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Kant's gesammelte Schriften

This program currently does not work on the center's computers.

I. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF STRUCTURE AND CONTENT:

WordCruncher is a software tool that performs searches on other databases. For the sake of this helpsheet, the CD-ROM Kant's gesammelte Schriften will be the database underlying the WordCruncher searches. The Kant's gesammelte Schriften database, as the name suggests, contains Immanuel Kant's collected works (in German).

II. STARTING UP KANT'S GESAMMELTE SCHRIFTEN:

  1. Place the Kant's gesammelte Schriften disc in the CD-ROM tray of the PC. (Press the button just beneath the CD-ROM tray to open and close the tray.)

  2. Click on the Start menu (in the lower left-hand corner of the screen). Move to Programs, and then click on the Kant icon (near the end of the list of available programs).

  3. The WordCruncher program will launch and access the Kant's gesammelte Schriften CD-ROM.

  4. An initial screen for WordCruncher will appear, displaying word-count and other data about the Kant's gesammelte Schriften database. Press the Return key to continue.

  5. A Main Menu screen will appear displaying a list of options for searching the database. You are now ready to begin searching Kant's gesammelte Schriften.

III. USING KANT'S GESAMMELTE SCHRIFTEN:

The search options presented in the Main Menu are as follows:

  • [1] WORDS: Search for a word or combination of words.
  • [2] REFERENCE: Look up a specific reference or browse Kant's works.
  • [3] CONCORD: Create a concordance or index.

Press the number key (the regular number keys, not the function keys) corresponding to the option you want.

Also, at any time while using WordCruncher you can:

  • Use the Esc key to retrace your steps back through any screens you have viewed.
  • Press Alt-F10 to return to the Main Menu.
  • Press F9 to view a help screen relevant to what you're currently viewing.
  • Press Shift-F9 to view a chart of the function key assignments.
  • Press Shift-F10 to exit the WordCruncher program.

NOTE: A WordCruncher printed manual is available in the Etext Center. Although the instructions given there will not be specific to the Kant's gesammelte Schriften database, the manual contains detailed information on using WordCruncher. If you wish to refer to this manual, just ask an Etext Center assistant.

1. USING WORDCRUNCHER TO SEARCH FOR A WORD OR COMBINATIONS OF WORDS:

a. Single word search:

You are interested in searching for occurrences of Kant's phrase Ding an sich. From the Main Menu, press the 1 key to initiate a word search.

You begin with a single word search for Ding. In the "words" window in the upper-right corner of the screen, you will see all the indexed words of the Kant CD-ROM in alphabetical order. To get to Ding, simply type "ding" and the cursor will immediately move to it through the alphabet.

The screen tells you that Ding appears 269 times in KANT. Hit [Enter], and the screen will begin to display all 269 search results with 3 lines of immediate context. Hit [Enter] over any one of the displayed contexts, and the screen will give you an "Expanded Window" containing a complete section of the text in which the search result occurs.

b. Double word search:

i. Combining searches:

269 occurrences of Ding are still too many. Moreover, they probably include many occurrences without an sich.

You can combine words in a search by searching each word individually and then intersecting the search results. After you have searched Ding, you will see search options in the top left hand corner. Choose option "[F2] - Combine with other words." (If you have explored the search results, press Esc until you return to the search screen, and then press F2.)

The screen will rearrange itself into two vertical halves at the bottom. The left half will show you your last search word and result ("ding," 269). The right half will ask you to enter your next word. Enter "sich." You will see the number of occurrences of "sich" displayed in the right-hand screen (12642), and the boxed command "Press [Enter] to combine lists" will appear above the split screens. [Enter] will display the calculated number of common instances of Ding and sich in either order (66).

ii. Changing search parameters:

Since the default distance between the combined words is within one screen line, probably many instances of Ding an sich were split and therefore were not recognizable to WordCruncher. Look at the top left hand corner of the screen: there you will see a small menu with 3 options for the combined search: operation (both/and), order, and distance between words. To expand or contract the distance between words searched in combination, choose option [C] of the three offered ("[C] and within ---- characters"). Then type in the number of characters spanning the words. The program seems to accept an unlimited 4-digit number. (I have only tested this option up to 1000.) If you enter "10" (to span Ding an sich), then your search will return only the combined results that show the words within few letters of each other (49). A quick glance at the results shows that the phrases Ding an sich and sich das Ding dominate the sample.

You can also expand the search to stretch beyond the line parameter. By expanding your search parameter, you can cast a wider net for combinations. For example, if you search "ding" (269) and "object" (533) using the line-distance default option, the combined search will give you 2 occurrences within one line. However, having expanded your search parameter to 200 characters, your wider net will catch 15 occurrences. Likewise, an expansion to 300 characters will catch 19 occurrences, and 1000 characters catch 50 occurrences.

c. Multiple word search:

A multiple word search simply intersects previous searches with a new one. If you wish to search "ding" and "sich" and "object," simply search "ding" and "sich" using the method above for a double word search. Then hit "[F2] - Combine with other words" once more. This will reproduce the split left/right screens below. The left screen will now contain data for both "ding" and "object" and their combined occurrences (19 within 300 characters), thus treating your last combined search as a search for one word. Your right screen will again ask you to add a new element for search and combination. Enter "sich," hit [Enter] once more to combine "sich" with "ding and object," and you will be presented with the number of occurrences of the three words within 300 characters of each other (14). As for the single word search, hit [Enter] to display the instances.

2. USING WORDCRUNCHER TO LOOK UP A REFERENCE (BROWSE):

REFERENCE provides access to specific sections of the text. You can look up a particular section of Kant's works and read it on-screen. This tool is simple to use, and quite self-explanatory. From the Main Menu, press the 2 key to choose the REFERENCE option. You will be given choices of Kant volumes, and, within those volumes, pages, and then lines. Use the up and down arrows to scroll, hit Enter to choose, and Enter again to view the reference.

3. USING WORDCRUNCHER TO CREATE A CONCORDANCE:

From the Main Menu, press 3 to choose CONCORD. This option requires some preparation since the program conducts more complicated searches. When constructing a concordance, each of the following three categories must be specified:

  1. "Format style" specifies the context in which the information is presented, and the amount of text that surrounds the keyword. E.g., "Keyword in line."

  2. "Word source" defines the range words that will be used in the search. The screen will offer you the CD-ROM's word index to scroll through once more.

  3. "Destination" defines where the information will appear. In most cases, option 2 "DOS text file (formatted)" is the appropriate selection, since it displays the search results on the screen and will save them to a file on the computer's c-drive.

Once these three categories are set, press Enter. The computer will conduct the search and will list the results on the screen.

4. PRINTING AND SAVING

Press the F6 key and follow the on-screen prompts. The Save feature works better than the Print feature, and it may well be preferable to Save to a file, edit the file, and then print out the results.

IV. EXITING KANT'S GESAMMELTE SCHRIFTEN AND REMOVING THE CD-ROM:

  1. To exit from WordCruncher at any time, press Shift-F10, then press Return to confirm that you wish to exit. The WordCruncher program will quit, returning you to the Windows desktop.

  2. Remove the Kant's gesammelte Schriften disc from the CD-ROM tray (by pressing the button just beneath the tray). Please place the disc in its case and return it to an Etext Center assistant.