Saturday, July 18, 2009

Something very old, something very new

I kind of find it fun how my line of research combines the very very old and the very very new. On one hand, the sources I use were inscribed in stone or written over two millenia ago. On the other, a pretty common image of Classical scholars is probably people sitting in libraries reading dusty manuscripts (not a word of archaeology here, it's a whole other pot of tea). Not so. Not any longer. For example, the majority of the inscription sources are available in a freely accessible online database (as transcribed Greek texts, the way they were published in text). And check this: the Greek and Latin dictionaries that I - and lots of other students and cholars of the field - use a lot are available as iPhone applications, costing a few euros a pop! That's about as new as it gets. Well done by Apple to authorize those apps!

5 comments:

grace said...

I am continually amazed what is available via cell phone.

MargieCM said...

This is magic, Maria. It's great to see technology being used in an intellectual sense. I also love the fact that students can now interact with their lecturers via networking sites - even the dreaded twitter - and podcasts too. It doesn't necessarily replace face-to-face interaction (or other documentary resources in teh cases you mention), but it does complement it and it is evidence that the knowledge transcends the medium, and will thrive in the electronic age.

Before I forget - your photo of the Macdonalds bag in the street is diturbingly perfect, if that makes sense. Yep - that's about where we are.

I also scrolled down to see what you thought of Bruno - I haven't seen it yet, but my girls have. The Rove interview is brilliant. (btw, he's Australian rather than Austrian, but hey, we have both in this family so I'm not complaining!)

E.L. Wisty said...

Hi Grace, yes! Especially the iPhone seems to have everything on this planet, really.

Hi Margie,

Arghh, sorry, of course I know Rove is Australian! Must have been because I was talking about BrĂ¼no who is Austrian and then I accidentally said 'Austrian' with Rove too!

Lucy said...

But books will never die.

:-)

Lucy said...

(sometimes I wish serials would though ;-)) (and they do, sometimes)