe we're headed back to the future. Alvin Snider U of Iowa From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: change, but still a mixed bag Date: 8 March 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1924 (2413) In response to Alvin Snider's interesting note. I wonder if all revolutions cause the doors of heaven to open, if only a crack and for a moment until human nature takes over. Apocalyptic statements, such as about libraries of printed books, indicate something important is happening. I would hope that such statements are neither believed nor ignored but used to discover what we can while we can. The social science I've been reading tends to point out, for example, that the semiotic poverty of e-mail has both good and bad effects. In the absence of "social context cues" and across geographical distances ordinary politics cannot reach, we are liberated to be more our intellectual selves and less creatures locked into inhibiting hierarchies and parochial work-groups. The "progress" of technology may soon expand the range of cues available, and as a result we may be allowed less freedom. Meanwhile, what is happening in the new medium shows us several very important things, about communication itself, about scholarly communities, and about ourselves. In the interests of brevity, which Snider rightly points to, let me give a single example. Several Humanists over the last three years (almost) have remarked that our seminar offers a kind of collegiality that seems to have all but disappeared from university life. Those who are intent on production of academic goods may wish to dismiss this collegiality as a nice but distracting luxury. It seems to me, however, that at the very least our collective labour to maintain it -- how many hours per week do you spend? -- says something highly significant about the kind of academic world we really desire. A powerful revolution could be fired by that desire. Perhaps we should think in terms, historically as well as figuratively, of a renaissance of humanism rather than an apocalypse. Or perhaps these are the same thing. Yours, Willard McCarty From: Terry Bynum (BYNUM@CTSTATEU) Subject: 3.1143 etexts not the same Date: 8 March 90 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1925 (2414) Willard McCarty, in his message "etexts not the same," asks about works discussing cultural assimilation of new technology. There is a very good discussion of the "revolutionary" nature of computer technology in James H. Moor's "What Is Computer Ethics?" in METAPHILOSOPHY, vol. 16, no. 4, October 1985. Among other things, Moor offers a possible--perhaps likely?--scenario for the assimilation of computer technology into our society. He argues that computing will not simply make us more efficient at doing what we already do in education, at work, in business, and so on. Rather, he says, it is likely to alter significantly WHAT we do, and even how we CONCEIVE of what we do. For example, he argues that computing is likely to alter the meanings of words like "teach," "learn," "work" and "money." From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: Halio article available Date: Thu, 8 Mar 90 10:30:51 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1148 (2415) Electronic versions of the Halio article "Student Writing: Can the Machine Maim the Message?" from _Academic Computing_, January 1990, are available in directory /pub/jac on Internet host umd5.umd.edu in ASCII and several formatted versions for various word processors. Below is the "readme" file accompanying the posting. You can remote logon to this host via Internet using "anonymous" as user name and no password; download the version(s) of interest to read or print on your own machine. Copies state that they are reprinted with permission of the publisher; the text remains copyright 1990 by Academic Computing. For those of you without access to Internet, perhaps our editor will post a version on UTORONTO for access via Bitnet. ---quoting from umd5.umd.edu:/pub/jac/readme: This information about academic computing policy is being put online by the University of Maryland to encourage electronic publication on policy issues. In making this material available through its computers, the University is not endorsing it or taking any editorial position whatever. The University hopes to encourage electronic access to this and other articles from the Journal of Academic Computing and other scholarly publications to promote wider discussion of academic computing matters. Responsible replies are welcome and will also be put online if appropriate. Note also that several internet newsgroups are discussing this and similar topics. Additional articles (even non-controversial ones!) are welcome. Please contact Glenn_Ricart@umail.umd.edu concerning posting. The formats available are: halio.asc ASCII - just read it halio.ps PostScript - needs Palatino font in your printer halio.ws3 WordStar 3 halio.rtf Rich Text Format halio.macwrite MacWrite 1 for Macintosh; stored in MacBinary halio.macword Microsoft Word 4 for Macintosh; stored in MacBinary halio.doc DisplayWrite 3/1/90 ---end of quotation From: <RELIGION@MIDD> Subject: Position in Jewish Studies - Middlebury College Date: Wed, 7 Mar 90 20:52 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1926 (2416) Middlebury College. The Departments of Religion and Classics announce a special one-year position in Jewish Studies at the Instructor/Assistant Professor level beginning September, 1990. Qualifications include an ability to teach courses in Biblical Hebrew and in the areas of history of the Jewish religion, Jewish philosophy and mysticism, and/or modern Jewish thought. Send letter of application, curriculum vitae, and dossier (including transcripts and three letters of recommendation) by April 1 to Professor Steven C. Rockefeller, Chair, Department of Religion, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753 (tel: 802/388-3711, ext. 5289) Middlebury College is an Equal Opportunity Employer. From: Judith Rowe <JUDITH@PUCC> Subject: IASSIST90 Conference Update Date: Thu, 08 Mar 90 13:27:15 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1927 (2417) More details on IASSIST90. This is a preliminary program. Other papers may yet be accepted for presentation. ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- IASSIST90 May 30 - June 3, 1990 Poughkeepsie, New York USA Numbers, Pictures, Words and Sounds: Priorities for the 1990's IASSIST 16th Annual Conference The International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) is an international association of individuals who are engaged in the acquisistion, processing, maintenance, and distribution of machine readable text and/or numeric social science data. -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. IASSIST CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: SA_RAE@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK Subject: Software for Ethnographic research? Date: Wed, 7 MAR 90 20:05:28 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1928 (2418) Software for Ethnographic research. A researcher at the Open University, UK. is looking for software to assist in her work. She has heard of a package, possibly with the name: ETHNOGRAPH or ETHNOGEN (perhaps even ETHOGRAPH or ETHOGEN) that seemed to offer what she needs. Have any Humanists heard of such a package? Facilities that the package offered included searches (or trawls) through large text files (either written text or transcribed speech) looking for common themes or word patterns combined with an ability to extract relevant passages or to do statistics on occurencies. This seemed to me similar to facilities offered by packages like OCP but perhaps there are now others available. Please respond to me at: SA_RAE@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK I will summarise and post back to HUMANIST if applicable. Thanking you in anticipation, Simon Rae, Research Adviser, ACS, Open University, UK. From: MFZXREP@CMS.MANCHESTER-COMPUTING-CENTRE.AC.UK Subject: WORDPLEX TO IBM COMP Date: Thu, 08 Mar 90 11:35:04 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1929 (2419) DOES ANYBODY OUT THERE KNOW OF A CONVERSION PROGRAM THAT DEALS WITH WORDPLEX 4? I HAVE ONE THAT WORKS ON WORDPLEX 2&3 WRITTEN BY A I.J. WILSON FROM LEEDS G.I. REPLIES PLEASE TO EITHER; MFZXREP@UK.AC.MCC.CMS G.PERCIVAL@UK.AC.MCC THANK YOU From: MFZXREP@CMS.MANCHESTER-COMPUTING-CENTRE.AC.UK Subject: E-MAIL FOR INTERDEPARTMENTAL COMMUNICATION Date: Thu, 08 Mar 90 12:02:09 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1930 (2420) WE ARE, WITHIN THE ARTS FACULTY, UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER, THINKING ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF REPLACING THE PRESENT SYSTEM OF INTERNAL MAIL, AND TO SOME DEGREE, EXTERNAL MAIL, BY E-MAIL. AT PRESENT THE MOVE IS AT THE DISCUSSION STAGE, AND WE ARE TRYING TO ASSESS REACTION WITHIN THE FACULTY TO SUCH A MOVE. MOST OF THE MORE OBVIOUS PRO'S AND CONS HAVE BEEN AIRED, AND NOW THE MATTER IS TO BE INVESTIGATED SERIOUSLY. IS THERE ANYONE WHO IS AWARE OF SUCH AN ARRANGEMENT ELSEWHERE, WHETHER SUCCESSFUL OR NOT IT WOULD BE USEFUL TO HAVE SOME INPUT DRAWN FROM EXPERIENCE IN ASSESSING ITS VIABILITY, AND TO AID US IN ANTICIPATING PROBLEMS WHICH MAY ARISE. MFZXREP@UK.AC.MCC.CMS G.PERCIVAL@UK.AC.MANCHESTER From: Donald Spaeth 041 339-8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Subject: American History database needed for teaching Date: Thu, 08 Mar 90 14:49:28 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1931 (2421) I have recently had a query from an academic who wishes to have her students use a database as one module in an American History survey course. Can anyone suggest/offer a dataset? Ideally, this would include Ante-Bellum (or at least 19th century) data, but any interesting dataset would be welcome. There should be some textual or categorical fields: part, name, occupation, or whatever. Any suggestions? With thanks, Donald Spaeth Centre for History and Computing University of Glasgow D.A.Spaeth @ UK.AC.GLASGOW (from JANET) D.A.Spaeth @ GLASGOW.AC.UK (from Bitnet/EARN) From: DJT18@hull.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.1140 diverse queries (150) Date: Thu, 8 Mar 90 05:18:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1932 (2422) In response to Jeffrey W Bowyer's query about Multi-Lingual Scholar,it is produced by Gamma Productions, Inc., 710 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 609, Santa Monica, CA 90401 USA; (213)394-8622. Frederick H Casler, who published a review in Canadian Humanities Computing, may give you further information. His address is: Chairman, Dept of Classics, Brock University, St Catherines, Ontario L2S 3A1. June Thompson, CTI Centre for Modern Languages, University of Hull, UK. From: "M. R. Sperberg-McQueen " <U15440@UICVM> Subject: Translation of Alfred Suhl's note about German bibles Date: Wed, 7 Mar 90 10:24:50 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1933 (2423) [My thanks to M. R. Sperberg-McQueen for supplying the following translation of A. Suhl's note about the biblical texts. This is not to imply that any Humanist who reads English but who is not entirely comfortable writing it should not reply in the language of his or her choice. Rather, I would like to think that whenever a note in a language other than English appears on Humanist, some kind person will translate it for the benefit of those who can't read it. Obviously such a practice could get out of hand, so please use English whenever possible, but when it isn't, feel free, as we N. Americans say. --W.M.] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mark Olson asks: "Can anyone point me to French and German editions of the Bible in electronic form?" The German Bible Society [address: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft / D-7000 Stuttgart / Balinger Strasse 31] sells several versions of the Luther Bible on diskette and CD-ROM. On CD-ROM there are additionally other German Bible translations as well as a very efficient search program, COBRA. Additionally the Luther Bible in ASCII-code on 7 or 10 diskettes is available through German bookstores for only DM 80, as well as the Elberfeld Bible for DM 70. Unfortunately I don't have the catalogue at the moment; as needed I would be glad to give prices and order numbers for the Stuttgart Bible Society items. ASuhl - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I might add that Keith Handley (kehandley@AMHERST) told me (I don't think he posted this on Humanist--if he did, apologies for duplicating) about Hermeneutika (P.O.Box 98563, Seattle WA 98198, tel.: 1-800-55BIBLE), which markets at least one of the Deutsche Bibel- gesellschaft's Luther Bibles ("Die Bibel/IBM with Luther Bibel incl. Apocrypha, notes, comments, xrefs, 9.5 MB"). The recent catalogue they send me gave a price of DM 480, but they ask that one phone for the most recent price. -- Given that Luther's bible has been revised many times, I myself would want to know which edition the e-version is before I signed a check. -- I note as I scan Hermeneutika's rather extensive catalogue, that they also market a Dutch translation of the Bible, as well as what appear to be several versions of Strong's Greek and Hebrew glossary. --Marian Sperberg-McQueen University of Illinois at Chicago From: PACS Forum <LIBPACS@UHUPVM1> Subject: Access to Electronic Government Information, Part II Date: Wed, 7 Mar 90 10:48:50 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1152 (2424) Part II, 57 lines ACTION NEEDED NAAN Contacts: Please pass this packet of information along immediately to your contacts in the GODORT National Action Alert Network, AND to users of your government documents collection and your library. A personal request would be best. It is very important that the Committee hear from library users. Please provide your librarian colleagues and the users whom you ask to respond with the list of members of the Committee on House Administration and the addresses of their Washington offices. Call, wire, or write to your Congressional Representative, and copy your letter to the members of the Committee on House Administration. Please send blind copies of your letters to the ALA Washington Office care of Anne Heanue, and Dan Barkley, NAAN Coordinator, Documents Library, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045-2800. In addition, please recall that you have recently received the ALA Legislative Action Alert on the Paperwork Reduction Act Revisions. Please remind your contacts to refer to it, and to review HR 3849 within the context of the other bills -- HR 3695 and S 1724. Librarians and Library Users: Call, wire, or write directly to Congressman Bates and the members of the Committee on House Administration. Copy your letters to, or also call your representative in Congress. Please be specific about what diminishing access to federal information will mean to you personally and how you think user fees will affect you. The GODORT Executive Committee suggests that your letters ask your representatives to: 1. exempt depository library users from fees for access to government information; 2. change the definitions of government publication and government printing to state "information products and services which are published regardless of format, at government expense, or as required by law;" 3. change the language of the bill so that online information services SHALL be distributed to depository libraries whether through government or private sector providers; and 4. provide that the cost of disseminating electronic information products and services should be covered through specific appropriation of public funds or through the appropriations for the GPO and the Depository Library Program. Finally, it might also serve well to remind the Representatives that they should work to preserve a program established by Congress 100 years ago to ensure that all citizens of the United States would be able to freely obtain information by and about their government. (End of Message) --------- Robert Philip Weber, Ph.D. | Phone: (617) 495-3744 Senior Consultant | Fax: (617) 495-0750 Academic and Planning Services | Division | Office For Information Technology| Internet: weber@popvax.harvard.edu Harvard University | Bitnet: Weber@Harvarda 50 Church Street | Cambridge MA 02138 | From: Jim O'Donnell (Classics, Penn) Subject: government e-access Date: 07 Mar 90 21:29:08 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1934 (2425) The posting about the perverse bill pending to restrict access to government e-data set me to wondering whether we may yet write our representatives by e-mail? I'll bet they're all shooting e-grams back and forth to each other, and it would be a public service (fair play turnabout for the franking privilege) if their addresses were published. Have the addresses been published? Anybody out there clever enough to winkle them out and publish them anyway? (It was e-mail that helped get Ollie North in trouble: he thought he was erasing all his messages, but somebody in the basement was automatically backing them up every day>) From: <BCJ@PSUVM.PSU.EDU> Subject: Subscribing to C18-L from non-Bitnet sites. Date: Wed, 7 Mar 90 19:26:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1935 (2426) [A novice "list owner" has sent me the following note about difficulties of access to Bitnet-ListServ discussion groups from outside Bitnet. The major point of confusion seems to involve the fact that non-Bitnet/NetNorth/EARN users of e-mail cannot send interactive commands. The Guide to Humanist advises all such people to send a simple mail-message to the ListServ site in question, and to ListServ at that site in particular, with the desired command as the first and only line. As far as I know this technique works. Any contrary evidence? -W.M.] Date 3 Mar 90 10:31:00 EST [deleted quotation]Subject Subscribing to C18-L from non-Bitnet sites. To "bcj" <bcj%psuvm.bitnet@jvncc.csc.org> I have succeded in subscribing to 18C-L. But I could not have done it by following the instructions that you posted in HUMANIST (and, I presume, elsewhere). I thought this might be worth mentioning to you. You realize, of course, that your directions assume that the prospective subscriber is at a Bitnet site and can issue interactive commands. You might want to remind non-Bitnet people (and there are many of us!) that Listserv commands can also be tucked inside a mail message and mailed to the Bitnet address LISTSERV@PSUVM or (mirabile dictu) the Internet address listserv@psuvm.psu.edu Presumably, those of us who subscribe to HUMANIST from Bitnet sites have done this kind of thing before--but I suspect some people will want reminding nonetheless. Roland Hutchinson Visiting Specialist in Early Music Montclair State College From: koontz@ALPHA.BLDR.NIST.GOV Subject: Customizing Nota Bene Fonts (outside of SLS) Date: Wed, 7 Mar 90 16:41:04 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1154 (2427) [The following I have plucked from the Nota Bene discussion group because it usefully summarizes extensive experience with font generators and related software for MS-DOS systems. --W.M.] As a user of Nota Bene (NB), I am in the unfortunate position of working with a group of languages that aren't covered by any one SLS font, or even any set of SLS fonts. These languages use a few too many unusual diacritic combinations, e.g., the vowels with both acute accent and nasal hook. They also use some simple characters not otherwise available like eng (n with a j tail), as well as combinations of characters not available in a single SLS font, e.g., both s-hacek and edh. As many users of NB will know, this is not a fatal difficulty, and with a little patience it is possible to extricate oneself by creating one's own fonts (screen fonts and printer fonts) and keyboards. The process is well documented in the Customization and Programming Guide. The purpose of this letter is to pass on the names several soft- ware packages that I have found useful in creating new screen and printer fonts in the past, plus some interesting new packages that I have learned of since preparing my current fonts. For creating EGA screen fonts I have relied on The Duke Language Toolkit (DLT), which is a very nice font editor with a well-done interface, plus a TSR to download the fonts. The DLT was originally prepared and distributed by Jeffrey W. Gillette of the Duke University Divinity School. It supports several types of dot-matrix printers, too, plus the HP LaserJet series. It is currently available from: Wisc-Ware Academic Computing Center University of Wisconsin-Madison 1210 West Dayton Madison, WI 53706 800-543-3201 This address is from an SIL publication cited below. I have not yet had occasion to deal with Wisc-Ware, and I do not know their terms. I originally obtained the program from Duke, and have also obtained it from the shareware distribution service Public (Software) Library (PSL): Public (Software) Library P.O. Box 35705 Houston, TX 77235-5705 713-665-7017 The PSL disk number is 1228. SPL charges $5 per 5.5 inch disk (add $1 per disk per 3.5 inch disk), plus a $4 handling fee (per order of any number of disks). DLT is freeware, so there is no additional registration fee to be sent anywhere. PSL publishes a very useful monthly catalog and magazine on shareware. I have recently learned of another EGA font editor called Font- Shop, distributed by the Summer Institute of Linguistics. Font- Shop comes in at least three versions: the original version, which creates CGA fonts for use with the MS Word graphics mode, and two new versions that handle Hercules Plus and EGA graphics cards. For the address for those packages, see below. SIL also distributes another similar package consisting of parts called DESIGN and SHAPES. (Actually available from their sub- sidiary JAARS - Jungle Aviation and radio Service.) When I have created dot-matrix printer fonts for Epson LQ com- patible (24 pin) printers in the past, I have relied on a very nice shareware package called LQMatrix, programmed by Dr. J. David Sapir. LQMatrix and a companion product for 9-pin printers called FXMatrix are available as disk 1410 from PSL. LQMatrix also has a nice user interface, and has more powerful editing features than the DLT. I used this package successfully with the NEC P2200 printer, which is an Epson LQ-compatible. There is registration fee for these packages, if you decide to use them. I believe it was c. $35 for LQMatrix. Recently I have shifted to HP LaserJet-compatible printers and I have had to change printer font editors as a result. What I have been using to date is the SoftCraft Font Solution Pack (FSP), a combined collection of most of the SoftCraft font-manipulation packages for the HP LaserJet printer family. The FSP is a com- mercial package costing c. $500 (plus handling, etc.), and avail- able from SoftCraft: SoftCraft Inc. 16 N. Carroll St., #500 Madison, WI 53703 800-351-0500 It would be cheaper to order it through a discounter. Mailorder houses carrying the FSP often advertise in desktop publishing magazines. The FSP contains, of particular interest here, a Bitstream out- line font of your choice, various sample bitmapped fonts, a ver- sion of the Bitstream Fontware package, a font editor, a font (word-processor) installation package, and some tools for trans- forming bitmapped fonts into other bitmapped fonts. Using the first three one can generate a family of new bitmapped fonts from one of the Bitstream outlines, touch it up, and create a printer driver for MS Word, WordPerfect, and Display Writer. Some assistance is provided with other word processors, but no printer drivers are generated. The touching up process referred to above is not needed, of course, if the fonts desired use unmodified standard symbols. However, if it is desired to add exotic diacritics or a com- pletely new character, the font editor can be used for this. It can also be used to replace particular characters with bitmaps from other sources. The problem is that this touching up must be done separately for each font (each combination of face, style, and point size). This onerous process can be reduced somewhat by using SoftCraft's Font Effect tool (part of FSP) to generate obliques (as substitutes for true italics) and bolds, by trans- forming from a single base font. Such mechanically transformed fonts are not as nice as fonts created directly from outlines and edited by hand, but may be acceptable. A particular advantage to the SoftCraft version of Fontware, the outline scaler, to creators of exotic fonts is its ability to create fonts with a user defined symbol set. Bitstream's out- lines contain a number of characters for European languages that do not figure in standard ASCII, and these can be included in the bitmapped fonts that are generated. If one can get one copy of a particular diacritic, e.g., a nasal hook or a hacek, on one let- ter somewhere in the rough font output by Fontware, one can then transfer it to other letters with which it does not occur in the rough font by using the font editor to cut it out and paste it onto the additional letters. I have mentioned that the FSP's Font installation program cannot generate printer drivers for NB directly. Although these drivers can be generated by hand, it is easier to spend $65 on another third party package called Lodestar, which is a printer driver generator for NB and XyWrite. Lodestar Communications Inc. PO Box 2870 Canoga Park, CA 91306 818-340-0807 Lodestar supports all members of the LaserJet family, though there is no specific support for the new II-compatible IIP or even newer III yet. It can take the fonts produced with the SoftCraft FSP and assemble their descriptions into a NB printer driver. The package is so easy to use that you can easily throw together a printer driver for each particular purpose on the fly, even from within NB, though I have never gone to that extreme! I have recently learned of a better font generator tool that could be used in conjunction with NB with the assistance of Lodestar. This tool, distributed by SIL, is called the SIL Premier Font System (PFS). The SIL PFS is based on Bitstream bitmapped (not outline) fonts. It is best described by quoting from and paraphrasing a description that has appeared recently in a new SIL publication: Kew, Priscilla M. and Simons, Gary F., eds. Laptop Publishing for the Field Linguist: an approach based on Microsoft Word. Summer Institute of Linguistics, Occasional Publications in Academic Computing Number 14. ISBN 0-88312-637-0. $15.50 pb (incl. postage and handling) International Academic Bookstore Summer Institute of Linguistics 7500 W. Camp Wisdom Road Dallas, TX 75236 214-709-2404 The relevant chapter is number 7. Other chapters describe Font- Shop (mentioned above), a keyboard redefinition TSR, style sheets, etc. The book is accompanied by a diskette containing most of the software mentioned (though not, obviously, the PFS!). To continue with the description of the PFS: "The system is com- prised of a family of programs that produce fonts for LaserJet printers from a collection of characters in four typefaces, in up to four type styles (regular, italic, bold regular, and bold italic), in 16 different point sizes. The selection of charac- ters is extensive, including the complete IPA, a wide variety of diacritics, and characters from various non-Latin scripts. ... "... the package is available only through a licensing agreement. [Price not stated, but I presently understand it to be about $450] ... The most complete character set ... is available only in the Dutch 801 (Times Roman) typeface. ... For information about licensing arrangements contact: SIL Premier Fonts Printing Arts Department Summer Institute of Linguistics 7500 W. Camp Wisdom Rd. Dallas, TX 75236 214-709-2440; FAX 214-709-2433 "To install the complete character inventory on your computer system requires 15 MB of hard disk space. However, a complete system for just the Dutch typeface would require only 5 MB. This could be reduced even further to less than 1 MB by including only those fonts files for the sizes and styles required by your typi- cal publication. ... the original font files may be removed entirely once the printer fonts have been compiled." The four typefaces available are Dutch, Century, Swiss, Freeform. In addition it is indicated that there is support for Laotian, Tai Dam, Devanagari, Ethiopic, Greek, Arabic, and Pi [sic?], though no details are given. The PFS is a font compiler. It works from two user-defined tables, one of which describes the faces, styles, and point sizes desired, and the other the symbol set. The individual characters of the symbol sets may be defined as combinations of base charac- ters and one or more diacritics. (Diacritics are maintained separately in the PFS character database.) These combinations are constructed on the fly as the fonts are generated; they are only produced when a font for a particular use is generated. The combinations are thus user-defined, and the same symbol set definition table is used in generating all of the combinations of face, style, and point size desired. This eliminates one of the major sources of drudgery inherent in the approach required with the SoftCraft tools described above. In addition, though the package is described primarily as a tool for generating HP LJ printer fonts, it also generates accompany- ing screen fonts of various kinds. In fact, the package consists of editing tools for preparing the two font description tables, plus the filters VPJET, MSJET, DESFON, and TSJETC. VPJET and MSJET prepare printer fonts, printer drivers, and screen fonts for Ventura Publisher and MS Word, respectively. DESFON prepares font descriptions that can be integrated with other SIL software (DESIGN and SHAPES mentioned above) to create EGA/VGA and Her- cules Plus screen fonts. TSJETC is a generator that supports SIL's own in-house markup system Scriptset. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Any evaluations or recommendations made above are my own, and do not reflect the views of my employers. From: Hans van der Laan <RCDILAA@HDETUD1.TUDELFT.NL> Subject: AskSam utilities Date: Fri, 09 Mar 90 13:36:48 MET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1936 (2428) Being an enthousiastic user of AskSam, I want to do some "Advanced Importing" of files. My manual shows this topic, but reading page 3-88 it says: "... has developed utilities for importing DBASE, comma delimited, or fixed position files into askSam. Download these utilities from the Bulletin Board ...". Downloading from Europe from a Bulletin Board overseas is quite an undertaking. Or can it be reached via Bitnet? Does anyone know of a Board in Europe, from where I can download these utilities ? Hans ---------------------------------------------------------------- Hans van der Laan Bitnet: RCDILAA@HDETUD1 Delft University of Technology Computing Centre Postbus 354 NL-2600-AJ Delft The Netherlands From: Tom Thomson <tom@nw.stl.stc.co.uk> Subject: Re: 3.1151 MLS; Suhl on e-Bibles (80) Date: Fri, 9 Mar 90 14:06:42 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1937 (2429) re: translating Suhl. Our moderator's remarks provoke me to ask whether some kind person will provide translations of all this Barbarian English gibberish for those who prefer civilised languages? From: <reiner@RIO> Subject: RE: 3.1134 distance education defined and explained (114) Date: Fri, 9 Mar 90 13:23:45 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1156 (2430) I've passed two of the discussions along to our dean who oversees Instructional Technology. I thought some others would be interested in a recent article which was highlighting one of our distance education courses: "Telephone link provides one-of-a kind learning" Rod Christian's marketing class would make a great commercial for long distance carriers like AT&T and US Sprint. Through the advance of modern technology and the innovation of some educators, Christian's Principles of Marketing class is shared via phoneline with Australia's Adelaide College. This is Rio Salado's most distant class. I teach a class entirely by phone within our county boundaries (over 9000 sq miles). Such a course requires the instructor to utilize great imagination since you can not see the students and pregnant pauses are frequent. I frankly enjoy this method as a change from the classroom. If anyone would like more information on our alternate delivery services they can write me. Donna Reiner Rio Salado Community College 640 N 1st Ave Phoenix, Arizona 85003 Reiner@Rio.Bitnet From: Naama Zahavi-Ely <ELINZE@YALEVM> Subject: Database programs for American history Date: Fri, 9 Mar 90 09:50:08 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1938 (2431) Hello! Wisc-ware offers a number of database programs (some with contents) for analysis of American historical data. Wisc-ware is a consortium of educational institutions that distributes research and instructional software for IBM personal computers. It is based at the university of Wisconsin-Madison and can be reached by e-mail as Wiscware@wiscmacc.bitnet; by phone as (800) 543-3201; or by mail at Wisc-Ware, the Academic Computing Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1210 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI 53706. The cost of a software package is typically $25 per individual copy for member institutions, $50 per class copy, $50 per individual copy for non-member institutions. I hope this helps! -Naama + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | Naama Zahavi-Ely | | Project ELI E-Mail EliNZE@YaleVM.BITNET | | Yale Computer Center Zahavi-Ely-Naama@Yale.Edu | | 175 Whitney Ave | | New Haven, CT 06520 | | (203) 432-6680 EXT. 341 | + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + From: Niko Besnier <UTTANU@YALEVM> Subject: flying laptops (conclusion!) Date: Fri, 09 Mar 90 06:46:46 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1939 (2432) I thank everyone who sent in the flurry of information and advice on flying with laptops. I'm back from my weekend in London, and am happy to report that I fed the Zenith through the x-ray machine as everyone seems to concur is the right thing to do, and did not even have to boot it for security on the way out at JFK. Thanks again. Niko Besnier Department of Anthropology Yale University From: Jim O'Donnell (Penn, Classics) Subject: newer technology just not as good as older Date: 08 Mar 90 22:17:40 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1940 (2433) Or at least so quoth Plato, *Letters*, 7.344c (trans. L.A. Post): No serious man will ever think of writing about serious realities for the general public so as to make them a prey to envy and perplexity. In a word, it is an inevitable conclusion from this that when anyone sees anywhere the written work of anyone, whether that of a lawgiver in his laws or whatever it may be in some other form, the subject treated cannot have been his most serious concern--that is, if he is himself a serious man. His most serious interests have their abode somewhere in the noblest region of the field of his activity. If, however, he really was seriously concerned with these matters and put them in writing, `then surely' not the gods, but mortals `have utterly blasted his wits.' The bit in quotes is Iliad 7.360 and 12.234. From: "Paul N. Banks" <pbanks@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu> Subject: e-text and libraries Date: Fri, 9 Mar 90 00:59:43 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1941 (2434) I trust that Michael S. Hart was speaking tongue-in-cheek when he asked why humanists are so little interested in e-texts and e-mail as we approach the year 2000 when "all paper libraries will be replaced with electronic ones" [approx. quote]. There are certainly many advantages to e-texts (which I don't have occasion to use) and e-mail (which I use avidly), and there seems little doubt that e-publishing and e-texts will grow dramatically in importance. But _replace_ libraries? First, I doubt that anyone would seriously suggest that e-texts should _replace_ all the millions of books in libraries that are already considered rare (however that slippery word is defined). Supplement them yes, replace no. Also, all editions in all libraries are necessarily becoming rarer, and some portion of those will at some time cross the line to become "Rare Books." Second, while one might concede that the text (that is, that which can be copied) is the thing in most cases, descriptive and physical bibliographers show us that the physical book (which cannot be copied) is an object of study in itself, and can sometimes be of crucial importance in establishing the authentic text. Third, as has been discussed in the past on Humanist, books consist of more than alphanumeric characters; not only may the size, style, layout, etc., of the characters be significant to some kinds of study of the text, but books often have maps, charts, or illustrations, some of which may be in color. While storage capacities, resolutions, and other aspects the technology of reproducing electronically continuous tone and color images improve and can be expected to continue to improve, storing such information requires enormous numbers of bits as well as the latest and highest-tech hardware and software for conversion, manipulation, storage, and transmission. In other words, (fourth) while we probably have the technology to replace all of our paper libraries with electronic ones, _who is going to pay for the conversion, storage, and maintenance of all this information_? The world will be a very much poorer place if only the information from the "wealthier" sectors (science, medicine, law) and the conspicuous canons and corpora are available in the future. Fifth, despite the seriousness of the "brittle book problem" with which I assume Humanists are familiar, books are by and large a pretty durable medium for storing information. More to the point, they are human-readable, and do not require for access machines that become obsolete in ten years, requiring copying to another technology if someone thinks of it and is willing to pay for it. E-texts are wonderful, yes; I would love to be able to call up and search all of the literature of my field of library preservation on my screen at home. But replace libraries? (Library preservation is in fact perhaps an instructive example: it is a small, relatively poor, and somewhat esoteric endeavor, and I have little hope that I will be able to call up that literature at home in my lifetime). Paul N. Banks Conservation Education Programs Research Scholar School of Library Service 516 Butler Library 212 854-4445 Columbia University 212 865-1304 New York NY 10027 From: Niko Besnier <UTTANU@YALEVM> Subject: e-mail discourse Date: Fri, 09 Mar 90 07:08:55 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1942 (2435) I'm delighted that Willard has launched again the topic of e-mail as a sociolinguistic practice. In the last few years, there's been a flurry of papers in sociolinguistics on what e-mail discourse looks like: how users `adapt' to the physical constraints and advantages of the medium and produce language that has particular characteristics in response to such factors as the relative `immediacy' that the technology affords. I've been very disatisfied with a lot of what I've seen on the topic because (a) it assumes that people are little automata who adapt to new environments by repsonding to the physical properties of these environments, and (b) it fails to provide an explanation of the properties of e-mail as a *social practice*. My view stems from work that some of us are doing in literacy, which is essentially anti-McLuhanist (as well as anti-Goody, Ong, Gellner, etc.): members of societies give literacy meaning, rather than literacy giving meaning to literacy. So that we do not see literacy as some independend entity to which people and groups adapt and suddenly become less context-dependent, more reflective, more philosophically-, historically-, and scientifically-inclined than when they were preliterate. A good case in point, which Brian Street and I just finished an article on (hence the laptop trip to England last week!) is to observe societies which have become literate in the last, say, 100 years. Literacy in many of these societies has characteristics for both the individual and the group which clearly `fit' with the dynamics at play in the oral communicative repertoire of the group. So it's literacy which adapts to society, not the reverse. What all this means for e-mail is that we need to look at e-mail discourse as a part of a much larger set of communicative dynamics, with processes of power and competition for symbolic capital already at play. (According to Bourdieu, the academic environment, which is a prime consumer of e-mail, is a major locus of cultural reproduction, with language playing a major role as a gatekeeping tool.) So that, for example, the amount of shared knowledge that we'll make explicit or keep implicit (if I may use very vague linguistic terms) in e-mail is dictated not by the nature of the technology, but by the way in which e-mail fits into the communicative repertoire of its users on the one hand, and how it fits in the broader social dynamics of control and power at play in the environment in which it exists, including such culturally-constructed categories as gender, presentation of self, etc. So rather than analyze, to quote Willard's nice metaphor, what makes a text `adequate to the swiftly moving bitstream of chatter' over e-mail, we need to recognize that this emerging `adequacy' is a construct, which is in the process of becoming `normalized' or `naturalized' (recall Schu"tz) as the `right' way of doing things, the `natural' way of adapting to the electronic environment. That's what I think Ong, McLuhan, et al., missed about literacy (they contributed to the glorification of only one of *many* types of literacy, a Western middle-class-dominated essayist literacy), and what a lot of sociolinguistic studies of e-mail seem to go right on missing. To provide a final example of what I think might be a useful way of analysing e-mail discourse (which I was just writing about in a paper entitled `Language and affect' for the 1990 volume of the _Annual Review of Anthropology_): one thing that's particularly interesting about e-mail is that textual conventions, to a certain extent, are still in the process of emerging, although I also believe that the groundwork for them has been long established. One keeps getting e-memos from computer centers and other sources about `proper e-etiquette': no flaming, keep down the affect, be `reasonable', etc. At the same time, e-mail allows rather young and half-socialized individuals to partake in a fairly public forum, andso becomes a locus of some struggle over rights to the `floor', normativeness, etc. In that sense e-mail is not fundamentally different from many other arenas of social life, and what would be interesting to look at is how this struggle gets articulated textually, both through e-mail itself and in the memos attempting to regulate `good behavior' (which incidentally is defined in way that are clearly gendered, class-marked, and certainly culture-bound.) Niko Besnier Department of Anthropology Yale University From: JSCHWARTZ@WSU.BITNET Subject: Re: 3.1147 e-texts (164) Date: Fri, 9 Mar 90 08:50 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1943 (2436) Never send a chainsaw to do an axe's work! Come now, bookholders, is there really that much difference, once everything's reduced to its truly homogenious, molecular level? Schwartz w/Don Juan in Hell From: Mark Sacks <AP02@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK> Subject: european society of philosophy Date: Thu, 08 Mar 90 15:03:43 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1159 (2437) E-Mail Address: AP02@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK (or AP02@UK.AC.LIVERPOOL) European Society of Philosophy Conference Announcement It seems that Europe of the 1990s will be moving back towards the kind of cultural interaction that once made philosophy in Europe so exceptional. Yet, ironically, at the same time cross-cultural philosophy in Europe (which essentially tends be analytic philosophy, perhaps because of convergence on rigour and argument as common ground) is in danger of dwindling still further. With this in mind there seems to be room for a European Society of Philosophy, which would aim to concentrate both intellectual and financial resources. The idea is to create an umbrella organization capable of bringing philosophers in Europe together, helping them to overcome the notorious isolation that has developed over the last 50 years. We are accordingly organizing a conference to be held in Liverpool, England, on 30 June - 1 July. The conference, The Future of European Philosophy, will be preparatory to the possible establishment of such a European Society of Philosophy. All the invited participants are 'analytic philosophers'; at least to the extent of sharing a particular style of addressing philosophical questions, if not the issues addressed. There is obviously some room for discussing the nature of the proposed Society, and part of the point of the conference is to enable philosophers interested in establishing a European nexus, to talk about its nature and extent. Time will therefore be set aside for this purpose. The programme of papers to be delivered at the conference will be distributed at a later date. The number of places available is restricted. Nevertheless, please inform us if the project is of interest to you and you would like to attend. We hope to be able to cover all costs, but it is already clear that this will not be easy. If there is any possibility of securing funding from your own university, this will make it easier for us to pay for those whose home universities cannot afford to help. ====================== For further information, reply to - Mark Sacks, E-Mail Address: AP02@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK (or UK.AC.LIVERPOOL) Department of Philosophy, The University of Liverpool, P.O.Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX. BITNET/EARN/NETNORTH: AP02@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK (AP02%UK.AC.LIVERPOOL@UKACRL) INTERNET: AP02@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK (AP02%LIVERPOOL.AC.UK@NSFNET-RELAY.AC.UK) JANET: AP02@UK.AC.LIVERPOOL SPAN: RLESIS::CBS%UK.AC.LIVERPOOL::AP02 UUCP: ....!mcvax!ukc!liverpool.ac.uk!ap02 From: <JBOWYER@UNOMA1> Subject: Software Announcement Date: Sat, 10 Mar 90 10:59 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1944 (2438) White Mountain Software Inc. recently announced PHONEME, a tutorial for the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). This IBM-compatible program, written in Turbo C graphics, includes three sections: -- Given a vowel or consonant symbol, the student must select the correct descriptive name from three columns of choices: VOICELESS BILABIAL STOP VOICED LABIO-DENTAL FRICATIVE etc. etc. -- Given a vowel or consonant's descriptive name, the student must select the correct symbol from a displayed chart; -- Given an empty chart, the student must point to the correct position for successively displayed vowel or consonant symbols. PHONEME, which provides full mouse support, sells for $9.95 (includes shipping and handling). Please note that PHONEME requires EGA/VGA compatibility. For additional information, please contact: White Mountain Software, Inc. 4728 Cass Street Suite 13 Omaha, Nebraska 68132 BITNET: JBOWYER@UNOMA1 Sincerely, Jeffrey W. Bowyer From: Fred Kemp <YKFOK@TTACS.BITNET> Subject: 6th Computers & Writing Conf Date: Sat, 10 Mar 90 15:05:00 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1945 (2439) WRITING THE FUTURE THE SIXTH CONFERENCE ON COMPUTERS AND WRITING Austin, Texas May 17-20, 1990 -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. WRITING CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Jody_Gilbert@cc.sfu.ca Subject: Pynchon list Date: Sat, 10 Mar 90 21:59:14 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1946 (2440) I am sending this notice out to HUMANIST, ENGLISH, WORDS-L, & LITERARY, so those of you on more than one of those lists/conferences please forgive the duplication. This is to announce the arrival of a new list, PYNCHON. It's purpose is the discussion of and exchange of information about Thomas Pynchon and his writing. Appropriate topics will probably range from serious critical discussion through esthetic opinions to apocryphal stories and unsubstantiated sightings (or non-sightings). Simon Fraser University does not have a LISTSERVER, so I have kludged together a group with remote addresses. To join the list send a request to me (E-mail: USERDOG1@SFU.BITNET or USERDOG1@CC.SFU.CA). The list is unrestricted; it's just that I have to add members manually. I have tested the kludge and it seems to work. I was going to call the list WASTE, but took the advice that since we have enough confusion in life as it is, I should just call it PYNCHON. I'm not sure I will ever be able forgive myself for being sensible rather than cute. Pynchon list address: PYNCHON@SFU.BITNET or PYNCHON@CC.SFU.CA Jody Gilbert Dept of English Simon Fraser University Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6 E-mail: USERDOG1@SFU.BITNET or USERDOG1@CC.SFU.CA From: Richard Goerwitz <goer@sophist.uchicago.edu> Subject: fonts, Note Bene Date: Sat, 10 Mar 90 12:09:02 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1161 (2441) It was only with a touch of annoyance that I read the recent posting about installing new fonts on Nota Bene. Three years ago there were no special language versions, and I remember vividly spending hours designing fonts for my Hercules Plus and my Toshiba printer, and then hacking the printer and font tables to recognize all the new charac- ters. At the time I was quite proud of my achievement, but in retro- spect it seems like quite a lot of wasted effort. It is absolutely rediculous that an operating system, and in fact a whole system archi- tecture, should be so confining as to make it necessary to hack it just to display a new character. Even if we are lucky enough - and, incidentally, have the time and de- sire - to be able to hack one software package to accept a new charac- ter or character set, the very fact that it is a hack means that it is not portable. This makes interfacing with other software packages a nightmare. It even makes upgrading Nota Bene (or whatever package is being hacked) a problem. I'm an inveterate MS-DOS and Unix user, but it still seems painfully obvious to me that anyone who has a lot of diacritics and new fonts to deal with never should have bought an MS-DOS computer in the first place. I'd say that they should have bought a Mac, except that Apple's policies as a corporation are so hideously self-centered and short- sighted. Still, a Mac is the best thing going right now for multi- lingual processing just because the designers had the sense to design the operating system so that it offers low-level support for multiple fonts. No need to hack everything separately. Just one "hack" does the trick. I pray for the day when I can afford to put a NeXT on my desk, and have the time to develop the software I need for that environment. It's an imperfect world, and it's time for MS-DOS users (like me) to admit that they have turned down an alley which dead ends a few blocks up the street. -Richard L. Goerwitz goer%sophist@uchicago.bitnet goer@sophist.uchicago.edu rutgers!oddjob!gide!sophist!goer From: Michael Ossar <MLO@KSUVM> Subject: support for language study Date: Sat, 10 Mar 90 11:42 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1162 (2442) Humanists in the United States interested in promoting the study of languages might want to write their senators concerning S. 1690 or their representatives concerning H.R. 2188. The Foreign Language Competence for the Future Act contains five provisions: 1) grants for summer foreign language study; 2) scholarships (S. 1690) or forgivable loans (H.R. 2188) to encourage students to major in foreign languages if they plan to teach; 3) support for foreign language foundations (S. 1690) or institutes (H.R. 2188) to provide foreign language training, translation services, and info. on other cultures to small and medium-sized businesses; 4) grants to provide technology for distance learning; 5) demonstration grants for consortia in critical language and area studies. If you support this bill, please urge your senators to co-sponsor S. 1690. Please also write or call your representative and urge her or him to request that Rep. Augustus Hawkins, Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee hold hearings on H.R. 2188. Without a significant show of constituent support it is very likely that this bill will die in committee with no hearing. Senator______ Representative_____ U.S. Senate U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20515 (202) 224-3121 (202) 225-3121 Many thanks. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: artefacts vs. tools, books and electronic texts Date: 10 March 1990, 12:00:30 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1947 (2443) Some books are holy, some are precious, some are beautiful--they are not dead things but represent the spirits of authors, editors, compositors, publishers, former readers. Enemies of civilization like Hitler burned them, but most humanists spend their lives trying to preserve and value and nurture them, without making a fetish out of them. Electronic texts are still tools rather than artefacts. They may help preserve the text of the 1667 first edition of *Paradise Lost* but they do not replace the precious book. Until they reach paper, electronic texts are just little doo-dahs of data that can be erased by a nearby magnet. Roy Flannagan (I intend no disrespect for a medium that is ideal for the quick transmission of ideas or the even quicker searching or seeking meaning from huge amounts of data.) From: MHEIM@CALSTATE Subject: Sociolingists look at email Date: Sat, 10 Mar 90 10:15:56 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1948 (2444) If I understand him correctly, Niko Besnier (Department of Anthropology, Yale University) suggests that we regard email as nothing essentially new in society. Let's put aside, he suggests, the McLuhanist notion that something radically different is happening with the installation of electronic technology. Instead, he urges us to regard email as more material for viewing the perennial class-struggle for social power. Class consciousness is just breaking out in another territory, he seems to be suggesting. Electronics adds nothing radically new to the "processes of power and competition for symbolic capital." (Is this the digital interpretation of _Das Kapital_?) We should not judge electronic communication by the standard of traditional literacy because that bookish standard is a "middle class-dominated" form of communication. Does Niko expect us to regard sociolinguistic anthropology as the true voice of the workers' party (at Yale)? Is he suggesting that his discipline brings the real interests of the oppressed and the less literate into scholarship? Does sociolinguistic anthropology itself produce middle-class essays for the journals in order to assert, ever so tolerantly, the literary "equality" of comic books and pulp fiction? Somehow, at this moment in history, the notions of a Marxist analysis of electronics rings terribly hollow. Conversely, I find resonance in the notion that something radically new is indeed afoot, that even the traditional political structures with their predictable sociological analysts had better watch out. Electronics is changing things rapidly, including governments and ideological practices. At least that's my feeling. Mike H. From: System Manager <root@central1.lancaster.ac.uk> Subject: 2Rs + 1S Date: Fri, 9 Mar 90 07:40:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1164 (2445) On a more serious note to Malcolm Hayward's quip about his Taiwanese student, the Chinese Language, and the part about "a writing system not based on sounds", I found M.A.K. Halliday's book SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE (ISBN:0194371530) useful for addressing the relationship between speech and writing, although he doesn't primarily address the issue of reading silently. Hope this helps. Regards, Vincent -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- |Vincent Beng-Yeow Ooi | |Unit for Computer Research on the English Language-- | |Departments of Linguistics and Computing | |Bowland College, Lancaster University | |Lancaster LA1 4YT | |UNITED KINGDOM | | | |E-mail (JANET) address: eib014@central1.lancaster.ac.uk | -=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=- From: edwards%cogsci.Berkeley.EDU@lilac.berkeley.edu (Jane Edwards) Subject: for HUMANIST distribution Date: Mon, 12 Mar 90 00:15:09 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1949 (2446) I am forwarding this inquiry, since it seems certain that someone on this net will know the answer. I, too, would be very interested in the answer. Thanks! - Jane Edwards (edwards@cogsci.berkeley.edu) [deleted quotation] From: Leslie Burkholder <lb0q+@andrew.cmu.edu> Subject: scribe -> rtf Date: Mon, 12 Mar 90 10:13:21 -0500 (EST) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1950 (2447) Can anyone point me to a utility for translating scribe files into microsoft rtf files? Thanks, Leslie Burkholder burkholder@andrew.cmu.edu From: DJT18@hull.ac.uk Subject: Foreign Language Keyboards Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 12:01:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1951 (2448) Having failed to register recent discussions about foreign language keyboards, I now have a specific query. Can anyone offer information or reference books etc giving detailed instruction about how to write a program to enable two keyboards/foreign language character sets (eg English/Russian) to be resident in memory, so that the user can easily switch from one to the other? Thanks in advance for any help offered. June Thompson, Information Officer, CTI Centre for Modern Languages. From: LNGDANAP@VM.UOGUELPH.CA Subject: Query Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 18:49:53 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1952 (2449) A non-HUMANIST colleague has asked me to inquire on this forum if anyone has heard of research into phonetic transcription to sound via computer, or knows of a chip or software that could do this job. Any information at all would be appreciated. I will pass on all replies. From: "Now that's what I call a *dead* parrot." Subject: tree of life Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 20:54 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1953 (2450) Can anyone tell me about the tree of life in Jewish mystic tradition? I believe it is something called the Sephirotic, or something like that. Some of the markings on it are BINAH and HIZAH. I am also interested in Jewish Mysticism in general. Can anyone help point me in the right direction for this? Jim Wilderotter 22433177@vuvaxcom 22433177@vuvaxcom.bitnet From: The Man with the Plan <KEHANDLEY@AMHERST> Subject: Query: SNOBOL for VAX/VMS? Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 15:59 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1954 (2451) I am looking for information about any SNOBOL (or its kin) implemen- tations for VAX/VMS. Thank You. Keith Handley KEHANDLEY@AMHERST.BITNET User Services Associate, Amherst College Academic Computer Center From: Geoffrey Rockwell <Geoffrey_Rockwell@poczta.utcs.utoronto.ca> Subject: Etercourse Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 15:50:20 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1955 (2452) It occurs to me that e-discourse has features of the symposium. The symposium is the classical model for written dialogue that is most often contrasted to the Socratic crossexamination. Cicero's dialogues are all collegial discussions in which the speakers, instead of hammering away at each other, make longer careful speeches. The symposium model as it was taken up in the Renaissance (and by people like Augustine) was used to present an issue from more than one side. There is no clear winner as there is in the Socratic cross-examination. Instead one has a collection of positions presented often in rural settings by friends. (The Socratic dialogues are urban - in the Agora - the Ciceronian dialogues seem to take place between rhetoreticians on vacation at their villas.) An issue discussed in a symposium is not resolved in as clear a way as any other academic work. The issues is left on the surface, unresolved, but other issues are resolved while the primary one is left open. Often the symposium is used to make arguments of character: "Even if we do not agree about the existence of God we are all similar in moral character and can get along." Witness Hume's dialogue where the real issue seems to be whether scepticism is an acceptable character. How do these ramblings relate to your interests? Often what takes place on line has the character of a symposium. Somebody - often a more experienced e-character, proposes that X subject be discussed. (This is a role you often play, like Augustine giving his students something to argue about. There is to both the symposium and e-discourse a feeling of artifice when a subject is proposed and then discussed.) There then follow a series of positions on the subject - as opposed to fast dialogue. These positions are often well formed - rhetorically polished. They are also in everyday language - as opposed to the specialized languages fo the disciplines - (the symposium, both because of its party aspect and its rhetorical nature is committed to everyday language.) The subject is often left unresolved, but, when the e-discourse goes well, we all feel we have profited from the disagreement and that we can disagree in a civil fashion. On one level what is being reinforced is that we get along despite the distance and differences. What Grassi is trying to do sounds like the Ciceronian-Renaissance symposium - without the political character. (Cicero's dialogues have an Imperial design, which appealed to the Renaissance thinkers.) Your work lacks the imperial aspect - in fact it is essentially inter-national. Yours, Geoffrey R From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1163 electronic communication, cont. (73) Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 18:18:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1956 (2453) One might wish to step back for a moment from e-mail to the keyboard. It was on ly a couple of years ago that the recently-offed dictator of Rumania required t hat every TYPEWRITER be registered once a year. I suppose NC thought that ifn Alger Hiss could be convicted on the basis of the broken edge of one letter in a typewriter that produced documents to be hidden in pumpkins, it means that a ny one who wrote at all, those traitorous clercs! could be caught with such evi dence. Anyone who wants to control something will do so, and the means of contr ol of a powerful State, Marxist or...pseudoMarxist (like the DDR), will exert w arfare against all classes on its own behalf. That is a lesson that was learned by some at the time of the Kronstadt Rebellion, and still be learned by far t oo many American would-be dialectical materialists, who have only their colleau gues &the poor students to hector with their primitive materialist dogmatics. Kessler at UCLA. From: Johnfox@RCN Subject: Oral History Meeting in November Date: Mon, 12 Mar 90 08:34:02 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1957 (2454) The national Oral History Association is meeting November 8-11, 1990, at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The meeting will bring together 300 individuals from throughout the world who are interested in or actively involved in oral history. There will be formal sessions as well as workshops. The Saturday sessions are being structured in such a manner that secondary school teachers may enroll for graduate credits which will be awarded by Salem State College. If you are interested in receiving a copy of the program or if you would like more information regarding the meeting or the credit workshop, please contact: Prof John J. Fox OHA-Meeting Department of History Salem State College Salem, MA 01923 USA Or contact me at my email address: JohnFox@Taylor.Rcc.Rcn.Edu From: The Man with the Plan <KEHANDLEY@AMHERST> Subject: Word Perfect Language Modules (Greek and Russian) Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 11:09 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1958 (2455) _WordPerfect Magazine_, March 1990, pp. 40-42 reports that WPCorp now has available language modules for Russian and Greek. (Story by Corey Freebairn and Ronnie Johansen) In addition to 19 existing Language Modules (see table), WPCorp's International Division has recently released modules in Russian and Greek. The Russian and Greek Language Modules differ from other Language Modules in that they don't have a speller or thesaurus (not yet). Instead, these Language Modules consist of screen fonts, keyboard drivers, and a hyphenation program and are available only for WordPerfect 5.1 (release dated January 19th or later). The table referred to above did not make it into the printed article for some reason. ...In the Greek module, the user has a choice of two keyboard drivers: Classical and Modern. The Classical Greek keyboard allows for mul- tiple dead-key options to create diacritical marks on the various Greek vowels. The Russian and Greek Language Modules require no additional memory. To display screen characters, users need EGA, VGA, or Her- cules RamFont (compatible displays are also supported). EGA and VGA require a minimum of 256K. Depending on existing hardware, the Rus- sian and Greek characters will display the same way they do in English (normal, *italic*, _underline_, etc.). Russian and Greek Language Modules are available only from WPCorp's International Division, 801/222-4264. We will be getting this as soon as WP will send it to us, so I will post some hands-on observations eventually. Keith Handley User Services Associate, Amherst College Academic Computer Center From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Re: [3.1132 Hellenologophiles? (97)] Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 08:38:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1959 (2456) In response to Gordon Neal's request about VUWRITER, and other discussions about foreign languages (eg Jim O'Donnell). My own feeling is that by far the most important thing is the quality of printer output available. At least in the middle-term, that is how we shall be communicating with the wider world. I wonder whether anything less flexible than PostScript and a high-quality laser (or phototypesetter) is going to do. As far as the screen is concerned, I have a major problem in that I use a number of very different machines, the most useful of which is the Cambridge Z88 (which I can take into a library and SILENTLY fill with material). There is no way I could get European accents, let alone Greek, Arabic, &c, into that. So my compromise is to let screen fonts go, and use simple if inelegant transliterations (e< for e-acute, &c). A maximum of four keystrokes (for really awkward things like greek-omega-with-rough-breathing-and-flex-and-iota-sub) for any character. It's then pretty trivial to write a converter to suit whatever text processor I happen to be using. Far easier than trying to memorise five different sets of conventions for five different packages on five different machines; and the results are 100% portable. The epigraphic conventions are slightly troublesome, but again can be easily accommodated. I can get cheap line-printer output for proofing, then decide at the very latest stage what fonts to use before producing the camera-ready material for the press. I'd be interested in comments on this approach. Douglas de Lacey <DEL2@UK.AC.CAM.PHX> From: GR4302@SIUCVMB Subject: Goerwitz's font problems Date: Mon, 12 Mar 90 23:03:20 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1960 (2457) Anyone upset at Mac's prices and other problems that needs access to special fonts should check out the AMIGA. No, it's not the perfect machine, but it's one of the best performance for dollars deals in the industry. I believe the AMIGA comes with the largest character set available (including Icelandic characters, which is very good for Old English folks). It's a powerful and easy machine to use (and it can now run Unix V.4). It does not have the software base that Mac enjoys, but that is changing rapidly (with over one million machines out there it's bound too). You can, however, emulate the Mac on an Amiga for around $500. Well, enough of my soapbox... Jeff T. gr4302@siucvmb From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: death and rebirth of Humanist Date: 14 March 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1169 (2458) Dear Colleagues: Last December, as the year rapidly slid into gloom, I announced my resignation from the editorship of Humanist. Though a time of Saturnalian celebration and a defiant as well as joyous lighting of lights against the darkness, Humanist's fate was then as uncertain as Spring always is at some deep level of my mind. (The sun will return, but will my sap flow?) Many good friends and I, like Ishmael, shared winter in our souls and took to following up every funeral we met for some weeks after. Because of the long silence on the subject, you may well have begun to suspect, however, that I was going to play Caesar to a contrived crowd of citizens. Perhaps, like me, you have known teachers who have managed to retire several times, each time being given a party, presents, and signs of affection, until at long last either death or good sense got them. Actually, I was looking for a suitable replacement, and to my relief one stepped forward, actually two -- Elaine Brennan and Allen Renear of Brown University. Because the editing of Humanist is now such a large task, Elaine and Allen have had to get approval at various levels of administration, and to the great credit of Brown University permission has been granted. To have taken on Humanist in the beginning was no great burden, but to take it on now signifies a remarkable commitment to the future of electronic scholarship and the international community that has discovered itself by means of e-mail. Humanist is blessed in its new home, not only because it is being recognized officially there but also because of its new co-editors. I doubt very much if more able people could have been found anywhere, and I am very much looking forward to the many improvements they will bring about. As for me, in case you should wonder, the great pasture of buzzing summery idleness is not a whit nearer, though I am cow-like in my contentment to watch others labour in the sunshine of your attention at Humanist's editorial mill. Humanist has an interesting future, I think. Apart from the maturity it is bound to gain by falling into new hands, it will have the opportunity to confront some fundamental problems in communication and provide a kind of specialized laboratory in which they can be worked out. If we as humanists are good for anything at all aside from collecting our salaries -- don't answer that -- we should be able, like our Renaissance counterparts, to influence the Mighty as they struggle with issues of design and control in the electronic regime. Let me draw your attention, for example, to a recent publication of the Office of Technology Assessment, U.S. Congress, _Critical Connections: Communication for the Future_ OTA-CIT-407 (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1990). This 400 pp. book was written for the Congress, not for scholars. One of the fascinating things about it, however, is the extent to which scholarly opinion seems to have informed it. On the same page where I find Machiavelli the Florentine warning me about the difficulty and peril of setting up new things, the authors discuss the need for a vision of the role of communication. Are we not visionaries or at least dream-interpreters? Do we not have some experience with the literacy that is said to be essential to computer-mediated communication? Anyhow, I relinquish Humanist to Elaine and Allen gladly -- Spring is coming! -- and hope that with all these important and responsible things to do Humanist does not cease to be our intellectual playground. More announcements will be forthcoming shortly. Elaine's and Allen's message follows immediately. Yours, Willard McCarty - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - We are excited and pleased about Humanist's impending move from Toronto to Providence. Of course we are also a little apprehensive -- Willard is not only an inspiration to us, but a challenge as well. Fortunately we will not be working in isolation; a number of Humanists have agreed to serve as associate editors. None of us could ever replace Willard, but we will rely on his experience and wise counsel as Humanist's Founding Editor. We have also asked him both to serve as our senior advisor and to form an Advisory Board to provide us with further advice and assistance. We will be posting further details soon, including a schedule for Humanist's move that we think is realistic given the constraints of file transfer and the vagaries of listservs. We are delighted to have this opportunity to serve the community of computing humanists. Elaine Brennan Women Writers Project, Brown University womwrite@brownvm or womwrite@brownvm.brown.edu Allen Renear Computing and Information Services, Brown University allen@brownvm or allen@brownvm.brown.edu From: Leslie Burkholder <lb0q+@andrew.cmu.edu> Subject: 3.1165 scribe -> rtf Date: Wed, 14 Mar 90 17:33:11 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1961 (2459) There is a Mac application "ScribeToWord" of which I have a copy but haven't had call to use, which claims to do the job you ask about. Have you checked the info-mac archives? -DGN From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1165 queries (111) Date: Wed, 14 Mar 90 13:36:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1962 (2460) Re #4: the phonetics expert at UCLA is Peter Ladefoged of Linguistics. He has been doing these things for decades, and is I believe a world expert, for transcription and much else. Kessler art UCLA [deleted quotation] From: FZINN@OCVAXA.CC.OBERLIN.EDU Subject: RE: 3.1165 queries (111) Date: Wed, 14 Mar 90 16:03:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1963 (2461) In response to Jim Wilderotter's question about Jewish mysticism, there are several places to start. One is with various writings of Gershom Scholem on the Jewish mystical tradition. Another is to go to two volumes in the series: _World Spirituality: An Encyclopedic History of the Religious Quest_ where you will find numerous articles by experts on the Jewish tradition. The titles are _Jewish Spirituality: From the Bible to the Middle Ages_ and "Jewish Spirituality: From the Sixteenth-Century Revival to the Present_. Next there are translations of primary texts in the collection of volumes in _The Classics of Western Spirituality_ published by Paulist Press (New York). Last, see interesting books recently by Moshe Idel and Elliot Ginsburg on various aspects of Jewish mysticism,practice, etc. I hope this helps. Grover Zinn FZINN@OBERLIN From: Ezra Zubrow <APYEZRA@ubvmsc.bitnet> Subject: Re: 3.1165 queries (111) Date: Wed, 14 Mar 90 10:07 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1964 (2462) Regarding Jane Edwards requested information about Nexus and Lexus: I think she is referring to Nexis and Lexis which are two very large text data bases owned by the Meade Corporation. Lexis is one of the two standard law data bases and provides full text of almost all legal decisions in the United States and several European countries. Nexis is a current affairs data base. In addition there is a competitive legal data base named\ Westlaw which is run by the West corporation. Access to these data bases have to be arranged with the companies. However, most law libraries in major universities have contracts with Lexis, Nexis and Westlaw and I am sure that they can provide more information as well as demonstrations. Ezra Zubrow From: "Christopher W. Donald" <DONALD@UKANVM> Subject: Re: 3.1165 queries (111) Date: Wed, 14 Mar 90 10:23:07 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1965 (2463) RE NEXIS and LEXIS. These are commercial databases produced by MEAD DATA. The primary market is for Law Offices and Law Schools. Lexis is on-lne access to all opinions written at federal and state level. Nexis is a full-text data base with such publications as NY TIMES Reuters and Business Week. The best place to start looking for is is your local law school. I should also point out computer guru Peter McWilliams had a column on Nexis in his syndicated column about three weeks ago. Christopher Donald The University of Kansas From: N_EITELJORG@cc.brynmawr.edu Subject: Re: 3.1165 queries (111) Date: Wed, 14 Mar 90 08:34:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1966 (2464) Lexis and Nexis (and Medis) are products of Mead Data Central (a subsidiary of Mead Corp.). Lexis is a legal data base, Nexis a general one (and Medis a medical one). Lexis dates to 1973, Nexis to 1980, and Medis to 1985. There are sales offices in many cities. New York: 212-309-8100; L.A.:213-627-1130; Chicago: 312-236-7903. Those numbers are about 4 years old. I don't know if they are still valid. The service is expensive, with a very high monthly minimum need to justify the charge. The range of coverage is very broad in Nexis, but one must carefully craft searches in order to find what one wants, and each search has a cost. Nick Eiteljorg From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Foreign Language Keyboards Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 12:01:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1967 (2465) Having failed to register recent discussions about foreign language keyboards, I now have a specific query. Can anyone offer information or reference books etc giving detailed instruction about how to write a program to enable two keyboards/foreign language character sets (eg English/Russian) to be resident in memory, so that the user can easily switch from one to the other? Thanks in advance for any help offered. June Thompson, Information Officer, CTI Centre for Modern Languages. --- end of quoted material --- From: koontz@alpha.bldr.nist.gov (John E. Koontz) Subject: Re: 3.1165 queries (111) Date: Wed, 14 Mar 90 12:39:49 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1968 (2466) Unfortunately, there is no indication of the system for which this information is needed! A very good writeup of the problem and solutions for DOS systems appears in: Kew, Priscilla M. & Gary F. Simons, eds. 1989. Laptop Publishing for the Field Linguist: An approach based on Micsoft Word. Summer Institute of Linguistics, Occasional Publications in Academic Computing Number 14. Dallas, TX: SIL. pp 147 PB c. $15.00 Software disk included, so specify 5.25 inch vs. 3.5 inch. The problem is only partly one of implementing alternate keyboards, of course. One also needs to have the desired fonts, both on screen, and on the printer, if the characters needed are not part of the standard IBM Extended ASCII font. In addition, sometimes alternate keyboards, etc., are better handled within a particular application, e.g., the word processor, than at a system level. For example, the Nota Bene word processor provides nicer keying of alternate fonts than the TSR that SIL uses (called Keyswap). Or you can follow Richard Goerwitz's advice and get a Mac, in which case your problems and solutions are different, and, I understand, more elegant. From: "Tony Roder" <TONY@SLACVM> Subject: Foreign Language Keyboards Date: Wed, 14 Mar 1990 16:24 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1969 (2467) Let me suggest the memory-resident program NEWKEY, shareware, available on various bulletin boards or directly from such reputable shareware dealers as PSL (800) 242-4775 [full disclaimer]. The value of NEWKEY is that it is loaded into memory before any wordprocessor, after which it allows the user to redefine any and all keys to combinations of his/her choice. For instance, with WordPerfect, I have defined control-e to produce WP's character-set code for e-accent aigu; and so on. NEWKEY will also let you define shorthand letter combinations such that everytime you type sgp (for instance) followed by a space bar, the program generates Secretary General of the Party. Damn useful if you have to type Secretary...... a lot. Try it, you'll like it. From: DJT18@hull.ac.uk Subject: Dictionaries on CD-ROM Date: Wed, 14 Mar 90 05:34:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1970 (2468) I have had an enquiry about multilingual dictionaries on CD-ROM to cover various languages including Catalan, Russian and Serbo-Croat. The only CD-ROM dictionaries I know about are the Collins On-Line and the Harraps Multilingual which do not include these languages. Can anybody help, please? June Thompson, CTI Centre for Modern Languages, University of Hull. From: JOHNSTON@binah.cc.brandeis.edu Subject: RE: 3.1105 call from ReCALL (24) Date: Wed, 14 Mar 90 12:50:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1971 (2469) [The forwarding has been done but there's a question here for the whole of us. -W.M.] Would you please forward to June Thompson my interest in obtaining full details about ReCALL. I would be happy to forward to her information about my CAI Latin tutorial, which I would like to develop further. I would particularly like to learn about available tutorial programs in Latin and Greek. My mailing address is Patricia A. Johnston, Department of Classical Studies, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA 02254-9110. Many thanks. From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" <ERIC@SDNET> Subject: SNOBOL4 Date: Wed, 14 Mar 90 07:01:27 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1174 (2470) In answer to Keith Handley's question, SNOBOL4 is NO LONGER available for the VAX (neither VMS nor Unix). I suggest the Icon programming language. It has similar powerful features, and it is in the public domain. It can be ordered for the costs of the tape from the Icon Project, University of Arizona. Contact Ralph Griswold, RALPH@cs.arizona.edu. SNOBOL4 and the faster SPITBOL are available for MS-DOS, for the Macintosh, and in 386 versions. These are not public domain. Contact Catspaw, Inc., P.O. Box 1123, Salida, CO 81201. I would be glad to offer additional information to anyone who is interested. -- Eric Johnson ERIC@SDNET.BITNET From: DENNIS CINTRA LEITE <FGVSP@BRFAPESP> Subject: Date: Thu, 15 Mar 90 13:16:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1972 (2471) Subject:Jewish mysticism Dear Jim Wilderotter As to your inquiry on jewish mysticism, why don't you give Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum a try? Although not exactly a scholarly work, it is written by a scholar, gives extrensive treatment to jewish mysticism, cabala, etc, gives a lot of space to the use of computers in humanist like affairs plus it is fun to read. Good luck Dennis Cintra Leite BITNET:FGVSP@BRFAPESP Sao Paulo Brasil From: janus@ux.acs.umn.edu Subject: Lexis/Nexis Date: Wed, 14 Mar 90 22:52:44 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1973 (2472) Lexus and Nexus are immense full-text data bases of US Laws, very similar to Westlaw. Those two bases come from Mead data. Ask your local Law Librarian for a guided tour of them. I will leave open the question if they are English-language texts. --Louis Janus From: Network Mailer <MAILER@UKANVM> Subject: microfilm -> disk? Date: Wed, 14 Mar 90 23:41:55 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1176 (2473) I am interested in transferring about twenty reels of microfilm to computer disk. The obvious two step process is photocopy and then scan the copies. This is both time consuming and costly. Does anyon know an easy way to transfer microfilm directly to computer disk? Christopher Donald The University of Kansas Division of Government From: TRACY LOGAN <LOGANT@lafayett> Subject: The Psychology of Everyday Things Date: Wed, 14 Mar 90 13:27:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1177 (2474) Since it didn't turn up in a database search of the Humanist archives, I'd like to recommend the book The Psychology of Everyday Things, by Donald Norman. It is well-written, compact, non-technical, and delightful. Those HUMANIST members whose craft is providing computer services might find Norman's ideas useful, and those who are provided such services might find solace or ammunition. (Basic Books, 1988) An extract to give the book's flavor: I once was asked by a large computer company to evaluate a brand new product. I spent a day learning to use it and trying it out on various problems. In using the keyboard to enter data, it was necessary to differentiate between the "return" key and the "enter" key. If the wrong key was typed, the last few minutes' work was irrevocably lost. I pointed this problem out to the designer, explaining that I myself had made the error frequently and that my analyses indicated that this was very likely to be a frequent error among users. The designer's first response was: "Why did you make that error? Didn't you read the manual?" He proceeded to explain the different functions of the two keys. "Yes, yes," I explained, "I understand the two keys, I simply confuse them. They have similar functions, are located in similar locations on the keyboard, and as a skilled typist, I often hit "return" automatically, without thought. Certainly others have had similar problems." "Nope," said the designer. He claimed that I was the only person who ever complained, and the company's secretaries had been using the system for many months. I was skeptical, so we went together to some of the secretaries and asked them whether they had ever hit the "return" key when they should have hit "enter." And did they ever lose their work as a result? "Oh, yes," said the secretaries, "we do that a lot." "Well, how come nobody ever said anything about it?" we asked the secretaries. After all, they were encouraged to report all problems with the system. The reason was simple: when the system stopped working or did something strange, the secretaries dutifully reported it as a problem. But when they made the "return" versus "enter" error, they blamed themselves. After all, they had been told what to do. They had simply erred. Of course, people do make errors. Complex devices will always require some instruction, and someone using them without instruction should expect to make errors and to be confused. But designers should take special pains to make errors as cost-free as possible. Here is my credo about errors: If an error is possible, someone will make it. The designer must assume that all possible errors will occur and design so as to minimize the chance of the error in the first place, or its effects once it gets made. Errors should be easy to detect, they should have minimal consequences, and, if possible, their effects should be reversible. Those who subscribe to lists that, unlike HUMANIST, are not moderated, are all too familiar with an event that generates this oft-heard plea: [deleted quotation] The parallel seems close. -- tracy From: lesk@thunder.bellcore.com (Michael E Lesk) Subject: Date: Fri, 16 Mar 90 11:20:51 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1974 (2475) Somebody apparently wrote asking about transferring microfilm to computer image. There are two vendors that I know of (1) Mekel Engineering, 714-594-5158, sells a roll microfilm scanner that will do about 2 seconds per image. I run it directly to a Sun using an interface from Improvision, 415-653-5335. It costs $50K. Mekel can probably point you to somebody who will do the job as a service bureau. (2) Downing Data, 212-929-4865, is a scanning service using their own hardware. RTThey'll probably charge about 20 cents per image or so to do the scanning, but you should get a quote from them. I hope that the requestor has some conception of the storage volume involved: a reel of microfilm can have up to 4000 images (although 1000 is typical) and each image, if it was dense printing to begin with, is going to be a few hundred Kbyte even after compression. So his twenty reels will become 4 Gbyte of storage. Michael Lesk From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.1176 microfilm -> disk? (21) Date: Thu, 15 Mar 90 21:01:34 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1975 (2476) Mr. Donald has saved me the trouble of a similar query. If there are any answers I would be very grateful if they would come to Humanist rather than directly to him. (Our project is to digitize the Spanish-language incunable editions in Spain's National Library as the first step in trying to use OCR software on them.) Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: stephen clark <AP01@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK> Subject: jewish mysticism Date: Fri, 16 Mar 90 12:03:21 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1976 (2477) Scholem's *Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism* and other works. Stephen From: kantere%biznet%ucsd.edu@Sdsc.BITnet Subject: Nexis and Lexis Date: Thu, 15 Mar 90 09:25:55 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1977 (2478) Nexis and Lexis are full text online databases provided by Mead Data Central -- a commercial vendor with very steep charges. Nexis essentially contains newspapers, mostly from the 1980s onward (including the New York Times), newsletters, and other periodicals. Lexis is one of two competing legal databases (the other is Westlaw) containing the full text of legal codes, and appellate court and administrative law decisions at the federal and state levels, from far back until very current. Very steep means something like 2-3 dollars per minute connect time, plus hundreds of dollars a year for the privilege of having an account. Law schools usually pay a lump sum for unlimited use by their faculties and students (the idea being to acculturate law students to the use of Lexis as their law library). Law firms use and bill the costs to their clients. News organizations spread out the costs in their own ways. University libraries without law schools (like the University of Calif at San Diego), frequently decide the $750 per year just for maintaining the account is too much to pay at a time of falling state funding and the specter of major rounds of journals cancellations. --------------- Elliot Kanter Central University Library Research Services Department University of California, San Diego La Jolla, CA 92093 619-534-1263 kanter@ucsd From: DONWEBB@CALSTATE (Donald Webb) Subject: E-text search Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 11:53:06 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1978 (2479) Could anyone give me information on acquiring an e-text of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's _La Nouvelle Heloise_, in French, any edition? While a disk copy would be nice, an ascii text, possibly transmitted by e-mail, would do just as well. Formatting and accents are no object. Computer hardware: Macintosh. Donald Webb Dept of Foreign Languages California State University Sacramento, CA 95819 From: <HARDERR@CLARGRAD> Subject: DISTANCE LEARNING Date: Fri, 16 Mar 90 01:18 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1979 (2480) Does anyone know of a legitimate Ph.D program in Computer Science that is offered online (or at least primarily online with reasonable residency requirements?). The potential for distance learning is incredible, but there are some really sticky issues of credibility. Are there any major Universities that have dealt with some of these issues. I am not interested in buying a degree, but at age 31 with a good solid position and 3 kids, I'm not interested in picking up and moving to further my education! I am currently the token humanist on the computer science staff and would really like to do some serious work in applied theory of CS. Are there any good classes offered anywhere not leading to a degree? Ray Harder Azusa Pacific University Azusa California HARDERR@CLARGRAD PS Our little earthquake has left most things intact here in the Upland area, but if you have tried to E-Mail anyone in the Claremont, Pomona area and have been unsuccessful, try again. Several of us sustained hardware damage from the initial tremor and there have been a nasty series of aftershocks. phone service was only out for one day, but many pieces of hardware were bounced around quite a bit!!!! (make that "has been...." these editors are not worth the trouble of going back!! 8-) From: Michel Pierssens <PIERSENS@FRP8V11> Subject: Auerbach's FIGURA Date: Ven, 16 Mar 90 10:54:18 SET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1980 (2481) One of my students is planning to incorporate a french translation of Auerbach' s essay entitled "Figura" in his dissertation. An english translation was published by Univ. of Minnesota Press years ago in a collection of Auerbach's articles. But the original german text appeared during the war in a journal entitled Neue Dante Studien, published in (I believe) Ankara. Which means that it is not exactly easy to locate a copy of it. Would anyone know whether there was any republication of the german essay in some form or other? If not, would anyone happen to have a xerox copy ot the text? Viele Danke| [According to our online catalogue, the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto, has a copy of Erich Auerbach, _Neue Dantestudien_ (Istanbul, 1944), but since I do not enjoy the privilege of access to the Institute's library, I was not able to find out what's between the covers. I will certainly submit myself to the requisite ordeals and obtain a copy of `Figura' auf Deutsch when time allows -- I, too, am interested in the German original of this crucial essay -- but perhaps some other Humanist has it nearer at hand and does not have to face the Symplegades to get it. --W.M.] From: Jeffrey Perry <JEFF@PUCC> Subject: Nota Bene Text-Base Date: Thu, 15 Mar 90 10:30:30 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1981 (2482) Does anyone know what's out there in the way of tutorials, tips, usage notes, etc. for Nota Bene's Text-Base feature? (The Tutorial included with NB doesn't deal with the Text-Base). If anyone is aware of the existence of any such materials, I'd like to know. Many thanks, Jeff Perry Humanities Specialist C.I.T. / Princeton University JEFF@PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU (609) 258-6009 From: Jody_Gilbert@cc.sfu.ca Subject: PYNCHON LIST Date: Fri, 16 Mar 90 03:01:08 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1982 (2483) I have received great response for the PYNCHON list. Unfortunately some of the messages seem to have been forwarded by mailers, so I don't have the potential member's address. In other cases, I haven't been given a name. The way I had to put this list together, I need a name or even pseudonym if one prefers. So those that sent a request to join and didn't get joined, please send me another request with your name and address explicitly stated in the message. e.g.. Sign me up for PYNCHON Jane Doe Jdoe@sumwhere.bitnet Jody USERDOG1@SFU.BITNET or USERDOG1@CC.SFU.CA List address: PYNCHON@SFU.BITNET or PYNCHON@CC.SFU.CA From: MEEUR@UCCMVSA.BITNET Subject: Common Knowledge Seeks Public Domain Information Date: Wed, 14 Mar 90 10:11:14 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1983 (2484) Common Knowledge is a nonprofit organization chartered as a public domain utility. Common Knowledge believes that knowledge should be accessible to all people, and has as its goal the building of publicly owned mechanisms to access information. Its first product, the Universal Index Version 1.0, consists of a Library of Congress catalog of English-language works published from 1984 through 1988 (approx. 