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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dear RST List members:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This messages announces some changes in the RST
website, <A
href="http://www.sil.org/linguistics/RST">http://www.sil.org/linguistics/RST</A>.
There have been some small changes that simplify the site, but the major change
is new access to the definitional description of RST, and new examples for the
relations.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As many of you are aware, the definitive
publication on RST was an article in <EM>Text</EM> 8(3), in 1988. This
paper has turned out to be very hard to access for many people.
Also, because of space limitations when it was produced, some of it was much
briefer than it could have been. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>That paper was derived (almost entirely by
selective deletion) from a much longer report, a research report submitted
to the sponsors (DARPA, NSF and AFOSR). </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<UL>
<LI><FONT face=Arial size=2>That report is now available in several
forms. It can be purchased on paper or microfiche from the U.S.
government. Details are now on the website and also below.
It can also be purchased from distribution organizations in several European
and Asian countries. </FONT></LI></UL>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<UL>
<LI><FONT face=Arial size=2>It can be viewed on the website in a kind of
electronic form. (Unfortunately, the electronic text sources have been
lost, and the diagrams were never electronic. This form is in page
scans, which are somewhat awkward, but <U>it is all there</U>.) Look for
a new line on the home page: <FONT face=Arial>Access to RST
Documentation. </FONT></FONT></LI></UL>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<UL>
<LI><FONT face=Arial size=2>The set of images can be downloaded in a zip file
from the same part of the website. </FONT></LI></UL>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><STRONG>Examples</STRONG> of the use of all of the
relations have been added, adjacent to the relation definitions.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In the time since the website was designed,
Internet access and search engine capabilities have changed dramatically.
Because access is now so good, keeping the <U>bibliographies</U> up to date is
no longer being attempted. The bibliographies that exist will remain on the
website. A much more current array of items can be found by giving
Google or some other engine a search string such as</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=center><FONT face=Arial size=2>"RST Mann Thompson
Rhetorical"</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=center><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dozens of RST-related publications
continue to appear each year, so the search engines have a particularly up to
date view. Citation index tools are still effective. RST-related
work can be found through both <EM>Science Citation Index </EM>and
<EM>Social Science Citation Index.</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>If you encounter any problems with
accessing the report or with the content of the website, please let me
know. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Happy reading. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Bill Mann</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2>=======================================================================</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Here are details on purchasing the
report:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<P>The report is identified as follows:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<UL type=square>
<LI>Title: Rhetorical Structure Theory: A Theory of Text Organization
<LI>Authors: William C. Mann and Sandra A. Thompson
<LI>Reporting Organization: University of Southern California, Information
Sciences Institute (ISI)
<LI>Date: June 1987
<LI>Report number ISI/RS-87-190
<LI>NTIS Identifying Number ADA 183038 </LI></UL></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV> It is available from the National Technical Information Service
(NTIS). They can be telephoned at (703) 605-6000, or toll free in the USA and
certain other places at 800-553-6847. They can be contacted by email at
<B>helpdesk@ntis.gov </B>or on the net at <A
href="http://www.ntis.gov/">http://www.ntis.gov/. </A>Their identification
number for this report is ADA 183038. In the USA, the microfiche form of this
report costs about $25; a paper copy is $44.50. Ordering from the US office for
overseas delivery, the paper form of this report costs about $80. <BR></DIV>
<P></P>
<DIV>The report can also be purchased from NTIS partner organizations'
distribution sites in Canada, Denmark, Finland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan,
Korea, The Netherlands, Sweden and Taiwan. Details are available on the web site
above -- look for <B>International Distribution. </B>Prices are probably
different at those sources. </DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>===============<BR>William C. Mann<BR><A
href="mailto:bill_mann@sil.org">bill_mann@sil.org</A></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>