RE: Ladino Database

[Joel Bresler <jbresler...>]

Hi, Reyzl.

I am only entering the Ladino and hebrew song titles into the database,
with rare exceptions. If a recording has Yiddish songs, I am not entering
them.

There is no standard orthography for Ladino (aka Judeo-Spanish, aka
Judezmo, Espaniolit, etc., etc.) and also no agreed song title list. So I
know this part of the database will be messy, but I don't have the time,
knowledge or patience at this point to try and crack the issue.

Best, Joel

At 02:25 PM 11/18/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Critically important for anyone creating a database that contains Yiddish
material -  learn the YIVO transliteration system or you will have a whole
mess.   You will also not realize that what you have at home may already
easily exist on some online data base, only because you didn't know how to
write the word correctly.   You saw here earlier this year someone who was
looking for a common Yiddish song, but because she didn't transliterate or
transcribe it correctly she couldn't find it in any common Yiddish song
book or even on web sites that follow the official transliteration rules,
e.g., Bob Freedmans.   When I pointed the problem out to her succinctly and
directly and transcribed it correctly for her, some one who doesn't know me
from Adam said that I was a nasty person.   It may be silly to stress this
technical issue on this list, but I hope that you are wiser person.   
>
>Write to YIVO and ask for a copy of the Transliteration rules to be sent
to you.  I wish the rules were somewhere on the web, but they aren't on yet
as far as I know.   Furthermore, know that people from Spanish or French
speaking countries, will transliterate Yiddish differently than English
speakers, but the YIVO system is built on an international linguistic
system with direct correspondence to Yiddish spelling so that those rules
should apply to all Yiddish words written in the Roman alphabet, no matter
the dialect of the speaker.
> 
>
>Reyzl Kalifowicz-Waletzky
> 
>
>----------
>From:  robert wiener[SMTP:wiener (at) mindspring(dot)com]
>Sent:  Wednesday, November 18, 1998 10:36 AM
>To:  World music from a Jewish slant.
>Cc:  jbresler (at) ultra(dot)net
>Subject:  Ladino Database
>
>Joel:
>
>             Wow!  It seems like quite a project.  I have an old 4x6 card
>catalogue that I stopped once I anticipated that computers could create a
>database more efficiently.  (Would that be 15 years ago?)  Unfortunately,
>I've never taken that step and now 1/2 of my LPs and all of my cassettes and
>CDs are uncatalogued.  So I'd appreciate advice from any list members.
>
>             Can you (and others) share with us your experience and
>recommendations for such a venture?  What software to use, how to set it up
>(e.g., what information/fields to include), transliteration
>consistency...?  For those of you who have created databases for Yiddish or
>Hebrew, did you do it in both that language and English?
>I've heard of programs that read CD information on
>the CD-rom.  Do you know of them?  I've also heard of some databases of
>recordings that you can use as a source so that you don't have to do all the
>entries yourself -- it seems that you electronically check off the albums
>you own.  Has anyone used them?  Would a scanner help in downloading the
>information?  What sort of hardware do you need (for example, for a
>collection of about 4,000 LPs, 2,000 CDs, and 1,000 cassettes?  What do you
>wish that you had known before you began the project (in addition to how
>much time it would take)?  Are there any resources for funding such a
>venture?
>
>             Thanks,
>             Bob
>
>


Joel Bresler
250 E. Emerson Rd.
Lexington, MA 02420 USA

Home:   781-862-2432
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