inofficial e-texts - interested???

[kellner at ue.ipc.hiroshima-u.ac.jp]

Robin Kornman described exactly that situation which I presume
obtains for many different areas of Indian/Tibetan Studies -
lots of people using computers to facilitate their work, and
somehow, they would like to share their efforts with others,
but they are hesitant for various reasons.

1. The legal problem of "e-text-publishing". I still have not come
across anybody who could clarify this issue. If you type or scan
in a freely available publication (i.e. one which falls under copyright),
put it on a ftp-server and announce this to a related mailing-list -
how does this infringe copyright? Or doesn't it? I am also presupposing
that there is no commercial intention involved (i.e. nobody charges for
downloading the actual file).

2. The problem of "it's too raw to be published", viz. making material
accessible which is not exactly in a state of "officially" deserving
publication. Of course, it is preferable to have proof-read materials.
And materials whose arrangement shows a certain rationale....and of
course, other malicious people could step up and criticize the "raw but
not cooked"-state of the materials in question. I myself am not concerned
about that too much. Anybody who wants can have my typed files. If people
complain about typos etc., well, either don't use it, or correct it,
or wait until I find enough time to do that myself.

Remember: I am talking about texts, glossaries etc. I am NOT talking
about research results themselves, which is an entirely different
universe.

Anyway - I am compiling a list of e-texts, Tibetan and Sanskrit,
which I have available or which can be found in Hiroshima's
computers, and anybody who is up to it - feel free to mail me.

Birgit Kellner
Institute for Indian Philosophy
University of Hiroshima