Project Gutenberg News

Over 3 Million Items Feted At World eBook Fair

Project Gutenberg, The World Public Library, The Internet Archive, and ebooksabouteverything are proud to sponsor the fourth edition of The World eBook Fair.

July 4 – August 4 at http://www.worldebookfair.org

eBook readers will have over 2 million to pick from:

~1.5 million from http://www.archive.org
~ .5 million from http://www.worldpubliclibrary.org
~ .13 million from http://ebooksabouteverything.com
~ .11 million from the various Gutenberg servers
~ .01 million from various other eBook sites
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~2.5 million eBooks Grand Total

Please note that archive.org and PG etc. have many audio files, movies, music files, etc. with totals of an additional ~.5 million files.

Grand Total: ~3.1 million Files of all Kinds Many of these eBooks are available for cellphones.

Approximately 1,000 titles will be added each week.

Contact information:

If you have any questions, or seek further materials, an interview or would like to confirm the schedule or contents please feel free to contact the following:

Michael S. Hart
Founder, Project Gutenberg

405 W. Elm, Urbana, IL 61801
hart@pglaf.org
hart@pobox.com
US Phone 217-344-6623
Cellphone 808-295-0615

Gregory B. Newby
CEO, Project Gutenberg

gbnewby@pglaf.org
US Phone 907-450-8663
http://www.gutenberg.org

John Guagliardo
Director, World Public Library
Director, World Public Library

Honolulu, Hawaii
john@gutenberg.cc
US Phone 808-292-2068
http://www.worldpubliclibrary.org

Catherine Hodge
eBooks About Everything

info@ebooksabouteverything.com
US Phone 760-327-5100
http://ebooksabouteverything.com

The Internet Archive
http://www.archive.org/details/texts

eBooks Readable By Both Humans And Computers Since 1971

It’s been another fantastic year at Project Gutenberg with yet many more landmarks and milestones to add to an ever increasing list.

The Complete “CIA World Factbooks”

The latest project to be completed is “The CIA Factbook,” complete, from 1990 to 2008. It has been many years of hunting to get all the years, and even more to reformat the files from their originals to something easier to search. The CIA Factbook 2008 is still officially in flux until July 1, or thereabouts, so it is being held in PrePrints.

On July 1, the new 2009 edition will be authorized, but it usually doesn’t appear until Aug, Sep, or even Oct. Sometimes new editions are released without any real announcement, so please do get in touch as soon as you hear about it. This way we can get it into our archives with as little delay as possible.

Note: We are still searching for the pre-1990 CIA Factbooks. If anyone can locate these editions it would be greatly appreciated if you could get in touch.

Project Gutenberg Is Now A Firefox Plugin

Yes you read that right! Project Gutenberg now has a Search Plugin for the ever popular FireFox web browser.

Installation is very easy. Visit the Project Gutenberg FireFox Search Plugin page at Mozilla, click the big ‘Add to FireFox‘ button and follow the directions. Very cool!

Continue Reading »

This is a follow up to the previous newsletter release from Michael Hart requesting volunteers to help with error correction in PG text’s. As a response to Michael’s request a new page has been set up on the PG Wiki: ErrorCorrection.

PG is currently using a Request Tracker (RT) ticketing system for dealing with errata but the Wiki post also talks of the possibility of setting up a new Error Correction Team (ECT) that would handle all aspects of the process.

The ECT would take an errata ticket from the RT system, locate the lines in the file for correction, also using the Tinsley trio of checks: Gutcheck, Jeebies and Gutspell (as do our regular contributors), which pick up many additional errors beyond the errata reports. Once the ETC has finished they would pass this along to the Whitewashers, who would make their normal checks after which they would upload the file to the Gutenberg archive.

There are currently 1,100 open tickets in the system and the Wiki page suggests that if we can get 30-40 volunteers to do 1 hour a week, we could fix those in one year. Of course, if we can get more volunteers working more than one hour per week, then it would take only a handful of months!

One suggestion from the Wiki and on Chris Gray’s Blog, is to get the Distributed Proofreaders involved in the error correction process. I completely agree. There is already a huge community involved with the DP and I feel it would be perfect to move the correction process to their own established system.

Either way, it’s great to see progress on this subject

PG Mobile is going to be a new addition to gutenberg.org, which will allow mobile/cell phone users to download and read eBooks. The files will be available on the normal download page of any PG eBook. Here is the full Press Release.

