QUICK GUIDE

KEYBOARD CONVENTIONS

Conventions of Avro keyboard software followed for rendering the Bengali alphabet and conjunct letters (yuktakshar). The standard English keyboard may also be used and the text converted to Bengali following instructions on the page. Principles of transliteration as with Avro keyboard.

PRINCIPLES OF TRANSCRIPTION

Manuscript transcriptions appear automatically to the right of the images. Transcriptions of both manuscripts and printed material can be accessed by clicking on the icon in the 'Bibliography/See whole table' and 'Collation' sections
Cells without an or icon indicate items not obtained.
Some features of the text, such as spaces between speeches in drama, stanzas, and paragraphs have sometimes been standardized to suit the needs of the collation software. Misprints have usually been preserved.

Manuscript transcriptions are provided in two versions:

1. Page-by-page transcription of the whole manuscript volume, with signs to indicate changes, deletions, later insertions etc. by a set of symbols listed below.
2. Separate filtered transcriptions of each item in its final reading in that manuscript.

Material preceded by one or two asterisks indicates page numbers, titles, notes etc. added by the transcriber.

Sign	Note/Explanation
<text>	deleted text
{text}	inserted text
+++	illegible text
±text±	text whose position is uncertain
৲text3৲ text2 text2 text2 text 2 text2 ৴text1৴	text which has been transposed
[\text\]	underlined text
⋋text of version1⋋ ⋌text of version2⋌	two juxtaposed versions of the same text
≮text≯	stet: retention of text earlier marked for deletion
[~  ] OR [~]	If a note, comment, instruction etc. is placed in the margin, this marginalia is placed within square brackets [~  ]. The part of the main text against which it is located in the manuscript is indicated by the sign [~] at the beginning and end of that part.
<⋏⋏> OR {⋏text⋏} OR <⋎⋎> OR {⋎text⋎}	Where the original author/scribe has changed the position of a small amount of text (a sentence or less) using an arrow, line or asterisk If a section is moved upward, this sign is placed at the original point (without the text) <⋏⋏> This sign is placed at the destination point, enclosing the text {⋏text⋏} If a section is moved downward, this sign is placed at the original point (without the text) <⋎⋎> This sign is placed at the destination point, enclosing the text {⋎text⋎} If there are multiple cases of migration in a page, they have been numbered as <⋏1⋏>, <⋏2⋏>, <⋏3⋏> according to their sequence in the page.
⋀ OR ⋁	If the position of a large amount of text has been changed, the following sign is placed at the destination point if the text has moved upward: ⋀ and the following if it has moved downward: ⋁ In these cases, no sign is placed at the original location.
∟	A sign like ∟or a long vertical stroke in the original manuscript to indicate a line break or paragraph break has been recognized by moving the following section of the text to the next paragraph. The sign ∟ appears in the transcription at the start of this new paragraph.

BROWSE COLLECTION: MANUSCRIPTS

1. RBVBMS: the main series of manuscripts at Rabindra-Bhavana, Visva-Bharati
2. BMSF: the ‘Bengali Manuscript Files’ series at Rabindra-Bhavana, Visva-Bharati
3. EMSF; the ‘English Manuscript Files’ series at Rabindra-Bhavana, Visva-Bharati
4. HRVD: manuscripts in the Rothenstein Collection,  Houghton Library, Harvard University

Manuscript images and transcriptions can be accessed in two ways:

1. Manuscript-wise Index, listing the manuscripts serially and detailing the contents according to genre. Click on the manuscript number to view its images and transcript.
2. Title-wise index, showing all the manuscripts in which a particular work is included. Select a title using the alphabetical click-and-open menu, or by keying it into the search box. Then click on your selected manuscript number to open the images and transcription of the text as in that manuscript.

BROWSE COLLECTION: PRINTED BOOKS AND PERIODICALS

Use the drop-down menu to reach the language and category you want, then access the required title using the alphabetical click-and-open menu, or by keying the title into the search box. Click on the title to view the images.
This page is primarily meant for access to complete books and collections in volume form. It is simpler to access individual items through the ‘Bibliography’ page, which also offers some extra details.