432,000 records, 625 MB, and 10 minutes of tutorial sound), available to libraries at nominal cost. The Universal Index will run on all BiblioFile hardware with 640K. Common Knowledge would like to produce another CD ROM with self-contained DOS and Mac search software, possibly for free distribution at an ALA conference. If you know of *public domain* information in electronic form (for example, bibliographic or other types of databases, lists of reference questions answered, specialized subject bibliographies, etc.) that is available for such a project, please contact me directly by any of the means below (please do not respond to the list). Thanks! *********** Mary Engle University of California--DLA engle@cmsa.berkeley.edu 300 Lakeside Drive, 8th floor meeur@uccmvsa.bitnet Oakland, CA 94612-3550 (415) 987-0563 *********** From: Linc Kesler <KESLERL@ORSTVM> Subject: media and society Date: Thu, 15 Mar 90 09:28:08 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1181 (2485) Niko Besnier recently launched a critique of the McLuhan/Ong/etc interpretation of literacy. I've been following this debate for some time (the theorist not mentioned of considerable significance is Eric Havelock), and I've really enjoyed Brian Street's contribution to the debate. The social practices argument, however, does not seem to me to be entirely maintenance-free: technological systems of course occur in social contexts and are determined in their operation by their relation to other social systems, but that is not exactly to deny their materiality, is it? I don't believe the point of Street's argument is that they have NO effect, though at times I think his argument could use some clarification in this respect. In my academic work, I'm primarily concerned with the development of European literacy, which as Besnier points out, has some particular social features and class associations (though as Ong, etc. perhaps indirecly point out, literacy may help to create such classes as much as be simply appropriated by them: just ask Chaucer), but due to my own ethnic background (American Indian) and the communities it puts me in touch with in other aspects of what I do, I'm certainly interested in the introduction of "pre-formed" literacy on the social structure of other types of communities. I was once a student of McLuhan and frequently enraged by his pronouncements in this area. But then, I think that many of his other arguments, in the long run, are hard to deny: societies do not absorb technologies (whatever their source) without change. This issue, due to its obvious political importance, needs more thorough investigation. I'd really like to communicate more directly with Besnier or anyone else interested in this issue and willing to deal with its social and political implications. I'm currently running a special program titled "Technology, Representation, and Sexual Difference" which places the history of communications technology against an obviously political issue and investigates their relation. There's a speaker's series (Jesse Gellrich, Tania Modleski, Hubert Dreyfus) accompanying. If anyone wants details, just let me know. Linc Kesler: KESLERL at ORSTVM. From: bobh@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Robert Hollander) Subject: Re: 3.1177 everyday psychology and design of software (84) Date: Thu, 15 Mar 90 23:30:19 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1182 (2486) Hello Tracy, old classmate. I last night sent a Listserver I direct an add and a delete as a message. Your message thus came at an appropriate moment in this life of human error. Greetings, Bob Hollander From: "M. R. Sperberg-McQueen " <U15440@UICVM> Subject: Auerbach, Figura Date: 17 March 1990 11:36:52 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1984 (2487) My ancient notecards indicate that Auerbach's essay Figura appeared (also?) in Archivum Romanicum 22 (1938): 436-89. -- I don't know anything about the journal, but perhaps it will be easier to locate than the other source. It might also be worth looking at Auerbach's Gesammelte Aufsaetze zur romanischen Philologie (1967) which might possibly include Figura, but which in any case has a "Schriftenverzeichnis Erich Auerbachs," that is, a list of Auerbach's publications, on pp. 365-69. (I owe the last information to a combination of my scruffy old note cards and the Berkeley on-line catalogue. Yes, folks, I've started telnetting to other libraries and am now a convert.) Marian Sperberg-McQueen Univ. of Illinois at Chicago From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: `Figura' auf Deutsch Date: 19 March 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1985 (2488) I now have more than one source claiming that Erich Auerbach's `Figura' was apparently first published in German in Istanbul by Istanbuler Schriften, issue 5, under the title `Neue Dantestudien'. Thanks to M. R. Sperberg-McQueen, whose note above I saw when it first arrived here, I've located `Figura' auf Deutsch in Auerbach's _Gesammelte Aufsaetze zur romanischen Philologie_ (Bern: Francke Verlag, 1967): 55-92. I happened also to encounter an Italian translation in _Studi di Dante_, 4th edn. (Milano: Feltrinelli, 1988). The person working on Auerbach may be interested in Geoffrey Green, _Literary Criticism and the Structure of History: Erich Auerbach and Leo Spitzer_ (Lincoln: Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1982), a book I just discovered in the process of locating `Figura'. News of other discussions of Auerbach's `figural interpretation' would be welcome. Yours, Willard McCarty From: gxs11@po.CWRU.Edu (Gary Stonum) Subject: new journal Date: Sat, 17 Mar 90 14:20:52 -0500 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1986 (2489) On behalf of an associate who doesn't subscribe to HUMANIST at the moment, I pass along the following announcement about a new on-line journal. The editors also tell me that they are eager to hear from experienced ListServ operaters who might help them to ready the software in the most user-friendly way. Gary Stonum, English Department Case Western Reserve Univ. gxs11@po.cwru.edu Postmodern Culture will be an on-line, juried, transdisciplinary journal of postmodern literature, theory, and culture. Its pur- pose will be to present works of scholarship, criticism, fiction, and poetry which bring intelligence and wit to the task of under- standing the postmodern condition. Postmodern Culture will be specifically interested in the intersection of postmodern studies with other contemporary fields of discourse: by inviting a diver- sity of perspectives, we hope to make visible those social and political commitments of postmodernism which sometimes go unack- nowledged. Furthermore, as a journal which includes works in progress and which facilitates response to those works, Postmod- ern Culture will provide a practical alternative to the privileg- ing of product over process, and writer over reader, in academic inquiry. Postmodern Culture will take advantage of the possibilities of electronic mail, and will be available to anyone who has access to a computer, a modem, and BITNET or INTERNET. Because these networks have nodes all over the world, Postmodern Culture will provide a forum for a truly international and intercultural ex- change of ideas. The journal will be housed on one of the Uni- versity's mainframes, under the LISTSERV program. Separate lists will be maintained for editors/contributors and for subscribers: both lists will be controlled and maintained by the editorial staff of the journal. When an issue of the journal has been compiled, the contents of that issue will be automatically mailed out to all members of the subscriber list, via BITNET or INTER- NET. Subscribers may then download all or some of the issue from their electronic mailbox, and may also send in their responses to an article, via E-Mail. These responses will be appended to the article, and copies will also be sent to the author of that ar- ticle. As the issue develops, readers may selectively download the essays in which they have an interest, and may continue to respond--not only to the author, but also to the comments of other readers: such responses will be handled in the same way as reader-to-author mail. The submission of essays, and all editor- ial business (sending essays to advisory editors, receiving edi- torial comments, housing collaborative essays prior to publica- tion, etc.) will be handled through the editorial list. As an electronic publication, Postmodern Culture will offer a number of advantages over print journals, including decreased lag-time between submission and publication, more direct and immediate exchanges between writer and reader, instant access to all back issues, the opportunity to revise and update what one has already published, and a means of working in either public or private collaboration with writers in remote locations. Work on file at Postmodern Culture will be copyrighted and will not be available for unilateral alteration by its readers, but the edi- tors will not restrict the author's right to revise such work or to submit it for print publication. Members of Postmodern Cul- ture will receive a booklet explaining how to log on to and use the journal; technical problems, should they arise, will be addressed on-line by the editor. Our first issue is tentatively scheduled for the Spring of 1991, and we are interested in hearing from potential readers and contribu- tors. Contact Elaine Orr or John Unsworth at box 8105, NCSU, Raleigh, NC 27695, or reply by e-mail to jmu@ncsuvm.bitnet. From: Stephen Clausing <SCLAUS@YALEVM> Subject: call for papers Date: Mon, 19 Mar 90 16:10:52 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1987 (2490) The Applied Linguistics Division of the MLA is sponsoring a section under the title "Computers in Applied Linguistic Research" for the forthcoming convention in Chicago, Dec. 27-Dec.30. For consideration, please submit a one page abstract including a short biodata to Stephen Clausing, Yale University, by March 28. E-mail address: SClaus@Yalevm, regular mail: German Dept., P.O. Box 18-A Yale Station, New Haven, CT, 06520. From: W.Watson <ERCN94@EMAS-A.EDINBURGH.AC.UK> Subject: Waddell / Hymns from the Paraclete Date: 16 Mar 90 20:51:36 gmt X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1988 (2491) A postgraduate friend of mine is trying to get hold of a newly published book, by Fr. Chrysogonus WADDELL, Hymn Collections from the Paraclete I Introduction and Commentary II Edition Cistercian Liturgy Series 8 and 9 The best indication of the publisher that we have is Trappist, Gethsemani Abbey, 1989. Sorry, we don't have the ISBN. We believe that 'the Paraclete' is an abbey (in northern France or Belgium), where a collection of some 280 hymns was assembled, of which some 150 were by Peter Abelard. We saw the book reviewed in the REVUE BENEDICTINE, 1989 (which we believe comes out at most twice yearly). But it hasn't yet appeared in the micro- fiche 'American Books in Print' for March 1990, found for us by our Reference Librarian; nor (less surprisingly) in the online catalogues of five or six UK university libraries. Can any of your readers help us to obtain the book, or get in touch with the author ? Many thanks. Bill Watson @ uk.ac.edinburgh [within U.K. univ net, JANET] Bill Watson % uk.ac.edinburgh @ UKACRL [from BITNET/EARN] Bill Watson % uk.ac.edinburgh @ nsfnet-relay.ac.uk [from Internet] From: koontz@alpha.bldr.nist.gov Subject: SGML-Based Software Date: Mon, 19 Mar 90 08:58:06 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1989 (2492) Is there a summary anywhere of SGML-based text-processing software, especially for DOS and UNIX environments? Is there any software to summarize? From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re:polyglot's lament (52) Date: Mon, 19 Mar 90 04:33:54 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1990 (2493) In addition to multiple fonts (and there are hundreds readily available for the Mac, supporting virtually every language), multi-language processing needs flexible mapping of characters to keyboard layouts, arbitrary "dead" keys, support for right to left as well as left to right typing, and a variety of string comparison routines to accomodate the conventions of different languages. The Mac, surprisingly, does support all of these features, but does not automatically switch resources (keyboard layouts, string comparison routines, etc.) based on font changes alone. Still, given the near-total lack of support on other platforms, the Mac design is strikingly good on this score. Even more surprising, given its design largely by former Macintosh designers, is the total lack of such multi-lingual support on the NeXT machine. There is NO low level support, even for the simple expedient of including accented characters from Western European languages which the Macintosh supported in its very first incarnation six(?!) years ago. The fonts are Postscript, so you can "create" your own characters and see them displayed and printed in applications you control, but this is just the sort of non-portable idiosyncatic application-level hack that Goerwitz rightly deplores. --- Richard L. Goerwitz (goer@sophist.uchicago.edu) wrote: ...a Mac is the best thing going right now for multi-lingual processing just because the designers had the sense to design the operating system so that it offers low-level support for multiple fonts. No need to hack everything separately....I pray for the day when I can afford to put a NeXT on my desk, and have the time to develop the software I need for that environment. It's an imperfect world, and it's time for MS-DOS users (like me) to admit that they have turned down an alley which dead ends... --- end of quoted material --- From: Stephen.Page@prg.oxford.ac.uk Subject: Psychology of Everyday Things (Re 3.1177) Date: Sun, 18 Mar 90 08:25:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1991 (2494) I heartily agree with the suggestion by Tracy Logan (3.1177) that Donald Norman's book is worth reading. I recommend it as mandatory reading for all software engineers (along with Brooks's Mythical Man-Month). It helps designers to develop an awareness of interfaces in all things, not just computers. To give another quote from Norman (not word-for-word, as I don't have my copy here) : If a device as simple as a door has to have an instruction manual, even a one-word manual (e.g. "PUSH"), then it is poorly designed. If only more designers developed an instinct for effortless interfaces... From: Jim O'Donnell (Classics, Penn) Subject: scanning from microfilm Date: 16 Mar 90 21:39:58 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1992 (2495) Interested to hear that it can be done: but what's the accuracy? From: "Steven J. DeRose" <IR400011@BROWNVM> Subject: Paper vs. electronic documents Date: Fri, 16 Mar 90 14:27:24 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1187 (2496) There have been several postings recently re. the relative merits of paper and electronic documents, and respective future prospects. I agree with Paul Banks that books will not disappear for quite a while; but I don't think we've yet gotten at convincing reasons. I would be the last to want books replaced if it means discarding a beautiful and long heritage of print. But for more than half of my own books/journals, I'd be pleased if I could have bought them on disk (at least I wouldn't have to move so many boxes!). The paleographic argument is valid, but surely applies to only a fraction of the books in any library; and few people are generally given access to critical manuscripts. I would rather have a disk with 50,000 high-resolution photos of Codex Sinaiticus, taken under whatever special infrared/uv etc. show things best, at a variety of angles, etc., than to only stare wishfully through glass at one leaf of it. Even a specialist, I would think, could make much use of such, thus limiting wear on the original while increasing effective research. A past question was "who pays for the conversion?", and mightn't humanists be left out as scientists have funds and move ahead? Of course, those who want things converted will end up paying. But what if some of the copy machines in libraries were replaced with scanners of comparable speed/cost/resolution? Anyway, I doubt we are in severe danger of not having humanistic texts available; the number of members of this forum alone who are preparing e-texts would shame most technical fields (also, see below for some interesting numbers). Another problem was that electronic media change, and require recopying. Yes, this is a pain, but optical storage has shelf life comparable to most paper. More importantly, the problem is not that one must copy e-texts to a new medium to preserve them. Rather, it seems to me an advantage that one *can*: the e-copy will be exact, whereas print media get worse with each generation, leading to any number of expensive problems. Making a perfect transfer of an e-library to new disks (or the latest molecular-organic super-memories or whatever) is purely a clerical task. If I want to take home paper, it is much easier to produce it from e-texts, than vice versa. Even scanning "everything" would be surprisingly inexpensive. The US Library of Congress, as a start, holds about 20 Terabytes. At reasonable OCR rates of 10 pages/minute, 80 hours/week, allow 5,000 machine years. If we get machines that can flip pages, one human can probably manage at least 10 machines at a time. Thus, 1000 person-years (two shifts). Thus to finish in only 5 years: 1000 scanners at $10K $ 10M 200 operators at $25K/year $ 25M 40K optical disks, 500 drives 6M $ 41M total. Plus space, electricity, repairs, administration, and all that; granted it's an idealistic construction, but it's not entirely fanciful. This is just not that much money for the whole LOC. So then, if cost, shelf life, and paleographic concerns aren't the major problems (though each has its applicability), what are the real problems with electronic books? I think one of the best candidates is inconvenience for, say, curling up under trees, etc. And of course, in practical terms the biggest problem is likely to be (I shudder to use the word here) -- copyright. Steve DeRose From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.1179 queries to excite the mind (113) Date: Fri, 16 Mar 90 23:30:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1188 (2497) La nouvelle Heloise electronique Le tresor de la langue francaise a Chicago reprend ce titre dans la liste des textes qu'il possede sur support electronique. Il s'agit de l'edition d'apres D. Mornet, Paris: Hachette, 1925. Code 18 1761 074020. Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal E-mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca From: "Steven J. DeRose" <IR400011@BROWNVM> Subject: Date: Mon, 19 Mar 90 22:46:53 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1993 (2498) A general inquiry: I'm interested in information about services which provide conversion of data into SGML. This could be starting with scanning paper, or starting from some machine-readable form. I'm aware of software such as the Avalanche parser, but am interested in information about service providers. Also interested in hearing from others needing such services, and what particular price/performance/method expectations prevail. Thanks! Steve DeRose From: Dr. Gerd Willee 0228 - 73 56 20 UPK000 at DBNRHRZ1 Subject: Date: 20 March 90, 13:27:57 MEZ X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1994 (2499) A student of ours intends to write a master's thesis on some features of the language of Russian newspapers. For this purpose it would be good, if he could get access to newspapers which are machine readable already. He needs texts from 1986 on. Does anybody know whether such texts exist and how to get them? Gerd Willee IKP - University of Bonn Poppelsdorfer Allee 47 5300 Bonn 1 - FRG upk000 @ dbnrhrz1.BITNET Thanks in advance for processing! Gerd. From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" <ERIC@SDNET> Subject: COURSES VIA BITNET Date: Tue, 20 Mar 90 06:44:44 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1995 (2500) In reply to Ray Harder's question (but not exactly an answer) we at Dakota State University have discussed offering courses (both graduate and undergraduate) via BITNET. I would like to know how many would be interested in a course such as the following (but please tell me if there is interest in something different too). PROGRAMMING FOR THE HUMANITIES An introduction to programming in BASIC or SNOBOL4 or Icon for applicattions in the humanities such as analysis of texts, arranging data from research, and formatting for printing and desktop pulishing. Please reply directly to me: Eric Johnson ERIC@SDNET.BITNET From: Asher B Samuels <abs@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu> Subject: Humanist posting-info on old book Date: Thu, 15 Mar 90 20:31:21 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1996 (2501) I found an old mahzor for Yom Kippur today on the street. The first few pages are missing (it starts with V'haya Im Shamoa). It conatins commentary in Yiddish, but no obvious mention of date or publishing place. The best i can find is that a Tzvi Hersh was the publisher, and that his son Avraham also worked on it. Does anyone have any advice on who would know more about such books? if so, please have them contact me, either by e-mail, phone (212)-662-1979, or by USnail (415 W 120 St, Ney York, NY 10027 USA). Although it's probably quite damaging to the book, I'd be willing to photocopy that page and sent it to someone who could help. Asher From: DJT18@hull.ac.uk Subject: Date: Tue, 20 Mar 90 06:14:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1997 (2502) Does anybody know where one or more Racine plays in machine readable form can be obtained? Any help much appreciated. June Thompson, CTI Centre for Modern Languages, University of Hull From: LIBACCT3@SUVM Subject: spanish correspondence Date: Tue, 20 Mar 90 15:56:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1998 (2503) Is it possible to send email messages to Spain via Bitnet? I am very interested in setting up correspondence with anyone at any university there. I would prefer Salamanca or Madrid, but if this is not possible, then I would be happy with any other university. Does anyone have any contacts out there? Please explain the process (if one exists) in the simplest terms--as you probably have guessed, I am rather new at this email thing. Thanks in advance for the help!! Joyce Garzon, libacct3@suvm, Syracuse University From: Jim O'Donnell (Penn, Classics) Subject: C. Waddell, Hymn Collections from the Paraclete Date: 19 Mar 90 22:20:11 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1999 (2504) RLIN reports at least four different titles by C. Waddell publishing various documents from the Paraclete, e.g., *The Old French Paraclete Ordinary* and *The Paraclete Breviary*. The latest title is indeed *Hymn collections from the Paraclete*, 1987ff. Vol. 1, introduction and commentary, vol. 2, Latin text of hymns (`Most of the hymns in v. 2 are from Abelard's Hymnarius Paraclithensis'). The publisher is the famous Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky (famous as the home of Thomas Merton). Their post office address, to judge by the RLIN record, is indeed Trappist, Kentucky; it seems likely that mail would reach: Publications Office Gethsemani Abbey Trappist, KY USA But I also notice that at least one of the other titles records on the catalogue entry that it is `distributed by Cistercian Publications', and that is a recognized entry probably listed in Books in Print: care of the Medieval Institute at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, the fame of whose massive annual conference of medievalists may well have spread throughout the British Isles. If you have no luck with the Kentucky address, write to Kalamazoo and throw yourself on their mercy and I think you'll have no complaint. From: FZINN@OCVAXA.CC.OBERLIN.EDU Subject: RE: 3.1185 Hymns from the Paraclete? SGML software? (59) Date: Tue, 20 Mar 90 09:39:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2000 (2505) In response to Bill Watson's question, the volumes with hymns from the Paraclete are published by Cistercian Publications, WMU Station, Kalamazoo, MI 49008. I would be glad to assist you in obtaining copies. Grover Zinn FZINN@OBERLIN From: "Paul J. Constantine" <BM.YAR@RLG> Subject: Date: Tue, 20 Mar 90 12:52:04 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2001 (2506) Re: W. Watson's inquiry re: Hymns from the Paraclete. A quick search of the RLIN database resulted in the following citation. The work is held at the Library of Congress, Yale Divinity School Library, Rutgers University Library, and the Getty Center Library. Hymn collections from the Paraclete / edited by Chrysogonus Waddell. -- Trappist, Ky. : Gethsemani Abbey, 1987- v. ; 28 cm. -- (Cistercian liturgy series ; no. 8-9) Text in Latin; introductory matter in English. Most of the hymns in v. 2 are from Abelard's Hymnarius Paraclithensis.~T Includes bibliographical references. Contents: 1. Introduction and commentary / by Chrysogonus Waddell -- 2. Edition of texts.~T 1. Hymns, Latin. I. Waddell, Chrysogonus. II. Abelard, Peter, 1079-1142. Hymnarius Paraclithensis. III. Abbaye du Paraclet. IV. Series. Paul J. Constantine Reference Dept. Yale University Library From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Super Scanning Date: Monday, 19 March 1990 2212-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2002 (2507) (1) If Steve DeRose has information about a reliable scanner that does 10 pages per minute, I'd like to know about it. I would have said something more like one page per minute, especially if pages need turning. And what about verification? Cummon Steve, that budget is awfully low, unless you have a similar budget to xerox everything (and resolve problems of multiple columns, footnotes, etc.) in advance so that a fantastically swift sheet feeder can be used! (2) On turning microform into electronic materials, I have not seen anyone yet who offers appropriately detailed information on getting from the GRAPHICS form (like a photo) that is scanned to usable CHARACTER RECOGNITION form (text). Is that an obstacle? What I want is text files of the microform data, not graphics files. Can current OCR software be run successfully on the graphics representation of microform? Theoretically yes, but has anyone actually tried it? Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: Robert Hollander <bobh@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1187 paper vs. e-documents (74) Date: Mon, 19 Mar 90 23:54:43 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2003 (2508) Let's assume Mr. DeRose's colored glasses are not totally opaque and the entire Library of Congress can be made m-readable for a mere $41M; let's now ask Mr. DeRose who's going to check the text after his 200 monkeys and 1000 machines turn the Library of Congress into the British Museum _sub specie simiarum_? Has he ever seen scanned text? Has he ever seen scanned text that is not supervised closely? One shudders. From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.1187 paper vs. e-documents (74) Date: Tue, 20 Mar 90 03:56:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2004 (2509) Fascinating guestimate. Even at a more reasonable 1 page/minute ~ $500M or about the cost of a single high tech military plane. --- Steven J. DeRose (IR400011@BROWNVM) wrote: Even scanning "everything" would be surprisingly inexpensive. The US Library of Congress, as a start, holds about 20 Terabytes. At reasonable OCR rates of 10 pages/minute, 80 hours/week, allow 5,000 machine years. If we get machines that can flip pages, one human can probably manage at least 10 machines at a time. Thus, 1000 person-years (two shifts). Thus to finish in only 5 years: 1000 scanners at $10K $ 10M 200 operators at $25K/year $ 25M 40K optical disks, 500 drives 6M $ 41M total. --- end of quoted material --- From: Jim Cahalan <JMCAHAL@IUPCP6.BITNET> Subject: Postmodern Culture address Date: 20 Mar 90 08:55 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1192 (2510) The BITNET address that Gary Stonum listed for the new E journal Postmodern Culture <jmu.ncsuvm.bitnet> was rejected by my university's system as an "undefined or illegal" address. I'd like to sign up to get that journal when it gets going. Could Gary or somebody clarify a correct address so myself and others will be able to connect with it? Thanks, Jim Cahalan, Graduate Literature <JMCAHAL@IUP.BITNET> English Dept., 111 Leonard, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA 15705-1094 Phone: (412) 357-2264 From: Mark Olsen <mark@gide.uchicago.edu> Subject: E-Racine Date: Tue, 20 Mar 90 20:09:48 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2005 (2511) ARTFL has a good chunk of Racine which we are going to load into the database REAL SOON NOW, probably over the summer. The Racine is part of a corpus that was collected at Besancon and, as I understand it, is part of the Tresor de la Langue Francais. As such, it cannot be circulated, but the requestor might want to contact INaLF -- Institut Nationale de la Langue Francais at Nancy or Paris for further details. I can provide a list of titles on request. Mark Olsen ARTFL Project mark@gide.uchicago.edu From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.1189 queries (131) Date: Wed, 21 Mar 90 15:23:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2006 (2512) Sujet: Racine electronique... Le ARTLF ne mentionne dans son repertoire que deux ouvrages de Racine, mais de la poesie. Par contre je subodore que Charles Muller, directeur de la collection Travaux de Linguistique Quantitative (Slatkine Champion) serait la meilleure personne a contacter puisqu'il a deja publier de nombreux travaux sur Racine. Voir "Computers and the Humanities" vol. 19 (1), pp.61-62 - compte rendu de son dernier livre par Abraham C. 1985. P.S. Mon editeur de texte m'interdit de remonter corriger l'affreux infinitif qui s'est substitue a un participe passe a l'antepenultieme ligne de ce message. Bien a vous. From: The Man with the Plan <KEHANDLEY@AMHERST> Subject: Russian Newspapers Date: Wed, 21 Mar 90 10:49 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2007 (2513) I hope this is not the only answer to Dr. Gerd Willee's question about e-texts of Russian newspapers, but here is one: The Bureau of Electronic Publishing sells a CD-ROM disk with "The entire translated text" (in English) of 1986-1987. "Updates for subsequent years will be offered when available." "The search and retrieval software, and the Russian to English translations combine to make this disc a top-notch value..." "Computer requirements: IBM PC or compatible computer" Product # CD-1505 Description: PRAVDA Price: $249 Call for international shipping costs. They also sell CD-ROM drives. This is all I know, technically (I am taking all the above from the BEP catalog). Bureau of Electronic Publishing P. O. Box 779 Upper Montclair, NJ 07043 USA Technical Support: (201) 746-3033 (Monday-Friday 9am-6pm E.S.T.) Orders (201) 857-4300 FAX: (201) 857-3031 From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: NB 3.0 prints eths and thorns? Date: 21 March 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2008 (2514) Does anyone know how with Nota Bene 3.0 and a Roland PR1012 or Star NX1000 printer to produce thorns and eths on paper? Yours, Willard McCarty From: Jan-Gunnar Tingsell <tingsell@hum.gu.se> Subject: SGML? Date: 21 Mar 90 11:32:44 EDT (Wed) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2009 (2515) I have two qestions about SGML. 1) Is there any kind of european "SGML User Group"? Someone interested in starting one? 2) Is there anywhere a SGML-parser, especially for DOS or UNIX environments? Jan-Gunnar Tingsell <tingsell@hum.gu.se> From: iwml@UKC.AC.UK Subject: LOST EMAIL Date: Wed, 21 Mar 90 13:11:44 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2010 (2516) Can anyone help, please? I've had a message from a Robert Allison about Canterbury Cathedral, but have lost his email address. I think the message came from the US, but would not swear to that! Many thanks Ian MitchelL Lambert University of Kent at Canterbury iwml@ukc.ac.uk Ian Mitchell Lambert PhD research student Tangnefedd Department of Theology Windmill Road University of Kent at Canterbury Weald United Kingdom Sevenoaks Kent Co-ordinator TN14 6PJ AIBI Network (Association Internationale Bible et Informatique, Maredsous, Belgium) Telephone (UK): 0732 463460 (international): +44 732 463 460 Email JANET: iwml@uk.ac.ukc EARN/BITNET: iwml@ukc.ac.uk or iwml%uk.ac.ukc@ukacrl Telex 94082452 Answerback: CSECL Microlink mailbox (available via Dialcom and Goldnet (Israel) and JANET) MAG33187 From: D.Mealand@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: e-address ? Date: 21 Mar 90 14:45:04 gmt X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2011 (2517) Does anyone have an e-mail address please for Prof. Neel Smith at Bowdoin College. Failing his address another address at that college might help. Replies please to D.Mealand Thanks. David Mealand JANET ADDRESS: D.Mealand@uk.ac.edinburgh BITNET ADDRESS: D.Mealand%uk.ac.edinburgh@ac.uk From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.1191 super scanning (77) Date: Tue, 20 Mar 90 20:23:57 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2012 (2518) In re Bob Kraft's query about moving from scanned microfilm to OCR. That's exactly what we're going to try to do with the Spanish-language incunabula in Madrid's Biblioteca Nacional. We'll let you know whether it worked, in a couple of years. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1191 super scanning (77) Date: Tue, 20 Mar 90 23:16:57 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2013 (2519) I would prefer to think of a grass roots operation in which the 1,000 scanners would be located throughout the library systems and operator fees would be eliminated by the thought that if each library turned a page a minute, we could create such an electronic library which could be either shared by the entire library system or thrown into a public domain collection as each copyrighted item reaches the end of term, a royalty could be charged till that time in accordance with current $$ charged for printed matter. In fact, Project Gutenberg would be happy to provide a few of each of both public domain and copyrighted materials as a beginning, and will encourage other etexts providers to do the same. As a first step, we would like to annouce the release of a Shareware edition of "Alice in Wonderland" which we hope to post for FTP availability. Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**) (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET) From: DURAND@pip.cc.brandeis.edu Subject: Scanning the Library of Congress Date: Wed, 21 Mar 90 11:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2014 (2520) I think that a number of the repsonses to Steve's note were rather too literal in their interpretation of the estimate -- I think it was intended to indicate that the scale might more within grasp then we generally assume, given a real commitment by the Federal government. If we assume that Steve's estimate is off by 2 orders of magnitude (which is above where I would put it, even after factoring in Murphy's law), then we have a figure of 4.1 (US) billion dollars. This seems like a lot of money, but according to the April Harper's Index (derived from congressional budget office figures) the Defense department was able to save 3 (US) Billion dollars by moving its last pay period back to the preceeding fiscal year. That's the price (as someone noted) of one Stealth Bomber. From: Peter Shillingsburg <SHILL@MSSTATE> Subject: Re: 3.1187 paper vs. e-documents (74) Date: Wed, 21 Mar 90 11:45:04 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2015 (2521) Does Steve DeRose assume that scanners will provide accurate texts, or did I misread his note? My experience has been that scanned texts require rather a lot of editing to be readable and then are probably not accurate. From: "Steven J. DeRose" <IR400011@BROWNVM> Subject: More specifics on scanning the LOC Date: Wed, 21 Mar 90 12:01:40 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2016 (2522) Ahem! I thought I stated I was giving an "idealistic" estimate: [deleted quotation] As for a 10 page/minute scanner, I saw an article in the last *MacWeek* about a new board for ATs, containing 10 sets of its OCR hardware, which can dispatch bitmaps from physical scanner to its 10 OCR units as available (e.g., if one page is especially time-consuming, the system can still keep up with the other 9 units). Physical scanning is easily up to 10 pages/minute with readily available scanners; this new AT board claims 10ppm for OCR, too; price is about $10K. Perhaps the device has some problems, I don't know; but they're selling it. Bob Kraft is right that photocopying everything for a sheet feeder would be expensive (both in toner and in labor). That's one reason I mentioned the need for hardware to flip pages, which isn't all that hard an engineering problem once sheet feeding has been solved. In answer to Bob Hollander, yes I have dealt with scanners. One project I consulted for has scanned something like 15,000 pages, including a few Greek/English lexica and other hard cases (fine print, mixed fonts, accented scripts,...). I also have close friends doing similar work, so I think I am reasonably in touch with reality. Proofreading is a serious issue for primary texts. However, for most material it can be deferred, because (a) a moderate character error rate does not impede human readability (fr xmpl, Shannon shovved thet Iglich omly hac obavt l bit per leHer of infomnatiori--scanners generally can do much better than this); (b) spelling correctors, smarter retrieval software, and other technology yield decent retrieval accuracy even in the face of a moderate error rate; and (c) the usefulness of such files has been proven in (for example) the Lexis and Nexis dbs (recently mentioned), which I understand to have quite a high typo rate. Also, it's fairly easy to estimate how bad documents are (e.g., using Markov-based character-sequence ratings), in order to single out the worst for human-supervised spelling correction. We tend to think of needing extreme accuracy, because we do for primary texts; but it just isn't as critical for 10-year-old journal articles. I'd be quite pleased to have readable copies of all of *Language* for the last several decades on my desk. I'd even pay quite a bit for it (whereas I'd seldom if ever buy back issues of the paper form even if available). If my guesstimate is off by an order of magnitude, the point remains, the more so because the technology continually gets cheaper and more accurate. Also, I was figuring for the entire LOC - which contains a lot of material either (a) online already, like legal records and many recent publications; or (b) not of much interest. The point I'm making is not that we're going to scan the LOC today. Rather, I'm asking what the more fundamental issues are in comparing paper and electronic media, and claiming that the cost of conversion, the need to recopy, etc. (!), are not among those fundamental issues. S From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.1189 queries (131) Date: Tue, 20 Mar 90 20:27:17 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2017 (2523) Yes, it is possible to send e-mail to Spain. I have contacts at the U. Autonoma in Madrid, the U. of Zaragoza, and the U. Polite'cnica in Madrid. The number of Spanish scholars in the humanities who use it is very small. In terms of access, the people I have contact with are on EARN, so that their addresses conform to BITNET format. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: LIBACCT3@SUVM Subject: spanish correspondence Date: Tue, 20 Mar 90 15:56:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2018 (2524) Is it possible to send email messages to Spain via Bitnet? I am very interested in setting up correspondence with anyone at any university there. I would prefer Salamanca or Madrid, but if this is not possible, then I would be happy with any other university. Does anyone have any contacts out there? Please explain the process (if one exists) in the simplest terms--as you probably have guessed, I am rather new at this email thing. Thanks in advance for the help!! Joyce Garzon, libacct3@suvm, Syracuse University --- end of quoted material --- From: walker@flash.bellcore.com (Don Walker) Subject: ACL-90 Program and Registration information Date: Tue, 20 Mar 90 17:11:52 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2019 (2525) The printed version of the following program and registration information for ACL-90 has been mailed to ACL members. Others are encouraged to use the attached form or write for a program flyer to the following address: Dr. D.E. Walker (ACL) Bellcore - MRE 2A379 445 South Street - Box 1910 Morristown, NJ 07960-1910, USA or send net mail to em@flash.bellcore.com or uunet.uu.net!bellcore!em, specifying "ACL Annual Meeting Information" on the subject line. ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS 28th Annual Meeting 6-9 June 1990 William Pitt Union, 3959 Forbes Avenue University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available on the file-server, s.v. ACL90 CONFRNCE. A copy may be obtained by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@UToronto and *not* to Humanist. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET filename filetype HUMANIST; to submit a batch-job, send mail to ListServ@UToronto with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see your "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: gxs11@po.CWRU.Edu (Gary Stonum) Subject: Re (or oops): postmodern culture Date: Tue, 20 Mar 90 20:12:51 -0500 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2020 (2526) My apologies for reporting an incorrect Bitnet address for _Postmodern Culture_, the new interactive journal from John Unsworth and Elaine Orr at North Carolina State Univ. The correct address is jmueg@ncsuvm.bitnet. In case I got the Internet address wrong also (no one has yet reported any trouble), it's jmueg@ncsuvm.ncsu.edu. There's a postmodern parable in all of this, I guess. Gary Lee Stonum English Department Case Western Reserve Univ. gxs11@po.cwru.edu From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: E-mail Course in Programming Date: Tuesday, 20 March 1990 2015-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2021 (2527) Does anyone else find it strange that the contemplated course on PROGRAMMING FOR THE HUMANITIES posted to test interest by Eric Johnson lists BASIC as a basic programming language, and fails to list Pascal or C (object C)? My gut reaction is between horror and disbelief, and after a couple of deep breaths, my considered reaction is to wonder if the problem is me? What is the point of teaching BASIC at all, or in any event BASIC without the widely used languages Pascal and C ? Wouldn't that be a backwards step for humanists with programming ambitions? Bob Kraft From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: klatu baranga nicto! Date: 21 March 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2022 (2528) I had the opportunity yesterday to attend a very interesting lecture, `Beyond Electronic Mail', given by Thomas Malone (Coordination Science, MIT). He described an electronic mail system, Information Lens, that by means of a filtering system consisting in part of semi-autonomous `agents', is able to act on various clues in e-mail messages and do various things with them. Examples would be, route all messages from one's dean into an `urgent' folder; delete all messages from an annoying enemy; watch for and select all messages on a certain subject. Very interesting, very high-octane stuff. My problem with such a system is really a problem inherent in all devices, by which I mean all human inventions to which we grant even a semi-autonomous role. As Northrop Frye points out, we tend to forget that what we have devised is our invention; we objectify it, then adore it or allow ourselves to become ruled by it as if it were some sort of god. His usual examples are the circle, which turns into a tyrannical image of fate, and the codex or scroll, which becomes the subject of a nightmare in which after death we are presented with a record of all our evil deeds carefully recorded in some great book. See also the carpenter in Isaiah. We used to be haunted with a form of this nightmare that involved a great central computer. Now I wonder if there isn't a rather nasty problem created by a semi-autonomous system into which you have encoded a definition of your interests, allegiances, and so forth, and then simply let go to do its automatic work. If there is a problem here, what do we do about it? Yours, Willard McCarty From: John Morris <JMORRIS@UALTAVM> Subject: Thorns and eths Date: Thu, 22 Mar 90 16:17:49 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2023 (2529) I figured out how to print homemade thorns and eths when I found out that my printer wasn't yet supported by Nota Bene and that NB's Special Languages Supplement would cost me an extra $200 US. The method I devised is works on an Epson LQ-500 dot matrix printer. It involves plotting the characters on graph paper, calculating the codes to be sent to the printer, and copying the codes to the printer. It sounds cumbersome, but it is all mechanized by a DOS batch file and a shareware utility called ONCL. And since I have already done all the work, I would be more than happy to share my character designs, some hints on amending the escape codes to match other printers and on the slight changes that have to be to NB's printer tables. The only really clumsy thing about it all now is that I have to remember to exit to DOS and run the batch file before trying to print files with special characters. I just inexpert enough not to know if my method will be wildly incompatible with the printers you mention. I guess I should mention, therefore, that I am using a PC-XT clone running under DOS. Please let me know if, when and where I should send files if you think they might be useful. John Morris. From: GA0708@SIUCVMB Subject: Discussion: answer to inquiry (3.20.90) Date: Wed, 21 Mar 90 14:55:56 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2024 (2530) June Thompson of University of Hull asked about availability of Racine plays in machine readable form. In the early 1970s Cornell published a concordance of THEATRE ET POESIES DE JEAN RACINE, edited by Bryant C. Freeman. Although the material is somewhat ancient, Freeman may still have the material on tape. HE IS A PROFESSOR OF FRENCH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, LAWRENCE, KS 66045 USA. I did a couple of concordances and every 5 years or so I get a request for the material. Herb Donow (Southern Illinois Univ.) From: LIBACCT3@SUVM Subject: email colombia Date: Wed, 21 Mar 90 15:58:35 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2025 (2531) I need to know if it is possible to correspond via email or bitnet with anyone in Bogota, Colombia. Again, I would appreciate anyone with any contacts or any help. Joyce Garzon <libacct3@suvm> Syracuse University From: "Christopher W. Donald" <DONALD@UKANVM> Subject: Simple parser Date: Wed, 21 Mar 90 16:44:45 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2026 (2532) I am looking for a simple parser that will be able to the following: Identify subject verb object. Break up compound sentences and subjects. Able to handle passive structures. Is a system like this available for a PC? How about a Macintosh? Are they written in "low level" languages (ie nnot LISP)? Thank you for your assistance. Christopher Donald The University of Kansas Division of Government From: David R. Sewell <dsew@uhura.cc.rochester.edu> Subject: Machine-readable OED request Date: Wed, 21 Mar 90 20:30:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2027 (2533) I'm teaching a course in the history of the English language, and we have just been discussing the 2nd edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and its machine-readable incarnation. The students have had a chance to use the CD-ROM version of the OED, but I was thinking it would be interesting for them to see what machine-readable entries actually looks like, with their tags and markings. Do these exist in ASCII form? If so, and if you have one, I'd appreciate receiving a brief segment through e-mail. (Since this must be copyrighted material, I'm not talking about more than would be allowed under fair use rules.) If there is no such thing as an ASCII version of the machine- readable OED, I'd also appreciate being enlightened about what form the OED text database actually takes; I'm new to the topics of markup languages and machine-readable texts. David Sewell, English Department, University of Rochester Internet: dsew@uhura.cc.rochester.edu BITNET: dsew%uhura.cc.rochester.edu@ourvm From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: images of love? Date: 22 March 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2028 (2534) A humanistic non-Humanist here would like to locate images in manuscripts or early printed books, up to the early 17th century, relating to falling in love, love as a disease and the curing of love-sickness, metamorphoses due to over-excitation, and other such conditions. Images in medical manuals would be ideal. You may safely ignore the recent volume by Massimo Ciavolella and Donald Beecher, since it is the former of these scholars who has posed the question. Please send your suggestions to Humanist. Yours, Willard McCarty From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" <ERIC@SDNET> Subject: E-mail course in programming Date: Thu, 22 Mar 90 07:10:27 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2029 (2535) My thanks to those who have replied to me that they are interested in taking a course in PROGRAMMING FOR THE HUMANITIES via e-mail. If others are interested, please let me know. Several kinds of questions have been raised. Bob Kraft asked about the rationale for the languages taught. I said the course would be an "introduction to programming in BASIC or SNOBOL4 or Icon for applications in the humanities such as analysis of texts, arranging data from research, and formatting for printing and desktop publishing." My idea was to use a language that is available at little or no cost: most microcomputer users have BASIC, and there is a public domain version of SNOBOL4 and of Icon for MS-DOS. Because humanists who are interested in programming might know a little about BASIC, I thought that would be a place to start. The course would then move on to more powerful languages that are not much more trouble to code: SNOBOL4 and Icon. As with other kinds of distant learning, there would be the problem of the identity of the person doing the course work. Because computer centers know the identity of the userids, and because users are not allowed to permit others to use their ids, there is perhaps less concern about work done for an e-mail course than that done for a traditional correspondence course (although this remains a concern for my administration). If there is sufficient interest, and if the course were offered by my university, Dakota State University would grant the credit. Whether another university would accept credit for e-mail courses would have to be determined by each university. The course would be a gread deal of work to teach (about like writing a book on the subject, plus providing written answers to questions). Whatever the difficulties, teaching a course (such as PROGRAMMING FOR THE HUMANITIES) on e-mail seems like a good idea. I would like to know more about what others think. Please send comments directly to me, or to HUMANIST. Eric Johnson ERIC@SDNET.BITNET From: Mark Sacks <AP02@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK> Subject: European philosophers - Note Date: Wed, 21 Mar 90 13:07:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2030 (2536) Postscript to posting on the EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHY CONFERENCE Our posting, as formulated, perhaps suggests that the concentration on analytic philosophers at the conference is meant to be exclusive and isolationist. This is unfortunately misleading. The over-all aim is precisely to make moves towards some sort of (much needed) pluralism: Since Europe contains so much philosophical variety, it seems a pity that some of the melting of these ideas should not be carried out on the premises. Since there are already links between analytic philosophers in a variety of European countries, the strategy is to fortify those links - worthwhile in themselves - in the hope that they will also lead us fruitfully to other philosophers, and into other traditions. We are, so to speak, digging from the analytic end in the hope of completing a chunnel, rather than sinking deeper into isolation. The idea *is*, however, to pursue common ground with traditional clarity and rigour, with due attention to the fact that often what feels like appropriate jargon to one group might nevertheless be obscure to the uninitiated in some other group. This commitment to clarity and rigour seems worthwhile at the outset, even if some mean to argue us out of it - to get us to kick away the ladder. I hope this helps to avoid misunderstanding. Mark Liverpool University From: Robert Kirsner (213) 825-3955 <IDT1RSK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1198 discomfortable questions (68) Date: Thu, 22 Mar 90 09:43:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2031 (2537) There appears to be a subject heading error in this issue of HUMANIST. The message that Mrs. Benson had to bring to Gort was "Klaatu baraDA nikto." The command that Klaatu gave to Gort to have the space ship either open or close its entrance was, variously, "Barenga" and "Varenga". Next time you watch a science fiction classic, please do so with the same attention you would bring to Dryden! Der liebe Gott, as good ol' Al Einstein once remarked, liegt im Detail. We will be watching. From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Re: 3.1198 discomfortable questions (68) Date: Thu, 22 Mar 90 11:46:58 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2032 (2538) I believe the electronic nightmare of which you speak was exactly what happened to Oliver North.... From: Jim O'Donnell (Classics, Penn) Subject: A Story with a Moral Date: 21 Mar 90 23:59:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2033 (2539) I have a Plus Hardcard 40 for archival storage and for some space-consuming utilities, e.g., soft fonts. Conked out yesterday. Just disappeared. Thought it might be the hard disk controller, but when I pulled the hard card out of the machine and deleted the relevant line from the config.sys file, everything worked fine, so it was clear that it was the hardcard. Now the moral of the story is not back up your files: no HUMANIST is fool enough to need *that* moral. No, it is a story with two morals. (1) If you have the same system, walk with care. Plus Systems reveals that they have an unannounced extended warranty on some cards (mine was bought July 1988): get this problem and have the right serial number and your warranty was extended and you get a new card with a two-year warranty. I have to call them back tomorrow to confirm that I've got a winning number, but that looks good. (2) If you ever have a hard card that's just got you so frustrated, you want to shake it, go right ahead. For that, incredible as it may seem, was the advice they gave me for data recovery. Take the card out, shake it. If it doesn't work, take it out again, shake it harder. Shook it like a jug of orange-juice-from-concentrate, hard enough to get a nice fresh foam on top. Put it back in the machine and fired it up. The sucker worked. Got all my files backed up on three boxes of high density disks and the remaining space on the original C: drive. Escaped with my skin. And shaking the hardcard was *very* satisfying. From: RKENNER@Vax2.Concordia.CA Subject: In Defence of BASIC Date: Fri, 23 Mar 90 09:03 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2034 (2540) I find myself having to come, again, to the defense of the BASIC programming language - to dispel the ongoing myth, most recently put forward by a fellow humanist, that BASIC is some- how a crude, old fashioned language and that novices should start right out with "grown up" languages like Pascal and C. Of course, it is impossible to have a completely rational discussion on this subject. It is like trying to discuss religion among the faithful. I admit my bias. I believe in BASIC. Industry-standard magazines like PC-MAGAZINE and BYTE happen to agree with me. Both have maintained, for some time, that in the world of microcomputers, BASIC and C are the two most powerful languages available. They both provide high-level functions while allowing for low-level, direct control of the machine when needed. MICROSOFT CORPORATION, a well-known company in the micro- computer field, has recently thrown its full weight behind BASIC as a professional software development tool. This is not, of course, the old-fashioned BASIC you get when you buy your computer. It is a compiled language with named, recursive subprograms, passed parameters, and a plethora of advanced control structures and variable types. It is a structured programming tool. And you can buy it for as little as $99 in the form of QUICKBASIC or TURBO-BASIC. Third party vendors produce as many "libraries" for BASIC as they do for languages such as C - libraries of routines for windows, dBASE-like file handling, etc. Actually, the code for most of these advanced languages, C, PASCAL, BASIC, etc. begins to look so much alike that it is sometimes difficult at first glance to see what language a program is actually written in. But BASIC has an advantage for the learner. You do not have to write big, monstrous programs. You can quickly dash off a quite functional 3 or 4 line program, without having to worry about declaring variable types and other bookkeeping that some of these other languages require. Hence, it is an excellent language to learn with. There IS a caveat however. BASIC, because it is so forgiving, allows beginners to develop sloppy habits. Instructors must be vigilant to require structured programming from the very beginning - with even the smallest projects. Roger Kenner Concordia University Montreal. From: Randal Baier <REBX@CORNELLC> Subject: Programming for the Humanities Date: Fri, 23 Mar 90 13:57:19 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2035 (2541) I like Eric Johnson's idea about a course on Programming for the Humanities. I think that this might get cumbersome if at the outset it is treated as a credit course. Granted, the time and effort given toward teaching such a course -- and being the student -- might justify official recognition, but at the outset I'd like to see a pilot program that we could participate in as something complementary to our professions. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Studies in Philo and Josephus Date: Thursday, 22 March 1990 2001-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2036 (2542) A few years ago, as I was discussing various computer-oriented aspects of research, an ebullient young interlocutor blurted out (with a mild apology for bluntness) the question: "Are you ever going to become a scholar again?" I think I handled the situation with sufficient good humor, although it hadn't occurred to me at the time that I had stopped being a scholar! In any event, to anyone who requests it I offer an electronic copy of the new (scholarly) paper described below, which will ultimately appear in some form in hard copy. Comments, corrections, and suggestions are most welcome! Tiberius Julius Alexander and the Crisis in Alexandria according to Josephus: Towards Redating Philo's Literary Activities by Robert A. Kraft, University of Pennsylvania [version of 9 March 1990] This examination of Josephus' treatment of Tiberius Julius Alexander, nephew of Philo and a significant Roman political figure in his own right, aims at following up on some of the suggestions made in my paper on "Philo and the Sabbath Crisis" (January 1990). The conclusion is that a case can be made for identifying Philo's allusion to a religio-political crisis in Egypt (On Dreams 2.123ff) with the rioting involving Jews in Alexandria at the start of the governorship of Tiberius Julius Alexander around the year 66 ce (described by Josephus War 2.487ff). The evidence is too ambiguous for this identification to be considered compelling, but even as a possibility, it challenges the older consensus, based largely on silence, that Philo's literary activities ceased by the middle of the first century ce. From: <STGEORGE@UNMB> Subject: New Internet Library List Available Date: Fri, 23 Mar 90 15:51:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2037 (2543) Distribution-File: roubicek@nnsc.nsf.net mccarty@vm.epas.utoronto.ca pacs-l@uhupvm1 edtech@ohstvma liaison@bitnic jnet%"larsen@umdc" p.stone@cluster.sussex.ac.uk A new version of the List is now available from listserv@unmvm. Among recent additions are Michigan State University, Old Dominion University, University of Illinois at Urbana and the Instituto Technologico y Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico. ASCII Version - send mail to listserv@unmvm, leave the subject line blank and in the body of the message, say GET INTERNET LIBRARY. Postscript Version - This should be ready in about one week. Send mail to listserv@unmvm, leave the subject line blank and in the body of the message, say GET LIBRARY PS. Automatic subscription - to automatically receive updates to either of these files, send mail to listserv@unmvm, leave the subject line blank and in the body of the message, say INFO AFD. If you have any questionss or have any suggestions for additions or corrections to the list, please send mail to stgeorge@unmb. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: File Transformation Date: Thursday, 22 March 1990 1951-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2038 (2544) As readers of my OFFLINE column may recall, the Society of Biblical Literature Research and Publications Committee has made the decision to begin archiving the electronic forms of society publications, and the Center for Computer Analysis of Texts (CCAT) at the University of Pennsylvania has agreed to take responsibility for this task. The first shipment of typesetters disks recently arrived, and the majority (240 diskettes) are from a Compugraphic MCS 10 typesetting system using level F and G software. This surprised me, since I had been led to believe that everything would be readable on IBM/DOS machinery. Does anyone have experience and/or advice on how to get the Compugraphic diskettes into DOS format, for mass storage on an optical medium (probably WORM)? Thanks! Bob Kraft (CCAT) From: STEVEC@FHCRCVM Subject: biblio. on language and values/ethics, inclusive lang. Date: Thu, 22 Mar 90 12:39:59 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2039 (2545) I have a student who wants to do an independent study on language and values with a concern for using langauge to promote a rebirth of values. She has read Frye and wonders why he thinks we are in a cycle (metaphor, allegory, denotative) which is about to return to metaphor and not to a 4th stage as yet unknown. Another concern is how quickly ideas become cliche - like "celebrate and heal the earth" seems to have become. She as also read Jeremy Campbell's Grammatical Man. Related issue is the change to inclusive language which can remove the power from a poem or passage. Perhaps rather than change words here and there the whole story needs to be retold. Any stuff on story telling that would help? All this is new to me (last I dabbled in this was undergrad philosophy when some philosophers were saying if language couldn't be scientifically verified, it was mere expression of emotion at best or meaningless at worst). Anyway any bibliographic help, course syllabi, would be appreciated. From: Lamar Hill <LMHILL@UCI> Subject: software for machine reading 16-17 century hands Date: Fri, 23 Mar 90 00:45:39 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2040 (2546) I am interested in knowing of any software that will machine read late 16th- early 17th century English hands of the more "standard" or formal varieties. These would include Chancery hand, Secretarial hand, and Exchequer hand. I am especially interested in being able to machine read a very large number of decrees and orders from an English court. Ideas? suggestions? help! Thanks, Lamar Hill LMHILL@UCI.BITNET Department of History UC,Irvine Irvine, CA 92717 From: "Christian M. Boissonnas, Cornell" <CBY@CORNELLC> Subject: Please help! Date: Fri, 23 Mar 90 08:08:20 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2041 (2547) This one is for the sleuths among you who enjoy this sort of thing. I have the following quote: "The English, as their savage taste prevails, Behead their kings and cut their horses' tails." It came to me from a 82-year old Frenchman as supposedly something translated from Voltaire. People here are inclined to think that it does not sound Voltairien. In any case, I have struck out. Can anyone help? Thank you. From: BOLTON@zodiac.rutgers.edu Subject: Machine-readable Shakespeare Date: Fri, 23 Mar 90 15:31:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2042 (2548) Does anyone know of machine-readable Shakespeare texts OTHER THAN those of the Oxford Text Archive, ETC Bookshelf Shk~Hakespeare (Riverside), Oxford U P Complete Works, and Shakespeare on Disk? Whitney Bolton bolton@zodiac.bitnet From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.1200 Colombia? parser? OED? images of love? (93) Date: Fri, 23 Mar 90 12:59:30 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1206 (2549) Images of love. I suspect that a good place to start would be Mary Wack (Stanford)'s new book on love as an illness. U. of Penn Press C. Faulhaber UC Berkeley [Thanks to Marian Sperberg-McQueen for alerting me to the fact that my query about "images" of love was ambiguous. I meant visual images. -- W.M.] From: Jim O'Donnell (Classics, Penn) Subject: Details, details Date: 23 Mar 90 09:11:11 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1207 (2550) If this be pedantry, let us make the most of it. No idea what science fiction classic is being read as closely as Dryden, but surely it wasn't Einstein who found God in the fine print. I think there's an old controversy about this one, but I've always quoted Aby Warburg, whom it is much snootier to quote, and who could probably be invested as the patron saint of HUMANISTS (with about as much justice as St. Christopher is invoked for travelers). From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: scanners and cooperative reading and revising Date: 22 March 1990, 19:28:47 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2043 (2551) Even given the error rate of current mid-priced OCR hardware and software, and the need for accurate transcriptions of primary texts, it would be comparatively easy to arrive at accurate texts if we humanist scholars, or even the Feds in our respective countries, could arrive at a procedure for reporting and correcting errors in texts. Companies selling or brokering texts, such companies as Electronic Text Corporation or Shakespeare on Disk, might offer small royalties for lists of errors on texts they have already marketed--a kind of bounty on errors reported. Then bounty hunters and those people who like to read for misprints (and most editors get into the habit of doing that whether they like to or not) could report errors for a pittance. Any person controlling a large-scale scanning effort, as with the Milton Database and the Renaissance Textbase projects at Oxford, Toronto, the University College of North Wales and Ohio University, would be happy to receive corrections and to incorporate them into the frequent revisions that electronic texts can support. Now we need suggestions about how for-profit and not-for-profit organizations can best organize and supervise the error correction. I think it would be good to have on-line corrections even with lower-level, secondary publications, as with scholarly journals, for the sake of accuracy and to avoid misrepresenting the author or journal. Roy Flannagan From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Digitizing the Library of Congress Date: Thu, 22 Mar 90 12:33:37 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2044 (2552) I think the cost is far far more than we can afford. To understand what is involved one should note that this task would be more difficult than either making a photocopy or a microform copy of everything in the Library of Congress. Consider a single work, such as the Oxford English Dictionary. The effort to create a usable version of the OED took years and hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars. It required the work of dozens of people. Now we can create digitized bitmaps of printed pages--in black and white, but these would be as useless as microform copies are today and much more expensive because of the need to store the gigabytes of data on magnetic media which doesn't meet archival standards. The digitizations are inadequate for photographs and are entirely oriented toward high-contrast (black/white) storage. To record gray-scale or colors would require much experimentation. Storing data on optical media `might' solve the archival issue, but nobody knows the resolution needed right now nor even whether the digitization would be any more useful in the future than the microforms are today. The lifespan of a electronic recording medium is less than the time it would take to finish the project. Optical Character Recognition of any but contemporary texts in any but a few fonts is highly experimental. If we accept an estimate of 20 Terabytes as the size of the Library of Congress, then at .5-1.0 megabyte per volume we'd get something like 20-40 million books. At $10,000 per book, that gives me something like $200 billion to represent the Library of Congress in a format as useful as the Oxford English Dictionary. The sum is SO large that I think it will never happen. The real goal ought to be to start collecting machine-readable copies of published works rather than letting those disappear and only saving the printed versions. Then, in 10-20 years probably half the works will be available in machine-readable form and due to the reprinting of older works in new editions, almost all the information will be machine-readable. However, there is virtually NO digital imagery in use today in publishing. The photographs will remain outside of digital access a while longer. Probably we can start collecting digital imagery from the publishing of works in a decade. From: Mark Olsen <mark@gide.uchicago.edu> Subject: Costs and Scanning Date: Thu, 22 Mar 90 11:19:47 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2045 (2553) Steve DeRose is correct in claiming that the cost of rendering the entire LOC is a measurable number -- tho' his guess is probably low by a couple of orders of magnitude. The real question is cost/benefit. There are many people willing to pay substantial amounts of money -- recovery of intial costs plus profits -- to have online access to legal records and other information. This is *NOT* the case for much of the material in the LOC. The back issues of _Language_ are of interest to a relatively small and, by comparison to the legal or medical professions, very poor community. And when we begin to consider the vast holdings of the LOC in 19th century novels or other ephemeral literature that will interest only tiny portions of the population, one has to wonder whether there will ever be enough people willing to pay to access that material in order to recover even a tiny fraction of the costs of input. Steve's other point of not requiring very high accuracy is incorrect on several grounds. The first is OCR technology is VERY poor at dealing with texts published in the 19th century, for example. We have tried scanning considerable amounts of this material, and it has proven close to impossible. Raw scanner output from this is unreadable a very high percentage of time. I can't imagine applying for large amounts of money from any funding agency promising huge amounts of innaccurate, frequently unusable, data in return. Finally, my experience with users of large amounts of e-text is that they EXPECT printed edition quality, particularly in terms of simple accuracy. The rescue of material disintegrating in libraries will probably be aided by storage of digitalized images of documents, much like microfilm. The advantages of image storage are huge, in terms of preserving much of the non-textual information in a document and images can, if OCR ever gets to the point of being accurate enough to fucntion without considerable human intervention, the basis for Steve's electronic LOC. This technology is already in place and can be used for many of the applications that Steve really wants, easy access to archived documents, at much lower cost. Mark From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1184 new journal; call for papers (105) Date: Sat, 24 Mar 90 01:41:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2046 (2554) What would it cost to subscribe to the new Journal, for example? Kessler at UCL A (IME9JFK@UCLAMVS) [The reference here is to the e-journal for postmodern studies. --W.M.] From: Leslie Burkholder <lb0q+@andrew.cmu.edu> Subject: uuencoded Ps -> MACA Date: Sun, 25 Mar 90 10:22:37 -0500 (EST) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2047 (2555) Can anyone point to a program that will translate a uuencoded PostScript file into something that could be worked on by a Mac word-processing program (eg MacWrite, Word)? Thanks, Leslie Burkholder From: "Christopher W. Donald" <DONALD@UKANVM> Subject: Copyright laws Date: Sun, 25 Mar 90 10:28:11 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2048 (2556) A few months back there was some discussion about copyrighting of electronic stored texts, including a rather interesting discussion about whether a text stored in different fonts could be considered a "work of art". I have a related question about how much one needs to change material to be able to consider it beyond the normal copyright restrictions. The particular situation is as follows. I am taking headlines from newservices and newspapers obtained from the NEXIS database and coding them for the actor, target, and type of action. Clearly my coding is new material, but ideally I would like to be able to distribute the coding and the text of the headline.(Eg. Israeli foreign minister confers with Egyptian President : 666 651 031 where 666= Israel, 651= Egypt, and 031 is a code for a meeting.) Does the combination of the text and the code constitute some new entity? Would it make a difference if I added codes for the source of the story? This is an NSF funded project so that the ultimate goal is not to produce proprietary material but rather a public domain data base. To go further, what if I "rewrote" the sentance using some standard rules of grammer and syntax? (Eg transform The Israeli foreign minister was visited by the Egyptian president; to The Egyptian president visited the Israeli foreign minister.) I would want to do this not to get around the copyright restrictions but rather to standardize my data so that I could use a computer program to produce the codes. The new sentance does not convey any different information but I have changed voice from passive to active. Does this matter? (ALSO ANOTHER PLUG FOR MY QUERY LAST FRIDAY: DOES ANYONE KNOW OF A SIMPLE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PARSER THAT WOULD HELP ME DO THIS TYPE OF TRANSFORMATION?) Right now everything that I am doing is within the fair use clause, but for the research to be useful for others the data needs to be distributed. I would also be interested in how copyright of electronic texts are handled in countries other than the U.S. Christopher Donald The University of Kansas From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Passover Date: 25 March 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2049 (2557) Would anyone know of a poem, preferably short and in English or in an English translation, which celebrates Passover? Thanks very much. Yours, Willard McCarty From: "Patrick W. Conner" <U47C2@WVNVM> Subject: 3.1206 imagines veneris (26) Date: Sun, 25 Mar 90 02:40:38 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2050 (2558) A database of Medieval drawings and illustrations from medical and related texts is being developed, if I remember correctly. Whoever asked about images of love in that context should probably contact Mark Henry Infusino <IJA4MHI@UCLAMVS.BITNET>. --Patrick Conner --West Virginia University From: "M. R. Sperberg-McQueen " <U15440@UICVM> Subject: images of love Date: 25 March 1990 10:15:13 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2051 (2559) Emblem books might provide some images of the type Massimo is looking for. Albrecht Scho"ne and Arthur Henkel's vast catalogue, Emblemata, has a number of indices, and perhaps one would find an entry for love and/or sickness or related words. I don't find anything very promising in the reprint on my shelf of Alciatus' Emblematum Libellus of 1542, but Daniel Heinsius' Emblemata Amatoria may offer something of interest. Most of the pictures in it focus on Cupid involved in various activities, but the 10th, captioned "In poenam vivo" shows a man strapped to a bench being tortured by Cupid--maybe not sick, but at least hurting. The edition I'm looking at is appended to Barbara Becker-Cantarino's facsimile edition of Heinsius' Nederduytsche Poemata (1616), (Bern/Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang, 1983) (vol. 31 in the series Nachdrucke deutscher Literatur des 17. Jahr- hunderts). The images are rather small--they've been reduced, but perhaps it would be possible to go back to the original edition(s) if the images turn out to be of any interest for this project--which sounds very intriguing; I look forward to hearing more about it. Marian Sperberg-McQueen University of Illinois at Chicago From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1208 super-scanning and its costs (137) Date: Sat, 24 Mar 90 01:25:52 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2052 (2560) re: Flannagan's comments concerning upgrades of etexts. I wholeheartedly support Roy Flannagan's comments concerning the editing of errors in etext, it is one of the strongest reasons for having etext. Roy, as I happen to know, is at least somewhat of a collector of edition volumes, sometimes first editions of major works. While, I DO have some first editions, they usually have some empirical or sentimental value or have come into my hands so inexpensively as to ask "Why not?" However I am sure I speak for many, and hopefully even Roy (who usually gives me a poke or two about nearly anything I say) when I state that it would be a sad state of affairs indeed, if the 25th edition (or printing) contained many, most or all of the errors contained in the first. With the advent of etext, it requires minimal effort, time, or expense to log in to that computer which contains the master text to correct an error, which those copies made subsequently would each contain the upgrade without muss and fuss, with the version number perhaps upgraded by .001 to identify these variant editions for the purists. As for the comments of Robert Amsler, I must take exception. First on a basis of the effort required to created a library of etexts. I, myself, in my spare time, have TYPED in several thousand pages, on the order of, say three pages per day, for extended periods of time. At the end of an appropriate period, I run the speller and do a couple proofreadings, and then it is farmed out to others for a final proofread before the Project Gutenberg members see it. My standards are not ridiculously high as per accuracy, given the views I have expressed above. However, I would hope to have attained a rated of 1 error per page by that time. At Intelex a rate of 1 error per six pages is reported by Mark Rooks. However, these errors should easily be corrected, in the majority, after a few outsider readings. In the case of the Electronic Text Corporation (ETC) a reward IS offered for suggestions, usually the reward is a free text, and it is probable that such a reward would require drawing their attention toward a significant quality or quantity of errors. As there are over 100,000 libraries in the U.S. and undoubted as many in the rest of the English speaking world, it is surely possible for a few, or more than a few, of those involved to create a thousand pages of text per year per person, even if they just type them in as I did. However I must admit that the last major volume I did was done on a scanner, and I spent only 20 days on it, whereas the previous volumes, slightly larger, took 20 months for the same quality results. Nevertheless, without this new scanning technology, one or two hundred thousand books could arrive, each and every year, if only one book were produced by each library. As far as the cost being $10,000 per book, I must admit that, being some kind of idealist, I would happily, gladly, ecstatically put my work in a pool from which I could draw out the other works in return even counting the cost of transmission and media. I wonder how many people will think I am silly, or a dreamer, for considering such a thing within the realms of consideration. For several years I have placed my work on the market at what I considered ridiculously low prices, and I must report the loss in a financial sense, to you, even if not to the IRS. However, the fact that I have received a number of texts in return is the profit I sought. However, there ARE those who HAVE made a profit, and I salute those whom I regard, properly as capitalists (which they do not deny), and chastise those who charge high prices while claiming to be non-profit. Having an electronic library of the proportions described above should be a reward of more than sufficient stature to those of sufficient enough stature to appreciate such a thing, if there are enough roots to grow the grasses. I thank you for you patience, as I have reached my self-imposed limit of one printed page. From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.1205 queries on a Friday night (119) Date: Sun, 25 Mar 90 01:39:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2053 (2561) From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2054 (2562) e-Shakespeare wanted. I would suggest a few clues to find e-Shakespeare besides Spevack and T.H. Howard Hill. Dolores M. Burton studied W.S. with the help of a grammatical concordance (at least Richard II and Anthony and Cleopatra), B. Brainerd studied several aspects of W.S. such as pronouns and genre, chronology of W.S. plays. Daniel Drayton studied his sonnets. They all resorted to computer criticism... so that there must be e-texts in their archives. From: KLCOPE@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: BITNET and EARN Formats and Hasty Belief of Network Propaganda! Date: Sat, 24 Mar 90 10:28 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2055 (2563) In a recent well-conceived grammo, one correspondent answers a question relating to Spanish e-mail addresses with the comment that EARN addresses conform to the BITNET standard. This may be true, but I fear that the advice is misleading, although, of course, not intentionally so. Oxford University is an EARN node, replete with a quasi-BITNETian address. Unfortunately, most people in north America cannot reach it, or for that matter an other EARN node, wiothout using special address formulae filled with "%" and "@" and "!" partions (as if to simulate swearing at the @#&%$@ machine!) in order to command their machines to call the EARN gateway. Persons who simply send to an EARN address are likely to find their mail going into oblivion with absolutely NO report of a delivery failure! This could break up more than a few friendships when the person on the EARN ends seems not to respond to correspondence (having, of course, not received any)! So do be careful, and get instructions from your computer center prior to sending to any EARN address. Believe me, I've learned the hard way! KLC From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: Date: 24 March 1990, 20:09:54 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2056 (2564) Another strange thing about e-mail: you read a message quickly, save it somewhere, then figure out that you only remember half of it and there was something important in the other half. Good thing you saved it, but where? Cheers, Roy From: Robert Kirsner (213) 825-3955 <IDT1RSK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1207 Was fuer ein Detail? (22) Date: Sat, 24 Mar 90 00:33:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2057 (2565) The film in question is THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951), based on the short story FAREWELL TO THE MASTER by Harry Bates. The film is worth seeing since, with the exception of 2001, it can justifiably be called the ONLY science-fiction film ever made in the US, the others (including ET) being either Space Opera or Disneyoid fantasy. From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1198 discomfortable questions (68) Date: Sat, 24 Mar 90 01:55:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2058 (2566) Dear Willard, It is not the machine, per se, but those who like to play with it and as someone increasingly chopped into manydifferent categories for investiag tion by the USA IRS, I can tell you that the enhanced computer power has given the incompetents at the IRS hundreds of more things, micro details to look at i n my tax reports, and then an excuse to spend a month a year discussing them wi th me, which is very expensive for the taxpayer. And since I have everything th se days on a programmed expense sheet, I get the response from the inviestigato r: I am averwhelmed byu the details, the facts, the receipts, and I cant take t he time to review them, so off with your shoes, wallet and etc. It is interesti ng, how it works. Of course, then one takes all the thousands of items to the A ppellate level, where the investigators are more highly paid then than the illi terate underlings, and they get irritated by all the answers...so, as Thoreau suggested, the course he foresaw for theindividual, in 1828, was to be the grai n of sand that causes the gears of the machine to jam...hard, but interesting, as long as the regime remains lawful...although the tax gatherer is the one per son ungoverned by law in the USA! But that is an archaic thing too, death and g the taxgatherer are certain, and no laws can restrain them. Machines are but in carnations, as it were, of those two personified evils in our universe. Jascha Kessler From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1187 paper vs. e-documents (74) Date: Sat, 24 Mar 90 01:35:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1214 (2567) I will vote for the conversion (i.e. reproduction) of the Library of Congress t o optical disks, if we can lobby for it. My Congressman wrote me the other year that try as he would, he could not get reduced the budget in the USA for mili tary bands alone, nevermind missiles! which came to, in 1987, and perhaps still does, hold your hats everyone, $600 million dollars. I dont think it would cos t that much to do the LOC. But would the people vote for that? Who will stand u p and lobby our Senate? The National Endowment for the Arts doesnt get 250 mill ions! If I go on, I shall be political quicksand, but the situation is fairly c lear to me...re Humanists' support. Kessler at UCLA From: hcf1dahl@UCSBUXA.BITNET Subject: Scanning Date: Sun, 25 Mar 90 16:09:28 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2059 (2568) The Humanities Computing Facility of the University of California at Santa Barbara has just acquired a Kurzweil Model 5100 scanner, a fairly sophisticated example of the species, and I'll be reporting on our experiences of its capabilities and foibles in the coming weeks. Eric Dahlin Humanities Computing Facility UCSB hcf1dahl@ucsbuxa.bitnet From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: More re: $10K/book encodings Date: Sun, 25 Mar 90 21:52:32 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2060 (2569) A few people have been corresponding with me privately regarding my estimate of $10K per book to encode the Library of Congress in usable machine-readable form. I feel I should explain a little further why that figure is so high (maybe too high, but not by too much considering what I expect from machine-readable encodings). First, I am a bit surprised that so many humanists seem to conceive of the works in the LofC as being only text. I've been trying to imagine what ten randomly selected works in the Library of Congress would contain. I see books with photographs (some consisting almost entirely of photographs), color illustrations, engravings, music, strange typographic conventions, manuscript pages, scientific notations, patent drawings, tables of numbers, maps, etc. What should be done with these? How can they be encoded such that they are USABLE and SEARCHABLE by the computer? For some we lack the skills. Photographs cannot be readily searched to answer simple questions about their contents (find me photos containing umbrellas in the 19th century!), but for many of the other types of materials we can imagine what to do. Second, I want uncompromisingly good encodings. I don't see anyone wanting to pay for encodings that are inadequate by some future scholar's standards of what should have been captured. Sure, as individual researchers we can just encode the features WE see as important, but for a national library everyone's interests would have to be considered. That means typographic conventions MUST be included, line and page boundaries, word hyphens, paragraph indentations, minor type variations, type styles, colors should be authenticated as to exactly what color was there in the ink, alignments need to be precise in order for someone to live with the machine-readable version alone. Perhaps if I suggest a context. NASA decides that they want to plan for the launching of a colony ship to Alpha Centauri and back in the year 2020. The original passengers will die en route and their children's children will reach Alpha Centauri. To make this voyage feasible, the passengers will take along all the Earth's knowledge. However, since storage space is quite finite and access will need to be quite rapid, the knowledge will have to be reduced to machine-readable form and access. In fact, the access will involve both electronic imagery on advanced workstations AND the ability to reconstruct a replica of the original work on some material such as Tyvec (that's what those unbreakable smooth plastic envelopes are made of). Every concern should be considered to make this body of recorded knowledge adequate for rapid access and as near possible perfect reproduction. Assuming the technology for all this is possible, with special printing systems, new display systems, being developed by the time of the voyage, what can be done to start the recording of the information in the libraries now? Now, the OED, I am told, spent nearly $4M on its 24 volume dictionary to render it machine-readable. That's $166,667 per book. If that is pretty much a worst case, then the average work will only cost 1/10 to 1/100th that much, say between $16,667 to $1,667 each. And here I admit, my $200 billion might be reduced to $20 billion. Does this help? I am not trying for a quick fix. I am trying for a machine-readable replacement that will meet all known needs which the contents of the original work would have met and assuming the original work WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE AGAIN after the encoding is made. What then would be needed? From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Re: [3.1208 super-scanning and its costs (137)] Date: Mon, 26 Mar 90 09:22:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2061 (2570) Isn't the debate about Steve DeRose's suggestion (LoC on CD) beginning to miss the point a bit if we concentrate on the problems of, eg, putting in 19Century books or incunabla? In this age of electronic publication, when most publishers do *something* via a computer for most books, I gather that a large number of texts get put onto tape only to be wiped off at a later stage. What a waste of effort! How about putting our energies into finding some way of ensuring that all *future* texts get stored in some e-repository; if only to await the day when retrieval programs would permit their easy use. I wouldn't object to being given whatever e-form of the second ed of the OED exists (the CD is the *first* ed) with all its imperfections, idiosyncratic mark-up, or whatever it was that prevented a CD issue). I certainly cannot afford to buy the 99% perfect e-first-edition. Douglas de Lacey. From: (Robert Philip Weber) WEBER@HARVARDA Subject: Re: 3.1208 super-scanning and its costs (137) Date: Mon, 26 Mar 90 10:03:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2062 (2571) amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) writes: [deleted quotation] ALthough i am willing to accept Amsler's estimates of the size of the library, I find his cost figures high by an order or magnitude, at least. By the end of the decade we will have reached the point where the cost of digitizing is less than or equal to the cost of microfilming. Today, that cost is about $100 per average book. Even of the cost of all this doubled, to say $200 per average book, that's still a reasonable total sum. and even if that doubled because some materials were difficult to put into digital format, we are now up to $400 per book. Thus it seems to me that the MOST this project could be would be $16 billion. spread over 16 years, this is a billion a year, which is not unthinkable. In my article in Publishers Weekly (January 12, 1990, pgs 38-39), i envision just such a possibility (among others). It may well make economic sense and good information policy sense. Bob Weber --------- Robert Philip Weber, Ph.D. | Phone: (617) 495-3744 Senior Consultant | Fax: (617) 495-0750 Academic and Planning Services | Bitnet: weber@harvarda Division | Internet: weber@sunrise.harvard.edu Office For Information Technology| weber@popvax.harvard.edu Harvard University | weber@world.std.com 50 Church Street | Cambridge MA 02138 | From: Richard Ristow <AP430001@BROWNVM> Subject: Re: 3.1211 electronic texts (101 Date: Mon, 26 Mar 90 12:57:09 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2063 (2572) In Humanist 3.1211 (on electronic texts) Michael S. Hart writes [deleted quotation] +++++++++++++++ The "minimal effort ... " is right, and is a common and dangerous way of getting into trouble with machine-readable information. It's very easy for two people, or even one person, to have two different working copies of a text or file, and even if they are 'purists' and check the version numbers to know they ARE different, to have no way of knowing what the differences are, or the reasons for believing the later version is more accurate than the earlier. It can be maddeningly difficult to discover whether a perceived difference is an inaccuracy in memory, a difference in interpretation, or a change in the text. It can be nearly impossible to either prevent or detect the well-meaning, 'obvious', but incorrect 'correction'. A serious on-line revision system should log all changes, with date-time made or earliest version where applied or both, and the authority for the change (even the name of the individual making the physical edit is invaluable for tracking problems and stimulating care). From: onomata@bengus (nissan ephraim) Subject: Date: Sun, 25 Mar 90 19:29:33 -0200 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2064 (2573) 20.3.90 Concerning Dennis Cintra Leite's reply to Jim Wilderotter (in Humanist, Vol. 3, No. 1175, Thursday, 15 March 1990), on Jewish mysticism, and about Umberto Eco's authority in the matter, I would like to observe a few things, both because of my having lived in Italy (actually, most of my life) during the years that inspired some ideas in Eco's works, and because sometimes, until very recently, I was asked to do some bibliographic research, especially after my coming here to Israel in 1983, on Jewish mysticism for a person (in Italy) who wanted to learn about it. First of all, please let me observe that it is dangerous to consider non-scholarly works in Jewish mysticism as competent. In particular, Umberto Eco's work tells more on conspiracy theories in the contemporary Italian culture -- an interesting theme for Ph.D. theses (advisors hear hear) -- partly ascribable to the public perception of events such as the conspiracy of Gen. De Lorenzo in the 1960s, and of Junio Valerio Borghese in the 1970s, but -- especially -- a) the bombing of the Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Milan, (on December 12, 1969), that used to be a legal "Rashomon", and inaugurated the "tension strategy" years, constellated by Fascist bombings on trains, and followed by the "years of lead" punctuated by the Red Brigades terrorism; b) unclear allegations, during the 1970s and part of the 1980s, involving Gelli's P2 Mason lodge, and an allegedly related to the murder (or very unlikely suicide), by hanging under the Black Friars Bridge in London, of a protagonist of Italian finance, Roberto Calvi. (Many people tend to interpret it all as part of a conspiracy. I feel this is very worrying. It assumes a unified intelligence behind history, a domain where I think that, instead, human stupidity and messy organization is an important -- though not all-important -- factor, that unfortunately many historians consistently underevaluate, as they try to defend the reputation of "Homo sapiens". Just kidding, but not too much.) Add the transition, around 1982, to a no-longer-anti-Fascist collective conscience (still guilt-free, anyway, albeit national self-denigration is a sport like here in Israel, with slight but important differences), and certain very intricated cultural and political operations or processes, somewhat linked to that transition. Well, this has nothing to do with Jewish mysticism. Not only: the evolution -- a sorry deterioration, after the post-war respite -- of the image of organized world Judaism in public perception, opinion making, "schmaltz"-style (sometimes "Stuermer"-like) public media, and politics in the 1980s (starting in the 1970s) has been such, that one has to be suspicious of whichever "lesson" in Jewish exoteric doctrines one may draw from an earnest novelist that tries to amuse by playing on conspiracy theories. A dangerous game, as it is unclear where the game ends: after all, Eco tries to say something on modern Italy, and, through this, on humankind. (Cf. "Todo modo" by the recently deceased Leonardo Sciascia, a sometimes too vocal and extreme novelist and public moralist, but certainly one of the noblest characters in recent Italian culture. By the way, here is an anecdote about Sciascia. A Sicilian, he wrote much about the Mafia, its patterns, and its roots; once he was in company of a newspaper editor and of two other persons. These two exposed their personal theories about the Mafia and Sicily, and then left, without Sciascia having replied at all. Prompted by the editor, he told him: "What would you say if I started teaching the Jews about the Talmud?" [Well, it would not be a crime. E.N.]). Whereas I am neither an expert nor otherwise involved in the study of Jewish mysticism, I have been doing some bibliographic search for an Italian friend. For a good introduction to the subject, see Gershom Scholem's books. he was a physicist turned the father of scholarly inquiry into Jewish mysticism, because the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, during the 1920s, could not endow enough position for him and for Albert Einstein (the latter eventually left, because of a stormy controversy with Haim Weizmann over the educational approach: according to each other, Weizmann was a "Realpolitiker", whereas Einstein was an incorrigible "utopist"). Scholem died in the mid-1980s, but his group is active in Jerusalem. The address is: Dept. of Jewish Thought, The Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem. Whereas they don't publish a journal specialized in Jewish mysticism, they do have a more general journal, edited by Dr. Avri Bar-Levav: "Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought" (The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem). Issues are practically books, and some issues are actually proceedings. Regular issues are practically all in Hebrew, but with English abstracts. Instead, Vol. VI (physically, 2 books) and Vol. VIII are proceedings, and are devoted to mysticism. Vol. VI(1/2, 3/4) = Proceedings of the First International Conference on the History of Jewish Mysticism. Vol. VIII = Proceedings of the Third International Conference on the History of Jewish Mysticism. Each volume contains a Hebrew part and an English part. The latter starts on the left. There is a double numeration. papers in English are: In Vol. VI(1-2), pages up to 132. In Vol. VI(3-4), pages up to 52*. In Vol. VIII, pages up to 86*. Papers are too specialistic for beginners. For these, I recommend Scholem's books. There is also a bibliography, R.M.B.I., of articles in various languages. Bar-Levav told me about a book by Moshe Idel ("Kabbala, New Perspectives", Yale University Press), and about the series "Studies in Ecstatic Kabbala", of the State University of New York: it includes at least four volumes thus far. Ephraim Nissan Department of Mathematics & Computer Science, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel. BITNET address: onomata@bengus.bitnet Addendum -------- By the way, concerning the same topic: one thing that amazes me, is that both the semiologist and novelist Umberto Eco (that a subscriber from Brazil optimistically indicated as a reliable authority about Jewish mysticism) and my advisor from Italy, Marco Somalvico, are involved with AI and interested in mysticism: Eco is one of the two honorary members of AI*IA, the new Associazione Italiana di Intelligenza Artificiale (together with a physicist who worked on neural networks already in the 1950s), whereas Somalvico is, among the Italian fathers of artificial intelligence, the one that is perhaps best known to the public. Well, Somalvico has been writing the entry about artificial intelligence for the new edition of the "Enciclopedia Italiana" (sic: Italian does not place a y here-----^ ), and has used Kabbalistic concepts. None of Eco and Somalvico are Jewish, and none knows Hebrew. They are interested in mysticism as a hobby, but Somalvico has cumulated an amazing knowledge in the domain by methodic reading, during the 1980s. These interests remind me of Pico della Mirandola, the Renaissance humanist who established the Christian Kabbalah after tasting the Jewish one. Pico della Mirandola is popularly known, in Italy, because of his total recall: once he even bet his neck he could recall the Bible by heart IN THE REVERSE. An executioner was there to decapitate him at the first error, but there was no need for him to intervene... On the other hand, practically there is no study of Jewish mysticism among present Italian Jewish scholars or rabbis. In the 18th century there was Ramhal (well-known rabbis of old are most often known by an acronym of their name, or by the title of their main book, or by the acronym thereof), and in the 19th -- Benamozeg of Leghorn, who represents a transition phase between practice and modern scholarly inquiry. The Leghornese school was rooted in the traditions of the exiles from Spain, and besides, Leghorn was a major center of Hebrew typesetting (including of the "Zohar", the main text of the Kabbalah). However, the modern rabbinical tradition in Italy is related to the rationalism of Samuel (Shemuel) David Luzzatto ( = Shadal = S.D.L), a contemporary of Benamozeg, and was marked first by an assimilationistic trend, and then by the loss of an entire generation of rabbis during World War II, and is now close to Neo-Orthodoxy, that is not attracted by mysticism. I mention these details in order to complete the information given on interest in Jewish mysticism in modern Italy. Regards, Ephraim Nissan From: ejs@well.uucp (Elissa Sampson) Subject: passover Date: Sun, 25 Mar 90 20:15:22 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2065 (2574) Traditionally Passover is known for its songs, not its poems. At the end of every standard orthodox Haggadah are a dozen to two dozen songs. I'm told by people more knowledgable than myself that the form of some of these is quite ancient - such as One Kid, One Kid (Ha Gadya) and it does somewhat song like poetry since it scans it Aramaic. It just wouldn't scan in English is the problem. Oops - typo above. It should read somewhat sound like poetry. Elissa Sampson From: Sarah Higley, Internet: slhi@uhura.cc.rochester.edu Subject: JUSTIFIABLY: a response to Robert Kirsner Date: 26 March 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2066 (2575) Mr. Kirsner writes March 24 that THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951), with the exception of 2001, "can justifiably be called the ONLY science-fiction film ever made in the US, the others being either Space Opera or Disneyoid Fantasy." With all due respect, I must take exception. Where is your "justifiably"? You've left out BLADERUNNER (based on Philip Dick's DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP) which-- despite the fact that it has been roasted by persnickity film reviewers who can only read a popular "mainstream" semiotics-- still remains one of the most impressive sf movies ever made, in the US or elsewhere. It has gone on to become a cult film and has attracted persistent comment from film theorists and feminists. It's hardly a Space Opera or a Disneyoid fantasy and it stands well within the popular "cyberpunk" sf movement of the eighties. While it certainly is not the same style as the fifties movie you praise and which is worth your praise, you nevertheless leave me curious as to your criterion for science fiction? From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: BASIC defense Date: Monday, 26 March 1990 1933-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1217 (2576) Whoa! I'm the one who questioned the value of offering BASIC, without either Pascal or C, in a Programming Course for Humanists. If I said or implied that "BASIC is somehow a crude, old fashioned language," as Roger Kenner recently complained on HUMANIST, that was not my intention. Actually, my reasons for questioning the use of BASIC without Pascal and/or C are well articulated later in Kenner's message: "BASIC, because it is so forgiving, allows beginners to develop sloppy habits"; and, the BASIC that Kenner rightly defends "is not, of course, the old-fashioned BASIC you get when you buy your computer." If BASIC is used with appropriate care to produce structured programs, I guess even the form that comes for free would serve well enough. But I can't help thinking that it would be easier on teacher and students alike if an explicitly structured language were used instead. Do all forms of Pascal and C cost significant money these days? I confess my ignorance. Bob Kraft From: hcf1dahl@UCSBUXA.BITNET Subject: French translation Date: Sun, 25 Mar 90 16:17:05 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2067 (2577) A faculty member in our French Department is interested in developing a course around a PC based French/English translation program, preferably with thesaurus and dictionary, with the students learning the finer points by improving upon the presumably limited capabilities of the translation software. We are looking at the possible programs listed in the Humanities Computing Yearbook, but we are wondering whether any Humanists have suggestions on programs which might be particularly suitable for such a purpose. Any and all recommendations will be appreciated. Eric Dahlin Humanities Computing Facility University of California, Santa Barbara hcf1dahl@ucsbuxa.bitnet From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Re: [3.1208 super-scanning and its costs (137)] Date: Mon, 26 Mar 90 09:33:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2068 (2578) One of the more irritating factors of e-mail, at least as far as HUMANIST is concerned, is the way I receive 5 entirely obscure replies to an issue before the original posting appears. (This is guaranteed *not* to be the case when every respondent re-issues the original text in its entirety; an interesting example of Murphey's Law). Yet when I correspond with a private individual on t'other side of the water I get replies back within minutes. Is this a feature of the way mailers handle bb-items? Does anyone have info about the relative speeds of e-mail transmissions? Can one label an item 'FIRST CLASS---URGENT'? Douglas de Lacey <DEL2@UK.AC.CAM.PHX> From: koontz@alpha.bldr.nist.gov Subject: ICON for MS/DOS Date: Mon, 26 Mar 90 10:50:49 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2069 (2579) [deleted quotation] ... [deleted quotation] RE: Icon, this is interesting news! How can I get it? Also, I assume that the SNOBOL4 is Catspaw's Vanilla Snobol? From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2070 (2580) DATE: 26 MAR 90 15:20:00 HOB FROM: PSDMSPIN@BRUSP.BITNET SUBJECT: UNESCO's MicroIsis Hello, Does anybody knows about the UNESCO's database management software called CDS ISIS MicroVersion? What people are able to talk to me? Thank you, Mario Eduardo BITNET: PSDMSPIN@BRUSP Center for the Study of Violence University of Sao Paulo, Brazil From: Natalie Maynor <MAYNOR@MSSTATE> Subject: Re: 3.1212 e-mail (47) Date: Sun, 25 Mar 90 19:18:13 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2071 (2581) I understand Kevin's frustration with his UK address, but I'm confused by what he said about EARN. I didn't think that the UK was part of EARN. I thought it was on JANET. I'm pretty sure that BITNET, EARN, NETNORTH, along with some other networks, run the same protocol and therefore appear to us ordinary users as though they were all part of one big network: the addresses look the same, interactive (real-time) communication can occur, no gateways (or at least not visible to our eyes), the routing can be watched all the way to the destination. In any case, I do know that Spain is very easy to reach on BITNET. I can send BITNET mail to Spain in exactly the same way I send it across campus. Natalie Maynor From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1212 e-mail (47) Date: Sun, 25 Mar 90 19:55:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2072 (2582) Where? you ask? In my custom, the interesting letter is saved with a clue to it s contentsin its name, a portmanteau-word, and saved to a diskette that says e- mail#1, email#2, for each 800K diskette. More compact than a portfolio of paper letters, easier to search through, without getting lost reading old letters an d falling into a brown study over the existence of time past as a well of infin ite, drowning depths...Kessler From: Toby Paff <TOBYPAFF@PUCC> Subject: UK addresses Date: Mon, 26 Mar 90 08:21:49 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2073 (2583) For what it is worth, in re UK e-mail addresses, it is often the case that an e-mail address cited as, say: doe at uk.ac.ox.vax, can be successfully used on BITNET by reversing the order of elements: doe at vax.ox.ac.uk. This from experience. Toby Paff tobypaff@pucc.princeton.edu From: Oxford Text Archive <ARCHIVE@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK> Subject: How to get to JANET - version 7 Date: Mon, 26 Mar 90 16:44 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2074 (2584) Issue 7 of "Hints for Getting Mail Through Various Gateways to and from JANET" is now available (issued 23 March 1990). You should find the methods described below a convenient way of grabbing the copy you need. As it says below, if you can't manage to get a copy by either of the methods suggested, let me know and I'm quite happy to e-mail you a copy. ... The document exists in a number of different formats: file contents mail-gateways.7.txt A readable text file which can be displayed on dumb printers and VDUs mail-gateways.7.ms The format the document is main- tained in, suitable for use on sys- tems with tbl and ditroff (or troff) with the ms macros. mail-gateways.7.latex LaTeX input. Suitable for use on systems with LaTeX and TeX. Not < NOTE available until 19th April 1990. <****** mail-gateways.7.ps PostScript. Suitable for sending direct to a PostScript printer. 