PT1b Weekly Project Gutenberg Newsletter
pt1b3.506 Weekly_May_24.txt ***The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, May 24, 2006 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 ***Continuing Requests New Sites and Announcements General Catalog of Old Books and Authors http://www.kingkong.demon.co.uk/ngcoba/ngcoba.htm which now indexes 24,000 books available free online, including all PG(US) & PG(Aus)'s books, along with some basic date information about them and their authors where you can find more. Plus many books not available on line, a good place to search for books by specific authors who you are interested in. 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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 04.75 months of this year, PG produced 1,317 new eBooks. It took us from Jul 1971 to May 1998 to produce our first 1,317 eBooks! That's 20 WEEKS as Compared to ~27 Years!!! 47 New eBooks This Week 61 New eBooks Last Week 177 New eBooks This Month [May] 282 Average Per Month in 2006 266 Average Per Month in 2005 Counting 216 PGEu 248 Average Per Month in 2005 Not Counting PGEu 336 Average Per Month in 2004 355 Average Per Month in 2003 203 Average Per Month in 2002 103 Average Per Month in 2001 1317 New eBooks in 2006 3186 New eBooks in 2005 Counting 216 PGeu > 2970 New eBooks in 2005 Not Counting PGEu 4049 New eBooks in 2004 4164 New eBooks in 2003 2441 New eBooks in 2002 1240 New eBooks in 2001 ==== 16,397 New eBooks Since Start Of 2001 That's Only 63.75 Months! ~257 books per month! 19,465 Total Project Gutenberg eBooks [Auto-count] 16,294 eBooks This Week Last Year ==== 3,171 New eBooks In Last 12 Months [Incl. PGAu, PGEu & PrePrints] 582 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Australia [This does NOT include PGAu eBooks posted at the U.S. site: www.gutenberg.org ] 313 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Europe 168 Entry From Project Gutenberg PrePrints ~75,000 Project Gutenberg Consortia Center http://www.gutenberg.cc You may also want to look at Project Runeberg [Scandinavian] http://runeberg.org * Project Gutenberg began operation on July 4, 1971 Project Runeberg began operation on December 13, 1992 Distributed Proofreaders began October 22, 2000 [Became an official PG-US site in 2002] Project Gutenberg of Australia began in August, 2001 The Project Gutenberg Consortia Center started in 1997] [Became an official PG-US site in 2003] Project Gutenberg of Europe started January 12, 2004 [Posted first books February 26, when we met in Brussels to address people at the European Union Parliament. Project Gutenberg PrePrints Started January 25, 2006 http://preprints.pglaf.org/ old http://preprints.readingroo.ms/ new * PROJECT GUTENBERG DISTRIBUTED PROOFREADERS UPDATE: Since starting production in October 2000, Distributed Proofreaders has contributed 8,473 Books to Project Gutenberg. 23 added this week. For more complete DP statistics, visit: http://www.pgdp.net/c/stats/stats_central.php * Check out our website at www.gutenberg.org, and see below to learn how you can get INSTANT access to our eBooks via FTP servers even before the new eBooks listed below appear in our catalog. eBooks are posted throughout the week. You can even get daily lists. Info on subscribing to daily, weekly, monthly Newsletters, listservs: http://www.gutenberg.org/howto/subscribe-howto or http://www.gutenberg.org/subs.shtml *** *Project Gutenberg Consortia Center Report The PGCC collection at http://www.gutenberg.cc has doubled in size from the listings below, but we don't have exactly matching collection sizes yet for a new breakdown. 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 The new overall collection size, which has reduced the need to account for duplications and eBooks with files for each chapter, etc. ~75,000 Unique eBooks *** Please also note that over 25,000 eBooks are listed via The Online Books Page, of which over 5,700 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 #140 of 2006 This Completes Week #20 and Month #04.75 [364 days this year] 224 Days/33 Weeks To Go [We get 52 Wednesdays this year] 540 Books To Go To #20,000 [Our production year begins/ends 1st Wednesday of the month/year] 66 Weekly Average in 2006 61 Weekly Average in 2005 [Counting 216 PGEu] 57 Weekly Average in 2005 [Not Counting PGEu] 78 Weekly Average in 2004 79 Weekly Average in 2003 47 Weekly Average in 2002 24 Weekly Average in 2001 44 Only ~45 Numbers Left On Our Reserved Numbers List [Used to be well over 100] [This listing usually from the previous week] *** 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 20 weeks of this year, we have produced 1317 new eBooks. It took us from 07/71 to 04/98 to produce our FIRST 1317 eBooks!!! That's 20 WEEKS as Compared to ~27 YEARS!!! FLASHBACK! Here's a sample of what books we were doing around eBook #1317 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 are now in new catalog format] May 1998 Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman [Walt Whitman #1][lvgrsxxx.xxx] 1322 May 1998 The Waste Land, T. S. Eliot [T. S. Eliot #1] [wslndxxx.xxx] 1321 May 1998 Criminal Psychology, by Hans Gross [crmsyxxx.xxx] 