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{{Short description|Web-based proofreading project}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Distributed Proofreaders
| logo = Distributed Proofreaders logo.svg
| logo_size = 300px
| logo_alt = "Distributed Proofreaders" set in blue serif text, with the second word beginning at the bottom right of the first one. Below the second word, "Preserving History One Page at a Time." in black serif text.
| logo_caption = 
| screenshot = Distributed Proofreaders.png
| collapsible = 
| collapsetext = 
| background = 
| screenshot_size = 
| screenshot_alt = Screenshot of the proofreading interface on Distributed Proofreaders.
| caption = Screenshot of the proofreading interface on Distributed Proofreaders.
| url = {{URL|https://www.pgdp.net}}
| commercial = No
| type = Not-for-profit
| language = [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]]
| language_count = 3
| registration = Optional
| num_users =
| content_license = [[Public Domain]] 
| programming_language = [[PHP]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://github.com/DistributedProofreaders/dproofreaders |title=Distributed Proofreaders|publisher=github.com |access-date=2022-02-01 }}</ref>
| country_of_origin = [[United States of America]]
| owner = Distributed Proofreaders Foundation (DPF)
| author = 
| founder = Charles Franks
| launch_date = {{start date and age|2000}} 
| GM = Linda Hamilton
| alexa = 
| current_status = Active
| oclc = 1087497129
| footnotes =
}}

'''Distributed Proofreaders''' (commonly abbreviated as '''DP''' or '''PGDP''') is a web-based project that supports the development of [[e-text]]s for [[Project Gutenberg]] by allowing many people to work together in [[proofreading]] drafts of e-texts for errors. {{as of|April 2025|post=,}} the site had digitized 49,000 titles.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cantoni |first=Linda |date=2025-04-12 |title=Celebrating 49,000 Titles | Hot off the Press |url=https://blog.pgdp.net/2025/04/12/celebrating-49000-titles/ |access-date=2025-10-24 |website=Hot off the Press: Book Reviews and Notes from Distributed Proofreaders |publisher=Distributed Proofreaders}}</ref>

== History ==

Distributed Proofreaders was founded by Charles Franks in 2000 as an independent site to assist [[Project Gutenberg]].<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Lessig |first=Lawrence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7eRPKIvEo9gC&pg=PT167 |title=Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy |publisher=Penguin |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-14-311613-4 |page=167}}</ref><ref name="brit1">{{cite web |date=11 August 2025 |title=Project Gutenberg |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Project-Gutenberg |access-date=20 October 2025 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> Distributed Proofreaders became an official Project Gutenberg site in 2002.<ref name=brit1 />

On 8 November 2002, Distributed Proofreaders was [[Slashdot effect|slashdotted]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Volunteers%27_Voices#Suzanne_Shell|title=Gutenberg:Volunteers' Voices|publisher=[[Project Gutenberg]]|access-date=2008-07-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918202824/http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Volunteers%27_Voices#Suzanne_Shell|archive-date=2008-09-18|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boingboing.net/2002/11/12/distributed-proofrea.html|title=Distributed Proofreading's slashdotting|date=12 November 2002 |publisher=[[Boing Boing]]|access-date=2008-07-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109001542/http://www.boingboing.net/2002/11/12/distributed-proofrea.html|archive-date=2007-11-09|url-status=live}}</ref> and more than 4,000 new members joined in one day, causing an influx of new proofreaders and software developers, which helped to increase the quantity and quality of e-text production.

In 2006, the Distributed Proofreaders Foundation was formed to provide Distributed Proofreaders with its own legal entity and [[Non-profit organization|not-for-profit]] status, separate from Project Gutenberg.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |date=2025-06-18 |title=Distributed Proofreaders Foundation History |url=https://www.pgdp.net/wiki/DPFoundation:Distributed_Proofreaders_Foundation_History |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=DPWiki |language=en}}</ref><ref name="globemail">{{Cite web |last=John |first=Last |date=October 31, 2025 |title=Obituary: Project Gutenberg CEO Greg Newby helped put a trove of literature online |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-greg-newby-project-gutenberg-ceo-literature-public-domain-hacker/ |access-date=November 4, 2025 |website=The Globe and Mail |language=en}}</ref> The founding trustees were Charles Franks, Juliet Sutherland, and [[Gregory B. Newby]].<ref name=":1" />

