Re: Creating a Pali Tipitaka and Pali Literature Wiki-space

Dear Eisel,

Thanks for the valuable suggestions.
We are definitely not in for a democratic Tipitaka Wikipedia having a
majority vote system... It was mentioned in my message that it is to be
a moderated system.
The link system you suggest is a very good idea and maybe more practical
as a start. Maybe the problem with the links to other editions and
manuscripts in other scripts is that very few scholars will know all the
Asian scripts, even to learn one or two scripts takes a lot of time and
effort. The Tibetans are at an advantage here because they only employ
one script. So I feel that it will be important to have a Roman script
edition in which the readings of all other editions and good quality
manuscripts are incorporated. This of course can not be managed by one
moderator, the scope of Pali literature is far too wide, but if experts
in certain text genres would moderate then it might be more feasable. I
would be in favor of finishing off proofreading the Buddhajayanthi as a
pilot project and at the same time creating a new uninstitutionalised
Tipitaka and Pali Literature site.

Could you clarify: ``(3) the ability for participants to "mail in" their
suggestions and corrections.''?

Regarding the durability of microfilms (I suppose that this is what you
mean with ``microfiche''): They might be durable in the well organised
and well supported universities in the West, but one can not speak about
durability in a climate and society like Sri Lanka or Laos. In the
mid-1980s thousands of Pali, Sanskrit, and Sinhala manuscripts were
microfilmed by the Sri Lanka National Archives with the support of the
Ford Foundation, USA. The expensive project ran for a couple of years
and all the films were deposited at the National Archives which did not
have the capabiltiy and interest to maintain the films and microfilm
viewing machines in the long run. Many, if not most films, are severely
damaged and unusable now due to moisture and dust damage. I and a friend
tried to get some manuscript microfilms printed out at the NA but,
besides the fact that the printing quality was hopeless, the clerk
ripped us (or rather our supporter)  off. The  Ford Foundation nor any
other institution ever got any copies of the films. By the way,
microfilm scanning machines are very expensive and I wonder if the
quality would be good enough. The British Museum library has microfilmed
very few if any of its huge collection of Pali manuscripts as far as I
know and they charge the extravagant price of 29 pounds or so for
creating a picture of  one side of three leaves if I remember correctly.
I inquired last year about getting a printout of a manuscript but gave
up. The irony is that most of these manuscripts have either been looted
or bought for a few pennies in Asia by the British.

I have an interest to set up a project to digitally photograph
manuscripts in important monastery collections in Sri Lanka, maybe
starting off with the Siamese Khom and Burmese script manuscripts in Sri
Lanka as a pilot project, but so far there has not been much interest
from others. It is also not clear to me whether there are cameras which
could photograph whole Sinhalese and Burmese palmleafs having 9-10 lines
a leaf densely written with small letters. Khom manuscripts are much
more spacious and the letters are large so it is easier to photograph
them. With the cheap camera I have I can only photograph half the length
of the leafs but this is quite discouraged by scholars like Dr.
Jacqueline Filliozat although the quality is excellent. If you would
know a digital camera which can photograph whole leaves then please let
me know. Maybe a Canon EOS with a broad lens fitted onto it will do.

What you mean by the ``the expanding scope of available digitized images of Pali MS & editions'' ? I am not aware of any available digitized images of manuscripts except the ones in the EFEO DATA of Dr Jacqueline Filliozat. I have never seen available digital images of editions (except my own images of several different Pali texts in Sinhala script stored on my computer.)
Printed texts can be photographed easily and quickly, although the slower scanning is of better quality. Digital images of the Sinhalese Kaccayana editions, etc, could easily be made and put on the Internet.

Yours,   
               Bh. Nyanatusita





>
>
>Bhante,
>
>
> My experience with the "Wiki" format (for scholarly collaboration) is that
>it is not well suited to any subject requiring a high degree of technical
>accuracy or specialization.
>
> Even a form such as this one (a "list serv") is superior for ironing out
>the small details of a proof-reading or translation.
>
> However, I do think that a hyperlinked tipitaka could easily incorporate:
>(1) existing digitized editions, (2) scans of existing MS microfiche &
>images [e.g., "just click here to see the scan of the corresponding page in
>the Cambodian edition..."], and (3) the ability for participants to "mail
>in" their suggestions and corrections.
>
> An open wiki format is likely to reduplicate labour --and put an undue
>editorial stress on a single "system operator".
>
> The reason that the Wiki format was invented was to facilitate "democratic
>editing"; however, there are very few scholarly matters that can be resolved
>with a vote.  I recently witnessed that the Wikipedia held a vote to
>determine the correct name of Schopenhauer's birthplace; this begs the
>question "why would a matter of fact be determined by 'majority rule'?" 
> --and, sadly, the majority do not know enough to make informed decisions
>about scholarly and historical matters.
>
> However, the expanding scope of (1) available digitized images of Pali MS &
>editions, and (2) the ability to render Pali in indigenous script, will
>favour a cross-hyperlinked "canon" to enable comparative reading across
>editions.  By the same token, one could enable comparative reading of
>associated translations (i.e., "linked to" the corresponding page of Pali).
>
> The Tibetans are far ahead of the Theravadins in this respect; there is
>already a "hyperlinked" Tibetan canon, with "clickable" cross-references for
>almost every word --providing correspondence, definitions, translations,
>variations, etc.
>
> I think that one big opportunity will be scanning microfiche to provide
>digital images of existing collections on-line.  Microfiche is durable, but
>inaccessible; putting it on the internet will be a big help to scholars
> --and monks in poor countries that have neither books nor microfiche viewers
>(e.g., Laos!).
>
>E.M.
>
>
>
>