Look For PG Mobile – Project Gutenberg’s Mobile Edition

Why using Amazon’s proprietary Kindle when you can use your mobile phone instead? Today’s cell phones offer excellent screens and massive computing power to ensure best reading comfort. Mobile books do not weigh much and you can carry them with you wherever you are. Each Java / MIDP 2.0 enabled cell phone is sufficient – the most common computing platform in the world: There are by far more cell phones shipped worldwide than personal computers.

PG Mobile is a software that transfers the plain text format provided by Project Gutenberg onto small handset screens – together with all the features known from physical books like turning pages, page numbers and bookmarks. Just download the PG Mobile version of any eBook and read it on your phone: All Project Gutenberg mobile eBooks will soon be available for download as an additional file format in the download section of each Gutenberg title on Gutenberg.org. Stay tuned!

PG Mobile is based on the common Java file format (JAR) readable on nearly all mobile handsets. The superior features of the PG Mobile reader offer benefits like landscape mode and bookmarks, among many others. There’s no book size limit, the book size is only limtated by the individual capabilities of your handset.

All mobile books can be downloaded as Java-applications and can then later be installed on the cell phone by using Bluetooth, serial connection, infrared or data cable. Additionally it will be possible to install the books directly over the air by using WAP: Just browse to Gutenberg.org and click on the JAR-link. And soon the mobile book will automatically be installed on your phone.

Please visit the homepage of the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation: www.gutenberg.org.

PG Mobile developed by QiOO Interactive, PG Mobile – JAR-book Technology by QiOO Interactive, www.qioo.com.

QiOO Interactive is the first producer of free mobile books worldwide. As a result of a university spin-off project at the Institute of Electronic Business e.V., www.ieb.net, the first mobile books were created in summer 2003.

So here we are, just 10 days to go before SonyStyle.co.uk and Waterstones.com start shipping out those lovely new PRS-505’s to all us UK residents!

This is going to be the first E-Ink reader from one of the big boys to enter the UK market . The Sony Reader has been getting substantial coverage in mainstream media of late, so it will be interesting to see what the take up will be. If forums such as MobileRead are anything to go by then there will be quite a demand.

Don’t know what the Sony Reader Digital Book (PRS-505) is?

The Sony Reader is an electronic book reader that uses an E-Ink screen to give a paper like reading experience. The Reader can hold around 160 books in its 250MB internal memory, but by using the two memory slots (10GB) you could potentially hold 10,000 books. If you don’t think you could fill this then remember that the Gutenberg.org archives have over 20,000 English language books to download for free!!

Another advantage for the Reader is its battery life. According to Sony, you can get 7,500 page turns on each charge. I’ve not tested that number, but in real life terms I charge mine [PRS-500] just once every couple of weeks.

I bought my PRS-500 when I was in the U.S. at the end of 2006 and have had almost 2 years of use. I’ve read many PG books and find it gives a great reading experience. The new Reader, with its much brighter and faster screen, should give an even better reading experience..

Sony Reader Books

For its UK release, Sony have partnered with Waterstones, the highstreet book store, who will have an online catalogue of over 25,000 titles when they go live. It is believed that the Waterstones books will be in the .epub book format.

ePub is a new eBook standard that is being adopted by publishers, professionals and amateurs alike (You can think of ePub as the book equivalent of MP3 music files.)

Sony also have their own book format, BBeB and you can also read PDF, MS Word, Plain TXT and RTF files, as well as view popular image formats such as .jpg.

The Sony Reader is available to order online at Waterstones.com and SonyStyle.co.uk for £199

Great news for all us UK based eBook lovers. Sony are finally releasing their Reader Digital Book (PRS-505) to the UK market!

Sony have partnered with the UK book store Waterstones, who will start selling the Reader from 3rd September 2008 for £199 – available for Pre-Order (see below). This costs a little more than the U.S. version, which sells for $299 (approx. £150). Now we are seeing eBook readers entering the high street let’s hope the prices will start tumbling.

The Reader uses an E-Ink Screen, which gives the user a paper like reading experience. You can store around 160 books in the memory and the battery will last for around 6,800 page turns. I myself have the older PRS-500 model and probably only have to charge it once every couple of weeks.

