Search the TLG and PHI databases

How do I search the TLG database (or PHI, etc.)?
The simplest answer to this question is that if you are a member of an institution that has a license to the TLG Online, then (so long as you are on-site and have half-decent web access) that is by far the best way to search the texts of the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae.

(UPDATE: there appears to be a beta version of the PHI Greek inscriptions online at http://erga.packhum.org/inscriptions/ . This is currently free, although I cannot guarantee that it will remain so, or even remain available. We shall post more news on this when we learn it.)

If you do not have access to the online TLG, however, or if you are interested in searching one of the Packard Humanities Institute discs of documentary papyri and inscritions (PHI 7.0) or Latin texts (PHI 5.3), then you should be aware that the CDs on which these texts are served do not contain software with which to read or search said data.

If you run a Windows PC (or a Classics Mac--OS 9 or lower) then many of the software applications listed on the TLG Software Page may be appropriate. Most of these are commercial products that require purchasing, although some are cheap or even free. (Several tools are reviewed in a recent BMCR article at http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2005/2005-05-07.html .)

If you run Mac OSX or Linux, then you may like to try the free search tool Diogenes, which is not listed on the TLG page. MacOSX users may also be able to run the HyperCard software package Pandora using either the Classic system 9.2 emulator, or a HyperCard emulator such as Runrev's Dreamcard (though I should disclose that I haven't managed to make the latter work yet, GB).

to be continued