Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Quick Summary of the Basics
   • Selecting a Database
   • Straightforward Searching
   • Complex Searching
   • Displaying the Results
   • Printing
   • Looking up a Text
   • Exiting the Program
3. The Databases
4. Formulating Search Requests
   • Grammatical Variants
   • Alternative Forms
   • Negating Search Components
   • Specifying Distances between Words
   • Words in Varying Order
   • Expressions Within a Single Sentence, Paragraph, or Document
   • Easy [vs. Regular] Searches
   • Tips on Formulating Requests
5. Searching
6. Displaying Search Results
7. Displaying Full Texts
8. Working with Multiple Texts
9. Printing
10. Saving your Results
11. Biographies
12. Appendix: List of Databases

Introduction: Responsa

The Responsa Project of Bar-Ilan University has been a twenty-year endeavor to compile an electronic database of Jewish scriptural texts. Currently the collection stands at over 400 volumes, making it the largest of its kind in the world. The database includes the Tanach and its commentators, the Babylonian Talmud with Rashi's commentary, the Jerusalem Talmud, Rambam, Midrashim and a wide range of Responsa, spanning a period of about a thousand years. While the project is ongoing by nature, as of 1994 the complete holdings had been made available on CD-ROM. This resource is one of those available to you at LETRS.

N.B. In this QuickGuide, we'll be trying to address a wide range of Biblical scholars, with varying degrees of Judaic knowledge and linguistic expertise. To this end, the Guide is linked throughout to a glossary of major terms, which will be available to you as needed.

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Last Updated: 4/29/96
URL: http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/help-services/QuickGuides/bar-ilan/about-barilan.html
Comments: Library Electronic Texts Resource Service / LETRS@indiana.edu.
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