We regret that a final batch of images of printed material (books and journals) from Rabindra-Bhavana was not made available to us. Some of the gaps have been filled through the kind co-operation of other partner institutions. However, a number of gaps remain despite our best efforts.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Item-wise display

1. Here, the opening page provides
   • a display of all initial letters of titles. Click on the letter you want, and then the particular title. A pop-up window will open with full bibliographical data about the title.
   • a box in which you can key in the title you want. A click will then open the same pop-up window with full data.
2. Click on the title of a version in the pop-up window to access the image of that version (plus transcription in case of manuscripts).
3. The default display of Poems and Songs is by title. Use the radio buttons on the left to sort them by first line, or by their grouping in the Collected Works (Rabindra-Rachanabali). For non-fiction, use the radio buttons to sort according to their grouping in the Collected Works (Rabindra-Rachanabali).

Colour code: In the pop-up window, entries in black indicate that the version is incorporated in the website. Entries in red indicate that the version is not incorporated: i.e., image, transcription and collation are not available.

B. Full display of all titles in that genre/category

This opens like a spreadsheet. The cells carry the following icons:

• In the left column, against the title: the collation icon
   
  . Click to access the collation program.
• In each cell:
  1. For manuscripts:
     • above the manuscript number, the icon
        
       to open the filtered or final text of that manuscript version (ignoring changes, deletions, insertions etc.)
     • below the manuscript number, the icon
        
       to open the image and the full transcription (showing all changes, deletions, insertions etc.)
  2. For printed texts:
     • the icon
        
       to access the image
     • the icon
        
       to access the plain text.
  3. the icon
      
     to access additional information, if any (e.g., special details about a manuscript, or instalment division of serial publications)

If there are no icons in any cell, it indicates we have not been able to obtain the images of that particular version, hence cannot provide any transcription or collation either.

Advice: Use the full display of all titles to access to the entire range of data concerning that title. Use the item-wise display for quick access to information on publication history plus the text of each version.

C. Additional Lists

Each genre in the Bengali: Integrated Checklist has a third item – ‘Additional Lists’. These include alternative or associated titles of works listed in the Bibliography under the title in the Visva-Bharati Rachanabali (Collected Works).

To search for an alternative title in these lists (e.g., ঝড়ের খেয়া for the poem beginning দূর হতে কী শুনিস, or ভারত-তীর্থ for the poem beginning হে মোর চিত্ত), press CTL+F (P.C.) or CMD+F (Mac) and type the title you want in the box that will open up. The browser will go to that specific title and highlight it.

For Bengali fiction, there is also a list of the contents of each short-story volume.

D. Timeline

The Bengali: Integrated Checklist has a Timeline which shows the dates of publications of journals and book-length volumes chronologically.

1. Click on the year or month in the opening page of this section. This opens a pop-up window showing, genre by genre, the titles published in that month or year. Click the boxes in the top left and right corners of this window to go to the previous or following month/year.
2. Click on the 'Search' button at the top of the page to open a toolbar. Choose a genre. Then choose a title from that genre to see its publication details alongside.

SEARCH

Operation

1. Select the search category from the drop-down menu.
2. Type the search item in the box on the opening page. For Bengali items, either use the Bengali keyboard, or use the Roman keyboard and press Enter or space bar. For English items, press CTL+M before keying in, so that the transliteration feature is turned off and the word remains in English.
3. Click the link giving the title and reference for each result to view the text of that work.
4. Press CTL+F (for PCs) or CMD+F (for Mac), and enter the search term in the window that will open. The search term will be highlighted in the text. For English items, press CTL+M before keying in

COLLATION

Levels of collation
Our software package ‘Prabhed’ carries out collation at three levels: ‘gross’ or macro-collation at Section and Segment levels, and ‘fine’ or micro-collation at Word level.

• Section. A section is a chapter of a novel or other long prose work, a scene in a long play, or a canto in a long poem. At this level, Prabhed will compare the sectional division of different versions of a text, and note their matches and differences. A short poem, song or essay will consist of a single section.
  NB: Owing to the division parameters used, parts of a single chapter, scene etc. separated by a blank line (e.g., stanzas of a poem embedded in a prose novel or drama) may sometimes appear as separate sections.
• Segment. A segment is a paragraph of a prose text, a single speech in a play, or a stanza of a poem. At this level, Prabhed will compare the corresponding segments of different versions of a text, and note their matches and differences. In most cases, matching segments occur within matching sections. However, matching segments in other sections are also recorded.
  A short poem or song without stanza division will appear as a single segment: i.e., here the section and segment will be identical.
• Word. At the most detailed level, Prabhed will compare all matching segments word for word and note their matches and differences.