2.1 Fetching Files Direct from Warwick University To do this you need access to NIFTP and JANET. Do an NIFTP setting the FILENAME to the appropriate file chosen from the list above. Specify it in upper-case or lower-case, but don't used mixed-case. Set the USERNAME to anon (or ANON), and do not specify a USERNAME PASSWORD. The site is UK.AC.WARWICK.CU. If this name is not known to your NIFTP (it was registered in NIFTP context on 22 March 1990), UK.AC.WARWICK.SOL can be used until its expected departure in June 1990. 2.2 Getting the Files via Electronic Mail Nottingham University Computer Science Department have kindly agreed to hold the document and make it available with their `info-server'. Send electronic mail to info-server@uk.ac.nott.cs with the body of the message: Request: sources Topic: filename chosen from list above Request: end The topic line can be repeated for each file you wish to collect. E.g. Request: sources Topic: mail-gateways.7.txt Topic: mail-gateways.7.ps Request: end It will also supply a list of the files available in this category if sent the mail: Request: catalogue Topic: mail-gateways Request: end For additional information, like how to get the files in several chunks (if your mailer doesn't like receiving huge files), just send an empty message to it (or, if your mailer refuses to send an empty message, send something the info- server won't recognize, e.g. `boo!'). If all else fails, mail me (see my `signature' at the end), telling me what you want, what's gone wrong, and I'll mail you a copy. 2.3 Obtaining a Paper Copy If you really do want a paper copy from me, then write to me at the address shown at the end of this document, enclosing a cheque for 3.00 (sterling) made payable to `The University of Warwick'. If outside the UK, but within the EC, then it's 4.00 (sterling) or the equivalent of 6.00 (sterling) if the cheque is not made out in sterling. Outside the EC the corresponding amounts are 13.00 (sterling) and 15.00 (ster- ling). These prices are just the cost of copying, postage, and dealing with non-sterling cheques. 2.4 Finding Out when new issues occur If you want to be notified when a new issue is ready, please mail: mail-hints-request@uk.ac.rutherford Tim Clark T.Clark@warwick.ac.uk or (if necessary):- \Post: Computing Services JANET: T.Clark@uk.ac.warwick \ University of Warwick Internet: T.Clark%warwick.ac.uk@cunyvm.cuny.edu\ Coventry, UK EARN/BITNET: T.Clark%warwick.ac.uk@UKACRL /\ CV4 7AL UUCP: T.Clark%warwick.ac.uk@ukc.uucp / \ Phone: +44 203 523224 From: Stephen Clausing <SCLAUS@YALEVM> Subject: last call for papers Date: Sun, 25 Mar 90 21:16:04 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1220 (2585) This is the last call for papers to be considered for inclusion in the 1990 MLA Applied Linguistics Division meeting dealing with Computers in Applied Linguistic Research. 1-page abstracts to Stephen Clausing (SClaus@Yalevm) by March 28 please. From: Linc Kesler <KESLERL@ORSTVM> Subject: programming langauges Date: Mon, 26 Mar 90 20:57:11 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2075 (2586) Reply to Bob Kraft et. al.: In the debate about computer languages, I have to agree that inherently structured languages such as Pascal seem preferable for developing strong conceptual structuring and modularity, though current Basic offerings such as QuickBasic and TurboBasic have some nifty features not found in other languages. Both current versions of TurboPascal and QuickPascal also contain Object Oriented Programming extensions and are reputed to be easier to learn for OOP programming than C++, which is the OOP version of C most used. I can get TurboPascal, which seems to be the Pascal of choice at the moment, for the educational price of $55 at my U bookstore. That's hard to beat, and the manuals are supposedly a course in themselves. I have TurboPascal 4.0 and think its a really good environment in which to learn. You can also access interrupts, write interrupt handlers and TSRs, write in-line assembler code, and do industrial strength stuff in this language, and there are lots of aftermarket books and library routines available. As for C, well, if you're doing it all the time, the terse syntax is great (the Hewlet-Packard people up the street seem to love it, and they do it in their sleep, not to mention at parties, which is pretty boring), and the ability to do low-level stuff is great if you're an unreconstructed assembly language geek like me, but C is pretty cryptic if you aren't doing it every day, so Pascal, particularly given the OOP extensions, looks like the best bet to me. If you're not familiar with the OOP concept, you might want to pick up some recent mags like PC or Byte: seems to me the conceptual structure of this style of programming has real promise for humanities types, as a mode of thinking as well as practicality, what with the concepts of inheritance & capability to re-use code while customizing it to new applications. Check it out. But if you're from the old school and insist on mandatory bibliography courses and Old English, make 'em do structured programming in Assembler--aye matie, why with the wind in their teeth and a cold shower before chapel in the morning, you'll make real soldiers outta the ones that make it, and damned be he who cries "enough!" From: edwards%cogsci.Berkeley.EDU@lilac.berkeley.edu (Jane Edwards) Subject: BASIC Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 01:14:51 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2076 (2587) In 3.1217 KRAFT@PENNDRLS asks: [deleted quotation] I was quite favorably impressed by the Turbo PASCAL I got for a PC awhile back for only $50. It came with good documentation, and had a nice user interface, I thought. One of those rare occasions where quality and low price coincide. -Jane Edwards (edwards@cogsci.berkeley.edu) From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" <ERIC@SDNET> Subject: Icon and SNOBOL4 Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 06:45:15 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2077 (2588) Implementations of the Icon programming language are available for MS-DOS microcomputers and several other microcomputers as well as for MVS, UNIX, VAX/VMS, and VM/CMS. All are in the public domain except an MS-DOS/386 version. They are distributed by the Icon Project, Department of Computer Science, Gould-Simpson building, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721. Phone (602) 621-4049 for ordering information. There is a small cost for materials: the MS-DOS executables cost $20.00; MS-DOS/386 version is $25.00. Vanilla SNOBOL4 for MS-DOS is also public domain. It can be ordered for a small charge ($10.00, I think) from Catspaw, Inc., P.O. Box 1123, Salida, CO 81201; phone is (719) 539-3884. Icon and SNOBOL4 (and the high-performance version called SPITBOL) are designed to perform the kind of non-numeric operations that humanists want with a minimum of programming effort. That is why I suggested one or both of them as a part of a course in programming for the humanities. -- Eric Johnson ERIC@SDNET.BITNET From: <JBOWYER@UNOMA1> Subject: BASIC Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 07:12 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2078 (2589) Borland, the maker of Turbo C and Turbo Pascal, has very (make that VERY) aggressive academic pricing program. Turbo C retails for $149.95, yet the academic price is $49.95 for a single copy and $300.00 for a lab pack of 10 copies. Turbo Pascal retails for $149.95, yet the academic price is $49.95 for a single copy and $300.00 for a lab pack of 10 copies. As a full-time computer programmer for the past 10 years (and only secondarily a humanist), I must side with those people who are shocked at a programming course built around BASIC, which is NOT a mainstream language. For that matter, SNOBOL and ICON, both of which I've learned and abandoned, are not mainstream either. I don't see any reason to program in a language that only fellow humanists can support when there exists so much third-party support for Pascal and C. I can pick up any computer-related magazine at the store and learn many new ideas related to C and Pascal. Can I do the same with BASIC or SNOBOL or ICON? I can choose from among several different programming tool packages that contain pre-coded routines for menus, directories, windows, text processing, graphics, etc. Can I do the same for BASIC or SNOBOL or ICON? Finally, I must correct whoever in this dialogue mentioned that Turbo Basic is a viable language. Borland stopped supporting Turbo Basic (and Turbo Prolog) over a year ago. At least to the maker of this language, the handwriting was on the wall. Jeff Bowyer University of Nebraska at Omaha From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.1217 trying BASIC, cont. (32) Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 11:01:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2079 (2590) The Microsoft QuickBASIC compiler (4.5) lists at $99, I think; street price is about 65, though you can get it for much less than that if your campus computer store (some institutions do have them!) has the right arrangement with Microsoft. Borland sells Turbo Pascal 5.5 at an academic discount of $49.95-- that gets you the full package (not the Professional developer's package). TP 5.5 has the object-oriented extensions. I've not used it yet, though I have a copy sitting on the shelf looking at me accusingly. I *have* used QuickBasic, which is a structured language, and it's very nice, I think. John Slatin From: HUMM@PENNDRLS (Alan Humm Religious Studies U. of Penn) Subject: more on BASIC, Pascal, C & Icon Date: Tuesday, 27 March 1990 0901-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2080 (2591) After we finish talking about out preferences in Programming languages I suggest that we re-open the discussion about whether Macs or PCs are better, and after that we could talk about which religion is best followed by a conclusive discussion of what policical parties we should all adhere to. Before moving on to those interesting topics, however, I thought I would get in my two cents worth on languages. Yes, BASIC has grown up in several forms including MS-Quick BASIC, Turbo BASIC and the original designers' True BASIC. I would not be likely to try to argue someone away from one of the new BASICs to another procedural language like Pascal or C. However, I recall that one of the arguments for using BASIC in a programming course was that it is free with most systems ("free" meaning that you had no choice but to pay for it). The BASIC languages that we have been lauding are NOT free. Nor or they bundled with your system. The BASIC that you get with your Apple, Commodore, or IBM *IS* "somehow a crude, old fashioned language". The drawback which Roger Kenner notes, and which Bob Kraft re-notes is that it encourages bad programming habits (even if the instructor does not) and the older versions of BASIC virtually demand them. I would strongly recommend against teaching an introductory programming course in BASIC. For many of the same reasons, however, I would not teach introductory programming in 'C'. 'C' is intended as a programming language for programmers and it is incedently my main programming language right now, but it is difficult to read and encourages programs that are difficult to read. What it provides is an enormous amount of flexibility and control to the programmer -- not, I would argue, what you want to give to beginning programmers. (By the way, *I* can tell the difference between 'C' and either BASIC or Pascal at first glance -- I if I can read it at all it is not 'C'. I can only imagine the horror of reading student programs written in 'C' or BASIC). I guess that leaves Pascal. I did my first programming is BASIC (old BASIC) and I remember my horror at beginning my first programming class and discovering that we had to learn Pascal. It was not long, however before I discovered why. Pascal not only allows good programming practice, it demands it. You can write bad programs in any language, but you have to work harder to do it in Pascal. This is not accidental. Pascal was designed specifically to be a language for teaching programming. In fact, it was only in response to its popularity as a teaching language, and the resultant large number new Pascal programmers that it grew up into a full blown development language, largely due to Borland's Turbo Pascal. Pascal has grown up with programming in the 80's and now even sports "Object Oriented Programming" features (there are also OOP 'C's, but I do not know if there are OOP BASICs -- there probably will be). It is true that you cannot write a one line program in Pascal as you can in BASIC, but the overhead is not that great. I believe that dynamic variables is one of the features of BASIC that encourages bad programming because it fails to teach data typing (variable declaration is the primary overhead in Pascal as against BASIC). The rest of the Pascal overhead comes from procedure declaration -- impossible in the older BASICs, but an essential lesson in good programming practice. I no longer program very much in Pascal, but I recognize that learning it was an important part of my development as a programmer. You should not rob your students of that opportunity. Of course, I am sure that there are other good languages for teaching purposes, but these are the ones with which I am most familiar. I assume that you are not considering teaching a REAL Objected Oriented programming language like Smalltalk or Actor because you are not yourself familiar with any of them. This is a wise decision as long as you remain unfamiliar with them -- you cannot teach them as you learn them on the fly (unlike some languages). But you should remedy that situation. I have never taught programming with an OOP, but I would like to. A final note on costs: There is a shareware Icon available from PC-SIG in Texas, or I suppose that you could get it from us (CCAT@PENNdrls) as it is shareware, but I am not an Icon programmer, so I don't know how good it is. There are also shareware versions of both Pascal and 'C' (so they are also 'free'), but the commercial versions are sufficiently better as to justify the cost. For the IBM there is an extremly nice 'C' compiler called "Power C" from MIX software (they advertise ubiquitously) for only $20. I believe GW-BASIC may cost more than that. You can also get a state of the art debugger to go with it for only another $20 (a fact which almost persuades me to teach with 'C' in spite of my comments above). We have MS-C 5.1 but usually use Power C for development. Turbo Pascal costs no more than the new BASICs, although the debugger is extra, and should be used by students if possible. It is a shame that most of the debuggers are so expensive, since new programmers probably need them more than anyone else. Alan Humm (Humm@PENNdrls) CCAT From: "Robin C. Cover" <ZRCC1001@SMUVM1> Subject: AVAILABILITY OF ICON Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 12:56:44 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2081 (2592) ICON Programming Language (response) [deleted quotation] Several implementations of ICON may be downloaded over the Internet (128.196.128.118 or 192.12.69.1 = arizona.edu (/icon subdirectory, or via BBS 602-621-2283. A free newletter <cit>The ICON Newsletter</> is also available from the ICON group: ICON Project Department of Computer Science Gould-Simpson Building The University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 602-621-4049 FAX: 602-621-4246 A new book on ICON has also been published recently: Alan D. Corre, <cit>Icon Programming for Humanists</> "The above book is now available. Order from any bookstore. Be sure to get one with the shrink wrap cover, because it contains a disk. They did distrubute some originally without the disk. The author is one of our own HUMANISTS, I think: Alan D. Corre Department of Hebrew Studies University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (414) 229-4245 PO Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201 corre@csd4.csd.uwm.edu submitted by Robin Cover From: Alan D Corre <corre@csd4.csd.uwm.edu> Subject: Icon for MS-DOS Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 10:29:23 -0600 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2082 (2593) You can get icon from the Icon development group at the University of Arizona -- or coopy it from a friend, it's public domain. You might like to have my new book Icon Programming for Humanists ISBN 0-13-450180-2 Prentice Hall, 1990. It has quite a bit on the MS-DOS implementation. Icon is now available for the mac in a proprietary version with a complete development system. I am reviewing this in a forthcoming issue of C_Hum. Vivat Icon. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: Optiram Date: 27 March 1990, 07:03:05 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2083 (2594) Has anyone out there heard any more about or corresponded with the scanning wizards at Optiram, in the UK, since the talk at the ACH/ALLC conference last June in Toronto? I wrote to them on behalf of getting some Milton manuscripts scanned accurately, to an address on the Isle of Jersey, and received no reply. Roy Flannagan From: MTRILEY@CALSTATE (Mark Timothy Riley) Subject: RE: 3.1214 Library of Congress on CD-ROM (23) Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 13:42:26 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2084 (2595) A query about the coining of scientific/biomedical terminology. [deleted quotation]a term for syndromes which these physicians have been researching. They want to present a paper, and a new and unique name may perhaps give their work some cachet. (I hope I am not being too cynical.) When asked, I get down Ayers _Bioscientific Terminology_ (U. of Arizona, 1972; this is one of many books which teach the student the meaning of these terms), look up the applicable roots (salpingo-, athero- etc.), look up the names of related syndromes, and cobble together something that seems right. But this is a very rough and ready process. I am wondering (hoping? trusting?) that somewhere there is a text (perhaps quite old) that gives rules for forming new scientific terms. Maybe even there is an institute for regularizing coinages --tho' I think that's too much to hope for. Can anyone steer me in the right direction? Remember: I don't need textbooks (like Ayers) on determining the *meaning* of the terms. I have plenty of those. I need info on *coining* the terms. Please respond to MTRiley@CalState. I'll post a summary of replies to HUMANIST. Mark Riley From: Kathy Isaacson <ISAACSOK@LAWRENCE> Subject: Czech / English Word Processing Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 14:15 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2085 (2596) A faculty member here who has never owned a computer would like to acquire one for word processing in Czech and English, and occasionally other European languages. Since he is starting out with no particular affinity for one type of computer over another, he will be able to acquire the "best" tool for the job. The question is, what is the best tool? Would anyone care to recommend a system, including: - software - microcomputer - operating system - monitor - keyboard This will be a stand-alone system. All advice, comparisons, price estimates, evaluations and recommenda- tions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Kathy Isaacson - Lawrence University Appleton WI USA - ISAACSOK@LAWRENCE.BITNET From: koontz@alpha.bldr.nist.gov Subject: Translation Software (specifically, Glossing Software) Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 13:09:00 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1223 (2597) The two preeminent PC programs for working texts that are or are to be glossed interlinearly are the Summer Institute of Linguistics's software programs: IT [Interlinear Text], $60.00 IT is specifically aimed at working with interlinear glossing, and has facilities for multi-level glossing and inserting and extracting dictionaries. IT supports an interactive glossing process in which the program automatically inserts the gloss, if it has one on record, or prompts for the gloss otherwise. It is possible to correct glosses after the fact, or to provide alternative glosses for particular source tokens. In the latter case IT prompts for the gloss to use. The dictionary is updated as glossing proceeds. One can prime the dictionary or start with nothing. Shoebox, $13.75 Shoebox is a program to support maintenance of slip or card files. These are traditionally kept in shoeboxes or pasteboard boxes, hence the name. In essence it is a textbase system that supports records with fields that are not fixed in length. The selection of fields, other than the key field, is also not fixed. Shoebox has some "limited" (compared to IT) facilities for doing interlinear glossing. Although Shoebox is intended to be used with linguistic fieldnotes, you could presumably keep any kind of information in it that you wanted to. For linguists this package definitely gives commercial packages like AskSAM or Notebook II a run for the money. The price is right, too. Address, from memory: Summer Institute of Linguistics International Academic Bookstore 7500 Camp Wisdom Road Dallas, TX [zip?] You might be able to get this address out of Books in Print. [Or I can supply it later.] From: Robin Smith <RSMITH@KSUVM> Subject: Gort and the Sovereign Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 06:20 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2086 (2598) Since we've decided to talk about 'The Day the Earth Stood Still,' I'll offer my two cents' worth. For years, I have used the film (at least, its plot) as an illustration, for undergraduates, of the nature of Hobbes's theory of the state. Gort and his ilk play the role of the Sovereign: the compact defining the society is 'obey the rules or be incinerated.' Like Hobbes's Sovereign, Gort isn't a party to the contract, but simply its enforcer. And by the way, Willard, what she actually had to say to Gort was 'Klatu Barada Nikto' (one might differ about orthography here, I suppose). From: Robert Kirsner (213) 825-3955 <IDT1RSK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> (Department of Subject: She's right! Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 17:29:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2087 (2599) Colleague Higley is absolute correct in chiding me for having forgotten BLADERUNNER. (I feel embarassed because I recommend the novel as a parable of the University.) But even this expansion still leaves the fraction of "genuine" science fiction films relatively small: The Day the Earth Stood Still, 2001, Bladerunner. I'm still not sure what to do with It Came From Outer Space (screenplay by Ray Bradbury). From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Cyperhorrors Date: 27 March 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2088 (2600) Much as I also like to talk about my favourite movies, I'm lamenting the fact that my badly remembered quotation from The Day the Earth Stood Still was what set off discussion rather than my question about semi-autonomous cyber-slaves who turn out to be cyber-tyrants. Getting paranoid about computers is easy enough, since anything that much like us has to be pretty scary, and the heavy approval for politically coloured academic paranoia makes it a growth industry, to be sure. My interest in all this originates from a fascination with the story of Daedalus, the prototypical gadgeteer, and the strong element of catoptric imagination in that myth. Now, we find ourselves beset by our own echoing chatter (a.k.a. "information overload"), so we decide to build a perfect servant who will take an exact description of what we want to receive (i.e. our self-definition) and tirelessly, noiselessly filter the input from our electronic organs of perception. Let me ask again: (a) am I coming even close to what's afoot in the development of information processing systems? (b) do these developments interest anyone else? and (c) has anyone got a better idea of how to solve the problem? indeed, does anyone understand what the real problem is? Yours, Willard McCarty From: dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca Subject: Images of love Date: 26 Mar 90 21:40 -0330 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2089 (2601) Further to Marian Sperberg-McQueen's suggestion, I might add that Gilles Corrozet's Hecatomgraphie provides a number of most interesting visual images of love in addition to an abundantly misogynistic frame of reference. One of the most interesting (in my opinion) is number 15, "Cruault'e d'amour", which depicts a man with flames shooting from various parts of his anatomy... Such are the torments of love, for Corrozet. David Graham dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca From: "Leslie Z. Morgan" <MORGAN@LOYVAX> Subject: RE: 3.1210 images of love (57) Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 07:10:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2090 (2602) re the "Images of Love", esp. as a sickness. There was an amusing little article in *The Psychoanalytic Review* 52 (1965): 19-29, entitled, "Courtly Love: Neurosis as Institution" by Melvin W. Askew. Saluti al professor Ciavolella! Leslie Morgan Asst. Prof. of Italian Loyola College in Maryland Morgan@loyvax From: PETERR@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: Date: Tue, 27 MAR 90 10:43:02 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1226 (2603) [The following announcements are from Peter Robinson (Oxford), who is about to join Humanist. --W.M.] 1. CTI Centre for Literature and Linguistic Studies With a grant of #84,000 from the Computers in Teaching Initiative Follow-up scheme, this Centre has now been established within the Computing Service. The centre is also supported by the IBM United Kingdom Trust by the donation of a PS/2 Model 80 computer with a laserprinter, scanner and associated desktop-publishing software. Dr Marilyn Deegan began work as the Centre's Research Officer on 1 October 1989. Susan Hockey is the Centre's Director. The centre will promote and support the use of computers in teaching literature and linguistic studies in all British universities. The Centre is producing a newsletter and software guide and will be reviewing software and other resources. The facilities of the Centre are of course available to all members of Oxford University and a leaflet describing the Centre is available from Reception. The Centre's electronic mail address is CTILIT@OX.VAX and the telephone number is (2)73221. 2. Computers and manuscripts project The Leverhulme Trust has awarded a grant of #72,400 for a project on computers and large manuscript traditions. The grant is employing Peter Robinson for three years to develop software for the collation of large numbers of manuscripts and to explore techniques for discovering relationships between the manuscripts. The project will build on work which Peter did for his thesis in Old Norse, extending and generalising the techniques which were used there. The software will be developed for the Macintosh computer and will be tested on at least three manuscript traditions in different languages. From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1215 scanning and e-texts (204) Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 03:03:30 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1227 (2604) re: the cost of preparing the OED in machine readable form. One MUST be aware that this project was carried out my hand, i.e. every word and abbr. was typed in by hand, proofreaders probably went over the entire work more than several times & who knows if spell-checkers were used to catch the blatanter (@) errors. The cost to doing that project today would be a fraction of what it was then (I believe it originated in '75 several years after we started a similar project which had a somewhat informal support, non-financial, at the university) Modern scanners, boast of capabilities which would make this job even another few orders of magnitude less expesive, that is, if you believe what you read. Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**) (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET) From: KLCOPE@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: JANET, EARN, Oxford, The UK, Electronic Gateways Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 8:56 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1228 (2605) Once again Natlie Maynor makes some useful points about the passing from one e-mail network to another. The node here at Oxford is indeed part of JANET, but it is ALSO part of EARN! What do I mean? Messages coming to Oxford from other networks first pass through a place (or concept?) called EARN-RELAY. Then they are piped into the JANET network via the supercomputer at Rutherford. Consequently, incoming messages must conform to two sets of protocols as well as be acceptable to the Oxford VAX computer. Natalie's node at MSSTATE seems to have one of the most intelligent mailers in the world (or perhaps it's Natalie who is intelligent), as it was the only system able to reach me before I found my way through the above described electronic labyrinth. So, once again, we find this is a complex issue! But let's applaud MSSTATE (Mississippi State University) for its excellence in trans-network programming. From: koontz@alpha.bldr.nist.gov Subject: Re: Icon for MS-DOS Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 15:03:29 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2091 (2606) I was able to download Icon via ftp by connecting to cs.arizona.edu, setting binary mode, changing directories to icon/v7.5, and getting version7.doc, dos_e_1.arc, dos_e_2.arc, and bench.arc. I haven't run anything yet. From: Richard Goerwitz <goer@sophist.uchicago.edu> Subject: Icon, Snobol, BASIC, C, Pascal -> opinionated statements Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 22:41:01 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2092 (2607) Bob Kraft asks: [deleted quotation] If you are running a fairly standard architecture machine with a 32-bit CPU running Unix you can get all kinds of GNU soft- ware. I have a 80386-based no-name clone running SCO Xenix and the Microsoft 5.1 C compiler. I find that the GNU compiler out- performs it by a small but significant margin, so I use it. The trouble is that you have to have _some_ sort of C compiler up already before you can "bootstrap" a copy of GNU. Most Unix boxes have compilers installed, so this is no big deal. GNU software is generally pretty nice stuff, especially considering that it is free. I've replaced my native Xenix prepocessor, make command, and many, many system utilities with GNU equivalents. In- cidentally, GNU stands for GNU's not Unix. GNU software is put out by the Free Software Foundation (i.e. Richard Stallman and cohorts at MIT and elsewhere). Eric Johnson writes: [deleted quotation] Let me cast a vote in favor of Icon, rather than Snobol4. Icon is the successor to Snobol. Snobol5 was under development when its creators realized that they could generalize the concept of goal-directed evalu- ation to the entire programming language, and not limit it to the string scanning sublanguage. They abandoned Snobol, and created Icon. Icon improves upon Snobol in many ways, among them that (in addition to its more consistent treatment of backtracking and evaluation) it possesses a procedural orientation, and provides built-in data structures of the sort that those versed in, say, C and Pascal are accustomed to (though usually with a subtle, and extremely useful twist). Those raised on modern, procedural languages like these will doubtless find Icon much more easy to learn, debug, and maintain. The main problem I've seen with Icon is that it is a bit more low-level than Snobol4. It was designed, from the ground up, to be a general- purpose programming language without the same repertoire of builtin pattern matchers, etc. Snobol programmers tend to become frustrated when they learn Icon, mainly because they can't immediately do in Icon what they have been accustomed to doing in Snobol. They have to learn how to use the Icon library, and they have to learn essentially how string scanning "really works." The familiar ARB, for instance, can be coded as an Icon procedure very easily. It takes just three lines of code, two of which are the frame of the procedure declaration: procedure Arb() suspend &subject[.&pos:&pos <- &pos to *&subject+1] end The process is trivial to an experienced Icon hand, but it takes know- ing a lot about backtracking and scanning, as well as fine points such as when to dereference variables (.&pos). I like Icon because I can create _ad hoc_ all kinds of pattern matchers that Snobol has never heard of. It's easy and fast. It takes some time to master, though. This is, as I noted above, a problem for those migrating from Snobol, since they want access right away to their familiar (and VERY useful) builtin patterns. In sum: Though Icon is lower-level than Snobol, it is more general- purpose. It also has structures, scoping conventions, etc., that are more like what we find in popular languages like C and Pascal. Finally, Icon is easy to maintain and debug, not only because of its internal elegance and consistency, but also because of its modern, procedural orientation. It's a nice language, and what's more its essentially free, and is implemented reliably on a great variety of platforms. Any Icon program can be run, with only very minor adjustments, on any plat- form possessing an implementation. No "porting" nightmares. For Hu- manists, I'd think these advantages to be quite decisive, especially given their need for a smooth, elegant string processing language which does not require the programmer to think about nasty things like memory allocation. JBOWYER@UNOMA1 writes: [deleted quotation] This goes almost without saying. BASIC, while available for many, many platforms, does not encourage modular program design, and leaves the programmer with all kinds of problems due to the lack of any standard ways of scoping variables. True, some vendors supply Pascal-like BASICs, but then why not just use Pascal? Besides, a procedurally-oriented BASIC is, by definition, nonportable. Bad way to start. He continues: [deleted quotation] I must disagree on several counts here, though I agree on several others. In my humble opinion, Icon doesn't need "support." If you like it, use it. Implementations are solid. They are available for all the more popular micros, and many, many mid-size machines (including nearly any- thing that claims to run Unix). Icon frees the user of concerns relating to storage, explicit typing, and various other matters that are the constant concern of Pascal, and more so, C programmers. Really, C is hardly more than a portable assembler with some nice libraries attached. Both Pascal and C suffer from a lack of extensive string processing facilities like what Icon and Snobol have. Vendors often add these facilities (which are never as good as the ones in Snobol or Icon), but these are, by definition, non-portable. Unless you want to get socked into a particular vendor, and a specific machine architecture or operating system, I'd think it would be better to do things involving language, symbols, etc. in Icon. This is especially true for Humanists, who do not normally concern themselves with garbage like putting nulls at the end of strings, malloc'ing storage space, freeing the malloc'd space, etc. Those who want to learn Icon, incidentally, can grab the book by Alan Corre (who is a member of this list): Alan D. Corre, _Icon Programming for Humanists_ (Robin Cover mentioned the same book in a previous posting, but I though it worth mentioning here in this context as well.) This is not to say that C is "bad for Humanists." It's just a bit unneces- sary in most cases. Were I a teacher, I'm sure I would feel the same as Alan Humm, who said in a recent posting: ...I would not teach introductory programming in 'C.' 'C' is intended as a programming language for programmers and it is incidentally my main programming language right now, but it is but it is difficult to read and encourages programs that are difficult to read. What it provides is an enormous amount of flexibility and control to the programmer -- not, I would argue, what you want to give to beginning programmers. Alan (should I use prefixes here?) goes on to state that Pascal is probably the best alternative, and that BASIC just does not encourage good, clean, modular, maintainable programming style. Most of what he says also applies to Icon. Pascal and Icon are both probably good places to start. Again, though, note that portable Pascal pro- grams are, by definition, not going to include those nice string-handling additions that Humanists will typically need access to. Although I've been programming far more in C lately, I'd still cast my ballot for Icon. -Richard L. Goerwitz goer%sophist@uchicago.bitnet goer@sophist.uchicago.edu rutgers!oddjob!gide!sophist!goer From: "Guy L. Pace" <PACE@WSUVM1> Subject: Languages, BASIC, Pascal Date: Wed, 28 Mar 90 10:32:34 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2093 (2608) I'm getting behind again, but I need to get in my few cents worth on languages for Humanists and others. I use Turbo Pascal Pro (with the assembler and debugger) 5.5 and am having a great time learning to use objects. I finally got an assembler with this package and I am testing the assembly language waters on the IBM platform. I used assembly language on Z80's a long time ago. Pascal and I go back several years to when I got my first copy of Turbo Pascal for the old CP/M computer. My feeling today is that there is no more flexible, powerful and useful language available for almost any purpose than Turbo Pascal. The extentions added to Pascal by Borland (hang the ANSI standard!) provide the Pascal programmer with the low-level handles of C, the simplicity and directness of BASIC statements, and a solid, elegant structure. Most of the work I've done in Pascal has been in the area of database systems, both small and large. With its strengths, Turbo Pascal is probably the best language for entry level and advanced programmers in the Humanities. One of the best tutorial programming books available for Turbo Pascal is the one by Jeff Duntemann ... the darned thing is at home and I can't remember the title. Got it ... _Complete Turbo Pascal_ (Third Ed, I think). From: <OAKMAN_D1@PLU> Subject: BASIC etc. Date: Wed, 28 Mar 90 12:12 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2094 (2609) All right, I've finally been provoked! After about a year and a half as one of the "silent Humanists," I've finally decided to contribute to a discussion. My point about programming languages is going to be simple: If it works, who cares if it is "spaghetti code"? Some programming tasks do not require elegant code. BASIC or Icon may be just the languages for certain relatively simple programming tasks. If you do contemplate a major programming project (big program) or a task that requires speed, then you will need to implement well-structured code and adopt 'C' or even assembly language. To some extent the task will dictate the language of choice. Structured programs are much more easily debugged and maintained. Some programming tasks, however, may much more profitably be executed in BASIC. I have a BASIC grading program, for example, that would have taken much more time to program in Pascal and would not have worked any better. My advice is, learn to program in several languages. Then you can select the tool appropriate to the nature of the programming task. Happy programming. From: Mikeal Parsons <PARSONSM@BAYLOR.BITNET> Subject: TEI Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 21:40 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2095 (2610) A quick query: Is the Text Encoding Initiative located in Oxford and/or does it receive institutional support from Oxford University? I need this info quickly to complete a review now overdue. Thanks in advance. Mikeal Parsons PARSONSM@BAYLOR From: Germaine Warkentin <WARKENT@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: E-Mail to British Library Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 08:39:24 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2096 (2611) Does anyone know if the British Library, or personnel at the British Library are accessible by e-mail? If so, is there a single address to which e-mail can be sent _en clair_, or is there some source for the e-mail addresses of individuals? Thanks for any help! Germaine Warkentin (Warkent@utorepas). From: <ltreade@UTS.AM.CC.READING.AC.UK> Subject: Date: Wed, 28 Mar 90 15:13:39 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2097 (2612) having recently met two people in need of help, i thought that humanist was more than likely the place to come for a sensible answer 1) - despite the number of software packages around for word-processing arabic on both the mac and in a dos environment *none* of them seem to be able to handle four levels of accents (two above the characte r and two below) the situation is compounded by the fact that *none* that i have found are able to provide spell checking, footnotes, indexing etc - all of which we are more than used to with latin script based text software. can anybody prove me wrong 2) - a colleague who is about to submit his phd and then return to his native brazil has so far been unable to locate brazilian research(ers) of either a structuralist/dissectionist flavour or of a production/transformationist flavour!! can anybody help. this fellow will find your particularly helpful once he returns to the relatively closed environment of working amongst brazilian academia (his words not mine!) many thanks From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2098 (2613) DATE: 28 MAR 90 12:04 CET FROM: A400101@DM0LRZ01 SUBJECT: Scanning, e-texts, etc. A few thoughts on scanning and e-texts: 1. I think recopying is more of a problem than it's been made out to be. Even if you assume simple forms of storage like sequential files with markup, you're still going to have shift enormous numbers of bytes around every few years, and verify that they have been shifted properly. And that's assuming that people in the 2020s are still going to be happy with (and be able to use!) the retrieval mechanisms of the 1990s. A case in point: apparently the geophysical satellite data of the 1960s and 1970s has not only hardly been evaluated, it is also now mainly stored on mag. tapes in formats only partly known and possibly no longer readable - even assuming that mag. tape (or other forms of storage) remains readable indefinitely without being freshened up in some way. So far, only books are known to have this property (even here, with a few reservations.) 2. Preserving publisher's e-texts is also non-trivial (I've been doing it for our editions here for about a year now). Even if your typesetter uses an internal 8-bit coding with markup, you've still got to translate back to ASCII and decide what to strip out and what to leave as markup. And this is the easy end; try translating output files from TROFF mark I back to ASCII, for example! Moreover, many typesetters can only cope with small bite- sized pieces, so that a 400 page book consists of perhaps 200 8-10K files which have to be stuck together again. All this means man-power and checking. And you can't necessarily get round this by preserving the text as sent to the typesetter (marked up with TROFF/TEX/SGML or whatever), because what the typesetter makes of it (including page and line breaks) is part of the final information as used by readers of the printed book!. I don't mean to argue that we shouldn't be preserving; of course we should, but it doesn't come for free either, if it's to be useful. 3. The correspondent (the HUMANIST correspondence is being printed out at the moment and I don't have his name) who said that an e-text must include _everything_ significant about the original is I think mistaken in theory as well as in practice. An e-text is a kind of edition; and an edition is not and cannot be reality. It's a selective representation of reality, emphasizing what is important (determined by the collective subjectivity of the academics working at the time). Sure, that changes - but there's no point in trying to cater for everything. Leave it to the users of the edition or of the e-text to put in the extras, and concentrate on getting the text pretty well right (though I agree that plates, diagrams, and all the rest present hideous problems which I'm damn glad I don't myself even have to think about coping with). Timothy Reuter, Monumenta Germaniae Historica From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: Grass-roots text-entry and scanning Date: 28 March 1990, 10:40:58 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2099 (2614) I agree fully with the point that original entry and then stages of correction of electronic texts should be carefully documented. The electronic equivalent of a fill-in-the-blanks form should be sent to anyone entering text, say, for the Oxford Text Archive, on which the text-entry person or encoder should be asked to give edition, state, even individual shelf-copy he or she is using as copy-text. The reviser should be asked to name his or her copy-text as well, the date the corrections are made, and probably the revisor should be required to list each correction in turn, as they were made, as well as making them silently within the text. Any suggestions for this list of instructions? I would join Michael Hart in believing in the grass-roots entry of text (sometimes the best labor is free labor). People who love a text, as in *Farenheit 451*, would make it their own by copying it for posterity. Just using the labor force we have on Humanist to produce the favorit text of each subscriber might give a good start on the Library of Congress, or at least a Great Books series! Cheers, Roy Flannagan From: Natalie Maynor <MAYNOR@MSSTATE> Subject: Re: 3.1228 JANET and EARN, etc. (26) Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 23:50:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1232 (2615) Kevin: It's not my intelligence that gets mail through from here. It gets through thanks to the *excellent* bitnet postmasters in our Computing Center (Mike Rackley and Frank Peters). Your praise of the Mississippi State University Computing Center is well deserved. One thing that is especially interesting about our system is that the software to run Bitnet is home-made -- because of our weird mainframe. Every time I curse a nearby node famous for being down or clogged most of the time (won't name names here), I also chuckle about the fact that our home-made software is plugging along reliably while their commercial software can't manage to stay up for more than a few hours at a time. I say "our" because I'm a user of Bitnet here, not because I have any connection with the Computing Center. I'm a computer novice in the English Department. Natalie From: <KANSKI@CWRU> Subject: scheme Date: Wed, 28 Mar 90 21:15 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2100 (2616) [The following has been forwarded from a non-Humanist. --W.M.] Tell them SCHEME is the only way to go. The language you use (including English) structures the way you think about and deal with concepts. Some languages are better for some concepts (hence lambda calculus in math). Scheme (and the Red MIT book) are (teach) a better way of thinking about problems. Once you've thought about things in a scheme manner, you'll be changed (for the better) for life. cjs p.s. forward this note to your humanist friends. From: edwards%cogsci.Berkeley.EDU@lilac.berkeley.edu (Jane Edwards) Subject: Turbo PASCAL and string manipulation Date: Thu, 29 Mar 90 01:13:54 -0800 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2101 (2617) I was puzzled by two aspects of Richard Goerwitz' posting concerning PASCAL's string-handling facilities: (1) that PASCAL presumably lacks extensive string handling facilities EXCEPT when (2) they are added locally in which case they are non-portable: [deleted quotation] In contrast, I was very favorably impressed by Turbo Pascal's string handling capabilities, which certainly seem extensive enough, and Turbo Pascal is certainly very portable. I must assume that Richard was thinking of a different or less portable version of Pascal that Turbo Pascal. -Jane From: John Baima <D024JKB@UTARLG> Subject: Learning to program Date: Thu, 29 Mar 90 08:28 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2102 (2618) I have taught a beginning programming class at a college and I really think that BASIC as the primary language of an introductory class is appalling. Not because there are not useful languages that call themselves BASIC (BASIC probably being the least well defined language). I think that the various languages should be evaluated on their ability to teach the crucial concepts of programming and this is a wholly different set of concerns than what makes a good production environment for either a competent hobbyist or professional. My two language choices for an introductory class in programming for HUMANISTS would be Pascal or Smalltalk. Pascal was designed as a teaching tool and I do not think it has been surpassed as a tool for teaching traditional procedural languages. It is clear and simple yet has important features that are not in languages such as BASIC or C (e.g., enumerated ordinal types). C would be about my last choice for learning programming. The very attributes of C that make it a favorite of professional systems programmers are the very things that condemn it as an introductory course, in my opinion. BASIC, I think, is also a rather poor choice for an introductory class in the art of programming. One of the magazines mentioned in the HUMANIST message supporting BASIC once had a contest to see who could write the most useful 4 line program in BASIC. That was supposed to demonstrate to the world that BASIC was a superior language. I thought the contest proved the opposite. BASIC also lacks pointers which is an important feature in many languages. While ICON has many powerful commands, and one of my colleagues here likes it a lot, I think that it is very unsuitable for *learning* how to program. ICON does not have operator overloading for even simple operators like "+" which means that every combination of every data type needs a different operator to add two things together. The last time I looked, Icon had almost 30 assignment operators. What a mess for the beginner! I think that Smalltalk should also be given serious consideration because in programming, the 90's will be the decade of the Object. I firmly believe in an "Object Oriented" future for programming and Smalltalk is a brilliant, pure object oriented language. By "pure" I mean that *everything* in Smalltalk is a first class object. While experienced programmers usually have a difficult time learning Smalltalk because it is totally different than traditional languages I have been told that beginners to not experience the same shock. I would chose Digitalk's Smalltalk/V over ParcPlace's Smalltalk-80, although I consider Smalltalk-80 to be clearly superior as a production language for professionals. Smalltalk/V is inexpensive and is available on both the Mac and PC's. Many University's have a University license for either/both Smalltalks. If one learns the ideas of programing well, learning languages such as Icon or even BASIC is trivial. If someone learns just how to solve certain text processing problems and does not understand programming well, their ability to extend the scope of their programming will be limited. While it is certainly possible to teach both in a class, I am dismayed at the thought of innocent students learning to program in BASIC. I must also make a comment about something that was posted yesterday, "If you do contemplate a major programming project (big program) or a task that requires speed, then you will need to implement well-structured code and adopt 'C' or even assembly language." The fallacy is that C produces fast code. While it is true that many C *implementations* produce fast code, it is not C that makes it fast. In fact, most C compilers have implemented a "Pascal" option for subroutine calling conventions because the Pascal scheme is faster. The MetaWare Pascal and the TopSpeed Modula-2 are both examples of excellent compilers that generally produce code that is better than most C compilers, including Microsoft's. Nicolas Wirth, one of my heros, has argued that it is necessary to learn all of a language before one can program effectively. I agree with that and I think that it is much easier to learn all of Pascal and come to a good understanding of programming with Pascal than just about any other language. Once you understand programming you can of course use any language that fits your fancy and the job at hand. Finally, I do not think that these discussions about languages is pointless. Rather, I think that they can provide interesting information about what is being used any why. All of us who are interested in programming can learn something. The rest haven't read this far anyway! John Baima john@utafll.lonestar.org From: Stephen Clausing <SCLAUS@YALEVM> Subject: programming languages Date: Thu, 29 Mar 90 15:02:52 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2103 (2619) As a German teacher who has also taught Computer Science in a CS department, I feel I have a right to add to this discussion. I have learned at various times and to various degrees Basic, Pascal, Snobol4 and Lisp. I have taught and use Pascal. I doubt that there is a single CS dept. in the country that teaches Basic to its students (Ok, maybe Dartmouth does, but that's special). Aside from the fact that most forms of Basic are really too basic to be of value, the language simply is not a common programming flatform in commercial or scientific applications. Snobol4 was an ingenious language in many respects, but it never really caught on. The Icon language sounds like an improvement (I have never used it), but we are still dealing with a fairly obscure language. Lisp is well-known for its AI potential (along with Prolog) but I do not recommend it as a beginning language. By contrast, nearly all CS students learn Pascal and C. These are both excellent languages, though I find Pascal more user-friendly. Conclusion: learn Pascal. From: GA0708@SIUCVMB Subject: Skipping generations Date: Wed, 28 Mar 90 15:50:55 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2104 (2620) I am trying to gather information about myths, stories, etc. that involve skipping generations. For example, a curse, a blessing, an attribute that is passed on but skips a generation. While I'm asking, can anyone tell me anything about such a phenomenon in genetics (scientific or folk)? Isn't male baldness such an instance? Any leads would be appreciated. Herb Donow From: LAPLANTE@UMTLVR.BITNET Subject: Basic tools on a mainframe Date: Wed, 28 Mar 90 23:31 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2105 (2621) For reasons that it would be too long to expose, I will soon be in the quite incomfortable position of giving advice on the purchase of compilers and software to be implemented on a Unix based mainframe for future use, by other people, for large text data base management, content analysis and possibly artificial intelligence even though I am totally ignorant in those matters. Could someone give me some advice or reference in order to be able to suggest decent choices? For what I can understand, the idea would be to offer some basic and general tools in those areas. Any help would be appreciated. Benoit Laplante Departement de sociologie Universite de Montreal LAPLANTE@CC.Umontreal.CA LAPLANTE@UMTLVR.BITNET From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Query (again!) Date: Thu, 29 Mar 90 07:39:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2106 (2622) May I repeat an earlier request on behalf of a colleague, since I received no response last time (must be *very* obscure!) He's looking for a poem which he thinks might be called something like "The Toy Lion", which ends with the line "a wooden Christ upon a wooden cross". Thanks, Douglas de Lacey <DEL2@PHX.CAM.AC.UK> From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@UMTLVR.BITNET> Subject: Hebrew or Indian early concordances. Date: Thu, 29 Mar 90 14:48 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2107 (2623) As I am trying to trace the earliest concordances and indexes ever published or compiled, I was wondering whether any Humanist had information concerning the Indian and Hebrew traditions which might have yielded such intellectual research tools as those just mentioned. Is the use of concordance quite frequent in these traditions and what is the date of the earliest concordance compiled? Based on which text(s)? In the western tradition the first one mentioned in several scholarly articles is dating back to 1239. Thanks in advance. Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal E-mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1231 scanning and e-texts (86) Date: Thu, 29 Mar 90 12:45:42 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2108 (2624) The comments about lost satellite data are inappropriate as follows: 1. They were stored on mainframes, which were few in number and remarkably arbitrary in both operating systems and hardware, not being made to be portable to other machines. However it was easy(?) to update tape formats simply by sending tape to another machine which then stored it in the appropriate tape or disk format. This trick is also extremely useful for the modern day user, who can upload an e-text from one format to a system and then download it to the new system, tape & disk formats are thus taken care of automatically. The satellite records were stored in arcane methodologies no modern micro operator would consider, plus the problem of an entire type of computer and its media becoming obsolete in a span of a few years is no longer a reality, short of WWIV as the proliferation of DOS alone is enough to assure reading a text prepared on DOS disks can be read years from now. This is also one of the reason Project Gutenberg insists ALL text be made available as straight ASCII files with no encoding - in addition to encouraging all methods of encoding and their various (in)compatibilities with available search strategies in use by various people and institutions. 2. Modern etexts are in the hands of the public, not in right - left hand of the government, which knoweth not what the hand on the other arm doeth. However a private individual copies a file, that person knows how to get it back-did I say that. Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**) (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET) From: "Robin C. Cover" <ZRCC1001@SMUVM1> Subject: SCANNING AND E-TEXTS: COSTS Date: Wed, 28 Mar 90 13:00:30 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2109 (2625) SCANNING AND E-TEXTS: COST ESTIMATES I do not think the cost estimate given by Bob Amsler for scanning (or otherwise digitizing) a book is high, given the very UN-intelligent scanning software available today. Based upon our costs of data preparation for several volumes used in a CDROM hypertext project (using Kurzweil 4000 scanner and student proofreading teams), I would put the average closer to $16,000 per volume. These were reference books, which may be more demanding than novels. The actual cost of data preparation -- at least in our project -- depends upon many factors, but the most important are (a) the amount of markup you want and (b) the level of accuracy required. Of course, the feasibility of scanning itself, as opposed to keypunching, varies greatly as a function of the document features (e.g., the languages, graphics, print quality.) A few further details are given below for anyone who is interested. Digitizing (scanning, proof-reading) and tagging a 900-page Greek-English lexicon cost us about $30,000. (The specific book is the English 2nd edition of Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich-Danker' <cit>Greek-English Lexicon</>). Part of this high cost was due to strict quality-assurance demanded by the University of Chicago Press: they wanted to see "no errors" in the text, so we had to proof-read it an extra time. Most of the generic data-correction facilities, including spell-checkers, were useless for this multi-lingual text (contains Hebrew and Aramaic in addition to Greek). But markup was also a large part of the cost: if we want to do indexing and retrieval, having a text marked with typographic codes (necessary for display, in traditional applications environments) is of little benefit. So we had to do structural markup, lemma reconciliation with two other Greek lexicons and two Greek morphology databases, etc. This is why I say that markup is potentially the most significant variable in the price equation when we talk about producing e-texts. Just as one should not casually accept an estimate for an SGML DTD, one should not accept an estimate for "digitizing" a book without specifying all details of markup. Data preparation for other books such as bible commentaries and bible dictionaries cost somewhat less ($12,000 - $18,000), depending upon various factors of typography and linking. In the few cases where we were lucky enough to get typesetting tapes, the data preparation was significantly less -- but still not trivial. Typographic codes are typically underspecified for text-retrieval purposes. The moral of this story, as already noted by a previous contributor to this discussion, is easily grasped: so long as we submit our written intellectual creations to publishing processes which corrupt the data for information retrieval, we will pay a high price to "get the information back" in an intelligent format. SGML editors and text-processing systems are now becoming more widely available. But for regaining the intellectual creations of our written/printed past, scanning software (like operating systems, structured-document editors, and authoring systems) needs to develop a concept of what "language" is to a text, and the fundamental (heuristic) notion that texts are not composed of senseless strings of characters. Intelligent scanning needs to be more than "character-recognition" software, even if characters are important atomic units in many languages: it should be possible to tell the data preparation software details about the document structure, languages, literary genre (etc.) so that these hints are used in the creation of an e-text. This may never happen so long as "Stealth Bombers" (apud D. Durand) are more important to us than knowledge in the books of the Library of Congress. Robin Cover 3909 Swiss Avenue Dallas, TX 75204 AT&T: (214) 296-1783/841-3657 FAX: 214-841-3540 BITNET: zrcc1001@smuvm1 INTERNET: robin@txsil.lonestar.org INTERNET: robin@utafll.lonestar.org UUCP: texbell!txsil!robin From: Grace Logan - ACO <grace@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca> Subject: noed Date: Wed, 28 Mar 90 15:32:45 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2110 (2626) Did I misunderstand M. Hart's posting or did he say that the NOED was put in electronic form starting in 1975. It really did start much later (only began to be talked about in 1984). If I didn't get it right, I'm sorry. But it should be clear that it's a more recent project (and hence the technology used wouldn't have been all that outdated).. Scanning was considered by the way, and found not suitable for the purpose for a variety of reasons. cheers, glo From: <YOUNGC@CLARGRAD> Subject: Alpha Centauri Date: Wed, 28 Mar 90 16:41 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2111 (2627) HUMANISTS drooling at the prospect of having the Library of Congress online should know of the work of the Commission on Preservation and Access. The Commission estimates that there are some 305 million volumes in the nation's research libraries, of which some 25%, or 78 million, are brittle or turning to dust, thanks to acid paper. Of these, some 68 million are thought to be duplicates. The Commission's charge is to save in some form or other as many as possible of these books before they are gone in the next 20 years or so. The Commission believes that in the best case only some 3 million of 10 million non-duplicates can be saved, and to achieve even this, 20 institutions will need to microfilm (there are reasons for this choice) 7500 volumes a year for 1000. Costs are estimated at $60 per book or $180M for the whole project; there's reason to think the federal government will come up with that much. The Commission has set up task forces in various disciplines to decide what gets saved and what goes. The point is that if we're not going to come up with the half billion or so it would take to save what we've got, we're not going to come up with the billions and billions it would take to put it all online. It's triage, folks, not Alpha Centauri. Best wishes, Charles M. Young Department of Philosophy Claremont Graduate School Member, American Philosophical Association Committee on Computer Use in Philosophy and its Subcommitee on Electronic Texts Member, Philosophy Task Force, Commission on Preservation and Access youngc@clargrad.bitnet From: DENNIS CINTRA LEITE <FGVSP@BRFAPESP> Subject: RE: 3.1231 scanning and e-texts (86) Date: Wed, 28 Mar 90 22:14:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2112 (2628) I think the idea that e-text has to preserve everything of the original text a bit of an exageration. No one (I think?) is suggesting that the originals should be destroyed (we are not ofter all in a Farenheit 451 world), just that an alternative media be available. Access to the alternative media say in cdrom, would allow researchers in far out corners of the world (ie. Brazil, where I am writing from) access to arcane bibli- ography. If one needs to look up the originals, obtain a grant and do it in the great repositories of such things (LOC and Co.). Hope my two bits worth from the third world proves usefull. Dennis From: The Man with the Plan <KEHANDLEY@AMHERST> Subject: converting typesetting data into usable stuff Date: Wed, 28 Mar 90 22:32 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2113 (2629) In response to someone who had typesetter's magnetic data, but no inkling of how to make that data useful, I suggest checking out the companies listed in BYTE Magazine (I'm looking at April, 1990) in the Buyer's Mart section (pp.620-21). Under the heading of "Data Conversion" there are two firms listed (although judging by the ads, I think only one might fit the purpose), and under "Data/Disk Conversion" eight firms listed. I have no data conversion experience with any of these companies, all my knowledge coming from these ads, you see. Good luck, and whatever you end up doing, tell us about it. Keith Handley User Services Associate Amherst College Academic Computer Center Kehandley@Amherst.BITNET From: CHAA006@VAX.RHBNC.AC.UK Subject: Re: E-mail to British Library Date: Thu, 29 Mar 90 07:13:12 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1236 (2630) Germaine Warkentin <WARKENT@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> asked: [deleted quotation] I've telephoned (!) the British Library, and they confirm they {\it do} have e-mail access, but were unable to supply any details :-) However, they've promised to call me back when they have further information. Philip Taylor Royal Holloway and Bedford New College -------- P.S. My thanks to all who responded to my queries re multi-lingual keyboards for PS/2's, and re. CD-ROM juke-boxes. Your help was much appreciated. From: Duane Harbin <DHARBIN@YALEVM> Subject: Cyberhorrors Date: Wed, 28 Mar 90 12:19:42 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2114 (2631) In response to Willard's concern about the development of hardware and software which will select, sort, and present electronic information: I'm afraid that information is a fragile thing. We are all painfully aware of the dangers inherent in committing communication to paper and other media. Orwell's _1984_ is only the best known work which identifies the fact that control of information amounts to control of truth. Electronic information is still more fragile. One of the premises for Gileadean society in _The Handmaid's Tale_, is that with the loss of paper money in favor of electronic records, it was possible to completely remove all economic power from huge segments of society overnight by controlling the machinery. Neither is intention necessary for the destruction of information. Eco's _Name of the Rose_ illustrates how much can be lost through accident, misfortune, ignorance ... And in each case it is less the medium which is at fault than the human beings who come into control of it. The only way I know of to truly safeguard recorded communication, information, or knowledge is to distribute copies of the record as widely as possible. I strongly oppose the notion of centralized databanks, or reliance on any one institution or location as the "place of record." Witness the tremendous loss when the Alexandrian Library was destroyed. For better or worse, printed books, because they are broadly distributed, are a fairly secure medium because it is difficult to destroy all of them everywhere. Electronic communications, if properly distributed as Humanist is, are probably also relatively secure, though I sincerely hope UTORONTO has off- site storage of backups of the Humanist archive. My point is in essence that it is not the media in which we record our communications, not even the tools we develop to manipulate the media, that represent a danger to the preservation of the information, it is we ourselves. In principle, it does not strike me as a bad thing to develop machines which can assist us in the sifting of information. It is already happening, probably of absolute necessity. However, it should not be one machine, sifting one source of information. It must be several, designed and programmed by many individuals for their own interests, sifting through a network of information which is widely distributed. Only thus is it possible to provide any reasonable safeguard against a tyranny of suppression and destruction. This is not to say that we should not examine carefully the tools which technology supplies, and try to forestall their abuse. However, we must clearly recognize that it is not the technology which is inherently the problem, it is the question of how we use the technology. Unfortunately, past and present experience indicates that virtually anything that can be abused will be abused somewhere, sometime, somehow, by somebody. The general response to that is to put control of potentially dangerous technology in the hands of a few. In the case of information and communication, I think a more effective response is to distribute the information as widely as humanly possible. Corporately, we are better guardians of truth than we are individually. Duane Harbin Information Services Librarian Yale University Divinity School Library 409 Prospect Street New Haven. CT 06511 USA (203) 432-5296 From: Brian Whittaker <BRIANW@YORKVM2> Subject: Date: Wed, 28 Mar 90 20:34:06 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2115 (2632) Subject: On the subject of language and values, I would recommend in the strongest possible terms the works of George Steiner, particularly the essays in _ Language and Silence _ , and his long book on translation, _ After Babel _ . In the former book, his discussion of the alienation of moral values through bureaucratic language deals with the progression from the Prussian civil service to the Nazi civil service ("final solution" is the famous example), but the North American reader can supply more recent examples ("pacification" = mass slaughter, "benign neglect" = attempt to halt civil rights advances... perhaps we could compile a list here on Humanist of the recent additions. Less impressive to me, but surrently more influential, are the writings of Jacques Derrida, including _ Of Grammatology _ . There is an interesting survey and analysis of Derrida's work by Christopher Norris, called _Derrida _, in the Fontana Modern Masters Series. One thing I do find interesting in Derrida is his critique of the destructive influence of anthropological and socio- linguistics on the curriculum in places where spoken language has come to be stressed at the expense of the study of written language, for example in second language instruction and in diminishing or even removing formal grammar from the curriculum in both second and first language instruction. Norris is particularly good on the relation- ship between Derrida's theoretical work and his concerns with the school curriculum in France. Brian Whittaker Atkinsons College, York University, Donsview,Ontario. From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: not lost in the shuffle to come Date: 29 March 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1238 (2633) Dear Colleagues: Humanist is due to move from Toronto to Brown University sometime between Passover, 10 April, and Easter, 15 April. The move should not affect the membership except that for a few days, perhaps, we may not be able to respond as quickly to your contributions as I have in the past. Please note in your calendars, however, that certainly after Easter all contributions should be sent to Humanist@Brownvm rather than to Humanist@UToronto. My continuing apologies to new members who have submitted their biographies in good faith, expecting them to be made available to everyone else. Because I have been unusually busy, I have not for some months been able to get to the editing job even a letter-perfect biography requires. Humanist's new editorial board will make a big and positive difference in this and many other ways. I have just been reading an interesting and witty essay, _Memo from Mercury: Information Technology IS Different_, by Gordon B. Thompson (June 1979), an engineer from Bell Northern Research. Quite different from schemes to turn artifically intelligent `agents' to the task of filtering our information, Thompson's idea is to construct a "serendipity machine" that by matching information browsing and mailing habits would introduce people to like-minded others and to sources of interest. The essay is, for this sort of thing, rather old and so somewhat quaint at the edges, but it is well worth reading if you can find it. It is Occasional Paper 10, Institute for Research on Public Policy, 3535 chemin Queen Mary, bureau 514, Montreal, Quebec H3V 1H8 Canada. Yours, Willard McCarty From: Eslinger@UNCAMULT.BITNET Subject: Hebrew or Indian early concordances Date: Fri, 30 Mar 90 14:09 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2116 (2634) The following & more on concordances of the Hebrew Bible may be found in Abraham Even-Shoshan's _A New Concordance of the Bible_ (Jerusalem: Kiryat Sefer, 1989), pp. VI-VIII: First Christian concordance of Vulgate: Antonius De Padua (1195-1231). 8th-9th c.: rabbinic grammarians compile word lists (cf. E. Levita, _Massoreth ha-Massoreth_ (ed. C.D. Ginsburg, repr. KTAV, New York, 1968). >First Christian concordance of Vulgate: Antonius De Padua (1195-1231).>8th-9th c.: rabbinic grammarians compile word lists (cf. E. Levita, >First Hebrew concordance (mid-15th c.) Isaac Nathan ben Kalonymus (working in S. France) (based on revisions of a Christian concordance traceable to the Dominican, Hugo de Sancto Caro (1244)). [deleted quotation]Nathan's work. >1561, Eliahu ben Asher haLevi began work on his concord.; 1st ed. finished in 1525. From: koontz@alpha.bldr.nist.gov (John E. Koontz) Subject: Basic tools on a mainframe Date: Fri, 30 Mar 90 11:44:33 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2117 (2635) [deleted quotation] 1. I suggest also posting the inquiry on USENET newsgroups comp.text and sci.lang. 2. Contact VERITY, 1550 Plymouth St., Mountain View, CA, USA 94043, 415-960-7600 or BIM, Kwikstraat 4, B-3078 Everberg, Belgium, (32) 2 759.59.25, for information on their TOPIC Full Text Search and Retrieval System. This does retrieval based on exact or fuzzy matches with patterns called "topics." It wouldn't do everything implied by Mr. Laplante's description, but it looks ike it would handle retrieval very nicely. I have no hands on experience with this software, but I have seen brochures. 