Vol. 4, No. 1, May 2000, pp.2-5
ON THE NET
A Starting Point
for Classical Studies:
The Perseus Project
Jean
W. LeLoup
SUNY Cortland
Robert Ponterio
SUNY Cortland
The number of number of foreign language (FL) related sites on the Internet
has been growing exponentially over the past several years, and this trend
is likely to continue. While the quality is not necessarily keeping pace with
the quantity, the sheer number of pages makes it much easier for instructors
to find information, authentic materials, and even ready-made lessons on the
net for use in FL classrooms. This is particularly true for teachers of the
mainstream modern languages taught in the public schools (French, Italian,
German, Spanish). In a previous article (Resources
for Instructors and Learners of Less Commonly Taught Languages), we noted
the difficulties experienced by teachers of the less commonly taught languages
(LCTLs) in various areas, including finding materials on the Internet. In this
article, we address yet another category of foreign languages: the classical
languages (Greek and Latin). Happily, these languages (and their accompanying
Classical Studies) enjoy more prominence on the Internet. Indeed, a search
for "Classical Studies" yields nearly 20,000 hits on a good day. But, as always,
the problem of sifting through this vast number of sites for quality content
remains. This article reviews one such quality site The
Perseus Project that serves as a remarkable entry page to the exploration
of Greek, Latin, and the ancient classical world.
The Perseus Project is funded
by the Digital Libraries Initiative Phase 2, the Annenberg/CPB Project, the
National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the
Getty Grant program, Tufts University, the Modern Language Association, the
Berger Family Technology Transfer Endowment, and the Fund for the Improvement
of Postsecondary Education. Support for the project has been provided by Apple
Computer, The National Endowment for the Arts, the Packard Humanities Institute,
Xerox Corporation, Boston University, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and
Harvard University. Perseus is a non-profit enterprise and is headquartered
at the Classics Department, Tufts University.
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The
Perseus Project is a vast digital library of resources for the study of
the classical world. The initial aim of the project was to construct a large
collection of materials, both textual and visual, on the archaic and classical
Greek world. More recently, the project has expanded into Latin texts and tools
as well as Renaissance materials. Concomitantly, the project has developed
new ways of presenting complex resources for electronic publication in formats
that facilitate the humanities focus of classics programs. A major project
goal has been the development of a framework to contain and make accessible
the huge collection of texts, images, plans, and maps that make up the library.
To better understand the problem to be addressed, one has only to think about
the inherent differences between searching through text and searching through
photos. The project is engaged in the ongoing gathering of materials and developing
of presentational modes for these materials, as well as improving the searching
and indexing tools that make the site usable as well as valuable. The exploration
of the archived materials for general readers and specialists alike is a primary
goal of the project. Even a cursory look at the site will show how well this
goal is met by the extensive searchable collection and the helpful tools for
understanding the materials.
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Starting Points in Perseus |
The Perseus site is quite extensive, but it is well organized and offers several beginning points to help initiate investigation of the resources contained therein.
