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From: David Fahey <DFAHEY@MIAMIU.ACS.MUOHIO.EDU>
This is an expanded version of a guide produced for a workshop held at the University of Sussex; as such, it is in origin an "in-house" product written for a specific occasion and makes no claim to comprehensiveness. I would of course welcome any comments as to inaccuracies or particularly glaring omissions.
It is written from a UK standpoint, and therefore has a bias towards services easily available there, although several of the products and online resources refered to are North American. All the CD or disk products mentioned are PC based (no products specific to Macs, Amigas, etc. are covered), but material about the Internet or Janet is relevant to any machine capable of accessing them.
I have not included prices for any commercial products, since such information can go out of date quite quickly. If you cannot obtain details you want from the suppliers, please contact me and I will give you such information as I have.
Ian Budden,
University of Sussex Library.
Janet address: alfc6@uk.ac.sussex.central Internet address: alfc6@central.sussex.ac.uk
Contents.
4.2. Internet and other Online Sources
4.2.1. Available for consultation online
4.2.2. Available for retrieval online
5. Dictionaries
6. Lists of Files and Projects
7. Making it easier
7.1. Using Gopher
7.2. Using WAIS
8. Organisations
9. Electronic Discussion Groups and Bulletin Boards 9.1. Directories and Guides
9.2. Specific Groups
9.3. Electronic Journals and Newsletters
10. Text Analysis Programs
Appendix: Examples for Beginners
1.1 General Sources
HUMBUL (Humanities Bulletin Board)
Provides information on computing projects in the Humanities.
Access: From your local machine prompt, type telnet vax.ox.ac.uk (or telnet 129.67.1.13). Give both username and password as OXHUMBUL.You will be asked to give your name if this is the first time you have used the system. After that, you are presented with a Main Menu, from which you can go to whichever section of the system you wish. For more detail as to what it contains, try option T, which provides a detailed breakdown of contents.
HUMBUL, like the NISS Bulletin Board, provides facilities to transport sections that interest you into your own user area on your local computer. Instructions are at the bottom of each screen.
Two other, more general, bulletin boards contain relevant information:
The NISS Bulletin Board
Get to the NISS gateway (telnet niss.ac.uk), then choose option A. Uses same software as HUMBUL.
BUBL (Bulletin Board for Libraries)
This is now available as a gopher server and contains much general information.
Access: the easiest ways are either to type gopher ukoln.bath.ac.uk or gopher bubl.bath.ac.uk at your local machine prompt, or to get on NISS, then choose option T Bibliographic Services, then option W, BUBL.
You can either search the database by keywords (option 4 on Main Menu) or by section (option 2 on Main Menu); Sections BA and BC provide a lot of guidance on the use of the Internet, Sections BH and D list directories of telnet and ftp addresses, and Section S gives details of several electronic texts projects.
Once you have finished reading a section (or if you interrupt your reading by typing q), you will be offered the facilty to mail it to your own machine.
Easy subject searching of BUBL is available via WAIS; see section 7.2 below.
1.2 Use of the Internet
There are several lists which provide assistance both on the use of the Internet and on sources of information on specific subjects; again, many of these are available over BUBL, sections B and D, or various Internet locations, e.g..
Information sources: the Internet and computer-mediated communication / John December
Lists files/books giving guidance to use of the Internet,
plus details of societies. organisations and newsgroups.
ftp: ftp.rpi.edu
directory: pub/communications
file: internet-cmc
Special Internet Connections (also referred to as Internet Services List) / compiled by Scott Yanoff
Lists by name internet information sources available
interactively via telnet, or providing sources of files
via ftp.
ftp: csd4.csd.uwm.edu (129.89.7.4)
directory: pub
filename: inet.services.txt
List of ftp sites
ftp: pilot.njin.net
directory: pub/ftp-list
file: ftp.list
SURAnet guide to selected internet resources
Lists internet resources (ftp sites, telnet, e-journals)
for a wide range of subjects and topics
ftp: ftp.sura.net
directory: pub/nic
file: infoguide.m-yy.txt (where m-yy stands for month and
year)
Use of the program archie to find ftp sites is covered in section DE4 of BUBL; also, consult your Computing Centre to find out whether you have a local implementation mounted.
2. Subject Databases
2.1. Databases available on CD-ROM
BLGC
The British Library Catalogue of Printed Books to 1975.Contains 5.7 million records, listing virtually every book published in the UK until 1975, plus large nonBritish collections.
From: Chadwyck-Healey Ltd,
Cambridge Place,
Cambridge,
CB2 1NR.
Tel: 0223 311479
Fax: 0223 301278 or 0223 66440
MLA International Bibliography
Covers articles in literature, linguistics and folklore in over 3000 journals since 1981. Some books and dissertations are also covered.
From: Silver Platter,
10 Barley Mow Passage,
Chiswick,
London,
W4 4PH.
Tel: 081 995 8242
Fax: 081 995 5159
2.2. Databases available over JANET
All these are available to subscribing higher education institutions through CHEST deals, and all require usernames and passwords to access. Consult the relevant people in your Library or Computer Centre to confirm whether or not your institution has access to any of them.
BIDS-ISI
This provides access to the Arts and Humanities Citation Index, covering a whole range of humanities subjects. It can be searched not only by conventional methods, but by searching on cited references.
BIDS-Inside Information
Indexes the articles in the 10,000 most popular journals requested from the British Library's Serials Department. All these journals are searched simultaneously; there is no "humanities subsection".
OCLC First Search
Provides access to details of books and journal articles
held by a very large number of United States libraries.
Consists of:
(i) general files -WorldCat (catalogue of books)
Article1st (citations to articles in 11,000 journals)
Contents1st (details of contents of recent journals)
(ii) files of especial relevance to broad subject areas.
For the Arts and Humanities, we have access to the Humanities Index and Art Index
Access via Niss. Choose option T, then D. From the front menu, you can choose to do an "Arts and Humanities" Search. You will then be given a chance to use the general files, and those specific to Arts subjects.