3. Actually, most of the interesting text processing software I know about seems to be on PCs! All recommendations are my own, and do reflect the opinions or information of my employers. From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1225 images of love, cont. (46) Date: Thu, 29 Mar 90 21:17:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2118 (2636) VERYINTERESTING CONTEMPORARY APPROACH TO LOVE, FROM THE SOCIOPOLITICAL PERSPECTIVE IS: Franceso Alberoni's FALLING IN LOVE, published translation from the Ita lian, Random House 1983. Rather sensible and toughminded book. I reviewed it th en, but have forgotten what I said, although the (broadcast) reviewgot lots of letters and call-ins...the radio reviewer in Los Angeles at 9 am got people in their cars in traffic, with no hands free for jotting down the publishing detai ls. Kessler here. From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1237 cyberhorrors; language and values (119) Date: Fri, 30 Mar 90 14:47:44 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2119 (2637) re Duane Harbin <DHARBIN@YALEVM> The analogy to paper money being replace by electronic money is invalid: 1. Paper money, or even gold coins, can be refused as legal tender. In 1933 the US government invalidated all "goldback" currency, while replacing it with "greenbacks." The fact that the goldbacks were in existence did no good, as you could not spend them. In fact, arrest was possible for those, other than numismatists, who kep them. This act was paralleled by another which made it illegal for US citizens, other than jewelers or numisatists, to purchase or to keep gold. Of course, what happened, was that gold became scarce, and $100 bill in the goldback variety my grandfather traded in ~three~ ounces of gold to get, cannot buy back that gold today. In fact, a gold trader was able to buy gold for the standard $35 dollars/ounce (not US citizens as described above - at least not legally) before the devaluation of the dollar, and then sell for $750/ounce later. Thus $35 million in paper money could buy a rich person, with international connections, a million ounces of gold, and later, that gold could buy back the 35 million dollars in paper PLUS 20 MORE PILES OF A MILLION IN PAPER. This all just goes to show that we are little more advanced, stictly economically, that the indians who sold Manhanttan Island for $24 in beads and trinkets; because your average space-faring stranger might wander in with a few beads and trinkets of his/her own, such as gold asteroids, and buy up whatever they wanted, payable in our currency, which would be nothing more than beads and trinkets, of shiny stuff, such as precious metals and gems. The Japanese have proved the US a great market in which to buy with their tons of cash; would it be so different if one of Klatuu's interstellar acquaintances, of a lesser moral fibre, might hire the Japanese or OPEC to buy up whatever they wanted, payable in gold or platinum beads and gem quality trinkets?? Michael S. Hart From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 2.1224 Sci-fi and cyber-worries (78) Date: Thu, 29 Mar 90 21:14:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2120 (2638) wouldnt INVASION OF THE BODYSNATCHERS DO? FANTASY PARANOIAK SUITABLE FOR OUR AG E OF PARANOIA, AS METAPHOR OF COURSE, POSSESSION BY THE OTHER WHO DUPLICATES OU RSELVES, NOT SO FAR FROM COPYING AND FORWARDING E-MAIL? KESSLER From: Steve Dill <UGA108@SDNET> Subject: Network Secretaries Date: Fri, 30 Mar 90 08:14:46 CDT (1 lines) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2121 (2639) It seems that more and more of the e-mail I receive is transmitted by someone for someone ELSE who can't, won't, or just doesn't use the computer. I am frequently asked to relay messages to my discussion groups and I do it willingly, but I also have to find a way to relay the answer and take care of any questions or other features of the exchange. Therefore, I recommend a push to introduce users to networks and to encourage others to use them. To quote Laubach "each one teach one." Membership in discussion groups would grow and we would all have time to do our own work. Cheers, Steve Dill (UGA|08 @ SDNET.BITNET) From: "Daniel Updegrove" <updegrove%a1.relay@upenn.edu> Subject: Book Review Date: Thu, 29 Mar 90 09:52:01 -0500(4) (1 lines) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2122 (2640) The "Other" Network Break-in: A Review of The Cuckoo's Egg by Clifford Stoll: Doubleday 1989 Reviewed by: Frank Topper Information Analyst Data Administration and Information Resource Planning University of Pennsylvania (215) 898-2171 Internet: Topper@a1.relay.upenn.edu <or> Topper%a1.relay@upenn.edu Penn Printout, Volume 6:6, March 1990, p. 7 The November 1988 Internet worm incident was widely publicized and prompted both widespread discussion of ethical use of computer networks and some long overdue closing of security loopholes on computers connected to the Internet. Less publicized, but equally provocative, was the year-long series of unauthorized penetrations of research and military computers -- via the same Internet -- documented by Clifford Stoll in the unexpected bestseller, The Cuckoo's Egg -- Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage. Who's Clifford Stoll? An out-of-grant-money astronomer temporarily assigned to the computer room at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in California. Despite having limited programming experience he was given, on his second day of work, the task of determining what had caused a 75-cent accounting error -- "Figure it out, Cliff, and you'll amaze everyone," his boss said. Stoll dug into the accounting software programs, found them accurate, and slowly became hook how this error had occurred. Utilizing good scientific techniques he questioned seemingly insignificant events, continuously asked 'why', and eventually realized that his computers had been invaded by an unauthorized user with significant expertise and that the invader had almost been successful in erasing his tracks. Is there a likeable hero? "At least nobody could complain about my appearance. I wore the standard Berkeley corporate uniform: grubby shirt, faded jeans, long hair, and cheap sneakers. Managers occasionally wore ties, but productivity went down on the days they did." Is there suspense? "Every ten minutes, the hacker issued the command "who", to list everyone logged onto the computer. Apparently, he worried that someone might see him connected, or might be watching. Later, he searched for any changes in the operating system - had I modified the daemons (special software programs) to record his session, as I'd first planned to do, he would surely have discovered it. I felt like a kid playing hide-and-seek, when the seeker passes within inches of his hiding place." Is it filled with technical jargon? "The cuckoo lays her eggs in other birds' nests. She is a nesting parasite: some other bird will raise her young cuckoos. The survival of the cuckoo chicks depends on the ignorance of other species. Our mysterious visitor laid an egg-program into our computer, letting the system hatch it and feed it privileges." What are networks all about? "The real work isn't laying wires, it's agreeing to link isolated communities together. It's figuring out who's going to pay for the maintenance and improvements. It's forging alliances between groups that don't trust each other. The agreements are informal and the networks are overloaded. Our software is fragile as well -- if people built houses the way we build programs, the first woodpecker would wipe out civilization." "And I didn't just blunder about in a blind rage, trying to nab the guy because he was there. I learned what networks are. I had thought of them as a complicated technical device, a tangle of wires and circuits. But they're much more than that - a fragile community of people, bonded together by trust and cooperation. If that trust is broken, the community will vanish forever." This book made me think about: * How ethical is it to monitor suspected hackers? * What is the balance between securing the University's information assets and allowing ease of use? * Is my password "guessable?" * Am I responsible if I 'loan' my password to another, and sensitive files are damaged or revealed? * What are the tradeoffs between university-wide computing standards and the protection afforded by "genetic diversity"? The Cuckoo's Egg is a great spy story and a terrific introduction to computer networks and information security. I couldn't put it down. From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1235 scanning and e-texts, cont. (251) Date: Fri, 30 Mar 90 13:10:49 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2123 (2641) First an answer to the question of OEDs: Oxford, in their communications with me, have referred to the new OED as the OED2, while some of you have referred to it as the NOED. The Project Gutenberg edition is made from a set of first editions of each volume, beginning with the 1888 A-B volume, and including each additional volume as it enters the public domain. The Oxford lawyers have been quite fuzzy about which volumes they consider to be still under copyright protection. The OED project I mentioned was the preparation of the CD-ROM and tape version of the first edition, which is sold for around $1,000. I am not sure exactly when this project began or finished, but the CDROM has been out for a few years and I heard it began in the mid-70s. I suppose it was inevitable that someone would force the use of the term OED1 for this edition, which Project Gutenberg intends to sell for $249 or less (to include only the volumes which are currently in the public domain). However, the most interested party in the developing of this work seems to be Oxford itself, and their attitude is probably in at least some manner self-evident to most of you. I have had no contacts with the newer editions of the OED, partially in order to prove I haven't used any of it in the preparation of our work, which began in 1971 before any of these projects. However, unless some real interest is shown in it the project will be abandoned, at least for the time being, while lawyers have their field day. While I am extremely interested in the creation of such works at extremely low prices for mass availability, it would appear I am nearly alone in this, as support is minimal and hassles have greatly outweighed the support. As in the past it might occur that thousands and thousands of pages we have prepared will be unused in that world outside, outside the walls of Project Gutenberg. We henceforth retreat to do work on publicizing etexts in general and disproving the outlandish claims the majority of the public seem to believe about the cost and utility of text in electronic forms. As an initial step Project Gutenberg has just given license for EVERY STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESENT & FUTURE, to have electronic copies of 20 of Shakespeare's plays AT NO CHARGE. Any student or member of a campus theatre group may download a copy on demand at our Micro Resource Center in the Illini Union as soon as the paperwork is completed. This will be followed by another set of etexts called "The Greatest Literary Works* of All Time" (*plus a few other important ones.) A 300M CDROM will be placed in the Micro Resource Center for use as well, this time by faculty and staff, in addition to students, but not for copy to their own media. These restrictions are not Project Gutenberg's but a part of the licensing we have obtained. We regret to have to apologize - but an earlier description of the license for Shakespeare on Disk, posted on several listservers, might have stated that faculty and staff might be included in the license. If this has inconvenienced anyone please accept my heartfelt apologies. As a portion of our effort to publicize etexts, Project Gutenberg is also making available a copy of Alice in Wonderland, which is public domain, a book old enough, we hope, to escape questions about copyright, as we have derived our etext indirectly from the first edition. In response to many requests that etexts be made available via anonymous FTP, we will also be posting this at the Micro Resource Center on MRCNEXT, the NeXT server. Once again I have reached the end of my 56 line I allow myself for server oriented mail. Future messages should be shorter, as I intend to retire, at least somewhat, from public discussions on these topics, rather to put my energy into proving etexts are not only feasible, but inexpensive. We manage to put our text on disk for only several dollars per page: anyone saying it costs more must be doing it the hard way. From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1235 scanning and e-texts, cont. (251) Date: Fri, 30 Mar 90 12:10:49 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2124 (2642) First an answer to the question of OEDs: Oxford, in their communications with me, have referred to the new OED as the OED2, while some of you have referred to it as the NOED. The Project Gutenberg edition is made from a set of first editions of each volume, beginning with the 1888 A-B volume, and including each additional volume as it enters the public domain. The Oxford lawyers have been quite fuzzy about which volumes they consider to be still under copyright protection. The OED project I mentioned was the preparation of the CD-ROM and tape version of the first edition, which is sold for around $1,000. I am not sure exactly when this project began or finished, but the CDROM has been out for a few years and I heard it began in the mid-70s. I suppose it was inevitable that someone would force the use of the term OED1 for this edition, which Project Gutenberg intends to sell for $249 or less (to include only the volumes which are currently in the public domain). However, the most interested party in the developing of this work seems to be Oxford itself, and their attitude is probably in at least some manner self-evident to most of you. I have had no contacts with the newer editions of the OED, partially in order to prove I haven't used any of it in the preparation of our work, which began in 1971 before any of these projects. However, unless some real interest is shown in it the project will be abandoned, at least for the time being, while lawyers have their field day. While I am extremely interested in the creation of such works at extremely low prices for mass availability, it would appear I am nearly alone in this, as support is minimal and hassles have greatly outweighed the support. As in the past it might occur that thousands and thousands of pages we have prepared will be unused in that world outside, outside the walls of Project Gutenberg. We henceforth retreat to do work on publicizing etexts in general and disproving the outlandish claims the majority of the public seem to believe about the cost and utility of text in electronic forms. As an initial step Project Gutenberg has just given license for EVERY STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESENT & FUTURE, to have electronic copies of 20 of Shakespeare's plays AT NO CHARGE. Any student or member of a campus theatre group may download a copy on demand at our Micro Resource Center in the Illini Union as soon as the paperwork is completed. This will be followed by another set of etexts called "The Greatest Literary Works* of All Time" (*plus a few other important ones.) A 300M CDROM will be placed in the Micro Resource Center for use as well, this time by faculty and staff, in addition to students, but not for copy to their own media. These restrictions are not Project Gutenberg's but a part of the licensing we have obtained. We regret to have to apologize - but an earlier description of the license for Shakespeare on Disk, posted on several listservers, might have stated that faculty and staff might be included in the license. If this has inconvenienced anyone please accept my heartfelt apologies. As a portion of our effort to publicize etexts, Project Gutenberg is also making available a copy of Alice in Wonderland, which is public domain, a book old enough, we hope, to escape questions about copyright, as we have derived our etext indirectly from the first edition. In response to many requests that etexts be made available via anonymous FTP, we will also be posting this at the Micro Resource Center on MRCNEXT, the NeXT server. Once again I have reached the end of my 56 line I allow myself for server oriented mail. Future messages should be shorter, as I intend to retire, at least somewhat, from public discussions on these topics, rather to put my energy into proving etexts are not only feasible, but inexpensive. We manage to put our text on disk for only several dollars per page: anyone saying it costs more must be doing it the hard way. From: Alvin Snider <ASNIDEPD@UIAMVS> Subject: Alpha centauri Date: Fri, 30 Mar 90 16:45 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2125 (2643) Before undertaking massive programs for preservation and restrospective book conversion, we should think very seriously about their cost, feasibility, and ultimate value. Once such projects get funded and institutionalized, they take on lives of their own. It's sort of like cold fusion: we want cheap energy or universal instant access to the entire LC collection so badly that we downplay the difficulties involved in achieving them. And once you've committed real time and real money, it's hard to say, "Sorry, we made a mistake." Although I'm grateful for its existence, am I alone in thinking that microfilm looks less and less like the ideal solution it once seemed? To reach back further for an example, in the nineteenth century and early decades of our own, libraries and collectors adopted the practice of trimming and mounting (really cutting and pasting) hand-press books. I've just finished examining one such vandalized volume, retrieved from undergoing re-preservation. While most of the book, printed in 1688, remains in pretty good shape, the new paper used for mounting has badly deteriorated. Those who trashed this book in the name of "preservation" would have served future readers better by tying it together with string or leaving it to moulder in a box. Perhaps computing humanists, who will shape the future of the book, should adopt some version of the Hippocratic motto "To help or at least to do no harm." As far as funding goes, the sums we've seen bandied about over the last two weeks recall the old joke about government spending: A billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you're talking real money. Why use the B-1 bomber as your negative example? Given a choice between (say) having on-line access to the entire corpus of Shakespeare criticism or increased funding for AIDS research, I know which way I'd swing. Anyway, there are plenty of people who make it a point of honor never to look at critical books published before 1970. Remember, too, that the film archives at LC, UCLA, and elsewhere haven't had much success (as far as I know) finding corporate or government sponsorship to underwrite the cost of preserving the millions of feet of fast decomposing nitrate stock. This is an urgent situation involving works that are both high art *and* a valuable commodity in which the Ted Turners of the world have a tangible interest. Cordially, Alvin Snider Iowa City From: Richard Goerwitz <goer@sophist.uchicago.edu> Subject: more opionionated comments re programming lang's Date: Fri, 30 Mar 90 02:01:38 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2126 (2644) Since we Humanists are the beginning of what is becoming a better- defined subset of the computer-using population, these "language wars" aren't trivial. It is good for us to hash it all out now in an open forum - one where others with similar needs can "meet" and discuss problems. (Having made my excuse, let me indulge myself once more, and enter the fray.) Many thanks for the note, forwarded by our now lame-duck moderator :-), written originally by KANSKI@CWRU. It read: [deleted quotation] Scheme is what they start many beginning programmers with here at the University of Chicago. I've only had experience with it indirectly via a wonderful book called the Little Lisper. I've used Common Lisp some, and never got used to the look of it. Probably Scheme should be next on my list. Do any other Humanists out there have experience with Scheme? How good is it for information manipulation, storage, etc.? Parsing? Pattern matching? Jane questions my description of Pascal string-handling facilities as nonportable. She says - [deleted quotation] I don't believe I explained myself very well. The very fact that a string-handling function is specific to Turbo Pascal means that one should avoid it when writing portable programs. By "portable" I mean that the programs can be ported very easily to another compiler or another operating system. As software evolves, emphasis (some- what ironically) is being placed on stability and portability. Most manuals for mid-size computers have sections entirely devoted to writing portable code. Books are written on the subject. To get socked into the architecture of a specific machine, or worse yet a specific operating system, or worse yet a specific vendor's compiler on a specific machine running a specific OS, may make for real difficulties a few years down the line. My personal opinion is that, if someone in the Humanities is trying to learn about computers, he or she should minimize the amount of relearning necessary. Start with a language with a fairly uniform definition, and which offers a full set of facilities for the sorts of information storage, searching, and retrieval a Humanist is likely to require. IF possible, make sure the language also has a uniform, non vendor-specific definition, and is reliably implemented on a number of platforms. These conditions, if taken seriously, exclude most of the programming languages discussed so far. C is too low-level. Pascal doesn't have standard, portable string or symbol-handling facilities. Snobol is not a modern, procedurally ori- ented language. Basic - ditto (without even the nice string-handling facilities). Fortran - ditto (I guess I should be using caps, as in BASIC and FORTRAN). Lisp is nice, and more widely implemented, but it is being supplanted (was never used?) in Japan and Europe by Prolog. There are also a jillion dialects, Franz Lisp, Common Lisp, Scheme, etc. Maybe we'll have something here when the dust settles. As noted above, I'd like to hear more about Scheme from a Humanist's perspective. I keep harping on this, but Icon is cheap, it offers nice string and symbol- handling facilities. It has a clean, modern, modular design, and is very, very portable. Implementations are available for it on many, many small and mid-size computers, and these implementations are all pretty much sound. It offers most things we need, with perhaps one problem (see below on object-oriented languages). John Baima stated in a recent posting: [deleted quotation] I respect JB's views, and agree with what he says about BASIC and C. However, I have to wonder about Pascal (I don't know any Smalltalk), though, for the reasons outlined above (not best suited to Humanists' needs, string stuff not portable, etc.). Since I'm not an instructor, and speak merely from my own experi- ence, I wouldn't want to put up too much of a fuss, though. It just seems to me that the standard way of starting comp sci students (Pascal), might not be best for those interested in non- numeric computing. It certainly wouldn't have been for me. [deleted quotation] Icon is neat in that a beginner can get away with a very, very small subset of the available facilities. I can attest, from per- sonal experience, to the fact that it is fine even for someone who has no instructor (i.e. for self-teaching). Let me also add that, while JB is right that you need to use a different operator to "add" every data type, I found this quite natural myself. I really don't see a problem. Adding inte- gers is quite different than adding strings, (character) sets, hash tables, lists, etc. Each one reflects an underlyingly dif- ferent operation. Multiple ops is infinitely preferable, in my view, to a situation at the other end of the pole, where the language will let you, say, add two pointers, or subtract two sets. (What am I saying? Most languages don't even *have* sets!) Worse yet are solutions which have, say, "+" mean different things for dif- ferent data types, or which permit the user to redefine infix or other operators as desired. C'mon! I've got to be able to rely on some consistency in the language. If I can't even count on what "+" means, what's the sense in living any more? Probably the *main* criticism that might be levelled against Icon is that it is not object-oriented. Object-oriented extensions are available, but this just isn't the same thing as full integration. Life isn't perfect. Maybe Smalltalk after all? Maybe some comments on this language - from a Humanist's perspective, of course - would be nice. One more point about Icon: Learning Icon is not as trivial as JB makes it out to be. As I said above, it does permit the user to treat it as a honed-down Pascal-like language with nice string- handling facilites, but this isn't all it can do. If, of course, you've written programs using suspend, data back- tracking, control backtracking, coexpressions, coroutines, or cus- tom-made matching procedures, and have found all of these features trivial to grasp, that you are just a helluva lot smarter than I am :-). A final (general) word: One person said in a posting (I forget where, but I have the quote lying around): "[N]early all CS students learn Pascal and C. These are both excellent languages, though I find Pascal more user-friendly." It's hard to disagree with this. It was the conclusion that I found illogical: "Learn Pascal." All the main textbooks in C and Pascal are filled to the brink with programs geared for the cs student. Very little is really avail- able for Humanists in the way of introductory materials. What little there is seems to come indirectly, via the AI people, and others interested in nonnumeric computing. Whether we learn Pas- cal, C, Icon, Smalltalk, Scheme, BASIC, or anything else, the whole process could be make much easier if there were more Susan Hockeys and Alan Corres out there writing books for us. Given the sparsity of appropriate introductory materials, I'd vote that we at least select languages that, from the ground up, are designed for the sort of thing a Humanist is likely to do. I vote Icon. However, from this discussion I've learned that Scheme or Smalltalk might also do. Pascal, C, BASIC, etc. are (in my opinion) less well suited to the task. Snobol is nice, but it is subject to the cri- ticism now being laid at the feet of non-++'ed C and Pascal dialects, namely that they are just not in step with the times. Even though for some it might seem we've gone on a bit, I've enjoyed this discussion, and hope to see more on it. I'd especially like to know more about whether I should learn Scheme or Smalltalk. (So much for reducing the volume of Humanist mail!) -Richard L. Goerwitz goer%sophist@uchicago.bitnet goer@sophist.uchicago.edu rutgers!oddjob!gide!sophist!goer From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.1233 programming languages Date: Fri, 30 Mar 90 04:14:20 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2127 (2645) Dartmouth courses in mathematics and sciences often use Basic; students are required to write simple Basic programs to solve problems in math, data analysis, graphing, etc. Most instructors would claim *not* to be teaching programming or computing per se. Computer science, in contrast, does *not* use Basic for introductory or any other courses. Introductory courses use Pascal (Think Pascal for the Macintosh); many later courses use C in various implementations. The "Red MIT book" referred to in another posting is _Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs_ by Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman, with Julie Sussman. I think it's fair to say that it is a very advanced introduction which aims to provide very sound foundations for computer science, introducing levels of abstraction, recursion, and challenging puzzles within the first few pages. Is a good programming language for introducing the concepts and techniques of computer science (Scheme- a dialect of Lisp, or the older Pascal) a good language for humanists to start with? Perhaps it is if they want to explore parsing, natural language understanding, or become a developer in a wide area of applications. Perhaps not if the goals are to develop a facility for a more defined range of tasks. Basic works very well for the resticted needs of introductory math courses becuase it is a straightforward procedural language, has (in the implementation used here) excellent high level support for such things as matrix manipulation and simple graphing; its failure to enforce or encourage structured programming or efficient code is less important for these courses than its ease of use which allows the instructors to maintain the focus on math rather than programming. Is there an analogous case to made for Icon or another language for some humanist purposes? --- Stephen Clausing <SCLAUS@YALEVM> wrote: I doubt that there is a single CS dept. in the country that teaches Basic to its students (Ok, maybe Dartmouth does, but that's special). --- end of quoted material --- --- "cjs" <KANSKI@CWRU> wrote: ... SCHEME is the only way to go. The language you use (including English) structures the way you think about and deal with concepts. Some languages are better for some concepts (hence lambda calculus in math). Scheme (and the Red MIT book) are (teach) a better way of thinking about problems. Once you've thought about things in a scheme manner, you'll be changed (for the better) for life. --- end of quoted material --- From: HUMM@PENNDRLS (Alan Humm Religious Studies U. of Penn) Subject: yet more on programming Date: Friday, 30 March 1990 1009-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2128 (2646) In a recent posting Jane Edwards suggests that Turbo Pascal's string handling is both "extensive enough" and portable. In response to the first suggestion, "extensive enough" really depends on what you want to do. You CAN do most anything that can be done with strings in any of the languages that we have discussed recently. The issue is how easily, and how much will be supported by the compiler's library of machine-language functions (= speed) and how much you will have to write yourself, or obtain from someone's collection of functions/procedures. Pascal is not at the bottom of the list here, and Turbo Pascal is certainly more powerful than standard Pascal. But there are other languages that have slicker and easier ways of doing these sorts of things. I am not familiar with either SNOBOL or ICON, but I glean from the discussion that these are better with strings. I know from experience that Ibyx and Smalltalk have strong string handling capabilities. But Pascal is certainly better than 'C' (in general - there are important exceptions). Turbo Pascal is not even portable to all other implemantations of Turbo Pascal. Try moving your PC-Turbo code to Mac Turbo. Worse, try going the other direction. Standard Pascal (I do not know about ANSI) does not even have a "string" type, and this is what you will have on your mainframe, or your VAXen. Of course you CAN write portable code in Turbo, but then you loose most of your powerful string handling capabilities. OAKMAN_D1@PLU, in an apology for BASIC asks "who cares if it is 'spagetti code'". The answer is "If you are the only one using it, and if never expect to need to change it, noone cares." We should keep in mind that what we were discussing here is not what we use, but what we teach. Bob Kraft, who as I recall initiated the discussion by advocating Pascal (or C) against BASIC, does not, to my knowledge program in any language but Ibex. He did not however suggest that we shold be teaching introductory programming in that language. Alan Humm (Humm@PENNdrls) University of Pennsylvania From: Alfred Suhl <ANT01@DMSWWU1A> Subject: Gramcord - call for help Date: Fri, 30 Mar 90 12:45:29 MES X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2129 (2647) I am working with GRAMCORD, edition 1987, and I should like to gramcord not entire biblical books, but just parts of them. To put in for instance [deleted quotation]Of course I do not want to gramcard pm 1:3-5, but I think it would be very helpful for structural exegesis to let the computer find out what sort of words there are in a pericope I want to deal whith. Is there anyone who had the same problem and can give me a hint, what I can do? Thanks to all for reading this - and especially to those who would like to answer me. Alfred Suhl. From: MFZXREP@CMS.MANCHESTER-COMPUTING-CENTRE.AC.UK Subject: display write with HP laserjet Date: Fri, 30 Mar 90 12:34:04 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2130 (2648) Does anyone out there know how to correctly figure Display Write PDT files for the HP Laserjet. We have managed to get various pitch sizes but cannot get them italicised. If you can help, please send the escape sequences or other advice to, MFZXREP@UK.AC.MCC.CMS (EARN) G.PERCIVAL@UK.AC.MANCHESTER (JANET). From: ASDF <sop@Athena.EE.MsState.Edu> Subject: Laserwriters vs. typesetting Date: Fri, 30 Mar 90 16:44:16 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2131 (2649) Is it possible to do the entire job of typesetting camera ready copy for a publication which requires half-tones and paste-ups with a machine such as a PS/2 in conjunction with a laser printer and a desktop publishing package such as PageMaker or Ventura Publisher? Also, if one does not own a scanner, would it be cheaper simply to let the type-setter do the entire job of type- setting rather than paying someone with a high quality scanner to scan photos and graphics into the Desktop publisher or trying to talk the type-setter into charging only for the paste-up fee? Also, I would like the email address for anyone at U. of Mass. at Amherst who has had some experience with doing such a job using PageMaker. The editor of our publication would like to see exactly what it takes to perform such a task. Thanks. Phillip McReynolds Mississippi State University From: koontz@alpha.bldr.nist.gov (John E. Koontz) Subject: Re: 3.1234 queries (95) - Skipping Generations Date: Fri, 30 Mar 90 11:35:30 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2132 (2650) RE: Subject: Skipping generations [deleted quotation] "Male pattern baldness," the usual form of baldness is supposed to be inherited from one's mother. If your maternal grandfather was bald, and you are a male, you will probably be bald, too. I have this essentially as folk knowledge, but believe it has a scientific basis. Hey - it works for me! This does skip a generation, but only because the trait is exhibited only in males. I have also been told by my father (not a geneticist) that identical twins tend to occur in alternate generations, again being inherited in the female line. As I understand the genetics of sickle cell anemia, it would also be reflected in a somewhat similar way in an area with endemic malaria. Those who have the trait as a recessive would live, those who lacked it would die young of malaria, those who has it as a dominant trait would die young of anemia. Like baldness trait this would be reflected in the exhibitors rather than the carriers. From: GA0708@SIUCVMB Subject: Skipping Generations Date: Fri, 30 Mar 90 09:55:01 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2133 (2651) [deleted quotation] Baldness doesn't skip a generation; it's an X-linked trait (carried on the chromosome of the 23rd pair that you inherit from your mother). Your mother isn't bald because the other member of the 23rd pair has a normal allele. You, her son, are bald because your other 23rd chromosome is less massive, has less genetic information, and is missing the normal gene that offsets the gene for baldness on the other chromosome. You, however, can pass the trait on to a daughter (who will not show the phenotype, but will be able to pass it along to her sons). The trait doesn't actually skip generations; the phenotypic expression does. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: OFFLINE 28 Date: Friday, 30 March 1990 1152-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1246 (2652) ---------------------- <<O F F L I N E 2 8>> by Robert Kraft [29 March 1990 Draft, copyright Robert Kraft] [HUMANIST 30 March 1990] [Religious Studies News 5.3 (May 1990)] [CSSR Bulletin 19.3 (September 1990)] ---------------------- <Taking Stock> OFFLINE was created originally to serve as a point of contact in what would hopefully be a two way street between interested religious studies persons and "computing humanists." Maybe I wouldn't have put it exactly that way in 1984, but in retrospect, that's what I had in mind. New things were happening very rapidly in areas of computer technology, new vocabularies were being created, new approaches tested, old things done differently. Those for whom all this was potentially, if not yet actually relevant needed to know about these developments. And their input (see how naturally I speak "computerese" -- and you understand it!) was important to help insure that the computer enthusiasts did not ignore significant issues or create difficult problems that might come back to haunt us all at a later time. In the early days of OFFLINE, there were attempts to create a glossary of computer terms and ideas, and to encourage discussion of standards for foreign character recognition. User groups (now often called SIGs = Special Interest Groups) were organized whenever practical, and mention sometimes was made of significant computer publications of possible interest to readers. Seemingly pertinent new developments of hardware and software received notice. The tasks were pretty obvious, following a model of trying to take an audience from very little or no knowledge to a level of respectable understanding. The main goal was, without apology, to help speed up the acceptance and effective use of computer related research within the scholarly community -- an end result that seemed to me not only extremely useful but also ultimately inevitable, in a general sense. Feedback from the audience of OFFLINE never became much of a factor. Occasional comments and suggestions were made -- my unfortunate attempt to use an analogy from the medical world (computer viruses and AIDS) once generated two heated complaints -- but for the most part you let me go my own way without much assistance or interference. For the most part, I have assumed that the column was meeting some real needs, although on a few occasions I heard from some readers that they enjoyed the column even though it was mostly over their heads. A mixed blessing! Many of us have grown along together in OFFLINE, so that what was once new and mysterious is now mostly taken for granted, and what interests us most goes far beyond the level of simplicity we once desired. This growth, of course, creates a dilemma or two. On the one hand, there are always newcomers to the area of discussion, who need to be led along carefully and deliberately. On the other, there are many more "advanced" users of computer technology who also merit recognition and assistance. And in between are various shades of interest and expertise, all of them deserving at least occasional attention. How is it possible, and is it even desirable, to address all these different levels? <Mostly for Beginners> It is difficult to get our relatively uninvolved students to do background preparation. They seem to want to be fed the necessary information, hopefully in an entertaining way, in class. So we tend to bully them with quizzes, reports, threats of poor grades. But I have no such leverage with the readers of OFFLINE. All I can do is to try (and hope) to spark some interest that will carry beginners to a next level. There are assignments that can be made. Browsing through back issues of OFFLINE itself might be of help to some. In fact, the assignment to obtain that material on diskette (see instructions at the end of the column) and learn how to search and browse it effectively holds various benefits, despite the fact that much of the information will be seriously out-of-date in this rapidly moving world. Much more organized, and full of both general and very specific information for all levels of interest, is the often mentioned BBBS (Bits, Bytes & Biblical Studies) volume by John J. Hughes (Zondervan, 1987). It is still an excellent investment, despite the passage of time, and will help orient readers to the major areas of computer usage in most fields of study, whether "biblical" or not. The biggest help for a beginner, however, is getting started. There is only so much that one can learn about computers in the abstract, and it is very difficult (at least for me) to make much sense of it in the abstract. Take the plunge. Get access to a machine that has proved its value in academic contexts (for most of you that will mean an Apple Macintosh or an IBM/DOS type, or perhaps an IBYCUS SC), ask someone to help you get started, and do something -- write me a letter, link up to the library or to a bulletin board, play with an electronic text. If there are no machines for you conveniently to use, and you must explore the labyrinth of deciding what to purchase, and price is an important factor, don't be afraid to look around for used systems (e.g. in newspaper ads) or mail-order bargains. Of course there are risks in such an approach, and of course you need to exercise as much care as possible, but those caveats are always true -- even for new and expensive systems -- and you need to start somewhere/somehow. Starting is important. My first system, a decade ago, was a used Commodore Pet, Business Machine version, purchased through a newspaper ad. It was a family machine -- games, educational programs, a spreadsheet for taxes and records -- with only a "40 column" screen (i.e. it could only show 40 letters in line width), but an 80 column printer. And a BASIC programming language built in. I even managed to get it to print Greek letters, and learned something about programming at the same time. I still have that computer system and it still works, although none of us use it anymore because it can't communicate easily with the systems that have become popular in the intervening period. Make me an offer? You probably won't. The point is that for a relatively modest cost it was, and still is, possible to get started with a reliable and versatile machine. If I had to start today, with my ancient language needs, I would be shopping around for an Apple Macintosh (they are available used and/or reconditioned). Without those needs, the immense world of IBM and IBM clones would also be considered. A "remaindered" Toshiba 1000 laptop for under $700 (plus a printer) might appeal to me in that situation (check the ads in the plethora of personal computer magazines!). Basically, I'm a frugal person. OK, then, I'm cheap -- a penny pincher. Blame it on the great depression and WWII rationing which helped forge my youthful habits, or on some personal flaw; for whatever reason, it's true. I would not go out and spend gobs (or even daubs) of money on alluring software unless I was really sure I needed and wanted it. There is lots of good freeware and "shareware" (pay a small fee if you like it) available, especially in the IBM/DOS world. Maybe you will ultimately want a more flashy -- and more expensive -- wordprocessing package than the one I am using to write this column (PC Write, which is shareware), but you don't have to make that investment at the outset. You can start cheap, and build up to what you determine will be most useful to your needs. But do start. And let me know if there are specific ways OFFLINE can help. <The Too Often Too Silent Majority> I suspect that most readers of OFFLINE, at least in its printed manifestations (as contrasted to the electronic version that goes to the HUMANIST discussion group on BITNET), fall somewhere between beginners and experts. Most of you own your own computers, others have regular access to such machinery, and you write papers, reports, books -- maybe even letters -- through this powerful "wordprocessing" tool. Some of you use "spreadsheets" to do your accounts and taxes. Some of you keep track of bibliography and addresses and other information that is easily stored in its various subunits that can then be reconstituted in various combinations through a "database" type program. A few of you have even plugged into the vast and growing universe of electronic "bulletin boards" and communication possibilities by using a "modem" and telephone lines, or by being "hardwired" into an existing network. As things have developed, it is to this varifocused group that OFFLINE has mostly come to address itself. Yet it has often been a flight in the dark. You have seldom made it known to me what sorts of information might interest you most. Perhaps this is because the possibilities are so immense and variegated that you wouldn't know where to begin. Perhaps you are too timid, and without an invitation would not presume to make such suggestions. Well, let me remove that excuse. I want to know what you would like to know about using computers in your work, and will even prod you with the old "multiple choice" approach. Would you be interested in discussion of any of the following in OFFLINE? -getting and using electronic textual materials -accessing remote library resources from the computer -the pros and cons of database storage and retrieval -plain and fancy printing ("desktop publishing") -using electronic networks and communications -peeping through the keyhole at computer programming -OTHER (please specify) Not that I would try to handle all such subjects by myself! But expert assistance is available, and the idea of coopting guest columnists or contributors appeals to me very much. Please let me know how you can be helped. Otherwise, you remain victims of my perceptions of what you should know! <For Those Who Know More> "Experts" have been described as people who know more and more about less and less until ultimately they know everything about nothing! With regard to computers, I'm not there yet. I guess I'm more of a generalist. But all sorts of expertise exist in the computer world, as in traditional academia, and it has become a goal of OFFLINE to keep the experts interested and involved without devoting the column to their needs and detailed foci. There are appropriate places for experts to meet and mingle -- the journals called Computers and the Humanities and Literary and Linguistic Computing, to name only the most obvious. There are workshops and conferences, some of which have been reported upon in OFFLINE. What has not been happening with sufficient regularity, from my point of view, is the interchange at the expert level between traditional "field-oriented" scholarship and the new "computer-oriented" research. In this context, OFFLINE wants to be a mediator and a gadfly. Perhaps you are tired of hearing the following sentiments, but they still seem to be in need of saying. Have you seen many -- any? -- reviews of field-specific computer data or software in the traditional scholarly journals? (You can find a wealth of such information in John Hughes' aforementioned BBBS! Come to think of it, has it been reviewed in the journals?) If you want to obtain an electronic version of the Bible in English, for example, do you know what is available, how accurate it is, how you might make use of it, etc.? When new study editions of Bibles (such as the Oxford Annotated Bible), or new Bible concordances are published we usually can consult reviews by the experts as to the reliability and utility of these materials. But procedures have not yet been developed in most of the traditional professional societies for similar evaluations of electronic data and tools, which can already take the user far beyond anything offered by conventional static printed books. Have you, as users, made known your interests to those in charge of the review sections of your professional journals? Have you, as experts, volunteered to take part in helping to develop such avenues of information? We are living in a period of rapid adjustment and transition (just ask you local librarians!). Things will go much smoother if we all get involved at the appropriate levels. Computer assisted research that finds its way into printed form is gradually making its impact on traditional fields of scholarship, to be sure, but general information about how one can take advantage of the new tools and approaches is relatively scarce. Susan Hockey's very "old" Guide to Computer Applications in the Humanities (Johns Hopkins, 1980) is still very useful in showing what can be done through various approaches. For specific examples of such applications, the bibliographies in Hughes BBBS are full of leads. But where will you find out if the software tool that you might like to use to facilitate your special research, or the data on which you want to run it, are reliable? How do you register your observations that the available software doesn't really do what you, and others like you, might want to do? Where do the traditional expertise of the scholar and the expertise of the programmer confront each other, for better or worse? We need to be paying more serious attention to these matters if we have any hope of taking full advantage of the new powers at our disposal. <Onward> The story is not one of complete frustration, by any means. Much good will exists in many of the traditional societies, and a new group of experts is emerging who can help foster changes where they become recognized as desirable. Electronic publication as an end product, not just as a means to printed output, is gaining impetus in the professional societies (e.g. Modern Languages Association, American Philological Association) as well as among the presses (e.g. Oxford, Zondervan), and some exciting new "experimental" products are on the horizon (e.g. from Harvard's PERSEUS Project). More and more texts are being made available from various computer oriented sources and in various formats (e.g. on diskettes, on CD-ROMs, with or without accessing software) -- e.g. recently a neatly packaged machine-readable version of Hegel's Phenomenology of Mind (trans J.B.Baillie) arrived from Georgetown's new Center for Text and Technology, as the first in a projected series. The new Rutgers-Princeton Center for Machine Readable Texts in the Humanities is coordinating its activities with the Oxford Text Archive and other repositories in producing a text-inventory that will become available in electronic catalogues through the library systems. The libraries themselves are acquiring more such materials along with the machines and technical expertise to use them. Archiving of existing electronic materials (e.g. by SBL) and establishing broadly based standards for dealing with them (by the international Text Encoding Initiative project) are receiving long overdue attention. All of these things need encouragement and support from individuals and professional societies as well as from educational institutions and from private and government funding sources. Certainly monetary support is most welcome -- the relatively small budget of the National Endowment for the Humanities can only spread so far, and projects that do receive awards almost always need to raise "matching funds" in addition. The fact that you may not be asked directly for this sort of help does not mean that it would not be appreciated. Identify a pet project and support it. But there are other important ways to offer support as well. Universities are constantly involved in reevaluating their programs and resources, and if they do not perceive the value of a given activity, it is not likely to flourish, especially when money is tight. But with regard to computing activities, the decision makers seldom have appropriate input from humanists regarding humanist related needs. You can help by alerting your administrations, including libraries and computing centers, to your actual and potential interests in these connections. Are your humanities departments aware of and plugged into the growing wealth of available resources? Are your libraries addressing computer related needs (usually in coordination with the computer centers)? Finally, have you ever considered dropping a note of appreciation to the administration of an institution (not necessarily your own) that sponsors an activity from which you gain benefit? That sort of support can also be very important in times when hard decisions are being made on the basis of relatively limited (often one-sided) information. And there is a large agenda that remains, which will also grow as we gain new insights and recognize new opportunities. Among the other things that concern me especially at this point are (1) the continued need for getting reliable information to scholars and students who do not regularly consult the humanities computing publications and discussion groups -- the idea of a sort of "syndicated" column (or columns) offered to various traditional newsletters has been mentioned before; (2) the need for appropriate reviewing in the traditional journals of relevant computer related products, as noted above; (3) sponsorship of representative demonstrations and exhibits at regional, national and international professional society meetings, to make it possible for people to see and even participate in what is happening -- perhaps it is worth developing and supporting a project team for this purpose as a short term stimulus; (4) input from the societies (based on the opinions of their experts) regarding priorities for data encoding (which texts deserve immediate attention?) and for software development (what do the users want to do with the data?); (5) support for new, at this point "experimental," ways of using the new technologies to advance education and scholarship aggressively -- e.g. electronic textbooks that take advantage of the ability to mix text and graphics and sound in various user-determined combinations. It seems to me that the stage of raising awareness, in general, and of overcoming apprehension is mostly under control. The period we have entered calls for more aggressive coordinated approaches to producing appropriate results based on this growing new awareness. <-----> 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. BITNET address: KRAFT@PENNDRLS. 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 HUMANIST discussion group FileServer (UTORONTO.BITNET). //end// From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2134 (2653) Hi Willard, just testing... We're hoping to see a copy of this forwarded by the ut listserv to HUM-EDS. Elaine & Allen From: Jan Eveleth <EVELETH@YALEVM> Subject: Information Distribution Date: Mon, 2 Apr 1990 09:14:58 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2135 (2654) Duplication and distribution of the information repositories in an electronic-mediated society are critical; I strongly agree with D. Harbin. His note brought to mind a recent news story reporting a near "accident" at a nuclear power plant (was it in the south somewhere?). It seems the nuclear power plant runs on electricity from another, non-nuclear, local power utility. Something caused the local power utility to lose power production leaving the nuclear power plant in a desperate and dangerous predicament as it lost control of its safety systems and control panels. What is the reality of implementing new and more powerful technologies on limited budgets? The new technologies are bootstrapped on top of older technologies and the proverbial weak link remains the measure of reliability. Information theory, as interpreted from my "lay" perspective, says that an evolving structure will be constrained in its future configurations by the historical events that formed the structure. In biology, for example, the DNA of a species not only provides the foundation for what a species can become, but it also defines what the species can *not* become, e.g. a bird species will not evolve (or in this case "devolve") into a reptile species. Perhaps the best strategy for implementing a new electronic information repository is to start from scratch, to think beyond what has been and consider how it could be. (The Text Encoding Initiative, from what I've read, seems to be taking this strategy.) Microfilming and scanning will preserve what is currently available, but surely the dream of an age of electronic information can reach beyond the bootstraps and constraints of the current paradigm? --Jan Eveleth Yale University From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1235 scanning and e-texts, cont. (251) Date: Sat, 31 Mar 90 13:19:48 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2136 (2655) I would like the particpants in this discussion of scanning and etexts to be a little more specific in the work for which they estimate costs as it would appear to be totally out of line with real-world typing, a market which is probably easily analyzable in each of your communities as an academic side market. In all the college towns I am aware of, I even include those in which apartments are well over $1,000/month, the price of typing theses is under $1 per page. If we assume the normal, is there such a thing, thesis, to have perhaps 1/3 the material in its page, double spaced, wide margins, etc, then we could raise that price to $3 per page. If we assume the average book we want to put in etext form at 333 1/3 pages, then we should be able to hire out the work for $1,000 per volume. Thesis preparers have to know all the rule for the colleges for which they prepare, and I think we can assume these rules are no more complicated than those for typing in a book. The cost of tagging, encoding, SGMLing, TEIing, PostScripting, TEXing, or whatever-the-type-of-massaging-you-have-in-mind is totally up to an individual and cannot be calculated here. IF THE COST OF TAGGING IS A MAJORITY OF THE COST, AND THE INFORMATION, PRESENTATION OR WHAT-HAVE-YOU IS ONLY OF USE TO A MINORITY OF READERS THEN IT WOULD APPEAR THE HIGH ESTIMATES ARE A RED-HERRING, APPLICABLE ONLY TO ESOTERIC USERS. Of course, there are those, in the majority, who constantly harangue etext altogether because it is only for these minorities represented well in this discussion. By the way, at least on of our Gutenberg members is willing to create etexts at only 50 cents per page, a fact I mentioned earlier, but the response was zero. Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**) (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET) From: Subject: Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2137 (2656) DATE: 02 APR 90 11:02 CET FROM: A400101@DM0LRZ01 SUBJECT: etexts and data format/preservation (3.1231ff.) Sorry to challenge Michael Hart out of his self-imposed retirement, but obsolete data formats _are_ a problem. Naturally, the texts in general use (representing probably much less than 1% of all surviving texts) are going to be constantly recopied, and data formats are unproblematical. But the majority (we started out, remember, from the idea of scanning the LOC) will sit around in libraries waiting to be looked at once every twenty? fifty? hundred? years, as most books do at present. They thus have to survive for long periods of time and then be readable afterwards. To visualize what this means I suggest the following thought experiments: 1. going into every hi-fi shop in your home town and asking to buy equipment which will play back shellack records at 78 rpm, over-the- counter and at a reasonable price. 2. storing a large text on an MS-DOS disk now, shutting it away in suitable protected conditions and then walking into your university computer centre in 20/30 years' time and asking them to upload it to the then mainframe. If the results of these thought experiments make you happy, fine. Otherwise, how do we ensure immortality for our hard-scanned efforts? Timothy Reuter, Monumenta Germaniae Historica From: Jim O'Donnell (Penn, Classics) Subject: Scanning the libraries Date: 02 Apr 90 11:28:19 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2138 (2657) Scan all LC? Wonderful! But there's one way to make the job a lot cheaper, and another that will make it more expensive. Cheaper: Lots of stuff in LC not urgently necessary. Hundreds of volumes of census data from India, for example; or dozens of different editions of *Moby-Dick*. Get it all eventually, sure; but the utility of the *first* scanned copy of *Moby-Dick* is about 100 times greater (1000 times?) than that of the second through hundredth versions put together. I look at the Bryn Mawr College library, a collection of about half a million volumes (5% the size of LC?), and see that for the bookish disciplines (basically: humanities), that collection serves 90-95% of need. Complete works of all major and very many minor authors, standard journals in all fields, and excellent, if selective, coverage of current scholarly publication. Perhaps you would need to enhance the coverage to about 750K or 1 million to include some fields in which that kind of collection is weak, or you would decide you absolutely had to have the Sitzungsberichte of the major German academies. But even so, you could get to the point where a *very* satisfactory working library was available on-line while reducing costs over those of doing all LC by at least an order of magnitude. (Heuristic way to proceed? How about using circulation records? Start with a really big library, to ensure that almost everything is there, and scan everything that's been checked out twice in the last ten years? Then go back gradually and pick up the rest over the next few decades?) More expensive: But when we're being thorough, we must remember to coordinate with non-American sources. That can save some money (a nice argument would be that the industrialized democracies should all scan whatever was published within their borders), but also cost some: good coverage of 17th, 18th, and 19th century European publication will not add *vast* numbers to the total from LC, but it will be hard work to locate and make sure that things are included: can't just start at one end of the shelves and scan to the other. And whatever mechanization is possible with 20th cent. publications won't work with fragile older volumes. The real danger in scanning our way into the next technology, is that a lot of our memory will fade, neglected because too old, too dusty, too fragile, too uneconomical to bother with. From: <KANSKI@CWRU> Subject: compilation copyright & new technology Date: Sun, 1 Apr 90 22:57 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1248 (2658) I would like to address Christopher Donald's question on copyright protection for modifications of material collected from databases (in his case NEXIS). To refresh everyone's memory about his project, he is taking headlines from news services and newspapers obtained from the NEXIS database and coding them for the actor, target, and type of action. Protection of compilations is one of the most underdeveloped areas of computer law and copyright law. The technology is light years ahead of both the traditional case law and current legislation. Traditionally, copyright law has rested on a limited monopoly rationale (legal protection fostering an economic incentive to further cultivate and propagate intellectual endeavors). This rationale does not extend copyright law to facts only their expression. To fall under the copyright law, a work must be original (roughly, show an element of creativity) and second it must be in a fixed, tangible form. In most compilation cases, fixation is not an issue because the information can be perceived. The federal copyright statute includes works perceived with the aid of a machine (generally accepted to include computers). Defining originality has always been difficult for the courts, but defining it with respect to compilations has proved almost impossible. In fact there are three different definitions that courts use depending on the jurisdiction: arrangement, effort/industrious collection, and subjective selection. The arrangement doctrine finds originality in the personality that an author puts into the new compilation. However, a work will not be protected if the compilation is a simple rearrangement of another author's material. (The arrangement doctrine implies the necessity for intellectual labor.) The effort/industrious collection doctrine provides protection for works created by expending effort or industriously collecting the information used in the compilation. The third rationale for including compilations under copyright law, subjective selection, derives the originality element from the action of subjectively choosing information to include in a compilation from a larger body of knowledge. Courts impute originality/creativity in the act of selection. Subjective selection does not apply to large, comprehensive compilations, but rather small compilations derived from larger ones. Fair use doctrine and infringement rules control the scope of copyright law. Generally, fair use allows users to work with copyright materials as long as there is no copyright infringement. Depending on the jurisdiction, infringement can be avoided by using the original author's sources or arranging the original author's work differently. My general thesis here is that the current protection for new compilations based on information collected from databases is suspect at best and nonexistent at worst. The underlying foundation of the doctrines used to extend copyright protection to compilations is intellectual effort. In other words, there must be an indication of thought used in constructing the compilation. However, the advent of new software and database technologies changes the presumption that a great deal of effort went into making the new compilation. I would say that this does not derogate the creativity of the compiling act (I remember reading somewhere that creativity is the ability to see what is there), but time can no longer be relied upon as evidence of effort or thought. Applying these ideas to Mr. Donald's NEXIS coding project, one cannot definitely conclude that his compilation would be copyright protected. Twenty years ago, he probably would have been hand sorting through newspapers and other news sources to come up with articles. Next he would have added the code and with access to a computer, entered the data for later manipulation. These actions probably would have been enough to extend copyright protection to the compilation. Now, this element of effort cannot be found. A program to add the codes after another program parses the sentences into the active voice, as Mr. Donald suggests, would make the problem more acute. Work that would have taken months twenty years ago, now can be done in a matter of minutes. Common sense dictates that all of the effort garnered in coming up with the idea and gathering the resources to complete the project warrants copyright protection. The courts would probably have a more difficult time coming to this conclusion. Such contradictions between reality and the law do not end with Mr. Donald's project. For example, text markups are commonly used by legal types and humanists alike. How should these be handled? As happens very often, scholars translate literature into other languages with markups discussing the finer points of the translation and other relevant points. If another scholar using several translations accessible in different databases (or even the same one), creates a new translation compilation by sorting different portions of the marked-up translations using software that the second scholar directs, has he created a new work with originality sufficient to create a legally protectable copyright? Proliferation of texts on CD adds another dimension to the problem. Twenty years ago, the compiler would have had to obtain different books from different sources and spend months or years comparing the works to create a compilation. The courts probably would have seen copyright protection in the effort. The same work can now be completed in hours or minutes. Should copyright extend? Who should decide? The courts? Congress? While suggesting that Congress might come up with a solution to such a complex problem may sound like a contradiction in terms, the courts may be no better equipped to decide because they lack the technological background and resources. Consider Willard McCarty's idea of a perfect servant who will take an exact description of what we want to receive (i.e. our self definition) and filter the input from our electronic organs of perception. This concept is merely an extension of software and technology that is already available. Should this, a compilation of our own reality, be copyrightable? As described above, copyright extends protection to the expression of facts, not the facts themselves. Would such a computer's perception of the world be a fact or an expression of fact? Would copyright protection of the self in the form of a computer program create a market where we could buy and sell each other's reality in the hope of finding a better one? I am working on these ideas for publication. Any thoughts, criticism, or comments would be greatly appreciated. James M. Kanski (KANSKI@CWRU) From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.1226 British mss. project Date: Sun, 1 Apr 90 22:12:14 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1249 (2659) Robinson should contact Francisco Marcos Marin, who has written similar software. He is at marcos@EMDCCI11.BITNET Charles Faulhaber From: Stephen Clausng <SCLAUS@YALEVM> Subject: programming languages Date: Sat, 31 Mar 90 11:43:55 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2139 (2660) I think too much emphasis in this discussion is being made on whether a given programming language has, or does not have, string capabilities, and whether the resulting programs are portable. In particular, the question is whether Pascal has such features. Most implementations of Pascal have quite adequate string procedures. Standard Pascal does not. But such procedures can easily be written, if necessary using ANSI data structures, and it is silly to reject a programming language because you might have to write a 10 line procedure to duplicate the function of another language. The real value of any programmng environment is the general ease of use. Does the language encourage good programming, does it prevent errors, does it make it easy to avoid errors, is there a good debugger for your particular enviroment, etc. In all of these regards, Pascal is hard to beat. Incidentally, there are two excellent introductions to Pascal programming which are designed specifically for Humanists, namely: Nancy Ide "Pascal for the Humanities" and Mary Dee Harris "Introduction to Natural Language Processing". Pascal textbooks are also repleat with examples of text processing, and algorithms are readily available for all the major string functions using standard ANSI Pascal, which is one of the most portable, dialect-free languages ever written. Actually I find that computers have become so specialized, in terms of toolbox functions, that I believe it is almost pointless to try to port programs directly from one computer to the next. The hardware is the problem, not the software. From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" <ERIC@SDNET> Subject: COMPUTING COURSE FOR HUMANISTS Date: Sun, 1 Apr 90 11:14:10 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2140 (2661) After reading the HUMANIST discussion of my idea to offer a course designed to teach academic humanists to program, I am unsure that anyone could design a course to attract sufficient numbers to make it practical to offer it. Following is the course as I would teach it. PROGRAMMING FOR THE HUMANITIES An introduction to programming for applications in the humanities such as analysis of texts, arranging data from research, and formatting for printing and desktop publishing. BASIC will be taught as a means of understanding how computers process instructions. The majority of the course will be an introduction to the use of SNOBOL4: a powerful and economical language for non-numeric computing. At the conclusion of the course, students will be encouraged to work with other versions of BASIC (such as QuickBASIC), with high-performance SNOBOL4 (SPITBOL), and with Icon. Students will be sent course materials over BITNET and will return assignments via BITNET. At least as it is first offered, the course will be non-credit. Eric Johnson ERIC@SDNET.BITNET From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@UMTLVR.BITNET> Subject: Oldest Asian, Japanese or Chinese concordances and indexes??? Date: Sat, 31 Mar 90 13:39 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1251 (2662) Though writing systems in these areas of the world are quite different from our own western traditions, I am still interested in getting any information about early dictionaries, indexes or concordances published in the cultures mentioned above. How does one look up a "word" in a chinese dictionary? What is the ordering ("alphabetizing") system? Any date of publication for the first ever publications of this kind? Thanks Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal E-mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca From: Scott Smith <SMITHSR@SNYPLAVA> Subject: socio-economic slurs... Date: Sun, 1 Apr 90 13:09:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2141 (2663) Although Michael S. Hart's recent posting to Humanist seems to have the economic analysis in order, I take objection to his use of the example of the American Indians "selling" Manhattan for some $24 worth of beads and trinkets. Although gradually being purged from junior-high social studies texts, this unfortunate culturally skewed story continues to be told, and accepted outright, by many. The philosophical perspective of the North American Indians did not recognize "land ownership" as something in which an individual or nation could participate. They believed that God provided the land, water, plants, and animals, to be lived off of as needed, replenished when possible, and shared by all people according to their (reasonable) needs. Thus, the Indians thought they were getting the better end of the deal, in allowing the Europeans to use some land which didn't belong to any of the parties entering into the transaction! You might say that the "selling of the Brooklyn Bridge" owes its origins to an earlier Manhattan transaction. In any case, European firearms and cultural arrogance won out in the end, but it seems important to me to recognize that the incident in question is a better example of differing philosophies than it is of "primitive economic behavior." Scott Smith SUNY Plattsburgh and McGill University From: "Peter D. Junger" <JUNGER@CWRU> Subject: Generation skipping social memories Date: Sun, 1 Apr 90 15:51 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2142 (2664) In Paul Conneton, How Societies Remember (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press 1989), there appears at page 39 the following passage (which I am typing in in an unforgiving mailer): "Marc Bloch has drawn attention to the fact that in ancient rural societies, before the institution of the newspaper, the primary school, and military service, the education of the youngest living generation was generally undertaken by the oldest living generation. {\endnote 53: See M. Bloch, _The Historian's Craft_ (tr. R. Putname, Manchester, 1954), pp. 40-1; for a review of Halbwachs (1925) see M. Bloch, 'Ne'moire collective, traditon et coutume', _Revue de Synthe{acc grav}se Historique_, 40 (1925), pp. 73-83.} In such village societies, because working conditions kept mother and father away almost all day, especially during the summer period, the young children were brought up chiefly by their grandparents; so that it is from the oldest members of the household, at least as much if not indeed more than from their own parents, that the memory of the group was mediated to them. This process began very early in the life of the child. After the first phase of childhood, dominated by nourishment and the relationship with the mother, the child joined the group of siblings and other children living in the household; and it was from this time on that their education was most frequently supervised by grandmother. Until the introduction of the first machines, it was grandmother who was the mistress of the household, who prepaed the meals, and who, alone, was occupied with the chldren. It was her task to teach the language of the group. When the ancient Greeks called stories 'geroia', when Cicero called them 'faulae aniles', and when the picture illustrating the _Contes_ of Perrault represented an old woman telling a story to a circle of children, they were registering the extent to which the grandmother took charge of the marrative activity of the group. In such a context we should not envisage communication between generations as being conducted, so to speak, in 'Indian file', the children having contact with their ancestors only through the mediation of their parents. Rather, with the moulding of each new mind there is at the same time a backward step, joining the most malleable to the most inflexible mentality, while skippeng the generation which might be the sponsor of change. And this way of transmitting memory, Block suggests, must surely have contributed to a very substantial extent to the traditionalism inherent in so many peasant societies. {\endnote 54: For corrobative remarks on this suggestion, with particular reference to the role of grandmothers in traditional societies, see D. Fabre and J. Lacroix, _La Tradition orale du conte occitan_ (Paris, 1974), volume I, esp. pp. 111-15.}" Peter D. Junger--CWRU Law School--Cleveland, Ohio bitnet: JUNGER@CWRU--internet: JUNGER@CWRU.CWRU.EDU From: Michael Everson <MEVERC95@IRLEARN> Subject: Re: 3.1245 skipping generations (76) Date: Mon, 2 Apr 90 05:33:43 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2143 (2665) So it does pass through the maternal line and we ought to look more like our mother's fathers than our fathers or our father's fathers?? From: Robert Hollander <bobh@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1247 electronic texts, paradigms, scanning (175) Date: Tue, 3 Apr 90 01:10:10 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2144 (2666) O'Donnell is barking up a better tree, but leaves unresolved who (1) will decide what's to be done; (2) who will be responsible for the accuracy of the scanning. From our experience at the Dartmouth Dante Project, THAT's the most expensive part of the process. And, Michael Hart, we're not doing much by way of formatting, tagging, etc. What has not been heard often enough in this discussion is pleading for the accuracy of these texts. If one has in mind "armchair" browsing of e-texts, accuracy doesn't matter that much. However, if we are issuing texts which will be _searched_ by users who expect (and need) them to be ACCURATE, who will be basing conclusions on their searches, the whole exercise becomes a question- able one if the issuers are issuing error-filled texts. It currently costs us about $20,000 to do a single Dante commentary (ca. 4 megabytes of material). Were we starting now, we could probably do it a bit cheaper. But there is still a major amount of contributed time (I myself must have 3,000 editing hours in the project by now), which cuts costs considerably. If there is anyone out there who'd like to do a commentary (200 to 600 hours, depending on the text and the editor's capacity) for us, I hope that person will let me hear. In the mean- time we slog along. And in a few weeks we'll have about thirty commentaries on-line--and miles to go before we sleep. From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Computer Assisted Textual Stemmatology Date: Tuesday, 3 April 1990 1921-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2145 (2667) Regarding the use of computers to collate and explore the stemmatic relationships between manuscripts (I decided that "stemmatology" was more appropriate than "stemmatization" to describe this endeavor, since one possible result is no clear stemmata), an issue raised by Peter Robinson (Oxford) and responded to briefly by Charles Fulhaber (referring to the software developed by Francisco Marcos Marin), some work has been done in relation to ancient texts. John Hughes provides bibliography (but no discussion) in his BITS, BYTES & BIBLICAL STUDIES treasure trove, with special reference to the following authors (see p.492 n.11): J. Burch (NT, 1965) Vinton A. Dearing (NT, several articles, 1974 onward) M. P. Weitzman (general?; ALLC Bulletin 10, 1982) Bonifatius Fischer (NT, 1970, 1973) Karen A. Mullen (general?; CHum 5, 1970-71) Wilhelm Ott (general, 1973) Gian Piero Zarri (general, 1976, 1977) Jacques Froger (general, 1965, 1970) John G. Griffith (Gospels, 1969, 1973) If someone really cares and does not have access to BBBS for the details, I can provide them. Although I do not have a copy of Susan Hockey's Guide to Computer Applications in the Humanities at hand, I suspect that she will have addressed aspects of this subject as well. Here at Penn, we are trying to get the million or so variants to the ancient Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures encoded so that appropriate detailed analysis and classification can follow. A recent PhD from the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Bernard Taylor, did his dissertation on the analysis of one subgroup of manuscripts in the Greek tradition to the biblical book of 1 Samuel. Other students are working on similar projects with Emanuel Tov at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Bob Kraft (Univ. of Penn., Computer Assisted Tools for Septuagint Studies Project) From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Optiram Scanning Date: Tuesday, 3 April 1990 1953-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2146 (2668) In response to Roy Flannigan's recent query about contacts with Optiram, a British company that has very protected processes for scanning handwritten materials into text files (not graphics), I did get some estimates from them several months ago for scanning my great grandfather's journals. I sent samples, and they responded with an estimate of the degree of accuracy they anticipated and the cost of such a job. I do not have the details at hand, but my conclusion was that it would be significantly less expensive to have a good typist encode the text at a cost of $10 per hour. I'm sure Optiram would have done an acceptable job, but it would have cost a great deal more. Bob Kraft From: ruhleder@sloth.ICS.UCI.EDU Subject: Information Technology and Classical Scholarship Date: Mon, 02 Apr 90 17:51:59 -0700 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2147 (2669) Calling All Classical Scholars... I am currently carrying out a dissertation project that evaluates the use of information technologies as tools to support research-related activities in classical scholarship. I would like to get in touch with any classicists on the HUMANIST mailing list who would be willing to take a few moments to share with me their experiences in being members of HUMANIST and using electronic mail, concordance packages bibliographic search systems, on-line textual data banks, personal computers, and so forth. If you think you might be interested in responding, please send me mail (address below), and I will send you a more complete statement of who I am, what I'm doing, and what burning questions I have for you. Karen Ruhleder (UC Irvine) ruhleder@ics.uci.edu From: Stephen Clausing <SCLAUS@YALEVM> Subject: computers and honest linguists Date: Tue, 03 Apr 90 15:36:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2148 (2670) At the recent Calico conference in Baltimore, I heard someone remark in a talk that "computers make linguists honest," meaning, of course, that bad linguistic theories and practices tend to be rewarded in kind when transferred to the computer. I thought this was a clever quote and I was curious if the saying is well-known, and if so, who started it. From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: play in discovery? Date: 3 April 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2149 (2671) I am looking for instances in which play, sport, accident, jest, or the like figure prominently in some discovery, scientific or otherwise. I'd be most grateful if these could be documented. Apocryphal stories (like the one about the apple that helped Newton discover gravity) are fine, but I am especially interested in historical incidents. Let be illustrate with one or two I know. I think Pound is supposed to have remarked to Eliot that he (depricatingly, about his poetry) made a racket at the front of the shop while the other went round to the back and stole all the goods. Now this is not exactly about play, but it makes the point that great things are obtained by indirection or by distraction, as if the conscious mind needed to be kept occupied so that the real activity could take place. Props for meditation have this function, I suppose. Another story I dimly remember has Linus Pauling attributing some great discovery he made (? about the chemical structure of DNA) to his habit of playing with those balls and sticks chemists construct their molecular models from. This may be another case in which the not-so-conscious mind works out a tough problem by playing. There's a weighty tradition of "playing seriously" (serio ludere) that Edgar Wind talks about in _Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance_. I know very little about this but can suppose that play-acting (drama) is connected to it. Wind mentions the role of the grotesque in mystery religions, and this suggests the terrifying beasts, noises, and so forth in initiation rituals. Any leads or suggestions? I wager some will think I've gone round some bend with this one, and that the question has nothing to do with computing in the humanities, but I assure you that it does. Or so I would like to think. Yours, Willard McCarty From: pdk@iris.brown.edu (Paul D. Kahn) Subject: Re: 3.1251 indexes and concordances for Asian languages? (27) Date: Tue, 3 Apr 90 09:50:04 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1255 (2672) Chinese dictionaries are organized by stroke count within radical group. I do not know how long this tradition has been in place. There are several different traditions of radical organization, but the one that identifies a little over 200 radicals (basic character particles from which more complex characters are built) currently prevails. I would suspect that the compilation of the Buddhist scriptures under the sponsorship of the Tang dynasty in the 7th century may have been an occasion for the kind of index/concordance we are familiar with in Europe. Contemporary with the early Roman period (circa 200 B.C.) there was a standardization of the written language by Chin Shi Huang Di, the First Emperor and this may have resulted in an early "dictionary" of sorts. I am aware of two modern examples that may offer some clues. Stephen Owen, of Harvard's East Asian Lang & Civilization Dept, who write extensively on the poetry of the Tang period, cites the source of each poem he translates and discusses in his The Great Age of Chinese Poetry: The High T'ang (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981) by number, using a Japanese edition of the Complete T'ang Poems (Hiraoka Takeo et al., comps. Todai no shihen, Kyoto,1964-65) which assigns a unique sequence number to each poem of the form "Todai no. 11433." This is not universal even among American scholars, as most of the other sources I use cite volume/page numbers in one of several older Chinese editions. Then there is the example of the late William Hung of the Harvard Yenching Institute who compiled a complete concordance of the the works of Tu + Fu (Du Fu) in the 1950s. I have not come across similar concordances for other classical Chinese poets or texts, but I work almost entirely in English sources and so am speaking out of great ignorance. I am most interested in hearing whatever replies you receive on this question. From: Michel Pierssens <PIERSENS@FRP8V11> Subject: Auerbach Date: Mar, 03 Avr 90 11:12:03 SET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1256 (2673) Thanks to W. McCarty and M. Sperberg-McQueen for tips about Auerbach's german version of FIGURA. I was finally able to locate a copy in the Bibliotheque Nationale. It was catalogued as a monograph in an obscure section of one of the card files catalogues (anyone who has ever worked in the BN knows what I am referring to). FIGURA was published in Istambul in 1944 in a collection of essays under the general title Neue Dantestudien. My student is now at work on his french annotated translation: I hope to see it in print some time. If it happens, HUMANIST will be the first to know. Michel Pierssens R22750 at UQAM PIERSENS at FRP8V11 From: Bob Taylor <BOBT@UORDBV> Subject: MacAdemia'90: A Preview Date: Mon, 2 Apr 90 22:32 EST(2) (96 lines) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1257 (2674) Dear Humanists, About eight weeks ago I posted a call on Humanist for proposals for the MacAdemia'90 conference, in Rochester, NY. Thanks to the terrific response from this electronic community, the strongest track in this year's conference program is the Humanities---and Apple Computer is practically dumbstruck with the number of humanities proposals in our database. (We had to turn down many worthy proposals.) I'm including a list of confirmed presenters (as of 4/2/90) for MacAdemia'90 in the fields of Humanities or Multimedia. If you'd like a copy of the preliminary program for the conference and registration materials, send a request to macinfo@cc.rochester.edu (Internet) or macinfo@uordbv (BITNET) and the folks in the conference office will snail mail everything to you. In the unlikely event that your e-mail gets bounced by our Mailer Daemons, send me a message and I'll pass your request on to the office. MacAdemia is an annual conference focusing upon the effective uses of Macintosh technologies in support of university education. It has always been held in the Northeast and this year it's being held in Rochester from May 29 through June 1, co-hosted by the University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Apple Computer. The conference theme this year is "Visions for Education". The local betting line is 3-to-2 that attendance this year will top 1,000. The registration fee for the conference is $50; the registration packet includes information about hotel and air travel discounts. The first two days of this year's conference will consist of 12 tracks of presentations (each presentation will last about an hour), hands-on training sessions, plenary sessions (one will focus upon the new features in Mac O/S 7.0), a vendor fair, and the traditional Apple gala evening event. The last day (Friday) will focus upon the use of the Macintosh in graphics arts and fine arts, a panel discussion on the Macintosh and writing programs (thanks, Marcia Halio), a software demonstration showcase, and meetings of special interest groups. More information about the keynote sessions, plenary sessions, the writing panel, and the software showcase will be available by the end of April. Best Wishes, Bob Taylor Faculty Computing Resource Center University of Rochester Internet: bobt@cc.rochester.edu Bitnet: bobt@uordbv - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Confirmed Presenters (as of 4/2/90) in Humanities or Multimedia tracks: Mark Coleman Associate Professor of English SUNY College at Potsdam "The Macintosh In The Writing Process: Teaching Writing On The Mac" Donald Wagner Instructor, Technical Communications Syracuse University "Writing in Heteromedia Environments" Robert Blake Mercer Brugler Distinguished Teaching Professor University of Rochester "Memories of Madrid: A Hypermedia Curriculum for Foreign Languages" Patrick Conner Professor of English West Virginia University "The Beowulf Workstation Stack: An Approach To Literature On The Macintosh" Janet Murray Senior Research Scientist Massachusetts Institute of Technology "Interactive Video for Language Learning" Davida Charney Assistant Professor of English Penn State University "Beyond Freshman Composition: Using Computers In Advanced Writing Courses" Harrison Eiteljorg, II Director Center for the Study of Architecture "CADD for Archaeology and Architectural History" Tracy Futhey Director of Computing, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Carnegie Mellon University "Computing in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Carnegie Mellon" Sebastian Heath Research Assistant Harvard University "The Perseus Project" Mark Veljkov IVD Design Specialist Western Washington University "Teaching Indicators of Child Sexual Abuse Using Interactive Multimedia" Douglas Chute Professor of Neuropsychology Drexel University "The Art of Lecturing with a Computer" John McDaid Assistant Professor New York Institute of Technology "Hypermedia, Writing, and Teaching" Peter Jurgensen Microcomputer Specialist Colgate University "HyperMedia for Critical Editions" Robert Dwyer Associate Director, Center for Communications Media University of Massachusetts at Boston "Vietnam Archives: A MultiMedia Database" Melbourne DeYoung Assistant Director, Composition Programs Penn State University "HyperMedia for College Freshmen: Placing Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' in its Political and Rhetorical Context" Mark Brown Assistant Professor Syracuse University "Using Smartslides In Lectures And Presentations" Annette Lamb Assistant Professor, Educational Technology University of Toledo "Hyper about HyperCard? Practical Ideas to Get Instructors Started" From: hcf1dahl@UCSBUXA.BITNET Subject: Laserwriters vs. typesetting Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 16:02:18 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2150 (2675) Yes, you can do a complete job of preparing camera-ready copy with a PC, a laser printer, and a desktop publishing program. However, although image files can be scanned and reproduced with satisfactory results, the results obtained with scanning of photographs are not too successful. Many will prepare everything but the photographs on the PC and then add the photographs with traditional halftone techniques. I would still do as much as possible on the PC rather than sending it out to a typesetter. The primary limitation on desktop publishing at the moment is the 300 dot per inch resolution of the typical laser printer. This is far short of the resolution of a typesetter at 1200 to 2400 dots per inch. Still, for many purposes it is quite satisfactory. If necessary, the output of a desktop publishing program can always be set out for printing on a typesetter. Regards, Eric Dahlin Humanities Computing Facility U.C. Santa Barbara hcf1dahl@ucsbuxa.bitnet From: PETERR@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: RE: 3.1249 software for mss. (18) Date: Tue, 3 Apr 90 09:14:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2151 (2676) Thank you Charles Faulhaber. I know of the UNITE package, and I am looking forward to exploring it for myself. Peter Robinson. From: "Michael Sperberg-McQueen 312 996-2477 -2981" <U35395@UICVM> Subject: costs of scanning Date: 4 April 1990 10:12:56 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2152 (2677) In his recent notes Michael S. Hart once more uses the slogan of 'ASCII only' text to confuse the issues of device independence and absence of markup. Perhaps it's time to clarify some basics. First of all, markup is not necessarily non-ASCII (many markup schemes use only ASCII characters), and ASCII-only text is not necessarily markup-free. Second, ASCII itself is not wholly device-independent (because many devices use other character sets, either non-U.S. standards or vendor-specific character sets). Readers of this list will recall extensive discussions in the past about network-safe character sets, the upshot of which was that only a subset of ASCII is generally assured of arriving legible at other nodes on the net. Nor is restriction to a specific set of characters by itself enough to ensure that texts are independent of specific devices or software. And finally the abolition of markup is not possible without lobotomizing our texts. Mr. Hart observes that to be reusable and survive long, machine-readable texts need to be portable to many machines. Right. From this he infers that they ought also to be markup-free. Wrong. To be useful and live long, texts should be device-independent, but to be useful they must not be markup free. The claim that texts can and should be represented without markup because markup is costly and subjective misses three boats. 1 No text is entirely free of markup in the broad sense with the possible exception of some older Greek and Hebrew manuscripts written in scriptio continua. 2 No clear boundary can be drawn between the "facts" of a text and our interpretation. Word boundaries are interpretive if the source is in scriptio continua, vowels are interpretive if the source is unpointed Hebrew or Arabic, verse boundaries are interpretive if the source is written run-on (as many medieval verse manuscripts are). The significance or insignificance of line breaks in a printed text is inherently an interpretive decision (which may have important text-critical implications in, say, the First Folio). All these interpretations can be expressed in ASCII-only texts without any SGML or similar markup. 3 The restriction of markup to that provided directly by ASCII -- effectively a restriction to procedural markup readily performed by a teletype machine of the late 1950s (tabs, carriage returns, line feeds, backspaces, and the occasional bell) represents a misguided and inadequate theory of texts which in effect claims that the only important thing about a text is its sequence of graphemes. *** No electronic tool working with such a text can possibly know anything interesting about it. *** There is no representation of chapter divisions or sentences, and so no reliable searching for words co-occurring within those contexts. There is no indication of structure within (say) a dictionary entry, so one cannot search for 'French' or 'F.' used within definitions or quotations as opposed to within etymologies. Nor can one search reliably for the date '1791', because it must be manually disambiguated from a reference to 'p. 1791' or other numbers. (Dictionaries are really an appallingly bad example for any proponent of markup-free texts to choose.) ASCII has no representation for dialect or language shifts and thus no ability to distinguish English 'the' from older French or German 'The'. And of course there is no real way to represent French or German texts in ASCII because ASCII has no method of representing diacritics. Simplicity and system-independence are good goals. But adequacy of our representation of the text is an even more important goal. If our representations of texts are not usable and lack all attempt to deal with the realities of texts' complexities, then they are not much use to anyone no matter how simple and system-independent they are. The TEI is an attempt to provide precisely what is lacking: a documented, device-independent, intellectually serious markup scheme for texts used in literary, linguistic, and other textual research. We should not be aiming at markup-free texts. We should be aiming at device-independent texts with enough markup to do what we want to do with them. (Room for lots of flexibility on that point.) The 'ASCII-only' slogan is misleading and chimerical. -Michael Sperberg-McQueen ACH / ACL / ALLC Text Encoding Initiative University of Illinois at Chicago From: elli@harvunxw.BITNET (Elli Mylonas) Subject: Scanning texts Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 13:00:43 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2153 (2678) I would just like to add some more numbers to the confusion. It seems to me that good accuracy can be obtained at a respectable price, and even have some basic tagging thrown in, when texts are keyboarded. We get Greek done at over 99% accuracy --that translates to an error or two a page, at most--for $2500 a Mb. Texts are typed in twice, and compared, which eliminates most typos. The data entry is done off-shore, and can take less than a month for several megabytes, counting mailing it to the American middleman, and having it arrive back, via him. (That adds about 10 days on) In any case, once a pipeline is started, it goes quite fast. This handles accuracy and data entry. As for tagging, the keypunch people will add minimal tagging, or extensive tagging if it has been marked in the book. As a matter of fact, the texts that come back have my tagging scheme pencilled in, throughout. Unfortunately,the keyboarders or their mark-up person can only handle tagging sections of text that are visibly differentiated from the rest on their own. They are very good and consistent at following a pattern, and please note, they are doing Greek to beta code!! If, to the $2500 for the data entry, we add $500 (20 hours of a high level person to do markup before data entry, and some basic verification after it, then we are still at $3K a Mb. That is a far cry from $40K for 4 Mb. This process can certainly be used for newer books that do not have complex structures, and so will not require sophisticated tagging. But we were not really talking about tagging to begin with!! That's it for this fuel on the fire. Elli Mylonas, Managing Editor, Perseus Project Harvard University From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1253 e-texts, stemmatology, scanning (107) Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 14:54:16 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2154 (2679) re: Bob Hollander's comments. We are in contact with both his project at Priceton-Rutger, and with Dartmouuth directly. While we offer to assist with proofreading, scanning, etc, we have received no requests for assistance with the Dante project. Perhaps someone could clarify if the Dante project does ONLY COMMENTARIES or the Dante text itself, and whether the Dante text is available in English. Project Gutenberg deals only with English etexts, and tries to put its efforts into doing etexts of original works, rather than on works about other works, even as much as we would like to do the Annotated Alice, someday. Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**) (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET) From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1253 e-texts, stemmatology, scanning (107) Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 14:59:07 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2155 (2680) re Bob Hollander's other point, concerning ACCURACY in etexts. The mounds of time and money he claims is being spent checking for ACCURACY, as he puts is, are being misspent. One of the greatest advantages of etext is that the users can easily correct any errors. Examples: the University of Illinois library used to have an excellent book on ROBITICS listed in the Library Computer Service, through which about 75% of the materials are checked out. Any time a patron finds such an error, they can report it, either by phone or by email. To hire people to proofread the entire catalog every few years would be a waste, but the system is self-improving in this manner, AND AT MINIMAL EXPENSE. Michael S. Hart From: Michael S. Hart Subject: Reply to Ken Steele Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 14:09:24 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2156 (2681) I would suggest Mark Zimmermann's FREE TEXT as an example of ANY USEFUL text retrieval which requires NO MARKUP. It is also available free of charge. Please send inquiries to HART@UIUCVMD, and I will forward them. Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg From: Jim O'Donnell (Penn, Classics) Subject: Serendipity Date: 03 Apr 90 22:21:51 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2157 (2682) A.E. Housman, *The Name and Nature of Poetry* (Cambridge, 1933), 48-50: `Having drunk a pint of beer at luncheon--beer is a sedative to the brain, and my afternoons are the least intellectual portion of my life--I would go out for a walk of two or three hours. As I went along, thinking of nothing in particular, only looking at things around me and following the progress of the seasons, there would flow into my mind, with sudden and unaccountable emotion, sometimes a line or two of verse, sometimes a whole stanza at once, accompanied, not preceded, by a vague notion of the poem which they were destined to form part of. Then there would usually be a lull of an hour or so, then perhaps the spring would bubble up again. I say bubble up, because, so far as I could make out, the source of the suggestions thus proffered to the brain was an abyss which I have already had occasion to mention, the pit of the stomach. When I got home I wrote them down, leaving gaps, and hoping that further inspiration might be forthcoming another day. Sometimes it was, if I took my walks in a receptive and expectant frame of mind; but sometimes the poem had to to be taken in hand and completed by the brain, which was apt to be a matter of trouble and anxiety, involving trial and disappointment, and sometimes ending in failure. I happen to remember distinctly the genesis of the piece which stands last in my first volume. Two of the stanzas, I do not say which, came into my head, just as they are printed, while I was crossing the corner of Hampstead Heath betwene the Spaniard's Inn and the footpath to Temple Fortune. A third stanza came with a little coaxing after tea. One more was needed, but it did not come: I had to turn to and compose it myself, and that was a laborious business. I wrote it thirteen times, and it was more than a twelvemonth before I got it right.' From: GORDON DOHLE <DOHLE@Vax2.Concordia.CA> Subject: RE: 3.1254 classics? honest linguists? play in discovery? (96) Date: Tue, 3 Apr 90 22:57:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2158 (2683) Play in Discovery. It has been some time since I read it, so cannot vouch for the "play", but I believe the DNA reference should not be to Pauling but to Watson and Crick, "The Double Helix" Gordon Dohle@Vax2.Concordia.ca From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1254 classics? honest linguists? play in discovery? (96) Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 01:48:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2159 (2684) Wasnt Mozart the one who played billiards and compsd string quartets, etc. , in his head meanwhil, and then wrote them down? Kessler to McCarty. The great r story was the dream of the omphalos snake the Kekuli said he had a busstop, and that was the benzene ring. Omphalos snake meaning it swallowed its tail. Ke ssler From: "Patrick W. Conner" <U47C2@WVNVM> Subject: 3.1254 classics? honest linguists? play in discovery? (96) Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 09:14:08 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2160 (2685) The subject of unconscious discovery while the conscious brain is otherwise engaged is taken up in Richard Young, Alton Becker, Kenneth Pike's RHETORIC: CHANGE AND DISCOVERY, pub. HBJ a couple of decades ago. I can't find my copy now (could it be my son has borrowed it, because he's getting serious about his writing? nahhh.), but there are several examples of such discoveries therein. Also, once beyond the dimly-remembered past beyond recall (when on the world the mists began to fall), I think I remember being told by a Yale PhD (that's as close as I can get to authenticating this) that Jim Watson was working on the structure of DNA using Linus Pauling's tri-partite model for the molecule, which simply wouldn't contain all of the atoms in a way that explained the molecule's functions. It was (according to the story) only after engaging in sex and then observing his partner's body as she lay there (wherever THERE was...) that he realized again the importance of bilateral symmetry in successful life forms, and immediately conceived (!) the structure of the molecule. All that remained to do was to test his theory. (Francis Crick oughta be in this story somewhere, but I don't think he was...) I should add that this is a story which made the rounds some years ago about a public person, it may not be true at all, and I offer it to HUMANIST only as an excellent example of Willard's general interest in Playing Seriously. