Focus 2002.tif 190 FoCltS Off Germ:m Studies E lectronic Research and Reference Tools for German Studies: Analysis and Review Michael Shaughnessy ... rnduare students in German studies have always been relying o n IL!I quality reference materials toconduc( their research. For many gradu­ ate programs, a course in research methodology is the first course that grad uate srudents take. Yet, unlimited access 10 reference works has o ften been limited by high price o r the hours of the libraries that have invested in copies. Reference works arc by their very nature to be accessed only at the Iibcacy. One recognizable result from the electronic revolution o f the past decade is the impact on reference publications. T he proliferation o f electronic encyclopedias, often included free WIth the purchase o f a com­ puter, 15 in undeniable sharp contrast to dIe past costs o f the same I1lfor­ mauon. T he universal appeal of electronic reference works is not lost in the wocld of German srudies. Firstly, and particularly important to gradu­ ate students, the reduction in COSts makes individual pUl"chases of subsmn­ rial works a langible reali ty. Secondly, the speed of research is gready im­ proved with electronic reference works. Electronic dictionaries can searcb for phrases and not merely word s. Cross-referencing is easily identifiable and results can be cut and pasted into a word processing program. While the appeal and demand foc these pcoclucts is not likely to be doubted, the quality and source of these new re ference materials is often rightly called into question. The flf'S t step in research is to ident'ify the source of information, taking for granted that the source is reliable. How­ ever, as these new versions of standard electronic tools make t.hcir way into the mainstream of research in German studies, they ought 10 be ana­ lyzed like any source. This "meta-review'" intends not only to identify some o f the most valuable electronic research tools for German snldies. but also seeks to question the inherent validity of SUd l works 111 o rder to ,usti fy their current and future use.. For many, elec tronic reference is becoming equated with lhe rntemet. There are a number of online multi-lingual d icrionaries, search engines, and it seems that every author has a dedicated web site \'(' hile the 192 Fot1IS on Germ:m Studies Internet has proven itself to be a good source fo r informatio n in genecal. this does not hold true for most academic subjects, particularly when deal· ing wnh lirenrun; history. o r culture. The na ture of the Internet poses problems for academic research that relies o n proven quaJiry and a dedi­ cated ciration location. The nature of self·publicalian on the Internet is highhglued when compared fa the nature of publication in an academic journal. There is rarely an editocia1 process fo r a web site, no guarantee of permanence, and gener.ally few citations. Examples abound of copious sites with questionable quality and little or no professionaJ credentials. Kevin Solway's Q uo Weininger web site. for instance, despite hemg the most comprehensive on the Ioternet, is a biased site upon closer c:nminatio n. Mr. Solway does not contest this point: ''I f Quo Weinil1ger continues to inspire gen.ius through what he has left us then r will consider half my wo rk already done. His book SIX and Character is one of the few master~ pieces of modern times."1 Here, subjen:iviry of the site is shown thro ugh me selection o f quotes and the emphasis placed on Weirunger's «genius". If one considers the initial effort involved in producing alld maioraining a web site of this nugnirude, one must also ponder the motivation behind this effon. While many of these sites can provide a quick reference for dates, publications, and quotes, there still exists the impliat danger mat a web Site IS merely a " fan" site, dedicated to the alleged "gemus" of a revered author. In dle pursuit of academic reseuch materials, it IS the very naruce of the Inremet rhat should cause immediate suspiCion among un­ dergraduates, gndu:lte studen ts, and instructors alike. Currently, the only electronic pubucation focusing o n literacy re~ search in Germanistik on the Internet is Reclam's LiterolllrTtcberche IIlId [wernlI. While providing a decent introduction to using tbe Intcrnet for literary studies, this CD-ROM highlights a general trcod :"Il1\oog electronic pubucations: the return to traditio nal resources. ntis CD focuses almost exclusively on material available from the electronic versions of university ubrn.cy caca1ogs. focusing less on the rea1ity of mOSt Internet searches. The CD even lughhghts its focus o n catalogs by stating that moSI of the reli~ able and recommended information to be takco from the Intem el is de~ rived from IlbaDes. Once agUn, reference malenals are inherently con­ nected to trad itional sources. It is exacdy tlus point tha t IS of the utmost tmportance. The electronic revolution does not need to lessen the Impor~ ranee aod usefulness of traditional sources; it can merely mocJ.fy aspccts of these works. TIle hig hest quality electronic