[11791] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Project Gutenberg Needs You!
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Michael S. Hart)
Tue Nov 4 20:05:48 1997
Date: Tue, 04 Nov 1997 18:19:50 -0600
From: "Michael S. Hart" <hart@prairienet.org>
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU>
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
DELETE THIS NOW....if you do not wish to help keep Project
Gutenberg on the Internet....my apologies for intruding on
your mailbox....especially for those who hate this sort of
thing and are receiving more than one copy.
This is message is a little long, and it might take you an
extra 5 or 10 minutes to read it all. Our volunteers will
need some extra assistance this month, as I will be out on
the west coast schmoozing and trying to pick up some "rest
and recuperation" after the "big push" to get us done with
our 1,000th Etext.
Well. . .we might need even more help than that, as I just
received word I will be out schmoozing even longer than it
appeared, as Yahoo called today and announced they will be
helping me get started in the schmoozing arena by throwing
a party for Project Gutenberg in Soho, just after I return
from the trip I had planned all year long for this purpose
. . .and also to try to recuperate a little.
Therefore, it will be another two weeks after Thanksgiving
before I am really back in the saddle, as I will be at the
"power desk" [as a good friend nicknamed this location] on
only about 5 days out of the next 40.
Sorry to make such a long introduction but Dianne Bean and
David Price, our two Director of Production, and Kahn, our
Sysadmin, are going to need ALL the help they can get. . .
Please don't forget that the major purpose of all this has
to be the creation and distribution of electronic books...
not schmoozing and partying.
Thanks, I hope you will read on,
Michael
***
PROJECT GUTENBERG NEEDS YOUR HELP!!
1998 will hopefully see the biggest changes in the Project
since the major revolutions in the Internet in 1988 & 1989
and the support from Illinois Benedictine College which is
now known as Benedictine University.
We have just received word that three more years are in the
works for us at Carnegie Mellon University!!
We still have to raise the money to pay for those years at
Carnegie Mellon, as they hope to provide us more with what
you might consider a "home base" than to provide us with a
budget to work with.
We are hoping, with your help [I am NOT good at writing up
grant proposals] to receive some major grants after seeing
several other projects, with much less in the way of goals
or previous accomplishment, receive grants in the range of
millions of dollars.
I have never been good at asking for help, but I hope this
year I can improve my skills at this, since I plan to very
get into "schmoozing" during the upcoming year, starting a
few days into November. Therefore, I could be much harder
to reach during the coming month. However, now that Etext
#1,000 is under our belt, I shall be, as promised, hitting
the road and the phones, schmoozing the entire Fortune 500
and Computer 100 for grants to help Project Gutenberg keep
going, and eventually to become an independent institution
. . .financially independent. . .and. . .
Project Gutenberg will need your help more than ever as it
tries to become more and more independent of myself. I am
hoping many of you can contact our Directors of Production
and our sysadmin, to offer to help on getting books in the
computers, proofreading, etc, and our sysadmin could use a
bit of help in the programming areas required to get a few
of these books from one format into another [not as easily
done as Word and Word Perfect would have you believe].
***
We need to get incorporated. [Therefore we need lawyers.]
We had our first official meeting on this with our finance
advisor, and getting incorporated is something she has put
on our schedule for 1998.
26 years ago Project Gutenberg started putting information
on the Internet, years earlier than any other providers of
general information, at a time when the only people on the
Internet/ARPANet were paid professionals.
Today the continued existence of Project Gutenberg's list,
the "gutnberg@prairienet.org" is in serious doubt, and the
odds are that we will have to end up at some other locale,
for listservers. Due to a terrible reaction I have to the
"network delay" of working from a computer very far away--
I will make every effort to at least be able to continue a
normal email account on Prairienet. However other content
cutbacks on Prairienet are inevitable, as we don't have an
adequate storage amount on Prairienet for even all of .txt
files for our Etexts.
Project Gutenberg Started Back In 1971. . . .
At that time only the geekiest of the geeks understood any
of the messages posted in the Net, and Project Gutenberg's
unpaid volunteers, the first Plain Vanilla Netizens, would
change the face of the Internet forever with postings that
everyone could read and understand, for decades to come.
[And we would very much hope to continue, with your help.]
