12 October 2000

Welcome to release number 18 by Zaphod, proprietor of the New Age Library. We at the new age library (henceforth refered to as NAL) have as our goal the QUALITY release of classic (and some not so classic) science fiction in e-book format.

Release #18 is Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. (We REALLY seem to be picking on Larry lately.)

This release was scanned and OCR'd by Seagull, and proof read by:
David
ReMa1nz
wOrlock
SeaGull
Zaphod (SeaGull insisted I proof one of the files myself.)

Apologies to the proof-reading team on this one for not sending out advance copies. SeaGull made threats on my life if I delayed this release. I think he meant it.

This scan was a bitch. Period. The original was a paperback that had survived a fire and water damage. We couldn't find a better copy, and this is one I REALLY wanted in e-text, so here it is. SeaGull has sworn by all that's holy (and quite a bit that isn't) that he will never again scan a paperback in this condition.

I tend to agree.

This particular project caused no less than 9 proof readers to quit, and one to disappear and not be heard from again. It also caused us to re-evaluate our quality control. It's now a lot better.

Cover and art scans are by anonymous. Thanks again, anon.

We need still more proof readers. E-mail zopharnal@hotmail.com for details. No fringe benefits, no glory(well, some glory, but damn little) just a lot of hard work.

We also need a decent ansi artist for this nfo file. It sucks. We know it. If you can do better, then let's see it.

Some of our earlier releases were not quite up to standard. Look for updated and corrected versions in the future, with better cover scans.

SeaGull has spent the last three days evaluating OCR software, and evaluating our scanning/proofreading procdures, in an effort to reduce errors. As a side effect, he reduced the work required to produce a scan greatly. SeaGull shelled out a little over 1000 bucks (Canadian...about $700US these days) of his own money for two new scanners, a pile of hardcover SF books, and a nice big 19' monitor for proofreading.
Unfortunately, the scanning process involves destroying the original paper copy, and only works well with hardocvers, so we plan to haunt every used bookstore between here and Montreal to find all those old classics. If you have any old hardcover SF books you want to see in etext format, and don't want back, e-mail any member of NAL.
We will be finishing ongoing projects that have been started from scanned paperbacks. If you are a proofreader, finish up what you have and send it back. New projects will done by the new procedure, which results in less than one OCR error per page of scanned text (we can nearly release the raw OCR text as the finished product!). Proof readers will be e-mailed complete works (unless it's huge) in the future.

FAQs:

Q:	What do you mean by quality?
A:	Many (if not most) of the scans we've seen are unformatted raw text files, fresh from the scanner. OCR errors make the reading experience much less enjoyable. Our releases are spell checked, proof read, and compared to the original for an absolute minimum of errors. In addition, cover scans will be included with each release.

Q:	Can I download this file if I don't own a paper copy?
A:	No. Buy the book ya cheap bastid. The e-book versions are intended solely as a back-up copy for the personal use of those entitled to have a copy (ie: those who have made sure the author got paid). If you don't have the paper copy, delete this file now.

Q:	Isn't scanning, proof-reading, etc a hell of a lot of work?
A:	Yes, it is. If you want to help NAL, contact Zophar at zopharnal@hotmail.com. Put NAL as the subject of your e-mail, or it will be ignored.
NAL is looking for members with scanners, a large SF library, a good OCR proggy (which we can supply), and some time to dedicate to preserving classic SF. If you don't own a scanner, you can still help as a proof reader. Mail Zophar. We are particularly interested in proof readers who own the dead tree editions (ie: paper) of ongoing projects, since it helps enormously to have the paper copy as a reference when proof reading (see the 'What's next for release' list below.) Proof readers will be e-mailed approximately 100 pages of the raw OCR text, and are expected to remove page headers and footers, spell check, correct OCR errors, correct formatting errors, and return the proof read text in a timely manner (generally within 7 days of getting it). If you have a favourite book you would like to see in e-text format, mail Zophar with a request. Requests that are accompanied by a proof read text file will be given priority..:)

Note by SeaGull: At present we are re-evaluating our software and our procedures for scanning and proof-reading, thanks to a few helpful suggestions from various people. The goal is to make the raw scans as error free as possible...those of you working on the Footfall project will be especially glad to NOT see another raw text with 20-30 errors per page...and no more damn headers and footers.
(In our defence, the only dead-tree copy we could find was in pretty bad shape...)

