Hello to all who have contributed to this dialogue,
I'm in Singapore, and managed to get onto a computer before heading
to India tomorrow.
Thanks once more, it seems some interesting ideas are emerging, which
is exactly what i was after. Most of the detailed info on ways of
linking 'records' etc., is over my head, but i can see that the
questions raised are exactly the right ones. We must avoid doing
something that will be superseded by the next generation technology;
also we must do something that makes the bulk and complexity of the
scriptures manageable by software tools like search engines.
Perhaps we might start by taking a relatively manageable group of
texts, say the Digha Nikaya, working out a way of indexing and
referencing that, and put it on the web as a trial version so we can
get feedback.
There has been an offer of funds for this project, so we might be
able to support a part- or full-time worker; obviously we would be
looking for someone with both the Buddhist and the computer skills.