(This is written by a dear friend of ours in Arizona--a faithful follower of Christ and Christian Science--who thought it might be helpful to many of you readers.)
There is a new computer tool available for serious students of Christian Science who wish to "mine" the early periodicals called "The Ark." The program is produced by ArkPublications.com. It is a computerized reproduction of the Christian Science Journals from 1883 to 1922 (vols.1-40). The Christian Science Sentinels from 1898 to 1922 (vols. 1-25) and The Christian Science Quarterly from 1905 to 1922 (vols. 15-33). All the articles are public domain material and can be copied or used in any manner desired. The software is contained on a portable USB falsh drive which can be inserted into a computer's USB port (USB 2.0 preferred but supports USB 1.0) and installs easily on either a PC or MAC platform. The material is an exact reproduction of the actual volumes. Journal and Sentinel volumes can be searched by keywords including title and author. You can print the articles or selections for convenient study or you can e-mail them to friends. The Quarterlies are exact reproductions including the text of Golden Text and Responsive Readings with citations only for the body of the Lesson Sermon. (Citations can of course be typed into Concord for a full-text printout if desired.)
Purchase of the program includes authorization to use the program from the ArkPublications.com anywhere in the world. The program is available through Longyear Museum with a retail price of $250.00. Our copy arrived yesterday (3-12-09) and was easily installed in just minutes, including registration at the ArkPublications.com. The User Guide is very complete and well laid out. We were able to use the program immediately to look up both specific articles as well as to search for particular authors. We easily e-mailed an article to ourselves and printed it out. Printing directly from the program is easy as well.
It appears The Ark will be invaluable in searching and studying the early periodicals and is highly recommended for any serious student.
