4.0023 Queries for and Information from Project Gutenberg (89)

Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Thu, 10 May 90 16:30:21 EDT

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 4, No. 0023. Thursday, 10 May 1990.


(1) Date: Wed, 09 May 90 19:21:09 EDT (13 lines)
From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca>
Subject: Project Gutenberg

(2) Date: Thu, 10 MAY 90 12:27:50 BST (19 lines)
From: CHAA006%vax.rhbnc.ac.uk@NSFnet-Relay.AC.UK
Subject: Information about Project Gutenberg? [eds]

(3) Date: Thursday, 10 May 1990 1126-EST (37 lines)
From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS
Subject: Project Gutenberg

(4) Date: Thu, 10 May 90 12:14:37 CDT (20 lines)
From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD>
Subject: Etext Submission to Project Gutenberg

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 09 May 90 19:21:09 EDT
From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca>
Subject: Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg sounds fascinating. I wonder if Mr. Hart would do
us all the favour of describing the Project itself rather than its
aims, that is, its staff, institutional affiliation and funding,
current holdings, policies, and formal relationships with other text
archives and projects, e.g. the new Princeton-Rutgers Center and the
Oxford Text Archive.

Willard McCarty
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------36----
Date: Thu, 10 MAY 90 12:27:50 BST
From: CHAA006%vax.rhbnc.ac.uk@NSFnet-Relay.AC.UK
Subject: RE: 4.0017 Information about Project Gutenberg (90)

>Date: Wed, 09 May 90 11:12:29 CDT
>From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD>
>Subject: Information About Project Gutenberg
>
>The purpose of Project Gutenberg is to encourage the creation and
>distribution of English language electronic texts.

Oh lord, this is going to cause terrible confusion. There already exists
an e-mail list / user group called `GUTenberg': `Groupe francophone de
Utilisateurs de TeX'. I can't see the French changing the name of their
group .....

Philip Taylor
Royal Holloway and Bedford New College,
``The University of London at Windsor''
(3) --------------------------------------------------------------44----
Date: Thursday, 10 May 1990 1126-EST
From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS
Subject: Project Gutenberg

Many thanks the Michael Hart for sharing some basic information on
Project Gutenberg. If I have read it correctly, Project Gutenberg
focuses (exclusively?) on English language materials, with an emphasis
on published books that are widely used. And there is clearly a
"missionary" aspect to the Project -- to get people informed and
involved -- with which I have great sympathy myself.

Nevertheless, as a person involved in related endeavors at a wide
variety of levels, and as a potential contributor to projects such as
Project Gutenberg, I need to know some other basic information if I am
to get serious about cooperation. Who/what is Project Gutenberg? Does
it have institutional affiliations? Is it mainly Michael Hart? Does it
have or seek funding, and if so who administers the funds? What is its
relation to other similar archives, repositories, centers, etc. (see
Mike Neuman's list), such Center for Machine Readable Texts? Is it yet
affiliated with any library or libraries, and ultimately with the
electronic bibliographical sources such as RLIN or OCLC? Does Project
Gutenberg also want English language materials that are not among the
10,000 most used books, and how does it make known its holdings (e.g.
like OTA catalogues/lists, or on RLIN, or mainly through the GUTNBERG
electronic list)?

I mean these to be honest questions, and questions which can be answered
by some extent by any project. And I think they need to be answered if
Project Gutenberg hopes to realize the sort of cooperation envisioned in
Michael Hart's description.

Bob Kraft (Religious Studies and CCAT, Univ. of Pennsylvania)
(4) --------------------------------------------------------------29----
Date: Thu, 10 May 90 12:14:37 CDT
From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD>
Subject: Etext Submission to Project Gutenberg

We are happy to report submissions of etexts in reponse to our message.
Please send only short etexts, i.e. several pages, via email. Texts of
longer length should be sent as FILES to <GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD> or to <HART
@UIUCVMD> if you prefer. My apologies to those mainframe operators who
had to restart my mail when the mailer died under the load.

Thank you for your interest,

Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg
National Clearinghouse for Machine Readable Texts

BITNET: HART@UIUCVMD INTERNET: HART@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU
(*ADDRESS CHANGE FROM *VME* TO *VMD* AS OF DECEMBER 18!!**)
(THE GUTNBERG SERVER IS LOCATED AT GUTNBERG@UIUCVMD.BITNET)