The Early Development of Project Gutenberg c.1970-2000 (Elements in Publishing and Book Culture)

Simon Rowberry

ISBN 10: 1108743188 / ISBN 13: 9781108743181

Published by Cambridge University Press (29 Jun. 2023), 2023

About this Item

Seller Inventory # LU-9781108743181

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Early Development of Project Gutenberg c.1970-2000 (Elements in Publishing and Book Culture)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (29 Jun. 2023)
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1108743188
• ISBN 13: 9781108743181
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Dimensions: 12.7W x 0.61H x 17.78D centimeters 12.7 centimeters width by 0.61 centimeters height by 17.78 centimeters depth

About this title

Synopsis

Project Gutenberg is lauded as one of the earliest digitisation initiatives, a mythology that Michael Hart, its founder perpetuated through to his death in 2011. In this Element, the author re-examines the extant historical evidence to challenge some of Hart's bolder claims and resituates the significance of Project Gutenberg in relation to broader trends in online document delivery and digitisation in the latter half of the twentieth century, especially in the World Wide Web's first decade (the 1990s). Through this re-appraisal, the author instead suggests that Hart's Project is significant as an example of what Millicent Weber has termed a “digital publishing collective” whereby a group of volunteers engage in producing content and that process is as meaningful as the final product.