Weekly_October_12.txt, PT1b The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, October 12, 2005 PT1 *****eBooks Readable By Both Humans And Computers Since July 4, 1971******* Newsletter editors needed! Please email hart@pobox.com or gbnewby@pglaf.org Anyone who would care to get advance editions: please email hart@pobox.com STATISTICAL CHANGES Due to various changes in our statistical reporting and coverage, the accuracy of the weekly count of the number of eBooks will not be as redundantly checked by a human count, and we will rely more on the automated system. ***If you notice any inconsistencies, please send email to: hart AT pglaf DOT org "***BREAK FOR PT1A AND PT1B***" ***Continuing Requests New Sites and Announcements * We have been invited to peruse the various eBook collections of the Internet Archive for potential Project Gutenberg eBooks. http://www.archive.org Don't worry, many of the numbers listed are out of date, but you should get all the files when you pass through to the original sites. Click on "texts" to get started, feel free to pick up any of the eBooks you would like to work on. 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Please note that we can only use DVDs which are burnt in the dvd-r format, as we have had some compatibility issues with the dvd+r format. *** Project Gutenberg is seeking graphics we can use for our Web pages and publicity materials. If you have original graphics depicting Project Gutenberg themes, please contribute them! To see some of what we have now, please see: ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/images *** PROJECT GUTENBERG IS SEEKING LEGAL BEAGLES Project Gutenberg is seeking (volunteer) lawyers. We have regular need for intellectual property legal advice (both US and international) and other areas. Please email Project Gutenberg's CEO, Greg Newby <gbnewby AT pglaf.org> , if you can help. This is much more important than many of us realize! ***Progress Report, including Distributed Proofreaders In the first 09.25 months of this year, we produced 2345 new eBooks. It took us from July 1971 to Oct 2000 to produce our first 2345 eBooks! That's 40 WEEKS as Compared to ~29.33 Years!!! 53 New eBooks This Week 37 New eBooks Last Week [-2] 53 New eBooks This Month [Oct] ~254 Average Per Month in 2005 336 Average Per Month in 2004 355 Average Per Month in 2003 203 Average Per Month in 2002 103 Average Per Month in 2001 2345 New eBooks in 2005 4049 New eBooks in 2004 4164 New eBooks in 2003 2441 New eBooks in 2002 1240 New eBooks in 2001 ==== 14239 New eBooks Since Start Of 2001 That's Only 57.25 Months! Over 250 books per month! 17,301 Total Project Gutenberg eBooks 14,076 eBooks This Week Last Year ==== 3,225 New eBooks In Last 12 Months 489 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Australia [This does NOT include PGAu eBooks posted at the U.S. site: www.gutenberg.org ] * PROJECT GUTENBERG DISTRIBUTED PROOFREADERS UPDATE: Since starting production in October 2000, Distributed Proofreaders has contributed 7,534 eBooks to Project Gutenberg. 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PGCC's current eBook and eDocument Collections listings of 18 collections. . .with this week's listing as: Alex-Wire Tap Collection, 2,036 HTML eBook Files Black Mask Collection, 12,000 HTML eBook Files The Coradella Bookshelf Collection, 141 eBook Files DjVu Collection, 272 PDF and DJVU eBook Files eBooks@Adelaide Collection, 27,709 eBook Files Himalayan Academy, 3,400 HTML eBook Files Internet Archive ~30,000 eBook Files [In Progress] <<< Literal Systems Collection, 68 MP3 eBook Files Logos Group Collection, ~34,000 TXT eBook Files Poet's Corner Poetry Collection, 6,700 Poetry Files Project Gutenberg Collection, 15,035 eBook Files PGCC Chinese eBook Collection ~300 eBook files <<< Note Name Change Renaisscance Editions Collection, 