Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better (gutenberg.org)

Article summary

Project Gutenberg is a digital library offering over 77,000 free eBooks, with a focus on older works whose U.S. copyright has expired. The library is maintained by hundreds of volunteers who digitize and proofread the books. The website provides various features such as search options, reading lists, and audio books. Project Gutenberg has been improving its site and services over the past few months.

Main themes

• Digital libraries
• Free eBooks
• Volunteer-based projects
• Website design and development
• Accessibility and usability
• Copyright and public domain

What commenters say

• The Project Gutenberg website has been improved significantly over the past few months and is worth revisiting.
• There is a need for better handling of agent traffic and scraping on the website to prevent excessive load.
• Donations are appreciated to support the project and help with the costs of maintaining the website and digitizing books.
• Some users appreciate the current design of the website, while others prefer the previous brutalist design or suggest improvements for accessibility and usability.
• OCR errors are a significant issue in digital libraries, and Project Gutenberg uses Distributed Proofreaders to address this problem.
• The project is open-source and welcomes contributions from volunteers, including programmers and proofreaders.
• There is interest in providing a multi-lingual web e-reader and offering OPDS support for easier access to the library's content.
• Some users express gratitude for the project's work and consider it an international treasure and one of the best places on the internet.