Next week Project Gutenberg plans to release Etext #1100--
and at the moment of this writing #1092 has already made a
journey around the world; by the time you are reading this
it is likely that #1100 will already be posted, as we were
a few days ahead of schedule, in finishing October Etexts,
and some people have been waiting for years to get all the
Shakepeare plays as individual files. Our next big set of
Etexts after that should be new versions of our unabridged
dictionary files, over 20 megabtyes worth.
While Project Gutenberg has managed to roll out book after
book on schedule. . .official release date is midnight the
last day of each month. . .on time and "under budget". . .
our continued existence has been rather shaky, possibly an
example of just how far you can actually get on shoestring
budgets, if you have some people who are totally dedicated
to accomplishing a huge feat. My continuing thanks to all
of the Project Gutenberg Volunteers, and to all those whom
have supported Project Gutenberg over the years. I should
take this opportunity to add that 99% of all the donations
ever received by Project Gutenberg are now in the pipeline
to our new bank account at Carnegie Mellon University, and
you should let me know if your checks have not returned by
your December bank statement. A few were forwarded to us,
via a circuitous route, and have already expired. I would
hope to address that successfully in December.
BUT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . !
the fact is that this is not likely to be able to continue
without your support because the support we used to get is
changing for the worse as the old information pathways our
work created have become paved, re-paved, and finally they
have become marked with those signs that say NO PEDESTRIAN
TRAFFIC, NO MOTOR DRIVEN CYCLES, NO FARM IMPLEMENTS and no
anything else other than high-cost, high-maintenance, cost
ineffective behemoths in full motion video, stereophonics,
and point and click interfaces.
Let's face it. . .books on computers do not require higher
technology than was available fifteen years ago. . .unless
you are searching large books. . .but for just reading and
writing books, the oldest, slowest PC is just fine.
This kind of traffic is the most efficient for information
transmission, far more efficient than movies or markup, in
that it not only reaches a wider audience but that it also
takes much less storage and bandwidth.
While Project Gutenberg has been a leader in developing an
Internet philosophy that benefits all the fact is that the
"bells and whistles" of the cutest new Internet things are
getting all the money and attention, but they are not very
effective in creating a new generation of people who could
be considered free of ignorance and illiteracy. We need a
bit of that money and attention, and we think of no better
possible investment than in placing the great books of the
civilizations of the world into the hands of everyone, for
the rest of history. PLEASE HELP US HELP THE WORLD!
However, all the new "bells and whistles" and repaving the
Information Superhighway in ways that eliminate all but an
entirely "new order" of information providers: commercial
in nature, or, perhaps even worse, non-commercial sites in
direct imitation of the commercial sites.
The new proposals for Internet traffic are supposed to put
books and other text on the sidings, while express trains,
full of Hollywood imagery, flash by while the script words
just lie there and wait. This is not a joke, the proposed
regulations would label each packet as high priority if it
belonged to an audeo or video program, and marked with the
lowest possible priority if it contained just plain words,
such as this message.
***
I am afraid the situation got much worse than I am willing
to describe, it takes more courage than I have, to tell in
detail all the obstacles Project Gutenberg has had to deal
with in the past five years.
Here is part of it:
Problem #1
Actually, we have one last effort in the works to present,
through a close friend, our case to the U of I President.*
1. As many of you have heard, the University of Illinois,
where Project Gutenberg was founded in 1971, has decided a
continued support of Project Gutenberg is not in line with
a new stiff political policy, to keep out all unauthorized
users, and as part of this policy to eliminate that access
Project Gutenberg has had, authorized but unofficial.
Just part of the new paving process. . .sorry. . .but your
access has become just another roadkill in our efforts for
the creation of a mirror-surfaced Information Superhighway
whose mirror will now only reflect authorized information.
Problem #2
2. While I still retain my title "Professor of Electronic
Text" at Benedictine University, I no longer receive money
from them, which I used to use for Project Gutenberg and I
am now getting old enough that I can no longer skate quite
as close to the edge with the comfort and excitement I was
all too happy to live with on most occasions when I was an
ever younger verion of who I am now.
Problem #3
3. In addition, our third major means of support, a CDROM
made by Walnut Creek, has had several problems, including,
but not limited to, change of high-level personnel, CDROMs
reportedly selling less this year for the first time, with
accounting problems on top of that. Our revenues from the
CDROM sales last month were only 10% of what they had been
only two years ago.
1-2-3. . .just like that, all three of our major supports,
cut drastically, for most of the past year. . .and we have
still kept producing Project Gutenberg Etexts on schedule.