How to use Prabhed:

1. Click ‘Collation’ on the home page menu bar. A bibliographical table will open.
2. Click the collation logo
    
   in the title column on the left. The Section-level display will open.

Section-level display:

1. The Section-level display consists of horizontal bands, each indicating the full text of one version (print or manuscript) of the work. The bands are colour-coded: each version has a different colour. The parts or blocks (‘slices’) into which each band is divided represent the sections (chapters, scenes, etc.) within the full text. These blocks are differently shaded in four light-to-dark gradations for easy viewing. The width of the block is proportionate to the bulk of that section within the full text.
   A short poem, song or essay consists of a single section, hence the band will not be divided but show as a uniform shade.
   The sections are numbered, starting with 0. E.g., 1316/0 means section 0 or the first section of the 1316 edition of the work. 1316/1 means section 1 or the second section of the 1316 edition.
2. Choose any version as the base for comparison by moving your mouse over the appropriate band. That band will be highlighted.
3. Now select and click on the part or block (‘slice’) representing the section you want to compare. The matching blocks in all the versions will be indicated by red underscoring. The number of that section in the base document will show in the top right corner.
4. A panel will appear at the bottom of the page, showing all matching sections with match percentages vis-à-vis the base. A text-link box will appear alongside each section number. Click it to see the text of that section in a pop-up window.
5. In the bottom panel, click the section and version of the base document (left-most entry) to open the Segment-level collation page using that version as base.
6. In the bottom panel, click any other document to open a colour-coded vertical panel to the right, showing segment-by-segment matches in that section between the base document and the one you have selected. The matching segments are linked by grey bands.

Segment-level display:

1. The Segment-level display operates in the same way as the Section-level display.
2. Open the Segment-level display as indicated in 5 above. You will see a colour-coded band standing for that section in your chosen base version. By clicking on it, you will see more such bands standing for matching sections in the other versions. The parts or blocks (‘slices’) within each band indicate the segments (paragraphs, speeches, stanzas etc.) into which it is divided.
   The width of the block is proportionate to the bulk of that segment within the full text.
   A short poem, song or essay consists of a single segment, hence the band will not be divided but show as a uniform shade.
   The segments are numbered, starting with 0. E.g., 1316/0/0 means the first segment of the first section of the 1316 edition of the work. 1316/1/0 means the first segment of section 1 or the second section of the 1316 edition. 1316/1/1 means the second segment of the second section.
3. Now click on the coloured part or block (‘slice’)  in the topmost band representing the segment in the base document that you want to compare with the others. The blocks standing for matching segments in all the versions will be underscored in red. The number of that segment in the base document will show in the top right corner.
4. A panel will appear at the bottom of the page, showing all matching segments and their respective match percentages vis-à-vis the base. A text-link box will appear alongside each segment number. Click it to see the text of that segment in a pop-up window.
5. Use the left and right arrows at the top right to move from block to block of a colour band, especially to reach narrow blocks difficult to pinpoint with the mouse.
6. Click the ‘Grid View’ box at the top right to see the collation results in the form of a grid or table. Here, the first column on the left gives the segment numbers in that section of the base document. The later columns show the match percentage in corresponding segments of the other versions, indicated as 1, 2, 3 etc. according to the position in the bottom panel of the previous segment-level colour display.
7. In the bottom panel, click the segment and version of the base document (left-most entry) to open the word-level ‘fine collation’ page using that version as base.

Word-level or fine collation:

1. The fine collation results appear in a four-pane display. The base document (with section and segment number) is indicated in the header. The other versions (with section and segment number) are listed in the left column outside the four-pane frame.
2. The top left pane gives the text of the segment being used as base.
3. The bottom left pane will display the text of any one other version. Select this version by clicking on its number in the left-column list.
4. The top right pane shows the text of the base segment, colour-coded to indicate its correspondence with the matching segments.
   • Black means the word is the same in all versions.
   • Red means the word is similar but not the same in one or more other versions. Click on the word to see the variant readings in the bottom right pane.
   • Blue means the word is found in the base version but not in one or more others. Click on the word to see a dot in the bottom right pane indicating which versions lack that word.
   • Green means the word is found in one or more other versions but not in the base version. Click on a green dot to see what the word is, and in which versions it is found, in the bottom right pane.
5. A dot means a word missing in the current version but with a word in the matching position in one or more other versions.