In July 2015, the 30,000th Distributed Proofreaders produced e-text was posted to Project Gutenberg. DP-contributed e-texts comprised more than half of works in Project Gutenberg by 2009.<ref name="brit1" />

== Proofreading process ==

DP servers are located in the United States, and therefore works must be cleared by Project Gutenberg as being in the [[public domain]] according to [[Copyright law of the United States|United States copyright law]] before they can be proofread and eventually published.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Newby |first=G. B. |last2=Franks |first2=C. |date=2003 |title=Distributed proofreading |url=http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1204888/ |journal=2003 Joint Conference on Digital Libraries, 2003. Proceedings. |publisher=IEEE Comput. Soc |pages=361–363 |doi=10.1109/JCDL.2003.1204888 |isbn=978-0-7695-1939-5|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[Public domain]] works, typically books with expired copyright, are scanned by volunteers or sourced from digitization projects, and the images are run through [[optical character recognition]] (OCR) [[software]].<ref name=":2" /> Since OCR software is far from perfect, the resulting text always includes errors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Piotrowski |first=Michael |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Natural_Language_Processing_for_Historic/vYhyEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA43&printsec=frontcover |title=Natural Language Processing for Historical Texts |date=2022-05-31 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-031-02146-6 |pages=43 |language=en}}</ref> To correct them, pages are made available to volunteers via the Internet; the original page image and the recognized text appear side by side.<ref>{{cite conference
|author1=Gentry, Craig |author2=Ramzan, Zulfikar |author3=Stuart Stubblebine | title=Secure Distributed ''Human'' Computation
| book-title=Financial cryptography and data security: 9th International Conference
| page=329 | date=February 28 – March 3, 2005
| volume=3570 | series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science
|editor=Andrew S. Patrick |editor2=Moti Yung |editor2-link=Moti Yung | location=Roseau, The Commonwealth of Dominica
| publisher=Springer | isbn=3-540-26656-9
| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JegO2ly7IccC&pg=PA329
| doi=10.1145/1064009.1064026 }}</ref> Each set is presented to multiple volunteers to enter corrections, which results in a combined dataset that minimizes errors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Christianson |first=Bruce |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Security_Protocols/NwGNVmUN84MC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA178&printsec=frontcover |title=Security Protocols: 14th International Workshop, Cambridge, UK, March 27-29, 2006, Revised Selected Papers |last2=Crispo |first2=Bruno |last3=Malcolm |first3=James A. |last4=Roe |first4=Michael |date=2009-10-15 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-642-04903-3 |pages=178 |language=en}}</ref> This process distributes the time-consuming error-correction process with a method akin to [[distributed computing]].<ref name=":0" />

A post-processor combines the pages and prepares the text for uploading to Project Gutenberg.<ref name=":2" />

Besides custom software created to support the project, DP also runs a forum and a wiki for project coordinators and participants.

== Related projects ==

=== DP Europe ===
In January 2004, Distributed Proofreaders Europe started, hosted by [[Project Rastko]], Serbia.<ref>{{cite web | first=Marie | last=Lebert | date=November 4, 2010 | title=Distributed Proofreaders, producteur des livres du Projet Gutenberg, a 10 ans | language=fr | work=Actualitté | url=http://www.actualitte.com/dossiers/1197-ebooks-projet-gutenberg-distributed-proofreaders.htm | access-date=2011-06-30 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005175932/http://www.actualitte.com/dossiers/1197-ebooks-projet-gutenberg-distributed-proofreaders.htm | archive-date=October 5, 2011 | url-status=live }}</ref> This site had the ability to process text in [[Unicode]] [[UTF-8]] encoding. Books proofread centered on European culture, with a considerable proportion of non-English texts including Hebrew, Arabic, Urdu, and many others. {{As of|2013|alt=As of October 2013}}, DP Europe had produced 787 e-texts, the last of these in November 2011.

