Conference tecrus::mormonism

    Great!  I happen to have a 1975 version of the B of M sitting on my
    desk.  I would be happy to take assignments for typing in chapters.
    
    Steve

    How would the study group work?  Would we enter our comments/
    questions?
    
    Paul

    Paul,
    
    Basically, I thought that I would post one chapter of the Book of Mormon
    per week.  The book sections (notes 310.* - 325.*) are reserved for 
    the actual text of each book in the Book of Mormon.  The sections of 
    notes (326.* - 341.*) are reserved for the actual discussions of each
    individual book.  This will probably fragment, but it is the only way 
    of avoiding reserving one note for each chapter (resulting in over 200
    notes).  
    
    As an example, Note 310.1 is for the first chapter of the book of 
    First Nephi.  Any comments/discussions about this chapter would take
    place in note 327.*.
    
    More information including a map of the Book of Mormon Study Group can 
    be found at the base note (309.0).
    
    Happy Reading,
    
    Frank

    I would like some input regarding the format of the text.  It would be
    nice if we had a way to use the $SEARCH command to call up a scripture
    for quick reference (ie. $SEARCH/WINDOW=20).  If the window is large 
    enough, you could see the verse(s) before and after the specified verse
    so that the scripture won't be taken out of context.
    
    I would really appreciate your input, so please feel free to make any
    suggestions as replies to this note.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Frank

    
    Steve Sherman has offered to help me type in the Book of Mormon
    (hooray!).  If anyone else would like to help, we still are taking 
    names of people who would like to volunteer to proofread or type in
    sections of the Book of Mormon.  
    
    Note: the proofreader should double-check that everything we write 
    is correct as written in the (pre-1979) Book of Mormon.
    
    Best Regards & happy reading,
    
    Frank 

    Hi Frank,
    
    Before you go and type in the whole Book of Mormon, you might want to
    consider what is going on on another network.  Right now, on the usenet
    mailing list, there is a discussion going on and assignments have been
    made so people on that list can type in the text of the BoM.  You might
    want to see about either getting on that list or using what they type
    in.  The goal right now is to have the whole thing done by April 6,
    1990 including proofreading.  The discussions have covered the
    legality of typing in the text and the copyright information.  Also the
    format of what the best way to have the text look after it is entered.
    
    I think it would be advantageous to get involved in this project if you
    can.  I, for one, would hate to see a duplication of effort on anyones
    part.  If you have questions or want information send mail to
    gilroy::"lds-request" and see what he says. 
    
    scott

    Hi Scott,
    
    Yes I am the same guy on usenet.  I joined usenet just a couple of
    weeks ago and tried to get a copy of the Book of Mormon in ascii format
    so that I could form a Book of Mormon Study Group in this notes
    conference.  Right now, there is a flurry of activity on usenet about
    typing in the Book of Mormon.  
    
    I spoke to Carl M. Johnson of the Copyrights & Permissions Office in
    Salt Lake City and was informed about the legalities of this project.
    I know that there are pirated copies of the Book of Mormon in ascii
    format and there is a discussion of the pros & cons of using this 
    material, but it would go against my conscience to use this material
    - hence my typing the chapters in.  I am up to 1 NE 7 and will continue
    until the text becomes publicly available.  If there is any shred of 
    doubt as to the question of the source, I won't use it.  It is just a
    matter of principle.  
    
    Right now, I am trying to figure a couple of things out like:
    
    1) How to reply to the people sending me mails.
    
    2) What VMS commands to give to be able to copy to/from these U**X 
       systems.  I noticed that someone had a KJV version of the bible,
       but I haven't figured out how to get at it yet.
    
    Anyways, if you have any answers to any of the above questions, please
    let me know.  It would be a great help to me.
    
    
    Bottom Line - I am going to continue with the Study Group rather than
                  wait for the usenet to complete typing their stuff in.
                  It wouldn't be fair to the people who have already
                  started participating in the BoM Study Group.
    
    
    Best Regards,
    
    Frank
    
    

    1) How to reply to the people sending me mails.
    
    You reply by sending mail to the user based on what is there address. 
    Some of them put there addresses in the message.  Since we are on
    E-net, we don't get to see who the message is from other than
    gilroy::"lds".  If someone wants to send me mail without having to go
    thru the lds mailing list, I think the message would look like
    username%path where path is a list of nodes to get to where he is at.
    
    2) What VMS commands to give to be able to copy to/from these U**X 
       systems.  I noticed that someone had a KJV version of the bible,
       but I haven't figured out how to get at it yet.
    
    To copy from the system is a little more difficult unless you have a
    U**X system.  What you can do is get someone to send it to you thru the
    gateway and then you can do what you want with it.  If it is compressed
    as text files on the usenet often are, there are some utilities that
    will uncompress them or you can have whoever is sending it to you
    uncompress it before they send it.  If you are on a U**X system its
    easy to get the files because you can login as an anonymous user and
    copy the files.
    
    FWIW, I'd get in on what the people on the usenet are doing and use
    that copy.  The format is nicer, it is probably even legal and it will
    get done faster.
    
    Hope this helps.
    
    scott
    

    
    Thanks Scott,
    
    Thanks for the good advice.  It really helped.
    
    When the works get finished, I will copy them to my account and then try 
    to find a permament home for them.
    
    For the present, I am going to continue typing in 1st Nephi.  
    I am up to chapter 8 in 1st Nephi and want to build up a small reserve
    of chapters so that we won't have to hold up the Book of Mormon Study
    Group while waiting for the usenet group to finish or if I go on
    training or vacation, etc.
    
    Thanks again for your help.
    
    Frank

Hi,

Just thought I would let you know how things are going in the Book of Mormon
Study Group.  

Actually, things are going pretty well.  I know you are waiting (patiently)
for the next chapter (17) of 1st Nephi which should be appearing in the
notes conference shortly.  Sorry for the irregularity of the postings, but
I have been on vacation for a while (and had _lots_ of work waiting for me
when I came back (& a couple of hundred mail messages)).  

More good news - particularly for those U**x fans out there.  I am also a 
member of Project Ironrod - a group (from the usenet lds conference) which 
is typing in the Book of Mormon so that it can be called up on the computer.
The format is somewhat different than what I have chosen for this notes 
conference.  The width of the text is about 40 characters.  However, it is
supposed be much easier to call up specific verses (via grep, etc) than my
style.  I have received a couple of books so far and it looks pretty good.
The rest should arrive in the next couple of weeks or so.  

When I have received the files, I will throw them in a sub-directory somewhere 
(node name is subject to change) & post the info here so you can copy them to 
your heart's content.  Also, I will create a couple of other directories - 
one to hold the on-line KJV bible and the DECWindows KJV bible which uses the
bookreader format.  I obtained both of these from the CHRISTIAN notes conference
which is located on IOSG::CHRISTIAN.  I'll post the location of the directory
in this note (309).

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to send me mail at
MUDIS3::WILLOUGHBY.

Bets Regards,

Frank