reference works build on Electronic Research and Reference Tools 193 this principle. T hey take traditional methods for publlC300 n o f reference malerials and modify the access [0 this information. T he beS[ products do nol change tile content or tile source o f the content, but alter the method of access ro the coment that was previously valued as high quali£)'. In exploring these materials, tluce categorizations are used to Identi fy current and future re ference works in German snldies: LAngHlllt, ullmJlffl, alld Gillun. Uln!,llOlf Language related CD-ROMs are almOSI exclUSIVely elcctrOlllc versions o f older priM materials. Companies with brand -name recogmtlo n such ~s LJn,gtll.SdJeidl, DUtilll, M!)'tr, :"Ind BrotkhtlliS have transferred many o f thelt traditional works inlo electro nic formaL Many of the tradlt10nallanguage reference works are availabLe in the PC-Bibliofhtle series. PC-BiWiolhek is a shared user~intcrfa.ce for accessing reference matenals. An appealing as­ pect about the shared user~iflterface IS that Oluillple volumes of Dltdtn or LJHf!lfStlNidt products can be searched sunulrancously. ThiS could be of particular use in a language lab where one computer is dcchc:a.ted as a Ger­ man refercoce stauon. Multiple discs could be loaded OntO thc hard~drive, thus ~;panng dIe user the endless swapping of CDs. Of the many CDs produced Ul the PC.Blblio/lNk series, the one moSt Itkely 10 be used by a wide varie£)' of srudents lS the combinallon Duden UfULynalu'Orierlnith ! O>ifOrd Gmf/an-English Didiontlry. priced around €55. Langenscheidt offers a wide variety o f specialized dictio naries withlO the PC-131bliQthtk series availab le in th e ir new m eella cata log at: Liltra/ure CD-ROM s for Germa.n literarure can be separated 11110 primary and sec~ ondacy IIteranire sources. ' n1e o ldest source for elcctronlC tCXts III German is the well-known ProjekJ GUltllbtrt web site. ThiS Site acccl}ts scanned and ed ited tuts &om people allover tile world and offcrs them to all users without charging a fee. The inclUSion of an author on l hlS sIte is partially determined by tile willmgness of a person to do the work of rendenng a lext intO elecuoluc form \'(Iltile every malor author 111 dle German lan~ gwge no t under copyright protection is mcluded. thcre are also some mi- 194 FotJIS Ofl German Studies nor authors that would not normally be a part of this collection but thanks to the efforts of their . Both the ProjekJ Gutenberg and Digitak Bib/iofhek offerings are par­ tiaUy limited to copyright-free materials. 2lo Projekt Gutenberg's ease, they exclusively publish matenals without copyright protection. The Digitde Bibliolhek, in conttasl, publishes pnmary literamre from non-copyrighted sources, but offers nlOre recent versions of secondary literature within the same framework. Despite SOffie earlier fears about e1ecrronic books killing the print publishing industry, it appears that the o ld-fashioned method o f making books using paper products will remain dominant for a while. Single title electronic books call be understood, and best used,as re ference tools falher than as a readable copy o f a work. In contrast to the electronic-library concept of Digitak lJib/ioi!Jek and Pn!iekt GJltmbtrg, other commercial ven­ tUl'es publish individual works on CD-ROM or the Internet. Generally, they are more recent (than '1932), and the copyright holder receives a share of tile profits. Reclam offers a series of CD-ROMs that are similar to the annotated versions o f their most popular volumes. Redam CD-ROMs also include multi-media annotations to distinguish them from the print versions. T heir CD-ROM for Die Verlorme Ehre tier Ka1han'na B/ufll, for example. includes a reading by Heinrich B6 11, text annotations and refer­ ences ro the Film version by Volker Schl6ndorf( Secondary li terature resources for example, are mostly electro nic replicas of the print version with a dramatic price reductiOrL However, the Electronic Research and Reference "lools 195 print version from which dIe text is derived tends to be the second-most recent volume. The publishing companies still reserve dIe most recent versions o f their literarure encyclopedias for the print market. Despite nOl offering the latest versions, tllese sources are excellent for general refer­ ence for most works of German literature. Two of the best encyclopedias fo r German literature are Kiltys Liltraturltxikoll and Ktndlm ntu(J UleraturkxikolL Kitfys is published withi.n the Digitate Bibliothek user inter­ face and therefore has the same full-text searching capabilities as others in that series. There are a number of o tller reference works published in the Digitak Biblio1hek series including the SYfI,bollext'kofl and Lexikoll der Sprache. Similar in tile searching capabilities, Sysl.hcma has published a series en­ titled Elexikon, including tile Lexiklm der deulIthw l...iteralur. T he full- text searching o ffered in the Digifau Bibliolbek series ap­ pears limited compared to dIe searc.hing capabilities offered in the Kindler CD -ROM. Kindlet:rprovides dIe users with the ability to