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: Date: 4 April 1990, 09:18:17 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2161 (2686) On serious play, for Willard: The story about Pauling might be more concerned with Watson and Crick constructing *successful* models than with his own failure to do so at the right moment. You also need to work with theories of serendipity (play at one thing, discover something else more serious), as with the *mistake* of the 3-M chemist who discovered the adhesive that didn't work and then invented Post-It Notes or the use of spaceship nose-cone material for Teflon coating of frying pans. As for the idea of serious play, the voluminous literary scholar C.A. Patrides somewhere probably published a paper I heard about eight years ago on the subject, but I can't put my hands on any reference. Roy Flannagan From: Todd Lawson <LAWSON@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: play Date: Wed, 04 Apr 90 11:05:57 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2162 (2687) Dear Willard, your recent query is most important in my view. After reading Huizinga's Homo Ludens I felt as if I had been to the mountain top. This was some years ago, and my ardor has subsided a bit, but it is such a major topic! The recent number of Studies in Religion (vol 18, no. 4, 1989) has an article enti tled "The emergence of born-again sport" by Brian W. Aitken. I heard a version of this paper a few Learneds ago. You might find the article of some interest (and his references). I'll keep my eyes peeled for you but there is certainly an element of "play" running threough Mark Taylor, Erring: A Postmodern A/theol ogy an attempt at applying deconstruction to theology. Todd From: Tzvee Zahavy <MAIC@UMINN1> Subject: query Date: Wed, 04 Apr 90 12:57:36 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2163 (2688) Take a look at the book Serendipity: Accidental Discoveries in Science by Royston M. Roberts Wiley, New York, 1989. From: 6067THOMPSON@MUCSD.BITNET Subject: Query about Programming on Mac Plus Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 08:12 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2164 (2689) Recently Eric Johnson posted a message about a programming course. I am interested in learning to program on my MacPlus (Finder 6.1; System 6.0.2; 1 meg internal memory). Can anyone tell me if there is a Public Domain version of MaxSPITBOL, or something equivalent to that, available? And if so, where? Thanks. RIch Thompson 6067THOMPSON@MUCSD.BITNET From: ELFJ@VAX5.CIT.CORNELL.EDU Subject: Position Wanted Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 10:22 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2165 (2690) POSITION WANTED I am looking for a position as a computer support provider/coordinator in an academic setting. For the past 5 years I have been the Computer Support Specialist for the College of Arts and Sciences as Cornell University. I provide training, consulting and troubleshooting for faculty, staff and grad students in Humanities departments, and advise the Dean's office on computer related issues. I set up and direct the Humanities Computing and Humanities Desktop Publishing facilities, and supervise support staff. I have experience with Mac and DOS based systems, networking, email, mainframe connectivity, etc. If you know of any relevant positions available at your institutions, please contact me by email or usmail. Resume and references are available on request. Thank you. Linda Iroff 24 Uptown Village Ithaca, NY 14850 607-257-0327 elfj@crnlvax5.bitnet elfj@vax5.cit.cornell.edu From: Richard Goerwitz <goer@sophist.uchicago.edu> Subject: make them work to reel you in Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 01:47:08 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1262 (2691) Recently, I saw an announcement for a conference devoted to using Apple computers - specifically Macs - in education. It read, in part: MacAdemia is an annual conference focusing upon the effective uses of Macintosh technologies in support of university education. It has always been held in the Northeast and this year it's being held in Rochester from May 29 through June 1, co-hosted by the University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Apple Computer. The conference theme this year is "Visions for Education". You get the idea. There are several notions implicit in this announcement that one cannot help but wonder at. The most remarkable of these notions is that Apple computer, deep down, has any real visions for education. Apple, as I am sure the more informed readers are aware, is the company that has gone rampant in their efforts to prevent others from using even the general "look and feel" of their products. Some have - I think very aptly - characterized this behavior as being a bit like insisting that each and every car use a different pedal placement because one particular manufacturer (which initially borrowed its overall concept from another manufacturer [let's call it Xerocks]), wants to force everyone into a proprietary purchasing pattern. This is not to say that Apple's products are bad. In fact, I'll be the first to state that, for multilingual, screen-oriented work, the Mac just doesn't have a rival. We have to think, though, of what it will be like to be married to Apple for ten years or so, without the possibility of an easy divorce. My feelings are echoed by a blurb I found in a text file that came with the GNU Emacs distribution: You might have read about the new look-and-feel copyright lawsuit, Apple vs. Hewlett Packard and Microsoft. Apple claims the power to stop people from writing any program that works even vaguely like a Macintosh. If they and other look-and-feel plaintiffs triumph, they will use this new power over the public to put an end to free software that could substitute for commercial software. The real issue here is what constitutes fair competition in the marketplace. Does Apple have the right to protect even the appearance of its products? Surely using pictures and icons is not new. Even in the world of graphics interfaces, Xerox preceded Apple at this game (Xerox is now suing Apple!). I'm sure we'll all agree that we, as users, will benefit greatly from increased, fair competition in the marketplace. To me - and to many others - it hardly seems reasonable to try to prevent one computer firm from making a graphic computer interface that looks or acts like one made by another firm (especially when the concept of graphically-oriented interfaces was nothing new). As long as there is no real fraud or mislabeling, this sort of one-upsmanship keeps vendors on their toes, and prevents them from overcharging. To say that I, as a programmer, can't write a program that integrates smoothly with other programs I've used (i.e. has a similar "look and feel") is an absurdity that could only make sense in the queer world of an American courtroom. I feel my collar getting warm. The GNU document quoted above continues: In the weeks after the suit was filed, USENET reverberated with condemnation for Apple. GNU supporters Richard Stallman, John Gilmore, and Paul Rubin decided to take action against Apple's no-longer-deserved reputation as a force for progress. Apple's reputation comes from having made better computers; but now, Apple is working to make all non-Apple computers worse. If this deprives the public of the future work of many companies, the harm done would be many times the good that any one company does.... Note the distinction made above between "making better computers" and "working to make all non-Apple computers worse." The first involves quality control, innovation, good customer service, and in short, everything that makes a computer worthy of a purchase. As I am told by foreigners is typical of American industry these days, Apple has turned from an intensely innovative, product-driven enterprise into a great source of income for a bunch of obstructionist lawyers. Oh, please, where are the Japanese? All of this has important ramifications for us individual users. Mac users just cannot sit by idly, paying double or triple what MS-DOS users often pay for similar equipment, while Apple laughs, as they say, all the way to the bank. You will be getting yourself into a long and tough journet that, while appearing to lead in a direction you want to go, actually takes a sharp U-turn up the road. Some of you may be considering using, buying, or recommending Macintoshes; you might even be writing programs for them or thinking about it. Please think twice and look for an alternative. Doing those things means more success for Apple, and this could encourage Apple to persist in its aggression. It also encourages other companies to try similar obstructionism. Just a little more cynicism among microcomputer users would be healthy. Often what happens is that, after spending thousands of dollars to get a computer, and hundreds of hours learning to work with it, users begin to identify with their "captor." They defend their precious computers with more zeal than their spouses or children. It's time we all recognized that this sort of attachment to a product is extremely unhealthy. Let's all give Apple a big scare, and just for once consider other options. The need for considering other options seems especially acute for educational institutions and for people who at least give a passing nod to "intellectual freedom." In both cases, there is the problem of funding. I fear that buying Apple is like taking cocaine. "Here, have some for free," says the greedy pusher, as he offers children bits of his white magic. What seems cheap and fun in the short run quickly turns into an addiction. The pusher knows that many will be back, and that then he can charge whatever he wants (ah, the look, feel, and *cost* of Apple). I stray into hyperbole. Let me try to be more down-to-earth. I take the following quote once again from the GNU distribution: You might think that your current project ``needs'' a Macintosh now. If you find yourself thinking this way, consider the far future. You probably plan to be alive a year or two from now, and working on some other project. You will want to get good computers for that, too. But an Apple monopoly could easily make the price of such computers at that time several times what it would otherwise be. Your decision to use some other kind of machine, or to defer your purchases now, might make sure that the machines your next project needs are afford able when you need them. The message, to me, is that educators and educational institutions - which pride themselves on farsightedness and open thinking - should be the first to stand up and say "no" to Apple. It is dreadfully important that we *not* get all worked up about what is, after all, just another commercial product. The rest of the computer industry is beginning to realize that standards are important to users. The US government is even forcing them to conform to a set of guidelines for systems interfaces which is mainly Unix-based (I let pass Apple's sleazy attempt to pass off its version of Unix as a real, portable Unix system). Apple is bucking this trend in a way that should make every sensitive and far-sighted user suspicious of their prospects in any close, long-term relationship. I've never been a fan of Nancy Reagan, but I'll take a leaf out of her book: Apple Computer - just say "no." Again I exaggerate to make my point. Don't think that I am telling Mac users to throw out their machines. What I am really after is a more even-handed and realistic attitude towards a company whose track record is increasingly blackened by a lack of basic innovation, and a tendency to whittle away creativity by indulging in nonproductive legal disputes. If you own a Mac, be willing at least to consider other options. And (even if you do not intend to do so) at least pretend that you MIGHT possibly buy another machine when the time comes. Don't be a limp fish. Make them work to reel you in. -Richard L. Goerwitz goer%sophist@uchicago.bitnet goer@sophist.uchicago.edu rutgers!oddjob!gide!sophist!goer From: <HARDERR@CLARGRAD> Subject: Forgn dicts Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 01:44 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1263 (2692) Two products that may be of interest to Humanists. The most recent Eisenbraun's catalog lists a CD-ROM that contains: Multilingual Dictionary for CD-ROM *Languages of the World* "contains eighteen bilingual and multilingual dictionaries covering twelve languages: Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish. This exciting database offers instantaneous translations, definitions, antonyms, synonyms, and idioms. Any language can be translated into any other. Includes CD-ROM database disk, 5 1/4 Search System floppy disk and easy-to- follow users manual." Retail: $950 Discount: $798. Eisenbrauns POB 275 Winona Lake, IN 46590-0275, USA. FAX 800-736-7921, Outside USA 219-269- 6788 Voice (how quaint!): 219-269-2011. Also: Moby Hyphenator 150,000 unique Engl wds, fully Hyph and Syllab. Moby Parts of speech 200,000+ prioritized list of principle parts of speech. Moby Pronunc. 150,000+ completely IPA marked. ASCII, Mac or DOS formatted disks. Illumined Unabridged, Montgomery, CA, 408- 373-1491 I know **NOTHING** about either of these products. These are just from mailing lists I'm on. This is NOT an endorement!!! One thing I can endorse is Cliff Stoll's new book: *The Cuckoo's Nest* the story of a Berkley radical who acccidently stumbled onto an international Network terrorist/Spy ring. A well written, entertaining, personal account of a major international incident. I am planning to use it as a textbook in a "Telecommunications for non-CS people" class. Good intro to Baud rates, modems, networks, etc. Presented more as a mystery than a textbook! The book is really interesting, informative, and (Gosh) down right fun to read. Raymond G. Harder HARDERR@CLARGRAD Azusa Pacific University California, USA From: Elaine Brennan and Allen Renear <EDITORS@brownvm.brown.edu> Subject: Transition Announcement Date: Tue, 3 Apr 90 21:36:36 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1264 (2693) Transition Schedule: The Humanist Transition from Toronto to Providence goes on apace; much of the behind-the-scenes work has been accomplished, although much also remains to be done. It is time to give all Humanists first warning, and to announce the schedule for the next 2 weeks, after which time, Humanist will emanate from LISTSERV at BROWNVM. Final submissions of Humanist postings to Willard should be made BY Tuesday, April 10. He will doff his Humanist-Editor hat sometime during the balance of that week. He will then assume the laurels of President of the Humanist Advisory Board and Founding Editor of Humanist (and most importantly to us: Advisor to Apprentice Editors!) *Please* then save your Humanist submissions until you receive the 'HUMANIST is Back' message. We anticipate that we will be able to bring Humanist back up on Monday or Tuesday, April 16 or 17. Our first mailing will be a test of the routing paths from Providence. Then we will post the 'Humanist is Back' message. Once you receive that message, your submissions will be welcome at Humanist at BROWNVM or Humanist at BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU. Please also bear with us as the inevitable problems and glitches associated with the transfer occur; we're cramming hard to learn everything that goes into keeping Humanist operating -- but if we only post one irrelevant message along the way, we'll be very surprised! Elaine & Allen individually: Elaine Brennan (womwrite at brownvm.brown.edu) Allen Renear (allen at brownvm.brown.edu) From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@UMTLVR.BITNET> Subject: Accidental Discoveries,... Date: Thu, 5 Apr 90 01:34 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2166 (2694) Gerald Ford, former President of the US accidentally discovered that he could walk and chew a gum at the same time! Quite a progress for someone who could not get off a plane without falling from the stairs. But this has probably nothing to do with your very serious on the subject. Humourously yours, Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal E-mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca From: Rich Mitchell <MITCHELR@ORSTVM> Subject: Play and Creativity Date: Thu, 5 Apr 90 02:43:41 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2167 (2695) "Mountain Experience" (University of Chicago Press, 1983), in its concluding chapters, argues that a generous hospitality toward newness, the unknown, a willingness to juggle the modalities of perception and feeling, are prerequisite to creative acts of all sorts - art, scientific exploration, and compelling personal relationships. Josef Piepers excellent essay "Leisure as the Basis of Culture" makes a similar point. From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.1260 serious play (157) Date: Thu, 5 Apr 90 10:00:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2168 (2696) Humanists might also be interested in Gerald Holton, _Thematic Origins of Scientific Thought, Kepler to Einstein_, rev. ed. (Harvard UP, 1988). John Slatin From: Sheizaf Rafaeli (313) 665 4236 21898MGR at MSU Subject: Date: 5 April 1990, 12:43:19 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2169 (2697) Willard (and other ludenic HUMANISTS): I have referred to the role of play (frivolous and otherwise) in several computerized contexts: You may want to check-out S. Rafaeli (1990) "Interacting with Media: Parasocial interaction and Real interaction", _Information and Behavior_, vol. 3, 125-181 (Ruben and Lievrouw, eds.) S. Rafaeli (1989) "SOAPWARE: The fir between software and advertising" _Information and Software Technology_, vol 31:5, 268-75. S. Rafaeli (1988) "Interactivity: From new media to communication", _Sage Annual Review of Communication Research_, vol 16, 110-134. (Hawkins, Weimann and Pingree, eds.) S. Rafaeli (1986) "The Electronic bulletin board: A computer driven mass medium", _Computers and the Social Sciences_, Vol. 2:3, 123-136. You should of course also consult earlier works by Papert (on LOGO - MINDSTORMS, and in the collection edited by Ron Rice titled _The New Media_. I would love to hear what you plan to do with this. I think the playful aspect of using computers for serious purposes is underinvestigated. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: Serendipity and walking Date: 5 April 1990, 13:38:40 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2170 (2698) Thanks to the person (sorry, I don't have the file handy for checking) who quoted Housman on serendipitous walking. Which makes Housman into someone who practiced peripatetic serendipity, which we all ought to do more often, walking being good for the valves and joints and spirit. Housman was probably also practicing paraphasia (if not paraphilia) which indicates that if one can combine Greek and Latin scholarship with walking, and Housman did just that, one will gain health in mind and body, and write very good poetry as well. Roy Flannagan (who would love to walk the Cornish coast someday) From: Brian Whittaker <BRIANW@YORKVM2> Subject: Date: Thu, 5 Apr 90 19:09:15 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2171 (2699) Subject: I have a distant memory of reading that Goethe perfected his poetic rhythms by reading his poetry aloud after love-making and gently tapping out the beat on his mistress' bare bottom. I believe that Goethe tells the story in his autobiographical _Dichtung und Wahrheit_. Perhaps this method could be used to revive student interest in the study of scansion. This method is, I would hasten to add, entirely non- sexist, since it can be practised by a poet or student of any gender with an assistant of any gender... bottoms are not gender-specific. Brian Whittaker. From: Michael Ossar <MLO@KSUVM> Subject: MacAdemia Conference Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 23:04 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2172 (2700) People who would consider participating in a MacAdemia conference are a bunch of nuts. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: expensive, not expansive, Macs Date: 5 April 1990, 15:43:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2173 (2701) Hats off to Richard Goerwitz for making it very clear what Apple has been doing that is morally wrong. While still pretending to be the computer for the rest of us rebels, Apple is by its lawsuits and its closed architecture and its protected interface showing a protectionism worthy of a Romanian dictator. Not that IBM has not been guilty of much of the same proprietary behavior. I forced myself to wait for an IBM clone to appear on the market when I was told that the cable to connect the original IBM to its monitor would cost about $250 and was sold only by IBM. Both major companies are now at least to some extent hide-bound and inflexible. There are basically two reasons why I have never bought a Macintosh: (1) how it works is hidden from me, and, (2) if I buy something to make the Mac better I have to buy it from Apple. There is no clone market helping to keep Apple honest or competitive--except, perhaps, for Stephen Jobs's NeXT. Compaq, Dell, Everex all keep IBM hopping and hoping to do something genuinely innovative. Because of the open architechture and the vacant slots in IBM's new machines, and because of MS-DOS as a standard operating system, IBM's attitude toward innovation comes out looking cleaner than Apple's. (This all has very little to do with preference for one type of machine over the other; in fact, the Macs, the PS2's and the clones are looking more and more similar every day, despite all the look and feel cases.) Roy Flannagan From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" <ERIC@SDNET> Subject: MaxSPITBOL for the Macintosh Date: Thu, 5 Apr 90 15:26:41 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2174 (2702) In answer to the question by Rich Thompson and others, MaxSPITBOL is certainly NOT in the public domain. It will run on any Macintosh with 128K or larger ROM (it will not run on a 64K ROM machine); the minimum RAM required is 384K, but more is useful; system version 4.1 or above is needed. This excellent implementation of SPITBOL provides pull-down menus, on-line help, and all the features that Macintosh users expect in first-class applications. The cost of MaxSPITBOL is $195.00, but I have asked Catspaw, Inc., if there could be a discounted price for students in the course on programming for the humanities which I plan to teach via BITNET. -- Eric Johnson ERIC@SDNET.BITNET From: CLSLC@SAVA.ST-ANDREWS.AC.UK Subject: gutenberg Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 9:49 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2175 (2703) I keep coming across references to something called Project Gutenberg on this list and others, all of which are signed by someone called Michael Hart. Has any other Humanist any experience of this Project? More specifically, has anyone ever seen anything produced by this Project? Please reply to this list as I am only visiting St Andrews by the Sea From: janus@ux.acs.umn.edu Subject: inquiry: HyperCard offspring Date: Thu, 5 Apr 90 01:20:48 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2176 (2704) Has anyone used either SuperCard or Plus, the two HyperCard- like Macintosh programs. Can you tell me how you like each one, what advantages do they have over HyperCard? Any disadvantages, other than cost? I plan to continue developing natural language teaching stacks, including digitized sounds. Thanks. Louis Janus Scandinavian Dept. University of Minnesota From: Marc Bregman <HPUBM@HUJIVM1> Subject: Greek with accents on Lettrix or similar dotmatrix driver Date: Thu, 5 Apr 1990 11:17 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2177 (2705) I am looking for a Lettrix font for Greek with the accents and breathing marks superimposed on the letters which receive them. I would also like to know if anyone can tell me how to backspace accents, Hebrew vowels etc. onto characters using a dotmatrix printer without having character spaces deducted from the right margin. I am interested in producing text in which the primary language is Hebrew (vowel points not necessary but would be useful if possible), with English and full international character set, and Greek with accents. For the moment I am using the Israeli version of NotaBene with an FX- compatible (actually a Panasonic knockoff) dotmatrix printer. I would be grateful to hear from anyone who has worked on producing similar types of text using Lettrix or similar printer programs. Marc Bregman, Jerusalem (HPUBM@HUJIVM1) From: Hans Borchers <NUBO001@DTUZDV1> Subject: Computers in Am Lit, Film & Art Date: Thu, 05 Apr 90 14:32:08 CET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2178 (2706) Greetings from Tuebingen: A graduate student in my department is planning to write a dissertation on (man ifestations, the image of, the role of) computers in American literature, film and art. This appears to be a topic about which not much has been done so far ( ?), so I would appreciate any kind of information bearing on this topic. I woul d be particularly interested in basic information like bibliographies, related research, critiques of computers in American literature, etc. Since we've only started thinking about the topic, we'd also be grateful for leads on references to computers in primary sources (novels, short stories, films, visual arts, et c.) If anybody knows about dissertations already in progress on the general sub ject, please let me know about them. Thank you for your help. Hans Borchers University of Tuebingen Dept. of American Studies Wilhelmstr. 50 7400 Tuebingen Fed. Rep. of Germany nubo001@dtuzdv1 From: ANDREWO at UTOREPAS Subject: Desktop publishing - Ventura Publisher Date: 5 April 90, 09:47:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2179 (2707) As an experienced user of Ventura Publisher I am, in general terms, an admiring proponent of this programme whose versatility and overall quality never cease to amaze me. There is, however, a major bug which is a particular irritant to academic users: it concerns automatic footnoting. As currently implemented the programme will not allow footnotes to occupy more than half a page, will not carry the overspill to the next page and, moreover, where there are extensive footnotes on one page will "remember" space allocation for these footnotes on subsequent pages even if there are no footnotes! This results, as one may imagnine, in an unholy mess. Furthermore, the indexing feature of the programme will not take account of information to be found in footnotes entered with the automatic footnoting feature. Again, a severe limitation for academic users. It is possible manually to create footnotes of any size the information to be found in which will be recognized by the indexer! And the programme performs very well in this mode. It is, however, untidy as a procedure and quite time consuming. Despite constant phone calls to Xerox (which has been aware of the bug for a very long time) I have been unable to secure an assurance that the bug has been/is being fixed. Does anyone have better information than mine, or know someone who has produced a "fix". Many thanks. Andrew Oliver From: "Guy L. Pace" <PACE@WSUVM1> Subject: Info on American College of Montpellier Date: Thu, 05 Apr 90 10:39:00 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2180 (2708) Dr. Don Stem, acting chair of our marketing dept., is trying to contact Dr. Drew Hageman at the American College of Montpellier located in Montpellier, France. It may be a branch of the American College of Switzerland. If anyone has any information (bitnet ID, phone #, address) please respond as soon as possible. I will get this to Dr. Stem right away. Thanks. From: Sheizaf Rafaeli (313) 665 4236 21898MGR at MSU Subject: Date: 5 April 1990, 12:52:29 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1268 (2709) The issue of fair compensation for rent/use of intellectual property reappears constantly. I would like to refer HUMANISTS to my article "SOAPWARE: the fit between software and advertising" _Information and Software Technology_, Vol 31:5, (1989) p. 268-75. To (painfully) summarize: Neither legal nor technical approaches have ever or are likely to solve this "public goods" dilemma. This is one case where a social technology can serve as an answer to a social problem. One (partial) solution is by shifting the economic onus (who will pay for software/electronic text?) from the user, to those interested in the user's attention or time. A fair exchange of portions of the bandwidth for sponsorship. Much of public communication has undergone this transition. This is how modern news collection and dissemination is funded. Much of modern music, drama, popular culture etc. is now funded by advertising. Why not machine readable and/or executable knowledge? Hence -- SOAPWARE (as in Soap Operas). I will grant that the solution is not less thorny or controversial than the problem. There are ethical, philosophical and psychological issues to untangle. I have talked to several people who find this suggestion offensive. Notice the uproar regarding commercial educational television, and the recent books-with-ads controversy. The article discusses some ramifications and complications. I have predicted six years ago that this will occur for software and machine readable texts, and it is beginning to materialize now. Not all current applications are well done, but the idea is now less sci-fi (or maybe just less fi). Is this of interest to HUMANISTS? Sheizaf Rafaeli 21898MGR@MSU KBUSR@HUJIVM1 313-665-4236 (USA) 02-827676 (ISRAEL) From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Schedule for translation of Humanist Date: 5 April 1990 (81 lines) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2181 (2710) As most of you will already know, Humanist is moving from Toronto to Brown University between Passover (10 April) and Easter Monday (16 April). The only day on which messages to Humanist are likely to get summarily turned away is Easter Monday. Humanist will, however, fall silent after its last transmission from Toronto on Thursday evening, 12 April. Please have patience with us during the period of translation. I must again personally apologize to all those who have recently joined the seminar, perhaps expecting their biographies to be promptly edited and circulated. My colleagues at Brown have just been sent two very large files with approximately the last 3 months' accumulation of biographies in them -- untouched! Work of other kinds has overwhelmed me, so I have been unable to do what I should. Yours, Willard McCarty From: Harry Hahne <HAHNE@UTOREPAS> Subject: Library Master Publisher and New Features Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2182 (2711) All orders for the LIBRARY MASTER bibliographic and textual database management system should now be sent to the following address: BALBOA SOFTWARE 61 Lorraine Drive Willowdale, Ontario M2N 2E3 Canada (416) 730-1896 Questions, requests for demos and program support are still available on BITNET at HAHNE@UTOREPAS. Orders should include a check payable to "BALBOA SOFTWARE" (in U.S. or Canadian funds) or a university purchase order. The price is still $179 U.S. ($199 Canadian), plus $10 shipping ($25 outside North America) and 8% provincial sales tax for Ontario residents. Student and multiple copy discounts are available. A revision of the program has been released which includes the several enhancements, including: 1. Optional lexical sorting, which treats upper case, lower case and accented characters the same. 2. Optional passwords, with different access levels for various users on the same database. Some users can only read data, others can add and edit records and others can modify the data structure. 3. Support for the HP LaserJet laser printer and Microsoft Word (Rich Text Format). 4. New report formatting commands: a. Field output in columns, with wrap around within the columns. This allows producing tabular reports and filling in forms. A column may contain a field, several fields (controlled by a Style Sheet), the Record Type name, Record Number or a numerical counter. Any text may be overlayed on the field data in the columns (for example to draw lines separating field columns). The combination of continuous text formatting (normally used for bibliographies) and column formatting (an enhanced version of the report formatting system found in programs like DBASE) gives LIBRARY MASTER unusual flexibility in report formats. b. Multiple Style Sheets in the same Format File. This has many uses, such as putting multiple fields in a column, different groups of fields in different columns, using Style Sheet features (such as multiple entry, name and empty field control) for determining the arrangement of different portions of the report, or comparing the effect of bibliographic styles on the same records. c. Numerical counters (e.g. to number references in a bibliography). 5. Substantially improved performance with databases of more than 10,000 records. Several important enhancements are currently under development. Some of the more important ones which are planned for the next version include: 1. Bibliographies automatically created from references cited in a text file. 2. In text formatting of footnotes and references in a text file based on the selected Style Sheet. 3. Ignore leading articles in searching titles. 4. Option to ignore case in searches. 5. Global search and replace of specified field contents in records meeting desired specifications. Any suggestions for improvements based on your review of the demo version of the program are welcomed. Sincerely, Harry Hahne From: Robert Hollander <bobh@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1259 scanning and encoding texts (204) Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 23:21:53 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2183 (2712) In reply to Michael S. Hart's two observations about the Dartmouth Dante Project: (1) The database consists of the text of the _Commedia_ in Italian and (eventually) sixty commentaries. Six of these are in English, four of which are not yet edited. If he knows of someone who would like to take on one of these, we'd be glad to have the assistance; and I'll be glad to serve as tutor and look over that person's shoulder. (2) Error correction by users _is_ a feature of our database. I still find typos when I consult it. One must remember that out editing consists not only of checking for accuracy (and our work has ranged from one to sixty errors per page when we got it back from various sources of data entry), but of formatting, regularizing line numbers and conventions for bolding and italics. In short, the editorial task is not trivial. To put these texts up for scholarly use in raw form would be an unconscionable act. Likewise, not to have the capacity to let users help us maintain the integrity of data would be foolish. Thus we follow both methods and will continue to do so. Robert Hollander bobh@phoenix.princeton.edu From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Yet more re: encoding texts and costs Date: Thu, 5 Apr 90 00:26:52 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2184 (2713) I think the whole issue of how much it should cost to get data entered and even the discussion of what should be marked up in texts is suffering from a lack of statement of premises and goals. Goals come forward when one writes proposals to specific funding sources. The first questions to be answered would then be `what works?' and for `what audience?' THEN, the issue of `what encoding would be adequate?' could be raised and from that the issue of `how much will it cost?' While there seems to be much well-reasoning argument in the current debate, there is no way it can be resolved unless people are talking about the same thing. From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@CC.UMONTREAL.CA> Subject: RE: 3.1259 scanning and encoding texts (204) Date: Thu, 5 Apr 90 01:18:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2185 (2714) Answer to Elli Mylonas - accuracy. An accuracy rate of 99% for scanning is far to low because, to me it means ten to twenty errors a page (1000-2000 characters). We are all trying to asymptotically reach the 100% accurary ideal but but I think that we should only be satisfied with a 99.99% rate which means 1 error per 10-20 page section. Asymptotically yours Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal E-mail: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca From: Tzvee Zahavy <MAIC@UMINN1> Subject: Scanning Date: Wed, 04 Apr 90 13:04:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2186 (2715) I deeply regret getting started with scanning. In order to have an accessible copy of my first book on computer I submitted the printed text for Kurzweil scanning at our University computer center. The scanned text of 365 pages is such a mess that it is taking about twice as much time for me to reformat it as it would have taken had I given the book to a secretary to type it directly into the computer. I suggest that only a closely monitored interactive scanning process could approximate in effectiveness and speed the skills of an accomplished typist working with a powerful wordprocessor. That may change or I may be wrong. For now I vote against any major investment in scanning the library of congress or even one book. From: Daniel Boyarin <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.1222 Optiram? Coining terms? Czech/English? (90) Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 23:25:09 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2187 (2716) For Czheck English wordprocessing Nota-Bene does fine on an ibm type computer with either ega/vga or hercules plus graphics. dragonfly software in ny could give you a list of supported printers. their phone number is 212-334-0445 sincerely, daniel From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1252 Notes & Queries: slurs, generation-skipping (111) Date: Mon, 2 Apr 90 21:30:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2188 (2717) For Scott Smith: Did I not read somewhere once that the Island of Mannhatta was not well-regarded by the tribe that "sold" it? They thought they were dumping it, in fact. Not so? Or is that another apocryphal rejoinder? Who, in any case, would today think to write a paean to it such as Paul Goodman's lovin g "epical" novel, EMPIRE CITY? Kessler at UCLA From: Donald Spaeth 041 339-8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Subject: Date: Thu, 5 Apr 90 12:41:32 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2189 (2718) Dear Willard, Richard Feynman, the physicist, related in a televised interview how a student tossing a plate in the air gave him an idea which led to a Nobel prize. Apparently, he saw someone toss up a plate with the university (Stanford?) crest in the cafeteria and the crest rotated at a different rate than the plate itself (or seemed to). This set him thinking. I'm afraid I don't remember the scientific details. Feynman used this anecdote to argue that pure science needs to be funded in its own right since one never knows what bright thoughts with unexpected applications pure science might come up with. Don From: ruhleder@sloth.ICS.UCI.EDU Subject: Re: Information Technology and Classical Scholarship Date: Fri, 6 Apr 90 20:35:03 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2190 (2719) Let me try to contribute a couple of stories about play, etc. leading to discovery. The one that comes to mind is about the discovery of the structure of the benzene. It is shaped like a ring and the scientist (whose name I cannot recall; my officemate thinks the name is Kekule) ``discovered'' the structure after dreaming about a snake that was writhing around, biting its own tail. The other one is Benjamin Franklin ``discovering'' electricity while flying a kite, which I'm sure is familiar to you. From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: serendipity in science Date: 6 April 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2191 (2720) My thanks to those who have sent in suggestions about serendipity and other sorts of play. Very helpful. Today I received by telephone news about another source that some of you may want to know about: Steven Shapin and Simon Schaffer, _Leviathan and the Air Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life_ (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985). I have only read a page or two, but the thing looks like a major discovery itself. Well written, a pleasure to read. Now, how often does that happen these days? My purpose in asking the question is to get clear a basic problem about electronic communication: what role does it play in the intellectual life, or what role could it play? Computers bring out the homo ludens in all of us, and I think that the playfulness of many contributions to Humanist has a very important function. By indirections we find directions out. Or so my twisted argument is developing. Yours, Willard McCarty From: ruhleder@sloth.ICS.UCI.EDU Subject: Burning Questions! Date: Fri, 6 Apr 90 20:50:56 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1273 (2721) First, I would like to thank you for responding and offering to share your experiences with me. The number and variety of responses I have received from HUMANISTs has been quite heartening. This is not a yes/no questionnaire. Instead, I will present a set of questions and issues of interest below and will leave it to you to decide on how they are best addressed or answered. Ideally, I would have liked to observe your pre-computer work habits and your post-computer work habits first hand, and interview you in person. Instead, a more pragmatic choice is to approximate this situation as closely as possible by asking you to share with me your experiences via e-mail. If you would prefer to talk in person, please mail me your phone number. If you'd prefer to send me ``paper-mail,'' my address is: Karen Ruhleder, Department of Information and Computer Sciences, Program for the Social Analysis of Computing, University of California, Irvine, CA 92717. I would like to stress that all responses, electronic or otherwise, are completely confidential. A general summary of my conclusions will be made available via HUMANIST, but will be presented in such a way as to obscure the identities of individuals or institutions. WHO AM I AND WHAT AM I DOING? I am writing a dissertation in which I evaluate how a new class of technologies changes the way that people do their work. I have selected classical scholarship as my case study. In order to map changes and to understand the context within which they occur, I focus on the activities that comprise the research process, the interactions between researchers and other members of the academic community, and the organizational arrangements within which they work. My study is qualitative in nature and relies primarily on data gathered via unstructured interviews with tool builders and users, documents of tool-building projects, etc. ``Tools'' can include anything from sophisticated data bank search systems to traditional concordances and 3x5 card indexes. For most people, the integration of new technologies is a gradual and sometimes very haphazard process. I am interested in understanding how you are integrating computers into your work. As the focus is on change, I am equally interested in how you did your work before you had access this new system or that new data base. BURNING QUESTIONS AND ISSUES: The issues of interest fall into three general categories: * How are various computer tools changing the way you do your work? * How are new technologies altering your interactions with others? * What kind of organizational infrastructures exist for the use of computer-based and/or non-computer-based tools? Please ignore what doesn't pertain to you and include anything else that you think might be relevant. Please include as many concrete and detailed examples as you can. I am not looking only at ``high-tech'' uses of advanced computer applications, so please don't think that anything you do is too mundane to mention! Some information about you: Sketch briefly your academic background, your research interests, and your technical background. Perhaps you have a vitae handy that you could send me. What are your current research projects? Work processes and structures: You might want to address this set of issues in terms of a current or recent project. What questions are you asking, what data sources do you use (documentary papyri, concordances, computer data banks)? If I were to observe you as you work, what kinds of research activities would I see you carrying out? Interactions with others: Consider all the people you might come into contact with while doing your work, including colleagues, librarians, administrators, and computer technicians. With whom do you share ideas or drafts, or collaborate on projects? Where and how do you disseminate your work. How do new technologies such as electronic mail (fax machines, photocopiers) affect these interactions? Organization and infrastructure: Consider all the institutional arrangements already in place to support research, from libraries to computer labs to funding agencies, which make it easy (or hard) to make use of certain texts or tools, travel to meetings, etc. What are the physical arrangements for using different materials or tools? What do you do when things go wrong (books aren't available, computers break down)? Who shows newcomers the available resources and teaches them to use unfamiliar technologies? General impressions: What do you see as the major changes in your discipline due to increased computerization? Are these good or bad? Have computers ``revolutionized'' the discipline? Further contacts: Are there other people, within or without the discipline, with whom I should get in touch in order to get a more complete picture? Any other comments or suggestions? Again, I appreciate any information you can offer, and thank you for the time you have taken in your response. I will send you a copy of a paper summarizing my conclusions in the (near) future. Karen Ruhleder From: John Lavagnino <LAV@brandeis.bitnet> Subject: Query: George Khairallah Date: Fri, 6 Apr 90 18:15 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1274 (2722) Does anyone know of the present whereabouts of George Khairallah, who taught at the American University in Beirut around 1979, and who wrote the volumes of poetry "Academe" and "The Making of Americans"? John Lavagnino English, Brandeis University From: HUMM@PENNDRLS (Alan Humm Religious Studies U. of Penn) Subject: Desktop Publishing Date: Friday, 6 April 1990 1707-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1276 (2723) hcfidahl1UCHBUXA recently responded to a query about the publishibility of output from desktop publishing programs with the correct observation that at 300 dpi, most laser printers produce type suitable only for certain less demanding requirements in humanities publishing. Two points, however should be added. First, the new HP series III can produce a pseudo 600 dpi, which may change this situation somewhat. Second, and more to the point, what you should be sending your publisher is probably not camera ready copy, but a Postscript or SGML version. Almost all Desktop Publishing programs will produce Postscript (fewer will give you SGML). In most cases your publisher can take your Postscript and get the typsetter's 1200 - 2400 dpi without having to go through the pain of re-entering the manuscript. In any case you should give your publisher an electronic copy (and negotiate for an electrinically published version). Be aware, though that typesetting is an art and many self-respecting publishers may not be happy with your amature typesetting. This will be balanced by their appreciation for saving money. Alan Humm (Humm@PENNdrls) Univ of PENN From: Peter Shillingsburg <SHILL@MSSTATE> Subject: Re: 3.1262 expensive Apples (172) Date: Fri, 6 Apr 90 16:52:09 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2192 (2724) Comment on Goerwitz political objections to Apple products I have a friend who refuses to use a rice cooker because its manufacturer sold computer components to Russia (in the old days). The cooker did a great job and seemed to me innocent of ideological inclinations. I own and use a Mac because it does what I want it to (or because what I want was shaped by what it does, I'm not sure I care which is right). Righteous indignation has its place, perhaps, but just how effective is RLG's proposal going to be in righting wrongs, and how much will it cost in ineffecient or second rate computer solutions to boycott Apple products? From: <JBOWYER@UNOMA1> Subject: Apples in Education Date: Fri, 6 Apr 90 07:26 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2193 (2725) After 7 years working full-time as a computer programmer, I took a "break" to teach English Composition at the local university. Although the university provided three user rooms filled with Zenith PCs, each including word processing software, none of the English Composition instructors required that students word process their papers. "What#!?," I thought. Therefore, I announced during the first day of class that students must learn to use the word processor and that all papers must be accompanied by a floppy disk; otherwise, I would not accept the paper (International students that I've taught--Japanese, Chinese, Czech--are like sponges, eager to learn any and everything. American students, in general, respond to three stimuli: money (which I don't have to offer), sensory numbing videos (which I can't produce), and force (my only option)). A problem arose when some of my students asked whether they could use the Apple computer that their parents had purchased during their high scholl (school) years to word process assignments. What a dilemma! Here we have a student whose parents were conscientious enough to get a computer for their kid. How can I tell this student that his/her parents, who probably chose Apple on the advice of some high school teacher (need I comment on the average American public school teacher?) who probably doesn't know that any other computer besides Apple exists, didn't make the best decision? I didn't. Instead, knowing that most students at state universities view a degree as a ticket to a high-paying job, I told these students that they must learn a word processor that runs on MS-DOS machines because most businesses use IBM-compatibles, not Apples. My standards might seem harsh, but please allow me to explain my reasoning. If I allow these students to continue with their Apple computer, my other students, who were "forced" to learn on an IBM-compatible, will become more marketable in the long run. Is that fair, especially when the Apple students had parents who cared enough (or could afford, granted) to get their kid a computer in high school? I think not. In general, I would NEVER recommend an Apple computer for several reasons: -- Apple does not allow competition, which leads to higher prices; -- Most businesses do not use Apple computers; -- Technically, Apples are very inefficient machines (they waste a lot of horsepower generating those pretty pictures); -- Apple's management is currently in disarray. I wouldn't be surprised to see another debacle on the order of Ashton-Tate Inc., maker of DBase IV, occur at Apple; -- Much more software exists for IBM-compatible machines than Apples. Jeff Bowyer University of Nebraska at Omaha From: Subject: Apple computers Date: Fri, 6 Apr 90 12:19:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2194 (2726) Apple computers, as anyone who has been in touch with any sort of newspaper in the last ten years will know, have tried to sue/garrotte/hang upside-down in a vat of warm marmalade/tickle teasingly with feathers/etc etc . anyone who uses the word or logo "Apple" (proceedings currently underway for a copyright problem in Genesis... y'know, that book by some religious geyser about 2'K' years ago.... I am training to be a Yank so I have to get the lingo goin', dudes....) The latest gem is actually that they are currently in conflict with the hilariously named (we British are so wacky) Beatle Apple Corps..... the reason being that Apple computers promised the hippy fellows not to get into music or creative stuff and Apple Corps promised not to get into computers, and the comp. chappies are currently interested in Musical Instrument Digital Interface stuff (I hate acronyms.... horrible creepy crawly things). But the thing that made me smile was the way the Independent on Sunday reported it. I quote; "...Apple computers plans to market a MIDI (a type of musical synthesiser". Wonderful, the British press, innit? Knows its stuff... I wonder if either of the fruits could sue the paper for libel about the nature of the product.... Anyway, it of course throws open the debate upon whether music computers are "Creative" and encourages the usual techno-whiz vs. Luddite squabbles. Still, you 'ave to larff, bless them. I will stick to eating bananas in future. Nice talking at you... Joe /x From: Germaine Warkentin <WARKENT@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Correcting e-texts Date: Thu, 05 Apr 90 07:44:48 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2195 (2727) Michael Hart observes "one of the greatest advantages of etext is that the users can easily correct any errors." The implications of this statement boggle my early-morning mind, and I can comment on only one or two here. I realize that the notion of an "established" text no longer has the validity (false, I agree) which it once had. But even those who are at work editing or studying what are now called "open texts" would, I believe, insist that responsibility to the original, whatever they determine that to be, is a scholarly necessity. Hart's concept of text (which I have been watching with increasing unease in his messages of recent days) seems to be a very different one, and surely requires fuller demonstration and careful argument. A second point is the hopeless lack of practicality in the idea of "each user" correcting his/her own text. I am editing a seventeenth-century library catalogue just now which one consultant early on told me should be published only in facsimile, so each user would be working directly with the text itself. This approach was unanimously rejected by all others commenting on the project precisely because it would require each new user to do again the work already undertaken by others. Michael Hart may possibly response that I don't quite understand what his etexts are for. No, I don't. I am a scholarly editor (wearing one of my hats) and I want to know that I am using texts which are as faithful to the editor's original (whatever he/she argues that original to be) as careful work can make them. How about it, Hollander? Germaine Warkentin, Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, Victoria College, University of Toronto. (Warkent@utorepas). From: Tzvee Zahavy <MAIC@UMINN1> Subject: Scanning Text (OCR) Date: Fri, 06 Apr 90 09:24:45 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2196 (2728) [deleted quotation] But for those of use who do not have a secretary or typist to type for us (or who can afford to pay one out of our own pocket), OCR is the only viable alternative to retyping the whole manuscript ourselves. I scanned a 5-page article formatted in two columns last night, and although I will have to proofread it carefully, I would have had to do that if I'd had a typist rekey it. What's the difference? I'll tell you: the typist would have cost me several dollars an hour, and (if a regular employee) much more than that in benefits. From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: penultimate notice of translation Date: 8 April 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2197 (2729) Dear Colleagues, Please note that the last contribution to Humanist-in-Toronto will be published tomorrow evening. Thereafter all contributions should be sent to Humanist@BrownVM once it officially starts operation on Tuesday, 17 April. Yours, Willard McCarty From: gxs11@po.CWRU.Edu (Gary Stonum) Subject: call for papers on intellectual property Date: Sat, 7 Apr 90 17:56:07 -0500 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2198 (2730) CALL FOR PAPERS Conference on intellectual property and the construction ofaAuthorship For an interdisciplinary conference to be held April 19-20, 1991, at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, the Society for Critical Exchange seeks papers exploring the idea of intellectual property in relation both to the insti- tutions and practices which gave rise to it and to those institutions and practices it has helped to produce or perpetuate. Some broad areas of relevance include liberal individualism; authorship (in the television, motion picture and music industries as well as in traditional arts and literature); copyright; reading, writing, and publishing practices; trademark, concepts of authenticity and forgery; censorship; and the structure of academic disciplines. Literary, economic, legal, philosophical, political, psychological, and feminist perspectives are all welcome. A selection of the conference proceedings will be published. Direct papers, proposals, abstracts, and inquiries to the conference organizers: Professor Martha Woodmansee Department of English Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH 44106 or Professor Peter A. Jaszi Washington College of Law American University Washington, D.C. 20016 From: EIEB360@UTXVM Subject: 3.1267 queries (142) Date: Sun, 8 Apr 90 04:00:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2199 (2731) Re: Hans Borchers' request for information about studies of computers in American lit., etc.: the best I can do is a general thing-- you might start with the January 1989 issue of _New Literary History_, a special issue on Technology and Literary Studies (I think it's volume 20). I am a subscriber to the Project Gutenberg list. John Slatin From: ELFJ@VAX5.CIT.CORNELL.EDU Subject: 300dpi desktop publishing Date: Mon, 9 Apr 90 07:49 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2200 (2732) Regarding the remarks about producting camera ready copy at 300dpi: Another method to improve resolution is to print in a larger font size and photoreduce the output. Many books are printed in a smaller format than the 8 1/2 x 11" standard output, allowing for a 60 - 70% reduction. This results in a 60 - 70% increase in resolution (say about 500 dpi) which is significantly enough better to warrent consideration. Linda Iroff Humanities Computing Center Cornell University elfj@crnlvax5.bitnet elfj@vax5.cit.cornell.edu From: W.Watson <ERCN94@EMAS-A.EDINBURGH.AC.UK> Subject: Re: Waddell / Hymns from the Paraclete Date: 10 Apr 90 00:02:24 bst X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2201 (2733) Apart from those who replied directly to Humanist, whom I hereby thank, namely James O'Donnell, Grover Zinn, and Paul Constantine (who reached me with TWO addresses), here are pruned versions of three messages which came direct, regarding "Hymns from the Paraclete" : [deleted quotation]+ Bill Watson @ uk.ac.edinburgh [within U.K. univ net, JANET] + Bill Watson % uk.ac.edinburgh @ UKACRL [from BITNET/EARN] + Bill Watson % uk.ac.edinburgh @ nsfnet-relay.ac.uk [from Internet] From: Daniel Boyarin <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.1272 serendipity, cont. (76) Date: Sat, 7 Apr 90 22:52:05 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2202 (2734) this is not about serendipity although i have enjoyed this discussion very much. i'm just takine a "tramp" on the automatic reply feature. by the way this is a classic example of a computer app pseudo-saving time, because i used the auto feature to save some typing of the address. to all those who wrote me for info about the cd rom of rabbinic lit, i was off bitnet for about three months owing to technical reasons. i will post on bitnet such infor as i can gather about price etc. in a day or two (actually a little more because passover is iminent). be well. From: Charles Ess <DRU001D@SMSVMA> Subject: Re: 3.1272 serendipity, cont. (76) Date: Sat, 7 Apr 90 11:50:07 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2203 (2735) The reference to Richard Feynmann's interest in spinning plates is a nice one: the text version of it can be found in the first collection of anecdotes put together by his friend, Ralph Layton, _Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynmann!_" It's around page 154 or so: I can get the exact reference the next time I'm in my office if anyone needs it. Charles Ess Drury College From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Re: [3.1272 serendipity, cont. (76)] Date: Mon, 9 Apr 90 08:12:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2204 (2736) Don Spaeth's comment about Feynmann arguing for pure science 'play' on the grounds that one never knows what might result later reminded me strongly of the last words of the great Cambridge mathematician Hardy (I fear I cannot verify the source; it was a 'common' story when I was an undergraduate). He is suppoosed to have expressed profound satisfaction that nothing he had ever done had been the slightest *use* to anyone. Then along came Dirac and others, and used his work as the foundation of Quantum theory. Has anyone in this discussion referred to that monumental piece of jovial seriousness *Goedel, Escher, Bach* by Douglas Hofstadter? Bon voyage a> Brown, HUMANIST. Douglas de Lacey. From: <BURT@BRANDEIS> Subject: serendipity Date: Mon, 9 Apr 90 13:54 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2205 (2737) Henri Poincare, at the turn of the century, entertained a theory that one subconsciously kept revolving one's ideas in random and playful ways, and that occasionally one of the things one comes up with in this way would lead one's conscious thought in a new and inspired direction. Poincare's theory would explain why techniques such as Peter Elbow's "freewriting" work. I read about Poincare's theory in _Mind and Brain_ by Arturo Rosenblueth, who didn't think much of it. John Burt Brandeis University From: "Leslie Z. Morgan" <MORGAN@LOYVAX> Subject: RE: 3.1272 serendipity, cont. (76) Date: Mon, 9 Apr 90 14:43:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2206 (2738) In all the listings of serendipity/scientific discovery, I am surprised to not see "Eureka!" and the bathtub story- I can't remember the Greek's name right now, I don't think it was Archimedes. L. Morgan From: <ENG003@UNOMA1> Subject: Computers in Am Lit, Film & Art Date: Sat, 7 Apr 90 17:51 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2207 (2739) Science fiction literature and film are replete with manifestations of computers, and a critical work dealing with their manifestations in the SF lit is: Patricia S. Warrick _The Cybernetic Imagination in Science Fiction_ Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1980 ISBN 026223100X Two SF films focusing on computers are _The Forbin Project_ and _War Games_. Judy Boss From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1270 scanning and correcting (109) Date: Sat, 7 Apr 90 13:34:20 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2208 (2740) re BobH How long is the shortest of the six commentaries remaining to be proofread in English? I will see if some of the Project Gutenberg people would read it a few times each for you. (This is contrary to our stated policy: the primary purpose of Project Gutenberg is the creation and distribution of a set of etexts made from original works - not of commentaries). re Amsler I renew my comment that 99% of the work should not be undertaken to assist 1% of the user population, who will want works they can read and search in Word, WordPerfect, WordStar, LIST, etc. re the comment on scanning taking longer than typing. I would suggest you contact the manufacturer of your hardware and software. Cheap ($2,000) scanners and ($800) software have been available for several years, which yield a time factor of 10% of what it took to do typing; while we usually refrain from recommending hardware publicly, we have had a MAJOR success with Apple scanners (we use a flatbed SCSI on a Mac), with OmniPage and TextPert software for quite some time now. The time when keyboarding a text could compete with scanning and proofreading, passed several years ago when these products first entered the market. As with all such innovations it will take a little time before everyone can use them efficiently. Would anyone who is unhappy with their scanning be willing to have the equipment, and work, take a place at Project Gutenberg? Michael S. Hart From: Robert Hollander <bobh@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1278 correcting and scanning (70) Date: Sat, 7 Apr 90 18:39:02 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2209 (2741) Germaine Warkintin may have missed my posting in response to Michael Hart's optimistic views on text-correction and, in her response to MH, asks, "How about it, Hollander?" Since I've already had my say, I'll merely repeat what I've already indicated: e-texts need to be as close to totally accurate as we can make them. That would indicate that someone has got to be responsible for their initial accuracy; and someone (else?) has got to be in charge of the eventual further corrections which will surely accrue. A further wrinkle. I will bet that something like 50% of all eventual "corrections" of the Dartmouth Dante database that will be offered by users will be corrections of older spellings in the documents which in fact should _not_ be changed. Someone has to have the originals available for checking before entering these changes. On scanning, I can report that the first document which Dartmouth scanned, in order to test the capacity of the KDEM which D'mth had purchased, came out gibberish after the first few pages. The folks up there quickly learned that good scanning is labor-intensive, requiring skilled operators (Bob Kraft knows a lot about all this). On the other hand, if one has a text which is reasonably "legible," the result is generally impressive: ca. 99.99% accurate. That does not get away from the need to proof-read, but it does greatly speed that onerous process. There are no certain answers in all this, even at any given moment. And since the situation of text production is in flux, we simply need to be able to make the most informed decisions we can. Robert Hollander bobh@phoenix.princeton.edu From: Alvin Snider <ASNIDEPD@UIAMVS> Subject: correcting the e-text Date: Sat, 07 Apr 90 21:24 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2210 (2742) [deleted quotation] For both consumers and producers of e-texts, Germaine Warkentin's comments point the discussion in a useful direction. I doubt that we can welcome the advent of the open text without cutting adrift received notions of "definitive" editorial work. Breaking down the division of textual/critical labor requires a major readjustment to the whole concept of textual authority. Recent discussion, however, suggests a rate of acceptable error (one per 2,000 characters) and a dislocation of the editorial function that is bound to fuel controversy. Of course, you can always redefine textual "error" to exclude whole classes of anomalies. But modern editors perversely hold themselves accountable to rigorous standards. They may differ over what constitutes reasonable "accuracy," but once committed to a norm they don't abdicate responsibility for its enforcement. An incorrect citation in a scholarly article doesn't affect our sense of the article's value, as long as we can locate cited materials. But readers trust in the expertise of editors, bibliographers, and other "harmless drudges." In fact, they _demand_ an obsessive care with details precisely because they feel uneasy with their own competence to perform such work. If Treadmill Pub. Co. produces an edition of Shakespeare that violates its own editorial principles on nearly every page, readers who have plunked down $50 to $100 for the book have every right to feel resentful. E-text conversion projects face the same, if not higher expectations from end-users unmoved by their technical problems. Now, you might say, if people think they want "accuracy," which is chimerical anyway, they can always keyboard in their own "corrections" (I can't resist pointing out again how regressive this ideal is). Yet readers, like most people in our society, rely on professionalized groups to perform tasks they'd rather not undertake: pitching fastballs, programing in C, repairing auto transmissions, and editing scholarly texts all fall into this category. Who, if anyone, finally arbitrates the cumulative "corrections," especially in older texts where determinations are often problematic? Since every correction requires adjudication we haven't really disposed of authoritative editors, just authoritative texts. What we've gained in their place is a principle of editorial deniability, and a glimpse (by the way) of Willard McCarty's nightmare future of semi-autonomous electronic agents devised to circumvent human interests and values. Even in a post-Gutenbergian cultural economy, you can expect to hear howls of protest from readers gone soft from the luxury of using reliable (i.e. stable) texts. Maybe what we need is a version of the intellectual boot camp proposed on Humanist a week ago, in which everyone showers before dawn and undergoes indoctrination in assembly language, textual studies, and classical philology. This, however, is no regimen for the faint hearted, among whom I number myself. Alvin Snider <asnidepd@uiamvs> From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1278 correcting and scanning (70) Date: Mon, 9 Apr 90 15:29:07 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2211 (2743) re Germaine Warkentin <WARKENT@vm.epas.utoronto.ca Since the members of Humanist actively use texts, and correct them, make commentaries, additions, deletions, etc, in their public lives, it would appear obvious how etexts would benefit their work, as well as how their work would benefit etexts. Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts From: <BCJ@PSUVM.PSU.EDU> Subject: Query: Joe Pye's Law Date: Sun, 8 Apr 90 21:01:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2212 (2744) Has anybody out there in Humanistland ever heard of "Joe Pye's Law"? This law, as I understand it, asserts that any anecdote worth telling about one historical personage is equally applicable to any other personage of equal or comparable status. Thus, I have encountered in early books numerous stories about Socrates that also turn up in discussions of Diogenes the Cynic. Jokes once told about Eleanor Roosevelt turn up as jokes about Maggie Thatcher. I would be very glad to hear from anybody who has heard of Joe Pye's Law, who can explain the name, or who could direct me to some references in print. -- Kevin Berland From: D.Mealand@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: Electronic OED & Shakespeare Date: 09 Apr 90 09:51:26 bst X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2213 (2745) Does anyone have the date of publication of the _OED on Compact Disc_ and also the date of the _William Shakespeare: The Complete Works (Electronic Edition)_ please ? I am trying to construct a proper bibliographic entry for these and can't find them fully listed anywhere. My guess is about 1988 for the first and 1989 for the second, but that is based on vague memory. David M. From: R1436 at CSUOHIO Subject: Date: 9 April 1990, 07:52:02 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2214 (2746) For the Humanist, I was wondering if I might be able to submit a question to the humanists about a program that prints both music and text. At present we have not found a satisfactory IBM program to do both, music and text, without purchasing something far more elaborate than we really need. The musical part of the program does not have to be that sophisticated. We are looking to publish a new translation of the Psalms with Gregorian tones. At this point in time the print quality need only be letter quality and not typeset, postscript would be nice. I know that there is a on going switch between Toronto and Brown. If you are no longer taking these notes perhaps they could be sent to Brown. Thank you. Ric Gudgeon R1436@CSUOHIO From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: SGML query Date: Mon, 9 Apr 90 08:20:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2215 (2747) I recently received a long article in SGML format. Is there any software which can convert that directly to PostScript or something else a little more reader-friendly? If you send answers directly to me, I'll be happy to produce a single and coherent list of replies. Thanks, Douglas de Lacey <DEL2@UK.AC.CAM.PHX> (EARN); <DEL2@PHX.CAM.AC.UK> (Bitnet) From: Tzvee Zahavy <MAIC@UMINN1> Subject: Hypercard, Hypertext Date: Sat, 07 Apr 90 23:33:43 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2216 (2748) Now that the list is moving to Brown I suspect we will hear more about Macintosh humanities applications. I had some interesting materials about programs and applications out of Brown but somehow I managed to misplace these papers. Could someone give me a brief update on hypertext applications and especially stacks in the PD, user groups and so forth. I plan to experiment with a developing a Talmud tutorial on a MAC SE first in translation then in the original languages (Hebrew and Aramaic). After that I will do some basic language training applications. Any help so that I do not spend too much time reinventing the disk will be greatly appreciated. PS: I sympathize with those who feel Apple has been possessive but I am in no position to take on the ethos of American business culture. PPS: With regard to my unfortunate experience with scanning -- my computer account was charged over $300 for the Kurzweil scanning of 230 pp. That is why I made the comparison with submission to a typist. If I had a scanner already and knew how to use it I suppose there would be an edge in favor of scanning in some instances. From: Steve Mason <SHLOMO@YORKVM1> Subject: Old French Romances Date: Mon, 09 Apr 90 10:39:23 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2217 (2749) A small-h humanist colleague here (i.e., not yet a participant) is preparing machine-readable texts of Old French Romances. He is eager to learn of other similar projects and of what is already available. If these data have been aired recently, please forgive me. I paid no attention, since the area is not mine (my French being as clumsy as my romance). Please direct responses to me and I'll forward them. Thanks. Steve Mason Division of Humanities York University From: C. David Perry <carlos@ecsvax> Subject: Hypertext and writing Date: Mon, 9 Apr 90 13:31:26 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2218 (2750) Are there any discussion groups dealing more or less exclusively with the problems and possibilities of writing--fiction and nonfiction--in a hypertext environment? David Perry UNC Press carlos@ecsvax.bitnet carlos@uncecs.edu From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: time to extract the silver from the dross in silence? Date: 8 April 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2219 (2751) May I suggest that as a gift to our new editors, we take the opportunity of the coming silence of Humanist to ponder the worth of Mac-bashing and continue the topic after Easter to the extent that it deserves? Yours, Willard McCarty From: GORDON DOHLE <DOHLE@Vax2.Concordia.CA> Subject: IBM BORES Date: Sat, 7 Apr 90 00:05:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2220 (2752) How boring is this Mac-bashing! One must be drawn to the conclusion that those who were unfortunately drawn into the IBM world as they began to understand computers are desperately attempting to maintain their own personal control of technology at all costs, going so far as to "force" students to learn to use obsolete equipment based on instructor bias and ideological concerns. Perhaps they also still drive VW Beatles. Gordon Dohle@Vax2.Concordia.ca From: "Patrick W. Conner" <U47C2@WVNVM> Subject: 3.1277 Apples: idea, device, and corporation (137) Date: Sat, 7 Apr 90 13:11:44 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2221 (2753) I promised myself as one of the performers at the Macademia Conference that I would not get into the argument which has developed over whether Apple ought even to support a conference which purports to deal with education, which has now degenerated into whether Apple ought to be boycotted by all right-thinking American. Bah. I haven't heard heard such muddle-headed reasoning and self-righteous posturing since Jim and Tammy Bakker left the airways. Jeff Bowyer has summarized the points neatly, so let me pick on his diatribe, even though his is by no means the most excessive of the commentaries. -- <Apple does not allow competition, which leads to higher prices> -- I, too, wish that Macintoshes were cheaper. I wish everything were cheaper. But if, in fact, Apple doesn't ALLOW competition, then there are anti-trust laws, are there not, to take care of that. The truth of the matter is that Apple doesn't encourage competition, and some of my HUMANIST colleagues have decided that this is unethical. (Indeed, it is to ethics that Richard Goerwitz makes his appeal.) I would like to know what someone whose field of expertise is business ethics would make of this claim. I would guess that in a capitalist system, a business's primary ethical obligation is to its investors, its secondary obligation is to its workers, and its tertiary obligation is to its consumers. I would assume this hierarchy of obligation, because of the three, the backers/investors are most vulnerable to the decisions made by management, and everything they put into the company can be lost; secondly the workers can lose their jobs, but their skills -- their contributions to the company -- are not taken from them so, in that sense, they are not quite as vulnerable as the investors, although the effect is likely to be more devasting until the worker finds another job. Consumers have, correspondingly, nothing to lose. They simply choose to consume or not to consume. If the company doesn't provide the product advertised, the courts can be invoked; if consumers in sufficient numbers decide to buy another product, then Apple had better find out why, and correct whatever is wrong. But, for the life of me, I cannot see how Apple is being unethical by setting prices at a level which apparently creates the demand they are prepared to meet, nor by using the means available to them to forestall the development of numerous clones. I wish there were clones, but I can't blame Apple for refusing to underwrite their development. It is also worth mentioning, since we are pretending to recognize the corporate holiness of IBM (as if IBM actually wanted all of those clones to be produced), that Apple has created numerous programs for educators, reducing the prices of their products; that contracts are negotiated with universities at substantial savings to the institution, to the faculty, and to the students; and that credit programs are available to students which lend the student the money to by a computer interest- free until he/she graduates, whereupon it begins to accrue interest. (No, Jeff, they don't give them away, but neither does IBM.) Those of you who want to rage about Apple's lack of ethical concern for their consumers need to look more closely at its programs, and not imagine that what YOU would like to pay for the produce is necessarily the fair price, either. -- <Most businesses do not use Apple computers> -- Untrue. Most corporate offices in the US today have a Macintosh, although most word processing, spread-sheeting, etc., is done in a DOS environment. The lion's share of DTP still goes to the Mac, and there are whole companies of graphics design, etc., which use nothing else. Yes, there are more DOS machines in corporate America, but Macs are there, and they are apparently there to stay. One suspects that Microsoft wouldn't produce such a solid line of software for the Mac if it saw no corporate future for it, and certainly they would not have linked DOS Word5 and Macintosh Word4 if they saw no need for these programs to work together in the same office environment. Don't believe everything IBM tells you, Jeff. -- <Technically, Apples are very inefficient machines (they waste a lot of horsepower generating those pretty pictures> -- This is simply a stupid idea which the writer hopes will have some sort of rhetorical force. The graphic interface is what makes a Macintosh particularly valuable to those of us who use it, for designing courseware, for DTP, for linking graphics and text in word-processed documents, for writing in hundreds of languages and thousands of fonts, etc., etc. Horsepower used in the way one wants it to be used is not wasted. Criticizing the Macintosh for its graphic interface is rather like criticizing Will Shakespeare for writing plays and not corporate reports. -- <Apple's management is currently in disarray. I wouldn't be surprised to see another debacle on the order of Ashton-Tate Inc., maker of DBase IV, occur at Apple> -- Apple didn't crash when Steve Jobs left, and it won't crash if John Sculley leaves. Ashton-Tate's problems had to do, I believe, with extensive investments in several new software programs which required more marketing support to catch on than they had the capital foundation to provide. I don't see how Apple is in any sense parallel. Rather, Jeff is attempting another little rhetorical flourish here which, no doubt, scares his students, but which I find completely lacking in support. I'll apologize, Jeff, if Apple folds in the next two years. -- <Much more software exists for IBM-compatible machines than Apples> -- This again. Here at West Virginia University, our library has an extensive collection of materials related to coal research, as you might expect, since much coal is mined in the state. It doesn't have much of a collection in my field of early medieval literature. Should I prefer this library to another with a great medieval collection simply because this library has more books? Of course not. Yes, there is some great text processing software which runs on DOS machines, and some other things one might want to use in that regard, but there is nothing a student is likely to want to do which cannot be done as well or better on a Macintosh, and there are many things for scholars a Mac can do which a DOS clone simply cannot do as well or as easily. Find out what is involved to get your DOS machine to word process in Hebrew. (Yes, it can be done, but I can word process in Hebrew in five minutes, once the software is in my hand). Find out what is required to word process in Japanese (including the kanji) on a DOS clone. Then ask yourself what the I in IBM really means. The much more software for IBM statement has been meaningless since about 1986. -- -- I would suggest that you tell your students, Jeff, that they cannot submit their work to you on an old Apple II which their parents got for them when they were in high school, because you don't have an Apple II to run their disk on, and that they cannot submit on Macintosh disks for the same reason. Then, tell them to investigate the various computer labs around the campus, to check with the computer consultants, etc., and to find out whether there are ways of converting their files through networks, etc., so that they can do their work at home if they're willing to deliver the essay to you in a form you can use it. The real issue is not whether they OUGHT to be using an Apple product; the real issue is whether they can give you a disk you can read. -- Pat Conner one of those Macademia Nuts send From: Stephen Clausing <SCLAUS@YALEVM> Subject: Macs:the evil empire Date: Sat, 07 Apr 90 11:31:46 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2222 (2754) I have tried to keep out of the latest IBM vs. Mac dispute, because I consider the whole argument childish, but Jeff Boyer's diatribe against the Mac has left me no choice but to respond. His arguments that the Mac has no horsepower and that little software exists for it is patently wrong and corresponds to 1985 attitudies. It is a ludicrous argument anyway, since the students whom Boyer forbid to use a Macintosh obviously had the necessary programs and no doubt they felt their computers had sufficient horsepower. In any event, shall we start measuring clock speeds to determine who has the best computer? I think most of us are more concerned with general ease of use. His argument that business don't use Macs is also a relic of 1985. Boyer forbids his students to use Apples for word processing because that would make them less competitive in the IBM world at there. Excuse me, but we are talking about word processing here, not configuring a VAX. How does Boyer know his students are going to be using IBM in the future? How long is it going to take them to learn to use WordPerfect on an IBM if they do? Why is it any of his business which computer they use to write an essay? Let me give a counter example. I taught a progamming course last year in which the entire curriculum revolved around the Mac. Two of my students asked to use IBM because they had IBMs themselves and liked them. Even though it was inconvenient for me and the TAs, I let these students use the IBM. In one case, I had to go to the student's dormitory room to check his programs because he had the only suitable computer. This is what teaching is all about, it is not about foisting one's own prejudices on students. Boyer should cut short his leave and go back to computer programming. I am sorry to be so harsh about this, but these are the kindest words I can force myself to say about Boyer's contribution. From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.1266 Mac affairs (73) Date: Sun, 8 Apr 90 12:16:41 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2223 (2755) --- FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB wrote: if I buy something to make the Mac better I have to buy it from Apple --- end of quoted material --- I read this comment on my Mac SE which is running with an internal Jasmine hard drive, non-Apple RAM expansion, Radius accelerator card, Sharp video output card, and is connected to a Hewlett Packard printer. I'm connected to our network through a MultiTech modem; I'm running non-Apple software (except the system software, enhanced by non-Apple inits and CDEV's). From: ZAK@NIHCU Subject: Apple Arrogance Date: Mon, 09 Apr 90 09:01:42 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2224 (2756) Has anyone out there actually BOUGHT (not had provided by their place of business) a microcomputer and done the shopping themself? I did. When I went looking for a computer to use for writing, I confined myself to IBM (DOS) compatibles because I was told that "everyone else is using IBM" and "there is more software for IBM-compatibles". The price on clones was much cheaper than for a Macintosh system, and I was going to have to go into hock as it was. To make this story short, I went to a number of computer stores and asked to see various word processsing packages in action (text entry, editing, reformatting, printing, etc.). I was lucky if the salesman could get the program running at all. How was I, a flaky writer-type, going to figure this out when I got it home? Luckily for me, an old friend turned up who had become a computer consultant (mainframes and all kinds of micros) who introduced me to Macintosh. When I balked at the price for a Mac system, he walked through the numbers with me. I could buy a DOS clone for less $, but by the time I had upgraded it so that it could do what I needed it to do (and what the Macintosh could do straight from the box), I would have had to purchase add-on graphics cards, a special monitor, and upgrade the memory from 256K to 1024K--and that was just for starters. Aside from the extra $ for these add-ons, I would have to have all this stuff installed, not to mention the insult of having to learn DOS. I'm a writer, for God's sake, not a computer nerd. When I want to write, I want to write, and I don't need any computer esoterica getting in my way. And as far as "everyone out there is using IBM" and "there isn't any software for the Macintosh"--I thought that silliness went out with the "Macintosh is just a toy ploy" in the mid-80s. And as for arrogance, what do you call forcing people to learn DOS to get a little writing done? From: PETERR@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: RE: 3.1266 Mac affairs, cont. (73) Date: Mon, 9 Apr 90 05:08:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1285 (2757) Good words for MaxSPITBOL: I have used it fairly extensively over the last six months and I am immensely impressed. (1) It is QUICK. I have a c. 1500 word program for collating manuscripts, written originally to run on the Oxford VAX. Not only does the program run with just the most minor changes (to do with file handling) on the Mac - something I couldn't achieve on a PC - it runs just as quick on the Mac SE (not the SE/30!), cost #1300, as on the VAX, cost #300.000. Running on a Mac IIcx, or on a SE/30 it leaves the VAX chewing dust. (2) It makes elegant and rational use of the Mac interface. Considering the roots of SPITBOL in the world of batch command-lines, this is quite an achievement. You can run the program in one window, viewing the results in another, looking at source code in another, looking at the files you are operating on in another - and so on. It has also got about the neatest on-line help system I have seen, so neat I have cheerfully nicked its look and feel for the updated version of my collation programs I am now writing (in C) for the Mac. (Go ahead and sue me then). (3) the documentation is superb. In short: anyone who is looking for a good way into text processing programs on the Mac must look at this one. P.S. the manuscript collation program referred to above is 1500 lines, not 1500 words. Peter Robinson, Computers and Manuscripts Project, Oxford University Computing Service. From: Jim O'Donnell (Penn, Classics) Subject: Temps perdu Date: 06 Apr 90 22:40:14 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2225 (2758) After nine years of accumulating grime, my apartment is to be painted in a couple of weeks. This gives rise to a housecleaning about as drastic as that for a major move: cleaning out closets, drawers, under the sofa, etc. From an archaeological point of view, this is not an insignificant period of coverage (1981-90), for it represents the period when the computer revolutionized scholarly activity, for some of us at least. I report the results not least by way of warning to others of the things that may lie in store in *your* closets and garages. I make no mention of the pile of computer manuals on the floor under the card table my printer is on; I pause only briefly to mention the pile of re-usable distribution disks from various versions of various software packages now obsolete (the pile has 44 disks in it at the moment: remember when that was over $100 investment?); we begin to reach the good stuff when I get to the pile of 7 year old printouts from a word search run for me on a European computer -- the results took months to get, what now I get in 24 hours or less (and better quality data besides); but what I had forgotten about were the real relics of the past. (1) Typescripts of old articles and even books -- I have no printout of anything done since 1983, on the other hand, because backup copies of disks are so much more compact. (2) Miscellaneous, assorted, and sundry boxes suitable for the preservation and arrangement of note cards (3x5, 4x6) -- only seeing them (and wondering when I will ever get that one important bibliography properly input) did I realize that I now use cards only as bookmarks and for notes-to-self slightly more durable than Post-Its. One pair of boxes is particularly poignant because it contains all the notes of an older colleague preparatory to his Hamburg dissertation forty years ago -- a fine little book came out of those boxes, but the only thing I can think of now when I look at them is the amount of clerical effort that used to accompany scholarly. (When we worry about time wasted fiddling with hardware and software, we forget about time spent hand-writing notes, filing them, and then looking for them later.) (3) Miscellaneous, assorted, and sundry loose-leaf notebooks; they in turn evoke those blissful days spent *typing* in years by-gone. I used to keep working MSS in loose-leaf, carrying them around to revise, expand, etc., and then setting down at the right moment to begin typing the whole thing over again. Gross tonnage: Something like 25-50 pounds going down the chute, and that from a mere decade of professional activity (entering grad school 1972, buying computer 1983). Moral: There used to be dinosaurs in these lands, and they were us. Dedication: This by way of hail-and-farewell to the master of those that know HUMANISTS, dinosaur-turned-cybercreature, who's probably emptying out a lot of drawers this week too. Thanks, Willard. From: James O'Donnell <JODONNEL@PENNSAS> Subject: Re: Temps perdu Date: 06 Apr 90 23:50:13 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2226 (2759) I figure you've got to go out with a mixture of high-tech/nostalgia/literary/profoundly-wise-while-apparently-naively-simple. How about: Th', Th', Th', That's All, Folks! From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: last issues of Humanist from Toronto Date: 10 April 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1287 (2760) Dear Colleagues, This evening's issues of Humanist will be the last from Toronto, numbers 1288 to 1293, with one exception: my farewell message as editor, Thursday evening. Tuesday Elaine and Allen will respond with their first from Providence. Remember, anything sent to Humanist on Monday, 23 April, will be rudely sent back by software. This piece of mushware sitting now at this terminal will forward anything for Humanist to Allen and Elaine, Editors@BrownVM, so there's little cause for concern. Meanwhile large bottles of champagne will be gratefully accepted and swiftly consumed by the undersigned. Yours, Willard McCarty _________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Willard McCarty / Centre for Computing in the Humanities University of Toronto / 14th floor, Robarts Library / 130 St. George St. Toronto, Canada M5S 1A5 / (416) 978-3974 / mccarty@utorepas.bitnet From: Robert Hollander <bobh@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1286 remembrances of things past (80) Date: Tue, 10 Apr 90 12:18:51 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1288 (2761) O'Donnell's tale of cleaning study Makes a body ponder, buddy. Ten years from now, instead of paper, We'll find another kind of vapor. And as for Willard, who's forbidden Prose valediction, clear or hidden, I hope this ruse of rotten verse Will make his policy reverse. His labors have served many well-- One thousand of us that do tell-- And now he doffs his heavy crown And HUMANIST goes off to Brown. Thank you, Willard, thanks Toronto. It's to better things you go on to. We hope of you there'll be no lack, Whether from Big Blue, clone or Mac. Ave atque vale. bobh@phoenix From: Robert Hollander <bobh@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1283 a garden of queries (151) Date: Tue, 10 Apr 90 11:54:55 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1289 (2762) Your "garden of queries" begins with an inquiry concerning "Joe Pye's Law." I know nothing of this, though find it intriguing. It may be of interest to the inquirer to be told that, in my yard, there flourishes a tallish weed which comes up each year, crowned by deep pink flowers, which a botantically-minded friend some years ago informed me was known as "Joe Pye Weed." Does that mean that _any_ large weed gets called "Joe Pye"? I dunno. Robert Hollander bobh@phoenix.princeton.edu From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1282 preparation of e-texts (176) Date: Tue, 10 Apr 90 12:34:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1290 (2763) re: Alvin Snider <asnidepd@uiamvs> What editor or proofreader or even author would not want contributions to her/his work even if such contributions were only to be used 50% of the time as you suggested? The idea that someone creating their own corrections in their own files being "regressive" sounds as though you would prevent (if you could) people from writing corrections in their paper books and then xeroxing them to send to friends and colleagues. In general, I am beginning to wonder if the demands written here for such "authoritative editions" are not made in response to those who prefer such "authority." It makes me wonder how many editions of Shakespeare there would be if this ideal had been enforced for the past 400 years. mh From: DEL2@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk Subject: Re: [3.1243 programming languages, cont. (297)] Date: Tue, 10 Apr 90 10:26:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1291 (2764) Anent the debate on portablilty of languages: Don't forget that whereas a *language* may be protable, any specific *implementation* may have non-portable elements; so your *program* may well turn out to be quite non-portable if you use them. I consulted our 'help' facility about ICON, and although it is a pretty protable language, note the following comments: [deleted quotation] Caveat emptor! Douglas de Lacey. From: Mark Olsen <mark@gide.uchicago.edu> Subject: MacWars Date: Mon, 9 Apr 90 23:06:58 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2227 (2765) Well, I just cruised though another 300 lines of people flaming each other about hardware platforms and operating systems. I find that in these debates "best" really reflects "what I know" more than anything else. I have a couple of IBM MS-DOS machines, Macs, and UNIX machines. I tend to use each for particular applications and, when working with other people, try to adopt the most convenient system. I like WordPerfect on the IBM because I know it, but will use Word on a Mac because it is also a good product. I think UNIX is a fine operating system, but I like Sunview -- one of several GUI's for UNIX -- and can certainly live with MS-DOS or Mac. All of them are tools, designed to perform some tasks better than others. Why must we spend this much effort trying to convince others of the "truth" of any particular tool. I can hardly see the same religious intensity going into arguments about jackhammers or paint brushes. Mark From: Richard Goerwitz <goer@sophist.uchicago.edu> Subject: erotica Date: Tue, 10 Apr 90 00:57:15 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2228 (2766) Really, this has nothing to do with