Information & documentation

H13: Literary and Linguistic Computing Centre

The Literary and Linguistic Computing Centre (LLCC) is a small group within the Computing Service which provides specialist support for computing in the Arts and Humanities departments. Examples of the types of help which are available include:

• Assistance with specialist word-processing needs (e.g. use of fonts for non-roman alphabets and special characters).
• Preparation of concordances, word-lists and frequency dictionaries.
• Variorum editions.
• Bibliographies and indexes, including use of bibliographic software packages.
• Specialist databases.
  
• Specialist use of the internet.

Generally the LLCC will try to provide the advice which will enable you to complete projects yourself, but in some cases staff may be able to undertake work on your behalf.

The LLCC is based in offices in the Raised Faculty building on the Sidgwick Site. These are situated in the South-East corner of the building on the top floor. The lift giving access to the top floor is in the centre of the East side of the building. The Sidgwick Computing Facility is located in the basement of the Oriental Studies Faculty on the same site.

The LLCC has a permanent staff of two. Dr John Dawson is the Manager with wide experience of specialized humanities computing applications. He should be contacted by anyone wishing to embark on a major project which involves more than just competent word-processing.

Dr Rosemary Rodd will give advice on the use of the various specialised arts and language programs which are installed on the PWF (Personal Workstations Facility) and with aspects of more common programs which are of particular interest to humanities scholars, including the bibliographic package EndNote.

The variety of work going on at the LLCC is enormous. Linguists and historians have so far been the most frequent users, but there have been lawyers, economists, musicians, philosophers, theologians, archaeologists and anthropologists, and there is every reason to believe that Computing for the Humanities will gradually involve more people from all the various disciplines. The LLCC is aiming to provide them all with advice and support.

Special facilities available via the LLCC

Foreign languages and accents

LLCC staff can advise on the best method of processing a text which is in a roman script and contains accented letters or special symbols and on the technical problems involved if the text is to be transmitted over the Internet or moved between different systems.

Note: Texts containing accented letters, non-roman scripts, complex paragraph or table layout can be very difficult indeed to transfer from one computer to another. The LLCC may be able to assist users who already have such a text.

Non-roman fonts and scripts

The Macintoshes on the University PWF  have Apple's complete multilingual install which provides Arabic, Central European, Chinese, Cyrillic, Modern Greek, Hebrew, Indic, Japanese, Korean and Thai. This will permit web-browsing, email and word-processing in languages which use these characters, although not all email programs and web-browsers are capable of handling the full set of characters.

The computers running Windows all have a set of fonts which allow word-processing, web-browsing and e-mail in many different languages including Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, Modern Greek, Hebrew, Japanese,  Korean and Thai. Microsoft's virtual language input keyboards are installed to permit input in the different scripts. 

UNICODE and TEI

Some languages (for example Classical Greek) are still commonly encoded using proprietary schemes, although the common standard, Unicode, is gradually becoming more widely used.

If you are involved in preparing texts which will be transmitted via the Internet, or shared between different computers, it is advisable to consult the LLCC before you begin as the choice of non-standard methods may make it very difficult for your text to be read on other systems, such as a commercial publisher's typesetter.

Leaflets on preparing texts in non-roman characters written by the LLCC staff are available on the Computing Service Website.

Data Preparation

Advice is available free to staff and students of the University. If substantial work is to be undertaken by staff of the LLCC, the project must be approved by the Computing Service and the funding guaranteed. Costs will be determined after consultation.

Data preparation for research purposes

LLCC staff can sometimes help with scanning or with typing from a printed copy.

Prospective users of such services should first check that the text is not already available in machine-readable form in any of the growing number of text archives. A simple web search is usually a good first step. LLCC staff can also make enquiries worldwide about availability of such texts. It is advisable to discuss the project with staff first, particularly when the requirements are very specialized.

Book preparation

Staff can advise on the production of camera-ready copy of a text to a publisher's specifications.

Alternatively, if the publisher wishes to format the text, raw text can be provided in the form requested. This can be done from printed copy, manuscript or discs, and in foreign languages as well as in English, or in a combination of languages.

Please make an appointment to discuss the project with staff before you start. It is also very important that you discuss with the publisher's production department exactly what their requirements will be and what formats they are able to accept.

Indexes

Automatic indexing from a suitably marked text produces accurate results in a relatively short time. However, not all texts are suited to this treatment, and consultation with staff is advisable before starting a project. Indexes can be compiled from camera-ready copy.

Typesetting music

LLCC staff have some experience in typesetting music, including music requiring text underlay.

Concordances

Several programs produce concordances and other sorted word lists from texts. The LLCC can advise on the most suitable ones available. Two fairly simple concordancing programs are available on the PWF.

Bibliographies

Advice on style and layout is available. Bibliographies can be constructed from information provided. The LLCC teaches a half-day course on the bibliography program, EndNote (Macintosh and PC versions), and can provide worksheets for self-tuition. Three courses usually run each term, with one in the Long Vacation term.

E-mail

The LLCC can provide advice on sending and receiving e-mail in non-roman scripts.

Historical Databases

The LLCC has been involved in the creation of several databases for historical research including indexes to English county will records and Venn's Alumni Cantabrigienses and is able to make some of these available for use by other researchers. Its staff can also offer some advice to researchers who want to produce databases from their own material.

The title of this document is: H13: Literary and Linguistic Computing Centre
URL: http://www.cam.ac.uk/cs/docs/handouts/h13/