3. Access to other Library Catalogues
3.1 UK
The easiest way to access other Library Catalogues in the UK is to use the NISS Bulletin Board, which you can reach at the telnet address NISS.AC.UK (or by typing CALL NISS from a PAD prompt).
Choose R, Library Catalogues from the main NISS menu. You can then follow the subsequent menu screens to get to where you want.
3.2 Catalogues available over the Internet
3.2.1 Lists of Internet-accessible Catalogues
Lists of library catalogues, with their telnet addresses, can be easily consulted online using the BUBL bulletin board, section D. Several can also be retrieved over the Internet, for example:
Internet-accessible Library Catalogs and Databases / editors Art St.George and Ron Larsen
ftp: nic.cerf.net (192.102.249.3)
directory: internet/resources/library-catalog
file: library-catalogs-mm-yy.txt (where mm-yy are a month
and a year)
Library Opacs
For list of Internet opacs, send GET LIBRARY PACKAGE to LISTSERV@UNMVM.BITNET
Using the Hytelnet program either from your own institution or by choosing the Hytelnet or Libraries option when on various gophers (see below) makes connecting to non-UK libraries reasonably painless, if you don't know their telnet addresses.
3.2.2 Libraries of Particular Interest
CARL (Colorado Alliance of Research Databases)
Choice of searching
(i) Colorado catalogues,
(ii) current article indexes and access to other
catalogues, or
(iii) information databases; not all are available for
outside consultation, but a useful book review
compilation is.
Access: NISS (select option T from main menu), or directly by telnet. Telnet address: PAC.CARL.ORG.
Dartmouth
Telnet address: LIB.DARTMOUTH.EDU.
Also allows interrogation of Bible, Shakespeare and
Project Dante files; see section 4.2.1 below.
LOCIS
Library of Congress Information Service.
telnet address: LOCIS.LOC.GOV.
Also available over NISS, option V from Main Menu.
MELVYL (University of California Libraries)
Access: NISS (select option T from main menu), or directly by telnet. Telnet address: MELVYL.UCOP.EDU.
4. Electronic Texts
4.1. CD-ROMS and Discs
British National Corpus
In preparation.
Contact: Jeremy Clear,
Oxford University Press,
Walton Street,
OXFORD,
OX2 6DP.
Tel: 0865 56767
Fax: 0865 56646
email: jhclear@vax.ox.ac.uk.
The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry on CD-ROM.
Contains Granger's Index (8th and 9th editions), Columbia Granger's Guide to poetry anthologies, Columbia Granger's Dictionary of poetry quotations, plus text of 8,500 poems.
From: Columbia University Press
10 Watlington Road
Cowley
Oxford
OX4 5NF
Tel: 0865-748405
Fax: 0865-748401
Complete Shakespeare in American and Queen's English
CD-ROM
From: CMC ReSearch, Inc.
7150 SW Hampton,
Suite C-120
Portland
OR 97223.
Tel: (503) 639-3395
Fax: (503) 639-1796
selling through Computer Direct mail order company
Desktop Bookshop
CD-ROM. 2,000 literary and historical works. ASCII format.
From: Unica,
Stockport
The English Poetry Full-Text Database
CD-ROM. Full text of 1350 poets 600-1900 (based on the listings in the NCBEL). SGML markup. Runs under Windows. First instalment (containing Victorian poets and Middle English Romances) currently available; remaining disks (anticipated number 4) in preparation. Discount for advance orders.
From: Chadwyck-Healey Ltd,
Cambridge Place,
CAMBRIDGE,
CB2 1NR.
Tel: 0223 311479
Fax: 0223 66440
The Ex Libris Series, from Nimbus Records
CD-ROMs. Novels of Jane Austen and the Brontes, currently available; Dickens and Hardy to follow. Illustrations included. Bookface software used for textual access.
From: Nimbus Information Systems,
Wyastone Leys,
Monmouth,
Gwent,
NP5 3SR.
The Greatest Literary Works of All Time
CD-ROM from Project Gutenberg. Seems to be mainly Bible plus U.S. literary works.
Johnston & Company
Shakespeare (Riverside edition) and U.S. writers from the Library of America series, on disk as well as CD-ROM. Johnston also market the text analysis program Wordcruncher.
From: Johnston & Company
Electronic Publishers
Post Office Box 446
American Fork
Utah 84003
Tel: (801) - 756 - 1111
Fax: (801) - 756 - 0242
Library of the Future
CD-ROM containing more than 450 classical, cultural, literary and religious titles (Shakespeare, Qu'ran, Chaucer, Sherlock Holmes).
From: World Library Inc.
12894 Haster Street
Garden Grove
CA 92640
Lately offered at a reduced rate by DAK Industries to
those who bought a BSR CD-ROM reader from them. Address:
DAK Industries,
8200 Remmet Avenue,
Canoga Park,
CA 91304.
Tel: 800-325-0800
OUP's Oxford Electronic Text Library
Texts in ASCII format, with SGML markup. Available on disk; site licensed copies at extra charge. Disks available or announced include works by Jane Austen, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Chaucer, Hardy, Milton, Mary Wollstonecraft, four Dickens novels, Lewis's The monk and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Oxford Electronic Publishing also supply a disk edition of Shakespeare.
For further details, contact:
Janet Caldwell,
Customer Service Manager, Electronic Publishing,
Oxford University Press, Walton Street, OXFORD, OX2 6DP.
Tel: 0865 267979
Fax: 0865 56646
Orders to:
Consumer Services,
Oxford University Press Distribution Services,
Saxon Way West,
CORBY,
Northants,
NN18 9ES.
