WOODBLOCK TO LASER -- Source CD-ROM, Release A The Asian Classics Input Project is pleased to announce the release of Woodblock to Laser, a CD-ROM computer disc containing more than 25,000 pages of classical Asian literature, complete with free search programs and other scholarly tools. The disc is a result of six years of collaboration between American researchers and Tibetan refugee monk scholars. Included on the CD-ROM, which is designated Source Disc Release A, are original woodblock texts from three major groups: the Kangyur collection of Sanskrit Buddhist treatises in Tibetan translation, dating from about 500 BC; the Tengyur collection of Sanskrit philosophical commentaries to these treatises, also in Tibetan translation, written from about 200 AD to 1000 AD; and the Sungbum collection of native Tibetan explanations of these works, composed from 1000 AD to present times. The ACIP CD-ROM also features a wealth of reference materials, including catalogs to several editions of the original texts, as well as the complete Sanskrit and Tibetan-language listings of the United States Library of Congress. The CD-ROM includes, for the first time, thousands of pages of source data never before made available to the general public in the three previous ACIP floppy-disk releases. This data has been double-entered and triple-edited by computer, but proofreading by native scholars may require years of additional work. At the request of many ACIP users, this source data is therefore being released for scholarly research use. Source data is clearly distinguished from finalized data directly in each text's file name. All the texts on the ACIP CD-ROM have been input in standard ASCII code, so the CD-ROM can be used on virtually any personal computer in the world, whether IBM-compatible or Macintosh. The disk can be played on a built-in CD-ROM drive, or else on a portable CD-ROM drive, which plugs directly into the back of a home computer, and can be purchased for under $200. The CD-ROM has a built-in menu and search system which (on IBM-compatibles) can provide instant access to every text by author, subject, title, or standard Tohoku or ACIP catalog number. An automated help system on the disc itself guides the user through the CD-ROM, and also shows how to perform specialized tasks such as geographic analysis, dating of a text, or author verification. The ACIP CD-ROM provides more than twelve complimentary DOS programs for citation searches and text analysis. The extremely powerful GOfer program allows instant searches of thousands of pages using up to sixteen different variables. ACIP's own TibEasy program lets users view and search the texts in the native script. Specialized macro programs help users print ACIP materials in native script, using popular commercial programs, and many files are provided in an attractive printable format customized by ACIP. The entire contents of the Asian Classics Graphics Library are also supplied on the CD-ROM, with a free program for viewing, exporting, and manipulating the images. These pictures are digital versions of the traditional carvings found on old Tibetan woodblocks. They include woodblock carvings of many of the authors of the texts on the CD-ROM, and are highly appropriate for use in scholarly articles, books, etc. The images are in a standard format and can be imported automatically into a text with any popular word processing program. Due to the generous support of a number of private, corporate, and government donors world-wide, ACIP is able to offer its first CD-ROM release at only the cost of duplication and shipping, for which a $15 donation is requested. In cases of hardship, the CD-ROM will be provided without charge. Note that the CD-ROM, Release A contains all the finally edited texts that appeared on ACIP's floppy disk Releases One through Three. ACIP will continue its floppy disk releases at regular intervals. You may, of course, download any of the files on the CD-ROM to your hard disk for easy study and revision, or to floppy disks to give to students or exchange with colleagues. To request an order blank for the ACIP CD-ROM, or to obtain further information, please contact the Washington Area Office of the Asian Classics Input Project at 11911 Marmary Road, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA 20878-1839; telephone (301) 948-5569, fax (301) 294-7870, or electronic mail acip@well.sf.ca.us. General information about ACIP can be downloaded from the WELL Users in Japan may order through the ACIP Contact Office, c/o Linguistics Information Research Inc, 4-9-15 Koyoma, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan; telephone 3783-9428, fax 3788- 6180. Users in Europe may also order specific texts through The Oxford Text Archive, 13 Branbury Road, Oxford OX2 6NN, England; telephone (0865) 273-200, fax (0865) 273-275, electronic mail archive@uk.ac.oxford.vax. Please note that each of these distribution centers may request a nominal charge in local currency.