Robert Musil: Der literarische Nachlass WordCruncher

Currently, the contents of this CD are inaccessible.

Robert Musil: Der literarische Nachlass is a CD-ROM database containing the literary heritage of Robert Musil. The Nachlass has two points of entry for electronic searching: WordCruncher and PEP. This helpsheet describes WordCruncher's method for searching the Nachlass. The Electronic Text Center also offers a helpsheet on PEP's application to the Nachlass. You should be aware, however, that the WordCruncher approach is more user- friendly than that of PEP.

STARTING WORDCRUNCHER:

WordCruncher conducts searches upon databases stored on CD-ROMs or in individual files located on a disk drive. Since the Nachlass is stored on a CD- ROM, begin by inserting the required CD into the CD-ROM drive.
At the C:\> prompt, enter the command "cd wcs" [Enter], then "wcv" [Enter] to begin WordCruncher.
The computer will bring up an initial screen. The file that you are searching (MUSIL) will appear in a window in the upper left portion of the screen. You will see a window in the center top of the screen displaying numerical information about the file (number of words, lines, etc.).
Press Enter. You will get a list of options. You are now ready to search with WordCruncher.

General note: the "Esc" key retraces your search steps.

I. SEARCH FOR A WORD [1]:

a. Single word search:

You are interested in searching for occurrences of Musil's phrase Mann ohne Eigenschaften.

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

N.B. Searching is case-sensitive in WordCruncher (eg. a search for "mann" will not find "Mann"), but you do not need to type diacritics. If you wish to search for an umlauted vowel, type the plain vowel instead (eg. search "atzend" to find "ätzend"). For words spelled with an "ß," type the word with a single "s" (eg.: search "Strase" to find "Straße").

The screen tells you that Mann appears 2806 times in the Nachlass. Hit [Enter], and the screen will begin to display all 2806 immediate contexts, 3 at a time with 4-5 lines each. Hit [Enter] over any one of the displayed contexts, and the screen will give you an "Expanded Window," or a paragraph, as the word's context.

b. Double word search:

i. Combining searches:

2806 occurrences of Mann are far too many. Besides, they probably include many occurrences without ohne Eigenschaften.

You can combine words in a search by searching each word individually and then intersecting the search results. After you have searched Mann, you will see search options in the top left hand corner. Choose option "[F2] - Combine with other words."

The screen will rearrange itself into two vertical halves at the bottom. The left half will show you your last search word and result ("Mann," 2806). The right half will ask you to enter your next word. Enter "Eigenschaften." You will see the number of occurrences of "Eigenschaften" displayed in the right-hand screen (587), 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 Mann and Eigenschaften in either order (29).

ii. Changing search parameters:

Since the default distance between the combined words is within one line (Zeile), probably many instances of Mann ohne Eigenschaften were split and therefore not recognizable to WordCruncher. After searching for your second word, but before pressing [Enter], 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 "25" (to span Mann ohne Eigenschaften), your search will return only the combined results that show the words within few letters of each other (32). A quick glance at the results shows that the phrase Mann ohne Eigenschaften dominates 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 "Mann" (2806) and "Eigenschaften" (587) using the line-distance default option, the combined search will give you 29 occurrences within one line. However, if you expand your search parameter to 200 characters, your wider net will catch 53 occurrences. Further expansions to 300 and 1000 characters will catch 59 and 113 occurrences respectively.

c. Multiple word search:

A multiple word search simply intersects previous searches with a new one. If you wish to search "Mann" and "Eigenschaften" and "ohne," simply search "Mann" and "Eigenschaften" 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 "Mann" and "Eigenschaften" and their combined occurrences (59 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 "ohne," hit [Enter] once more to combine "ohne" with "Mann and Eigenschaften," and you will be presented with the number of occurrences of the three words within 300 characters of each other (35). As for the single word search, hit [Enter] to display the results.

II. USING WORDCRUNCHER TO PROVIDE A REFERENCE [2]:

REFERENCE provides access to specific sections of the text. This tool is simple to use, and quite self-explanatory. You must choose REFERENCE from the main menu, to which you can return by hitting the [Esc] key. After you choose REFERENCE [2], you will be given choices of Musil's Mappen, and, within those Mappen, pages (Seiten), and thenlines (Zeilen). Use the up and down arrows to scroll, hit [Enter] to choose, and [Enter] again to view the reference.

III. USING WORDCRUNCHER TO CONCORD [3]:

You must choose CONCORD from the main menu, to which you can return with the [Esc] key. CONCORD requires some preparation since the program conducts more complicated searches. When constructing a concordance, you must specify each of the following three categories:

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 harddrive.

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

To exit from WordCruncher, press "Esc" until you reach the main menu. Then press Shift-F10.