Oxford Text Archive
This is a vast collection of literary and other texts, in ASCII format, some marked up by one tagging structure or another, others not. Being converted to TEI standards. Most texts are only available to use for private study and research; they can be got hold of by filling in an order form, which can be obtained from the Archive. They are supplied on disk, for which a small charge is made, or by a recently introduced special file transfer service available to those who have already signed this form.. A few dictionaries and other texts are available via FTP without the necessity to fill in the form. The up-to-date catalogue is available for consultation on BUBL and HUMBUL, or can be obtained via email (file name OX$DOC:TEXTARCHIVE.LIST), or via ftp (directory name OTA, within which you will find the catalogue plus such texts as can be obtained this way); see below for email and ftp addresses. It can also be searched using WAIS (see section 7.2, below), and the ftp service can be accessed over various gophers (try those that provide for subject approaches, as suggested in 7.1, below).
Contact: Oxford Text Archive,
Oxford University Computing Services
13 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 6NN
Tel: 0865-273238 (or 273200 via switchboard)
Fax: 0865-273275
Email:archive@uk.ac.oxford.vax
ftp: ota.ox.ac.uk or black.ox.ac.uk.[129.67.1.165]
Samizdat Express
Various public domain literary texts on disc, seemingly
from the collection mounted online by the Online Book
Inititiative (see under 5.2, below).
Contact: B&R Samizdat Express,
P.O. Box 161,
West Roxbury,
MA 02132.
email: samizdat@world.std.com.
4.2 Internet and other Online Sources
4.2.1 Available for consultation online
BIALIK
Poetry etexts.
Send interactive mail to BIALIK at BRANDEIS with the
command INDEX. Then send an interactive message over
Bitnet to the same address with the command GET [file
number for poem]. Contact LAV@BRANDEIS.BITNET for further
details.
Dartmouth (1) Dante Project
E-texts of Dante commentary, over the period since his death, in the original languages. telnet address: LIB.DARTMOUTH.EDU then CONNECT DANTE.
Brief description available by e-mail from dante@eleazar.dartmouth.edu
Dartmouth (2) Shakespeare Texts
E-texts of Shakespeare's plays and poems, accessed by the
user providing a word, phrase, etc s/he wants to look
for.
telnet address: LIB.DARTMOUTH.EDU
then SELECT FILE S PLAYS
or SELECT FILE S SONNETS
Dartmouth (3) King James Bible
E-texts of Authorised Version of the Bible, accessed by
the user providing a word, phrase, etc they want to look
for.
telnet address: LIB.DARTMOUTH.EDU
then SELECT FILE BIBLE
Poetry:
Two collections of poetry, for reading online, are available via the U.C. Berkeley Open Computing Faculty Gopher (once at the Berkeley gopher, choose the menu option OCF ON-LINE LIBRARY, followed by the menu option "Poetry") and via WAIS (choose the source "poetry.src"). See section 7 below for how to use Gopher and Wais.
In addition, many of the texts produced by Project Gutenberg (see section 4.2.2 below) are mounted at various American libraries and other sites available via telnet, and can be consulted at your terminal. They are probably best found using Hytelnet (from the initial screen, choose "Other Information Sources", then, from the subsequent screen, "Electronic Books") or the easy Internet browsing facility, Gopher (see section 7.1 below).
4.2.2 Available for Retrieval Online
As said above, many of these can also be consulted via Gopher, which provides facilities to load them into your area of your local computer quite easily. The Gutenberg files are available over WAIS as proj-gutenberg.src.
Online Book Initiative
Files of e-texts, including many works of literature. Some directories are fuller than others - the one for Yeats includes quite a lot, whereas the one for Shelley includes, at the time of writing, the text of Ozymandias and no more.
Available over gopher; type gopher world.std.com at your
local machine prompt.
Also by ftp to world.std.com
directory: obi
At this point you have a choice of many separate
directories.
Index available by ftp from:
ftp.sura.net
directory: pub/nic
file: obi.directory.index
to subscribe to mailing list (general discussion), send a
message asking to join to:
obi-request@world.std.com.
Obi files also available by ftp from: ftp.uu.net (Directory: doc/literary/obi) unix.hensa.ac.uk (Directory: pub/uunet/doc/literary/obi)
src.doc.ic.ac.uk (Directory: literary/collections/OnlineBook -Initiative)
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is a non-profit making project, rather loosely based at the University of Illinois, to get as much literature into machine readable form as possible and available free. So far, it consists of a quite diverse collection of material, ranging from Paradise Lost (two versions) to Edgar Rice Burroughs' Princess of Mars.
Available via the gophers at dewey.lib.ncsu.edu and riceinfo.rice.edu (or chico.rice.edu).
ftp address: mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu
directory: etext
Once you have got to the directory etext, you have a
choice of directories to go into, with names like
etext91, etext92, articles (from the mailing list - see
below). There is also an index to the contents of these
directories - the `Autoindex' entitled 0INDEX.GUT.
See also the current Gutenberg newsletter, which is
available over BUBL, section SBA, and which you will get
over e-mail from time to time if you join the Gutenberg
discussion group).
If you want to join the Gutenberg discussion group, just
send a mail message containing the line SUB GUTNBERG
FIRSTNAME LASTNAME (where FIRSTNAME LASTNAME is your own
firstname and lastname) to LISTSERV@UIUCVMD.BITNET (or
LISTSERV@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU)
Some other ftp sites carry some or all of the Gutenberg
texts.
simtel20.army.mil
wuarchive.wustl.edu
deneva.sdd.trw.com
nptn.org
quake.think.com
(Directory: pub/etext in above cases.)
oes.orst.edu
(Directory: pub/almanac/etext)
Other FTP Sites
Many ftp sites carry various texts from Gutenberg, obi, and other sources. Shakespeare and scriptural works (especially the Bible and the Qu'ran) are pretty much ubiquitous. Various sites (not always consistently available) you could try include:
ocf.berkeley.edu (directory: pub/Library) relay.cs.toronto.edu (directory: docs) info.umd.edu (directory: info)
5. Dictionaries
OED 2nd edition on CD-ROM
Runs under Windows 3
Enquiries to:
Janet Caldwell,
Customer Service Manager,
Electronic Publishing,
Oxford University Press,
Walton Street,
OXFORD,
OX2 6DP.