erotica. I started writing the word "exotic," wrote "erotic," and figured "oh, what the hell." As the originator of this insipid round of "Mac bashing," I would like to say simply that the Mac is a nice machine, and many aspects of its design were far ahead of its time when it was first issued. In fact, the Mac could be said to have initiated a very important turn in the fate of all computer user-interfaces. Those who were fortunate enough to have bought Macs early on, especially in cases where ease of use was more important than ease of programming, were indeed either very lucky or very far-sighted. My only quarrel with the Mac is that it is fast becoming only one of many machines capable of supporting a good graphical user interface. It is no longer in a class by itself. Apple has lost the initiative. In order to solve its problems, Apple has turned to the courtroom, rather than the drawing room. I just don't think that they are worth the risk at this point. Note that my original posting did not invoke the word "boycott" - especially not in the sense of withholding a purchase out of righteous moral indignation. I only wanted suggest that a dose of cynicism might be in order here. I also did not suggest that the Mac was a bad machine, or that the IBM was "better." Neither of the machines in my household was made by IBM. My operating system of choice is Unix (this because I need it as a programming environment, not because I hate the Mac's GUI). All the various GUIs, OSs, and architectures have good and bad points. The last thing in the world that I wanted to start was a petty "mine's better than yours" fight or to suggest that we all all go out and boycott Apple out of some misguided sense of moral- ity. My real point in making my original, inflammatory posting was to question the wisdom of buying from a vendor which is no longer at the forefront of innovation in the area of user interfaces, which insists on keeping its operating environment proprietary, and which offers less price/selection options than one finds in the multi-vendor Unix/MS-DOS world. If this sounds like an indictment of the Mac itself, or of those who happen to have bought one of these trend-breaking machines, then read again. If it sounds like a senseless cry for a "boycott," read again as well. If it seems like a petty "mine's better" war, then I'll just throw up my arms in dispair. Don't bother reading again. I give up! (To those who understood what I was saying, thanks for your patience.) -Richard From: Thom Parkhill <PARKHILL@UNB.CA> Subject: job openings Date: Tue, 10 Apr 90 10:43:17 ADT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1293 (2767) Please bring these two advertisements to the attention of qualified and interested colleagues. Thanks. Thom Parkhill PARKHILL@UNB.CA fax: (506) 450-9615 human: (506) 452-7700 *********************************************************************** RELIGIOUS STUDIES St. Thomas University. Department of Religious Studies. Applications are invited for a tenure-track position in Western Religions, commencing July 1, 1990. Rank and salary dependent upon qualifications. A doctoral degree and teaching experience are neces- sary. The successful candidate will be teaching undergraduate courses in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Letter of application, curriculum vitae, and three letters of reference should be sent to Dr. Thomas Parkhill, Chair, Department of Religious Studies, St. Thomas University, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5G3. Applications will be accepted until May 30, 1990. In accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, this advertisement is directed to Canadian citizens and permanent residents. ************************************************************************ Applications are invited for a one-year sabbatical replacement in theology, commencing July 1, 1990. Rank and salary dependent upon qualifications. Teaching experience is essential; a doctoral degree is an asset. The successful candidate will be teaching undergraduate courses which may in clude Introduction to Christianity, Christian Marriage, and New Testament Ethics. Letter of application, curriculum vitae, and the names of three referees should be sent to Dr. Thomas Parkhill, Chair, Department of Religious Studies, St. Thomas University, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5G3. Applications will be accepted until May 30, 1990. In accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, this advertisement is directed to Canadian citizens and permanent residents. ************************************************************************* From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: farewell Date: 12 April 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1294 (2768) Dear Colleagues, Snow fell as I walked to my office this morning, cold wind hurried me back home. The air-conditioner, which is always in another season, kept me chilled meanwhile. Crocuses stopped me at the front garden to insist that Spring is coming, and the birds have started a similar argument, but I can't see it. I try to warm the verbal sap for this valediction but get only sluggish ooze. Now, after marvelous zucchini pizza, made and served con amore, and cups of hot tea, I'll just have to do what I can. I depend on your generosity of spirit. Humanist is leaving my house a step or two ahead of my firstborn daughter, wonderful creature that she is, who turned 16 last Sunday. The comparison is unjust, as all of you and my wife as well should be quick to point out, but the difficulty of letting go may be showing me something about things to come. Like my firstborn, Humanist was itself largely a matter of serendipity, conceived in a moment of unlooked for inspiration -- thank you, George Brett and Michael Sperberg-McQueen -- with no idea what would come of the engendering impulse and certainly no proven qualifications for the task. What is unjust, among other things, is the pretense to action, for which see the Bhagavad Gita. Actually, mothering Humanist is closer to the truth than fathering (the father came and went too quickly to be seen), but there have been many mothers along the way, whom I name here with gratitude. To Michael, again, for several commiserating conversations suitably lubricated, and for lifesaving software I myself could have written had I taken a few weeks to learn the ropes, and then more time to get tripped up by them; to Lou Burnard for writing the summaries of activity, for never withholding his sharp wit when it was needed, and for many other things here unrevealed; to Steve DeRose for so much fine work on the biographies, which to his credit and our benefit will continue; to David Sitman for his ListServ skills offered from so far away, also to continue; to Steve Younker for ListServ skills cheerfully applied from up close; to Susan Hockey and Nancy Ide for their official and personal encouragements of several kinds, and their good advice on several occasions; to Paul Fortier, Randy Jones, and Joel Goldfield for the recognition; to Bob Kraft, Norman Hinton, Dana Paramskas, Bob Hollander, Norman Zacour, Roy Flannagan, Mike Heim, Gunhild Viden, James O'Donnell, and many others (forgive forgetfulness), who used their pneumatic artistry on deflated spirits when none other than one of their kind could have helped; to Ian Lancashire for the opportunity, one among many offered during the last dozen years; to Allen Renear and Elaine Brennan for turning up at just the right time with exactly what was needed, and to Elli Mylonas and David Durand, who have promised to help them; finally, to all the members of Humanist, without whom nothing could have happened. Older members will understand my request for a moment of silence in memory of Sebastian Rahtz, may his mischievous spirit never be quieted. As for me, I accept with gratitude beyond words the various expressions of appreciation that have come in. Better than finest champagne or single malt, though if you can figure out how to send bottles by e-mail, please don't restrain yourselves. I certainly won't. No rewards are necessary, however, since the work itself has been one long reward, and really a form of philosophical leisure. (How important this is!) My greatest reward has been to see at first hand that a genuine intellectual community is possible, despite all the odds. Sure, some of the chatter has been foolish, some dense, some genuinely stupid, but there's plenty that's not. Anyone who thinks that Humanist's height can be taken, much less its worth be known, by calculating a signal-to-noise ratio, is missing something very fundamental. In my book, for what it's worth, what we glimpse through Humanist is of immense importance, or could be if we worked on it. Can we afford not to? Humanist has required very little -- a small amount of home-grown effort, a bit of help, and some institutional generosity -- and with that we have managed to put together, if I may say so, something worth waking up to. Did life's penurious length Italicize its sweetness, The men that daily live Would stand so deep in joy That it would clog the cogs Of that revolving reason Whose esoteric belt Protects our sanity. Emily Dickinson Farewell from Toronto. Yours, Willard McCarty 12 April 1990 From: Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear <EDITORS@BROWNVM> Subject: Test of Humanist Distribution Date: Tue, 17 Apr 90 12:29:22 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1295 (2769) This message is a test. The Humanist listserv list has moved from the University of Toronto (UTORONTO) to Brown University (BROWNVM). Please send an acknowledgement that you received this mail to humanist@brownvm.brown.edu (Internet) or humanist@brownvm (Bitnet) (We may not be able to read all of these immediately, so please do not include material for Humanist distribution or other queries.) If you know when you received this mail, please include that in your acknowledgement. If all seems well we will announce that Humanist is ready to receive postings. We hope that this will be the only test of the new listserv that we inflict upon you. Please wait until you hear that Humanist is fully functional before sending contributions -- that announcement should be made within 24 hours. If you use a NAMES file entry for Humanist, please make sure you've changed it from mccarty@vm.epas.utoronto.ca or humanist@utoronto to the new address. -- Elaine Brennan and Allen Renear (401 863-3619, 401 863-7312) From: Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear <EDITORS@BROWNVM> Subject: Welcome Back to Humanist Date: Tue, 17 Apr 90 17:28:18 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1296 (2770) Welcome to all Humanists from Humanist at Brownvm. Just a few weeks shy of its fourth birthday, Humanist has ventured out from its first home with Willard, his computer, and the University of Toronto Centre for Computing in the Humanities, and has taken up its new residence at Brown University. We want, first of all, to thank all those who have assisted us in accomplishing this move: Brian Hawkins, Mary McClure, and Susanne Woods, who agreed to let us take Humanist on; Steve Younker, the Listserv maintainer at Toronto, who patiently answered and reanswered our questions; Peter DiCamillo and James Mathieson, our local Listserv experts, who also answered dozens of questions, and explained the whys and hows of getting Listserv to do what we wanted; the local members of our Editorial Board, Geoff Bilder, Steve DeRose, David Durand, Sebastian Heath, and Elli Mylonas, and not-so-local members Lou Burnard and David Sitman, who have each agreed to help us with specific tasks. Most of all, of course, we thank Willard who has nursed, nudged, and prodded us Apprentice Editors along until we feel (almost) ready to go on. We'd like to also thank the people who allowed us to use them as our guinea pigs (mallards?) for the last week, as we ran a test version of Humanist to make sure we could do it successfully -- Geoff, Steve, David, Sebastian, Elli, Malcolm Brown, Lou, and Willard -- thanks for your patience, and your comments. We will, of course, take the responsibility for any errors that remain in our practices. We took on the responsibility of Humanist in part because we think it's important, and in part because we think it'll be fun. Both of those facts have a lot to do with Willard, who he is, and how he has influenced the community of computing humanists. We hope that we will be able to continue to nurture Humanist and its community, that all of you will join us in this endeavor, and that we'll all have some fun while doing so. We would also like to thank Willard for agreeing to constitute and serve as the President of a Humanist Advisory Board. We expect Humanist to continue in its tradition of open and spirited debate. We welcome your suggestions. Long live Humanist ... let the submissions begin. Elaine & Allen From: Stephen Clausing <SCLAUS@YALEVM> Subject: software reviewers wanted Date: Wed, 11 Apr 90 09:41:39 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2229 (2771) I hope I can get this message in under the wire. The journal Calico is looking for software reviewers. Reviews can also include software which you already have and would like to review. If you are interested in participating, please contact me: SClaus@Yalevm, Stephen Clausing, Software Review Editor. By the way, Willard did an excellent job. From: "David Owen, Philosophy, University of Arizona" <OWEN@rvax.ccit.arizona. Subject: Electronic Descartes Date: Fri, 13 Apr 90 14:48:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2230 (2772) Does anyone know of any exisiting electronic Descartes texts, in English, French or Latin? Does anyone know of any ongoing projects to produce such texts? I find it hard to believe that such a project hasn't been going on in France for some time. Reply directly to me, if you will, and any information will be added to the APA list of such projects. This list is available from Humanist's fileserver, and is constantly being updated. David Owen OWEN@ARIZRVAX OWEN@RVAX.CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU From: "Transporter Chief, Douglas J. Bottoms" <DBOTTOMS@EARN.DEPAUW> Subject: What do twins smell like?? Date: Tue, 17 Apr 90 17:21 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2231 (2773) Ladies and Gentlemen of this discussion group: I have a grave problem. I am finishing a Formal definition paper for my Expository English II class. It is due tomarrow (Wed.4-18-90 @ 1:00P.M.) I need to come up with an idea of what a twin (identical, or mirror) would smell like. I tried to think of every fragrance possible; but, I know that there exist a fragrance that say "TWIN". Do you know of some perfume or of someother fragrance that would help the reader of my essay "smell" the fragrance of a "twin". This task seems extremely difficult to accomplish, but I know that there is something extremely special that will get the olfactory nerves on a discriptive high. Please help me out. I appreciate the help on this or any other suggestions about my essay that you would give me. Thank you, in advance, Douglas J. Bottoms (Yes, I am a Twin) Transporter Chief of DePauw University on assignment "Expository Definition." From: psc90!jdg@dartvax.dartmouth.edu (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Query regarding a French e-dictionary" Date: Tue, 17 Apr 90 19:07:51 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2232 (2774) Has anyone tried _Le Robert 'electronique_ which is published in CD-ROM form w/software & user manual by Chadwyck-Healey, Ltd? What do you think of its price of $995 US? And its contents? Regards, Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH) joelg@psc.bitnet From: "Pieter C. Masereeuw" <PIETER@ALF.LET.UVA.NL> Subject: Query: Duke University Language Toolkit Date: Wed, 18 Apr 90 09:16 MET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2233 (2775) I am posting this query on behalf of Jan de Jong, a non-HUMANIST colleague of mine at the University of Amsterdam. Here is his message: ------------------------------------------------------------------- The Dept. of Classical Philology of the University of Amsterdam is looking for a classical Greek screen font for the IBM VGA-adapter. They would be glad to receive the following information: Does the Duke University Language Toolkit contain a Greek VGA font? What is the address where it could be ordered? Are there any other packages that could be used? Please send your responses to pieter@alf.let.uva.nl Pieter Masereeuw Spuistraat 134 1012 VB AMSTERDAM THE NETHERLANDS From: Amaury Bentes <COL01001@UFRJ> Subject: Humanists' help Date: Tue, 17 Apr 90 16:41:02 EXP X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2234 (2776) Hi! I'm a former member of the HUMANIST List. Although I scarcely sent messages to you I enjoyed (a lot) getting all that information and / interesting discussions. Unfortunately I'm very busy working in my future thesis and that was the reason I had to quit HUMANIST. But I'm sending this message because I think you could help me in finding something I do need. Does any of you know of an Institution named "The ASHOKA FOUNDATION" (I'm not sure if that's the correct spelling)? If yes please contacst using the following E_Mail: COL01001@UFRJ Amaury Bentes UFRJ - Rio de Janeiro B r a z i l From: PETERR@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: RE: 3.1249 software for mss. (18) Date: Wed, 18 Apr 90 04:36:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2235 (2777) No reply from Francisco Marcos Marin at marcos@EMDCCI11.BITNET, or at the email address given in Humanities Computing Yearbook. Does anyone have a better address? or is he just not answering mail messages? Peter Robinson. From: kkm7m@Virginia Subject: conventions of address Date: Wed, 18 Apr 90 09:17:48 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2236 (2778) A faculty member from our English Dept. asks: What are the conventions of address (i.e. the use of first names) in western love poetry? Do they differ between the 15th, 17th and 19th centuries, for example? Do the conventions change country by country? What are the conventions in British poetry specifically? Thanks for your consideration. Karen Kates Marshall Reference Librarian, Alderman Library University of Virginia kkm7m@virginia.bitnet From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.Edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: digitizing images and text Date: Tue, 17 Apr 90 16:30:39 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2237 (2779) As a welcome back to Humanist (but mainly to see if it's working), I though I would pass on the following: I-Base (415-543-6950) is a San Francisco company whose primary business is getting information into and out of microfilm format; but lately they have begun to branch out into related fields, i.e., digitizing images on the basis of microfilms and then taking the next logical step and coverting the scanned image via OCR techniques into machine-readable text. Right now they're preparing an estimate for me on the feasibility and cost of doing this process for Spanish-language incunabula. Even after seeing the sample I gave them, they didn't simply throw up their hands in dispair. I'll keep Humanist posted as to the results. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: P.Burnhill@edinburgh.ac.uk Subject: Re: 3.1272 serendipity, cont. (76) Date: Tue, 10 Apr 90 10:14:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2238 (2780) Don Spaeth puts up a stoud defence for funding such fundemental research as plate spinning. Although I am not qualified in that particular field, I recall student days in the field of penny spinning. This I should add, has not yet led me to a Nobel prize. However, historians of science may care to note the apparatus included a wire coat-hanger bent into a rhombus and dangled from forefinger with the hook at the bottom. Pennies are then stacked onto the upturned hook of the coathanger; and the whole thing is swung about the finger with grace, elegance and skill in judging central-fugal force. Usually we started with one penny, and then progressed on up to four, five or six. Historians of science may also note that the ear of George VI was apparently especially bred for this purpose as this was invariably the firm foundation of a winning 'fiver', as it was known technically. The major instructional use for this experiment was that the more pennies, the more skill was needed in getting out the way of the pennies when they eventually came off. My flatmate had brought the concept from Keble College, Oxford so maybe Lou should do some literature search; the equipment was engineered in West London. I think waht Don was getting at was the role of imagination in science and scholarship; the confidence to conceive of entities, relations and forces beyond existing theory. Or maybe plate spinning is how Stanford interpret Blue Skies research! :-)) Peter From: Daniel Boyarin <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.1234 queries (95) Date: Wed, 18 Apr 90 13:57:01 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2239 (2781) the massora gedola is a kind of v ery early hebrew concordance of the bible. it list all the occurences of particular forms in the hebrew and dates back to the eight or so century. From: "Garrett H. Bowles" <ghb%sdcarl@UCSD.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1283 a garden of queries Date: Mon, 16 Apr 90 23:57:38 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2240 (2782) In reply to a question originally posted on HUMANIST. --Ralph Papakhian The best IBM-PC program which integrates both music and text is SCORE distributed by Passport Designs. It also produces PostScript output. It costs about $800, but compared with other programs is well worth the price. See my review in NOTES, the journal of the Music Library Association, which should be available in your music library. My review is in the March issue and surveys 7 IBM-PC program. I also discuss the way each handels text. Garrett Bowles gbowles@ucsd.edu From: "LC Special Materials" <BM.APX@RLG> Subject: Re: 3.1283 a garden of queries [eds.] Date: Mon, 16 Apr 90 08:17:32 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2241 (2783) This note was in reply to a question orginally posted on HUMANIST.--Ralph Papakhian. Ric Gudgeon: You may wish to check the latest issue of MLA Notes (March 1990, I guess) for Garrett Bowle's exaustive review of music copying programs. Although they all range in price from about $400 up, one of them, The Copyist, comes in what they refer to as an apprentice version--called The Copyist I. It went for $99.00 when I bought it a few years ago, so it may be more now, especially as it is no longer copy-protected. The main difference, particularly for your purposes, between the cheaper and more expensive versions is that that former can only handle five pages per file. Each page can be up to fourteen inches, resulting in about fifteen or sixteen staves. It does text almost like a word processor and prints via dot-matrix (IBM) or HP laser jet. You may wish to give them a call for their blurbs, etc. - David Sommerfield From: LICHT@PENNDRLS Subject: Thoughts on Research Computing Date: April 6, 1990 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2242 (2784) I have a question for the group which emerges admittedly from my narrow vantage point. The history profession is now in a period of epistemological crisis. To put the matter simply, there is a revolt against "positivism." Quantification has definitely peaked. For example, consider a conversation overhead at a department meeting between two former social science-types: "I will never conduct another quantitative project." Same with me." Is this an isolated phenomenon? If so, it might affect future resarch usuage of computers (negatively). Among our current crop of students, I do not see quantitative projects emerging. They will still be forced to learn stats and computers (most will do this with me). Anyway, I am curious whether this is faced by others. I believe that I am now the only faculty member in History, Am Civ and HSS who is still doing quantitative data analysis (on the main frame). Second, apropos computer research at the University. The 3400 computer facility is a vast improvement. The whole place is a much more pleasant enviroment and I even see it in the cheerier reception of the consulting staff. Still, I have a big complaint and it has to do with "soft"issues and not hardware. To open up an account at Penn is to get going on a system that remains unwelcoming. I have no idea why a good ten-page, well designed guide/ brochure not been developed. The current materials/video-tutorials are entirely inadequate and a turn-off to the unconfident. I would put more money here. Get professional writing help. In general, we do not supply good guides to new users of our computer facilities. From: <YOUNGC@CLARGRAD> Subject: Hey! What good are electronic texts, anyway? Date: Wed, 18 Apr 90 09:38 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2243 (2785) Dear HUMANISTs, The American Philosophical Association has a Committee on Computer Use in Philosophy, which in turn has a Subcommittee on Electronic Texts. As a member of that subcommittee, I am trying to come to some understanding of the various kinds of questions humanists are putting to electronic texts and the kinds of things that they hope to learn from them. I would be grateful if HUMANISTs would be willing to describe what they have done with electronic texts; I will try to turn the responses into a kind of Beginner's Guide to the Use of Electronic Texts. Most of the uses to which I myself have been able to put my IBYCUS system are a bit embarrassing in their lack of imagination. They seem to fall into three main kinds: 1. Verifying points of translation. I believe, for instance, that the virtue Aristotle calls eleutheriotetos is closer to what we would call liberality than to what we would call generosity. It is useful to be able partially to confirm this by looking at uses of the term and its cognates outside of Aristotle. 2. Discovering relevant texts. A colleague and I are working on a project on Aristotle on change and contrariety. One problem that comes up is that Aristotle claims (a) change involves contraries, (b) change can take place with respect to quantity, and (c) quantity does not admit of contrariety. Here one can find passages where he might speak to this problem by collecting locations where the roots for the words for quantity and contrary occur together. 3. Completeness in scholarship. I believe that, even though Aristotle appeals to the idea of a mean state in pretty much a uniform way in a variety of contexts outside his ethical writings, the idea in the ethics that virtues of character are mean states is not to be understood in terms of the idea as he uses it elsewhere. One likes of course to have surveyed all the occurrences of the word for mean state before one makes a claim like this. In this instance, the machine yielded an unexpected bonus. After checking for the term in Aristotle, where it occurs some 140 times, it occurred to me to check for it in Plato. It turns out that it appears only five times in Plato, four of them in the Timaeus in the argument for the existence of air and water as mean states between fire and earth, and one questionable and uninteresting time in the Laws. This came as a mild surprise to me; it will come as a larger surprise to a scholar who has an 85- page chapter of a book that deals with mean states in Plato, and a bigger surprise still to a reviewer of that book who takes its author to task for failing fully to explore the extent to which Plato appeals to the idea of a mean state in his writings. I confess, too, to occasional frivolity. Did you know, for instance, that "kai" (= "and") occurs with pretty much the same frequency in Plato and in Aristotle? I look forward to learning what other HUMANISTs have been able to learn, especially those who have interrogated texts other than the TLG. Thanks and best wishes, Charles Young Department of Philosophy Claremont Graduate School Claremont, CA 91711 youngc@clargrad.bitnet From: Mikeal Parsons <PARSONSM@BAYLOR.BITNET> Subject: Postmodern approaches to beginnings Date: Wed, 18 Apr 90 07:51 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2244 (2786) I am working on an article (due very soon now!) on literary theory and beginnings. I have finished sections on formalist and reader-response approaches to narrative beginnings--I've looked at Uspensky, Sternberg, and Rimmon-Kenan, for example--and am now ready to write about postmodern approaches to beginnings. (I realize that some would consider reader-response theories to be "postmodern," but I have dealt with it separately for reasons I won't go into now.) I am finding that narrative beginnings have not received the same attention that narrative endings have enjoyed (particularly since Kermode's _The Sense of an Ending_). This is especially true, it seems, among deconstructionist types. I have found nothing, for example, to compare with D. A. Miller's The Problematic of Closure. I assume that deconstructionists (whom I assume are representative of at least one type of postmodernity) have the same suspicions about beginnings that they do about endings--both smack of Western metaphysics and institutionalized readings. But does anyone know of any sustained treatment of beginnings from a postmodern perspective by say, Derrida, de Man, J. Hillis Miller, or others. Are there any feminist treatments of beginnings? My task is complicated by the fact that I am a biblical specialist by training and I find literary theory useful in exploring the aesthetic (and political) dimensions of the biblical narratives. Though I have conducted several (what I think were) exhaustive searches of the literature, I may have missed some important works. Any help here would be appreciated. I would also find useful any thoughts Humanists out there may have about beginnings, particularly of a literary kind, but certainly not limited to that. Thanks in advance for your help. Mikeal Parsons Baylor University BITNET: PARSONSM@BAYLOR From: "Michael E. Walsh" <WALSH@IRLEARN> Subject: Re: 3.1266 Mac affairs, cont. Date: Tue, 10 Apr 90 14:00:12 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2245 (2787) Some comments on Roy Flannagans contribution of April 5th last: [deleted quotation] I wonder. I have followed from afar the antics of Apple, Lotus and friends, but are they any worse than the unpleasant business practices of IBM and other larger companies which have less need to go to court than these smaller fry. I suspect it may be more a reflection on the American way of business. If one can consider lawyers and accountants as an overhead (in the accounting sense) on society, then the US carries a great burden indeed. [deleted quotation] Unfortunately all companies which have an existing customer base on essentially obsolete technology have to be conservative in their development programme if they are to retain their existing customers. IBM, due to its minimalist approach (bring out the minimum improvement which will gain the target market share) started from a low technology base and a history of piecemeal advances in technology has followed. [deleted quotation] This is not essentially true, but one does have to go further to find it out. [deleted quotation]This is not quite the case, as the advertising in the MAC magazines indicates. [deleted quotation] There is indeed no clone market, except perhaps for the Atari hack, and if there were the prices would be cheaper. But dont assume that IBM welcomes the position it finds itself in. [deleted quotation] In fact this is the inverse of the situation. IBM brought out its new PS/2 range with the Microchannel Architecture for a number of good reasons, one of them being that it is proprietary, and licenced, for a fee, to other companies. This is one reason why MCA interface boards are more expensive than the traditional AT/XT bus boards and why, due to the limited market, there are no MCA interface boards available for some applications. Apple are at least no worse than this. Please also be careful with language. 'Standard' (MS-DOS is a standard operating system...') either means nothing or it means something very specific. IBM has managed to expropriate the term 'Industry standard', abbreviated to 'standard', to mean 'compatible with' or 'manufactured by' IBM. Not even IBM PCs are IBM compatible - for any one you show me I'll show you one which is different is some essential characteristic. I also query IBMs commitment to 'openness'. They are, like all companies which are in business to further their shareholders interests, open when it suits them. A good example was the case a few years back when they were forced by the Court of the European Communities to publish the specifications for a core component of SNA, their networking strategy. Michael Walsh, University College, Dublin. From: Alvin Snider <ASNIDEPD@UIAMVS> Subject: MacBashing Date: Wed, 11 Apr 90 09:18 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2246 (2788) They're great machines, without a doubt. But why should we avert our eyes from the marketing strategies lurking beneath the Mac image? Below I reproduce a few paragraphs from an article, written by Diana Wallace, that appeared in today's campus newspaper. -- [deleted quotation] From: "Patrick W. Conner" <U47C2@WVNVM> Subject: 3.1292 Mac affairs, cont. Date: Wed, 11 Apr 90 11:04:31 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2247 (2789) Richard-- I understand what you ARE saying, and except for one point (whether Apple should release it operating environment to third parties) I'm in general agreement. So...to fresh woods and pastures new. I sat in a university meeting Monday on networking our campus, and I explained how if this were done, I could teach my composition classes (we ALL teach second-semester composition here at WVU) on line, allowing the students to send me their papers, which they could prepare on the machine of their choice, which I could put through a HyperCard correcting program which I've completely written (in my head, unfortunately), etc. A person from our writing laboratory, was aghast. Personal contact with your students, she said, is absolutely necessary for their developing good writing habits. Of course, we'd have a few sessions together, I said, but you're not aware of the kind of interaction which happens online, are you? You're not aware of the intense emotions which are forced to surface in one's writing when that is the means of communication. That characteristic, I argued, may indeed make online communication more instructive for beginning writers than any number of personal conferences in my office filled with my strange books, where I obviously call all the shots. She wasn't convinced. But I am, and this last Mac/IBM argument demonstrates it. Mark Olsen wants to call it religious wars because that term will marginalize any value to flaming in our present secular society. But I think that the verbal intensity we marshall online when trying to argue a point is one of the most positive things about telecommunications. While there certainly have to be limits, which we have to depend on our backgrounds and cultures to provide, I think we ought to stop denigratingthe flame as somehow unworthy of consideration. One measure of message's importance to its writer is the intensity of its rhetoric. The fact that Mac/IBM arguments still generate this heat (and the Halio article was another example of the same thing) suggests that there remains an issue concerning computer design, etc., which matters greatly to many of us. The problem is not that Apple is or is not being fair, making money, whatever; it's not that IBM is more trust- worthy or stable or less willing to serve humanistic interests, whatever. So what is it. Why have we privileged this argument, in fact, for the two or three years I've been on HUMANIST, while repeatedly admitting/claiming that its an insignificant argument? What is really behind the way we marshall rhetoric behind our favorite operating system? So, I think that a really important issue with which to welcome ourselves to Providence might be the deconstruction (sorry, folks; it is a loathsome term) of this script which we've been enacting since HUMANIST sprang full-blown from the brow of Willard. --Pat Conner From: JACKA@PENNDRLS Subject: ONLINE NOTES 1990.1 Date: Thursday, 12 April 1990 1147-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1304 (2790) ONLINE NOTES 1990.1 [deleted quotation]than each month as in the past. APPLE HYPERCARD PROJECT FOR LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION Thanks to major support from Apple Corporation for the establishment of three computer labs for language instruction and one computer classroom as well as internal funding from the University of Pennsylvania, we are moving forward quickly on developing HyperCard modules for use in language instruction in the fall, 1990. Michele Proia of my staff has alreaday written some 20 vocabulary and spelling stacks that use digitized pictures and sound to reinforce vocabulary development. Michele is currently working on a pictorial grammar and dictionary to be used in conjunction with any word processing system under MultiFinder. This grammar/dictionary will cover Capretz's vocabulary for our first year students. Two other students, who are taking courses in computer-assisted learning in the undergraduate school, continue to develop a dictation stack for use in French, Spanish and German. The prototype will be completed by May 1st. We expect that the teaching assistants in languages will then provide the dictation lessons, both written and audio, for student use. Such dictations will be finished by June 30, 1990. A new program, Grammar Baseball, was completed and is currently being tested. This program is based on various hand-held computer baseball games, except that we pitch grammar questions along with fastballs, curves and knuckles. So far, the teaching assistants prefer this game over BINGO for learning numbers and even HANGMAN for vocabulary. All the above stacks will be the basis for others in Spanish and German that will be produced this summer. Support has been awarded from the undergraduate education fund at the University of Pennsylvania to help retool the above stacks for those languages. In addition, work will begin in other languages this summer. For example, Professor Roger Allen is developing a proficiency-based reader for testing student knowledge of Arabic. The Hebrew division of Oriental studies will shortly begin work on developing stacks for first year Hebrew. The Classics Department received support to develop geography stacks for its courses in Ancient History and Latin. If you are interested in becoming involved as a beta test site for this stackware, contact me (Jack Abercrombie) for details via the networks (JACKA @ PENNDRLS). CCAT's INTERNET ADDRESS CCAT is still committed to making its programs and data available to the widest audience possible. Of course, such a service to the greater scholarly community is a costly undertaking, and the staff at CCAT has been seeking more economical ways to make the distribution of texts and programs less costly in hours than the past. This is why CCAT moved out of diskette distribution of biblical texts and sold the rights of distribution to other vendors. This is also why CCAT has established an Internet address for users at other institution to copy both programs and texts. The Internet address is: rm105serve.sas.upenn.edu. This Server also functions as the remote Server for a computer lab in Williams Hall, the language building at the University. Its second duty is to provide access to material for external users. To access rm105serve, dial up using Telnet if you want to browse the directory or ftp if you wish to remove material from the Server. The account external users may access is: GUEST. The password is: WELCOME. You may copy anything in this directory. We just ask that you send an electronic note to JACKA @ PENNDRLS just so we can know who has used the machine. CINEMA PROJECT ON INFOWINDOW STATION This spring CINEMA, the video disc project, was used by students in German 3 and 4 and an honor course in American Literature. Some 80 students in German watched either Three Penny Opera or M. The students in the American Literature Course saw John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath. In the case of all three films, students watch an annotated version of the movie on one of two InfoWindow system. (A third station is currently in need of repair.) At certain points in the film, they may access other information such as texts, transcripts, pictures, charts, graphs, and additional soundtracks stored on the hard disk. A survey of the students who used the installation still remains to be studied in detail though a cursory view of the comments indicates that the students were generally positive to this approach as was the case last year and the year before. In fact, some students came back on their own to watch the movies for a second or third time. A few even brought their friends! As for the instructors, those in German remain committed to this approach. Peter Conn in the English Department however is less certain about this approach given the current state of the hardware. He felt that improved resolution for digitized images and freeze frame on CLV discs could make this approach more viable than just simply giving hand-outs. Funding continues to support newer efforts in using Cinema in other languages. Sub-projects in Spanish, French, German and Arabic continue to work on preparing Cinema presentations for the fall, 1990. Funding was recently awarded to Robert Kraft to develop Cinema presentations for two courses, Christian Origins and The Life of Jesus. If you are interested in becoming involved as a beta test site for Cinema, contact me (Jack Abercrombie) for details via the networks (JACKA @ PENNDRLS). IBM CONCORDANCE AND LEX PROGRAMS Any readers interested in receiving our new IBM utilities disk, may contact me (Jack Abercrombie) for details (JACKA @ PENNDRLS). This disk contains a new version of SEEK and CONCORD. Both programs are fully documented and work with TLG encoded material. Source code is also available. From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.1297 Notes and Queries (206) Date: Wed, 18 Apr 90 14:29:29 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2248 (2791) For Peter Robinson: The address you have is working for me. Try also: MARCOS@EMDUAM11.BITNET Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: BML@PSUARCH.Bitnet Subject: RE: 3.1299 Research Computing; Why E-Texts?; Postmodernism Date: Wed, 18 Apr 90 23:03 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2249 (2792) to Parsons on beginnings: did you know of Edward Said, BEGINNINGS: INTENTION AND METHOD, Columbia U Pr, published within the past decade. Bernie Levinson (sorry--this line may be truncated) Penn State From: EIEB360@UTXVM.BITNET Subject: 3.1299 Research Computing; Why Date: Thursday, 19 April 1990 8:13am CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2250 (2793) This is a reply to Mikeal Parsons' query about the study of beginnings: you might try Edward Said, _Beginnings: A Study in Intention and Method_ (1977). I think I have the subtitle right, but I'm certain of the main title. I think the book falls squarely into the category of postmodern studies of beginnings. John Slatin From: Jan Eveleth <EVELETH@YALEVM> Subject: Twin Smells... Date: Thu, 19 Apr 90 10:36:24 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2251 (2794) For Douglas J. Bottoms inquiring about twin smells: In the tradition of the Evil Twin Skippy, I vote for the distinctive smell of synthetic banana flavorings in chewy candies as being, at best, an evil twin of the real thing. Hardly an olfactory rhapsody evoking the greater virtues of twinness, the synthetic banana flavor is twinness nonetheless by virtue of its innocent chemical identity and unmistakable charlatan personality. After all, what is a twin but the perception of physical sameness blanketing separate and unique characters? From a non-twin. Jan Eveleth Yale University From: fbhjj <FBDJJ@CUNYVM> Subject: Re: 3.1297 Notes and Queries Date: Thu, 19 Apr 90 17:27:38 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2252 (2795) Hmmm.. Sounds like it is an Indian Foundation of some sort. I think you could get more information from the Embassy of India, if there is one in your country. From: "Michael Sperberg-McQueen 312 996-2477 -2981" <U35395@UICVM> Subject: brief footnote on plate-spinning Date: 19 April 1990 09:24:10 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2253 (2796) For the record (and for the reputation of Stanford's dining halls, if not its physics department), it should be noted that Richard Feynman's plate-spinning observation was done at Cornell, not Stanford. I don't recall any dining hall at Stanford which had the university crest on its plates, in any case. Where but on the east coast would you find that kind of, er, taste in chinaware? Feynman aficionadoes will also be interested in a collection of articles on Feynman published a year or so ago in Physics Today; one article there points out that Feynman's account of the plate-spinning episode gets the salient detail backward (giving a ratio as 2:1 instead of 1:2). [deleted quotation]edition, the author infers that Feynman was making a little joke. It's also true, of course, that the editor of Feynman's anecdotal recollections was not a physicist and may just have messed up the syntax in post-editing. (You see, there is *always* a text-critical angle!) Michael Sperberg-McQueen From: koontz@alpha.bldr.nist.gov (John E. Koontz) Subject: Mac vs. PC Date: Wed, 18 Apr 90 15:50:40 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2254 (2797) Given that corporate source is economically and politically, perhaps morally, relevant to a decision to purchase a microcomputer, there isn't much point in comparing IBM policies to Apple policies in arguing the virtues of PCs vs. Macs. One doesn't buy a PC from IBM. On the other hand, one does buy a Mac from Apple, either directly or indirectly. IBM may not like this situation, but there it is. IBM is not the major supplier of PCs. Nominally they don't even supply PCs as such at all, though some of their current PS/2 line are essentially PCs in disguise. From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: not flaming about IBM and Apple, but a bit disillusioned Date: 18 April 1990, 21:16:38 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2255 (2798) The gentleman from Dublin (for shame, attacking a Flannagan!) makes some good points about the OS2 architecture, about which I know very little, and about the comparative ruthlessness of both companies. Since I wrote about Mac vs IBM I have been attempting to garner support from either for seed equipment for a humanities institute that would be centered on collection of texts. How could I do that, you say, being so inimical to both companies? You will have to believe that I have not been hypocritical, but I have been testing the good will and the genuine desire of both companies to support education in order to "sell more boxes on campus" (that was the honest way an IBM rep put it, when I talked to her at length about IBM and education early last summer). Our local IBM rep has not offered much support, though I went to him first and explained a very ambitious project that would nevertheless not require huge amounts of support monies or equipment from IBM. I asked for help locating people within IBM who might be interested in the systematic collection and encoding of texts. He hasn't been able to locate anyone. He promised to send samples of software; he hasn't. My general philosophy of "Put not your faith in sales reps" seemed to be operative. When there was no response, my chairman and I went to Apple, whose sales rep said they would like to give us some equipment, then said that Apple would give us equipment, but only if our Dean would commit matching funds for 50% support (really that is a 50% discount on the hardware, isn't it, not counting tax breaks?). The Apple rep then said that the decision had to come from Chicago. It hasn't come, but further stipulations have. We had to get *corporate* support from alumni/ae monies channeled through the Dean's office, and the names of the corporations had to be on the grant coming from the Dean. So many strings were being attached we began wondering if something had dried up Apple's charity. This process of sour grantsmanship must be a common one in academic America, where we often feel like the poor lay brothers of business and industry. The push and pull of it is in the process of brown-nosing the big corporations who need the tax write-offs while we resent their treating us with contempt. They lure us with advertising that says they support education, we beg for money or equipment and then they withdraw it. I wish I could trust what either corporation says, since both have their own types of locks on academia. I do admire much of what both companies have done in the past--even the modest Apple II, for the courage it took to invent and market such a machine--and I admire the way IBM treats its employees, allowing them the business equivalent of tenure and job satisfaction. But I don't much like what they both bring out in us Humanists. One last reply to the Dubliner: I stand by my use of "standard" for DOS, since it has been the most commonly used and the measure of all other operating systems for computers derived from the IBM PC, "an established or accepted model" as according to Chambers. Now, could we shut up about our favorite machines? Roy Flannagan From: <BRUSH@FORDMURH> Subject: Conference Announcement Date: Tue, 17 Apr 90 18:21 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2256 (2799) ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTERS AND THE HUMANITIES Third Biennial Conference Teaching Humanists Computers June 23-25,1990 Fordham University Rose Hill Campus Bronx, New York 10458 The conference will take place over a June weekend, beginning Saturday after lunch and extending through Monday morning. The talks and sessions will focus on the problems of teaching humanists computers. Although most of the teaching materail and techniques are interdisciplinary there will be papers dealing with specific areas in the humanities -- Music, Art, Literature, Linguistics, Philosophy, and others. Panel discussions on specific issues of interest to humanists are being organized. At the banquet on Sunday evening, the keynote speaker will be Susan Hockey of Oxford University. The registration fee includes attendance at all meetings, wine and cheese, coffee breaks, five meals (Saturday lunch through Monday breakfast) as well as the banquet on Sunday evening. Before May 15th the registration fee is $80.00; after that date the fee will be $100.00. -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available through the fileserver, s.v. TEACH90 CONFRNCE. You may obtain a copy by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@Brownvm. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT BROWNVM GET filename filetype HUMANIST; if you are not on a VM/CMS system, send mail to ListServ@Brownvm with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see the "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: PROF NORM COOMBS <NRCGSH@RITVAX> Subject: Macademia conference in Rochester announcement Date: Thu, 19 Apr 90 08:34 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2257 (2800) For info contact: RITVAX::NJMACC Newton Munson MacAdemia '90: Visions for Education May 29 - June 1, 1990 Rochester, NY Hosted by Rochester Institute of Technology University of Rochester Apple Computer, Inc. At MacAdemia '90 you can choose from one hundred presentations that explore Macintosh basics, Macintosh applications in emerging areas, and traditional classroom and administrative uses. You will also find special interest group meetings, vendor hands-on training, Macintosh art exhibits, and evening events. Now in its fifth year in the northeast, MacAdemia is sponsored by Apple Computer, Inc. to give higher education faculty and administrators an opportunity to discover new ways of incorporating Macintosh technology into classrooms, research, and administration. -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available through the fileserver, s.v. MACAD90 CONFRNCE. You may obtain a copy by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@Brownvm. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT BROWNVM GET filename filetype HUMANIST; if you are not on a VM/CMS system, send mail to ListServ@Brownvm with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see the "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: <JBOWYER@UNOMA1> Subject: TALLY 2.0 Date: Thu, 12 Apr 90 20:23 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2258 (2801) White Mountain Software, Inc. proudly announces version 2.0 of its popular text analysis program, TALLY. This program allows a researcher to assign numeric codes to segments in a text, then produce reports based on the encoding. Here's what users had to say about TALLY 1.01: " . . . ran without a hitch; the mouse and pulldown menus worked beautifully." J.C. Professor, Classics Department Brooklyn College, CUNY "We like the program very much." J.W. Anthropology Department University of Northern Arizona "Well, here is one totally satisfied customer." M.S. Indiana University "I appreciate the way you do business." J.S. Department of Speech Communication University of Maine TALLY 2.0 includes the following new features: -- batch processing of multiple results files in one report; -- ability to specify whether reports should list segment codes only, segment codes and the first line of text associated with each segment, or segment codes and all lines of text associated with each segment; -- NOT Boolean operator for code group occurrences report; -- many other useful capabilities. TALLY 2.0's beta tester, who allowed his entire ethnographic research methods class to put the program through its paces, provides these insights: "Tally is very well designed, works rapidly, and has a very clear user interface. It is very user friendly, which is one advantage in classroom use . . . " "None of us detected any bugs during usage." "We are all impressed with Tally . . . . Some of the particulars include the ability to code and recode segments on the fly. This type of interactive coding is very valuable in textual analysis and gives Tally strong advantages over other programs." "Tally is a wonderful program." R. T. Anthropology Department University of Northern Arizona TALLY 2.0, which runs on IBM-compatible computers, still sells for only $19.95 ($119.95 for anyone who thinks good software must cost more than $100). For additional information, please contact: White Mountain Software, Inc. 4728 Cass Street Suite 13 Omaha, Nebraska 68132 Sincerely, Jeffrey W. Bowyer BITNET: JBOWYER@UNOMA1 From: "Ralph W. Mathisen" <N330009@UNIVSCVM> Subject: Job Opening Date: Mon, 16 Apr 90 14:57:37 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2259 (2802) One-year non-renewabled visiting assistant professor, Ph.D. or dissertation in progress in Classics required. Teaching experience and publications preferred. Duties include teaching two undergraduate courses each semester in Greek, Latin, and classical civilization and two lectures each semester in a graduate seminar in classical civilization. Term of appointment: August 15, 1990 - May 15, 1991. $24,000, application (letter, vita, three letters of recommendation and graduate transcript) must be post- marked by May 11, 1990. Telephone interviews. Contact Stanley Lombardo, Chair, Department of Classics, 2083 Wescoe, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, telephone (913) 864 3153. Informational contact may be made via BITNET address PHILLIPS@UKANVM. The University of Kansas is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Applications are sought from all qualified persons regardless of race, religion, color, sex, dis- ability, veteran status, national origin, age, or ancestry. Phillips (for Lombardo) From: John Unsworth <JMUEG@NCSUVM> Subject: new journal Date: Tue, 17 Apr 90 19:13:15 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2260 (2803) A version of this notice was posted to Humanist a couple of months ago, but contained an incorrect e-mail address. We'd appreciate it if you would re-distribute this, since a number of people have been frustrated in their attempt to get through to the journal. Thanks. --John Unsworth ________________________________________ <Postmodern Culture> --First issue to appear later this year-- <Postmodern Culture> will be an on-line, juried, transdiscip- linary journal of postmodern literature, theory, and culture. Its purpose is to present works of scholarship, criticism, fiction, and poetry which bring intelligence and wit to the task of understanding the postmodern condition. <PC> is specifically interested in the intersection of postmodern studies with other contemporary fields of discourse: by inviting a diversity of perspectives, we hope to make visible those social and political commitments of postmodernism which sometimes go unacknowledged. Furthermore, as a journal which includes works in progress and which facilitates response to those works, <PC> will provide a practical alternative to the privileging of product over process, and writer over reader, in academic inquiry. The editors of <PC> are especially interested in encouraging the participation of those who do not already use the networks, those outside the usual bound- aries of the discussion of postmodernism, and those outside the U.S. <PC> will be organized into issues, some general and some topic- centered. As an electronic publication, <PC> can offer a number of advantages over print journals --decreased lag-time between submission and publication, more direct and immediate exchanges between writer and reader, instant access to all back issues, the opportunity to revise and update what you have already published, and a way of working in either public or private collaboration with writers in remote locations. Work on file at <PC> will be copyrighted, but the editors will not restrict the author's right to revise such work or to submit it for print publication. Access to <PC> will be available via electronic mail, through Bitnet or Internet, using any computer with a modem. Members of <PC> will receive instructions explaining how to log on to and use the journal; technical problems, should they arise, can be addressed on-line by the editor or by computing staff at your home institution. Contact: Postmodern Culture <pmc@ncsuvm.bitnet> Box 8105 N.C. State University Raleigh, NC 27695 From: Timothy Bergeron <C09615TB@WUVMD> Subject: List for Discussing Academic Computing Date: Thu, 19 Apr 90 13:21:11 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2261 (2804) A new list for discussing all aspects of academic software development has been created at Washington University in in St. Louis. Some topics for discussion are: Courseware development Research tool development Institutional policies regarding development & use Development practices Available resources (including grant sources) Design techniques Faculty acceptance of courseware Role played by development in the faculty reward system Support policies Reviews Some categories of academic software are applications target towards: Simulations Authoring techniques Hypermedia Immersion learning environments Interactive learning Drills To subscribe send an interactive message or mail to LISTSERV@WUVMD containing SUB ACSOFT-L FirstName LastName. Please do NOT send these commands to the list address ACSOFT-L@WUVMD. Doing so will cause your request to be broadcast to all subscribers and will not cause your name to be added to the list. Comments and questions should be directed to Timothy Bergeron, C09615TB@WUVMD.BITNET From: "Ned J. Davison" <HISPANIA@UTAHCCA.BITNET> Subject: Hispanists, who are you? Date: Wed, 18 Apr 90 15:12 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2262 (2805) Salt Lake City, Utah I am interested in making contact with Hispanists on HUMANIST who use BITNET or a compatible network, and especially those outside the United States. My literary interests are Spanish American poetry and the computer- aided analysis of verse, diction, meter, and rhythm. Ned Davison, U. of Utah From: Sarah L. Higley <slhi@uhura.cc.rochester.edu> Subject: Joanna Russ on medieval literature and science fiction Date: Wed, 18 Apr 90 22:14:10 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2263 (2806) I'm told that Joanna Russ wrote an article in which she compared science fiction and medieval literature; not an original premise, to be sure, but her contribution was in noting that mainstream readers often have the same difficulties with science fiction that they do with medieval texts. They favor psychological "naturalism" and "voice," and discredit the emphasis on social commentary and allegory in "traditional" sf and in medieval literature. I suspect this is published in a popular magazine rather than an academic journal and that's why I can't find any trace of it in the MLA bibliography. Anybody out there know to what article I'm refering? Sarah Higley Internet: slhi@uhura.cc.rochester.edu Bitnet: slhi%uhura.cc.rochester.edu@uorvm UUCP: rutgers!rochester!ur-cc!slhi Assistant Professor of English, the University of Rochester, NY From: tgmcfadden@ucdavis.BITNET Subject: For Humanist Posting Date: Thu, 19 Apr 90 11:01:18 -0700 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2264 (2807) Does anyone know whether there is an annual bibliography of critical theory, either currently being published or being planned? I assume such a bibliography would cover selectively some 75-100 journals each year, but I don't know precisely which titles those would be. Please reponse to: tgmcfadden@ucdavis.bitnet Thanks. From: Robert Hollander <bobh@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Subject: Chauncey Conference Summary Date: Wed, 18 Apr 90 23:44:41 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1305 (2808) SUMMARY Conference on A National Center for Machine-Readable Texts in the Humanities Chauncey Center, Princeton, N.J. March 14-16, 1990 On March 14-16, 1990 approximately 50 academicians, librarians, publishers and computing professionals gathered at the Chauncey Center in Princeton, N.J. to attend an invitational conference on a National Center for Machine-Readable Texts in the Humanities. The conference was organized by Marianne Gaunt, Rutgers University, and Robert Hollander, Princeton University, as part of a one year planning grant funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded to Rutgers University in July 1989. This grant proposed that Rutgers University and Princeton University jointly collaborate on the development of model for such a national center. The purpose of the conference was to provide experts in the field a forum for discussion which would lend guidance to the continued planning efforts of the project staff. A working draft document was distributed in advance to conference participants and served as an outline for discussion at the conference, which included some 45 participants. Participants gathered the evening of March 14 for a brief overview of the conference agenda and a review of planning that has taken place thus far. Joanne Euster, Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian welcomed the participants on behalf of Rutgers University. Provost Paul Banacerraf of Princeton University made welcoming remarks on Thursday morning. The concept of a National Center for Machine-Readable Texts in the Humanities has been discussed in many forums for some time. However, it wasn't until three years ago that Rutgers and Princeton decided that similar interests in humanities computing and experience gained through national humanities computing projects might provide the impetus for a combined effort to bring the concept to the fore again. With expressed interest from the state in the form of a grant from the New Jersey Committee for the Humanities, the 2 major research institutions in the state proposed a planning grant to NEH. Funding from NEH and from the Mellon Foundation paid for the conference and for continuing cataloging activities. During these last six months, project staff have conducted site visits to the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, the Oxford Text Archive, and the University of Pisa, to obtain first hand information on text production and archiving, and to establish communication and cooperative links in the formation of a new center. Other site visits need to be completed. In addition, project staff have followed discussions on electronic bulletin boards and in professional journals, contacted individuals and institutions with major projects, to gather information which could be used in planning the center. Of concern to the project staff is the development of a mechanism by which the Center, once established, would be self-sustaining after an initial start-up period. Overall goals include the preparation of another document which presents the final concept, with associated costs, which could go to funding agencies in early Fall 1990. The working document distributed describes the parameters of the proposed center based on data gathering thus far. It was arranged by broad topic/function and the agenda for the conference followed that outline. The purpose of the discussions for the two days was to critique the draft and provide guidance as we continue to define the Center's mission and operations. Although separate break-out rooms were provided, it was decided to begin as a discussion of the whole until such time as separate groups would be needed. We did not, however, break into smaller groups. Over the course of the two days of discussion a wide divergence of opinion was expressed on many of the issues. Several discussion topics were inextricably linked to other topics so that from time to time discussion moved in many directions. Candid and thoughtful opinions were expressed on all topics for which the project staff are extremely greatful. While at no time did project staff hear any indication that a National Center should not exist, opinions split on the broad range of activities the Center could undertake. The broadest role for the Center was described on the last day of the conference. A need was expressed for the coordination of text-based humanities computing activities in North America (including Canada and Mexico) so that a Center could act as the North American contact and facilitator for international humanities computing relations, especially as they relate to the exchange of data, telecommunications links, standards, resources, etc. The Center could fill an educational and clearinghouse role by acting as a resource for information on projects, data production, software, scanning, expertise, training, advice and consultation. This was not envisioned to take the place of the local institution in the training and educational role. The Center would fill its networking mission by providing an inventory and catalog of existing machine-readable texts and making this available in the most cost effective and accessible manner. It would also collect texts and provide access to them. It would promote encoding standards and be an advocate for standardization with individuals and societies. While these functions are laudable and undoubtedly useful, project staff need to consider the feasibility of achieving success in filling these roles, as well as the costs involved in doing so. Inventory and Cataloging Function: All participants agreed that it is essential to maintain an inventory of existing machine-readable texts and to make the catalog records available in an easily accessible manner. Questions related to this topic included: does LC MARC (Library of Congress Machine-Readable Cataloging Record) provide sufficient information for a practitioner to identify the text he/she needs; is there a place for a "quality" statement in the record; can the record be searched and retrieved by a variety of useful elements; can the record include information on retrieval software; are encoding features included in the record; can new editions of the same text be recorded; how do you get inventory information; how many texts exist; cataloging is expensive, will you catalog everything; what about individuals not on RLIN, how will they get inventory information? Gaunt reviewed the inventory and cataloging process and addressed the questions raised. The LC MARC record has a sufficient number of fields to include all information that is of potential use to a researcher. However, many designated fields do not exist for specific information, such as encoding details, even though the information will be recorded in the record. This means that the searching/retrieval software may not be able to locate an item by certain search terms. Catalog records by their nature do not include a "quality" statement. That must be ascertained by the individual using the item. However, it may be apparent in the record in notes which indicate what the compiler has or has not done to the text. As for editions, we can add new editions as compilers report them. A new edition is a substantial change from the original edition. While cataloging is expensive, the project has not been overwhelmed by inventory information. Records which have the most complete information will be cataloged first. Others with incomplete information will be cataloged in brief as project staff contact the compiler for more information. Our intention from the beginning was to inventory all that we could, and let the user make the judgment of what was useful, and to use existing standards rather than create our own formats. Gathering inventory information is a continual problem. Individuals with fewer that ten texts will usually respond to a survey instrument, provided the individual can be identified. Centers and projects require special attention. The Mellon Foundation has provided a grant to catalog the Oxford Text Archive's holdings. Rutgers will be creating records on the RLIN database. This is one method for dealing with a large repository. Mike Neuman, Georgetown University, has compiled a list of projects/centers which he has shared with project staff. This is being used to conduct follow-up surveys to ascertain details on the individual text level. Antonio Zampolli, University of Pisa, is working on a major survey to be sent to 4000-5000 individuals involved in humanities computing. The results will be shared with project staff for inventory information. He also thinks 80% of European texts are in 5-6 large centers. Gaunt thinks that there is more in European centers/projects than in the US; also, they are easier to identify. The inventory process will also work with professional societies, as many of these are polling their members for just such information now. Dissemination of the inventory is initially on RLIN (the Research Libraries Information Network). RLIN is available on the Internet, through individual accounts, through RLG libraries. Tapes are also given to OCLC, another major online network. The database will be searched by project staff for any interested individuals. Disks can also be made available. Dial-in access to the Rutgers catalog will be available soon. This is another option. While everyone is not on Bitnet, it could be used as another point of access. Data Collection/Archiving: The original proposal for the center included an archival and dissemination function for texts which would otherwise become available. The center would also accept texts for deposit. It would work with publishers to determine if their tapes could be archived and disseminated. Issues raised in this discussion included: what constitutes a humanities text; is there a measure of quality in accepting a text; who determines quality; is there a need to collect texts when online access may be available? It was suggested that our definitions of a humanities text remain broad and that as the center gains experience with usage the definitions may emerge. If we are polling the humanities computing community, one could assume that we have placed some parameters on the materials which will be used by the same. Accept what is deposited and formulate more specific guidelines as experience is gained. The center should not be judgmental of texts, but report impartially on the materials it archives. It was suggested that the funding agencies require that all projects resulting in a machine-readable text deposit it with the center. While online access may be available for many texts, it is not available for all. There is certainly no need to archive texts which are available from the compiler directly or online. There may be ways to work with publishers for the deposit of texts with the center and their availability for individual research. Compilation of Texts/Copyright Issues: These two issues relate to each other and can be treated independently as well. There was considerable debate regarding the need for the Center to compile texts through scanning as well as copyright issues concerning the dissemination of texts in the archive. Issues raised include: will the center undertake the verification of texts; can the center employ experts in all areas for text production; can the Center scan a work under copyright; is there a need to scan at the Center when OCR equipment is readily available? While copyright issues are clearly a problem, Kahin pointed out that there are certain benefits under the copyright laws of the Center acting as a library. It does not mitigate all problems but provides a more liberal environment for scholarly use of materials. OCR equipment is more readily available and the Center may not wish to undertake scanning by contract, but the center staff should be knowledgeable of the technical details and also be able to refer users to other appropriate sources where the specific expertise (language, discipline, scripts, etc.) is available. Organizational Issues/Staffing/Budget: Specific details of staffing and organization were not to be determined at this stage in the planning process, however, general information concerning the division of responsibilities between Princeton and Rutgers were outlined in the draft. Gaunt explained that the staffing and budget were weak sections of the draft because the planning had not progressed to that level. The Advisory Board and its functions were delineated. Issues raised included: priorities for Princeton and Rutgers staff; costs too low to support functions; staffing levels too low to support activities; separate executive functions from policy functions. Gaunt suggested that the staffing and budget should be determined following agreement on the activities of the center. Consideration would be given to more realistic figures, since these appeared to be low by all estimates. Governing Board and Advisory Board functions would be separated. Inclusion of members of the publishing industry, especially Society for Scholarly Publishing and American Association of University Presses. Representatives from Rutgers and Princeton would not be present on the policy making board, nor would the Center's Director chair the Board. It was clear that Rutgers and Princeton faculty/staff would not receive preferential treatment if the Center wished to remain a North American Center of activities. It is important that this not be seen as a local project. Other: The remaining sections to be discussed following the outline included technical issues related to computing resources and facilities. Gaunt suggested that these issues not be discussed in the time remaining as they relate to specifics of the final operation. Instead, the time should be spent on reviewing the role of the center, discussion of issues which require refinement and other items which have not been covered. Topics for discussion included: what's the basis for the inventory; how would the consortial approach work; what happens next? It was generally agreed that the inventory base should be broad to elicit as much information as possible. The areas of humanities text information include: spoken texts, textual materials (individual texts, collections, corpora), lexical data (machine-readable dictionaries, lexical databases). The consortial approach using the ICPSR model was determined to be a viable option for a self-sustaining financial base. Gaunt explained that a pay as you go operation would hardly keep the inventory/cataloging operation going. It is difficult to determine the use of the Center without experience. Membership in the center which would guarantee access to all materials provided by the center plus a role in the direction of the Center's activities seemed a good approach. Many libraries would consider this an opportunity to provide information resources to their user community. Many, like Rutgers, now pay the ICPSR membership on their campus. Most agreed that they needed a product to sell in order to support the Center financially. Although the ICPSR model is based on the social sciences, which are organized differently than the humanities, it is not the only model. RLG and the Center for Research Libraries are consortial models based on the provision of goods and services for the group which are beyond the finances of any individual institution. Support on campus by individual faculty members was mentioned as a leverage for the institutional support. Membership would be open to all institutions with a scaled membership fee based on size of the institution. Project staff will now meet to evaluate the comments and suggestions received during this conference and prepare a revised proposal. We will be doing this in the immediate future. Minutes of this conference were distributed to all participants for review. Summary minutes will go on the Listserver and to various publications. Many thanks to all for their time and participation. Any additional comments may be sent to Gaunt or Hollander at any time. From: MHEIM@CALSTATE Subject: Reply to What good are etexts? Date: Thu, 19 Apr 90 17:28:58 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2265 (2809) A Reply to "Hey! What good are electronic texts, anyway?" (Wed, 18 Apr 90 09:38 PST) Charles Young asks a good question about etexts -- what are they good for? The list of uses he has already compiled seems to suggest a sequence, all predicated on the same assumption. The assumption is that we can approach etexts much as we do printed texts -- except that the computer makes etexts machine readable. Machine-readable texts allow us to search and manipulate the textual object more efficiently. Maybe etexts do more than provide an enhanced way of researching textual objects. Unlike the printed or handwritten text, the etext has a less firmly separate objective status and so lends itself less to preservative and restorative contemplation. Etexts lend themselves to interaction. The interactive text does not submit so nicely to our objective measurements and assessments. Electronic texts instigate new approaches to reading and research, approaches that are sui generis. Rather than continue to produce texts as objects of preservation and objective analysis, we may have to learn to interact with primary texts in new ways. Etexts bring out the interactive nature of reading/writing. Many possibilities for interaction are still hidden or just emerging. One recent addition to researching primary texts (texts taken from print or manuscript) has been the hypertext "backtrack." That is, we can now regard our own browsing and searching as itself a new text or a vital comment on the text. Our interaction becomes a commentary on the reading/thinking process. We can glimpse some more interesting possibilities if we consider, speculatively, the linked nature of electronic texts. Reading texts by Plato online may lead to dialogues about the Dialogues. And these dialogues will presumably measure themselves against the text they speak of in a way that no spoken dialogue or written correspondence can. All texts, primary and secondary, will be in the same electronic element, hence eroding the line between primary and secondary texts. Electronics links all texts and makes even the primary text fungible, living, and ripe for interaction. Does this mean that etexts might revive Plato's writings so that they live again? Don't hold your breath. At least the notion of the dead word of preservative, objective analysis may be gradually eroded by etexts. We may now search desperately for some practical uses of etexts, but over the long haul, I suspect, we may have to ask what etexts have done to our whole approach to thinking, reading, and writing. Mike Heim Cal State Long Beach From: pdk@iris.brown.edu (Paul D. Kahn) Subject: Descartes Date: Fri, 20 Apr 90 08:49:17 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2266 (2810) During a seminar at Brown in January 1990 for faculty interested in developing materials using Intermedia, I met Pat Manfredi, who teaches philosophy at Hamilton College in New York. Pat had with him an electronic version of the Meditations in English that he had already used in a SuperCard stack. I don't know the source of the text or its extent. The address I have for him is at Carnegie Mellon, since he is connected to CDEC, a lab there for developing educational software. Pat Manfredi (Hamilton College) CDEC Bld. B Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 412/268-5017 pm2x+@andrew.cmu.edu Tell him I sent you. Paul Kahn (pdk@iris.brown.edu) From: Tzvee Zahavy <MAIC@UMINN1> Subject: Greek and Infowindow Date: Fri, 20 Apr 90 08:14:31 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2267 (2811) In response to the query from our colleague in Amsterdam: Duke language Toolkit does come with a Greek character set for the EGA and VGA. I believe it can be obtained from WiscWare, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706. I have used DLT for our Hebrew instructional programs (MILIM vocabulary drill also from WiscWare) and have found it to work nicely. On another matter: does anyone out there want to purchase or barter an Infowindow? We have an extra one and would like to see it put to use on some worthy project. From: <WEST@UNCA> Subject: Twin smells Date: Fri, 20 Apr 90 09:28 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2268 (2812) RE: Douglas Bottons, Jan Eveleth, and Skippy, the Evil Twin: The smell of synthetic banana flavoring seems quite an appropriate choice for a twin smell. Artificial banana flavoring has some unique properties, one of which is its incredible potency. Dairies which use these flavorings have to change all the non-metallic pipes and tubings after a run of banana ice-cream; a friend at a dairy told me once that only a couple of molecules of this flavoring suffices to generate the perception of banana flavor, and the stray molecule or two might hang around in the PVC piping. Thus banana is always the last flavor run in the local dairy. The reason I remember all this is that a disgruntled employee at the local dairy dumped a couple of ounces of banana flavor into a huge vat where buttermilk was fermenting, creating perhaps the most ghastly taste known to man -- banana buttermilk. The artificial banana flavoring is utterly synthetic; as Jan Eveleth suggests, the radically different chemical properties of the synthetic and the real banana molecule (banana molecules?) make it the perfect candidate for the twin. Perceptual sameness masking separate and unique characters ... And, for didactic purposes, the artificial banana scent is readily available on kiddy scratch-and-sniff toys (I think there are some featuring The Smurfs; this would be the perfect choice, as all the Smurfs are twins ...) From another non-twin, Mark West UNC-Asheville From: Daniel Boyarin <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.1299 Research Computing; Why E-Texts?; Postmodernism Date: Fri, 20 Apr 90 04:09:24 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2269 (2813) on postmodernity and beginnings dear mikael, it seems to me that you are confusing poststructuralism with postmodernism, which although roughly concurrent belong to different fields of endeavor. poststructuralism has to do with literary theory, postmodernism with an entire change in our culture, including but no limited to its art. now, if you are interested in post-modern esthetics, brian mcchale has written a fine book on postmodern fiction, published by routledge in the new accents series. also linda hutcheon writes about such subjects. you migh want to have a look at a "novel" by italo calvino called "when on a winter's night a traveller," which will have some surprising insights on narrative beginnings. finally, do look at edward said's book, entitled "beginnings." which is poststructuralist but hardly postmodern. nor is reader response postmodern in any meaningful sense of the word -- wolfgang iser would be horrified. be well From: Bob Parks <bob@WUBIOS.WUSTL.EDU> Subject: cd-roms Date: Wed, 18 Apr 90 10:08:48 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2270 (2814) Forwarded by: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Those of you interested in the costs of mastering CD's may be interested in this item from SAS-L. I don't read INFOWORLD, so contact the author for more information. --Jim Jim Cassell Institute for Research in Social Science (919) 962-0514 University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Bitnet: CASSELL@UNCVM1 Internet: CASSELL@UNCVM1.ACS.UNC.EDU ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- There was a discussion some time ago about manuals, etc. for SAS on CD-ROM. I just noticed in INFOWORLD that CD Technologies, INC. is offering to master CD-ROMs for $1,995 for 50 copies and about $5 per copy after that. Seems as if that kind of cost ($40 per ROM maximum) would make it very feasible in terms of duplication cost. Of course there is the cost of making the text available to the masterer which is not trivial. But I would think that CD Technologies is signaling the industry that we can have very inexpensive CD ROM production. Bob From: <NEUMAN@GUVAX> Subject: Projects in Electronic Text Date: Wed, 18 Apr 90 10:09 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2271 (2815) For the past year, the Georgetown Center for Text and Technology has been gathering information about archives and projects in electronic text throughout the world. Listed below -- in alphabetical order by country and city -- are the titles of over 270 projects, brief descriptions of their contents, and the names and addresses of contact persons. Our list is certainly not complete, and we invite members of this bulletin board who know of other projects (or corrections to the current catalog) to bring them to our attention. Further information about specific projects -- on such topics as time period, languages encoded, intended use, file formats, means of access, and sources -- can be obtained by writing to the address below. The entire file, however, is under constant revision and has not been edited for distribution. Michael Neuman, Director Georgetown Center for Text and Technology 238 Reiss Science Building Washington, DC 20057 (202) 687-6096 neuman@guvax neuman@guvax.georgetown.edu List of Archives and Projects in Machine-Readable Text Part I: Projects Excluding USA April 2, 1990 [ ... ] -------------------- [A complete version of this list is now available through the fileserver, s.v. PROJECTS ETEXTS. You may obtain a copy by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@Brownvm. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT BROWNVM GET filename filetype HUMANIST; if you are not on a VM/CMS system, send mail to ListServ@Brownvm with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see the "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: "David Owen, Philosophy, University of Arizona" <OWEN@rvax.ccit.arizona. Subject: Philosophy ETEXTS List Date: Fri, 13 Apr 90 14:53:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2272 (2816) ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Machine-readable texts and text-analysis software Prepared for the APA Subcommittee on Electronic Texts by Leslie Burkholder Date of this version = 08 April 1990. Thanks for contributions to: Mike Neuman, Stephen Clark, Hansje Braam. For information on text-analysis software see The Humanities Computing Yearbook 1988 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), chapters 25-27. Contains descriptions of various programs and references to articles about computer-aided text-analysis. Peter Abelard. [Works]. In Latin. For information contact: Literary & Linguistic Computing Center, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Ave., Cambridge CB3 9DA, England. Anselm of Canterbury (Saint Anselm). Opera Omnia. In Latin. For information contact: Literary & Linguistic Computing Center, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Ave., Cambridge CB3 9DA, England. Aristotle. [Complete works]. In Greek. For information contact: Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, University of California at Irvine, Irvine CA 92717, USA; tlg@uci.bitnet. [ ... ] -------------------- [A complete version of this list is now available through the fileserver, s.v. PHILOSFY ETEXTS. You may obtain a copy by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@Brownvm. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT BROWNVM GET filename filetype HUMANIST; if you are not on a VM/CMS system, send mail to ListServ@Brownvm with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see the "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Alan D Corre <corre@csd4.csd.uwm.edu> Subject: Date: Fri, 20 Apr 90 17:53:19 -0500 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2273 (2817) I like to improve my vocabulary and reading knowledge of foreign languages, and find that the following is a good way to do it. When I pass a Christian Science church or reading room I look through their free literature displayed outside, and take some with parallel English and foreign language. There are simple stories and testimonies, nothing to break your literary teeth on. You read the right side, and when you get stuck on a word or verb form you peek at the English opposite. At present I take Portuguese and Dutch, but maybe one day I will have the courage to graduate to Malay or Indonesian. And of course the "big" languages are always available. I would estimate that 25% of my Portuguese vocabulary I owe to Mrs. Eddy. I don't think the Christian Science folk would feel that I am abusing their generosity by using their literature for this purpose, for after all, they are spreading their doctrine. And as for that, the worst that can happen to you, it seems to me, is that you will come to think that maybe Somebody Loves You--and what is wrong with that? From: <DONALDSON@LOYVAX> Subject: The use of BITNET for book buying Date: Fri, 20 Apr 90 21:22 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2274 (2818) HUMANIST has discussed the use of the computer and various networks to do "electronic library work" at far-flung research libraries. What of placing book orders (for purchase, not interlibrary loan) for personal or class use? I may be misinformed, but I have the definite impression that the my colleagues in Italian (ours is a foreign language department) have had a great deal of luck in placing order through BITNET directly with book dealers in Italy and receiving confirmation electronically in a few hours and delivery in a matter of weeks. I and my fellow Germanists have not had similar luck in ordering from Germany. Nor have I heard of something similar in Spanish or French. Does anyone in the internationa l HUMANIST family have information which might be of some help? Is the ability to order books via the electronic networds limited to Italy or are there opportunities my colleagues and I have missed? My thanks for any information. And welcome back HUMANISRT. Randy Donaldson (DONALDSON@LOYVAX) From: Stephen Clausing <SCLAUS@YALEVM> Subject: NLP/Prolog Date: Sat, 21 Apr 90 12:11:20 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2275 (2819) I am going to be teaching a course next year on Natural Language Processing using the text by James Allen "Natural Language Understanding". I have two queries with respect to this. First, does anyone have the programs for the exercises in this text that they could send me? Second, does anyone have any experience with Prolog interpreters/compilers for the Macintosh. I am thinking of using Prolog instead of the more customary Lisp. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. One final note: it is not my intention with this note to initiate an argument over whether Lisp or Prolog is better. From: "Bill Ball" <C476721@UMCVMB> Subject: Modern Cultures Date: Sat, 21 Apr 90 12:32:24 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2276 (2820) I seem to have misplaced the subscription address for the electronic journal on postmodern culture. I think it was called _Modern Cultures_. Would someone please send it to me? ((( Bill Ball c476721@UMCVMB ) Dept. Pol. Sci. ) U. Mo.-Columbia ) From: "John J Hughes" <XB.J24@STANFORD.BITNET> Subject: Date: Sat, 21 Apr 90 13:01:39 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2277 (2821) SUBJECT: Need Help Dear Fellow Humanists, I need help in locating the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the person or persons to contact to obtain review copies of the following programs: (1) MicroEYEBALL (2) TTR (Type Token Ratio) (3) SATO (4) Disc-AN Thanks in advance to any HUMANISTs who can help. John J. Hughes Editor & Publisher Bits & Bytes Review XB.J24@Stanford FAX = (406) 862-1124 TEL = (406) 862-7280 From: Germaine Warkentin <WARKENT@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Writing Across the Curriculum Date: Sun, 22 Apr 90 16:19:05 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2278 (2822) I have been asked by a colleague at Laurentian University to circulate: CALL FOR PAPERS [deleted quotation]Curriculum and Langue integree aux programmes (WAC/LIP) program and the English Department at Laurentian University are sponsoring a bilingual conference entitled: CONTEXTUAL LITERACY: WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM - LA LITTERACIE EN CONTEXTE: LANGUE INTEGREE AUX PROGRAMMES The conference will explore theoretical and political issues related to university-level literacy as well as practical applications - specific WAC/LIP teaching strategies. Abstracts (250-500 words) in either French or English for 20 minute presentations or longer workshops should be submitted prior to June 15, 1990. For further information regarding speakers, funding, paper submissions and costs contact: Catherine Schryer (705) 675-1151x4345, or Laurence Steven (x4341), Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada P3E 2C6 OR: Jacques Berger (705) 675-1151x4309 or Muriel Usandivaras-Mili (x4305), Dept. de Francais, l'Universite Laurentienne, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada P3E 2C6. From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: published article? Date: Sun, 22 Apr 90 18:22:08 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2279 (2823) Some time back a kind Humanist gave me partial information about the fate of the following article that I have as a xerox from some conference. I think this Humanist's note disappeared in a general purge of my reader, so only the article itself remains. John Richardson, "The Limitations to Electronic Communication in the Research Community". (Richardson is from the HSUAT Research Centre, Loughborough.) Does anyone know (a) at which conference this paper was given, or much better (b) where it has been or will be published? I need complete bibliographical information if I can get it. Thanks. Yours, Willard McCarty From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.Edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Computers in History Date: Fri, 20 Apr 90 14:28:48 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2280 (2824) The question about the decline of cliometrics went under my nose and was zapped with my trusty "delete" key but evidently continued to percolate through my subconscious. Those of us in the humanities have known for a long time that there is a lot more to humanities computing than compiling statistics. Once you start to look at texts as potential historical sources, then it becomes obvious that the potential for the use of electronic texts in non-quantitative approaches to history has scarcely been tapped. As more and more texts, both literary and non-literary, become available in machine- readable form, I think that we can expect to see a corresponding increase in historical studies making use of them in the same fashion that literary scholars do. