ERPANET Case Study: Project Gutenberg | Page 3

distinct layers of questions elicit a detailed discovery of the state of the entire digital preservation process within participants' institutions. Drawing on the experience that the partners of ERPANET have in this method of research, another important detail has been introduced. Within organisations, three categories of employee were identified for interview: an Information Systems or Technology Manager, Business Manager, and Archivist / Records Manager. In practice, this usually involved two members of staff with knowledge of the organisation's digital preservation activities, and a high level manager who provided an overview of business and organisational issues. This methodology has allowed us to discover the extent of knowledge and practice in organisations, to understand the roles of responsibility and problem ownership, and to appreciate where the drive towards digital preservation is initiated within organisations.
The task of selecting the sectors for the case studies and of identifying the respective companies to be studied is incumbent upon the management board. They compiled a first list of sectors at the very beginning of the project. But sector and company selection is an ongoing process, and the list is regularly updated and complemented. The Directors are assisted in this task by an advisory committee (5).
Chapter 4
: Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg produces free electronic versions of literature and reference works that are in the public domain. As the project has only a few paid staff members (6), the majority of eBooks are scanned and edited by volunteers. Available via the Internet since 1994, Project Gutenberg is the oldest producer of freely accessible, electronic books (eBooks). From 1971 until 1997 over 1,100 eBooks were created. In the first eleven weeks of 2004 alone, three hundred new eBooks have been generated. There are now over 13,380 eBooks available and the production of eBooks is constantly increasing. Project Gutenberg is dedicated to making these resources available to the general public in a form that the vast majority of the computers, programs and people can easily read (ASCII). However, most texts are available in a wide range of formats for users to select.
New features have been added recently to Project Gutenberg's core services. Specifically, the new Radio Gutenberg (7) makes audio and video files accessible to the public for download as well as broadcasts on their two radio channels and Gutenberg Music (8) makes digitised music sheets accessible. This project focuses only on the preservation of the eBooks.
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (PGLAF) is a recognised charitable organization by the US Internal Revenue Service.
http://www.gutenberg.net
Chapter 5
: Details and circumstances of the Interviews Michael Hart, Founder and Director of Project Gutenberg and Dr. Greg Newby, CEO of the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation completed the questionnaire and participated in email communications between March and April 2004.
Chapter 6
: Analysis This section presents an analysis of the data collected during the case study. It is organised to mirror the sequence of topics in the questionnaire. * Perception and Awareness of Digital Preservation * Preservation Activity * Compliance Monitoring * Digital Preservation Costs * Future Outlook
Perception and Awareness of Digital Preservation
Project Gutenberg is one of the earliest web sites on the internet and one of the earliest digital libraries in existence. They have been active in creating eBooks for over thirty years and are aware of the social benefits to be gained through preserving these resources for public access. Project Gutenberg ensures that all eBooks are available in plain text and other open formats to avoid obsolescence. The eBooks are uploaded to two main servers (9) and can then be mirrored by over thirty sites worldwide. The combination of open formats and many copies should ensure that access to these digitised literary works is preserved for the long-term.
The Main Problems
The major long-term problem lies in ensuring that copyright laws are respected for all of the digitised works made accessible by Project Gutenberg. Mirror sites exist in many countries around the world and, as such, ensuring that copyright laws are respected in each can be difficult. However, no eBook will be posted to the main site in the U.S. without gaining copyright clearance. Recent extensions to copyright laws in the U.S. and Europe have presented new challenges for the Project Gutenberg team. This is because no new works will be released to the public domain until 2018. Hart believes that these extensions to copyright laws benefit 'very few copyright holders at the expense of universal access to literature and knowledge'(10). These changes will impact the amount of research that needs to be done before an eBook can be digitised and made available.
Asset Value and Risk Exposure
Project Gutenberg exists to make literature and reference materials freely accessible to the general public in a digitised format. As mentioned above, Michael Hart believes that free access to literary works is vital for enabling the sharing of knowledge, art, music