Tel: 0865 267979
Fax: 0865 56646
Word Lists
ftp: ftp.cs.vu.nl (192.31.231.42)
Directory: dictionaries
In addition, various dictionaries and thesauri can be accessed interactively over the Internet. Using Gopher is probably the easiest way; as an example, try the Virtual Reference Desk (see below).
6. Lists of Files and Projects
Georgetown University, Academic Computer Center, Center
forText and Technology
Creates some etexts itself and produces a catalogue of
projects in electronic texts in the humanities.
Catalogue obtainable by either by:
(1) Sending mail message GET PROJECTS ETEXTS HUMANIST to
LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BITNET (or LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU)
or
(2) Using by ftp to contact GUVAX.GEORGETOWN.EDU.
Change to directory cpet_projects_in_electronic_text.
You then have a choice of the files for different
subjectareas you can get.
or
(3) by gopher. Go directly by typing gopher gopher.georgetown.edu, or, from another gopher client, get to a screen that says something like "Other Gopher and Information Sources", then go through the sequence
North America
USA
Washington, D.C.
Georgetown University
(For online consultation telnet to GUVAX3.GEORGETOWN.EDU; type CPET at username prompt).
Address: Georgetown Center for Text and Technology
Academic Computer Center
238 Reiss Science Building
Georgetown University
Washington
DC 20057
Tel: (202) 687-6096
Fax: (202) 687-6003
Email: NEUMAN@GUVAX.BITNET (or
NEUMAN@GUVAX.GEORGETOWN.EDU), or
MFRIEDMAN@GUVAX.GEORGETOWN.EDU.
National Centre for Machine Readable Texts in the Humanities
Producing Inventory of machine-readable texts.
For further details, contact:
email: CETH@ZODIAC.RUTGERS.EDU
or HOCKEY@ZODIAC.RUTGERS.EDU
or BOBH@PHOENIX.PRINCETON.EDU
Oxford Text Archive Catalogue
See section 4.1 above for instructions on accessing this.
Women Writers in English
Project to produce publications and provide a full-text
database of women writers 1330-1880.
For further details, contact:
Elaine Brennan,
Assistant Director, Women Writers Project,
Box 1841, Brown University,
PROVIDENCE, RI 02912
Tel: (401) 863-3619
e-mail: ELAINE@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU or WWP@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU
See section 9.2 below for details of associated
discussion group.
7. Making it easier
7.1 Using Gopher
The best way to learn how to use Gopher is simply to get on the system and just browse around through the menus. You will find that it is very easy to get through to virtually any University system or library that you want to, usually by several different routes. A few starting suggestions might be:
- by subject". Of the options there, "Rice University" and "Swedish Computer Network" are particularly useful; the former is very good for accessing electronic texts. (You can get onto the Rice gopher directly without going via Yale by typing gopher riceinfo.rice.edu or gopher chico.rice.edu from your machine's user prompt, and onto the
Swedish gopher by typing gopher sunic.sunet.se.) Also, try the new one accessible by typing gopher ukoln.bath.ac.uk (choose the option entitled "Information by subject").
7.2 Using WAIS
The sources (i.e. databases) entitled "POETRY - index" and "poetry" on the implementation accessible from option U on the NISS menu provide access to poetry indexes and databases. Other sources provide access to the Oxford Text Archive catalogue ("ota"), the Gutenberg collection ("projgutenberg"), and to various of the Internet guides and address lists.
NISSWAIS (option C from the initial NISS screen) allows you to search the BUBL bulletin board by subject.
The experimental NISSWAIS service (option Z1) allows you to search the Oxford Text Archive catalogue, the text of Shakespeare, and that of two of Dickens' Christmas books.
WAIS options are available over many gophers; other sources are available over several of them, such as the backfiles of Humanist (see below).
8. Organisations
Computers in Teaching Initiative (CTI) Centre for Textual Studies
Address: Computers in Teaching Initiative Centre for
Textual Studies,
Oxford University Computing Services,
13 Banbury Road,
Oxford, OX2 6NN
Tel: 0865-273221
Fax: 0865-273275
E-mail: CTITEXT@UK.AC.OX.VAX
You can ask to be put on their mailing list. They produce
a very useful resource guide, and a journal Computers and
Texts. They are also unfailingly prompt and consistently
helpful in answering queries sent to them by e-mail.
Information Technology Training Initiative (Details as for Computers in Teaching Initiative (CTI) Centre for Textual Studies)
Office for Humanities Communication
(Details as for Computers in Teaching Initiative (CTI) Centre
for Textual Studies)
9. Electronic Discussion Groups and Bulletin Boards
There are scholarly discussion groups for almost every academic subject. The way these work is that members send messages, questions, contributions to discussions on an aspect of the subject that are running, as e-mail messages to the group address for everyone to read. A selection of the ones most relevant to English Studies, together with how to join, are listed below. If you join any of them, further instructions will be sent you through e-mail, including details as to how to look up subjects in the backfiles of messages.
9.1 Directories and Guides
There are several lists of the many discussion lists that currently exist, obtainable either or via BUBL (section D) or over the Internet.
Directory of Electronic Journals and Newsletters.
Send email to LISTSERV@ACADVM1.UOTTAWA.CA with message GET EJOURNL1 DIRECTRY or get EJOURNL2 DIRECTRY (using that spelling!).
Interest Groups.
Ftp: ftp.sura.net
directory: pub/nic
file: interest.groups
A List of Academic Discussion and Interest Groups / editor Diane Kovacs. (Aka Directory of Scholarly electronic conferences).
Ftp: nigel.msen.com
Directory: pub/gopher/stuff.old/mailing-lists/acadlist
Files: ACADLIST.FILE1 through to ACADLIST.FILE6
A printed edition of this is available, and it can also
be accessed using Gopher (get to the Virtual Reference
Desk).
