8.0075 Rs: Text Databases; WordCruncher (7/146)

Elaine Brennan (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Wed, 22 Jun 1994 20:09:27 EDT

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 8, No. 0075. Wednesday, 22 Jun 1994.


(1) Date: Tue, 21 Jun 94 23:27:24 EDT (21 lines)
From: Ed Haupt <haupt@pilot.njin.net>
Subject: notetaking software

(2) Date: Wed, 22 Jun 94 11:17+0000 (17 lines)
From: F.Heberlein@KU-EICHSTAETT.D400.DE
Subject: Re: askSam

(3) Date: Wed, 22 Jun 1994 08:28:25 -0500 (15 lines)
From: <aca102@utdallas.edu>
Subject: Re: 8.0067 S/W Qs: Text Databases; Search Engines

(4) Date: Wed, 22 Jun 1994 09:37:15 -0500 (22 lines)
From: martinmueller@nwu.edu (Martin Mueller)
Subject: Re: 8.0067 S/W Qs: Text Databases; Search Engines

(5) Date: Wed, 22 Jun 1994 15:21:12 -0400 (EDT) (18 lines)
From: "Mary Dee Harris, Language Technology"
<mdharris@guvax.georgetown.edu>
Subject: ASKSAM -- a good option

(6) Date: Wed, 22 Jun 94 17:41:45 CST (9 lines)
From: "Jim Marchand" <marchand@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: WordCruncher

(7) Date: Wed, 22 Jun 1994 19:49:04 -0400 (EDT) (44 lines)
From: hahne@epas.utoronto.ca (Harry Hahne)
Subject: Re: 8.0067 S/W Qs: Text Databases

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 94 23:27:24 EDT
From: Ed Haupt <haupt@pilot.njin.net>
Subject: notetaking software

I am a happy, if low-end user of Libmaster. I have not much history in
taking notes, but I am happily churning away getting material for some
history of psychology work together.

So far, my general solution has been to take notes, then use the program to
make an annotated report in WordPerfect format. I then work with my paper
in one window and my annotated report in the other. If I need to use
more than one of my sets of notes, I guess I will have to use WordPerfect
6 with more windows.

Edward J. Haupt
snail: voice: 1(201) 655-4327
Department of Psychology internet: haupt@pilot.njin.net
Montclair State University bitnet: haupt@njin
1 Normal Ave. fax: 1(201) 655-5455
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043-1624
USA
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------35----
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 94 11:17+0000
From: F.Heberlein@KU-EICHSTAETT.D400.DE
Subject: Re: askSam

(See enclosed)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I have been working with askSam for over 5 years and i can
higly recommend it for searching both formatted and unformatted
texts.
However, to take full atvantage of it's superb searching
capabilities you will have to learn its rather "counter
intuitive" program language.
Don't buy the Windows version: it doesn't have the full set of
features you might be interested in.
You can download a demo version from their BBS:
904-584-8287 / 5413
Fritz Heberlein, Uni Eichstaett, Bavaria
(3) --------------------------------------------------------------27----
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 1994 08:28:25 -0500
From: <aca102@utdallas.edu>
Subject: Re: 8.0067 S/W Qs: Text Databases; Search Engines

In regards to your request for a program to allow you keep notes (etc.),
you may wish to investigate the new Storyspace for the PC, which may be
out shortly. I use this software on my Mac for all sorts of tasks. For
example, I used it to organize my annotated bibliography for my Ph.D.
qualifiers and have been using it recently to keep the 10+ translations
of the Odyssey at my fingertips.

The programming is minimal, and it is very easy to learn.

Dene Grigar
aca102@utdallas.edu
(4) --------------------------------------------------------------32----
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 1994 09:37:15 -0500
From: martinmueller@nwu.edu (Martin Mueller)
Subject: Re: 8.0067 S/W Qs: Text Databases; Search Engines (2/85)

Re Andrew Burday's question about note taking and sorting programs, I
recall a memo from Willard McCarthy some time ago who said that Endnote
Plus was a wiser program than its manual suggested. Endnote Plus is a
bibliography program, and a very good one, but it can easily be adapted to
note taking purposes. It has many fields, each of which up to 32 K long, it
has quite powerful and fast search capabilities, and you can search in any
or all fields.

I have followed McCarthy's advice for some time and with good success. I
don't know whether it will slow down a lot if you have thousands of notes
with substantial comments, but it is supposed to handle thousands of
bibliographical entries.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=
Martin Mueller Professor of English and Classics
Department of English Northwestern University Evanston IL 60208
martinmueller@nwu.edu 708-467-1065
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

(5) --------------------------------------------------------------36----
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 1994 15:21:12 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Mary Dee Harris, Language Technology"
<MDHARRIS@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu>
Subject: ASKSAM -- a good option

My comments are based on an older version of the program; I haven't
seen a recent implementation:

ASKSAM is a good DBMS for text information. It allows unlimited
flexibility in defining fields and formats. Its search capability is
strong but requires some encoding of commands that can get tricky
sometimes, but I found it worth the effort for note taking or other
free form text.

Mary Dee Harris, Ph.D. 202/387-0626 (voice)
Language Technology, Inc. 202/387-0625 (FAX)
2153 California St. NW mdharris@guvax.georgetown.edu
Washington, DC 20008 mdharris@aol.com

(6) --------------------------------------------------------------22----
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 94 17:41:45 CST
From: "Jim Marchand" <marchand@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: WordCruncher

A crippled version of WordCruncher is indeed available in numerous places,
including the PC-SIG CD-ROM. Ray Siemens ought to try archie. You can also
get a copy from the Houston-based Public software Library or download it
from WU Archives.
Jim Marchand.
(7) --------------------------------------------------------------60----
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 1994 19:49:04 -0400 (EDT)
From: hahne@epas.utoronto.ca (Harry Hahne)
Subject: Re: 8.0067 S/W Qs: Text Databases

Andrew Burday asks:

> So what I'm looking for is a good way to keep databases of text, in
> such a way that they can be searched and displayed in whatever form is
> most useful for the moment. What I need is DOS or MS Windows software
> that will let me conveniently enter and flexibly manipulate my notes.
> Ideally each record would have multiple fields for author, title,
> journal, etc., plus a variable-length field for the actual notes.

I wrote a program called Library Master, which was specifically
designed as a bibliographic and note-taking database. All the fields
are variable length, up to 65,000 character, you can set up the
database structure any way you like, and it will format bibliographies
in any style. It handles mixed European language materials very nicely.
A new version coming this Fall formats bibliographic footnotes in your
word processor documents and even takes care of the nasty differences
between first and subsequent citation styles.

I will be glad to send a demonstration disk and some information if
you wish. There is a Library Master discussion list called
LibMastr@acadvm1.uottawa.ca.

It is available through Balboa Software, 5845 Yonge St., Box 69539,
Willowdale, Ontario M2M 4K3 Canada 416-730-8980

> (3) Get a product called "ZyIndex". The person who told me about this

This is a very powerful indexing program, but it is best with static
documents. If you plan to change things a lot, such as research notes
for work in process, it would not be practical, since you would have
to constantly run the indexing routine to get the indexes up to date.

> (4) Get a product called 'AskSam'.

This might also work for your application, though it does not have the flexible
report capability of Library Master.

Harry Hahne
hahne@epas.utoronto.ca