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175 lines
8.7 KiB
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---
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layout: default
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title: Collection Development | Project Gutenberg
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permalink: /policy/collection_development.html
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---
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Collection Development Policy
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=============================
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Project Gutenberg is a library of free electronic books (eBooks). The
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Project Gutenberg collection has been built by the efforts of
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volunteers who, over many years, have selected and digitized a variety
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of written and other works. The collection continues to grow, as new
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works are submitted.
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## What types of works are eligible?
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Project Gutenberg accepts only donations of eBooks (i.e., written
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works) that are not currently protected by copyright in the United
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States. Such works are in the public domain. New Project Gutenberg
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eBooks are typically digitized versions of books that were published
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long ago and for which any US copyright has expired.
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Project Gutenberg's collection development focuses on literature and
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other written works. Selections are made by volunteers with diverse
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interests, and essentially all eligible submissions are welcome.
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The basic eligibility criteria are:
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- Submitted eBooks are digitized
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versions of printed books, or similar items such as manuals,
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pamphlets, periodicals, travelogues, theses, journals, or chapbooks.
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- Evidence is submitted via the copyright portal at
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https://copy.pglaf.org to enable Project Gutenberg to confirm the
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source - that is, the printed item(s) from which the eBook is
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derived - is in the public domain in the US.
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- The eBook is submitted via the
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upload portal at https://upload.pglaf.org, and meets the requirements
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there for formatting and for proofreading accuracy.
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- The resulting eBook is entirely free of any US
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copyrights. Importantly, this includes that the "sweat of the brow"
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effort to digitize the source is not an act of authorship, so is not
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eligible for copyright; and also that incidental or supplemental
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additions, such as transcriber's notes, indices, improvements or
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supplements to artwork, or new cover art, are granted permanently to
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the public domain.
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Some types of items which are ineligible include:
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- Scans of books or other sources that have not been converted to
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machine-readable text and undergone proofreading and formatting to the
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requirements of the upload portal.
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- Unpublished contemporary items, even if they are granted to the
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public domain by the author.
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- Items that were not previously published or distributed.
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## How is a Project Gutenberg eBook related to the source(s) it was based on?
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Project Gutenberg eBooks are new works, derived from existing printed
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works. Project Gutenberg does not require that its eBooks be exact
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representations of their printed sources (i.e., facsimiles). Instead,
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the printed works are transformed into modern digital formats. This
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process typically includes removing page headers/footers,
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de-hyphenation, formatting or relocating footnotes and endnotes,
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adding internal links for table of contents and indices, and many
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other improvements that are intended to yield an enjoyable reading
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experience.
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There are strict criteria for file formats and compliance checks,
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which are documented in the upload portal, but Project Gutenberg
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allows latitude for the volunteers who produce new eBooks to make
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choices about how to go about digitization. The producer may make
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stylistic choices, such as for page layout or images, whether to
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indicate original page numbers from the source, how to handle
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footnotes or endnotes, and other aspects of how the printed item is
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digitized. Producers are encouraged to focus on presentation of the
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content and structure of the eBook, more than a particular visual
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presentation or layout. This is because Project Gutenberg eBooks are
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intended to be enjoyable, no matter how or where they are read, now
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and in the future. As such, production choices should not inhibit
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automated or non-automated creation of new derived formats.
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## What topics and subject matter are accepted?
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The eBooks in the Project Gutenberg collection are freely offered to
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readers for their enjoyment, enlightenment, education, and
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entertainment. The collection includes eBooks on many topics. There is
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emphasis on literary works and reference items of historical
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significance, because volunteers have focused on digitizing such
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works. Any eligible item, on any topic, is welcome.
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Project Gutenberg follows the principles of the American Library
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Association's Freedom to Read Statement (FTR), which may be found
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online at [www.ala.org](http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/freedomreadstatement).
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This commitment means that Project Gutenberg does not avoid difficult
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or unpopular topics. It also means that Project Gutenberg adds eBooks
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to its collection that contain language or ideas that are outdated,
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incorrect, offensive, or otherwise inconsistent with today's societal
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views, standards or morals.
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The FTR relies on the US Constitution's First Amendment right to
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freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Project Gutenberg was
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founded on the idea that free, unlimited access to the world's
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literature is a pathway to literacy, education, opportunity, and
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enlightenment. It is inimical to these principles that the collection,
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or access to it, be restricted due to content.
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Project Gutenberg's readers and contributors are encouraged to read
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the entire FTR document. It presents a vision for how libraries and
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publishers, and the people behind them, may work together to "enrich
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the quality and diversity of thought and expression."
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The FTR makes it clear that inclusion of an item in a library
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collection does not mean the ideas within it are endorsed by the
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library. "Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to
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endorse every idea or presentation they make available. It would
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conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own
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political, moral, or aesthetic views as a standard for determining
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what should be published or circulated."
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The final paragraph of FTR nicely summarizes Project Gutenberg's
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commitment to building a diverse and vibrant collection, and to not
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avoid inclusion of eBooks based on their topics or the ideas within
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them: "We state these propositions neither lightly nor as easy
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generalizations. We here stake out a lofty claim for the value of the
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written word. We do so because we believe that it is possessed of
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enormous variety and usefulness, worthy of cherishing and keeping
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free. We realize that the application of these propositions may mean
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the dissemination of ideas and manners of expression that are
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repugnant to many persons. We do not state these propositions in the
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comfortable belief that what people read is unimportant. We believe
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rather that what people read is deeply important; that ideas can be
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dangerous; but that the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic
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society. Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours."
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## Historical context
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The Project Gutenberg collection includes a number of items that do
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not meet the public domain or formatting criteria described above.
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The founder of Project Gutenberg, Michael Hart, invented eBooks in
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1971, and the online library grew substantially in the 1980s and
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1990s. During that period of time, there were not many free
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collections of diverse literary works, and some of the modern
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standards we now rely on had not yet emerged (such as Unicode for
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representing character sets and HTML for textual markup).
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Project Gutenberg worked with many different content types, including
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audio books, digitized sheet music, some movies, and quite a few
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copyrighted items that were donated by contemporary authors. By the
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early 2000s, it was clear that Project Gutenberg was not as
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well-suited for those different content types as for public domain
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literature. There are now many other outlets for these other types of
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works, including a self-publishing portal for contemporary authors
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that is operated by a Project Gutenberg affiliate.
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Project Gutenberg will not remove or deprecate these previous
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items. They were all donated and accepted with the best of intentions,
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and with the understanding that Project Gutenberg would provide for
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their long-term stewardship and unlimited redistribution. Michael Hart
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expressed unending gratitude to all the people who contributed
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content, and who digitized previous works. Project Gutenberg remains
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grateful to all of its contributors and volunteers.
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## Status of this policy
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The Project Gutenberg collection development policy was approved by
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the Board of Directors of the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
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Foundation (PGLAF) in November 2019. It was also endorsed by the
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Trustees of the Distributed Proofreaders Foundation.
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Day-to-day operation of the Project Gutenberg website, along with
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associated workflows and procedures, is by volunteers. The specific
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mechanisms applied to grow the Project Gutenberg collection are
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subject to change over time, within the guidance included in
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collection development policy.
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