9.2 Specific Groups
To subscribe to any of these groups, the procedure (unless
indicated differently) is to send an e-mail message to the
appropriate subscription address shown below, containing the
message:
SUBSCRIBE LISTNAME FORENAME SURNAME where LISTNAME is the name
indicated in the title column below, and FORENAME SURNAME is
your name
Title: ANSAX-L
Topic: Anglo-Saxon England
To subscribe send a direct message to Patrick W. Conner
U47C2@WVNVM.WVNET.EDU
Title: AUSTEN-L
Topic: Jane Austen and contemporaries
Subscription address: LISTSERV@MCGILL1.BITNET
Title: C18-L
Topic: 18th Century Studies
Subscription address: LISTSERV@PSUVM.PSU.EDU or
LISTSERV@PSUVM.BITNET
Title: ENGLMU-L
Topic: Electronic communication and literature
Subscription address: LISTSERV@MIZZOU1.BITNET or
LISTSERV@UMCVMB.MISSOURI.EDU
Title: GUTNBERG
Topic: Developments on Project Gutenberg
Subscription address: LISTSERV@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU or
LISTSERV@UIUCVMD.BITNET
Title: HUMANIST
Topic: Humanities and computing
Subscription address: LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU or
LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BITNET
A very useful list. To obtain material from the archive of
past messages:
Send by mail to LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU the message GET
HUMANIST FILELIST HUMANIST (to see what's available) or GET
FILENAME FILETYPE HUMANIST (to retrieve a file detailed on
such a list).
Archive of past material also available on WAIS as source
"humanist.src".
Title: HUMGRAD
Topic: Humanities (mainly aimed at pgs)
Subscription address: MAILBASE@UK.AC.MAILBASE
Send mail message join humgrad firstname lastname
Title: INTERSCRIPTA
Topic: Medieval literature
Subscription address: LISTSERV@MORGAN.UCS.MUN.CA
Title: LITERA-L
Topic: Literature generally
Subscription address: LISTSERV@TECMTYVM.BITNET
Title: LITERARY
Topic: Literature generally
Subscription address: LISTSERV@UCF1VM.BITNET
(Both of the above two are rather general in tone)
Title: MEDTEXTL
Topic: Medieval Texts
Subscription address: LISTSERV@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU or
LISTSERV@UIUCVMD.BITNET
Title: MILTON-L
Topic: Milton
To subscribe, send a message to MILTON-REQUEST@URVAX.URICH.EDU
Title: MODBRITS
Topic: Modern British and Irish literature (1895-1955)
Enquiries to MODBRITS@KENTVM.KENT.EDU
Title: PERFORM
Topic: Medieval Performing Arts
Subscription address: LISTSERV@IUBVM.UCS.INDIANA.EDU or
LISTSERV@IUBVM.BITNET
Title: PERFORM-L
Topic: Performance critique theory
Subscription address: LISTSERV@ACFCLUSTER.NYU.EDU
Title: PMC-TALK
Topic: Post-modern culture
Subscription address: LISTSERV@NCSUVM.NCSU.EDU or
LISTSERV@NCSUVM.BITNET
Title: PSYART
Topic: Humanities and psychology
Subscription address: LISTSERV@NERVM.NERDC.UFL.EDU or
LISTSERV@NERVM.BITNET
Title: REED-L
Topic: Early English Drama
Subscription address: LISTSERV@VM.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA or
LISTSERV@UTORONTO.BITNET
Title: SCHOLAR
Topic: Natural language processing
Subscription address: LISTSERV@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU or
LISTSERV@CUNYVM.BITNET
Title: SCREEN
Topic: Film and Television
Subscription address: LISTSERV@UA1VM.UA.EDU or
LISTSERV@UA1VM.BITNET
Title: SHAKSPER
Topic: Shakespeare
Subscription address: LISTSERV@VM.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA or
LISTSERV@UTORONTO.BITNET
Title: VICTORIA
Topic: Victorian studies
Subscription address: LISTSERV@IUBVM.UCS.INDIANA.EDU
Title: WWP-L
Topic: Women's Writing
Subscription address: LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU or
LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BITNET
9.3 Electronic Journals and Newsletters
As yet, there are only a few of these of direct relevance to literary studies. Two of the better known are:
Postmodern Culture
An interdisciplinary electronic journal of contemporary
literature, theory and culture.
To subscribe, send message SUBSCRIBE PMC-LIST FORENAME
SURNAME to LISTSERV@NCSUVM.NCSU.EDU or
LISTSERV@NCSUVM.BITNET
REACH - Research and Educational Applications of Computers in the Humanities
Reach is the newsletter of the Humanities Computing
Facility of the University of California, Santa Barbara.
It is published four times a year.
To subscribe, send message to LISTSERV@UCSBVM.BITNET, or
REACH@UCSBVM.BITNET.
Back issues are available via ftp from ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu,
in directory hcf, or via ra.msstate.edu, directory
docs/history/newsletters; once in the relevant directory,
the relevant files begin with `reach'.
10. Text Analysis Programs
There are several programs that assist with analysis of texts by detailing the occurrences of words or word groups in a text, allowing you to see how often one word will appear in close proximity to another, etc., so as to allow thematic analysis.
The Resource Guide produced by the CTI Centre for Textual Studies (see above) contains such a comprehensive list with such full descriptions that there is little point in covering the same ground in detail here. One well known and well regarded program is called Tact; since it was developed in an academic context (at the University of Toronto), it is available free and may be distributed to and used by anyone. It is possible to obtain it by ftp from EPAS.UTORONTO.CA (in directory pub/cch/tact; download all files from directory dist 1.2.) However, it is virtually essential to have the manual for serious work; so if you think you are going to use it regularly, contact:
Dr Donald Spaeth,
CTI Centre for History,
University of Glasgow,
1 University Gardens,
GLASGOW, G12 8QQ.
Tel.: 041 339 8855 Ext.6336
Fax : 041 330 5000
email: CTICH@uk.ac.glasgow
They will send you a copy of the manual and the latest version of the program for a nominal charge to cover photocopying and disk costs.
Appendix: Examples for Beginners
1.1. Telnet
(The following examples assume that you have a version of telnet mounted on your own institution's mainframe. Consult your Computer Centre to ascertain whether this is so. If it is, also find out whether or not you need to include a path name before the telnet command.)