If you are concerned about buying Sony’s propriety eBook format then not to worry, you can also read ePub formatted books as well as PDF files. The .epub format is fast becoming an industry standard and many publishers are releasing their titles in this format, Penguin and HarperColins are just two publishers.

You will be able to buy books from both the Sony Connect store and Waterstones.com – all the titles sold at Waterstones will be in the ePub format. There are now a number of software and hardware readers which support the ePub format, so all your purchases will be readable in the years to come, no matter which hardware you then have.

If you wish to read public domain books there are plenty of sites; Feedbooks.com have all their titles available for free and in the ePub format.

All the Project Gutenberg eBooks can be read on the Sony Reader. Just download any .txt file and drag onto you reader using the provided software – it really is that easy.

In the future we are hopeful that Sony will release their Reader in other European countries; perhaps Germany will be next.

Where to buy the Sony Reader Digital Book online in the U.K.
Waterstones.com – available in Silver (PRS-505/SC) for £199
SonyStyle.co.uk – available in Silver (PRS-505/SC) for £199

A Million Plus Books Free for the Taking!

July 4 2008

The Third Annual World eBook Fair Starts July 4th.

“Own Your Own Library” is the theme of this year’s World eBook Fair.

Starting July 4th you will be able to do just that in an unprecedented opportunity to download books in the widest variety ever available.

Visit www.worldebookfair.org to get started.

Project Gutenberg and partner sponsors encourage readers to create the “personal library” of their choice in a “personal computer.”  Most of the fair’s electronic books are free of charge, and an additional 160,000 or more have coupon or discount purchases available during the month.

All possible types of electronic books, or eBooks, are available:

• eBooks in over 100 Different Languages!
• eBooks designed for cell phones!
• eBooks designed for Adobe readers!
• eBooks designed for plain text readers!
• eBooks out loud in theatrical performances!
• eBooks that your computer can read aloud to you!
• eBooks that can be easily quoted in school papers!
• 160,000 eBooks in brand new commercial editions!!!
• Music, movies, etc. are also included. . . .

Continue Reading »

Marie Lebert has completely rewritten and brought up-to-date her excellent article on the history of Project Gutenberg – Ed

Contents

• Overview
• A Bet Since 1971
• The Method
• Shared Proofreading
• Becoming Multingual
• Public Domain vs. Copyright
• From the Past to the Future
• Chronology
• Stats
• Links

OVERVIEW

• August 1997: 1,000 books
• April 2002: 5,000 books
• October 2003: 10,000 books
• January 2005: 15,000 books
• December 2006: 20,000 books
• April 2008: 25,000 books

In July 1971, Michael Hart created Project Gutenberg with the goal of making available for free, and electronically, literary works belonging to public domain. A pioneer site in a number of ways, Project Gutenberg was the first information provider on the internet and is the oldest digital library. When the internet became popular, in the mid-1990s, the project got a boost and an international dimension. The number of electronic books rose from 1,000 (in August 1997) to 5,000 (in April 2002), 10,000 (in October 2003), 15,000 (in January 2005), 20,000 (in December 2006) and 25,000 (in April 2008), with a current production rate of around 340 new books each month. With 55 languages and 40 mirror sites around the world, books are being downloaded by the tens of thousands every day. Continue Reading »

Portable Reading offers a service to read books from a library of over 20,000 Gutenberg titles in dozens of languages. Readers can upload their own book and share it with friends. They can also communicate with each other and with authors by writing reviews and annotating individual pages with notes. The reading interface is customizable by font size, type, background color, etc.Portable Reading is currently available on the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, and on Facebook. Many more mobile devices are coming soon.

Try Portable Reading on the iPhone and iPod Touch: http://www.textonphone.com

Try Portable Reading on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=20655241480&ref=s

In 1985 when Gary Kildall, IBM’s first choice before Bill Gates to design their PC’s operating system a few years earlier, came out with the first electronic encyclopedia, who would figure it would be only a quarter of a century before print encyclopedias faded from the limelight to join vinyl records and dinosaurs?

$999 would buy you an external Sony CD drive and Grolier’s CD– pretty much the same price as the paper encyclopedias, but with the option of putting any number of CDs in the drive.

This was only a year after the famous “1984″ Super Bowl ad that ran only once and changed Super Bowl ads forever.

It was only a year after IBM offered the AT. Continue Reading »