Return to the Main FAQ MenuThere are many Internet and WWW sites for quick access to electronic texts. Here are some sites that can get people started:
If your library has access to RLIN(the Research Library Information Network), you can search the Rutgers Inventory of Machine Readable Texts in the Humanities.
One caveat: the quality of texts on the Internet is questionable. Some archives have poor quality standards for scanning and proofing their documents, and some texts are marked up using an ad hoc scheme that is only understood by the person who created the text. You take your own chances with these texts.
Even with so many sources for e-texts, often a text (or the authoritative edition of a text) is not available in electronic form. Then the user will have to make his own e-text, either by keying it in word-for-word or by scanning it with a scanner and some OCR software. NOTE: For commercially produced texts, licensing agreements with publishers, such as Oxford University Press, are arranged for on-site access to texts for a fee by members of an institution (e.g., only faculty and students). Some of the more popular texts include: The Thesaurus Linguae Grecae, the CETEDOC collection of Christian Latin Texts, the Past Masters series, and Perseus.
Humanities at the SCC Data Center
2002-05-24