Logon onto your institution's mainframe computer and type the word telnet, followed by the telnet address of the place you wish to log onto:
E.g.
telnet librot1.lib.unc.edu
to have a look at the catalogue of Duke University Library.
Telnet is much used to access North American academic library catalogues, but it also allows us to look at anything on any Internet connected computer that is available for public display. For example, typing telnet guvax3.georgetown.edu, then typing cpet when asked for a username, allows you to search the catalogue of electronic text projects being maintained by Georgetown University (perhaps best only to try when you have some time; the database software Georgetown has used is rather cumbersome!).
As an example of access to a system that both allows interrogation of a library catalogue, plus some other files, try the following:
Type telnet pac.carl.org. This will put you in contact with the Colorado Alliance of Research Databases.
When asked whether you want to choose PAC or EXIT, choose the former. You will then be asked to specify a terminal type. Choose whatever is appropriate for the hardware you are using; 5.is a reasonably good bet
Investigate both "1, Library Catalogs" and the "3, Information Databases". (You can move from the one to the other easily by typing the appropriate number whenever an abbreviated version of the list of options that appeared on the initial screen is displayed on the top of subsequent screens.) When looking at the "Information Databases", choose option "60, Choice Book Reviews". The same search techniques are used in the Library catalogue and book review files, and are clearly explained on the screen.
1.2. Hytelnet
You can access the CARL and MELVYL systems directly from the NISS Bulletin Board, and you can use the Hytelnet program to get through to places you don't know the telnet addresses of.
If your mainframe computer has hytelnet mounted, type Hytelnet from the prompt (you might have to change directory first; consult your local Computing Centre). If you do not have hytelnet mounted locally, it is possible to access it over various gophers.
You use Hytelnet by working through a series of menus to get to where you want. Use the up/down arrow keys on your computer, between the main keyboard and the numeric keypad, to move the highlighting to the option you want, then press Return. Tapping the space bar allows you to move on a complete screen at a time when a menu extends over more than one screen. The left arrow key will move you back up through the menus, and "m" is a very useful panic button which will always get you back to the initial menu screen.
Try the following:
From the initial menu screen, select "Other Resources". On the next screen, choose "Databases and Bibliographies", then "Dartmouth Dante Project". At this stage, Hytelnet will automatically perform the telnet command which will put you in contact with Dartmouth. Just before it performs any such telnet operation, Hytelnet will tell you of any usernames or passwords that you need to supply - and will tell you how to get out of the system that you're about to log onto.
From the initial menu screen, select "Other Resources". On the following screen, choose the option "Electronic Books" (mainly ones made available by Project Gutenberg or the Online Book Initiative), then whatever book you want to look at. Hytelnet will log you on to a site that has got that particular book available to be read on screen.
From the initial menu screen, select "Library Catalogs". You can then steer your way through the subsequent screens to any location that Hytelnet makes available.
2. Some Examples of Using NISS and WAIS
From the prompt on your mainframe computer, type telnet niss.ac.uk (or call NISS from a PAD prompt).
2.1. Use of NISS is reasonably self-explanatory. From any of the menus, type the letter for the option you require (don't press Return). You will sometimes then be offered at least one more menu, where the same principle applies.
Of the choices available, the following are particularly useful:
R) Library Catalogues. This allows access to the JANET UK University Library catalogues. Before using one, note the procedure for logging in (you will often have to provide a password, which you will be told on the screen), and for logging out (so that you can return to NISS).
T) Bibliographic Services. This allows access to several services, most notably two of the major U.S. American academic library consortia, CARL (Colorado based) and MELVYL (University of Cailfornia). It also offers access to BUBL (The Bulletin Board for Libraries), which offers much general information.
BUBL uses a gopher menu system, and can be searched both on keywords and section by section. Other useful bulletin boards are the NISS Bulletin Board (which is option A on the first NISS screen, and contains news of computer developments in Universities), and HUMBUL (see above). All of these bulletin boards are continually updated.
To use BUBL, type T from the main NISS screen. Once on the ensuing screen, choose W. Once you have the BUBL Main Menu, type the letter that is against the option you want and press Return. You will be offered further menus, where you can follow the same principles.
Choose option 2, to search section by section, then try the following:
You can browse through the sequence by pressing the space bar, or do a rather basic word search. Type /milton; the system will find details of a discussion group on that poet.
When you have finished, type q for quit, then, when the instructions at the bottom of the screen tell you to, press Return to go back to the previous menu, then U until you return to the menu entitled BUBL Section B, C, D [...etc].
2. Choose option 1, B, for Information Networking, then BH (option 9), then BH1 (option 1), then BH1B (option 2). You will see an excellent list of useful sources of information on the Internet, with details of how to get through to them by ftp, telnet, etc.
You can either browse this to the end, or arrest the process by pressing q. Whichever you do, you will be presented (on a line at the bottom of the screen), with the option of having the section that you were reading e-mailed to you. Type m, then, when prompted, your e-mail address (use the same form as you were given when you registered for your local computer, e.g. xyz6@sussex.central),. Try it with this section; it's very useful.
3. Choose option 9, S, for Electronic Journals and Texts. Then choose option 7, SB, then option 21, SBB, the Oxford Text Archive, then option 3, SBB2. This will give you access to the catalogue of the Oxford Text Archive. Browse in the same way mentioned above; try typing /hardy to find what texts of his are available in electronic form.
2.2. WAIS (Wide Area Information Server) services allow to search large groups of files for appearance of individual words. Three such services are available over NISS:
NISSWAIS - this contains the BUBL and NISS bulletin boards. Option C from the main NISS menu.
The WAIS Experimental Service - this contains additional services, such as the texts of Shakespeare, Dickens' Christmas books, and a seemingly rather selective version of the catalogue of the Oxford Text Archive. Accessible by Z1 from the main NISS menu screen (although this isn't currently indicated).
WAIS - a U.S. based implementation that allow us to search the contents of the files stored on Internet linked computers all over the world. Accessed by U) Directory Services, then option D from the following menu.
