Tibetan Display

GENERAL TBRC QUESTIONS

Q: What does TBRC do?
A: TBRC is primarily engaged in two main activities - digital preservation (scanning) of Tibetan Buddhist literature and providing access to the literature. Our Digital Library is comprised of a vast archive of digital images from the scanning operations, totaling approximately 4 million pages of texts to date (2006). The Knowledge Base provides access.
Q: What is the difference between the Digital Library and the Knowledge Base?
A: The Digital Library is an image repository. The Knowledge Base is the access point to the Digital Library (like an an electronic card catalog) - you can search for titles, authors and subjects. In addition, the Knowledge Base contains information beyond what a library card catalog would contain. It contains information about Person's kin, teachers and students; information about important social, political and religious institutions (Corporations); information about Places, and the interrelationship between Places; and detailed catalogs of large collections (Outlines).

DIGITAL LIBRARY

Q: How do I find if a text is available?
A: The digital publication status of a work defines its availability. If the digital publication status is listed on the record of that work, it is available. To find the work of interest, go to the Works section of the Knowledge Base, find the work, and locate the digital publication section at the bottom of that page.
Q: How do I order one or more digital texts?
A: To order a digital text, find the work of interest in the Knowledge Base and locate the pricing information and the Resource ID. Once you have the resource ID, follow the order instructions.
Q: Can I have a copy of the entire Digital Library?
A: Desktop or access to the web? Subscription service description
Q: How do I find a single title (sadhana, biography, historical text, etc.)?
A:
Q: How do I find a collection (collected works, canonical collection, etc.)?
A:
Q: Why are texts listed if they are not available?
A: The Knowledge Base contains many Works, many of which of which predate the actual scanning of texts. Hence, there are thousands of Works in the Knowledge Base that have not been scanned yet. In addition, many Works listed in the Knowledge Base are individual titles within a larger collection. Since TBRC only has the larger collection available, the individual Work is available only if you purchase the collection.
Q: Does TBRC provide printed texts?
A: No. However, TBRC has a close affiliation with Palri Parkhang , which is a small organization that prints pecha style texts from TBRC digital images (digital woodblocks). In addition, in many cases, interested parties can obtain TBRC digital texts and make arrangements on their own for paper copies.
Q: Do you have any texts in English?
A: No.
Q: Does TBRC do translations?
A: No.
Q: Does TBRC do research (texts, terminology, location of a title, etc.)?
A: No. We provide the resource not the service.
Q: Does TBRC prepare specific catalogs for large collections?
A: Generally speaking, no. We are actively engaged in preparing detailed outlines for all the collections in the digital library. It may also be possible to sponsor a particular collection. Examples of Outlines will appear on the website as they become available. Click here for our list of available outlines.

KNOWLEDGE BASE

Q: What is the difference between a text, a Work and a title?
A: Typically, the term "text" refers to any book or piece of writing. We use "text" to refer to digital or printed texts. A "Work" is a collection (like the entire Kangyur) or a single title (titles within the Kangyur) that has been cataloged in the Knowledge Base as a bibliographic unit. Finally, a "title" refers to any Work, so it can be a collection or a single title.
Q: How do I search for a Work in the Knowledge Base?
A: To find a Work, search in the Works section of the Knowledge Base. Or, since the exact title of the Work is often not known, you can first locate the author in the Persons section of the Knowledge Base and then follow the "Show Works By" link on the Person record.
Q: How do I search for Persons in the Knowledge Base?
A: Go to Persons section of the Knowledge Base, and enter the Person's name in Wylie transliteration. The Knowledge Base captures multiple name variants for each Person.
Q: How do I locate an individual Work in a large collection?
A: First, locate the collection and see if there is an Outline for that collection. If an Outline has been created, search for individual Work. Go to the Outlines section of the Knowledge Base. Another method is to purchase the digital collection and examine the dkar chag in the beginning of the Work. In some cases, the dkar chag has been translated into English and was included in the first section of the work by the publisher.
Q: Does TBRC have a glossary of common Wylie spellings?
A: No.
Q: How do I spell something in Wylie?
A: Knowing how to spell a name in Wylie requires precise knowledge of written Tibetan. There are a variety of sources for learning Wylie.
Q: I don't know Wylie, can I use the TBRC Website?
A: To a limited capacity, since most of TBRC's data is in Wylie. For users that read Tibetan but do not know Wylie, the TBRC website does have display of native Tibetan script. As of yet, you cannot search in Tibetan script, but we are currently developing software that will allow input of native Tibetan script into the search engine. For users that cannot read Wylie or Tibetan, it will be difficult to use the site. There is currently no direct method for getting from Tibetan script or Wylie into any one of the many phonetic spelling systems, or vice versa.


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