Solution #0
0. The fourth leg of support for Project Gutenberg is, as
always, you, the people.
When I started Project Gutenberg, I obeyed that law "Never
Quit Your Day Job for Shareware". . .a law that was not in
existence at that time. . .but as time passed, doubling in
output every year took more and more of my time, I was not
able to continue to work as a consultant AND Gutenberg all
at the same time, and Project Gutenberg was too important,
IS too important, to let go of. It is VERY hard to stop--
when I think of the fact that if I can just hold on 1 more
year. . .we can possibly create an independent institution
that can soon get to the point it can and will survive me.
However, the truth is, that even without my going out from
task of actually getting the books on line to go shmoozing
to get support from corporate sources, even with a request
to you for donations in every book we post, the truth is--
that most of our donations have come from corporations.
A wonderful thing. . .when you think about it. . .but none
the less, not something we can depend on for the future as
we never know when these are going to happen.
If anyone reading this is the sort of person who is happy,
even just satisfied, working with grants, requests, etc, I
would welcome your help extremely gratefully, as I am not,
at least never have been, the kind of person who will stop
working on something to get support for that work; however
. . .I will do that more this coming year. . .much more.
I feel that if the work is really worthwhile and _I_ think
Project Gutenberg is the MOST WORTHWHILE activity I can do
. . .then the work itself will create the needed support--
if not, perhaps I am suffering under delusions.
However, even at that, recent events have conspired to set
my mind on getting Project Gutenberg incorporated, and you
are invited to help as much as you can. These events have
shown that it is possible for three independent structures
of seemingly permanent support to all fail simultaneously.
!!!
I would very much like to see Project Gutenberg survive to
continue after I am gone, but I realize now that it is not
likely that I will be able to find someone to take over in
the same function I have had, which I define as merely the
hub of the wheel; so I have to consider institutionalizing
something that has always been just the raggedy collection
of interested parties, something that could not BE without
the Internet, and perhaps something that should never have
been able to come into existence at any other time than it
did. . .especially if they continue running over us with a
continually New and Improved Superhighway Steamroller.
So. . .after all that. . .what do we need:
Solution #1
1. We need to get incorporated, hopefully non-profit.
This will finally allow us control over our own finances--
right now the Benedictine University is in its first years
under a new accounting system which has no way to take any
account of something like Project Gutenberg, even though a
very expensive review of the University began with a first
line of: "Project Gutenberg is the only thing you can NOT
afford to lose."
Such are the perils of large organizations.
We need to be able to pay our bills in ways that are not a
maze of paperwork so intense that I mostly decide to pay a
bill myself rather than do the paperwork. If Gutenberg is
a survivor, I will be repaid. . .if not. . .then it cannot
really matter.
Solution #2
2. We need to gain some kind of financial base.
For most of the 26 years of Project Gutenberg I have paid,
usually not terribly large amounts, for all the expenses--
though in 1989 things really took off and not only did the
expenses go up but I also started spending so much time on
the project that I didn't have much time for much else.
However, two things happened then that allowed me to set a
pathway that proved fairly secure. One was that my father
died, and left me just enough money to either pay off that
nasty mortgage on my house, or to invest enough in Project
Gutenberg to keep it running for the foreseeable future.
The other thing was that Illinois Benedictine College, now
Benedictine University, took a great interest in person of
their new Vice President, Bob Preston. However, he is now
President of a different college.
Therefore, if you have any abilities at all in the dealing
with large corporations and foundations we would certainly
appreciate your help, or even if you just want to learn to
do such things. I, myself, am merely the kind of person a
world would think of as a workaholic with an idea that may
be able to change the world for the better, I am not in an
even remotely true sense any kind of salesman or shmoozer.
I just like doing the work and seeing it do more work.
We have seen a BILLION dollars earmarked for an Electronic
Library. . .from all the major foundations. . .yet when it
comes to talking to them about it. . ._I_ find myself in a
drowning in barnyard material when I approach them. Help!
Solution #3
Anything possible to keep us alive and functioning.
I had planned to leave my house to Project Gutenberg, as I
have just barely managed to finish paying it off, but I am
perhaps forced to consider once again doing the mortgage--
though when I realize how much I could have saved it I had
paid it off back in 1989. . .I have serious reservations.
If you have any ideas, suggestions, places to try, we hope
you will contact anyone you know on our behalf, you are as
much part of Project Gutenberg as anyone. . . !
