A Study on Creation and Application of CBETA(Chinese Buddhist Electronic Texts Association) Electronic Tripitaka collection (Version 2007)
　
　In this age of heavy reliance on computer networking system for information exchange, the way people communicate and process data and knowledge has changed, which manifests in the unprecedented efficiency of such tasks as the acquisition, recording, organization, retrieval, display, and dissemination of newly created digitized information or electronic media. This approach is expected to substantially transform people's living environment, social structure and the development of civilization.
　　In history, we found religious literature had played a significant role in the development of technology applied in cultural media. For example, one of the earliest printed mattes in existence is the Buddhist Diamond Sutra (yr. 868), and another example is Gutenberg Bible (yr. 1455), the first book of movable type printing in Europe. Along with the development of printing technology, the rapid increase of printed matters, and the gradual prevalence of written materials, knowledge has pervaded in the society accordingly, and which allows the civilization of human beings to progress day by day to the extent of the so-called age of ‘knowledge explosion’ nowadays.
　　Buddhism was a religion of long-established tradition, and the amount of its related materials and knowledge is as vast as the sea, which sometimes seems inaccessible. Take the publication of Buddhist scriptures for example, soon after the passing of the Buddha, the first Council was held at Rajagaha (today's Rajgir), convened by Mahakassapa the Elder, and then the second and the third councils were held at Vesālī (BC 280) and at Pātaliputra (today's Patna; BC251) respectively. The ways and contents of the Buddhist councils reflect the backgrounds of their ages. Taking an overall view of the current century, we see the publication and translation of Buddhist scriptures being undertaken constantly, which significantly contributes to the dissemination of Buddhist knowledge and the internationalization of Buddhist studies. The situation also reflects how Buddhism has become more and more popular. However, currently, near the end of the century, due to the world's heavy reliance on computer networking system, or the Internet, there are increasing needs for digitized Buddhist scriptures or the electronic Buddhist Text in the public, and subsequent plans for digitizing and creating databases of Buddhist texts are emerging one after another in its original languages of Pali, Sanskrit, and translations of Chinese and Tibetan, etc.
　Among them, the Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association (http://www.cbeta.org) was founded on Feb 15, 1998 to assume the production (including tasks of input, collation, mark-up, processing of out-of-list characters, and search system etc.) of the Chinese electronic Buddhist Text, based on Taisho Tripitaka (Daizo Shuppansha©) Vol. 1- 851, and Shinsan Zokuzokyo (Kokusho Kankokai ©) Vol. 1- 90, under official grant for input and distribution by the copyright holders2 (as stated above). The Text is being shared on the Internet and distributed yearly in CDs. The most recent CBETA Chinese Electronic Tripitaka Collection Version 2007 has been published on Mar 10, 2007 and is being distributed in CDs (containing Taisho Tripitaka Vol. 1-55 & 85, and Shinsan Zokuzokyo Vol. 1-88).
This report introduces the following topics: Creation Procedure and Related Techniques for CBETA Chinese Electronic Tripitaka Collection, CBETA Taishō techniques digitizing multiple versions, features of CBETA Chinese Electronic Tripitaka Collection Version 2007, CBReader V3.6 user interface, options set-up in the CBReader, scripture search and full text search, tagging and external connections, and application of modern punctuation system in CBETA. From these discussions, we hope we can find the possibilities of a working group for the Integrated Buddhist Archives, likes Indra's net for Buddhist Studies. The working group would serve as a forum where various forms of cooperation can be explored, especially ways to connect our archives and depositories to serve their content to an ever wider audience.