Jan. 14th, 2004 02:22 pm
Treasure hunt
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muckefuckLet me start by stating the blatantly obvious:
The best thing about the Internet is that the barriers to entry are so low that you have people posting about everything. The bad thing about the Internet is that the barriers to entry are so low that many people who post do so very badly.
Yesterday, I had a straightforward question about a rather recherché subject: What is the past participle of the Gothic verb latjan? As it turns out, an online utility exists to answer precisely that question.
It wasn't working yesterday and still isn't today.
No matter, some American professor is putting up free Gothic lessons! Whoo-hoo!
But there's no table of contents (just "Lesson 1", "Lesson 2", etc.) or index and it turns out that the lesson I need hasn't been webified yet.
Still, there are other choices! Like this site that everyone points to--
--which is in itty-bitty eyestrain type and omits the crucial bits of information I need!
Other people who are scanning in classic reference grammars also haven't gotten to the part on participles yet. One guy has a site on what Gothic might look like had it survived into the modern age. Very entertaining, but not what I'm seeking right now.
In the end, I was cast back on old-fashioned papery things. Ten minutes in the stacks, and my question was answered: latida. Knowing that, what did I do next? Get dinner!
The best thing about the Internet is that the barriers to entry are so low that you have people posting about everything. The bad thing about the Internet is that the barriers to entry are so low that many people who post do so very badly.
Yesterday, I had a straightforward question about a rather recherché subject: What is the past participle of the Gothic verb latjan? As it turns out, an online utility exists to answer precisely that question.
It wasn't working yesterday and still isn't today.
No matter, some American professor is putting up free Gothic lessons! Whoo-hoo!
But there's no table of contents (just "Lesson 1", "Lesson 2", etc.) or index and it turns out that the lesson I need hasn't been webified yet.
Still, there are other choices! Like this site that everyone points to--
--which is in itty-bitty eyestrain type and omits the crucial bits of information I need!
Other people who are scanning in classic reference grammars also haven't gotten to the part on participles yet. One guy has a site on what Gothic might look like had it survived into the modern age. Very entertaining, but not what I'm seeking right now.
In the end, I was cast back on old-fashioned papery things. Ten minutes in the stacks, and my question was answered: latida. Knowing that, what did I do next? Get dinner!