Project Runeberg,
I occasionally let my scanner rest and spend some time proofreading texts online, like a mere mortal. :-) To some degree, I do this because I need to see that Project Runeberg's proofreading system is working alright, and it might give me new ideas for improvement. But it's also a very good way to relax, almost like meditation. One can focus on getting the text right, with no need to "think". I do it best when I listen to instrumental music, such as Jean Michel Jarre's records.
This time, I didn't help Project Runeberg alone, but also our international friends. Just a few months ago, Project Gutenberg's Distributed Proofreaders (www.pgdp.net) opened a European branch, hosted by "Projekat Rastko" (www.rastko.net), a website originally for Serbian literature. Rastko has been expanding primarily in the Slavic languages, from Kashubian (spoken by 5000 people in northern Poland) to Bulgarian, but "Distributed Proofreaders--Europe" or DP-Europe aims to cover all European languages, including also English, Spanish, French, Dutch, German, Danish, Swedish, and Finnish.
Rather than competition, I see DP-Europe as a neighbor, and I hope we can learn from and help each other. I hope you will join me as volunteers for DP-Europe. At the moment, there is only one Swedish and one Danish text on the beginners' proofreading list, but I know you are able to help on books in other languages as well. And more books are scanned and uploaded as time goes.
Here is how it works:
1. Go to http://dp.rastko.net/
The front page presents some news and statistics, but you cannot really "see" any books before you register and log in. This is where DP really differs from Project Runeberg. DP's purpose is to produce e-texts for Project Gutenberg, while Project Runeberg is a website where digitized books are displayed both in facsimile and text. DP is like a factory that outputs e-texts, while Project Runeberg is more like a shop window with products on display through all phases of production.
2. Click "Register" in the upper right corner.
Fill in a username and a password of your choice. As always on Internet websites, do not use the same password that you use at work or for your most secret information. Keep in mind that the DP website uses unencrypted HTTP (not HTTPS) and that the site is run by people you don't know.
3. Welcome as a newbie!
Once you have registered, your newly created identity has a personal statistics and rank based on how many pages you have proofread. Your personal statistics is displayed to the right. Starting out at zero, you are a "newbie". All pages have to be proofread twice, but as a newbie you can only participate in the "first round" of proofreading. Once you have completed 50 pages, your status is upgraded and you are welcome to take part in second round proofreading as well.
4. Join a team
DP-Europe currently have 298 registered volunteers (the original DP has 11,144 users). Every user can join up to three different teams, and every time you proofread a page, a point is also given to each of your teams. I created a team called "Project Runeberg", which I hope that you will join. But there is also a "Team Sweden", a team for "Basset Hound Lovers" and a team for "LOTE SF and Fantasy", which is short for Languages-Other-Than-English Science-Fiction and Fantasy". The abbreviation LOTE appears in other places on the website.
5. Start proofreading
On your personal starting page is a list of Proofreading Projects (each project is a book, scroll down to see the list). Find a title that sounds interesting and give it a try. On the project display, click "Start proofing" and you will get a split screen with a facsimile image and a text area with a save button underneath, very much like Project Runeberg's proofreading function. DP uses a slightly different markup than Project Runeberg, which is explained in the "Proofing Guidelines". The main principle is the same: Keep the spelling, but fix the scanning and OCR errors.
6. Preferences and Forums
Under "Preferences" you can define the size of your screen or whether you want the screen to split vertically rather than horizontally, you can even select which language you want for the user interface. Under "Forums" you find discussion forums on various topics, including one forum for each of the books being proofread. Each team of users also have their own forum.
There is much for Project Runeberg to learn from DP and DP-Europe. There is also much that Project Runeberg's experienced proofreaders can bring to them, in ideas, experience and differing background. I think I will personally use DP-Europe mostly for German books, since I do speak German but don't want to include German literature in Project Runeberg.