In a publishing coup, books in 'unwritten' languages

Article Abstract:

Microcomputers and desktop publishing can be used in innovative ways to capture and preserve ethnographic and linguistic information in cultures that have no literary tradition. For example, Jesus Salinas Pedraza, a schoolteacher in the Mexican state of Hidalgo, has completed a 250,000-word description of the Nahnu Indian culture, titled 'Native Ethnography: A Mexican Indian Describes His Culture,' which is written in the Nahnu language. Dr. H. Russell Bernard, an anthropologist at the University of Florida at Gainsville, facilitated this effort by teaching Salinas to read and write Nahnu, and by creating software for writing Nahnu on a word processor and for printing in that language. Together, Bernard and Salinas have established a native literacy center in Oaxaca, Mexico, where others can be trained to do similar work. The center now receives support from the Jessie Ball du Pont Foundation and is sponsored by the Inter-American Indian Institute of the Organization of American States; the Center for Advanced Studies in Social Anthropology, Oaxaca, Mexico; and the Mexican Ministry of Education. With native authors trained to write in their own languages, Bernard believes that endangered languages can be saved.

Publishing industry, Innovations, Desktop publishing software, Desktop publishing, Mexico, Technology application, Protection and preservation, Language and languages, Authorship, Anthropology, Linguistics, Social conditions, Mexican native peoples, Native Americans (Mexico), Ethnology, University of Florida, Cultural anthropology, Anthropological linguistics, Social Issue, DTP Software, Jessie Ball du Pont Foundation, Florida, University of, Mexico. Ministry of Education, Organization of American States. Inter-American Indian Institute, Center for Advanced Studies in Social Anthropology, Bernard, H. Russell, Pedraza, Jesus Salinas

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Computer breaks monopoly on study of Dead Sea Scrolls

Article Abstract:

Researchers at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati have developed a computer program on a microcomputer that will end the scholarly monopoly on the Dead Sea Scrolls. The researchers used a concordance of every word that appears in the texts to reconstruct a version of the original; only half of the Dead Sea Scrolls have been published by 1991 and researchers from around the world have complained about the limited access they have to the second half of the artifact. The Dead Sea Scrolls offer valuable information and insight into the origins of Christianity and the history of Judaism. The computer-generated reconstruction of the Dead Sea Scrolls is said to be the first attempt by researchers to use computers to reproduce ancient texts.

Colleges and universities, Software, Israel, Archaeology, Antiquities, Product introduction, New Technique, Dead Sea Scrolls, Hebrew Union College, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion

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Uncannily precise, Voyager bears down on Neptune

Article Abstract:

Voyager 2 will be only 21 miles off course as it makes its closest approach to Neptune on Aug 24, 1989. The probe is using television cameras and other scientific instruments to gather information. Voyager will pass within 3,000 miles of Neptune, which is now 2.8 billion miles from Earth. Controllers on Earth have radioed the spacecraft six times concerning the flyby, hoping the spacecraft receives at least one comlete, clear set of commands. Scientists expect Voyager to be positioned for observing Triton, Neptune's largest moon. So far, Triton appears pink and red, with streaks of blue and features that resemble craters. Scientist think the blue streaks might be frost from Triton's methane atmosphere, possibly with nitrogen.

Observations, Space probes, Neptune (Planet), Space Craft, Space Exploration, Project Voyager, United States. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Project Voyager

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