I have considered just publishing a list of foundations we
think should be interested in Project Gutenberg and having
you write letters directly to them, in addition to whoever
might do any independent contacting.
***
Conclusion
While it doesn't take much money to keep Project Gutenberg
running, probably only $3,000 per month, you might be very
surprised that the over 4,000 newsletter subscribers might
send in an average of only one cent per month each. These
contributions are gratefully accepted, and all who have an
email address included receive personal thank you's. . .it
adds up to less than $50 per month. The Benedictines used
to pay for half of our expenses, but they paid this for us
for nearly a decade, and should not be expected to keep up
something like that effort for the rest of history. Those
several dozen commercial providers who sell access to text
files we create, either online or via disks, don't send us
a cent, other than the Walnut Creek CDROM company, but the
situation there is not something we can rely on to keep us
going on more than a day to day basis, as sales are down.
Our royalties, even though Walnut Creek was nice enough to
increase them by 5%, were still only about $200 per month,
for the last four months.
As you are probably aware, this year was the first year we
did not double our total production of Etexts, and while a
report that we only released our 100th Etext at the end of
1994, and that we have added nearly 1,000 Etexts since, is
the kind of report that looks great on a historical basis,
it really only adds up to one Etext per day. I was hoping
and planning to do two per day this year, and four per day
in 1998. . .in fact we even did some practice runs to show
ourselves we could actually DO four Etexts per day. . .and
we did. . .for enough days in a row to demonstrate that we
could do four per day on a continuing basis, without harm.
Here is what I had to say on that subject last year:
[Between the ***'s]
***
In addition to all of the above, we also plan to keep up a
policy of doubling our production every year, and thus for
two books per day during 1997. As long as we survive, the
work should continue to get done on schedule, providing we
double the number of Project Gutenberg Volunteers, too.
It is amazing when I look back on it, but a year ago, from
right now, we were just posting Etext #350. . . .
Oct 1995 Of Human Bondage, by W. Somerset Maugham [humbnxxx.xxx] 351
Oct 1995 Fanny Herself, by Edna Ferber [Author of "Giant"] [fnherxxx.xxx] 350
Oct 1995 The Harvester, by Gene Stratton Porter [Porter #4][tharvxxx.xxx] 349
Oct 1995 Collection of Hesiod, Homer and Homerica [homerxxx.xxx] 348
Oct 1995 Grettir the Strong, Icelandic Saga, Author Unknown[grttrxxx.xxx] 347
Oct 1995 The Troll Garden, et al, by Willa Cather [#5] [trollxxx.xxx] 346
Oct 1995 Dracula, by Bram Stoker [Halloween Request #5] [dracuxxx.xxx] 345
Oct 1995 Merry Men, by Robert Louis Stevenson [RLS #8] [mrmenxxx.xxx] 344
and now we are posting #700. . . .
If it weren't for the facts that we are in so very serious
trouble in our support structure, we should celebrate in a
great fashion that we have once again managed not only the
survival of another year but the creation and distribution
of as many Etexts in the past year as we managed to get on
line in the 24 years before that.
Hopefully next year we will get to celebrate Etext #1,000,
in a slightly less reserved tone.
***
For now, you can help us in several ways:
1. Send financial donations sent to Project Gutenberg/CMU
at P.O. Box 2782, Champaign, IL, 61825-2782.
2. Volunteer to help create new Etexts by subscribing for
this as follows:
email to listproc@prairienet.org
[no subject required, the only content needs to be]
subscribe gutnberg [firstname lastname]
subscribe gutvol-l [firstname lastname]
If you don't want to volunteer, just subscribe to gutnberg
and don't subscribe to gutvol-l.
Please also send a copy [cc:] to hart@pobox.com, and I can
make sure your subscriptions go through.
If you want make sure you are also on our new listservers,
send email to:
majordomo@@sailor.lib.md.us
containing the single line [no subject line is required]
subscribe gutnberg
or
subscribe gutvol-l
Once again THANKS to all the 1100 volunteers who have been
responsible for the creation of the 350 new Etext sent out
to the world this year, and I will hopefully be thanking a
group of 700 more volunteers over the next year, as it may
still take us an average of two volunteers to create every
book we manage to complete. We would also love to do more
books in other languages!!!
Wishing you all the best, and thanking you all for support
we could never do without. . .I remain,
Michael S. Hart
[hart@pobox.com]
Project Gutenberg
Executive Director
Internet User ~#100