1320 May 1998 Increasing Efficiency In Business, by W.D. Scott [ihdibxxx.xxx] 1319 May 1998 The Twin Hells, by John N. Reynolds [twnhlxxx.xxx] 1318 May 1998 Saltbush Bill J.P., by A. B. "Banjo" Paterson [#4][biljpxxx.xxx] 1317 Some Reminiscences, by Joseph Conrad 1316 Autobiography and Selected Essays, by Thomas Henry Huxley 1315 May 1998 The Malefactor, by E. Phillips Oppenheim [EPE#1][mlfctxxx.xxx] 1314 May 1998 Over The Sliprails, by Henry Lawson [Lawson #4][oslipxxx.xxx] 1313 Selected Stories, by Bret Harte 1312 May 1998 If, by Lord Dunsany [Edward John Plunkett] [#1][ifdunxxx.xxx] 1311 May 1998 The Annals of the Parish, John Galt[THE John Galt][anaprxxx.xxx] 1310 The Spirit of Place, and Other Essays, by Alice Meynell 1309 May 1998 Oscar Wilde Miscellaneous, Oscar Wilde[Collection][wldmsxxx.xxx] 1308 The Magic Skin, by Honore de Balzac [Translated by Ellen Marriage] 1307 May 1998 Seven Men, by Max Beerbohm [Max Beerbohm #4] [svnmnxxx.xxx] 1306 The Ball at Sceaux, by Honore de Balzac 1305 May 1998 Project Gutenberg's Book of English Verse [Oxford][pgbevxxx.xxx] 1304 The Scapegoat, by Hall Caine 1303 May 1998 The Enemies of Books, by William Blades [nmybkxxx.xxx] 1302 The French Revolution, by Thomas Carlyle 1301 May 1998 Riders of the Purple Sage, by Zane Grey [Grey #7][prpsgxxx.xxx] 1300 May 1998 The Heritage of the Sioux by B. M. Bower[Bower #6][hrtsuxxx.xxx] 1299 May 1998 The Virginian, Horseman Of The Plains, Owen Wister[vrgnnxxx.xxx] 1298 May 1998 The Iron Puddler, by James J. Davis [tirnpxxx.xxx] 1297 Apr 1998 The Provost, by John Galt [This is THE John Galt] [prvstxxx.xxx] 1296 Ceres' Runaway, and Other Essays, by Alice Meynell 1295 The Firm of Nucingen, by Honore de Balzac 1294 Apr 1998 Sesame and Lilies, by John Ruskin [John Ruskin #2][seslixxx.xxx] 1293 Apr 1998 The Way of the World by William Congreve [WC #4][wwrldxxx.xxx] 1292 Herodias, by Gustave Flaubert 1291 Salammbo, by Gustave Flaubert 1290 Apr 1998 Three Ghost Stories by Charles Dickens [CD #33-35][3ghstxxx.xxx] 1289 Apr 1998 Dream Days, by Kenneth Grahame[Kenneth Grahame #1][drdayxxa.xxx] 1288 Apr 1998 The Poems of Goethe, Transl. Edgar Alfred Bowring [tpgthxxx.xxx] 1287 Apr 1998 Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles and Mary Lamb [tshakxxa.xxx] 1286 Apr 1998 The Water Goats et. al., by Ellis Parker Butler [twgtsxxx.xxx] 1285 Apr 1998 Tom Swift and His Air Scout, by Victor Appleton [22tomxxx.xxx] 1284 Apr 1998 Tom Swift and His Wizard Camera by Victor Appleton[14tomxxx.xxx] 1283 Apr 1998 Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers, by V. Appleton[07tomxxx.xxx] 1282 Apr 1998 Tom Swift & His Aerial Warship, by Victor Appleton[18tomxxx.xxx] 1281 Apr 1998 Spoon River Anthology, by Edgar Lee Masters [sprvrxxx.xxx] 1280 Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, by Robert Burns 1279 * Have We Given Away A Trillion Books/Dollars Yet? If our average eBook has reached just 1% of the world population of 6,517,857,471 that would be 19,461 x 65,178,575 = ~1.27 Trillion !!! With 19,461 eBooks online as of May 24, 2006 it now takes an average of ~1% of the world gaining a nominal value of ~$.79 from each book. [1% world population x #eBooks] 65,178,575 x 19,461 x $.79 = ~$1 Trillion [Google "world population" "popclock" to get the most current figures.] * A Trillion Dollars Given Away At Just $.51 Value Per Book To 100 Million With 19,461 eBooks online as of May 24, 2006 it now takes an average of 100,000,000 readers gaining a nominal value of $0.51 from each book. This "cost" is down from about $.61 when we had 16,294 eBooks a year ago. Our Target Audience Is 1.5% Of The World Population = ~100,000,000 people. At 19,461 eBooks in 34 Years and 10.75 Months We Averaged 558 Per Year 46.5 Per Month 1.53 Per Day At 1317 eBooks Done In The 140 Days Of 2006 We Averaged 9.4 Per Day 66 Per Week 277 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. However, for those keeping track of how quickly the U.S. reaches a 300 million population level, and who noticed the passing of 298M, just two weeks ago. . .the U.S. is already 1/6 the way to 299M, so it will probably be 10 more weeks to 299M and 22 more to 300M. 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]. * 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 4th was the first Wednesday of 2006, and thus ended PG's production year of 2005 and began the production year of 2006 at noon. This year there will be 52 Wednesdays, thus no extra week. *Information About the Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists For more information about the Project Gutenberg's mailing lists, including the Project Gutenberg Weekly and Monthly Newsletters: and the other Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists: The weekly is sent on Wednesdays, and the monthly is sent on the first Wednesday of the month. To subscribe to any (or to unsubscribe or adjust your subscription preferences), visit the Project Gutenberg mailing list server: http://lists.pglaf.org If you are having trouble with your subscription, please email the list's human administrators at: help@pglaf.org
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Michael Hart