[luatex] critical editions and academic writing with current ConTeXt

[Talal Al-Azem]

Dear all,

This is my first post on this list, and I hope you all don't mind the question. I have read Dr Idris Hamid's 2007 Tug article on Oriental TeX, watched the 2007 River TV presentation, and just seen the recent 2010 presentation on Qur'anic typography. I have also done some searches on this mailing list, and read some of the (heated?) discussions regarding bidi using luatex + context, and likewise searched through the Context Garden a bit.

My question: could anyone recommend what I should read, on any website or forum, in order to begin learning how to typeset academic papers, books, and critical editions -- all of which may use both English and Arabic in the same document -- using luatex and context, as they stand now? Through a kind email by Mojca and Taco, I have been told that critical typesetting in mixed English and Arabic is currently possible. 

I have about 4 years of on-and-off experience using XeLaTeX, the Memoir package, and ednotes in LaTeX, and have typeset a mixed Arabic and English book. But I am currently preparing a thesis in English which includes critical editing of Arabic texts. I am running into some of the limitations of XeLaTeX with the Memoir, Bidi and ednotes packages, and Mojca suggested that perhaps ConTeXt might work.

I am  slightly daunted by the fact that there doesn't seem to be much in the way of manuals (print or digital) or centralised information for *this* purpose (i.e. typesetting with all the necessary critical apparatus of academic writing and editions).  Could anyone point me in the right direction of where to begin to learn? 

Many thanks in advance.

Kind regards,
Talal Al-Azem