Would you volunteer to digitize public-domain books for open access? Help work out the details on the Distributed Scanners discussion list. (Thanks to Klaus Graf.) From the list description:
In the current incarnation of the idea (subject to change over time as we gain understanding) volunteers at scanning “stations” around the country will scan public domain books, at suitable archival quality (to be determined), probably using color-calibration. The resulting scans will be qc’d by volunteers using an online volunteer system, cleaned up (e.g., deskewed, cropped, color corrected, despeckled, etc.) using both automated tools and online volunteers. In addition, MARC or similar metadata records will be generated using volunteer librarians to assist with the process. Copyright clearance certificates could also be issued, using trained online volunteers. The scans of certified public domain works would be donated to the Internet Archive (and/or OCA), and may also be archived on other servers including our own....The inspiration for DistScan comes from Distributed Proofreaders (DP), where proofing of already scanned books is done by volunteers all over the world, using a web interface. We believe a lot of the work as described above, other than the scanning itself, can be similarly done via online tools and collaboration. It is also a given that there’s lots of scanning equipment, owned both by individuals and many institutions, that could be leveraged....There are, of course, difficulties and uncertainties in this idea. For example, how does it relate to other scanning projects already going on, such as those managed by the Internet Archive (OCA)? Where and by whom is the scanning done? How do we assure adequate quality control? 501(c)3 status? No doubt there are several other difficulties, not yet identified, that will also need to be addressed.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 12/18/2005 10:02:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