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: Donald Spaeth 041 339-8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK> Subject: 3.1299, Research Computing (History) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 10:33:04 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2281 (2825) This subject arose from a query Bob Kraft passed on from a colleague of his. Although Bob suggested that we pass comments back to him, I cannot resist airing it more generally. The query revealed an intesting difference between historical computing in the U.S. and Europe, which I have noticed before (not least in my own graduate school training at Brown). In Europe, historical computing is heavily oriented towards database work, which may be quite textual; in the U.S. the predominant orientation appears still to be towards quantitative methods. The big areas of interest are record linkage, relational databases and textual databases. I am not surprised that U.S. scholars are moving away from quantification (those few that adopted the techniques, anyway), just that it has taken them so long. Think about the way that most historians work with sources. They READ and they link information about particular people, places and events from discrete and scattered sources, the sort of tasks which databases and textbases are good at but SPSS is not. Literary and biblical scholars have been using computers to study textual material for decades; why shouldn't historians? Literature-based applications may be particularly appropriate for those historians who are becoming increasingly interested in the history of language, in the gap between rhetoric and reality and the extent to which rhetoric may reshape reality into its own image, in mentalite'. For a discipline which places considerable weight on words and their meaning, tools which help us to understand hidden levels of meaning are essential. This is not to say that text-based applications are less empirical. In both quantitative and textual work, it is the computer which does the sweating and the person who does the intrepretation. The computer may, however, reveal awkward information which the interpreter cannot ignore. The divide between US and European computing practices is intriguing. (I would be interested in hearing if others feel that the divide I've sketched out doesn't exist.) Perhaps it derives from the tendency of North Americans to place history in the social sciences; the British, at least, tend to put history in the humanities and economic and social history in the social sciences. But this is a coarse generalisation, and there must be many exceptions. One is the freshman humanities course which both Willard and I took at Reed College, which taught history, art history, philosophy and literature all together, in a course that ran from Homer to Shakespeare. But even Reed places history in the division of social sciences. Don Spaeth CTI Centre for History and Computing University of Glasgow gkha13 @ cms.glasgow.ac.uk From: STEVEC@FHCRCVM Subject: surrogate motherhood Date: Sat, 21 Apr 90 11:53:01 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2282 (2826) Beginning reading on surrogate motherhood seems to indicate that it is an issue only in Great Britain, Australia and the U.S. Is this an accident of the source selection or (help me international humanists) a real pecularity of these cultures? Is surrogate motherhood in the press of other countries? Also, in discussing the various sub-parts of fatherhood and motherhood (in Shannon's Surrogate Motherhood, but he is citing someone else), i.e., genetic father, genetic mother, carrying or birth mother and social father or mother, it seems that English in its American version, has no words to talk about the role of the father for the 9 months gestation. Certainly this is understandable biologically, but do other languages have this gap? Or does time period fall under "social father" (can't in any practical way in surrogate motherhood as practiced in US)? From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1306 Replies to Queries from 3.1297 and 3.1299; CD-ROMS Date: Sun, 22 Apr 90 07:34:21 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2283 (2827) re: What good are e-texts? This discussion reminds me of discussions I have heard concerning the advent of the preponderance of the written word over the spoken word, and of books over scrolls. Can't you just imagine what the Greeks in that time must have said about Homer being read (aloud or silently) a portion at a time, instead of being heard from the lips of people who spent a major portion of their lives memorizing epic proportions of a series of story-poems handed down from person to person (Fahrenheit - 451). They must have thought how dry and inexpressive the text would be, just laying there in written form, without the derivation of that person who was telling the story, without the interactivity with that crowd of listeners who came to hear for various celebrations, without discussion, without feedback and amplification in portions of greater interest or questionability in regards to the audience. This is such an occurrence as replacing a television show or a movie with scripts, and telling the audience to read it all for themselves. On the more academic and intellectual planes, it must have been said, on more than one occasion, that anyone who really was interested in a work such as Homer's or Virgil's, or even a comparison, would have to memorize them both, as information in print was useless, anyway, till it was incorporated into the mind, digested there, understood, until, THEN, AND ONLY THEN, would the person be ready for the study of Homer and Virgil and others. Another argument I have heard discussed is that books have placed the material of scholarly minds into the hands of those who are less than scholars, that with the aid of books, a person who had not studied in a real manner could nevertheless sit down with the aid of his book to quote, argue, discuss, and otherwise share in the academic pursuits - all without having really studied the material. The same could be said of persons who can find every mention of death and marriage in Shakespeare in a few seconds, with the aid of a CDROM or hard drive containing one of the many electronic editions of Will, as, of course, these crude persons would affect a first name basis in their relationship to the Bard. On the other hand, it will now be possible for me to write that paper on "Death and Marriage as Portrayed by Shakespeare in Macbeth-Hamlet- Othello-Romeo and Juliet," a paper which would have been overwhelming simply on the basis of the preliminary research, research which could not have been feasible before e-texts, research which could now be an easy matter of minutes rather than years. This is somewhat similar to the fact that the average person today is travelling farther, meeting more people, and spending more money each year than the average one of our grandparents did in a lifetime. The major question, in all these issues, is not only one of what we COULD DO with all these innovations, but what we ACTUALLY WILL DO. Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**) (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET) From: Eslinger@UNCAMULT.BITNET Subject: Response to M. Heim on value of e-texts Date: Sun, 22 Apr 90 09:59 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2284 (2828) Mike Heim says: >All texts, primary and secondary, will be in the >same electronic element, hence eroding the line >between primary and secondary texts. Isn't this distinction in the (collective) mind of the beholder(s) and so unlikely to disappear just because the ideas are presented in another medium? After all, paper publication presents primary and secondary on the same physical substrate (at least in the post-Gutenberg world) and we still make the distinction, almost without thought. Lyle Eslinger U. of Calgary From: Consult the Book of Armaments! <224331772@VUVAXCOM> Subject: Joanna Russ on Medieval Literature and Science Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 13:55 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2285 (2829) In Humanist 3.1303 "Announcements; Notes and Queries (252)", Sara L. Higley <Slhi@Uhura.Cc.Rochester.Edu> wrote in asking about Joanna Russ's article about science fiction and medieval literature. While I do not know where this was published, I do have an address where you might be able to reach her at. Sometime in the last two or so years, she had a short story published called "Souls". When I remembered this fact, I went to the bookstore and obtained the address of the publisher. Joanna Russ c/o Tom Doherty Assoc. Books 49 West 24 Street New York, NY 10010 Like any other publisher, they should forward your letter to her personally, else you might try contacting the publisher for her address - though they are sometime reluctant to release such information. Good luck. Jim Wilderotter Villanova University 22433177@Vuvaxcom 22433177@Vuvaxcom.Bitnet From: 6067THOMPSON@MUCSD.BITNET Subject: "Play" and Progress Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 13:28 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2286 (2830) Regarding the role of play in scientific discovery and progress, one might check Daniel J. Boorstin, _The Discovers: A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself_, Random House, 1 983: p. 309: a discussion of an "accidental" discovery Kepler made, contributing to his theory of planetary motion; p. 314: how children playing with lenses first produced a "telescope". No citations are given for this information in the text, but annotated bibliographies are included in the "Reference Notes" at the end of the book. I hope this contributes to the discussion! Rich Thompson 6067THOMPSON@MUCSD.BITNET From: 6067THOMPSON@MUCSD.BITNET Subject: "Play" and Progress #2 Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 13:30 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2287 (2831) The page numbers from Boorstin's _The Discovers_ refer to the Random House Vintage Edition of 1985. Sorry for forgetting to mention this the first time. From: CTILIT@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: Prolog for Macs Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 13:22 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2288 (2832) In response to Stephen Clausing's question about Prolog systems for NLP, Logic Programming Associates Ltd. markets an excellent version of Prolog for the Mac -- MacPROLOG v3.0. It is an industry-standard Edinburgh Syntax Prolog system which is compatible with Quintus Prolog. It is available from: LPA Ltd. Studio 4, RVPB, Trinity Road, London, SW18 3SX, England. Stuart might also like to think about using *Natural Language Processing in Prolog* by Gerald Gazdar and Chris Mellish for his course. It was published by Addison-Wesley in 1989. There are lots of exercises in this which you can get on a disk from Gazdar and Mellish; the book is also available for LISP and Pop 11, and in some ways seems to me a better text for student use than the Allen. Marilyn Deegan Computers in Teaching Initiative Centre for Literature and Linguistic Studies Oxford From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Re: 3.1306 Replies to Queries from 3.1297 and 3.1299; CD-ROMS (183) Date: Sun, 22 Apr 90 21:08:42 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2289 (2833) Forwarded by: Michael Hart ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- What good are e-texts. Only one answer is necessary on Earth Day. Unlike ptexts, they don't destroy trees to make paper. Sooner or later, the world will see this as an overriding concern which will make things printed on paper about as reasonable as printing on dried human skin. From: LAPLANTE@UMTLVR.BITNET Subject: RE: 3.1309 Research Computing (History); Surrogate Motherhood (95) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 10:08 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2290 (2834) Comparative law is definitely not my field, but I would like to point out that the three countries were surrogate motherhood seems to have become a social issue all rely on Common Law. Here, in Quebec, surrogate motherhood has failed to become such an issue because it has been swiftly settled by the courts: our Civil Code, which is derived from the French one, contains general provisions that able the courts to invalidate some contracts and it appeared that contracts dealing with the "ownwership" of a human being could not be valid, therefore depriving surrogate motherhood of any interest. I would suggest, and I stress that this is only a suggestion because I didn't check it, that surrogate motherhood appears as a social issue solely in coutries relying on common law because most other nations use some form of civil law that is not simply defined as a set of rules regarding the obligations of the contractants and doesn't confine the courts to the role of arbitrator when some conflict arises between those contractants, but clearly states that, in some cases, contracts can be invalidated even if the contractants do not disagree and gives the courts power to do so. As I already indicated, this is only an hypothesis. Benoit Laplante Departement de sociologie Universite de Montreal LAPLANTE@CC.UMontreal.CA LAPLANTE@UMTLVR.BITNET From: koontz@alpha.bldr.nist.gov (John E. Koontz) Subject: Re: 3.1309 ... Surrogate Motherhood Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 09:04:47 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2291 (2835) If STEVEC is looking for interesting father terminology, he might want to investigate usage among the Nayar, a group in India which is always worth consideration whenever one is interested in fine distinctions in varieties of fatherhood. There is at least one excellent monograph or long article on the subject that I have read in the past, but I don't recall the reference. Perhaps someone else can help here? None of this would apply to surrogate motherhood directly, since that is a very new development. From: matsuba@Writer.YorkU.CA Subject: Bibliography for computing in the humanities Date: Wed, 11 Apr 90 21:04:20 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2292 (2836) I am compiling a beginner's bibliography of helpbooks, guides, introductions, and other essential items that relate to humanities computing. I would be very grateful for suggestions about what should go into this bibliography. Publications in all languages are welcome, but those in French and English would be particularly useful. Stephen N. Matsuba York University matsuba@writer.yorku.ca From: Germaine Warkentin <WARKENT@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Unknown reference in Luther Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 20:38:22 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2293 (2837) Can any Humanist help? A colleague is trying to track down a reference in Luther. She has only the following lines from T.R. Glover, _Jesus in the Experience of Men_ (1921), p. 71: "Luther once said that the forgiveness of sin is _nodus Deo Vindice dignus_, a knot that it needs a God's help to unravel." The Latin tag is from Horace (Ars poetica); the Luther reference in Glover, however, is unidentified. If anyone recognizes it in its English dress, I would be grateful for the information. Thanks! Germaine. From: "Bill Ball" <C476721@UMCVMB> Subject: electronic journals Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 21:45:41 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2294 (2838) I am interested in the field of electronic academic journals. I know that several have been started. In fact there was a mention of one (Modern Cultures ?) in a recent posting to this list. I would greatly appreciate it if someone could let me know what is out their in netland and how to subscribe (I am familiar with the basics of listserv/Bitnet). ((( Bill Ball c476721@UMCVMB ) Dept. Pol. Sci. ) U. Mo.-Columbia ) From: <JULIEN@SASK> Subject: naturalisme_videodisque Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 10:53 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2295 (2839) Je travaille sur deux projets pour lesquels je cherche des contacts en Europe. L'un porte sur l'analyse assistee par ordinateur d'un petit roman, LA SCOUINE, par Albert Laberge, romancier quebecois. L'analyse se fait a l'aide de SATO. Laberge s'est presente comme un fils de Zola et de Maupassant. Je cherche a explorer cela. Le deuxieme projet consiste en une banque de donnees hypermediatique construite avec Hypercard, sur la culture et la civilisation canadiennes-francaise. Le produit final sera un videodisque. Je sais que des musees ont transfere leur collection sur ce support. J'aimerais en savoir plus. Je serai en sabbatique en 1991-1992, et je serais disponible pour des echanges et de la recherche en Europe. Pour ne pas encombrer le reseau, on pourra me repondre directement. Merci. Jacques JULIEN@SASK Professeur agrege de litterature quebecoise. From: Charles Ess <DRU001D@SMSVMA> Subject: e-text hardware Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 22:44:19 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2296 (2840) Once again I request the wisdom of those of you who have traveled further down this particular road than I. In the continuing search for the elusive "scholar's workstation," I and our library staff are groping for a network configuration which would use a file server as the central depository for what will presumably become an extensive database of e-texts, along with appropriate text search and retrieval software and wordprocessing software. We can't get too fancy -- nor too expensive. I would like your collective advice on type of machine (recalling that we just went through a major bad Apple versus International Big Muthah argument, so perhaps many of those issues do not need repeating) and more especially on storage devices. At the moment, we're assuming that much of the available e-texts will be distributed on magnetic media rather than CD-ROM, so that hard disks are in order, along with a CD-ROM reader. As far as hard disks are concerned -- are there advantages, for example, in terms of speed and throughput to attaching SCSI drives to a DOS machine? Any suggestions -- both experiential and philosophical -- would be appreciated. Charles Ess Drury College From: E5FA045@BOE.TOWSON.EDU Subject: Text Scanning in the Study Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 09:30 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2297 (2841) As a new member of HUMANIST, I have followed with interest and pleasure the various on-going discussions over the past few months, particularly those concerning e-texts. I would now like to make an inquiry of my own. I am interested in text scanning. Over the past few days, I have read all the files on the Listserver related to that subject. I found that they deal almost exclusively with large-scale scanning operations. I, on the other hand, am more interested in scanning in "the study." Several months ago, I purchased a Logitech ScanMan Plus and Read-It O.C.R. My aim was to use the hand-held scanner and OCR software as an alternative to keying in quotations from the articles and books I read. I have had many disappointments. Frist, I have not yet developed techniques that allow me to scan directly from books or journals--I must use photocopies instead. Second, Read-It O.C.R. is trainable; however, the process of building type tables for each journal I read is a frustratingly time consuming one. I would welcome hearing from anyone who has had more successful experiences than I with hand-held scanning of texts. I would also like to learn about other OCR applications: OmniPage for IBM, CAT Reader, CatchWord, and so on. Hardy M. Cook E5FA045@BOE.TOWSON.EDU From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: the powers, false and true, of counting Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 20:37:28 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2298 (2842) If for the wrong reasons, the decline of numerical approaches to non-numerical phenomena is as much to be resisted, I think, as their elevation to godlike authority. I suppose that we have to expect that resistance to false doctrine will take the shape of the equally wrong antithesis of that doctrine. We've seen it with computers themselves, right? I have known more than one person who overnight swung from "computers can do nothing!" to "computers can do everything!" -- and back again, of course, when the latter was proven wrong. The lucky ones end up in the middle, with reality. For whatever reasons, to the innumerate the folks with the statistical tables and z-scores seem to have power even they themselves don't claim -- if they understand what they're doing, that is. I think this (projected) power derives from the stark terror of uncertainty to which at least literary critics, and I suppose historians too, are subject. What do we do but build castles in the air? Of course human beings are nothing whatever but beasts without the ability to build and see such castles, but there's a loud chorus of hardheads out there shouting "It's not real!" and when we're weak we believe them. "Men are governed by the weakness of their imaginations" (Walter Bagehot) -- despressing, but true. Ok, so I rave. But let's hang on to the power of counting. It has real power quite apart from the hallucinations of the desperate. Yours, Willard McCarty From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: skin vs. bark Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 20:54:08 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2299 (2843) If some of you were a bit revolted by suggestion that printing on paper was analogous to printing on human skin, I'm afraid I'm not sorry--but I do feel perhaps Humanist deserves a fuller explanation than I gave on gutnberg as to why I made that analogy. Actually, I was serious and while the dried human skin alternative is a bit revolting, I think it may be all too accurate since I believe it is actually a matter of the survival of the human race. The new factor is of course the greenhouse effect and that in fact the fastest growing component of our landfills is paper. It also turns out that discarded paper printed with those colorful inks is also contributing a considerable about of heavy metal toxins to the water as the inks erode off the paper. Paper doesn't decompose at all quickly in buried landfills (i.e. anerobically) and it cannot be burnt without releasing all the stored CO2 into the atmosphere. I see paper as roughly the equivalent of automobiles and electronic text as the equivalent of mass transit. One can argue that people like automobiles and will continue to drive them, rather than use mass transit--but I think it is at our peril to endorse this solution for its hidden environmental cost is staggering. Trees are the single best option for the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. The forests of North America continue to be destroyed at a deplorable rate. The United States of America has already started destroying forests in Canada to satisfy our appetite for paper. We generate refuse far faster than we increase recycling efforts. (Sunday 4/22/90's NYTimes noted that each American generates about 50% more discards in 1986 over 1960; recycling is up only 30% and even at that accounted for only 10.7% of the discards). Regarding computers generating more paper use. This is a transitory effect. It is true, initially computers required punch cards and produced output on line printers. The punch cards are rapidly disappearing as an input medium and the line printers are being phased out in favor of laser printers using less paper per displayed unit of text. In our own industrial lab we are now using software previewers to display text and graphics on bit-mapped displays before printing and plans are underway to suppress the distribution of the final laser-printer output in favor of distributing electronic copies. What I would recommend as national policy is that effectively immediately there should not be any net loss of trees and that we should actively endeavor to replant as many of the trees we have lost in the past as possible. A ratio of three trees planted to every one cut down would seem a sane national policy. I would also mandate that certain industries, such as my own (the Bell Operating Companies) be required to replace the existing print telephone directory distribution system with an electronic alternative in 5-10 years. Already the Department of Defense has mandated the submission of all government contract bids in electronic form and I would require all agencies of the federal government to offer their government publications in electronic formats over the same 5-10 year timespan. I would make it a requirement for copyright that an electronic copy of the text of a book be offered to the Library of Congress and fund that same institution, probably with the help of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop a plan for the retention of such electronic text on optical media. In short I believe a vigorous program of tree-planting and paper supression is prudent and that it may well be our skins vs. the trees in the final analysis. From: Marc Eisinger +33 (1) 40 01 51 20 EISINGER at FRIBM11 Subject: Date: 25 April 90, 12:42:44 SET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2300 (2844) [deleted quotation] Who couldn't agree ? Oh, by the way, how do you get the plastic for the key on the keyboard ? The electricity to run the computer ? What do you do with the mercury battery of your portable ? And what about the telegraph poles on which are the lines we use for our network ? At least trees can be grown ... Marc From: Richard Hintz <OPSRJH@UCCVMA> Subject: Re: 3.1306 Replies to Queries from 3.1297 and 3.1299; CD-ROMS Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 13:14:06 PST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2301 (2845) On Tue, 24 Apr 90 13:12:34 CDT Robert A Amsler said: [deleted quotation] The last time I looked trees were a renewable resource. Also, some paper has rag content. Humans are a renewable resource, too, but for some reason we draw a distinction between humans and trees. Perhaps there are cosmic reasons to consider the palm tree outside to be equivalent in worth to Uncle Bob, but I can't think what they would be off hand. Rich From: "Craig A. Summerhill" <SUMMERHI@WSUVM1> Subject: Earth Day Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 14:44:46 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2302 (2846) [deleted quotation] I don't want to further an ugly debate here, because it isn't suitable for this distribution list, but I don't believe this comment. You *can't* be serious. Let me state up front, I'm as environmentally minded as anyone. But I do know enough to know that the paper industry is far from our most pressing environmental problem because: 1) Regardless of what anybody says, paper companies do an excellent job in maintaining forests used for paper production. 2) One reason they do well, is that it doesn't require an old growth stand to produce paper pulp. Softwood trees which can be grown and harvested *quickly* (i.e. 10-20 years) are adequate for paper production. 3) Hardwood forests (i.e. the Southeast U.S., Eastern Europe) and the rainforests of Central and South America are a much greater problem. These trees take a lifetime to mature and are being harvested faster than they can regenerate. 4) Hardwood is used for furniture, wood paneling, baseball bats floor boards, but not for paper. 5) Despite the views of visionaries, computers have not helped slowed paper consumption but actually increased it. I remember in the late 60s or early 70s, my father showed me several types of experimental paper which were being produced by a large paper company which he worked for (and which shall remain nameless). Several of them were as inexpensive as "standard" paper, but didn't catch on because the company couldn't get buyers to buy them (for various reasons). I don't know if any of them are still availble or not. Books printed after World War II, have a shorter life expectancy than those published before World War II because of the acidity content. Again, paper companies can (and do) supply acid free paper, but it is slightly more expensive so few publishers will use it. My point is: The paper companies have a fairly good record of trying to develop alternative, socially and environmentally conscious products, but are stiffled because of a lack of buyers. Most buyers can't afford to utilize these new products (even if they cost no more) because of the "hidden" costs involved in restructuring their industrial facilities to accomodate them. What we need: Congress to legislate tax incentives to allow the paper and publishing industries to provide cost effective methods of production which are environmentally sound. What we don't need: People making comparisons between printing on paper and dried human skin. Despite your pie-in-the-sky visions paper will be around for quite a while. Deal with it! This doesn't mean myself (and others with my view) don't want to see etexts develop, we just want an understanding that they aren't the most suitable method of information delivery for every person in every situation. +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ º º º Craig A. Summerhill BITNET: SUMMERHI@WSUVM1 º º Assistant Systems Librarian Internet: SUMMERHI@wsuvm1.csc.wsu.edu º º Washington State University IP: 134.121.1.39 º º Pullman, WA 99164-5610 AT&TNET (509) 335-1299 º º º +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From: Lee Davidson Leeds (0532) 333565 <LNP6TTLD@CMS1.UCS.LEEDS.AC.UK> Subject: Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 17:10:23 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2303 (2847) lnp6ttld @ uk.ac.leeds.cms1 [within U.K. univ net, JANET] lnp6ttld % cms1.leeds.ac.uk @ UKACRL [from BITNET/EARN] lnp6ttld % cms1.leeds.ac.uk @ nsfnet-relay.ac.uk [from Internet] Query for Humanist ------------------ In my University we are in the early stages of moving from a conventional mainframe system to one with more widely distributed servers and workstations on a high capacity network. A consequence of this will be that work which I have done for about 9 years on an Amdahl 680 (under VM/CMS) using the Oxford Concordance Program and SPITBOL on large natural language corpora and literary texts stored on disk will have to migrate to another system. It is likely that there will be available in the successor system a configuration (hardware etc not settled yet) of powerful workstations, which seems to me to a better future home for my mainframe work than anything based on PCs. However, there seem to be few users with experience of using such facilities, especially where this involves teaching students, with all the administrative and file security problems which, I am told, such powerful machines and networks are likely to generate. I would like to hear from anyone who has experience of doing my sort of text-processing work -- research and teaching -- in an environment which could include the following features: * Powerful workstations (eg Sun, Hewlett Packard, Silicon Graphics, Dec) linked to servers by high capacity ethernet * CD-ROM to hold text databases linked to a network of such workstations * Using DTP/document production software such as Framemaker and Arbortext on such machines, especially where the user has exploited the SGML features of such packages From: EIEB360@UTXVM.BITNET Subject: 3.1313 Library Equipment; Hand Date: Wednesday, 25 April 1990 9:15am CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2304 (2848) In re: Charles Ess's letter about central repositories/servers for e-text: at Texas we're beginning to think about distributed rather than centralized systems for this sort of thing. What are the comparative advantages and disadvantages of centralized as gainst distributed textbases? John Slatin From: Christian Boissonnas <CBY@CORNELLC> Subject: 3.1308 (04/23/90) on the use of BITNET for book bying Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 08:10:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2305 (2849) As far as I know the only bookseller in the world with access to BITNET is Mario Casalini in Firenze. He will accept e-mail orders. I often wonder how a commercial enterpise has managed to get plugged into BITNET which, or so I was led to belive, is anything but commercial. Perhaps this is possible only in Italy. Librarians talk a lot about ordering books electronically, and some do it. Vendors in this country make it possible to do so using software which they distribute. I am not aware that anyone abroad does it yet. For Randy Donaldson, and other similarly inclined Germanists, the easiest way to find out how and when it will be possible to order German books electronically is to call Jane Maddox, local rep. of Otto Harrassowitz, at 1-800-642-2999. If anyone knows, she does. From: Hans Borchers <NUBO001@DTUZDV1> Subject: Re: 3.1308 Notes and Queries (152) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 17:38:50 CET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2306 (2850) Re R. Donaldson's query about book buying by BITNET: How about Americanists in Europe? Is it possible to place orders with U.S. book sellers by bitnet, and to have them deliver to a European address? Hans Borchers, University of Tuebingen, Fed. Rep. of Germany From: Paul Brians <HRC$04@WSUVM1> Subject: Seeking Joanna Russ Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 08:18:49 PLT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2307 (2851) The last I heard, Joanna Russ was still on the faculty of the University of Washington in Seattle. Try writing her care of the English Department. From: Robert Kirsner (213)825-3955 <IDT1RSK@UCLAMVS.BITNET> Subject: Request for reference Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 13:33 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2308 (2852) Can anyone out there give me the exact reference for Dwight Bolinger "Free will and determinism in language, or who does the choosing, the grammar or the speaker?" Thank you, Robert Kirsner IDT1RSK@UCLAMVS.BITNET From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: bibliography of play Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 21:55:40 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2309 (2853) Dear Colleagues: Some time back I asked for leads on the notion of "serious play", i.e. play as an essential element in human culture and intellectual discovery. My question was in support of an article on Humanist, which is now finished. The following is a slightly emended version of my footnote on the subject, together with the appropriate selections from the bibliography. My thanks to all those who made suggestions and thus illustrated one of the ways in which Humanist is of use, playfully. Yours, Willard McCarty P.S. The article by Hiltz and Turoff listed below is one of the finest pieces of work on the subject I have encountered. W.M. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The cultural importance of `serious play' is argued by Huizinga 1962, Pieper 1964, Rahner 1965: 26-45 and passim, and by Caillois 1979; for the Renaissance in particular, see Wind 1958: 236-8; see also Mitchell 1983: 215ff. For the role of play and serendipity in scientific discovery, see Shapin and Schaffer 1985 and Roberts 1989; see also Holton 1973: 17-20, 369-70, 384-6. The account by A. E. Housman (1935): 49-50, in which he describes the unwilled `bubbling up' of his inner `spring', recalls the ancient language of poetic inspiration as well as the recorded experience of other poets, e.g. Milton, in Samuel Johnson's Life (1906): 100. Play and serendipity in electronic communication are briefly mentioned by Vallee and Johansen 1974: 100; Johansen, Vallee, and Spangler 1979: 24; Hiltz and Turoff 1985: 683, 685; Rafaeli 1986: 127; Finholt and Sproull 1990: 61. See Mulkay 1977: 112 for the role of unplanned `cross-fertilization of ideas' as an `important source of scientific innovation'. On the social and cultural roles of entertainment see Critical Connections 1990: 203-5. See Thompson (1979): chapter 7, for his `serendipity machine'. Bibliography Caillois, Roger. Man, Play, and Games. Trans. Meyer Barash. New York: Schocken, 1979. Critical Connections: Communication for the Future. U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. Washington: Congress of the United States, 1990. Finholt, Tom, and Lee S. Sproull. "Electronic Groups at Work." Organization Science 1.1 (1990): 41-64. Holton, Gerald. Thematic Origins of Scientific Thought: Kepler to Einstein. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1973. Housman, A. E. The Name and Nature of Poetry. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1935. Hultz, Starr Roxanne, and Murray Turoff. "Structuring Computer- Mediated Communication Systems to Avoid Information Overload." Communications of the ACM 28 (1985): 680-9. Huizinga, Johan. Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-element in Culture. Boston: Beacon, 1950. Johansen, Robert, Jacques Vallee, and Kathleen Spangler. Electronic Meetings: Technical Alternatives and Social Choices. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1979. Johnson, Samuel. "Milton". In Lives of the Poets. Mitchell, Richard G., Jr. Mountain Experience: The Psychology and Sociology of Adventure. Foreword by Gerald Suttles. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1983. Mulkay, M. J. "Sociology of the Scientific Research Community." Science, Technology and Society: A Cross-Disciplinary Perspective. Ed. Ina Spiegel-Rosing and Derek de Solla Price. London: Sage, 1977. 93-148. Pieper, Josef. Leisure: The Basis of Culture. Trans. Alexander Dru. Foreword by T. S. Eliot. New York: Pantheon Books, 1964. Rafaeli, Seizaf. Rafaeli, Seizaf. "The Electronic Bulletin Board: A Computer-driven Mass Medium." Computers and the Social Sciences 2 (1986): 123-36. Rahner, Hugo, S. J. Man at Play, or Did You Ever Practise Eutrapelia? London: Burns & Oates, 1965. Roberts, Royston M. Serendipity: Accidental Discoveries in Science. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1989. Shapin, Steven, and Simon Schaffer. Leviathan and the Air-pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1985. Thompson, Gordon B. Memo from Mercury: Information Technology IS Different. Montreal, Quebec: Institute for Research on Public Policy, June 1979. Vallee, Jacques, and Robert Johansen. A Study of Social Effects. Consultant Robert Randolph and Arthur C. Hastings. Menlo Park, CA: Institute for the Future, 1974. Vol. 2 of Group Communication Through Computers. Wind, Edgar. Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance. Rev. and Enl. Edn. New York: W. W. Norton, 1968. From: MTRILEY@CALSTATE (Mark Timothy Riley) Subject: terminology report Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 10:26:43 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2310 (2854) Several weeks ago I sent out a request to HUMANIST about the coining of scientific terminology and promised a report. Here, in response to the clamors of thousands, is the report. I had not clearly distinguished between terminology in general and nomenclature of plants, animals, parts of the body, etc. The nomenclature of species is well organized. For example, the International Botanical Congress publishes an International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. This formidable trilingual tome resembles a legal document and outlines the prefixes, suffixes for each family, type, genus, etc. The Int'l Congress of Zoology does the same for animals; other groups handle microbiology. For terminology for diseases and other syndromes, the situation is more fluid, not to say anarchic. Each investigator names his own, and there has been complaints in the literature about the proliferation of names for unique syndromes (i.e. the name is unnecessary) and about unrevealing names (e.g. Bright's disease, a name which has been used for three syndromes; fortunately now only used for a disease of the kidneys, but even there it is somewhat vague). The situation is physics is interesting: even to (especially to?) English speakers the recent nomenclature for quarks (from Lewis Carroll) seems whimsical: quarks come in flavors, up, down, bottom, and strange. Moreover, this whimsy is of long standing in physics: neon is new, xenon is strange, argon is lazy, and krypton is hidden, even from Superman. So I don't think that the strange nomenclature in physics will vanish. Several HUMANISTS are working on tools for terminology. Bill McCarthy in Washington (MCCARTHY@CUA) is preparing a Hypercard stack to to facilitate the analysis of scientific/biomedical terminology (a Rhizoterion). It may be helpful for coinages. Ephraim Nissan (ONOMATA@BENGUS) informed me of an institute in Vienna to standardize terminology. He is also working on "a bulky book about an expert system, ONOMATURGE" for the coinage of new words in Hebrew. (The book is in English.) If anyone has any additions, please let me know. Mark Riley Sacramento, California From: "Adam C. Engst" <PV9Y@CORNELLA> Subject: TidBITS Announcement - a HyperCard-based electronic news journal Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 23:13:10 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1318 (2855) Forwarded by: Michael S. Hart Hi All, This is the formal announcement of the project I talked about briefly a few days ago. Several of you expressed interest then (don't bother to send more mail if you already asked to be on the list - I kept your mail) and I hope this will attract still more people. I'm also interested in what people think about machine/program specific electronic texts, because such texts carry more weight often than a simple ASCII file, which must be devoid of all style and format by its very nature. In contrast, something like TidBITS has more information accessible more quickly because of the specialized format provided by HyperCard. Anyway...... Adam Introducing TidBITS, the HyperCard-based news journal. The first issue of TidBITS, a HyperCard based news journal, will be available on 4/23/90. Subsequent issues will be available early each week. TidBITS requires a Mac+ and HyperCard 1.2.2 or later. A hard disk is recommended, but not necessary since each week's issue of TidBITS will never be more than 40K. What is TidBITS? TidBITS is an answer to the information glut in the computer industry. TidBITS summarizes and references the most interesting events of the week as reported in the trade magazines. Added features of TidBITS include a summary of interesting discussions from Usenet, a world-wide computer network linking business and universities everywhere, and a list of all reviewed products in each of the major magazines. In addition, TidBITS is an open information system that you can use to add items of interest for yourself or delete items in which you will never be interested. If you wish to use the TidBITS software for another topic and to distribute it to others, please contact us at the address below first. How do I use TidBITS? It is simple. Just download the StuffIt archive each week and unstuff. Then double-click on the HyperCard stack. The first card contains information and instructions - all following cards contain the articles. A complete subject index is available from all article cards, or you may page through the articles one at a time with the hand buttons. Don't miss the quote of the week - click on the Quote button. Should I keep each week's stack? No, because when you are done reading the news from that stack, you can merge the stack with previous weeks' stacks (or create a new TidBITS Archive, if it is your first one). By merging the stacks, you gradually build up a concise and easily searched archive of important events and product reviews. Unlike the annual indexes published by some of the magazines, the TidBITS Archive is always up to date and always available. In addition, TidBITS covers many of the major trade magazines, including MacWEEK, PC WEEK, InfoWorld, Macworld, MacUser, and PC World. New magazines will be added when possible. Whenever you want to find information, the TidBITS Archive makes it easy and provides the reference to the original article so you can get all the details that were originally available. Is there any cost to TidBITS? No, other than the time to download and the space on your disk. At some point in the future, a mail subscription service may be made available to those who cannot access an online source of TidBITS. Where can I get TidBITS? TidBITS will be available on America Online, the Memory Alpha BBS at 607-257-5822, and the Internet as well. For now, send mail to either the Bitnet or Internet address below to get on a temporary mailing list. Distribution has yet to be completely finalized, so if you have any suggestions, please feel free to write us. As mentioned above, there is no mail subscription service currently, but one may be set up in the future if there is enough interest from people who cannot regularly get access to the online services. TidBITS is copyright 1990 Adam C. Engst and Tonya Byard. For more information write us at the address below, send mail to one of the email addresses, or reply to this posting. TidBITS 901 Dryden Road, #88 Ithaca, NY 14850 Email addresses: Internet: pv9y@cornella.cit.cornell.edu Bitnet: pv9y@cornella America Online: Adam Engst Adam C. Engst pv9y@cornella.bitnet ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "I ain't worried and I ain't scurried and I'm having a good time" -Paul Simon From: koontz@alpha.bldr.nist.gov (John E. Koontz) Subject: References on Software or Computing for Linguists and Lexicographers Date: Thu, 26 Apr 90 13:18:28 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1319 (2856) In answer to the posted request for information on computing references relevant to the humanities here are some references dealing with computing or software for linguists and lexicographers. Aho, Alfred V.; Kernighan, Bruce W.; Weinberger, Peter J. 1988. The AWK programming language. Addison-Wesley Series in Com- puter Science. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Com- pany. Alsop, John R.(program author); Johnston, Clay (manual author). 1989. Fiesta: Fast Interactive Editor of Scripture and Text Analysis. A program for translators and linguists. Preliminary edition. Version 4.0, February 8, 1989. Summer Institute of Linguistics. Black, Andy; Weber, David. 1989. Release notes. AMPLE Version 1.31. August 1989. Black, Andy; Weber, David; Kuhl, Fred; Kuhl, Kathy. 1987. Docu- ment preparation aids for non-major languages. Occasional Publications in Academic Computing No. 7. Dallas, TX: Sum- mer Institute of Linguistics. Butler, Christopher. 1985. Statistics in linguistics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, Ltd. Butler, Christopher. 1985. Computers in linguistics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, Ltd. Grimes, Joseph E. 1983. Affix positions and cooccurrences: the PARADIGM program. Summer Institute of Linguistics Pub- lications in Linguistics No. 69. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. Hsu, Robert (compiler). 1985. Lexware manual: computer programs for lexicography developed at the University of Hawaii. Edition 1.5, July, 1985. Linguistics Department, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822. JAARS Inc. 1985-1989. [Various documents assembled as a "User's Guide to DTS [Direct (Bible) Translators' Software]" by SIL's Jungle Aviation and Radio Service (JAARS).] JAARS Inc. 1988. TA: the Text Analysis user's manual. April 1988. Kew, Priscilla M.(ed.); Simons, Gary F.(ed). 1989. Laptop pub- lishing for the field linguist: an approach based on Micro- soft Word. Occasional Publications in Academic Computing No. 14. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics. Parker, Kirk H.; Simons, Gary F. 1988. A common subroutine library for RAP programmers. Occasional Publications in Academic Computing No. 11. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics. Simons, Gary F. 1985 (Second Printing). Powerful ideas for text processing: an introduction to computer programming with the PTP language. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics. Simons, Gary F.; Versaw, Larry. 1988 (Version 1.1). How to use IT: a guide to interlinear text processing. Revised edi- tion, version 1.1. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics. Simons, Gary F.; Versaw, Larry. 1988. How to use IT: getting started. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics. Strangfeld, Richard A. 1988. The RAP programming language. Occasional Publications in Academic Computing No. 10. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics. Weber, David J.; Black, H. Andrew; McConnel, Stephen R. 1988. Ample: a tool for exploring morphology. Occasional Pub- lications in Academic Computing No. 12. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics. Wimbish, John S. 1989. Shoebox: a data management program for the field linguist. Version 1.0, August 26, 1989. Ambon, Indonesia: Summer Institute of Linguistics. and Pattimura University. Wimbish, John S. 1989. WORDSURV: a program for analyzing lan- guage survey word lists. Occasional Publications in Academic Computing No. 13. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics. From: koontz@alpha.bldr.nist.gov (John E. Koontz) Subject: Re: 3.1315 Computing Environments for Work and Libraries (50) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 17:13:55 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2311 (2857) There are a number of interesting concordance packages for PCs, including, particularly, Word Cruncher. From: gwp%hss.caltech.edu@Hamlet.Bitnet (G. W. Pigman III) Subject: Casalini's email address Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 14:46:34 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2312 (2858) Casalini's BITNET address is CASALINI@IFIIDG. The person who reads the mail is Michele Casalini, son of the owner. -- Christian Boissonnas, Cornell ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Could you post this address to HUMANIST or send it to me? Thanks. -Mac Pigman gwp@hss.caltech.edu pigman@caltech.bitnet From: <HARRIS@CTSTATEU> Subject: The value of e-texts Date: Thu, 26 Apr 90 10:33 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2313 (2859) Speaking of the value of e-texts from the perspective of brawn (as against brain): As a graduate student writing an essay on Emile, I wrote that Rousseau saw nothing wrong with the world that couldn't be cured by lowering his sights. This seemed more insightful and/or more graceful than most of what I wrote, so I suspected I had gotten it from someone else. But search as I did, I couldn't find it anywhere. Had I e-texts (of all the Rousseau criticism Yale political science students read?), I would have had more confidence in my search--even with all the difficulties that have been commented upon here. Or, had I the Humanist, I could have conducted a different kind of electronic search. Now that I've thought of it, has anyone else come across this comment on Rousseau? Thanks. --Ed <HARRIS@CTSTATEU> From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.1314 Trees and E-Texts (197) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 14:32:39 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2314 (2860) Bob Amsler is dead wrong about computers saving paper, if my own experience is any guideline. I CANNOT proofread on a terminal, even though I have a 19" monitor and a WYSIWYG text editor that lets me see exactly what I will print. Typically I print out two copies of anything I want to look good before I send out the final copy. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: errors Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 19:05:04 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2315 (2861) In my bibliographical report on play and serendipity, I spot two silly errors, which I correct here with profuse apologies. In the bibliography "Hultz" should be "Hiltz", and in the item by Sheizaf Rafaeli, the author's first name is misspelled and the whole name given inexplicably twice. Mea culpa. Willard McCarty From: Natalie Maynor <MAYNOR@MSSTATE.BITNET> Subject: Re: 3.1316 Book-Buying (2); Joanna Russ; Bolinger Query Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 18:56:49 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2316 (2862) Re "how a commercial enterprise has managed to get plugged into BITNET": Bitnet connects with many other networks, including networks used by commercial enterprises. From: S200@CPC865.EAST-ANGLIA.AC.UK Subject: Hypertext/Hypermedia Design [eds.] Date: Thu, 26 APR 90 09:02:49 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2317 (2863) HYPERTEXT/HYPERMEDIA Does anybody know of a readable exposition on good design for Hypertext/ Hypermedia stacks and their screens. There are so many stacks developed by amateur designers that have no house style, are over-elaborate and cluttered, with basic control buttons scattered randomly around the screen, etc, etc. Consequently the stacks are virtually unuseable by the target audience. Such a paper would be most useful to new authors in Hypertext. John Roper, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK J.ROPER@CPC865.UEA.AC.UK From: "Dana Cartwright, Syracuse Univ, 315-443-4504" <DECARTWR@SUVM> Subject: Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 19:38:10 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2318 (2864) A recent posting to Humanist included a tag line at the end...a quotation from a song, if I noted it correctly. Among the many things I value about Humanist is the relatively high ratio of "content" to "overhead." One aspect of e-mail about which one can do little are the seemingly endless lines of addresses and dates which adorn the start of the messages. Some people feel compelled to add substantially to this by adorning the ends of their messages with their favorite quotes, disclaimers, jokes, and logos composed of 5 to 10 lines of "text". They then typically add several lines which consist of their e-mail addresses on every known network. Can we agree to not do this, without feeling that we are somehow censored? Let us keep the substance high and the decoration low! From: Lou Burnard <LOU@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK> Subject: European summer school in Info Retrieval Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 21:55 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1322 (2865) PRELIMINARY PROGRAM A.I.C.A. '90 Associazione Italiana per l'Informatica ed il Calcolo Automatico EUROPEAN SUMMER SCHOOL in INFORMATION RETRIEVAL Organised by A.I.C.A. Special Interest Group in Information Retrieval and "Sezione A.I.C.A. delle Tre Venezie" with the sponsorship of the University of Padua, Italy European Space Agency EEC - European Strategic Programme for Research and Development in Information Technology: ESPRIT Bressanone (BZ), 9-12 July 1990 Auditorium dell'Istituto Pluricomprensivo, Via Pr delle Suore, 1 Bressanone (BZ), Italy. EUROPEAN SUMMER SHCOOL IN INFORMATION RETRIEVAL Bressanone (BZ), 9-12 July 1990 The rapid increase in the number and availability of on-line databases containing text has focussed the attention of many people on techniques for text processing and information retrieval. Intelligent text-based information systems that provide efficient and effective access to large databases of multimedia documents will have a significant impact in many parts of society such as education, the home, a large range of work-places, libraries, and other public information utilities. The aim of the Summer School is to introduce people to the range of issues that must be addressed in designing information retrieval systems. This includes discussions of the current state-of-the-art in techniques for implementing these systems, and how systems can be evaluated and compared. The course material will emphasise techniques that can be incorporated in current systems, as well as research results that will have an impact in the near future. All the topics will be presented with a lecture and a discussion at the end. Some operational and prototype information retrieval systems will be demonstrated during the School. The lecturers and discussants at the Summer School all have international reputations for their research and development work in the field of information retrieval. Their broad range of experience and expertise is represented in the range of topics cove red. The Summer School is designed to meet the needs of people who are actively involved in the development, implementation, and management of text-based information systems, or who are planning to become involved in this area. Lecturers: Maristella Agosti, Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informatica, Universita di Padova, Italy. Nicholas J. Belkin, School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, Rutgers University, U.S.A. W. Bruce Croft, Computer and Information Science Department, University of Massachusetts, U.S.A. Edward A. Fox, Department of Computer Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, U.S.A. Pier Giorgio Marchetti, European Space Agency, Information Retrieval Service -ESRIN, Frascati, Italy. Alan F. Smeaton, School of Computer Applications, Dublin City University, Ireland. Keith van Rijsbergen, Department of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, U.K. Peter Willett, Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, U.K. Discussants: Giorgio Brajnik, Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica, Universita di Udine, Italy. Dario Lucarella, Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Informazione, Universita di Milano, Italy. Fulvio Naldi, Servizio Informatica Area di Milano, CNR, Milano, Italy. Fausto Rabitti, Istituto di Elaborazione dell'Informazione, CNR, Pisa, Italy. Carlo Tasso, Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica, Universita di Udine, Italy. -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available through the fileserver, s.v. AICA90 SCHOOL. You may obtain a copy by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@Brownvm. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT BROWNVM GET filename filetype HUMANIST; if you are not on a VM/CMS system, send mail to ListServ@Brownvm with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see the "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: carol@cs.utexas.edu (Carol Engelhardt Kroll) Subject: Matrix, Inc. Company Description Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 14:15:14 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1323 (2866) [some forwarding information deleted. eds.] ... a question was raised about whether this description can be forwarded or redistributed. You are welcome to redistribute in printed or electronic form all or part of this document, provided you acknowledge its source by retaining the copyright notice. Carol Kroll A short description of Matrix, Inc. has been drafted. The table of contents and summary appear below, and the rest of the document will follow in a series of messages to this list. If any of you would like to receive a printed copy of this description, drop me a note at kroll@aahsa.tic.com or Carol Kroll, Texas Internet Consulting, 700 Brazos, Suite 500, Austin, TX 78701. Comments on the description are welcome, please post them to this list. John Quarterman is out of the country, but will be back at the end of the month. Also, the other principals in Matrix, Inc. read this list and may respond. ------------------------------------------- Matrix, Inc. COMPANY DESCRIPTION Waldo M. Wedel John S. Quarterman Tracy L. LaQuey Smoot Carl-Mitchell Kurt D. Baumann (C) 1990 Matrix, Inc. This is not an offer to solicit funds. (C) 1990 Matrix, Inc. (V2.1) 90/04/04 Matrix, Inc. Table of Contents Summary ............................................ Page 2 [...] eds. SUMMARY Computer networks are becoming a critical factor for success in commerce. They are already a critical factor for success in many research and development activities in industry as well as in academia. The network market is large (millions of potential customers) and growing quickly (more than thirty percent a year). Several of the largest networks have doubled in size in each of the last three years, many others have grown greatly. The number and kinds of users of these networks continues to explode; one estimate shows a 500% increase in the last 18 months. Computer networks are highways for information. Just as users of the nation's automobile highways need maps and guide posts, these information highways need similar information. Computer networks provide communication services similar to those of the telephone network, but there are as yet no coordinated telephone books or 411 information inquiry numbers. Currently, there are no reliable, consistently up-to-date guides to assist users who must interchange information across these communications highways. Matrix, Inc. intends to provide roadmaps, guide posts and other products to assist users of these highways. Our team is in the best position to bring these products to the marketplace. All key members of the team have been active in the computer networking environment for many years. Six years of research by the Principals has resulted in the publication of the authoritative books on these information highways. Now we propose to bring the power of computer technology to the delivery of this information. The initial product consists of an optical disk containing a large amount of this information indexed so that it can be easily accessed by a leading industry relational database system which supports a graphical user interface. Updates of the information will be distributed both through updated optical disks and through electronic access to the update information. The market is large and growing quickly. It is in one of the few fields that has been relatively immune to the financial troubles of recent years, and it is not tied to any single geographical region. Matrix, Inc. is well positioned to penetrate this market worldwide. (C) 1990 Matrix, Inc. (V2.1) 90/04/04 -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available through the fileserver, s.v. MATRIX ANNOUNCE. You may obtain a copy by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@Brownvm. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT BROWNVM GET filename filetype HUMANIST; if you are not on a VM/CMS system, send mail to ListServ@Brownvm with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see the "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: Barry W. K. Joe<grfjoe@BrockU.CA> Subject: E-mail connect in Swaziland? Date: Thu, 26 Apr 90 16:53-0600 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2319 (2867) Does anyone in the HUMANIST community know if the University of Swaziland, Kwaluseni Campus has e-mail facilities? A colleague is about to embark on a 2-year stay at the University of Swaziland and would like to stay in touch with North American and European colleagues. From: <23SCULLION@CUA> Subject: ISAAC Phone Number Date: Thu, 26 Apr 90 23:52 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2320 (2868) I have been off of ISAAC for a while and have lost the phone number. (1) Is ISAAC still up and running? I have an old number but always get a busy signal. (2) What is the current number for ISAAC? Thanks, -Jim S. From: Sheizaf Rafaeli (313) 665 4236 21898MGR at MSU Subject: Date: 26 April 1990, 23:50:40 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2321 (2869) Here's one for etymologically-minded multilingual humanists: How many different names (in different languages) do you know for the thing called a computer? And for those languages that are gender-specific, is the computer termed male or female? Any reason? From: Sarah L. Higley <slhi@uhura.cc.rochester.edu> Subject: medieval robots Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 03:18:27 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2322 (2870) I'm combing the books for medieval robots. My search has yielded the obvious renaissance legends about Albert the Great and Roger Bacon, but except for the Gower reference to Bacon's Talking Bronze head, there seems to be a paucity of medieval references to these medieval robots. I do know, of course, of the Cleomades (disputed source of the Squires Tale) and the mechanical devices in William of Malmsbury. Celtic sources have yielded Blodeuwydd in the Mabinogion but I'm looking for the metal man or woman or moving statue in any obscure French, Spanish, German, Flemish or late Latin text that has eluded me. I'm sure there are scores of them in the middle ages-- any thirteenth-century Talos stories? I'm interested in particular in _humanoid_ robots; not so much the flying horses or twittering birds, but if any of these have to do with false-seeming, then I'll take them. Thanks, by the way, for all the generous information about Joanna Russ. Sarah Higley slhi@uhura.cc.rochester.edu slhi%uhura.cc.rochester.edu@uorvm rutgers!rochester!ur-cc!slhi From: rda@central.cis.upenn.edu Subject: Re: 3.1323 Matrix, Inc. Description Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 08:52:23 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2323 (2871) I was a little uneasy to see what appeared to be direct advertising by a commercial concern in Humanist. I get enough junk mail as it is. R -------- Robert Dale, Human Communication Research Centre, University of Edinburgh Visiting Penn from 17th April until 4th May 1990. Usual Address: R.Dale%edinburgh.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: the need for printout Date: Thu, 26 Apr 90 18:57:38 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2324 (2872) This is in response to Charles Faulhaber's latest, itself in response to Bob Amsler's note about saving trees. I have electronicized the process of writing as much as I think possible. I take notes on the computer and, with a short detour to printed paper slips, arrange and form them into an outline on the computer. Typically a paper I am writing doesn't otherwise touch paper until it is nearly complete. Then, however, I reach the stage at which I must have a printout, first so that I can read the whole thing through and see if the argument actually makes sense, then so that (like Faulhaber) I can proofread it. I said "a printout" but I really mean several -- perhaps as many as 6 or 8, with relatively minor changes from one to the next. I am wondering if anyone has studied this need for hardcopy that I have described. I think that there are two quite separate problems here that I use paper to solve. The first is that a screen (even, I presume, a Sun's) doesn't allow you to see enough at once or to read what you've written in a relaxed setting. The second is that for some reason, as Faulhaber notes, proofreading is exceedingly difficult onscreen. I wonder if the pulsing of the screen, which I imagine we must see even if we don't know that we see it, has anything to do the difficulty of attending to tiny details, such as spelling and repeated words. Does this pulsing entrain oscillators in the brain, as pulsing light in other contexts is known to do? Saving paper is a worthy goal indeed, but I think that machines won't do this for us. Willard McCarty From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: minor replies Date: Thu, 26 Apr 90 22:06:21 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2325 (2873) A couple of points irked me in the replies. (1) renewable resources This is mostly a cop out. The dinosaurs WERE a renewable resource until they became extinct. All endangered animals and plants are renewable resources. The problem is something has to be renewing them. Consider a term such as `self-renewing resources', i.e. resources which currently are renewing themselves faster than we are consuming them. I must confess I don't know of any outside of sunlight. Certainly clean air, water, and vegetation are not being renewed as fast as we are destroying them. It is nice that they ARE renewable, but it won't do us any good. Human beings are a `renewable' resource, but this tends to not be given as an argument against fighting starvation. (2) computers and environmental impact The truth is that we couldn't operate our current civilization without computers. The volume of paper being used each year in conjunction with computers today is indeed higher than the volume of paper which was used each year before computers were invented---but I'd claim the volume of paper which would have to be used to operate civilization each year if we turned off all the computers would be more than it is with computers doing as much as they are. Further, I would claim the trend is for computers to continue decreasing the volume of paper usage. You must remember that the bulk of paper usage is not involved with books in libraries, it is involved with things like running the government, banking system and industry. The reason there are things like 24-hour turn-around on mastering CD-ROMs is that these are used to convey the information that runs the economy now. POS (Point-of-sale) terminals eliminate a lot of paper accounting reports entirely. Paper can simply not do the job any more and it is for that reason that alternate magnetic and optical media are being used. Computers are reducing the total volume of paper used to run civilization because there is no other economic alternative. Paper is too slow for the rate of civilization because paper is materialistic. It has to be physically carried about and that takes too much time and labor. We do have a momentary obstacle in the inadequate display screens we currently have. Most public facilities nowadays are JUST getting dumb terminals installed. In 10 years they will have high-resolution bit-mapped displays and with them greater use of these as replacements for paper display. But already we see the impact. Library are closing their card catalogs. Government offices and hospitals that would have had paper copies of your records are calling up the information on display screens. Some adaptation will be required. Some people will still insist that they want to look through the printed copies of the Periodical Index going back year by year and volume by volume to find the reference they want---but most people will rapidly embrace an on-line 20-year cumulative search capability. Some lawyers will continue to search the law literature by having law clerks climb up and down ladders and extract volumes from shelves in big rooms---but I'm told that most firms today wouldn't dream of doing away with LEXIS. Personally, I find the paper in my office to have decreased dramatically since the days of line printers. 8.5x11 sheets with 8 point type hold more at least as much information as their line printer output page equivalents and I print out fewer pages since it is so much easier to get copies now. From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1316 Book-Buying (2); Joanna Russ; Bolinger Query (44) Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 11:52:41 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2326 (2874) I am aware of a BBS which sponsors electronic book buying for members of the University of Illinois PC User Group, as well as for general public. The books are all guaranteed, since you do not have the pleasure to look them over before purchase. The number is 1-(217)-352-7323. Please let me know how this works out for you. Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**) (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET) From: koontz@alpha.bldr.nist.gov (John E. Koontz) Subject: Word Cruncher Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 10:17:20 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2327 (2875) Word Cruncher, which I understand was formerly known as the BYU Concordance Program, consists of two tools: IndexETC and ViewETC. The latter is available separately, in conjunction with e-texts that the company markets separately. Together they cost c. $300. I have seen the product listed at discount, and I believe that there is also an academic discount. There is a $5.00 demo disk. The company is Electronic Text Corporation (ETC), 5600 North Unviersity Ave., Provo, UT 84604, 801-226-0616. In my personal opinion Word Cruncher is a very nice product. They even provide a nice subsystem for defining sorting order. The main defect with Word Cruncher is that it is able to markup text only hierarchically. There is no facility for distinguishing different kinds of information at a given level. This makes it impossible to handle texts glossed in a language different from the primary language, and also precludes some other types of concordances. I also think that the documentation is not well organized. However, it is in the popular Word Perfect format, and many users may prefer that. It is certainly good for reference while using the package, once you understand it. From: "HALPORN,JAMES,CLAS" <halpornj@ucs.indiana.edu> Subject: LONG ADDRESSES Date: 26 Apr 90 23:08:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2328 (2876) I support the individual who asked that addresses on e-mail be kept brief. But I must note that Willard requested this months ago, and that this situation is now prevalent on many e-mail groups. Perhaps we need to have the editors' views. JWH From: Boyd Davis <FEN00BHD@UNCCVM> Subject: Re: 3.1317 Reports: On Play and On Scientific Terminology (147) Date: Thu, 26 Apr 90 20:48:26 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2329 (2877) On terminology: the 1982 text, Terminologies for the Eighties (Infoterm Series 7) includes a ten-year retrospective on Infoterm. International groups concerned with terminology are listed in 2nd edn, Introduction ...Terminologie (Rondeau) and a good introduction to the topic, in English, is by JC Sager, who also ed., with Rondeau, Termia 84, proceedings from an international conference on terminology. Interrante and Heymann edited STP 806 in 1983: Standardization of Technical Terminology, from a 1982 symposium sponsored by ASTM, held in Toronto. From: psc90!jdg@dartvax.dartmouth.edu (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Response to John Roper's request of 26 April" Date: Thu, 26 Apr 90 23:04:34 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2330 (2878) I'd suggest two articles by a multi-talented colleague at Brown University: George Landow: "Hypertext in Literary Education, Criticism, and Scholarship," _Computers and the Humanities_, Vol. 23, No. 3, June 1989, pp. 173-198; "The Rhetoric of Hypermedia: Some Rules for Authors," _Journal of Computing in Higher Education_, Vol. 1, No. 1, Spring 1989 [Published by Paideia Publishers, Ashfield, MA. ISSN #1042-1726]. Regards, Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH) joelg@psc.bitnet From: AEB_BEVAN@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK Subject: style in hypercard Date: Fri, 27 APR 90 11:05:53 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2331 (2879) John roper asks whether there is a style book showing good practice in designing hypercard stacks, positioning buttons and so on colleague (Martin LeVoi of the Human Cognition Research Lab here at the Open University, UK) tells me: Yes, the Apple renaissance project has produced just such a guide. It is about to go into print and be available. Martin is looking up details and I will post on. Edis Bevan From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 3.1321 A correction, Book-buying, Hypertext Design, E-Mail (54) Date: 27 Apr 90 08:27:04 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2332 (2880) ---John Roper (S200@CPC865.EAST-ANGLIA.AC.UK) wrote: Does anybody know of a readable exposition on good design for Hypertext/ Hypermedia stacks and their screens.... ---End of quoted material HyperCard Stack Design Guidelines, Apple Computer, Inc. (Addison-Wesley, 1989). This is a book on effective design, especially interface issues, not a user's or developer's maunual for HyperCard. From: psc90!jdg@dartvax.dartmouth.edu (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Addition to Koontz' list" Date: Thu, 26 Apr 90 23:00:02 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2333 (2881) To John Koontz' useful list I'd like to add one recent publication that immediately comes to mind: _Literary Computing and Literary Criticism. Theoretical and Practical Essays on Theme and Rhetoric_, ed. Rosanne G. Potter, U. of Pennsylvania Press, 1989. Regards, Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH) joelg@psc.bitnet From: SUSAN@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: Humanities Computing Bibliography Date: Fri, 27 APR 90 09:24:08 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2334 (2882) In response to the query about humanities computing bibliographies, here is a copy of the bibliography which was handed to participants at the Text Analysis Tutorial sponsored by the CTI Centre for Literature and Linguistic Studies, at the recent conference on Computers and Teaching in the Humanities, St Andrews, Scotland. While some of these items date back over 10 years, they do cover all the basic techniques for text-based humanities computing, some of which are not so easy to find in more recent publications. All these items except the very latest, and of course many more, can be found in Ian Lancashire and Willard McCarty (eds), Humanities Computing Yearbook, Oxford University Press, 1989, which is an excellent starting point. Susan Hockey CTI Centre for Literature and Linguistic Studies Oxford University Computing Service (a) Books - Monographs Christopher Butler, 'Computers in Linguistics', Blackwell, 1985. Susan Hockey, 'A Guide to Computer Applications in the Humanities', London: Duckworth, 1980. Robert L. Oakman, 'Computer Methods for Literary Research', University of South Carolina Press, 1980. B.H. Rudall and T.N. Corns, 'Computers and Literature: a Practical Guide', Abacus Press, 1987. (b) Books - Resources Guides John J Hughes, 'Bits, Bytes and Biblical Studies: A Resource Guide for the Use of Computers in Biblical and Classical Studies', Zondervan Publishing House, 1987. Ian Lancashire and Willard McCarty (eds), 'Humanities Computing Yearbook 1988', Oxford University Press. (c) Conference Proceedings D.E. Ager, F.E. Knowles and J.M. Smith (eds.), 'Advances in Computer-Aided Literary and Linguistic Research', Department of Modern Languages, University of Aston in Birmingham, 1979. ALLC 1978 conference. A.J. Aitken, R.W. Bailey and N. Hamilton-Smith (eds.), 'The Computer and Literary Studies', Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1973. Edinburgh conference 1972. Robert F. Allen (ed), 'Data Bases in the Humanities and Social Sciences', Osprey, Florida, Paradigm Press, 1986. Richard W. Bailey (ed.), 'Computing in the Humanities (Papers from the Fifth International Conference on Computing in the Humanities)', Amsterdam: North Holland, 1982. ICCH 1981. Sarah K. Burton and Douglas D. Short (eds), 'Sixth International Conference on Computers and the Humanities', Rockville, Maryland: Computer Science Press, 1983. ICCH 1983. Colette Charpentier and Jean David (eds), 'La recherche francaise par ordinateur en langue et litterature', Geneva: Slatkine, 1985. Yaacov Choueka, (ed.) 'Computers in Literary and Linguistic Research: Proceedings of the Fifteenth International ALLC Conference', Geneva: Slatkine, 1990. L. Cignoni and C. Peters (eds), 'Computers in Literary and Linguistic Research: Proceedings of the Seventh International Symposium of the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing, Pisa 1982', Pisa: Giardini, 1983. Bernard Derval and Michel Lenoble (eds), 'Literary Criticism and the Computer', Montreal, 3390 rue Limoges St-Laurent, Quebec H4K 1Y1, Canada, 1985. Jacqueline Hamesse and Antonio Zampolli (eds), 'Computers in Literary and Linguistic Computing: Proceedings of the Eleventh International ALLC Conference', Geneva: Slatkine, 1985. Alan Jones and R.F. Churchhouse (eds.), 'The Computer in Literary and Linguistic Studies (Proceedings of the Third International Symposium)', Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1977. ALLC 1974. Serge Lusignan and John S. North (eds.), 'Computing in the Humanities Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Computing in the Humanities)', Waterloo: University of Waterloo Press, 1977. David S. Miall, 'Humanities and the Computer: New Directions', Oxford, 1990.(Papers from conference on computers and teaching in the humanities, Dec 1988 (CATH88). J.L. Mitchell (ed.), 'Computers in the Humanities', Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1974. ICCH 1973. P.C. Patton and R.A. Holoien (eds) 'Computing in the Humanities', Lexington, Mass; Heath, 1981. Joseph Raben and Gregory Marks (eds.), 'Databases in the Humanities and Social Sciences', Amsterdam: North Holland, 1980. Sebastian Rahtz (ed.), 'Information Technology in the Humanities: Tools, Techniques and Applications', Ellis Horwood, 1987. John P.G. Roper (ed.) 'Computers in Literary and Linguistic Research: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International ALLC Conference', Geneva: Slatkine, 1988. University of Toronto, 'Computers and the Humanities: Today's Research Tomorrow's Teaching', Conference Preprints, Centre for Computing in the Humanities, University of Toronto, March 1986. R.A. Wisbey (ed.), 'The Computer in Literary and Linguistic Research', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Cambridge conference 1970. (d) Periodicals 'Bulletin of the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing' ('ALLC Bulletin') (1973-1985) Three issues per year. 'Computers and the Humanities' (1966- ) Has had several publishers. Now published by Kluwer. Four issues per year (six from 1989). Covers language, literature, history, archaeology, music and education. Sponsored by ACH. 'Computational Linguistics', formerly American Journal of Computational Linguistics. Now in volume 16 (1990). Quarterly published by ACL. 'ICAME Journal', formerly ICAME News, International Computer Archive of Modern English, Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities, PO Box 53, Bergen, Norway. 'Journal of the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing'('ALLC Journal') (1980-1985) Was also published by the ALLC. Two issues per year. 'Linguistica Computazionale', Giardini, Pisa. 'Literary and Linguistic Computing' (1986-) In 1986 the ALLC publications were merged into a single journal 'Literary and Linguistic Computing' published by Oxford University Press. It covers all aspects of computer usage in literary and linguistic research. 'Revue: Informatique et Statistique dans les Sciences Humaines'. (e) Newsletters 'Bits and Bytes Review' (1986-) Bits and Bytes Computer Resources, 623 North Iowa Avenue, Whitefish, Montana 59937. Reviews of software, hardware and new publications. 'Computers in Literature' (1990) Newsletter of the CTI Centre for Literature and Linguistic Studies', OUCS, 13 Banbury Road, Oxford. There are also a number of newletters for specific subjects, some of which, e.g. CALCULI (Classics) and CAMDAP (Medieval Studies) are now defunct but contain useful information. The Humanities Computing Newsletter, Office for Humanities Communication, Bath, UK, and Ontario Humanities Computing, obtainable from CCH, Toronto are two of the best general ones. (f) Books relevant for specific applications (i) English for Language Research - Corpus Linguistics Roger Garside, Geoffrey Leech and Geoffrey Sampson (eds.), 'The Computational Analysis of English: a Corpus-Based Approach', Longman, 1987. J.M. Sinclair (ed.), 'Looking Up: an Account of the COBUILD Project in Lexical Computing', Collins, 1987. (ii) Stylistic Analysis J.F. Burrows, 'Computation into Criticism: A Study of Jane Austen's Novels and an Experiment in Method', Oxford University Press, 1987. Alvar Ellegard, 'Who Was Junius?' Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell (1962). Alvar Ellegard, 'A Statistical Method for Determining Authorship: The Junius Letters: 1769-1772' Gothenburg Studies in English (1962). A.Q. Morton, 'Literary Detection - How to Prove Authorship Fraud in Literature and Documents'. Bowker (1978). A.Q. Morton and A.D. Winspear, 'It's Greek to the Computer', Harvest House, Montreal, 1971. Frederick Mosteller and David L. Wallace, 'Inference and Disputed Authorship: The Federalist', Reading, Mass: Addison Wesley (1964). Lubomir Dolezel and Richard W. Bailey, 'Statistics and Style', New York: Elsevier (1969). Anthony Kenny, 'The Aristotelian Ethics', Clarendon Press, 1978. Anthony Kenny, 'The Computation of Style', Pergamon, 1982. Ch. Muller, 'Initiation aux Methodes de la Statistique Linguistique'. Paris: Hachette (1973). (iii) Textual Editing 'La Pratique des Ordinateurs dans la Critique des Textes', eds J. Irigoin and G.P. Zarri (Paris, CNRS, 1979) Peter Shillingsburg, 'Scholarly Editing in the Computer Age: Theory and Practice', University of Georgia Press, 1986. From: Ken Steele <KSTEELE@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Trees, Proof-reading, and the "Paperless Office" Date: X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2335 (2883) I'm surprised at the number of Humanists who report an inability to proofread on a computer monitor. Perhaps I'm just captivated by cathode rays, or maybe I'm representative of a generation raised on television, but my papers never hit paper until they're FINISHED -- IF then. Most of my written correspondence is via Bitnet, my journal contributions are usually made on diskette, and my library research is recorded on disk from the beginning. Whether I'm editing a Shakespeare textbase or writing a note to family, the assumption is no longer that paper will be the ultimate destination of my words. My standards for orthography, syntax and punctuation are at least as exacting as others' -- but if I can't catch the error on-screen, I'm VERY unlikely to catch it on paper. When I'm particularly tired, I may resort to an electronic spell-checker or grammar-checker to ensure that I haven't missed anything -- but usually I haven't. Perhaps dependency on paper output is only a psychological perception, based on long-established work habits? I think I've mentioned on Humanist before that I DO read electronic texts -- by choice. Whether I'm reading software manuals, correspondence, or the Riverside Shakespeare, my attention is more tightly focused when I'm reading it on-screen -- and note-taking is as simple and cutting and pasting, even on an IBM. I wouldn't DREAM of printing out electronic text simply in order to read it -- that's a last resort, to get information to someone who has no access to a computer (and there are no longer many in that position). I buy and read paper books only because they're not available on-line -- and unfortunately, I don't expect the profit-oriented publishing industry to encourage electronic publication (where scholarship and information can truly be shared freely and widely) for a very long time. Business (and administration) continues to generate paper copy at a horrific rate for three reasons (that occur to me): the instability of magnetic storage, the necessity of communication across hardware and software incompatibilities, and the privileged legal status of signed, dated documentation. I leave it to the experts to predict when these obstacles will finally be overcome, and when we will actually SEE the "paperless office" on a large scale. And, just for the record, I think the (occasionally intemperate) responses to the Earth Day sentiment have entirely missed the point. Ken Steele University of Toronto From: Robert Hollander <bobh@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Subject: Re: 3.1325 Trees (branching out...) (106) Date: Sat, 28 Apr 90 14:56:55 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2336 (2884) Bob Amsler's remarks begin to make more sense when he points then to the future. I think those who took issue with him are undoubtedly correct in thinking that, to date, computers have not decreased the amount of paper being inscribed with characters. Let us imagine a world in which the various telephone companies (it will take longer without Ma Bell's essential monopoly) simply refuse to print phonebooks because more reliable, updatable, complete and even world-wide info. will be available on your telephone-TV- computer. Once that day is here--and it surely must come--we will probably all understand that paper is on the way down as medium for communcation. It will never be out, I think. As Princeton's Librarian Donald Koepp was saying at a meeting this morning (that's right, the Protestant work ethic is still alive here--a Saturday morning meeting), civilization never totally discards its major tools. Medieval "libraries" help manuscripts; our library holds manuscripts ["help" above = "held"], books, microfiches, CD-ROMs, etc. And all of these are still being created (including MSS). In short, I think we'll still have to hug our trees, cut 'em down, having planted new ones, as many paper companies have realized, and learn to use and nurture the planet. It isn't easy, but it can be done. And if one relflects for a minute about the enormous changes that have occurred for the good in this regard in the last 25 years, one takes heart. BobH From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@UCLAMVS.BITNET> Subject: Re: 3.1325 Trees (branching out...) (106) Date: Sat, 28 Apr 90 16:16 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2337 (2885) Maybe true; but one doesnt savor what is one screen, whereas the book or the newspaper, the letter, the magazine, whatever is not ephemeral, is not what is on screen, which takes a great focussing effort. To revise text wiht inserts, and such needs paper, although I do a lot of original writing and revision on screen, since to reprint is also time consuming. Maybe true that "information" is better :"handled" electronically, but "writing" with the W is not very portable or easy to handle from the chair and esk thatcramps the legs at all hours. An easy chair or couch to read for 5 hours at is not a screen, and the cost ber item is far cheaper than this thing with its bulky monitor, anbd etc. Books are not smae sort of tools as spread sheets and stock quotations. God forbid that oner would have to focus on the screen and not the large, and complex page of the N Y Times and etc, with its complex surreal interplay of columns etc. (Cf McLuhan 's 1950 book THE MECHANICAL BRIDE). We may change as we go, but there are too many people needing newspapers to wad down in hallways at night, or pack bathrooms with, or clean glass and cars with, etc. Paper is a very useful thing, and my old journals and notebooks are consulted more often than my new journals on diskettes, which I scarcely ever mull through. Alas, our Bell labs man should real kafka's IN THE PENAL COLONY, and he would learn about skin and lampshades and writing on...a rather horrible analogy, and one no Humanist, even if a tree lover and earthlover, should make in public. Really! Kessler here. From: "Ned J. Davison" <HISPANIA@UTAHCCA.BITNET> Subject: Hardcopy for editing Date: Sat, 28 Apr 90 23:31 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2338 (2886) I have never found a convenient or comfortable way to edit electronically. By "edit" I mean edit another's ms so that the suggestions, corrections, rephrasings, and queries do not obliterate the original yet remain CLEARLY tied to the text. The old-fashioned pencil and hardcopy have always been by far the fastest and most efficient way for me. I have tried various methods--codes, interlinear insertions, etc.--and they all take much more time and energy and inhibit communication and quality editing. Can anyone suggest a comparable paperless way? From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS Subject: Computers and Paper Use Date: Sunday, 29 April 1990 1301-EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2339 (2887) Perhaps this is a voice from the other side, but in my recent computer compositions (OFFLINE, various articles, reviews, etc.) I find that editing on the screen is preferable to printing out hard copy from which to edit, and indeed, in some instances NO hard copy is ever generated by me for any purpose. Where I do find myself generating printed paper is for answering incoming electronic mail, for two reasons: (1) I don't yet have a "windows" type environment in which I can display the incoming message while I write a response, and (2) I don't have enough convenient disk space to keep all the electronic correspondence in a ready to hand archive, so I put the printed copy into file drawers. Hopefully this will change in the not too distant future. Indeed, suggestions about the most efficient and effective software for managing e-mail on an IBM mainframe with PCs as terminals in a large but severely underfunded arts and sciences context are most welcome. I know there are better ways than I now use, but whether there is anything for the equipment available to me is the real question (XT level IBM accessing mainframe through YTerm or ProComm). Bob Kraft From: Skip Knox <DUSKNOX@IDBSU> Subject: Screen-reading and paper-reading [eds.] Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 14:19:32 EDT (54 lines) X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2340 (2888) Foremost is resolution. The letters on a screen are fuzzy, and resolution will have to take a quantum leap before we get anything close to 300 dpi; still longer for typeset quality. Another factor is color -- we are accustomed to black on white with nice solid weight to the letters. Yeah, I know, lots of folks proof from their dot matrix, but isn't NLQ from a 24 pin printer much nicer than draft from a 9 pin? I'll wager accuracy improves even there. But the foremost consideration to me has nothing to do with vision, it has to do with my body. When I write short things -- office memos, letters, e-mail, class handouts, quizzes, etc. -- I work directly at the computer. When I write fiction, though, I work on paper. Lots of folks have chastised me about this, including published authors (from which this unpublished one ought surely to learn a lesson), but the fact remains that I am more comfortable _thinking_ on paper. I wondered about this at length until I considered how I work. When I sit at the computer I have to stay in one position, with my head in one position. Were I to work this way for three or four hours at a stretch I would be extremely uncomfortable. When I write, though (as distinguished from working), my favorite position is stretched full length on the floor. I sit for a while, lie for a time, roll over and snooze betimes. I would think that proofreading any serious sort of work requires the same mental concentration, and that the physically constraining business of sitting at a computer interferes with that concentration. We therefore print out what we've done. It's easier on the eyes and we can do the work anywhere. Computers will have to be as pliable and portable as pencil and paper before they can truly compete with same. Skip Knox Microcomputer Coordinator (cum) Medieval Historian Boise State University Boise, Idaho DUSKNOX@IDBSU From: "Sheizaf.Rafaeli" <21898MGR@MSU> Subject: Re: Medieval human-like robots Date: Friday, 27 April 1990 9:32pm ET X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2341 (2889) Jewish lore tells about Golem, a robotlike servant made of clay and given life (loaded an operating system) by way of a charm. At least two different versions exist about this charm: The name of God features in one. The word for truth in Hebrew (EMET) is the OS in the other version. I prefer the latter, because it leads better into the end of the story. As it goes, this servant was created to save the Jews of Prague from some pogroms. But the servant runs amok, and out of control. The solution is to climb up to its forehead, erase one letter from the charm inscribed there, turning EMET into MET. Met, in Hebrew, means dead. That was the first Ctrl-Alt-Delete. Two btw's: 1) Golem was the name for the first computer built at the Weizmann Institute in the fifties. 2) I think the human protagonist of this story was Eliahu Hagaon, a prominent Non-Hassidic Rabbi. Which makes the story even more delicious. I'm hoping someone can correct my factual errors - I'm sure there are some. Sheizaf From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@UCLAMVS.BITNET> Subject: Re: 3.1324 Notes and Queries (66) Date: Sat, 28 Apr 90 16:03 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2342 (2890) I have a very vague recollection of a metal or stone man in one or another of the 1001 Nights too, and would guess that there are Persian sources for such things antedating the West's. You would have to check with an Iranian scholar of course, as Burton is not indexed that way...although his notes to Chapters could be got through in a week? Kessler From: Daniel Boyarin <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.1324 Notes and Queries (66) Date: Sat, 28 Apr 90 21:36:17 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2343 (2891) on medieval robots: do you know about the golem, the hominoid that was made by the holy rabbi of prague? From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.Edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Names for computers Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 15:31:26 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2344 (2892) I'll do the easy ones. Peninsular Spanish prefers ordenador (m.) < Fr. ordinateur SP.