the digital library

From: Jeff Davis (jrd1415@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Nov 15 2002 - 18:32:56 MST


Extropes,

Nothing really creative or unexpected here, but this
seems to me what the web was for. A place for people
to get together to do what seems worthwhile to them.

http://texts01.archive.org/dp/default.php

In 1997 Sci Am had an article which said that
converting library materials to digital would be
costly because ocr makes mistakes, mistakes which must
be corrected by humans, and humans cost money.

When I read that, my head nearly exploded. You ocr
your materials, AND THEN YOU LET THE READERS, IF THEY
SO CHOOSE, AS VOLUNTEERS, CORRECT IT AS THEY READ
ALONG, at no cost.

They got an article printed in a (once) respected
journal, yet they're too stupid to breathe.

Anyway, I do a couple of pages a day. Not the least
surprising, it's quite enjoyable.

Enjoy.

Best, Jeff Davis

"When I am working on a problem I never think about
beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem.
But when I have finished, if the solution is not
beautiful, I know it is wrong."
                      - Buckminster Fuller

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your site
http://webhosting.yahoo.com



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Jan 15 2003 - 17:58:09 MST