11-28-2011, 12:42 PM | #1 |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
The importance of proofing against printed texts
My experiences in proof-reading Edgar Rice Burroughs's "A Princess of Mars" provide a good illustration of the importance of proofing against a printed text (or, at least, a decent scanned PDF of a printed edition). Although the Project Gutenberg text of this book is, from a nominal reading, in very good shape, I've so far come across two instances where words are missing from the book; in both cases it appears that a complete line has been omitted. Neither case could have been detected simply by reading the eBook, since it just so happens that the sentences concerned make sense without the text that's missing.
So, the moral of the story is to ALWAYS proof against printed editions! What I generally do myself, if I can't find a scan at Google Books or archive.org, is to buy the cheapest 2nd-hand edition I can on eBay or Amazon, proof-read against it, and then re-sell it. |
11-28-2011, 02:21 PM | #2 |
Techno-geek
Posts: 225
Karma: 1116651
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Mississippi, USA
Device: PRS-T1 (Black), PRS-T3S (Black), Kobo Aura ONE
|
I, for one, appreciate all the effort you put into your editions HarryT. Isn't it a sad commentary that we have to buy printed (dead-tree) books to correct e-editions?
--MH |
Advert | |
|
11-28-2011, 02:45 PM | #3 |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
Not really, no. PG texts are, after all, created from printed books. What, other than a printed book, could they be proof-read against?
|
12-06-2011, 04:28 AM | #4 |
Fanatic
Posts: 580
Karma: 810184
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Norway
Device: prs-t1, tablet, Nook Simple, assorted kindles, iPad
|
I like making an HTML two-column table and putting page scans in the left column and the OCR text in the right. Then I can import it into LibreOffice and proofread it there. I'm in the process of describing how I do it over in this thread.
Are there any proof-reading solutions that does something similar? |
12-09-2011, 06:43 AM | #5 |
Member
Posts: 10
Karma: 10
Join Date: Dec 2011
Device: none
|
Uh.. so what?
Printed books occasionally miss lines, too. I recently came across a book where I had two different editions, one I knew was abridged. And guess what: In the supposedly original edition I also found two places where single lines were missing! So I guess it's obvious what happened here: The book was scanned from an edition where some printing error happened. |
Advert | |
|
12-09-2011, 06:57 AM | #6 |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
|
12-15-2011, 03:19 PM | #7 |
Member
Posts: 10
Karma: 10
Join Date: Dec 2011
Device: none
|
There's no guarantee that any printed version you get is complete as well. Mistakes happen. If you get 3 versions of a text you most likely will get 3 different sets of accidental omissions.
You draw the completely wrong conclusion from this because you only can guarantee that you proofed against the one version of the text you have but how do you know that this version is complete? |
12-16-2011, 03:39 AM | #8 | |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
Quote:
For example, when I was proofing my eBook edition of Charles Dickens's "The Old Curiosity Shop" I found two places in the book where a complete double page of text had been omitted. Nearly all the free or low-cost eBook editions you'll find of "The Old Curiosity Shop" have this error in them. |
|
12-16-2011, 10:24 AM | #9 |
frumious Bandersnatch
Posts: 7,516
Karma: 19000001
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Spaniard in Sweden
Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura
|
Besides, corrections should always be applied with a minimum of critical thought. If I see a difference between a printed book and an electronic text, I'll choose whatever looks more likely to be correct. It will often be the printed book, but not necessarily always.
|
12-16-2011, 10:46 AM | #10 | |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
Quote:
|
|
12-17-2011, 09:11 AM | #11 | |
Fanatic
Posts: 532
Karma: 3293888
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Virginia
Device: Nook Simple Touch
|
Quote:
|
|
12-17-2011, 03:53 PM | #12 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 11,470
Karma: 13095790
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Grass Valley, CA
Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7
|
The first Project Gutenberg book was produced in 1971. It was hand typed in.
|
12-17-2011, 10:53 PM | #13 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 5,185
Karma: 25133758
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA
Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)
|
Quote:
The Gutenberg edition of "Fanny Hill" is packed with typos. A lot of the earlier books got barely any proofreading; while the recent ones tend to be great, the earlier ones--which means, any very popular classic--are all questionable & should be checked against hard copy. They can be checked against image scans, which will cover everything except pages that weren't scanned, or were missing in the original. |
|
12-18-2011, 04:03 AM | #14 |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
Yes, unfortunately it's the extremely popular classics that tend to have the most errors at PG, since they were manually typed in, not scanned. That was the prime motivation for my on-going "complete works of Dickens" project here at MR: the fact that most Dickens at PG is in very poor shape.
|
12-20-2011, 02:56 PM | #15 |
Fanatic
Posts: 590
Karma: 788068
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Sweden
Device: Sony PRS 505, Cybook Odessey
|
And that is the problem I am having with a book I am proofreading. There is one word that have lost the first three letters. And the remaining four doesn't help. sigh.
And the book is out of print, and not even the royal library has it. Right now, I am tempted to leave the typo. |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Proofing Term Papers | Mjaydakid | Amazon Kindle | 3 | 05-06-2011 11:17 AM |
DRM and future proofing in the UK | spinningdoc | Which one should I buy? | 11 | 05-03-2011 06:34 PM |
Future-proofing my username... | bornagainpenguin | Introduce Yourself | 6 | 01-18-2010 02:26 AM |
OK to use a recent edition for proofing? | Sparrow | Workshop | 5 | 07-16-2009 10:30 AM |
Future proofing and LRF... | Student1 | Calibre | 5 | 03-26-2009 08:11 AM |