"GRETIL e-library" now open > desiderata

[Jan E.M. Houben]

Again, thanks for making available these important research tools. 
  I noted that a word is sometimes to be searched through its "wrong OCR reading": 
  To find Saṁvâdahymnen
  on p. 425 > p. 412 of Windisch vol. 1 we have to search for Saṁvâdahyrnnen (- h y r n n e n). 
   
  Among desiderata for this way of making available "older standard works" I would suggest:
   
  Chr. Lassen's Indische Alterthumskunde 2nd edition (at the basis of many decisions on Vedic realia in e.g. the work of H. Zimmer, Geldner etc.); 
  Ludwig's RV translation plus commentary (not, or not entirely, outdated with Geldner's translation, just as Geldner retains its value even after the recent Witzel-Goto-Jezic translation); 
  Vedische Studien by Pischel and Geldner; 
  ...
   
  For Paninian studies: 
  Otto Böhtlingk's Astadhyayi (the "Google" version having a few unreadable pages and other problems); 
  Bruno Liebich's Ksiiratarangi.nii (the appendices on dhaatupaathas would become even more useful if machine searchable)   
  ... 
   
  Jan Houben
   
   
   
  

"Gruenendahl, Reinhold" <gruenen at SUB.UNI-GOETTINGEN.DE> wrote:
  
Respected members of the list,

the first 20 items of the "GRETIL e-library" are now available from this
provisional site:

www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/gr_elib.htm

The infrastructure (persistent URLs, cataloguing, classification, etc.) is
still under construction, but the e-books themselves are available without
restrictions.

The focus of the "GRETIL e-library" will be on older standard works, along
with writings relevant to the history of indology and related fields
(Wissenschaftsgeschichte). This first batch of 20 titles is not intended as a
preview of the thematic range, it merely tries to reflect the conceivable
spectrum of document types (monograph / multi-volume / article; Antiqua /
Fraktur / Devanagari / Burmese; plain text / diacritics / accents; text /
illustrations, etc.). 

All works in Latin script are available as Text-Under-Image PDFs, with a
searchable text behind an image of the original page. This allows you to copy
text into other applications (or into the search interface of your
Acrobat/Reader etc.).

The searchable background text has been generated with a specially trained
OCR software. The character range comprises all standard diacritics (with
modifications and additions - such as accents - where required). Please note
that the background texts have not been proof-read. Thus, the result of your
search may not include ALL references. This holds particularly for complex
texts (such as Macdonell's Vedic Grammar) and poor print quality.

Works in non-Latin scripts are available as plain multiple-image PDFs. Apart
from short articles, all items are fully indexed/bookmarked for better
orientation.

Some of the titles offered here may feature on other sites, too. There,
however, they usually come as plain multiple-image files, mostly without
index/bookmarks. Where Text-Under-Image files are being offered, the quality
is usually poor. Moreover, access may be restricted, geographically or
otherwise - "Google Books" is one case in point, discussed on this list at an
earlier occasion. Anyway, with the appearance of searchable texts - which you
can bookmark, copy or comment, e.g. with Adobe Acrobat - I see little scope
for the piecemeal perusal of online image collections.

Special thanks to Martin Straube and Dominik Wujastyk for sharing their
sizeable collections. I have included one specimen each, with more to follow.

Best reagards
Reinhold Grünendahl




________________________________________________ 

Dr. Reinhold Gruenendahl
Niedersaechsische Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek
Fachreferat sued- und suedostasiatische Philologien
(Dept. of Indology)

37070 Goettingen, Germany
Tel (+49) (0)5 51 / 39 52 83

gruenen at sub.uni-goettingen.de

FACH-INFORMATIONEN INDOLOGIE, GOETTINGEN:
http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/fiindolo.htm
In English:
http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/fiindole.htm

GRETIL - Goettingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages:
http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/gretil.htm




       
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