Q:	What's next on the release list?
A:

Here's the list of projects on the go. The letter codes before each title is interpreted according to the following:

-S means the raw scan has been done
-P means all we have is a paperback copy, and the test scan showed a lot of errors. We're looking for the hardcover to scan it before we inflict it on out valiant proof reading team.
-C means we scanned it from various sources, and the scan is of mixed quality (applies to collections, anthologies, series, etc...)
-I means scanning is in progress
-Q means we have a raw scan, but there are quality issues that will slow release
-O means the raw text, or at least part of it, has been sent out to proof readers
-F means all parts of the raw text have been returned by proof readers, and the text is awaiting final proof reading

P	The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You by Harry Harrison
I	Telempath by Spider Robinson
P	Time Pressure by Spider Robinson
SQ	Night of Power by Spider Robinson
SO	Gateway (and the other four Heechee books) by Frederick Pohl
P	Time Enough for Love by Robert A Heinlein
SQ	A Jungle of Stars by Jack L Chalker
P	The Well World Series (all 5 of 'em) by Jack L Chalker
SO (Q?)	Rocket Ship Galileo by Robert A Heinlein
IO	Nightfall by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg
SO	Battle Circle (released as three novels) by Piers Anthony
IO	Cities in Flight (four novels) by James Blish
S	The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
I	The Genesis Machine by James P Hogan
I	Farnham's Freehold by Robert A heinlein
SOC	The Past Through Tommorrow (Short Story Collection) by RAH
S	The Avatar by Poul Anderson
S	Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov
SOQ	Sixth Column by Robert A Heinlein
I	The Best of Frederick Pohl, edited by Lester Del Rey
S	The Best of Murray Leinster, edited by J.J.
SO	Assorted short stories and novellas by Alfred Bester
S	Assorted short stories and novellas by Murray Leinster
S	Assorted short stories and novellas by Roger Zelazny
S	Assorted short stories by Spider Robinson
SO	Orphans of the Sky by Robert A Heinlein
I	The Proteus Operation by James P Hogan
I	Code of the Lifemaker by James P Hogan
SO	The Ringworld Throne, by Larry Niven

By the time you're reading this, it may be a bit out of date, but at least you'll have an idea of what's going on. We're going to stop picking on Larry Niven after we release Footfall (somebody else is taking care of picking on him:)) except we may scan Oath of Fealty in the (somewhat) near future. SeaGull found a big box of old issues of Analog, and F&SF at a garage sale ($5 he paid for 'em!) and we'll pick some good shorts out of those, if 'Gull can figure a way to get a decent scan out of 40 year old newsprint.
There may be a bit of a pause in releases while we work on The Past Through Tomorrow. The raw scan was 1.8 megs, so it's a bit large, and is using a significant amount of our proof reader resources and time. It's worth it.

Q:	What has NAL released so far?
A:	Voyage from Yesteryear by James P Hogan
The Gripping Hand by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Spirals (Short Story) by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Double Star by Robert A Heinlein
The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Callahan's Lady by Spider Robinson
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein
The Door Into Summer by Robert A Heinlein
Neutron Star (Short Story) by Larry Niven
Relic of the Empire (Short Story) by Larry Niven
Friday by Robert A Heinlein
Callahan's Legacy by Spider Robinson
The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell by Harry Harrison
Neutron Star (Short Story Collection) by Larry Niven
A Gift From Earth by Larry Niven
Tales of Known Space by Larry Niven
The Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven
Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

Q:	Where can I get NAL releases?
A:	Try #bookwarez on DalNet or GalaxyNet, or alt.binaries.e-books on usenet. All NAL releases are regularly posted to usenet. After what happened to the Bookwarez site a while back, we'll pass on www.

Q:	Who IS NAL anyway?
A:	Zaphod, Zophar and SeaGull. If you have a collecton of (preferably hard-cover-they scan much better) science fiction, a scanner, and some time on your hands, e-mail zopharnal@hotmail.com for membership details.