WAIS services can also be accessed on various Gophers.
Try the following:
Type Z1 from the main NISS menu. You will be provided with the first page of a list of the "sources" (i.e. the databases) accessible this way.
Using the down arrow key on your computer, move to "option 12, OTA" Press the space bar; this will put an arrow against the option, indicating that you have selected it for searching on.
Type w (for words to search on). Type the name of any author you are interested in (either just the surname, or, if you want to search by typing in a phrase, put inverted commas round it, e.g. "Jonson, Ben". This version of OTA seems a bit selective, and you might have some trouble finding a match with some authors.) Press Return.
You will be shown a list of references that contain the word(s) you typed. Press the space bar to see the one that is currently illuminated; use the arrow key if you want to see another one.
Having seen the references, press x to move back up one screen. From there, you can either type m to have the highlighted document sent to you by e-mail (this time, give your address in the form xyz6@central.sussex.ac.uk), w to do another search in the same source, or s to review the list of sources, and change to another one if you want.
3. Examples of File Transfer
(The following examples assume that you have a version of ftp mounted on your own institution's mainframe. Consult your Computer Centre to ascertain whether this is so. If it is, also ascertain whether or not you need to include a path name before the ftp command.)
You can transfer files from other computers on the Internet to your own "user area" on your institution's mainframe computer. You might want to do this because you have heard about a particular file at a particular site that is of interest to you, or you might have read that a particular site has files especially relevant to your subject area and want to see what it's got. Once the file you want is on the local computer, you can, if you wish, transfer it to your own PC.
Let us transfer a file from each of two major sources for electronic texts on the Internet - Project Gutenberg and the Online Book Initiative.
3.1. Project Gutenberg
Log onto your institution's computer.
At the prompt, type ftp mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu. (If there's any problem about connecting, you can try contacting one of the many other places that hold Gutenberg texts - see above)
When the prompt changes to ftp, you will be asked for a login name. Type anonymous.
You will be asked for a password. Type your username for your local machine in the "Internet" form, as in the following example:
If your username is xyz6@sussex.central, then type xyz6@central.sussex.ac.uk. (As is usual with passwords, this won't appear on the screen.)
A few lines of screen message will indicate that you have successfully logged on. You are now in contact with a "file server" (i.e. a computer storing files that can be copied to other computers) based, in this case, at Illinois, and are ready to start transferring.
Some useful commands are available here to guide you around the file server. If you type get README |more, you will get some messages about what is available; if you type ls -al |more you will get a list of the available files and directories. (Whenever you use |more, the display will pause at the end of each screen. To see the next screen, tap the spacebar.)
If you type ls -al |more, you will notice that the word gutenberg appears on the list. This is a directory, (indicated by a d at the beginning of the line), which is to say a sort of electronic folder containing other files and directories.
Type cd gutenberg. Cd stands for "change directory", and moves you into this directory. (Typing cd pub/etext/gutenberg will produce the same results.)
Type get 0INDEX.GUT |more, for a list of the Gutenberg files available.
Type cd etext92 to get into the directory etext92.
Type ls -al |more to see what is in there. Typing get INDEX |more will give you some information as to what some of these filenames actually mean!
Let us transfer a copy of "Far from the madding crowd" to your local machine.
Type get crowd13.txt .
After a pause of (hopefully) only about half a minute, a screen message will indicate that transfer is complete.
Type bye.
You will be disconnected from the Illinois fileserver, and the local prompt will reappear.
Type ls -al |more, (or whatever directory command your system uses) to see what you have in your user area. If all has worked well, crowd13.txt will be there. Type more crowd13.txt (or your equivalent command to see a file a screenful at a time) to have a look at it. (When you have seen enough, hold the Ctrl key down and tap c to stop the display onscreen)
3.2. The Online Book Initiative
Type ftp world.std.com (if there are problems, try one of the other sites indicated above). Login (with anonymous and your user name) as indicated above.
Type cd obi.
Type ls -al |more.
As you will see, a vast collection of files and directories is available, some of relevance to English Literature.
Let us look at a couple more aspects of ftp.
Type cd Joseph.Conrad, then ls -al |more. As you will see, the text of The Secret Sharer is included in the rather small collection. Type get secret.sharer.txt |more.
As you will observe, this time the text appears for reading on the screen rather than being sent to your local computer. This can be very useful for making sure that any particular file is really what you want.
Type cd .. to get out of the Conrad directory. Now type cd Emily.Bronte, then ls -al |more.
The text of Wuthering Heights is there under the name wuther.Z. The Z indicates that the file has been compressed to reduce storage space, and needs to be uncompressed after you have transferred it.
(N.B. Compressed files cannot be read on the screen, either by the get filename |more command we have just mentioned, or on your local computer; they must be uncompressed first to be usable).
Type binary (this is essential; it tells the computer that the file to be transferred is not a plain text file).
Type get wuther.Z.
After being told that the transfer is successful, type bye.
At the prompt, type ls -al |more. Hopefully, wuther.Z will be sitting there.
Type uncompress wuther.Z. Once the prompt has returned, type ls -al |more again. You will notice that the filename has changed to wuther (if you had enough room in your user area to allow the expansion). It can now be displayed on the screen by typing more wuther. (Other abbreviations at the ends of files to indicate compression or melding of several files into one are .zip, .tar, .uu and .arc. They all use slightly different commands to uncompress them, but the principle is the same. Consult your local Computer Centre for further guidance.)
4. Some Examples of using Gopher
(The following examples assume that you have a version of gopher mounted on your own institution's mainframe. Consult your Computer Centre to ascertain whether this is so. If it is, also find out whether or not you need to include a path name before the gopher command.)
Log onto your institution's mainframe.
Type gopher (preceded by any pathname that might be necessary).
As you will see, gopher works by offering you a menu. Use the up and down arrow keys on your computer to move the arrow symbol on the left of the screen to whatever options you want, then press Return.
