Book People Archive

Re: Google Still #3 In eBooks

On Thu, 25 May 2006, Bruce Albrecht wrote:

> So, your Project Gutenberg total of 100,000 is from gutenberg.cc?

Along with the other sites you listed below.

Why are you changing that in your opening statement.


> If the total is 75,000 from gutenberg.cc + another 20,000, from the
> gutenberg.org, PG europe, PG australia, when probably 10K of
> gutenberg.cc is blackmask's copies of gutenberg.org works, and
> gutenberg.cc also has roughly 20,000 gutenberg.org works, then you're
> counting gutenberg.org's works 2 or 3 times.  I think you do PG a
> disservice if it appears to the average end-user of PG that you're
> inflating the available eBook count by at least 2, especially when it
> appears that the main reason for doing so is to trash Google's
> accomplishments.

Given what has happened recently to Blackmask, it is more apparent
than ever that it is important to preserve collections entirely.

As for cataloguing and counting, I am not a cataloguer, and do not
have the expertise to catalogue every one of the Project Gutenberg
entries as it might be for a bricks and mortar library.

However, the cataloguers I have spoken with tell me that Gutenberg
eBooks would be listed as over 100,000 in normal library listings.


> Also, the comparison with duplications in a paper book library is
> unreasonable.  A PBL needs duplicates because they require multiple
> copies in order to allow multiple patrons to check out a popular book.
> A freely distributable ebook library with 3 identical copies created
> from the same book is not the same situation at all.

Sorry, but haven't you conveniently left out all the large print books,
the ones printed on green paper for ease of reading, or mass paperback,
or trade editions, all of which might come from the same publisher, but
with obviously different cataloguing information?

Why do you require of me that I contact professional cataloguers to say
what should have been obvious in the first place?

We haven't even mentioned such cases as when libraries have collections
such as The Great Books Of The Western World, when it is obviously true
that many of the items included there are also duplications.

The Project Gutenberg Consortia Center is a collection of collections--
each collection maintained as the donors requested.  I wonder just what
Mortimer Adler would have said if you demanded that this collections be
removed from their own catalogue entry because the individual books may
be somewhere else in the system?

The truth is that we have to promise to keep the collections as donors,
authors, copyright holders, etc., want them to be, or they won't donate
their collections; many of them won't even let us make an obvious error
correction until they have corrected the original on their site.  These
requests are not made lightly, they want to be sure our site accurately
and completely mirrors their own site, as is their right.

As for making your own catalogue, you can be sure that we would all say
you are thoroughly encouraged to do so, perhaps along with catalgues of
Google's and Yahoo's eLibraries, and any and all others.  In fact, I do
stress that we would offer every possible assistance and assistants.

Your catalogue could be made to your own specifications and it would be
held as sacrosanct as those collections mentioned above that you may be
wanting to list as duplications, similar editions, etc.

However, I think you would have to admit, that if I were trying to "pad
my bibliography," so to speak, that I would have taken the alternatives
of listing every format separately, and that I would have initially put
all the Shakespeare and Bible files out there separately, too.

Once again I find that I receive messages from both sides, wanting some
variety of catalogue listings that are either have more entries or less
entries than what we have now.

Michael


PS

The truth is that I am doing the best that I can.

I work myself to exhaustion nearly every single day, I rarely take what
could be called a vacation, though you may find it interesting that I'm
NOT going to be here on July 4th, because I will be the best man for my
best friend's wedding.  However, I will give Greg Newby a contact for a
local email connection, as he doesn't have SSH capability, so you might
be able to get a response from me while I'm there.