=== DP Canada ===
In December 2007, [[Distributed Proofreaders Canada]] launched to support the production of e-books for [[Project Gutenberg Canada]] and take advantage of shorter [[Copyright law of Canada|Canadian copyright]] terms. Although it was established by members of the original Distributed Proofreaders site, it is a separate entity.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lebert |first=Marie |date=November 5, 2010 |title=Distributed Proofreaders just celebrated its 10th anniversary |url=http://teleread.com/distributed-proofreaders-just-celebrated-its-10th-anniversary-by-marie-lebert/ |access-date=12 November 2025 |website=Teleread |publisher=}}</ref> All its projects are posted to [[Faded Page]], their book archive website. In addition, it supplies books to Project Gutenberg Canada, and, where copyright laws are compatible, to the original Project Gutenberg.

== Milestones ==
The source for many of these entries is the DP Timeline.<ref>{{cite web |title=DP Timeline |url=https://www.pgdp.net/wiki/DP_Official_Documentation:General/DP_Timeline |access-date=2020-08-13 |website=DPWiki}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Milestone
!Date
!e-text
|-
! First
| 1 Oct 2000
| The Odyssey, [[Homer]], Lang tr. (first pages for proofreading)
|-
! 1,000th
| 19 Feb 2003
| Tales of St. Austin's, [[P. G. Wodehouse]]
|-
! 2,000th
| 3 Sep 2003
| Hamlet — the 'Bad Quarto', [[William Shakespeare]]
|-
! 3,000th
| 14 Jan 2004
| The Anatomy of Melancholy, [[Robert Burton (scholar)|Robert Burton]]
|-
! 4,000th
| 6 Apr 2004
| Aventures du Capitaine Hatteras, [[Jules Verne]]
|-
! 5,000th
| 24 Aug 2004
| A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, [[John William Cousin]]
|-
! 10,000th
| 9 Mar 2007
| (See [[#10,000th E-book|10,000th E-book]] below)
|-
! 15,000th
| 12 May 2009
| Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society - Vol 1 - 1666, Various. [[Henry Oldenburg]] (editor)
|-
! 20,000th
| 10 April 2011
| (See [[#20,000th E-book|20,000th E-book]] below)
|-
! 25,000th
| 10 April 2013
| The Art and Practice of Silver Printing, [[Henry Peach Robinson|H. P. Robinson]] and [[William de Wiveleslie Abney|Capt. Abney]]<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://blog.pgdp.net/2013/04/10/a-silver-anniversary-25000-titles-posted/
|title=A Silver Anniversary—25,000 Titles posted to Project Gutenberg!
|date=10 April 2013
|publisher=Pgdp.net
|access-date=20 October 2025}}</ref>
|-
! 30,000th
| 7 July 2015
| Graded Literature Readers: Fourth Book<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://blog.pgdp.net/2015/07/07/celebrating-30000-titles/
|title=Celebrating 30,000 Titles
|date=7 July 2015
|publisher=Pgdp.net
|access-date=20 October 2025}}</ref>
|-
! 35,000th
| 26 Jan 2018
| Shores of the Polar Sea, a Narrative of the Arctic Expedition of 1875–1876<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://blog.pgdp.net/2018/01/26/celebrating-35000-titles/
|title=Celebrating 35,000 Titles
|date=26 January 2018
|publisher=Pgdp.net
|access-date=20 October 2025}}</ref>
|-
!40,000th
|10 October 2020
|All four volumes of [[London Labour and the London Poor]]<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://blog.pgdp.net/2020/10/10/celebrating-40000-titles
|title=Celebrating 40,000 Titles
|date=10 October 2020
|publisher=Pgdp.net}}</ref>
|-
!45,000th
|18 January 2023
|Elihu Stewart's Down the Mackenzie and Up the Yukon in 1906<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://blog.pgdp.net/2023/01/18/celebrating-45000-titles/
|title=Celebrating 45,000 Titles
|date=18 January 2023
|publisher=Pgdp.net}}</ref>
|}