Do not worry if your gopher is in its early stages, and only points to a few places;.once in contact with some of these places, we can use their gophers to explore much farther afield! You can either steer through the menus of your own gopher, or you can access other gophers directly. Because there will be variations between the screens offered by different local gophers, all the examples below tell you to how to get to places further afield directly.
We have cited option numbers appearing on various screens in the examples below. These are as they are AT THE TIME OF WRITING, and may well have changed by the time you come to do this.
(Helpful Hints when using Gophers.
(a) When looking at a text file, instructions appear on the
bottom of the screen telling you to press space bar to
continue to read it, or q to quit. If you press q, you are
given instructions on how to get hold of that file. You can
use either the save or mail options; the first carries it
directly into your main user area on your local machine, the
second sends it to you as a mail message. This is how gopher
automates the ftp routine.
(b) If you get to somewhere very useful which you may want to
return to again, you can save yourself from the bother of
moving through the same series of menus (often very many, and
difficult to remember) to get there. When you are where you
will want to return subsequently, type the letter a. This will
create a Bookmark. Next time you use gopher, type v. This will
display a list of previously created bookmarks. Choose the one
you want - and you will be taken straight to the place you
were when you created the bookmark.)
4.1. Basic Use: 1
Type gopher mothra.nts.uci.edu 7000 or gopher peg.cwis.uci.edu 7000 to get to a service called the Virtual Reference Desk. (This is the pattern to get through to a gopher directly. As with telnet, ftp, and bulletin board addresses, there are useful lists of gopher names on BUBL and on Internet sites that can be accessed by gopher.)
Choose option 1, gopher.welcome, then option 1, PEG, then option 16, The Virtual Reference Desk. A large list of options is offered (use the Page Up and Page Down keys to move around by one screen of these options at a time). Try whichever ones you like. Any option with a <?> after it will, once you have selected it, ask you for a word or words that it will look for in a file or files of text - try this with option 26, Oxford Thesaurus, or with any of the dictionary options (if you have mislaid your Concise Oxford Dictionary, here is salvation.) Several of the options will allow you to link up to library
catalogues, either using Hytelnet or telnet connections. If you try one of these, you sooner or later receive a warning that you're about to leave gopher and move onto one of these systems; take note of what it says about getting back again!
4.2. Basic Use: 2
Type gopher gopher.micro.umn.edu to get to the University of Minnesota gopher.
The University of Minnesota hosts the original and one of the most developed gophers. Some options you might like to look at include 6, Libraries (among the options that then appear 1, Electronic Books allows you to look at some of the texts made available by, for example, Project Gutenberg and the Online Book Initiative, and 4, Library Catalogs allows telnet connections), 5, Internet File Server (for ftp) and 8, Other Gopher and Information Servers (allowing you to move onto other computers and services - see below).
Searches of the sort we have been doing are all very well if we know of particular locations that we want to go to. If we want to find out the locations where material relevant to a particular subject might be available, there are two useful services provided by some gophers.
4.3. Subject Searches : 1, Veronica
Veronica is a program that looks for a word or words, specified by you, on the menus of gophers everywhere
(N.B. Veronica searches word in menu lines not word in files. As we have seen, you can do this with some choices on some gopher menus for individual files or groups of files - but, if you want to search for words in files Internet wide, you need a WAIS service. You can get onto WAIS services from several gopher menus, and also from NISS.)
Several Gopher sites implement Veronica. If you are still at Minnesota, use the option 8, Other Gopher and Information Servers, then option 2, Search titles in Gopherspace using Veronica, and then choose one of the variants offered (the UNR option is a good one). Alternatively, get to the Virtual Reference Desk (see above), or to the Bath gopher (gopher bubl.bath.ac.uk or ukoln.bath.ac.uk) then choose the appropriate option there .
You will be asked to provide some words to search for. Try anything that you would find useful, and that might appear in a gopher menu - for example electronic and text. A menu will be created of gopher items that contain these words.
N.B. Veronica can sometimes be a bit unreliable, possibly because it accesses so many places, thus increasing its chances of trying to get through to a computer that is out of action. All you can do is to try implementations at different places, and come back later if nothing works.
4.4. Subject Searches : 2, Subject Guides
From your local machine prompt, type gopher yaleinfo.yale.edu.
When Yale's initial menu appears, choose option 2 Information Organization Attempts - by Subject. You will get a list of places which provide some form of subject access (don't forget, this will not just provide subject access to their own collections, but Internet wide). A very good one is option 11, Information by Subject Area - at Rice University.
Once at Rice, use the Page Down key to move on from the first screen, and choose option 22, Literature, electronic books, journals. As you will see, the by now familiar mix of bits of libraries' catalogues, links to telnet facilites and friendly ways of doing ftp are there. Try option 87, OTA (i.e. theOxford Text Archive); once there, you can choose option 2, ftp, then option 3, English on the next screen, and whatever options you like after that. (Note that, since the system displays text before giving you the option of getting hold of
it, that this might take rather a long time; we'll do a shorter file transfer exercise a bit later.) Option 88 gives you access to a poetry collection, as do some of the earlier options.
You can, of course, get directly to the Gopher at Rice, or anywhere else, without going via Yale first. Gopher chico.rice.edu or Gopher Riceinfo.rice.edu gets you to Rice, and gopher sunic.sunet.se gets you to a Swedish based gopher that provides subject access.
4.5. Transferring a File using Gopher
Get to the Washington D.C., University of Georgetown. The easiest way to do this is to type gopher gopher.georgetown.edu from your local prompt
Choose option 4, Catalogue of Projects in Electronic Text.
From the next screen, choose option 4,
DIGESTS_DISCIPLINES.DIR.
Choose option 4, LITERATURE.DIR.
Choose option 8, ENGLISH. A very useful description of electronic text projects will appear on the screen. If you type q, you are given options for transferring it to your local machine - see above under Helpful Hints.
The CPET directory is a good example of how one file
collection can be accessed in different ways; see the main
rllubas@lsuvm.sncc.lsu.edu
School of Library and Information Science
Louisiana State University
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