conduct searches based on criteria in individual categories such as autho r, publisher, year, country of origin, etc. T he integrated search capabilities in KindkrJ are re (iected in the price of the p roduct, which is One of the few electronic reference tools over Sl00. T here are a number o f electronic encyclopedias that have culrural entries. Microsoft, B({)[khaus, and Berlels",amlaU publish extensive muil.1-media ency­ clopedias, but their extremely broad focus often tcnds to water down dIe length and qualiry of the articl es. There arc speci fic "cultural" encyclope­ d1as that are being published in Germany. So far, the best representltlve o f the cultural encyclopedia is the &1roS/Htl2001, by D igital Publishing. &1(0- sptct 2001, in cooperation with Spiegel magazine, provides in-deptll articles and multi-media fo r virtually every topic in German history and culture for the twentieth century. Unlike some texts, dIe information on the CD ­ ROM continues up to the present day. Users can also download newar­ ticles as tlley become available. T he sho rt, well-wrinen a.:rtides provide quick reference fo r tile research er and can also be useful for the instructor seeking authentic cultural matenals for use in class. In contrast to the all-encompassing Rel{'()spU( 2001, there are a number of individuaUy themed CD-ROMs for culmral reference. Erinnern for Gegumt'lrf lind ZlIklll!fi. and Aline Frallk, Bill 1-IaIIS lIIit eiller Ge.schichte. for 196 FOCfIS on Gt!rnJ:;uJ Srudies instance, both provide specific multi-media references for Holocaust stud­ ies. Erinllml features video clips and articles dealing with the personal ex­ perience o f (wo individuals. T he CD-ROM consists of matcrials from Steven Spielberg's SlIT1IilJOrJ of the Shoah Vitlll1i Hillory project, h is likely that there wJl be more CD-ROMs published from the extenSIVe collection of multimedia from this project Anllt Fronk. presents a virtual tour of the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam and includes informauon about the fam­ ily. their living situation and their biographies. TIle commercial market for culruraIly related CD-ROMs is tOO small [0 make it economically feasible for luger companies to invest in software development. Both of these CDs were developed by subject erperts and it is to be eq>ectcd that future culrurally-related CD projects will continue to be developed by experts in Lhe respective field. SlI!J.e.sIilJn.f for Use alld IlJIpklHeJlJalilJ1I Just as with all media purchases, the user should have the right to preview the product before purchase. Wid\ many of the products that share a user­ interface, the preview can be conducted with a revtew of o ne product within the user-interface Framework. I f the universi ty IS to purchase these productS, access to the works is of the utmost importance. Unlike tradi.­ tional publications that merely need to be placed on a shelf, electronic works genen.lly need to be installed on a computer for use. This presents a new set of problems for accessibility. TIle universIty dut purchases the software should have a clear plan for installation and USloroo. Despite dlese sclf-evldcnI sutements, many reviews and evaluations of new media value the technol~ of the media over me content. As educators and scholars make choICes abmu f rb or departmen tal purdla5Cs, tbey should use theu tradlDOllll.! uture I racy I' ill be skills to ana1r.tC for content and properly consider how the me<.la ":' d 1 d · thi<:. the few true advantages of elcctromc medlll Will be­ use . . ootng.... \ ' h come apparent. while dleU apparent disadvantages WIll -ceemp \aS1Ze t e power o f (and need for) tradiuonal print media. Notes , http://members.ozemad.com.au/-ksoIwaY/Oltow.hllnl 2 See the Pnjtkl Cultllbt'1. web site for their mterprel2ollon of copynght law and electronic texrs. Generally, the author needs to be dead for 5e'"enty real"S before t~ can be freely distributed electronically. Works Cited Anllt fWllk, all H(JIIs mil tburGuchldJte. CD-ROM. The Learning Company, 2000. B " -, '-d .' "':;~';~a Koebe.. IPI""'U IJUf 4it: LitmJlumdxrrb: ulfd IlfImrd.CD-aasner, ~ner,... . ......'...... ~'\.- . ROM. Stuttgart: Redam, 2000. Copy"!.hl HII,aotis. 5 Apc. 2002. < http://www.gutenberg2000.de! info.htm#Copynght>. . Dudelf. DtutsdNJ UIfiVt:T1ahv6rwbJlchA - Z. CD-ROM. Mannhelln: BlbhographlSches Insotu!,2001. . DuMII- O .. v/orri Grop.-o,tfflmh ElfgliJth. CD-ROM. Mannhelln: Blbhographl5ches [nstitul, 2001. Erilfnullflir GtgtnUtll1 ulld "b/eJllljr. CD-ROM. Berlin: Coroelsen Sofl:WaCe, 2001. 198 Focus on GCTDJ:lD Studies Germanware. 5 Apr. 2002. . Kindim litHe! LittrrJ1Nrkxiko". CD-ROM. Munich: United Soft Medi., 2000. iLxikon tkrdtNlSdJtn LitmJlllr. CD-ROM. Elexikon 2. Munich: United Soft Media. 2001. PTTJdJiktk.alakJg NtHl Mediell. Jan 20. 2002 Projekt GHunbttg-DB. 5 Apr .. 2002 &tro~a 2001. CD-ROM. Munich: Digital Publishing, 2001. Solway, Kevin. ed. Otf() Wtininger. 20 Jan. 2002. . Die Ven01't1fe Ehrt tkr Kmhanna Bum. CD-ROM. Ditzingen: Reclam, 1999. Wabher KiI!J- Utmztlfriodkoll. CD-ROM. Digitale Bibliothek 9. Berlin: Directrnedia, 2000. 199