-Am. Spanish prefers computadora (f.) < Eng. computer I cannot tell you off-hand why one is masculine and the other feminine. One would need to look at patterns of derivational affixation involving -dor and -dora. Charles Faulhaber UC Berkeley From: "Eric Johnson DSU, Madison, SD 57042" <ERIC@SDNET> Subject: Gender of Computers Date: Sat, 28 Apr 90 06:29:44 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2345 (2893) Most people speak of a computer as "it," but I have noticed that several systems programmers refer to a computer as "he." I do not believe I have ever heard a computer called "she." What have others heard? It is also interesting to notice which article is used. When we mean any computer, most of us say "a" computer, but some say "the" computer. Eric Johnson ERIC@SDNET.BITNET From: Tom Thomson <tom@nw.stl.stc.co.uk> Subject: computer gender Date: Sun, 29 Apr 90 02:50:39 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2346 (2894) Both masculine and feminine happen. Scots Gaelic: beart-riomhaireachd feminine (beart=machine is f.) French: ordinateur masculine Tom Thomson [tom@nw.stl.stc.co.uk From: "ROY S. MALPASS" <MALPASRS@SNYPLAVA.BITNET> Subject: New countries Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 18:47:00 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2347 (2895) EARN has recently received authorization from the U.S. Department of Commerce to connect Eastern European countries to the network. This authorization is subject to some limitations on access to supercomputers and on line speed which, in fact, do not limit the use of EARN, as EARN does not allow interactive traffic on international lines, and does not use fast international lines. As soon as this authorization has been given, the BoD has been requested to vote on the 5 outstanding country applications, and the result of the vote has been positive. So EARN has now 5 new members: Bulgaria, Ckechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and USSR. Poland is going to connect very soon: the international node at Warsaw University will be a BASF computer (IBM clone) running VM, and will connect through RSCS to Denmark. The line is on order, and is sheduled to be installed in June. Regarding other countries, India is connecting to CERN (the line has been installed few days ago), and Tunisia will be connected, through a PPSDN X.25 connection to Montpellier, in about 2 weeks. [signature deleted. eds.] From: "Steve Mason, co-ordinator" <SHLOMO@YORKVM1> Subject: IOUDAIOS, a new list Date: Sun, 29 Apr 90 12:48:57 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2348 (2896) Fellow Humanists: IOUDAIOS (Greek for "Jew") is an electronic seminar devoted to the exploration of first-century Judaism; its special interest is in the writings of Philo of Alexandria and Flavius Josephus. The list began as an informal discussion of two papers by Robert A. Kraft (Penn- sylvania) but has quickly blossomed into an international forum, with participants in North America, Europe and the U.K., the Middle East, and Australia. The Philonic and Josephan corpora are extensive enough that they invite many kinds of analysis -- literary, philological, historical, and philosophical/theological, to name a few. And there is considerable interest among group members in the social realities that lie behind these texts. New members are welcome. The discussion assumes a significant background in first-century Judaism as well as some knowledge of ancient Greek. To subscribe to IOUDAIOS, send an interactive command to LISTSERV@YORKVM1 with the one-line message: SUBSCRIBE IOIUDAIOS your (human) name So, on a CMS/VM system, one would write: TELL LISTSERV@YORKVM1 SUBSCRIBE IOUDAIOS your name Steve Mason IOUDAIOS co-ordinator Humanities, York U. From: Oxford Text Archive <ARCHIVE@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK> Subject: Matrix Annoiuncement Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 19:10 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2349 (2897) That was no announcement. It was a piece of blatant commercialism. Just because they say it isn't "an attempt to solicit funds" doesn't make it any the less of an advertisement. And people who talk about "penetrating potential marketplaces" deserve to be taken out and hung by their --- well, they certainly are not Humanists as I understand the term. If, sir & madam, you cannot exorcise this sort of garbage you will change the nature of this institution irretrievably. Yrs, Disgusted of Stoke Poges From: GORDON DOHLE <DOHLE@Vax2.Concordia.CA> Subject: In Defence of Matrix Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 18:53 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2350 (2898) I was happy to see the Matrix announcement, even though I was probably one of the few who got several versions of it. The network jungle has been immensely simplified by Quarterman's book and whatever Matrix Inc. needs to continue that work on the commercial side of the Internet, is worth it. Gordon Dohle@Vax2.Concordia.ca From: Mary Dee Harris <mdharris@guvax.georgetown.edu> Subject: Addresses Date: 28 Apr 90 12:33:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2351 (2899) With regard to the argument against long addresses attached at the end of messages to Humanist, I must present another side of the argument. I am able to access the various networks from my PC over a modem through the VAX system at Georgetown University. I do not have the capability of editing incoming messages. Thus if I read a long message that I want to save, I must save the entire message, download it to my PC, and then edit. In some cases, when I have enjoyed a particular message, I would simply like to know who sent it. Often, after ten screens worth of text, I have forgotten who sent the message. The only way I can find out (if there is no name and address at the end) is to re-read the beginning. But since the editors combine several messages in each file, I may have to go through many screens to get back to the beginning of the message of interest. The solution for my problem is quite simple: putting one's name and BITNET address at the end. Can anyone really object to one more line at the end of a ten-screen message? I suspect that it is easy to forget that not all of us have the same facilities and the same access as others. When I was first on BITNET several years ago, I had a borrowed account on an IBM system from which I could send and receive messages, but not files, on BITNET only, no gateways. My current situation is much preferable, but still not perfect. I'm sure there are lots of others who have less than perfect access. Thanks for any consideration you might offer us. Mary Dee Harris mdharris@guvax.bitnet mdharris@guvax.georgetown.edu From: David R. Sewell <dsew@uhura.cc.rochester.edu> Subject: Faculty occupational slang? Date: Sun, 29 Apr 90 19:43:36 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2352 (2900) Students in my History of the English Language course are reading an article on emergency room slang that came out a few years back in _Language in Society_. It is full of all sorts of outrageously funny and scandalously derogatory terms for patients who are particularly helpless, demanding, or offensive; the thesis of the article is that such slang serves both as a vehicle of occupational solidarity and as a buffer against the powerful emotional demands such patients make on EMR workers. When I first read the article it occurred to me that university faculty (in humanities departments at least) don't seem to have much in the way of identifiable occupational slang, terms that only we would use and understand in a particular way. I casually asked a number of colleagues if they were aware of any special terms they used for types of students, and came up with practically nothing. A student who habitually dozed in class might be called a "sleeper," but that's hardly an imaginative creation. This time I thought I'd turn to a wider group of colleagues and ask the same question. Do any of you use or know of slang terms faculty use for students (or any other salient phenomenon of university life), terms not borrowed from the general student-created pool of college slang? If we as an occupational class are in fact deficient in this respect, do you have any theories about why? --I'll summarize and post findings of any e-mail response. | David Sewell, English Dep't, University of Rochester, New York USA | | dsew@uhura.cc.rochester.edu || dsew%uhura.cc.rochester.edu@uorvm | From: Harry Hahne <HAHNE@UTOREPAS> Subject: Greek Parsing Program Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 23:36:47 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2353 (2901) I am interested in knowing what programs are available for teaching and drilling students on parsing Greek words. I teach biblical Greek and would like a program that a student could use for practicing parsing. The features that I would like ideally are: 1. Ability to limit forms presented to the student's current level of instruction (e.g. if they only know present and imperfect, they should only be drilled on these forms). 2. Internal record keeping on the forms the student has difficulty with so these can be drilled more often. 3. Simple user interface, so the student is not penalized for typing errors. It is a real barrier to learning when a student has to transliterate on the keyboard. With some programs the frustration of the user interface can reduce the motivation of the student and keep him/her from using the program. 4. If the student does not get the correct anser, the program should graphically point out the characteristics of the word that indicate the correct parsing. 5. Ability to parse any word the student enters. This would allow the student to get an interactive parsing of any word in a text that is causing difficulty when reading. If it is dictionary based it should include as a minimum both the New Testament and the Septuagint. Ideally it should be rule based so any form for any text could be used. 6. Proper display of Greek on the screen, for any graphics card. 7. It should run on any IBM compatible, since the majority of students have (and can afford) these machines rather than Macs, at least here in Canada. I have used MEMCARDS for both Greek and Hebrew vocabulary drilling and have found students really like it and benefit from it. It has features 1,2,3,6,7 but is limited to vocubulary drills. I would like the same kind of program, but based on parsing and not just word meaning. I may be developing such a program myself, but I would at least like to know what is out there and possibly build on the work of others. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Harry Hahne Wycliffe College, University of Toronto From: "DOV - DR. ART ST. GEORGE" <STGEORGE@UNMB> Subject: ISAAC Access Via The Internet Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 15:47 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2354 (2902) For the information of Humanist readers, if you have access to a full-screen device or can do TN3270 TELNET, ISAAC is accessible to the Internet. TELNET to 128.95.19.2 and follow instructions. The instructions take you through a registration procedure which then allows you to use ISAAC interactively. From: MERIZ@pittvms Subject: ISAAC Phone Number Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 22:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2355 (2903) As a new member of ISAAC, I can assure Jim S. that ISAAC is indeed "still up and running". The current numbers are as follows: U.S.A. incl. Puerto Rico 1 800 237 5551 Canada 1 800 537 1705 Seattle 543 3761 -Diana T. Meriz meriz@pittvms.bitnet From: Robert Kirsner (213)825-3955 <IDT1RSK@UCLAMVS.BITNET> Subject: terms for students Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 18:32 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2356 (2904) Well, around here (UCLA) there are occasional references to "the Blonds", meaning California youth, too down loose (laid back) to crack a page let alone a book. Cf. the famous question: "Professor X, is the required reading required??????" From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@UCLAMVS.BITNET> Subject: Re: 3.1334 Queries on slang and greek parsing; Isaac (105) Date: Tue, 01 May 90 12:16 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2357 (2905) PERSONALLY it strikes me as obvious, unless I am already oldfashioned and dont regard my students or any students as nuisances. They are my bread and butter. My mother always suggested that one doesnt s--t in the dish from which one eats , but people nowadays are often inclined to do so for whatever cultural perversities they may have been given to, or given themselves over to. Furthermore, teaching is, from my point of view, something very much like parenting or fostering, or bringing up babies, animal or human. Who would take care of a fish tank knmows the delicacy of the things in one's care. To abuse or even in thought, let alone language, abuse one's children would be to contradict one's vocation and one's professionalism. There is a professionalism that is derived from the most ancient human organizations, even in the roving band: that of the master a nd pupil, the priest and follower, or acolyte, the magician or shaman and appre ntice. To hold any creature under one's influence in contempt is ipso facto criminal and/or evil. It seems obvious to me. Students dont threaten, not even those who would displace one, or abolish one's teaching by their own teachings. Contempt for those under one's influence, control, or power is perverse in nature , as it contempt itself. But if one is suffering in an emergency ward, one may invent terms of derogation, of course, as psychic defenses, but that is a meas ure of deficiency on the part of the servants of the ill, wounded and dying. A doctor or surgeon who has contempt, even subconsciously is in trouble. Even Frankenstein loved his creature, until the time came to fear it, but because of his, F's own failure to endow it properly. It is not that defense is needed, but one should ask oneself why one needs defense mechanisms based on contempt and distancing, etc. Kids, one calls students, or sillies, or whatever, but if one cannot call a person to his/her face what one does behind that person's back then there is a problem. Lack of courage, or respect, to begin with. Etc. Kessler (ime9jfk@uclamvs) From: Peter Ian Kuniholm <MCG@CORNELLC> Subject: computers (sex of) Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 18:04:10 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2358 (2906) German Rechner is masculine. Turkish bilgi sayar has no gender at all, there- by making Turkish quite trendy by today's nonsexist standards. Peter Kuniholm From: "Michael Sperberg-McQueen 312 996-2477 -2981" <U35395@UICVM> Subject: computers and pronouns Date: 30 April 1990 19:52:34 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2359 (2907) Eric Johnson mentions a usage which puzzled me for quite a while -- the use (apparently confined to systems programmers, and not universal even there) of "he" or "she" rather than "it" when referring to a computer or system. In my experience, though, when systems programmers refer to "he" (as in: "well, think about it -- you hit ENTER, and the first thing he wants to know is, did you change the record and does he need to store the new version?"), they are more likely to be talking about a program than about a computer. The underlying referent appears to be the author of the program. When the author is known to have been a woman, e.g. by initials in the source, the pronoun used in discussing the program's behavior is (in my experience) "she". In my experience, systems programmers referring to the machine they work on almost always speak of "the system" or "the machine", occasionally of "us" or the model number (as in "the system is down", "are we up yet?", and "the 3081 died") but never of "the computer", at least not to refer to the specific mainframe at their shop or the machine on their desk. C. M. Sperberg-McQueen, Systems, University of Illinois at Chicago From: LNGDANAP@VM.UOGUELPH.CA Subject: 3.1331 Computer Gender Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 23:53:01 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2360 (2908) I too have heard programmers, of the "hacker" type, refer to the computer as "he", which struck me as a deviation from the traditional usage in English (especially rural usage): machinery, especially if recalcitrant, is usually "she"... As a very indirect comment on the above, when the Academie francaise accepted the newly coined word "automobile" in French, near the end of the last century, it assigned a male gender to the new word, based on the gender of the latin root, as is the normal procedure in loan words in French. By 1915, however, the gender had switched to feminine... Staid dictionaries fail to give a reason for this switch, but legend has it that because the automobile aroused such passion, and was so unreliable in those days, needing much care and attention, it was definitely *female* in its characteristics... Dana Paramskas University of Guelph From: Daniel Boyarin <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.1331 Computer Gender (41) Date: Tue, 01 May 90 07:13:37 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2361 (2909) in hebrew computers are masculine, following a general derivational pattern for tools. From: Peter Ian Kuniholm <MCG@CORNELLC> Subject: footnote to computer gender(s) Date: Tue, 01 May 90 10:16:58 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2362 (2910) Somebody asked whether one refers to A computer or THE computer. This probably goes back to when the speaker first started using computers....back when there was only THE mainframe computer and when calling it THE computer was clear to a ll who heard you. Now that microcomputers are at least as common as electric t ypewriters used to be [and I was the first member of the classics department at Cornell other than the chairman to have an electric typewriter, AND the first word-processor, AND the first micro], to refer to THE computer would be confusi ng to say the least. "THE Computer" is what people in insurance offices, or ba nks, or other so-called service organizations blame when they have goofed and want to pass along the blame. "THE" also seems to me to imply a certain lack o f understanding on the part of the speaker, thereby making IT a convenient scap egoat for all our mistakes. Other notes re. gender: Italian CALCOLATRICE is feminine; Mod. Greek O KOMPIOU TEP is masculine. Honors are about even. Peter Kuniholm/Cornell From: elli@harvunxw.BITNET (Elli Mylonas) Subject: computer genders Date: Tue, 1 May 90 10:47:15 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2363 (2911) Modern Greek: upologistes (beta code: u(pologisth/s) masc kompiouter (beta code: kompiou/ter) neut Can't say much about the gender of the word that derives from the Greek root--it is means exactly "computer" or "calculator" and is the usual way of forming an agent noun. This is perhaps identical to the roomfuls of "calculators" who sat and did math for weapons trajectories, etc, before the analog and electronic varieties appeared. The other word is formed from the Latin, via English, "computer". Many loan words are neuter. However, one may hear it referred to in the masculine, more colloquially. [deleted quotation]language, i can say that often, the genders of words are determined not by a sense of whether it should be masculine or feminine, but rather by the type of Greek ending that works best phonetically with the English root. This is a subjective observation only. --Elli Mylonas, Managing Editor, Perseus Project From: <JULIEN@SASK> Subject: sexe_page Date: Tue, 1 May 90 10:39 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2364 (2912) Le langage qui traite des ordinateurs en fran/c cais offre une sexualit/'e int/'eressante. De fa/c con g/'en/'erale, on parle de la "machine" (f), mais dans le sens p/'ejoratif que les humanistes attribuent \`a la m\'ecanique. "Ordinateur" (m) a un sens noble, puisqu'il s'agit de l'op\'eration tr\`es valoris\'ee de distinguer, classifier, ordonner. Le "moniteur" est masculin. Il va de pair avec l'ordinateur. Mais l'imprimante est f\'eminine. D'ailleurs, elle est parfois \`a matrice ou "matricielle", ce qui, Freud l'a dit, elle LA marque de la f\'eminit\'e.... Remarquons aussi que c'est souvent elle, l'imprimante, qui pose le plus de probl\`eme de compatibilit\'e avec le reste du syst\`eme. On passe l\`a du sexu\'e au sexiste. La page plut\^ot que l'\'cran? Un artisan ne change pas facilement d'outil. Il y a une relation somatique avec l'objet qui est produit. Aussi une relation psychologique: la page, on peut la prendre dans ses mains, la manipuler, l'annoter, la d\'echirer. L'\'ecran fait "\'ecran" entre celui qui \'ecrit et l'appropriation de son \'ecriture. Y aurait-il quelque narcissisme \`a passer sa journ\'ee assis devant cette (ou ces) fen\^etre(s) \`a se r\'efl\'echir les signes de sa production? Jacques Julien@SASK From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@UCLAMVS.BITNET> Subject: Re: 3.1331 Computer Gender (41) Date: Tue, 01 May 90 11:59 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2365 (2913) It would have to be one hell of a dumb bunny female who would nowadays take dictation from any keyboard. Neuter, like any tool should be. No? was any typewriter ever gendered? Stroke the keys, but dont imagine you are flying to distant goals. Of course, one has always found that the machine is very dumb indeed: it demands you do things its way and its way only, as programmed, ROM or whatever. No she or he was ever programmed but the golem, and it was a monster without sex. Frankenstein's creation was made a he, out of scraps, and we all know that he wanted a she in the end, pore ting. Anyone who genders this contraption ought to be sent back to kindergarten. Kessler here. More silliness. Should language have been given to Calibans to ask such questions? From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: New-fangled communication media Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 17:10:35 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2366 (2914) Dateline: Arctic Conference Center, May 1st, 2010 I must disagree with those who advocate the use of the speech writer as a tool for composition. While some may claim they can accept its mistakes in transcribing spoken communications and deal with them effectively, I cannot and will continue to use the traditional electronic keyboard and graphics tablet to compose my articles. Keyboards have served us well for many generations and I cannot see how they can ever be replaced. The tangibility of seeing one's text immediately appear on a screen cannot be replaced with the intangibility of voice-playback verification, even with the most sophisticated AI screening for spoken accents and background noise suppression. From: HMCOOK@BOE.TOWSON.EDU Subject: Scanning in the Study Update Date: Tue, 1 May 90 11:21 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2367 (2915) A week ago, I inquired if any HUMANIST had more satisfactory experiences than I using hand-held scanners and OCR software as an alternative to keying in quotations from articles and books. I was interested in learning about techniques as well as about OCR software that might be easier to use than Read-It OCR, which I purchased. I received two replies. The first was from Henning Moerk of the Slavisk Institut in Aarhus, Denmark. Henning wrote, "Maybe the combination of a hand-held scanner and trainable OCR isn't the best one." Because he works with Slavic languages, Henning requires trainable OCR software. He had used Read-It but switched to AutoRead, a French product, that is faster, more reliable, and more expensive ($1,500 for Mac, $4,500 for IBM). The second response was from Eric Nye of the University of Wyoming. Eric plans to outfit his Zenith portable with an expansion chassis so that he can install the interface card for a ScanMan Plus. Eric uses ReadRight OCR software on an HP ScanJet but would like portability to do the same kinds of small-scale scanning projects I described. Eric asked about my experiences, which I shared with him. In his response to my summary, he suggested I post "a sort of challenge on HUMANIST to see if others have significantly better results to report." I would, in fact, like to make that challenge, recognizing all to well the limitations of using a hand-held scanner. Finally, I would like to report an article I just found in the April 23, 1990, PC WEEK (Vol. 7, No. 16: 83-87), "Hand-Held Scanners Fit for Certain Tasks: 8 Low-Cost Units Lack Satisfactory Optical Character Recognition Abilities; Devices Best Used for Scanning Small Amounts of Text or Graphics Images." If anyone is interested, I would be glad to post a summary of this Product Evaluation on HUMANIST. Hardy M. Cook Bowie State University HMCOOK@BOE.TOWSON.EDU From: TBESTUL@crcvms.unl.edu Subject: Siegen Conference Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 20:12 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2368 (2916) Could we have an update, please, on the ACH/ALLC conference in Siegen, W Germany, this June? I sent my registration in in February and to date have received no acknowledgment of any kind. The brochure spoke of "travel documents" to be sent. Will they be? I plan to leave for Europe in three weeks time. Tom Bestul University of Nebraska-Lincoln tbestul@unlvax1.bitnet * tbestul@crcvms.unl.edu From: Daniel Boyarin <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.1319 Lexicographical and Linguistic Computing (87) Date: Tue, 01 May 90 08:01:37 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2369 (2917) this is not about lexicographical etc. 1. i lost the message about the new list ioiudaios an apparently did not get the name right, because listserv at york refused to recognize it. could i have the datqa again please? 2. i am looking for a journal to submit a paper to. it should be a journal which deals with "cultural history." my paper is about the body in the talmud -- actually about a particular text which deals richly with this subject. i do not want to submit it to a jewish studies journal as i will do that in hebrew. i already know about and publish in poetics today and representations, so i am looking for more journals of that type. it could also be a jounral devotwed to the culture of late antiquity. the paper deals with the talmud as a reactive formation to paidea. thanks From: Curtis Rice <USERCRIC@SFU.BITNET> Subject: ISAAC Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 23:13:30 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2370 (2918) ISAAC's address is: ISAAC, m/s FC-06, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 - Tel: (206) 543-5604. The dial-in-access toll-free phone number is 1-800-627-5551 Hope this helps someone who enquired, Curtis Rice. From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Shakespeare etexts on CBC Radio Date: Tue, 01 May 90 10:10:49 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2371 (2919) Last week, approximately on Shakespeare's birthday, the CBC presented a program which included mention of research being done on etexts of Will and his contemporaries. Some of this was computerized analysis of work done by those thought to have written some of Shakespeare's works. Does anyone recall the name of the researcher? Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**) (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET) From: TRACY LOGAN <LOGANT@lafayett.BITNET> Subject: Trees: using recycled paper Date: Tue, 1 May 90 09:30 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2372 (2920) The ramifying discussion about "trees" interests me greatly, and I intend to ponder the postings. BIOSPH-L has been discussing "how to get your campus to use recycled paper." If you would be interested in seeing this mixture of hints, hopes, and addresses of sources, drop me a note. I can send a digest, or info on getting the logs/using a database search. - tracy LOGANT@LAFAYETT From: "Bill Ball" <C476721@UMCVMB> Subject: shareware multi-lingual word processor Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 23:22:36 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2373 (2921) I thought this might be of interest to people on this list. Gemini Marketing Inc. (1-800-346-0139) is offering a shareware package called Intext. I have no knowledge of the capabilities or registration fees for this package. There are different versions for different languages, English and: European (French, German, Danish, Italian, Dutch and Portuguese) Arabic Farsi Gaelic Greek Hebrew Polish Russian Turkish Urdu Yugoslavian Oh yes. this is for IBM type PCs. I have no affliation with either commercial concern. I saw the ad in April, 1990 _Computer Shopper_ p. 503 ((( Bill Ball c476721@UMCVMB ) Dept. Pol. Sci. ) U. Mo.-Columbia ) From: Ralph Griswold <ralph@edu.arizona.cs> Subject: Version 8 of Icon for personal computers Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 09:48:30 MST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2374 (2922) Version 8 of Icon for personal computers is now available. In addition to Version 8 for MS-DOS, announced earlier, there are now implementations for the Amiga, the Atari ST, and the Macintosh (under MPW). There are two packages for each computer -- one contains executable binary files and the other contains source code. 1MB of RAM is about the minimum for successful use. Version 8 of Icon for these computers can be obtained by anonymous FTP to cs.arizona.edu. After connecting, cd /icon/v8. Get READ.ME there for more information. If you do not have FTP access or prefer to obtain diskettes and printed documentation, Version 8 of Icon for for the computers listed above can be ordered from: Icon Project Department of Computer Science Gould-Simpson Building The University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 602 621-2018 (voice) 602 621-4246 (FAX) Specify whether you want executable binaries, source code, or both. The packages are $15 each, payable in US dollars to The University of Arizona with a check written on a bank in the United States. Orders also can be charged to MasterCard or Visa. The price includes shipping by parcel post in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Add $5 per package for air mail delivery to other countries. Please direct any questions to me, not to icon-project or icon-group. Ralph Griswold / Dept of Computer Science / Univ of Arizona / Tucson, AZ 85721 / +1 602 621 6609 ralph@cs.arizona.edu uunet!arizona!ralph From: MORGAN TAMPLIN <TAMPLIN@TrentU.CA> Subject: RE: 3.1330 Robots (33) Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 21:12 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2375 (2923) To expand on Sheizaf's comments about Golem: I encountered a reference to it/him in "The Naked Computer" by Jack Rochester and John Gantz, (William Morrow, 1983), where on p. 270 he/it is called, "The Most Famous Artificial Human. Joseph Golem, created in 1580 by the high Rabbi of Prague, Judah Ben Loew..." They mention a computer connection but this is noted in more detail by Sherry Turkle, 1984 in "The Second Self", although it is only a tantalizing footnote: "Several present-day AI researchers at MIT grew up with a family tradition that they are descendants of Rabbi Loew, the creator of the Golem, a humanlike figure made of clay into whom God's name breathed life. These scientists include Gerald Sussman, Marvin Minsky, and Joel Moses. Joel Moses reports that a number of other American scientists have considered themselves to be descendents of Rabbi Loew, including John von Neumann and Norbert Weiner." (p. 270) As I have just joined Humanist, I don't know whether I have covered old ground, or even if this is of interest except as "computer trivia". One question does occur to me, though. Have these claims been substantiated or is this just a case of Computer Science "appropriating" a mythology? Morgan Tamplin, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada - TAMPLIN@TRENTU.CA From: "N. Miller, Trinity College" <NMILLER@TRINCC> Subject: the Golem and the Vilna Gaon Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 22:52 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2376 (2924) Sheizaf Rafaeli's reference to 'Elaihu Hagaon' as a key figure in the story of the golem is intriguing. The only Eliyahu Gaon I know of was a Lithuanian and, while he was indeed a staunch--even fierce-- enemy of Hasidism, the legend that he created a golem is thought to be based on a confusion with a much earlier Eliyahu of Chelm. That town is better known for its apocryphal sages, the Chelmer Chachamim, whose misadventures continue to entertain. Something like The Peterkin Papers...But that's already two other stories. Norman Miller From: Daniel Boyarin <BOYARIN@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.1330 Robots (33) Date: Tue, 01 May 90 07:15:25 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2377 (2925) on sheizaf's remarks about the golem. unfortunately the protagonist was not rabb9i eliahu of vilna, but the maharal of prague, a leading sixteenth century authority. From: Oxford Text Archive <ARCHIVE@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK> Subject: Matrix Annoiuncement Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 19:10 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1341 (2926) That was no announcement. It was a piece of blatant commercialism. Just because they say it isn't "an attempt to solicit funds" doesn't make it any the less of an advertisement. And people who talk about "penetrating potential marketplaces" deserve to be taken out and hung by their --- well, they certainly are not Humanists as I understand the term. I take the opportunity to post an advertisement of my own after noticing that HUMANISTs still resort to --- after my long crusade for the unlimited use of ETC. May I here cite again a fellow HUMANIST, Robert Kirsner who sent me the following citation he made up for me as a Christmas present on 22 Dec. 1989: "Bond kicked as hard as he could right at Zhnarkovsky's et cetera and the Russian spy fell to the ground screaming." Typographically speaking, isn't etc. nicer than ---? Though semantically speaking, --- may be more vague than etc. and thus more polite, which is not what was stylistically aimed at by the above mentioned author. Be patient folks, my article on the etc is coming in autumn. Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal C.P. 6128, Succ. "A" MONTREAL (Quebec) Canada - H3C 3J7 E-MAIL: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca From: "Ned J. Davison" <HISPANIA@UTAHCCA.BITNET> Subject: Computer in Spanish Date: Tue, 1 May 90 15:26 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2378 (2927) Along with ordinador (m) and computadora (f), computador (m) is also widely used. From: psc90!jdg@dartvax.dartmouth.edu (Dr. Joel Goldfield) Subject: "Computer gender" Date: Tue, 1 May 90 23:19:55 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2379 (2928) I agree with Peter Kuniholm's comments on "THE" vs "A" computer. The mainframe vs pc proliferation distinction is sensible. PERSONALLY, I've never heard a computer referred to as anything but "it" (no "he," "she," etc.), starting at the MIT high school studies program in '71 and running through college, graduate school, and now in this great "beyond." That includes all conferences as well. And books. And articles. And computer techies/teckies. Etc. Oh, except in this discussion, that is. Regards, Joel D. Goldfield Plymouth State College (NH) joelg@psc.bitnet From: <J_CERNY@UNHH> Subject: more on computer gender Date: Wed, 2 May 90 08:49 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2380 (2929) [...] With our large central computers we have finessed the gender issue, in a sense, by giving names to the computers. Some years ago, when we had just two DEC10s they were named Scylla and Charybdis. This reflected the interests and humor of our then-director, since he had a philosophy background, was Greek, and one computer was for academic use and one for administrative. I don't think anyone attributed gender to these names. When we moved into the VAX era we continued naming. But our then-director and our senior systems programmer both had strong mathematics backgrounds, so we switched to mathematicians. Hilbert, Archimedes, Euler, Descartes as the first ones. Now gender became noticible. So the next machine after that was deliberately named for a female mathematician, Noether. Later Bernoulli was added. Jim Cerny, University of NH. j_cerny@unhh From: Richard Ristow <AP430001@BROWNVM> Subject: Re: 3.1336 Computer Gender (139 Date: Wed, 02 May 90 10:41:44 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2381 (2930) C. M. Sperberg-McQueen captures what I think of as "old school" computer terminology very precisely in his posting. (This usage is not confined tosystems programmers -- my own experience was in user services, and we used the same terms). An oddity, which he notes, is a curious reluctance to say "computer"; the alternatives he gives ("the machine", "the system", "the 3081", less often "us") are exactly right. Describing information as "computerized" or (worse) "in the computer" still grates for me; the old- school term is "machine readable" (cf. the Library of Congress MARC -- "machine readable catalog" -- standard format). This captures an important distinction: The material is not owned by a computer, nor "in" one (it was then still the custom to distinguish the computer from disk drives, tapes, etc. attached to it); it is readable by one. (Why one doesn't say "computer", though, was never clear to me even though I internalized it.) I don't think I ever recall a computer referred to by a personal pronoun ("he" or "she"), but terminology often personified especially a program, even while using "it": "What does it think it's seeing, to give us that message?" The alternative terms Sperberg-McQueen lists are not precisely synonymous. "The system", "the 3081", and "us" tend to refer to the particular hardware and configuration at a particular place. Within those, "the 3081" or "the VAX" emphasize the physical machine, and "the system" the whole configuration: "How's the 3081 doing?" may mean "Have hardware problems shown up?"; "How's the system today?" would tend to include "Are there software problem? Is it overloaded?". "The machine" can be more abstract, meaning something like computer power in general: "I can't solve this problem, let's throw it on the machine." would be used for "I can't find a formal solution, let's try numerical analysis." and would NOT imply the particular machine intended; "Do you think the machine can help with this problem" means "Is there an algorithmic (or computer-based) technique that's useful?", and would not be taken to include questions about, say, the capacity of the machine at one's own school. (However, these categories are fuzzy. I see that I've broken my own rule just above; but it sounds right, and I'll let it stand.) I must therefore disagree with Peter Ian Kuniholm that "the machine", etc., explicitly refer to a single computing system in an organization; "the machine", especially, is intentionally an abstraction and refers to the sense in which all computers have the same function. As for "the computer", as in "the computer made a mistake", that's a usage from a different occupational culture and I'll refer it to Humanists with relevant experience. From: "Leslie Z. Morgan" <MORGAN@LOYVAX> Subject: Computer gender, cont. Date: Wed, 2 May 90 12:50 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2382 (2931) You said: "As a very indirect comment on the above, when the Academie francaise accepted the newly coined word "automobile" in French, near the end of the last century, it assigned a male gender to the new word, based on the gender of the latin root, as is the normal procedure in loan words in French. By 1915, however, the gender had switched to feminine... Staid dictionaries fail to give a reason for this switch, but legend has it that because the automobile aroused such passion, and was so unreliable in those days, needing much care and attention, it was..." Dana Paramskas) I had thought the reason for the change of gender of "automobile" in French was due to the use of other synonyms- la voiture is feminine, but I don't have an etymological dictionary at hand to check on the date of its first appearance in French. In Italian, "automobile" is feminine, as is "la macchina". In Italian, "Il computer", masculine, is more used than "il calcolatore" or "La calcolatrice" (which is smaller, a calculator, not a computer). The screen (lo schermo) is masculine and the printer (la stampante) is feminine, much like in French. I believe, speaking of machines, that in Spanish automobil is masculine, like its synonym, el coche. What about computers in Spanish? Are they using English also? (we seem to have heard from most of Western Europe at this point...) L. Morgan (morgan@loyvax.bitnet) From: John Morris <JMORRIS@UALTAVM> Subject: e-Shakespeare on CBC Date: Tue, 01 May 90 20:59:36 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2383 (2932) Michael Hart asks about researchers use a large Shakespeare text database who were mentioned on CBC radio on Shakespeare's birthday. It may have been Ward Elliott and Rob Valenza of Clermont McKenna College in California. They were mentioned in an article in The Observer 22 April 1990. They claim to have added eight new poems to the Shakespeare corpus. (Belated thanks to S. Reimer for the article in my mailbox). John Morris, University of Alberta, JMORRIS@UALTAVM.BITNET From: HMCOOK@BOE.TOWSON.EDU Subject: Computerized Analysis of Shakespeare E-texts Date: Tue, 1 May 90 23:28 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2384 (2933) In response to Michael S. Hart's question about a researcher doing computerized analysis of work done by Shakespeare and those thought to have written some of his works, I recently read two articles in the Washington Post on the man I presume Michael is asking about--Professor Ward Elliott of Claremont McKenna College. I've misplaced the first, which concentrated on Professor Elliott himself, but I have the other: "Computer Test Authenticates Shakespeare" by Michael Miller of Reuter, April 21, 1990: C3. The article begins, "A computer program that was fed more than 3 million words by William Shakespeare and other Elizabethan authors had shown the Bard alone wrote his works, a university professor said yesterday. In addition, the computer may have found eight poems previously not attributed to Shakespeare that were written by the great playwright and poet." Elliott claims to have "fed the largest collection of Elizabethan and Jacobean texts ever put into a computer." Elliott is quoted as saying, "We've got the King James Bible, every poem written by Shakespeare and material from 30 or so claimants [to Shakespeare's works]." Elliott used a program devised by Rob Valenza, which "runs a battery of eight tests on every word. The main test, known as modal analysis, or the Valenza test, looks for interrelationships between words. . . . Those authors who did pass the Valenza test were subjected to seven more tests looking for word frequency, words used to begin lines, metrical ways of ending lines, whether the line was punctuated at the end, relative clauses, compound words, hyphenated compound words, and frequency of exclamation marks. These were then compared to Shakespeare's characteristics." Both Louis Marder of Shakespeare Newsletter and Charlton Ogburn, an Oxfordian, are cited as dismissing the study. The article concludes by noting that Elliott, who I believe I recall is a lawyer, nevertheless, "is convinced someone other than Shakespeare is the true author," citing the elitist argument that no one from the "rustic backwater" of Stratford could have been sophisticated and knowledgeable enough to write the plays and poems attributed to him. Well, Michael, you did ask. Hardy M. Cook Bowie State University HMCOOK@BOE.TOWSON.EDU From: "Matthew B. Gilmore" <GY945C@GWUVM> Subject: shakespeare authorship and computerized text analysis Date: Wed, 02 May 90 00:51:20 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2385 (2934) Did we discuss this last week? [deleted quotation] "Shakespeare did it, inhuman detective says" by David Braaten The Washington Times The Bard would have relished the irony. After more than three centuries of sniping, suspicion and second- guessing by overeducated intellectuals who couldn't bear to think the the most sublime writing in the English language was produced by an unschooled bumpkin named William Shakespeare, the identity of the sweet swan of Avon has been confirmed by a machine. Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare, a computer in (gasp!) Southern California has concluded. The calculated verdict came after it digested more than 3 million words by Shakespeare and other claimants to his works--including Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Bacon, the Earl of Oxford and Christopher Marlowe. Only a handful made the first cut--including Queen Bess, bless her--but were subsequently eliminated in a second round of computer comparisons. Further irony: Ward Elliott, the professor who ran the test at Claremont McKenna College near Los Angeles, was himself a serious doubter of Shakespeare's authorship. And his electronic research may actually have increased the recognized Shakespeare oeuvre by eight previously unattributed poems. "We are on the verge of a tremendous find; the possibility of confirming eight new short Shakespeare poems," Mr. Elliott, a good sport, told Reuters news agency. He used the King James Bible, every poem written by Shakespeare and known material from 30 or more writers who have been nominated as undercover Shakespeares over the centuries. The computer program, devised by Rob Valenza, professor of computer sciences at Claremont McKenna, ran eight tests on every word. The main test, known as modal analysis, looked for inter- relationships between words. "Using this test alone, Professor Valenza discovered tremendous consistency within Shakespeare and tremendous powers of discrimination between Shakespeare and others," Mr. Elliott said. The authors who passed the first battery of tests were subjected to seven more that looked for word frequency, words used to begin lines, metrical ways of ending lines, whether the line was punctuated at the end, relative clauses, compound words, hyphenated compound words and frequency of exclamation marks. These were then compared to Shakespeare's characteristics. "Bacon, Oxford and Marlowe come out in Timbuktu on the Valenza test," said Mr. Elliott. "We have tested maybe 18 or 20 of the major claimants and only two of them come anywhere close: Queen Elizabeth and Sir Walter Raleigh." But the queen flunked five or six of the secondary tests. And Raleigh was in the Tower of London working on his History of the World during Shakespeare's most productive period. "There's also a non-claimant, Fulke Greville, who came out very close to Shakespeare on the Valenza test, so we've got to run him through some of the other tests," Mr. Elliott said. The most exciting find came when the computer was fed the "The Passionate Pilgrims," a colllections of 20 poems published in 1599. It bore the signature W. Shakespeare, but only five of the poems were attributed to him in the book, and four to other poets. The 11 others were unascribed and most experts doubted they were Shakespeare's. The first three confirmed the judgement of the experts, Mr. Elliott said. "Then we ran the other eight...and they came out beautifully Shakespearean, more Shakespearean by the Valenza test than 85 percent of the Shakespeare that we have. It's a potential Shakespeare find if it's confirmed by the other tests," he added. ... Matthew B. Gilmore From: The Man with the Plan <KEHANDLEY@AMHERST> Subject: U.S. Navy Declares War on Paper Date: Wed, 2 May 90 14:07 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2386 (2935) While looking at the PC Week which had the reviews of hand-held scan- ners, I noticed an news item by Dennis Eskow headlined "U.S. Navy Declares War on Paper - Manuals are out and PCs are in." The Navy will in June get rid of most paper on the guided missile frigate Ingraham. This will reduce its weight by one ton, and provide these benefits: "improved maneuverability lower operating costs, due to eliminating the cost of updating the manuals reduced need for naval warehouse space the ability to print manuals on demand a reduction of errors when looking up technical data faster searches for information and increased efficiency." This is from PC Week, April 23, 1990, Vol. 7, No. 16. Perhaps this is a look at the e-world to come. Keith Handley Amherst College Academic Computer Center kehandley@Amherst.BITNET From: EIEB360@UTXVM.BITNET Subject: 3.1337 New Communication Media; Date: Wednesday, 2 May 1990 2:22pm CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2387 (2936) Sometime in the next month or so (depending on the speed with which various administrative mills/wheels turn), I will be acquiring a Kurzweil Personal Reader. This device consists of a Kurzweil scanner coupled with a DECtalk speech synthesizer; the whole thing is portable (luggable, really: about 20 pounds). It's designed to "read aloud" to visually impaired persons who, like myself, have trouble reading print. (I have trouble reading print for extended periods; I do better at reading screens, but there's a lot of stuff out there that ain't in machine-readable form yet.) At $11,950 the KPR is beyond the budgets of most of us (myself included: hence my request that the University buy the machine for my use), but I will gladly report back to HUMANIST on my experience with it. I once tested a demo model by giving it a couple of pages from a facsimile ed. of the first ed. of Huck Finn, and I must say it did beautifully-- though the accent left something to be desired. Nonetheless... Etc. -- John Slatin From: "STEVEN D. FRAADE" <FRASTED@YALEVM> Subject: golem Date: Tue, 01 May 90 22:02:46 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2388 (2937) See now Moshe Idel, _Golem: Jewish Magical and Mystical Traditions on the Artificial Anthropoid_ (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990). S. D. Fraade Yale University From: "]" <ohar@guvax.georgetown.edu> Subject: RE: 3.1340 Robots and Golems (50) Date: 1 May 90 22:38:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2389 (2938) There is an interesting discussion of the Golem legend in Marvin Minsky (ed) ROBOTICS (Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1985). -- O. B. Hardison, Jr. (OHAR@GUVAX) From: Julie Falsetti <JEFHC@CUNYVM> Subject: Re: 3.1340 Robots and Golems (50) Date: Wed, 02 May 90 00:57:23 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2390 (2939) An interesting account of the golem can be found in Bruce Chatwin's book 'Utz'. From: Itamar Even-Zohar <B10@TAUNIVM> Subject: Re: 3.1340 Robots and Golems (50) Date: Wed, 02 May 90 09:33:13 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2391 (2940) Boyarin's "Maharal", is the acronym MHRL, which refers to the same Rabbi Yehuda Leob, the creator of the Golem. M=morenu (our teacher), H=Ha rab (the professor) R=Rabbi (in this connection, perhaps "Sir" rather than "tecaher") L=Liva (this is the current form of the name in the Hebrew sources). "Golem" comes from the Hebrew root GLM denoting "primordial, raw". It means "a creature without shape", embryo, and also clumsy, idiot, ignoramus. "gelem" in Hebrew is "raw material" (for the industry, for instance). The Golem story is said to have inspired Capek, who invented the word ROBOT (from the Czech root denoting "work"). But we must remember that Rabbi Yehuda put eventually the golem to eternal sleep because he was unable to control him. Nobody is allowed even today to climb to the attic in the Prague synagogue where Rabbi Liva is supposed to have finished the Golem's life. When computers became known to my generation in this country in the 1950's, people referred to them as "the golem". This connoted computers' brainlessness, a pun created probably to refute the Hebrew "moax eleqtroni" (electronical brain) which was given to those computers before the word "maxsheb" was invented ('x' is pronounced as aspirated 'h'). Rabbi Liva probably invented software much before von Neuman, since the Golem would work only when Liva put in his mouth a piece of paper with the name of god written on it, and when he took it out, the golem would again become a piece of clay. This is what happens to our PCs, isn't it? (except for the text, and the materials...) A popular song of my childhood was: Golem ish qax patish lek la-abod ve al taamod (Stupid fellow, take a hammer, go to do some work, and don't stand [idle]) Itamar Even-Zohar Porter Institute for Poetics and Semiotics From: DPF@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: Date: Wed, 2 MAY 90 17:38:54 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2392 (2941) SUBJECT: File conversion utilities Moving files between different word-processing packages used to be a pain, but it has ceased to be a problem for the mainstream commercial packages like Word, Wordperfect, Wordstar etc: modern versions have considerable conversion abilitiy abilities built in, and there are programs for more complicated conversions. But anyone using one of the specialised multi-lingual programs like Nota Bene, Chiwriter/Megawriter, Vuwriter, Multi-lingual scholar, or the adaptations of mainstream programs like John Hughes' excellent Scripture Fonts (sorry I never returned any of the forms, John!) are faced with the old problem. There is no way to move say a mixed Greek/English text between programs preserving the Greek. There is clearly not much of a market here for a commercial effort: but how about someone having a go at a utility out of the goodness of their heart? Then I could e.g. communicate with colleagues (in England, there is no standard PC program which has conquered the lion's share of the market: I don't know about the States). Don Fowler, Jesus College, Oxford. From: farrukh <FBHJJ@CUNYVM> Subject: Re: 3.1332 Eastern European Nodes; Judaism E-Journal (90) Date: Tue, 01 May 90 18:08:06 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2393 (2942) Could you let me know if the line to India is operational yet? I would also like to know the nodes that will be accessible to us. Since I am a student from India I am tremendously curious. Sincerely, farrukh <fbhjj@cunyvm> From: UPANDN@UNC Subject: e europe bitnet ids Date: Wed, 02 May 90 09:45 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2394 (2943) If you ever obtain a list of specific bitnet node id's for E. Europe, will you please let me know? I am particularly interested in Warsaw, Poland. -howard aldrich From: koontz@alpha.bldr.nist.gov (John E. Koontz) Subject: Re: 3.1335 Slang terms for students (39) Date: Wed, 2 May 90 08:16:42 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2395 (2944) I think it unlikely that there is much professor terminology for students, because I suspect that such terminology develops mainly in cases of group solidarities exposed routinely to outsiders. Professors, in my experience as a student, are essentially individualists, and seldom group at levels above the clique of friends associated on some basis other than professorship. In addition, many are only secondarily interested in teaching, with a primary interest in research, a context in which undergraduates are simply a distraction, and graduate students are generally (junior) in-group members. Thus there is no sense of student outsider-ness to codify in a derrogatory terminology. From: DENNIS CINTRA LEITE <FGVSP@BRFapesp.BITNET> Subject: Re: 3.1323 Matrix, Inc. Description Date: Wed, 2 May 90 10:35 -0300 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2396 (2945) [deleted quotation] I found the Matrix announcement quite informative and would like to register a suportive position for future postings of this nature. After all, aren't bibliographies, software descriptions, conference announcements, job opportunities and other such "product offerings" in some sort of sense? Would a third party's (perhaps less informed) blurb offend less? I wonder. I think the editors should, of course, exert their editing function, but in this and similar cases I think the pertinent information content is much higher than the offensive fact that someone is potentialy making money on, what seems to be, a very usefull product. From: CHAA006%vax.rhbnc.ac.uk@NSFnet-Relay.AC.UK Subject: Re: 3.1341 '---' versus 'etc.' Date: Wed, 2 MAY 90 12:08:35 BST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2397 (2946) Michel Lenoble <lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca> wrote, concerning his advocacy of the use of `etc.' rather than `---' in euphemistic contexts: [deleted quotation] May I suggest that the `consistent replacement algorithm', implicitly defined in PLAIN.TEX by Professor Donald E.~Knuth, offers a far more satisfactory method of euphemisation ? Quite simply, one replaces one or more vowels from the non-euphemistic word or phrase by the commercial-at (`@'), choosing those vowels whose shape is most closely matched by the replacement (that is, `a', `e' and `o'; `i' and `u' are less satisfactory and only chosen if the word does not contain any of the preferred vowels) Thus one can say `b@lls', `b@ll@cks', `cr@p' etc., without the least fear of offending anybody, yet allowing unambiguous reconstitution of the original word/phrase by the reader ..... Philip Taylor Royal Holloway and Bedford New College ``The University of London at Windsor'' From: DENNIS CINTRA LEITE <FGVSP@BRFapesp.BITNET> Subject: RE: 3.1342 Computer Gender (134) Date: Wed, 2 May 90 19:24 -0300 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2398 (2947) Since we have most western languages represented lets help complete the list with portuguese. We refer to the computer as "o computador", that is, a masculine noun: no ifs or buts. Why? Search me! From: Michel LENOBLE <LENOBLEM@UMTLVR.BITNET> Subject: Computer gender in Dutch. Date: Wed, 2 May 90 20:56 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2399 (2948) Dutch uses the word "computer" which is masculine and refers to it with the "hij" masculine pronoun. Thus the computer is "de computer". Michel Lenoble Litterature Comparee Universite de Montreal C.P. 6128, Succ. "A" MONTREAL (Quebec) Canada - H3C 3J7 E-MAIL: lenoblem@cc.umontreal.ca From: <MSWENSON@IUBACS> Subject: RE: 3.1336 Computer Gender (139) Date: Wed, 2 May 90 19:56 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2400 (2949) My computer has always been named TOM: Totally Obedient Moron. Melinda Swenson Indiana University Bloomington IN MSWENSON@IUBACS From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: the sex of computers Date: Wed, 02 May 90 20:30:19 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2401 (2950) The discussion about the sex of computers seems to involve three separate things: the grammatical gender of the nouns in various languages; people's use of pronouns, which reflects how they think about these machines; and something else, which may not be really distinct from the second but which I will call their metaphorical sex. My understanding of linguistic theories of gender (which can hardly be dignified by that term) is that its relation to the perceived sexual identity is seldom if ever direct. I wonder, then, if grammatical gender for a single thing across languages will tell us anything interesting at all. Some linguist will perhaps enlighten us. People's use of pronouns seems very interesting indeed. In what way is a computer male or female to those who think of it these ways? Do the same people tend to give the same sex both to small machines, such as PCs and Macintoshes, and to mainframes? Do mainframe users, who in fact never see the machine except through a terminal or microcomputer interface, tend to regard its sex the same as systems programmers and others who know the beasts directly? Are PCs and Macintoshes on the whole sexed the same? Do human males and females tend to the same judgments? Many such questions could be asked. Indeed, a questionnaire could be devised, polished, then circulated by e-mail. Now for "metaphorical sex". Whether this is the same as what people are talking about as in the prior paragraph depends, I suppose, on how deeply they are thinking. Is a computer a vessel to be filled (metaphorically female), e.g. by a program and data, which cause certain changes in the machine, producing output, etc.? Or is it an active agent, a tool (metaphorically male) that enters its environment, makes changes, etc.? Or is it both, and if so under what conditions does it seem more of one than the other? Unfortunately we seem always bound to confuse physical sex with metaphorical, and that confusion is likely to fog up this argument right away. What I mean is something like the duality of yin and yang in the Chinese tradition, or what C. G. Jung referred to as animus and anima. These are principles that biological males and females both have. I continue to have the feeling that when we confront something new (like the computer) and ask, what is this? the answers we give tell us a considerable amount about ourselves. Willard McCarty From: jr3746@usma8.usma.edu (Jensen Richard Prof) Subject: thoughts on gender Date: Thu, 03 May 90 00:10:05 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2402 (2951) from: Jeffrey Lincoln wins%"jj6899@usma8.usma.edu" Interesting discussion, Sex and Computers - two very important things in the human race. We are not going anywhere without them. I infrequently hear a gender applied to either a particular hardware device or software package, regardless of who assembled it (pun intended, it applies to both hardware and software). The most frequent description I have heard applied to computers is "damned machine", usually accompanied by a string of nautical invectives. I have worked in in a number of intense computer environments, and infrequently hear the users refer to them with gender terms. They do, however, seem to lend themselves to gender stereotyping: cold and emotionless, boring, plodding, slow, stupid, a frequent description when the machine refuses to digest you code and instead digests your media (disk, for example). Now I must admit I have overheard cries of joy and rapture, once accompanied by a female description "God look at her go" as a group of expectant students followed the systems report of progress on a run - of course it was as successful run. Generally they are not beautiful or even aesthetically pleasing, but rather bland boxes. They do what we expect them to do in rather predictable ways. Clearly I do not consider these attributes feminine. On the other hand they can be fragile and temperamental. Does it really matter? I don't thing they are very sexy anyway. From: K.P.Donnelly%edinburgh.ac.uk@NSFnet-Relay.AC.UK Subject: Gender of computer Date: 03 May 90 10:49:00 bst X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2403 (2952) In Irish Gaelic computer = riomhaire (masc.) screen = sca/ilea/n (masc.) printer = clo/do/ir (masc.) or printe/ir (masc.) car = gluaistea/n (masc.) or carr (masc.) and just to prove that there are feminine words message = teachtaireacht (fem.) The genders in these cases are pretty well determined by the noun endings. From: ZAK@NIHCU Subject: Computer Gender Date: Thu, 03 May 90 08:03:47 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2404 (2953) My Macintosh is male. His name is Scotty. From: Christian Boissonnas <CBY@CORNELLC> Subject: Computer gender Date: Thu, 3 May 1990 14:30:22 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2405 (2954) The following is from a young humanist who happens to be programming for a living at Cornell's Center for Theory and Simulation in Science and Engineering: Date Thu, 3 May 90 08:13:04 EDT From roger@tcgould.TN.CORNELL.EDU (Roger Boissonnas) Subject humanist Thanks for the newest issue of the Humanist discussion. I've never thought of my computers having sexes, or personalities. I've never even thought of my PROGRAMS having sexes, or personalities. They have a style, perhaps, a "look and feel" the same way a novel has a style, but I've never found myself being anthropomorphic towards the things. ...although I do berate them sometimes. But I do that sort of in fun, 'cause I realize the damn thing's not doing what I want, but just what I tell it. From: <DMIALL@UALTAVM> Subject: Shakespeare study Date: Tue, 5 01 22:09:07 MDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2406 (2955) University of Alberta In response to Michael Hart's query about etext research on Shakespeare. I didn't hear the CBC report, but the study made front page Sunday before last in the British newspaper _The Observer_ (22nd April). The work is that of Ward Elliott at Clermont McKenna College, California. Some of the authorship tests to show the stuff is Shakespeare are said to be based on punctuation and hyphenation. The British scholar David Norbrook is cited as questioning the validity of analysing these aspects, which were largely decided by the later editors. I look forward to the forthcoming arguments with interest. Regards, David From: Oxford Text Archive <ARCHIVE@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK> Subject: Elliott's Shakespeare Date: Thu, 3 May 90 11:16 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2407 (2956) Much of the corpus of texts on which Ward Elliott's well-publicised Shakespearean authorship study was carried out was deposited here at the OTA by Dr Elliott earlier this year. Disappointed Oxfordians, Baconians and anyone who thinks Shakespeare actually came from Mars will no doubt be glad to know that they can obtain copies of the same database Ward Elliott used from us, and no doubt squeeze some entirely different numbers out of them. A new printed catalogue of our holdings is now available by post. The new electronic version will be posted here in a day or two. Lou Burnard Oxford Text Archive p.s. Just for the record --- three consecutive hyphens in my writings should usually be interpreted as a caesura rather than as a euphemism. I have never been known to refrain from calling a dickhead a dickhead where this was appropriate From: SA_RAE@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK Subject: recent notes on shakespeare Date: Thu, 3 MAY 90 16:57:12 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2408 (2957) I took a copy of recent notes on 'computed' findings regarding shakespeare and showed them to a colleague at the Open University, his comments were as follows: [deleted quotation]It is interesting to note that some of the criteria used are quite inapplicable to sixteenth and seventeenth century texts: anything to do with punctuation is much more likely to have been determined by the compositor than the writer, ditto spelling. <<< (As this is my first time to Browns ... I'm glad the move went well and I look forward to the future with HUMANIST in safe hands.) Simon Rae, Research Adviser, Academic Computing Services, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom. SA_RAE@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK From: David R. Sewell <dsew@uhura.cc.rochester.edu> Subject: Query on Software for Collaborative Writing Date: Wed, 2 May 90 16:51:26 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2409 (2958) I would very much appreciate hearing from anyone who has advice about appropriate software to use for collaborative writing instruction in a networked writing lab. My English Department and our Computer Center are working to put together a proposal for upgrading our lab before next year's budget line closes, and the one area where we need additional information is that of academic software, since this is new territory for us. We are going to be creating a LAN of between 16-20 machines, mostly Macintosh Pluses. What we would like to find, if possible, is software that will allow collaborative real-time annotation of a text by groups of variable sizes (from 2-5) on the networked machines. The idea would be to have several students working together simultaneously on a single document, with each of them able to add comments that would be embedded in the document, and which could then become the basis for revision of the document; each student's comments, ideally, would be identified by a distinctive font or marker. We already have Timbuktu, which permits several users simultan- eously to see and work on the same object under whatever program they are running, but its limitation is that turn-taking must be managed verbally or else users "compete" chaotically for the power to modify. We are wondering if there are programs that do the managing automatically. If you have suggestions about any other software that you have found valuable in a lab of this sort, I'd be glad to hear about that too. ---- | David Sewell, English Dep't, University of Rochester, New York USA | | dsew@uhura.cc.rochester.edu || dsew%uhura.cc.rochester.edu@uorvm | From: MHEIM@CALSTATE Subject: "Syntonics"? Date: Wed, 02 May 90 22:39:38 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2410 (2959) Somewhere -- I wish I knew in what book -- I came across a reference to "syntonics." The term had to do with establishing the tone of a piece of writing. The book, best as I can recall, was a semi-popular treatment of rhetoric, of how to get your message across. Can anyone refer me to a book that has a chapter on "syntonics"? Mike Heim Cal State Long Beach From: <GC130@DSIHRZ51> Subject: queries Date: Thu, 3 May 90 17:55 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2411 (2960) Dear Humanists, A student who is working at a thesis on Kaspar Hauser asked me to put this querie onto the HUMANIST board: At the moment I am working at my thesis entitled "The myth of Kaspar Hauser in German Literature during the 20th Century". Above all I am generally interested in poems which recur to this myth. In addition to this, I'll deal with the function of the myth of Kaspar Hauser in anthroposophical literature. But this intention poses some problems: There is no anthroposophical bibliography which could help me to find the primary literature (poems, novels, dramatic texts). Therefore I would be very greatful for any hints. Thanks in advance If anyone can give some hints I will forward them. From: Stephen Miller <STEPHEN@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK> Subject: query for humanist Date: Thu, 3 May 90 18:08 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2412 (2961) A friend is using a music publishing package called SCORE (version 2.14) from 'Passport Designs' (Calif. USA) and is encountering some more than modest difficulties with it. Does anyone in HUMANIST land know anything about this package? Does anybody know of an email address for the company? Stephen Miller Oxford University Computing Service From: John Unsworth <JMUEG@NCSUVM> Subject: nodes in Algeria? Date: Wed, 02 May 90 21:27:43 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2413 (2962) I'm interested in getting in touch with a colleague in Oran, Algeria. Does anyone out there know if Bitnet or Internet has a node in Oran, or elsewhere in Algeria, or if there is some other way to e-mail there? Thanks, John Unsworth Bitnet: jmueg@ncsuvm Internet: jmueg@ncsuvm.ncsu.edu From: mcs@iris.brown.edu (Mark C. Sawtelle) Subject: Re: 3.1346 Queries: File conversion; Network nodes + QUERY Date: Thu, 3 May 90 11:10:41 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2414 (2963) I'd like to to know about nodes in Czechoslovakia. Mark C. Sawtelle Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship (IRIS) Brown University From: cbf%faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU@jade.berkeley.edu (Charles Faulhaber) Subject: Re: 3.1346 Queries: File conversion; Network nodes (38) Date: Wed, 2 May 90 14:33:24 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2415 (2964) File conversion would be enormously useful. The ideal solution would be a conversion format with a set of macros to convert from one package into the conversion format, and from the conversion format into the package. And of course, the conversion format should be SGML compatible.... Charles Faulhaber UCB Berkeley From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1346 Queries: File conversion; Network nodes (38) Date: Thu, 03 May 90 09:44:42 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2416 (2965) re: Don Fowler, Jesus College, Oxford. DPF@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK I have heard quite a few complaints about the conversion programs, including the WordPerfect one you mentioned specifially. Perhaps, we could get some reviews from various users. I have had files in WordStar format come up with very strange margins, when conversion to WP with the WP CONVERT program is used. Perhaps you have a new version. Can you list the CONVERT program's date and size so hard comparisons can be made? Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**) (THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET) From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD> Subject: Re: 3.1344 Paperless Office; Scanner/Reader (43) Date: Thu, 03 May 90 09:37:33 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2417 (2966) I hate to be a Devil's Advocate sometimes, but . . . . The idea of replacing paper manuals on a missle frigate astonishes me, as chips and transistors tend to lose their minds when subjected to EMP (electro-magnetic-pulses of the type emitted by nuclear bombs). Thus, the Russians have continued to use tube radios for extended periods on MiG fighters, etc. Perhaps I am behind the times and new chips have been created which are immune. I would think I would have heard about that, as I am in some contact with a place which tests chips under just those circumstances (just the EMP folks, we done set of H-bombs here every day to test chips, thank you.) Michael S. Hart From: "Robin C. Cover" <ZRCC1001@SMUVM1> Subject: ICON PROGRAM UTILITIES Date: Wed, 02 May 90 22:31:22 CST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1352 (2967) ICON Programs for HUMANISTS For HUMANISTS just on the verge of temptation to look at the Icon programming language, I supply a further inducement: the title list for about 60 little programs that come with version 8 (of the PC and OS/2 implementation, at least). Richard Goerwitz has noted several times that Icon supports string handling very well: it's of obvious interest to HUMANISTS. I like these little programs because they provide examples of how to do very useful things with just a few lines of code. Dominik Wujastyk recently gave details (3.1339) on obtaining Icon version 8 from the University of Arizona. Using ftp (remote login, or via one of the mail-based ftp services) is fastest: ftp to cs.arizona.edu and get /icon/v8/READ.ME to see what files you need for your system. Here is the title list of sample programs which came with PC version 8: # Title: Animal game (expert system) # Title: Arrange data into columns # Title: Comnpute state transitions for Huffman decoding. # Title: Deal bridge hands # Title: Delaminate file # Title: Delaminate file using tab characters # Title: Desk calculator # Title: Diagram character intersections of strings # Title: Display intersection of words # Title: Display representations of characters in file # Title: Display solutions to n-queens problem # Title: Entab an Icon program # Title: Expression Measurement Program Generator # Title: Filter out identical adjacent lines # Title: Filter to word wrap a range of text # Title: Format mailing labels # Title: Generate Farberisms # Title: Generate instances of sentences from context-sensitive grammars # Title: Generate randomly selected sentences from a grammar # Title: Generate random text # Title: Generate recognizer for sentences in a context-free language # Title: Generate sentences in Lindenmayer system # Title: Generate solutions to the n-queens problem # Title: Generate strings from the MIU system # Title: Generic filter skeleton in Icon # Title: Icon "link" Cross Reference Utility # Title: Icon preprocessor # Title: Instances of different syntactic forms in Icon # Title: LZW Compression and Decompression Utility # Title: Laminate files # Title: Lips interpreter # Title: List commands and macros in a roff document # Title: List different words # Title: Package multiple files # Title: Parse arithmetic expressions # Title: Parse simple statements # Title: Play kriegspiel # Title: Play the game of solitaire # Title: Print Icon program # Title: Process LaTeX .idx file # Title: Produce complement of file specification # Title: Produce concordance # Title: Produce cross reference for Icon program # Title: Produce keywords in context # Title: Produce load map of UNIX obect file # Title: Produce random parenthesis-balanced strings # Title: Produce script for the ed editor # Title: Show differences files # Title: Shuffle lines in a file # Title: Simulate a Turing machine # Title: Sort Icon procedures # Title: Sort groups of lines # Title: Sort mailing labels by ZIP code # Title: Split Icon program into separate files # Title: Summarize Icon memory management # Title: Tabulate characters in a file # Title: Tabulate properties of text file # Title: Tabulate words in a file # Title: Trim lines in a file # Title: Unpackage files # Title: Utility to find undeclared variables in Icon source program. # Title: Write Icon code to write input # Title: Write a character ruler to standard output Robin Cover 3909 Swiss Avenue Dallas, TX 75204 (214) 296-1783/841-3657 BITNET: zrcc1001@smuvm1 INTERNET: robin@txsil.lonestar.org From: amsler@flash.bellcore.com (Robert A Amsler) Subject: Commmercials on Humanist Date: Wed, 2 May 90 21:31:32 -0400 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1353 (2968) I believe the policy we should follow is not to allow postings which solicit funds for or associated with the party doing the posting for the sale of anything. Thus, it would be alright for an uninvolved party to post an announcement saying that X will or is selling Y; but X cannot themselves post such a message. This should apply whether the object being sold is a book, software or whatever. Conferences and meetings could be exceptions if they are run by professional societies, but probably not if they are run by industrial associations. Job announcements or solicitations of employment probably don't belong on the public list, but I've no objection to humanist permitting their distribution by access over the listserver. From: Terrence Erdt <ERDT@VUVAXCOM> Subject: golems & robots Date: Wed, 2 May 90 19:16 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1354 (2969) Regarding Sarah Higley's query about medieval robots, we appear to be laboring in neighboring fields, obscure yet fertile as they may be. Some of my own work, though not focused by any means on medieval robots, does take up the subject in passing. Among the Arthurian romances of the thirteenth century, for example, Mordrain, in the Estoire del Saint Graal, lies with a automaton simulating a beautiful woman: "This idol was of the most beautiful wood which there ever was in the guise of a woman, so that the king used to lie with her carnally and dress her as richly as he could, and he had made for her a room where he took care that no mortal man could find her." (Sommer, H. Oskar. The Vulgate Version of the Arthurian Romances. Washington, D.C.: The Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1909, vol. I, 83. Prof. Joel D. Goldfied of Plymouth State College, Associate Professor of French, and frequent voice on Humanist, kindly translated this passage for me.) Another story of possible interest is entitled "Virgil, the Wicked Princess and the Iron Man." Here a princess "beautiful beyond words but wicked beyond belief" feasts young men, then sleeps with them, and finally poisons them at breakfast next day. To avenge the death of a young friend who has so perished, Virgil makes an Iron Man, "with golden locks, very beautiful to behold as a man, with sympathetic, pleasing air, one who conversed fluently and in a winning voice..., and the spirit who was conjured into him was one without pity or mercy." The Iron Man is sent to walk before the palace of the princess, who sees it and is "more pleased than she had ever been before." She sends for the automaton, treats it with a "great display of love," and in the morning hesitates to give it the poisonous drink, "for she had at last fallen madly in love." The Iron man of course is impervious to the poison and to her wiles, and it carries her to a cavern and to the ghosts of the lovers, where she is forced to drink wines alternately hot as the fire of hell and freezing cold. Charles Godfrey recounted the tale in his Unpublished Legends of Virgil. New York: Macmillan, 1900. Pinto Smalto in Basile's Pentamerone foreshadows Joanna Russ's "An Old Fashioned Girl." Also in a similar vein are, of course, the popular stores/films the Stepford Wives and Making Mr. Right. Regards, Terry Erdt Villanova University From: <WEST@UNCA> Subject: Bibliographic software Date: Fri, 4 May 90 15:10 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2418 (2970) Humanists: I am wondering if there exists out there somewhere a bibliographic package to simplify the writing of manuscripts. The ideal package exists -- Nota Bene's bibliographic package -- but unfortunately it works (so far as I know) only with Nota Bene, and I've grown too accustomed to Word Perfect to switch. What I'm looking for would be a memory resident package which would pop up over Word Perfect, asking me questions about the bibliographic item or giving me a form to fill out. Then the software would create a footnote, formatted in the proper style; at some later point, it would also create a bibliography with everything nicely sorted, formatted, arranged. The power of the NB bibliographic package is so great I'm tempted to switch, but I thought I'd make sure there wasn't something out there that would give me the benefits of NB bibliographic without having to learn (choke) yet another word processor. (So far : Electric Pencil, TPU, Emacs, FinalWord, Word- Star, now Word Perfect.) Thanks ... Mark West WEST@UNCA.BITNET From: Rich Mitchell <MITCHELR@ORSTVM> Subject: Re: 3.1346 Queries: File conversion; Network nodes (38) Date: Fri, 04 May 90 01:31:43 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2419 (2971) Ditto Howard Aldrich's request for any updates on e-mail contacts with Warsaw. I suspect this will be a busy link as there are many of us with colleagues there and much the scholars in Poland have to share. Make efforts to inform them of HUMANIST. Anna Wyka, Andrezj Scinski of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology are vitally concerned about such communication possibilities. Thank you. From: Ben <B_SPACKMAN%vax.acs.open.ac.uk@NSFnet-Relay.AC.UK> Subject: RE: 3.1350 Queries (89) Date: Fri, 4 May 90 16:56 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2420 (2972) Stephen Miller asked about a music publishing package called SCORE from 'Passport Designs' (Calif. USA). I don't know if the company has an email address, but a colleague at the Open University suggests contacting the British users group. This is currently being set up and can be contacted at: 42 Burlington Road New Malden Surrey KT3 4NU Tel: 081 949 4745 (For all I know this may also be an email-free zone.) Their inaugural meeting will be in London on 14 May. Ben Spackman The Open University (UK) From: Natalie Maynor <MAYNOR@MSSTATE.BITNET> Subject: Conference Announcement Date: Thu, 3 May 90 17:28:27 CDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2421 (2973) Somebody not on this list asked me to post the following: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Third Guelph Symposium on Computer Mediated Communication UNLOCKING HUMAN POTENTIAL VIA CMC May 14 - 17, 1990 University of Guelph Guelph, Ontario, Canada The urgent problems of the 1990's require newly synthesized knowledge, judgement and insight for their solution. Technologies that amass and distribute information continue to proliferate; however, technologies alone are merely tools. Solutions, being creative products of the human mind, may fail to appear without the stimulus of discussion and the synergy of shared construction and evaluation. Only communication technologies that enable human-to-human exponential creativity can hope to intercept the accelerating crises of our global environment and economy. The Third Guelph Symposium presents reports from three continents on the latest research and applications of computer mediated communication as it unlocks human potential within individuals, organizations and communities. An extra-fee seminar on Monday, May 14 offers a showcase of interactive and database technology at work. University of Guelph faculty and staff will demonstrate and describe a wide range of computer-based interactive and informational activities that have been taking place on this campus throughout the last decade. Who should attend? Educators will benefit from a number of papers addressing the explosion of educational applications of computer mediating communication. Applications for distance education, post-secondary on-campus programs and primary and secondary schools will be discussed. Managers integrating computer conferencing, electronic mail systems, networks and computer-assisted training programs will gain insight into the latest applications for their companies. Researchers will have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with their colleagues who are active world-wide in the computer mediated communication field. Community Developers will discover the value of personal communication via computers as a community building tool for scattered populations. Evaluators considering adopting their own in-house computer mediated communication systems will find valuable background information and make many worthwhile contacts at the conference. For more information, please contact: Karen Maki Continuing Education Universtiy of Guelph (519) 824-4120, ext. 3412 From: SUSAN@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK Subject: Reminder - Registration for Siegen Conference Date: Fri, 4 MAY 90 18:32:53 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2422 (2974) ALLC-ACH90, the major annual event in humanities computing, begins on 4 June, one month from now. Full details of the conference are on the HUMANIST file server or can be obtained from the local organiser, Helmut Schanze, GC130@DSIHRZ51, phone (+49) 271 740-4110. If you plan to attend this conference and have not yet registered, please do so soon. Registrations are being handled by Congress Partner GmbH, Tiefer 2, D-2800 Bremen, Federal Republic of Germany, fax (+49) 421 32 43 44. Susan Hockey From: Jim O'Donnell (Penn, Classics) Subject: Male and Female He Created Them Date: 03 May 90 23:11:50 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2423 (2975) Shouldn't we be hoping that about half of them are male and half of them are female? Otherwise, the `next generation of computers' could be a long time getting here. Anyway, I got curious and so removed the cover from mine to check: it's definitely male. From: Robert Kirsner (213)825-3955 <IDT1RSK@UCLAMVS.BITNET> Subject: computer gender and the Undergraduate Date: Fri, 04 May 90 07:07 PDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2424 (2976) To conflate two issues here, I invoke the New Yorker wrestling cartoon in which one of the managers says to the referee: "My man don't wrestle 'till we hear it talk", in reference to the ape-like being standing in the other corner of the ring. I use IT to refer to the Computer. I also use IT and THEY to refer to those undergraduates who have failed to recognize that they are Undergraduates, hence out of high school, and hence presumably at a university. IT didn't show up in class yesterday because IT had a midterm in another class, but IT still hasn't done the reading yet. I also recommend wider use of IT in reference to administrators and politicians: Even after Watergate, you have to give IT a lot of credit for perseverence at least. Who knows, maybe IT will even get reelected? From: Germaine Warkentin <WARKENT@vm.epas.utoronto.ca> Subject: Onward from computer gender Date: Fri, 04 May 90 10:28:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2425 (2977) Now that we have dealt (comprehensively) with computer gender, how about dealing with their class position? I tend to think of mine as a serf. From: "]" <mdharris@guvax.georgetown.edu> Subject: Metaphorical Approaches to Computers Date: 4 May 90 15:06:00 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2426 (2978) In light of Willard's comments about the sex/gender of computers, perhaps I will reveal more of myself than I might wish, but I wanted to share my early perceptions of computers. My first job out of college (with a B.A. in Math and an M.A. in English) was working for IBM as an assembly language programmer. I was assigned to the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California, to write diagnostic programs. In those days we believed that software was more reliable than hardware; it might even have been true. Essentially the team I worked with wrote programs to test the hardware used during the unmanned space shots (Surveyor, at that point, which of course, dates me!). As an assembler language programmer working on IBM/7040/7044/7094s in a real-time environment, we had to do some very fancy programming since [NB: technical alert -- ignore this part coming up if you don't understand it] the 7040/7090 series computers had no interrupt feature. Thus we had to count machine cycles and periodically allow our programs to be interrupted, if need be. Because of the very concentrated concern with the internal execution of the machine, I often found myself imagining that I, as the programmer, sat inside it, moving bits around, accepting stuff from outside and sending other stuff to the outside. [That's how I used to explain the programming commands READ and WRITE (aka GET and PUT) to my Computer Science students.] When the IBM/360 series came out, there were a number of dials on the front panel, one of which could be switched to ROM or RAM or ... [several others which I don't recall]. These names were referred to as the Chinamen inside the computer with abacuses that really made it work. I guess my view of programming was similar to their function as being the hidden mechanism that made the system work. So what can we make of all that? I don't remember ever thinking of the machine as anything but a machine -- without gender. Mary Dee Harrismdharris@guvax.bitnetmdharris@guvax.georgetown.edu From: artcomtv@well.uucp (Artcom) Subject: ARTCOM Date: Wed, 2 May 90 20:23:14 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1358 (2979) /\ ___ ___ ___ ___ __ __ /__\ /__/ / / / / / / / / \/ \ / /__ /__/ / / / ________________________________________________________________ MAY, 1990 NUMBER 37 VOLUME 10 NUMBER 3 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to ART COM, an online magazine forum dedicated to the interface of contemporary art and new communication technologies. Individuals and organizations are invited to submit information for possible inclusion. We are especially interested in options that can be acted upon: conferences, exhibitions, and publications among other opportunities. Please send submission as electronic mail in care of our WELL address: artcomtv cogsci!well!artcomtv@ucbjade.bitnet artcomtv%well.sf.ca.us@cunyvm.bitnet well!artcomtv@uunet.uu.net artcomtv@well.sf.ca.us [...] eds. ART COM projects include: ART COM MAGAZINE, an electronic forum dedicated to art and new communication technologies. ART COM ELECTRONIC NETWORK (ACEN) an electronic network dedicated to contemporary art, featuring publications, online art gallery, art information database, and bulletin boards. ART COM SOFTWARE, international distributors of interactive video and computer art. ART COM TELEVISION, international distributors of innovative video to broadcast television and cultural presenters. CONTEMPORARY ARTS PRESS, publishers and distributors of books on contemporary art, specializing in postmodernism, video, computer and performance art. ART COM, POB 193123 Rincon Center, San Francisco, CA, 94119-3123. WELL E-MAIL: artcomtv TEL: 415.431.7524 FAX: 415.431.7841 [...] eds. ______________________ MENU OF CONTENTS ________________________ 1. The Intelligent Machine as Anti-Christ. By Simon Penny. 2. Fred Truck's ArtEngine: a case study in the problematics of software art. By Simon Penny. 3. Announcements - Events - Opportunities -------------------- [A complete version of this announcement is now available through the fileserver, s.v. ARTCOM ANNOUNCE. You may obtain a copy by issuing the command -- GET filename filetype HUMANIST -- either interactively or as a batch-job, addressed to ListServ@Brownvm. Thus on a VM/CMS system, you say interactively: TELL LISTSERV AT BROWNVM GET filename filetype HUMANIST; if you are not on a VM/CMS system, send mail to ListServ@Brownvm with the GET command as the first and only line. For more details see the "Guide to Humanist". Problems should be reported to David Sitman, A79@TAUNIVM, after you have consulted the Guide and tried all appropriate alternatives.] From: DENNIS CINTRA LEITE <FGVSP@BRFapesp.BITNET> Subject: RE: 3.1354 Golems (48) Date: Fri, 4 May 90 10:18 -0300 X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2427 (2980) [deleted quotation] Sounds more like an equivalent to an inflatable doll rather than a robot! From: "N. MILLER" <NMILLER@TRINCC> Subject: golems again Date: Fri, 4 May 90 14:02 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2428 (2981) I'm glad that Terry Erdt mentions Virgil legends in connection with those about the Golem. The 1901 J.E. is even more explicit. "..it becomes probable that the whole of the golem legend is in some way a reflex of the medieval legends about Vergil (sic), who was credited with the power of making a statue move and speak and do his will. His disciple once gave orders which, strictly carried out, resulted in his destruction. The statue of Vergil once saved an adultress, just as did the golem of R. L/"/ow.." And for those who want to _see_ a golem, I suppose a print is available of the old Harry Baur film. Early 30's. I remember it only because it was the first foreign film that ever played in out neighborhood. Baur played the King of Bohemia much as Laughton at about the same time played Henry VIII. I don't know who or what played the golem. Norman Miller From: Marc Bregman <HPUBM@HUJIVM1> Subject: Re: 3.1324 Notes and Queries (66) Date: Fri, 4 May 1990 15:08 IST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2429 (2982) Apropos Sarah Higley's query about Medieval Robots the Jewish legend of the Golem should be mentioned. There is a great deal of Bibliography on this but one place to start is Y. Dan's article in Scripta Hierosolymitana (Annual of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem) 22 (I think this is the correct volume - - based on memory. If you have problems finding it please contact me.) which traces the legend from the biblical story of the Teraphim to the story of the Golem of Prague -- the similarities to Bacon's Talking Head are interesting too. From: <J_CERNY@UNHH> Subject: telling of the golem story. Date: Thu, 3 May 90 17:17 EST X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 2430 (2983) For those interested in the current golem discussion, who have NOT read the story, I've found several versions readily available (I've bought these books in the last two years, but can't confirm that they are still in print). * Gustav Meyrink, 1976, "The Golem," intro. and ed. E.F. Bleiler, Dover Publications, paper, ISBN 0-486-25025-3. 190 pp. no illus. This is a reprint of the translation by Madge Pemberton pub. in 1928. * Elie Wiesel, 1983, "The Golem," trans. Anne Borchardt, illus. Mark Podwal, Sumit Books, hard, ISBN 0-671-45483-8. 105 pp. very nice illus. * Isaac Bashevis Singer, 1982, "The Golem," illus. Uri Shulevitz, Farrar Straus Giroux, hard, ISBN 0-374-32741-6. 85 pp. Jim Cerny, University of New Hampshire, j_cerny@unhh From: "Adam C. Engst" <PV9Y@CORNELLA> Subject: Re: 3.1353 Meta-Discussion: Humanist (26) Date: Thu, 03 May 90 21:29:07 EDT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1360 (2984) Here's a question then. When you are drawing the line at blatant commercialism, how do you deal with something which is ostensibly free, but which is being funded through standard commercial ways (advertising, direct corporate support, etc) and is completely made possible because of those fundings? I don't have a good electronic example, but what of the magazines that run on advertisements alone, such as Academic Computing or MacWEEK or PC WEEK, etc? I see arguments both ways. Adam Engst Adam C. Engst pv9y@cornella.bitnet ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "I ain't worried and I ain't scurried and I'm having a good time" -Paul Simon From: Oxford Text Archive <ARCHIVE@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK> Subject: News from the Oxford Text Archive Date: Thu, 3 May 90 15:17 GMT X-Humanist: Vol. 3 Num. 1361 (2985) NEWS FROM THE OXFORD TEXT ARCHIVE 2 May 1990 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. NEW ACQUISITIONS Since the last printed snapshot in October 1989 over fifty new titles have been added, while a number of texts have been redeposited in a more accurate and manageable form. Among the corpora in the new list are: U-1380-D | Samples from the Ulm Textbank (transcripts of "psycho-diagnostic" interviews, in German) U-1378-D | The Claremont corpus of Elizabethan Verse (as used by Ward Elliott to prove that Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare) A-1325-C | Prologues & epilogues of the Restoration (on-going collection of dramatic appendages edited by David Bond of Exeter University) U-1372-A | The PIXI corpus (service encounters in English and Italian bookshops) Some other specific items include:- A collection of 25 Jacobean texts from Ian Lancashire's Centre for Humanities Computing at Toronto, including Erasmus' Praise of Folly (U-1329-A), Sir Thomas More's Confutation of Tynsdale (U-1353-A), dozens of early Tudor plays and interludes and Palsgrave's Dictionary (U-1354-B) A collection of mediaeval alliterative verse compiled by Hoyt Duggan, notably the Gestes of Alisaundre (A-1376-B) Corrected versions of the Piers Plowman B-text as edited by Schmidt (U-1367-A) and Skeat (U-1375-A) The first volume in a new edition of the novels of Antony Trollope being prepared for the Folio Society : Ayala's Angel (A-1377-C) Seven previously uncollected short stories by Thomas Hardy (A-1326-A) But the new acquisition of which we are proudest must be our first Japanese text: the Genji Monogatari. These tales of aristocratic decadence in 11th century Kyoto attributed to Murusaki Shikibu are available thanks to the efforts of Mari Nagase in both English (in Seidensticker's translation (U-1384-D) and Japanese (U-1385-D). Both texts are tagged with OCP style codes; the Japanese text uses the JIS two-byte representation of katakana. NEW SNAPSHOT FORMAT For the first time, we are now including in the electronic Snapshot information about the sources of our texts. These notes comes from a variety of sources, and are incompletely checked. We have also, for the first time, included names and institutions of depositors of texts, but only those depositors who have confirmed the information held in our records by responding to the questionnaire we sent to all depositors in February of this year. A notice about the formats in which the snapshot is now available now follows: -------------------------------------------------------------------- OXFORD TEXT ARCHIVE OTA Snapshot Formats -----------------------------------------------------------1-May-90-- TAGGED Uses SGML conformant tags and includes a doctype declaration. Can be processed by any SGML parser capable of dealing with end tag ommission. Contains more information than printed catalogue. Updated every six months. Size: about 110 Kb Availability: from Humanist and other listservs. by email on request. Filenames: (at Oxford) OX$DOC:TEXTARCHIVE.SGML (from LISTSERV) OTALIST SGML FORMATTED Contains same information as TAGGED file, but formatted for display on a standard ASCII terminal, using carriage returns and tabs. Entity references (for accented letters etc.) are not expanded. Size: about 110 Kb Availability: as for tagged file Filenames: (at Oxford) OX$DOC:TEXTARCHIVE.LIST (from LISTSERV) OTALIST LIST PRINTED Nicely formatted and printed on tastefully coloured paper, but usually less up to date and containing author, title and language information only. Size: A5 booklet of about 30 pages Availability: by airmail on request. The first copy is free. More than one copy we charge one pound sterling per copy, payable in advance. CAVEAT: If you make copies of the shortlist to distribute to others, please be sure to copy the whole thing. If you write some nice formatting suite to convert it to your favourite word-processor or whatever, please send us a copy! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Oxford Text Archive email ARCHIVE @ UK.Ac.Oxford.VAX OUCS, 13 Banbury Road voice +44 (865) 273 238 Oxford OX2 6NN, UK fax +44 (865) 273 275 ----------------------------------------------------------------------