=== 10,000th E-book ===

On 9 March 2007, Distributed Proofreaders announced the completion of more than 10,000 titles. In celebration, a collection of fifteen titles was published:
* ''Slave Narratives, Oklahoma'' (A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves) by the U.S. [[Work Projects Administration]] (English)
* ''Eighth annual report of the Bureau of ethnology''. (1891 N 08 / 1886–1887) edited by [[John Wesley Powell]] (English)
* ''R. Caldecott's First Collection of Pictures and Songs'' by [[Randolph Caldecott]] [Illustrator] (English)
* ''Como atravessei Àfrica'' (Volume II) by [[Serpa Pinto]] (Portuguese)
* ''Triplanetary'' by [[E. E. Smith|E. E. "Doc" Smith]] (English)
* ''Heidi'' by [[Johanna Spyri]] (English)
* ''Heimatlos'' by Johanna Spyri (German)
* October 27, 1920 issue of ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' (English)
* ''Sylva, or, A Discourse of Forest-Trees'' by [[John Evelyn]] (English)
* ''Encyclopedia of Needlework'' by [[Therese de Dillmont]] (English)
* ''The annals of the Cakchiquels'' by [[Francisco Ernantez Arana]] ([[floruit|fl.]] 1582), translated and edited by [[Daniel Garrison Brinton|Daniel G. Brinton]] (1837–1899) (English with Central American Indian)
* ''The Shanty Book, Part I, Sailor Shanties'' (1921) by [[Richard Runciman Terry]] (1864–1938) (English)
* ''Le marchand de Venise'' by [[William Shakespeare]], translated by [[François Guizot]] (French)
* ''Agriculture for beginners'', Rev. ed. by [[Charles William Burkett]] (English)
* ''Species Plantarum'' (Part 1) by [[Carl Linnaeus]] (Carl von Linné) (Latin)

=== 20,000th E-book ===
On April 10, 2011, the 20,000th book milestone was celebrated as a group release of bilingual books:<ref>[http://blog.pgdp.net/2011/04/09/distributed-proofreaders-celebrates-20000-books-posted/ Distributed Proofreaders celebrates 20,000 books posted] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110619033646/http://blog.pgdp.net/2011/04/09/distributed-proofreaders-celebrates-20000-books-posted/ |date=2011-06-19 }}, Distributed Proofreaders, April 10, 2011</ref>
* ''The Renaissance in Italy–Italian Literature, Vol 1'', [[John Addington Symonds]] (English with Italian)
* ''Märchen und Erzählungen für Anfänger; erster Teil'', [[H. A. Guerber]] (German with English)
* ''Gedichte und Sprüche'', [[Walther von der Vogelweide]] (Middle High German ({{circa|1050}}–1500) with German)
* ''Studien und Plaudereien im Vaterland'', [[Sigmon Martin Stern]] (German with English)
* ''Caos del Triperuno'', [[Teofilo Folengo]] (Italian with Latin)
* ''Niederländische Volkslieder'', [[Hoffmann von Fallersleben]] (German with Dutch)
* ''A "San Francisco"'', [[Salvatore Di Giacomo]] (Italian with Neapolitan)
* ''O' voto'', Salvatore Di Giacomo (Italian with Neapolitan)
* ''De Latino sine Flexione'' & ''Principio de Permanentia'', [[Giuseppe Peano]] (1858–1932) (Latin with Latino sine Flexione)
* ''Cappiddazzu paga tuttu—Nino Martoglio'', [[Luigi Pirandello]] (Italian with Sicilian)
* ''The International Auxiliary Language Esperanto'', [[George Cox (writer)|George Cox]] (English with Esperanto)
* ''Lusitania: canti popolari portoghesi'', [[Ettore Toci]] (Italian with French)

=== 30,000th E-book ===
On 7 July 2015, the 30,000th book milestone was celebrated with a group of thirty texts. One was numbered 30,000:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pgdp.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=59120 |title=Distributed Proofreaders • View topic - 30,000 Unique Titles Preserved! |publisher=Pgdp.net |access-date=2016-09-15}}</ref>
*''Graded literature readers - Fourth book'', editors: [[Harry Pratt Judson]] and Ida C. Bender, 1900

=== 40,000th E-book ===
On 10 October 2020, the 40,000th book milestone was celebrated with the completion of a four-volume work, ''[[London Labour and the London Poor]]'', by [[Henry Mayhew]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blog.pgdp.net/2020/10/10/celebrating-40000-titles/ |title=Celebrating 40,000 Titles |publisher=Pgdp.net |access-date=2025-09-01}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of digital library projects]]
*[[Wikisource]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Official website}}

[[Category:Collaborative projects]]
[[Category:Crowdsourcing]]
[[Category:Distributed computing projects]]
[[Category:Human-based computation]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2000]]
[[Category:Mass digitization]]
[[Category:Proofreading]]

Distributed Proofreaders - Revision history

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