Subject: tc-list A new ENTMP

From: Mike Bossingham <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 08:21:46 -0400

Hi,

I said it early on in the debate and I'll say it again.

What is really needed is not a common data base - these are
transient and come and go. But a means of sending transciptions
in plain ASCII around the net - so that data can be built into
the different data bases and used.

Such a format would have to handle accents, nomina sacra,
spelling errors etc.,  (perhaps not require them, but certainly
cope with them if present). I would feel thaat such elements
should be present in transcriptions and optionally (ie be
able to be filter them out) in on-line critical editions. We do
not know what will be researched in the future.

The software I have developed/am developing is an on-line
crictical edition. It would process locally and store data locally, but
could
be updated from the net. 

This is the best way to go if we want to have flexible and 
powerful software for handling critical texts.

Someone has to get the ball rolling and put their neck on the 
line and propose a format  - I might even do it to start things off

Regards

Mike Bossingham

---

From: "Professor L.W. Hurtado" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 14:32:10 +000

In the interests of (a) not losing the benefits of hard work once 
done, such as developing software and protocols, etc., and (b) 
making widest availability to relevant scholars, I STONGLY suggest 
that any serious work toward mounting mss transcriptions/data 
should be done through the Society of Biblical Literature, which 
has committees and groups set up and emerging to deal with the 
use of computing technology.
Electronic data is ephemeral enough, and people come & go, lose 
interest, get sick, etc.; we need a good institutional base for the 
work.
Larry Hurtado

L. W. Hurtado
University of Edinburgh,
New College
Mound Place 
Edinburgh, Scotland EH1 2LX
Phone: 0131-650-8920
Fax: 0131-650-6579
E-mail:  [email-masked]