Some folks prefer to have third parties build their digital library, others like to pitch in themselves. As reported earlier, Distributed Proofreaders volunteer Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe approached the Northern Nutgrowers Association with the offer to scan and OCR their annual reports for Project Gutenberg. The association agreed, and the first reports are now making their way through Distributed Proofreaders.
Currently, seven reports are ready for proofreading (out of a total of 77), and a Team Nutgrowers has been created at the Distributed Proofreaders forum. When Marilynda pitched her plan in August to the nutgrowers, she pledged that she would scan and post-process each report, and proofread 20 pages of each report, if at least 20 nutgrowers volunteered to proofread 5 pages. 63 nut growers signed up.
Hey, Branko, continued thanks to you and Marilynda for keeping us up to date. I love idea of the true specialists, the nut growers, pitching in with the proofing! – David
An added advantage to having the members of the special interest groups participating in the project is tapping into their expertise when it comes to questionable or confusing areas in the texts.
As we all know, printed books are not alway correct. In the case of the NNGA reports, I am already aware on the use of one phrase that is not accurate. We will be retaining the incorrect usage, but will be able to add a list of Errata to the e-boosk so future generations of Nut Growers and would-be Nut Growers will know what should have been used.
Also, sometimes the scans aren’t clear. Someone with personal knowledge on the subject will be able to assist in filling in the blanks. (Plus, some of the volunteers may have access to copies of the book/report on their own bookshelves. In the case of the NNGA Reports, the authors themselves may be involved in the proofreading process. We will (eventually) be processing all of the pre-1989 reports, which are currently in the public domain. For those interested, books published before 1989 in significant numbers in the USA without a copyright notice, are in the public domain in the USA.
Hey, Marilynda, thanks for the great advice. David