561 HTML eBook Files Swami Center Collection, 78 HTML eBook Files Tony Kline Collection, 223 HTML eBook Files Widger Library, 2,600 HTML eBook Files CIA's Electronic Reading Room, 2,019 Reference Files =======Grand Total Files=========~137,142 Total Files===== Average Size of the Collections 8,067.18 Total Files These eBooks are catalogued as per the instructions of their donors: some are one file per book; some have a file for each chapter; and some even have a file for a single page or poem. . .or are overcounted for reasons I have not mentioned. . .each of which could cause the overcounting or duplication of numbers. If we presume 2 out of 3 of these files are overcounts, that leaves a unique book total of ~45,714 Unique eBooks If we presume 3 out of 4 of these files are overcounts, that leaves a unique book total of ~34,286 Unique eBooks *** Please also note that over 23,000 eBooks are listed via The Online Books Page, of which over 5,300 are from PG. http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/ In addition: The Internet Public Library had a similar listing which is now in limbo. If anyone knows what is happening with the IPL, please let us know. Inquiries, made months ago, and again recently, have not turned up any current information. You can try a new IPL service at: http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/hum60.60.00/ It would appear that The Internet Public Library ended its first incarnation with about 22,284 entries, which has now been surpassed by the Online Books Page. Still looking for more Internet Public Library info. *** Today Is Day #280 of 2005 This Completes Week #40 and Month #08.25 [364 days this year] 91 Days/14 Weeks To Go [We get 52 Wednesdays this year] 2,699 Books To Go To #20,000 [Our production year begins/ends 1st Wednesday of the month/year] 59 Weekly Average in 2005 78 Weekly Average in 2004 79 Weekly Average in 2003 47 Weekly Average in 2002 24 Weekly Average in 2001 41 Only 41 Numbers Left On Our Reserved Numbers list [Used to be well over 100] *** Permanent Requests For Assistance: DISTRIBUTED PROOFREADERS NEEDS CONTENT, PROOFERS AND SCANNER TYPES Please visit the site: http://www.pgdp.net for more information about how you can help a lot by simply proofreading just a few pages per day, or more. 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Note that updated eBooks usually go in their original directory (e.g., etext99, etext00, etc.) *** Statistical Review In the 40 weeks of this year, we have produced 2345 new eBooks. It took us from 7/71 to 10/00 to produce our FIRST 2345 eBooks!!! That's 40 WEEKS as Compared to ~29.33 YEARS!!! FLASHBACK! Here's a sample of what books we were doing around eBook #2294 Mon Year Title and Author [filename.ext] ### A "C" Following The eText # Indicates That This eText Is Under Copyright [Note: books without month and year entries have been reposted] Oct 2000 The After House, by Mary Roberts Rinehart[MRR #14][ftrhsxxx.xxx] 2358 Oct 2000 Great Jehoshaphat & Gully Dirt, Jewell Ellen Smith[gjagdxxh.xxx] 2357C Oct 2000 Tommy and Co., by Jerome K. Jerome [Jerome #22][tomcoxxx.xxx] 2356 Oct 2000 The Formation of Vegetable Mould, by Darwin [CD#9][vgmldxxx.xxx] 2355 Oct 2000 On the Brain, by T. H. Huxley [THH#3] [Darwin #8][huxbrxxx.xxx] 2354 Oct 2000 Tea-table Talk, by Jerome K. Jerome [Jerome #21][ttalkxxx.xxx] 2353 Oct 2000 Eurasia, by Chris. Evans [uasiaxxx.xxx] 2352 Oct 2000 John Halifax, Gentleman, by Mrs. Craik:Dinah Maria[halifxxx.xxx] 2351 Oct 2000 His Last Bow, by Arthur Conan Doyle[A.C.Doyle #23][lstbwxxx.xxx] 2350 Oct 2000 The Adv. of The Devil's Foot, A. Conan Doyle [#22][dvlftxxx.xxx] 2349 Oct 2000 The Disappearance Of Lady Frances Carfax [ACD #21][lcrfxxxx.xxx] 2348 Oct 2000 The Adv. Of The Dying Detective, A Conan Doyle #20[dydetxxx.xxx] 2347 Oct 2000 The Adv. Of The Bruce-Partington Plans [Doyle #19][bplanxxx.xxx] 2346 Oct 2000 The Adv. Of The Red Circle A. Conan Doyle [#18][rcrclxxx.xxx] 2345 Oct 2000 The Adv. Of The Cardboard Box, by Conan Doyle #17[crdbdxxx.xxx] 2344 Oct 2000 The Adv. Of Wisteria Lodge, A. Conan Doyle [#16][wstraxxx.xxx] 2343 Sep 2000 Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre 8, by Goethe[Goethe 20][?wml8xxx.xxx] 2342 [Language: German]. . . Sep 2000 Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre 1, by Goethe[Goethe 13][?wml1xxx.xxx] 2335 Sep 2000 The Works of Rudyard Kipling/One Volume Edition/12[1vkipxxx.xxx] 2334 * Have We Given Away A Trillion Books/Dollars Yet??? 1.1 Trillion eBooks Given Away If our average eBook has reached just 1% of the world population of 6,472,200,341 that would be 17,301 x 64,722,003 = ~1.12 Trillion !!! 64,722,003 With 17,301 eBooks online as of October 12, 2005 it now takes an average of ~1% of the world gaining a nominal value of ~$.89 from each book. [1% world population x #eBooks] 64,722,003 x 17,301 x $.89 = ~$1 Trillion [Google "world population" "popclock" to get the most current figures.] Our Target Audience Is 1.5% Of The World Population, or 100,000,000 readers. With 17,301 eBooks online as of October 12, 2005 it now takes an average of 100,000,000 readers gaining a nominal value of $0.58 from each book. This "cost" is down from about $.71 when we had 14,076 eBooks a year ago. 100 million readers is only ~1.5% of the world's population! At 17,301 eBooks in 34 Years and 03.25 Months We Averaged ~505 Per Year 42.0 Per Month 1.38 Per Day At 2345 eBooks Done In The 280 Days Of 2005 We Averaged 8.4 Per Day 59 Per Week 254 Per Month If you are interested in the population of the world or of the U.S. you might want to know that these numbers, official as they appear, are just just estimates, and perhaps not as accurate as we hope. Recently the U.S. Congress, pertaining to district reapportionment, who gets to vote for which Congresspeople, decided that many of the districts were undercounted by 5%, perhaps then later deciding that all districts had been undercounted by 5% [can't recall details]. However, I just this moment heard a news item that made me wonder a bit more about the accuracy of the U.S. Census. A "Special Census" is taking place in Normal, Illinois, that is expected to count more people, by a factor of 3,000 or 3,400, depending on which source. 45,386 was the population as per the 2000 Census, so 3,000 added to this would be an increase of 6.6%, and 3,400 would be 7.5%, above a possibly automatic increase of 5% as per the same terms above but I presume this is in addition to previous adjustments. Of course, we should consider that we would have to double figures, perhaps to 15% from those above, if are considering the normal time between censuses of 10 years, these are for 5 years' growth. In previous news I heard about the U.S. Census, no mention was made about the annexation of various nearly locations as a cause of this normally unexpected growth, but it is mentioned at the site I found on the subject of the current Special Census. If annexation is the primary cause of such increases, country wide, then we should not be expecting a huge rise in the 2010 Census, but rather should expect something more along the norm. However, if it is not annexation, but more actual people on the average, then this might be an indicator that the population of the U.S. may have seen 300 million go by some time ago. For more details, see: www.normal.org/WhatsNew/Census.htm The production statistics are calculated based on full weeks' production; each production-week starts/ends Wednesday noon, starts with the first Wednesday of January. January 5th was the first Wednesday of 2005, and thus ended PG's production year of 2004 and began the production year of 2005 at noon. 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