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Project Gutenberg 是一个拥有超过 75,000 本免费电子书的数字图书馆，侧重于那些美国版权已过期的旧作，以电子形式提供世界文学名著。用户可以选择免费的 epub 和 Kindle 电子书，下载或在线阅读。这些馆藏由数千名志愿者数字化并认真校对，为公众使用提供支持。
该平台完全免费，无需注册或付费。自 1971 年起，它一直致力于免费电子书事业，已有五十多年的历史。项目以志愿者为基础，多年来汇集了数百名贡献者。用户可通过普通网页浏览器或电子书阅读器访问，无需安装特殊应用。网站提供多种找书方式，包括按受欢迎程度、主要类别、阅读列表浏览，以及按作者、书名、主题、语言和类型搜索。
馆藏涵盖广泛类别，例如 History 、 Literature 、 Science & Technology 、 Social Sciences & Society 、 Arts & Culture 、 Religion & Philosophy 、 Lifestyle & Hobbies 、 Health & Medicine 和 Education & Reference 。一些热门书目包括 Frankenstein 、 Moby Dick 、 Pride and Prejudice 、 Romeo and Juliet 、 Crime and Punishment 以及 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 。网站还通过 World Library Foundation 提供自出版电子书专区。
对有声书感兴趣的用户，Project Gutenberg 提供多种选择，包括来自 LibriVox 的人声朗读作品——LibriVox 是一个制作高质量朗读的志愿者社区。另有 Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection，包含 2023 年与 Microsoft 和 MIT 合作生成的近 5,000 个电脑合成标题。此外，网站还有 2003 年的旧电脑合成有声书，质量低于当前技术水平。
项目通过 Distributed Proofreaders 招募志愿者，这是新电子书的主要来源。用户也可通过报告错误、漏洞和错别字或提出修改建议来协助。网站提供多种帮助资源，包括阅读选项、常见问题解答及关于众多主题的详细信息，另设有捐赠 Project Gutenberg 的说明、新书订阅源，以及关于权限、版权、许可和商标的详尽资料。
Project Gutenberg is a library of over 75,000 free eBooks. It focuses on older works for which U.S. copyright has expired, offering the world's great literature in digital form. Users can choose among free epub and Kindle eBooks, download them, or read them online. The collection is made possible by thousands of volunteers who digitized and diligently proofread the eBooks for public enjoyment.
The platform is completely free to use, with no fees or registration required. It has been pioneering free eBooks since 1971, making it over 50 years old. The project is volunteer-based, with hundreds of contributors over the years. Users can access the library through regular web browsers or eBook readers without needing any special apps. The site offers various ways to find books, including browsing by popularity, main categories, reading lists, and search options by author, title, subject, language, and type.
The collection includes a wide range of categories such as History, Literature, Science & Technology, Social Sciences & Society, Arts & Culture, Religion & Philosophy, Lifestyle & Hobbies, Health & Medicine, and Education & Reference. Some of the most popular titles include classics like Frankenstein, Moby Dick, Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet, Crime and Punishment, and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The site also features a section for self-published eBooks through the World Library Foundation.
For those interested in audio books, Project Gutenberg offers several options. These include human-read audio books from LibriVox, a volunteer community that produces high-quality performances. There is also the Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection, which contains almost 5,000 computer-generated titles from 2023 via a collaboration with Microsoft and MIT. Additionally, there are older computer-generated audio books from 2003, though these are of lower quality compared to today's technology.
The project welcomes volunteers through Distributed Proofreaders, which is the main source of new eBooks. Users can also help by reporting errors, bugs, and typos, or by suggesting changes. The site provides various resources for help, including reading options, FAQs, and in-depth information about many topics. Special areas include information about donating to Project Gutenberg, feeds of new eBooks, and details about permissions, copyright, licensing, and trademarks.
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Project Gutenberg 近期完成了重大改进，团队正在推进更多更新，其中重新设计的书籍页面将在未来一到两周内上线。该网站可访问性良好，即使在禁用 JavaScript 的情况下也能完全正常运行，用户对此表示赞赏。
发现了一个移动端渲染问题：书籍列表同时出现水平和垂直滚动，主页的重新设计已被列为优先事项。团队已修复若干技术问题，包括 Chrome Android 的菜单错误与 Kindle 用户下载困难，相关问题似乎已得到解决。团队建议用户通过 XML/RDF 元数据文件和 tarball 访问数据，而非抓取网站，并鼓励捐赠以支持基础设施。
AI 爬虫流量被确认为网站面临的日益严峻挑战。 OPDS 2.0 支持即将推出，目前的 0.x 版本可在 URL 后加 .opds 访问。下载量最高的书籍是 Concrete Construction: Methods and Costs，这引发了关于机器人行为的猜测，团队承认这是可能的原因。 Standard Ebooks 常被推荐为更优格式的 Gutenberg 文本版本，用户称其对源材料进行了显著优化。
计划在今年加入 PDF 支持，EPUB3 已可用于大多数书籍，同时仍提供纯文本版本。该项目此前在德国曾被地理封锁，但现已解决。出现了第三方应用，例如 LoudReader.io，提供基于 PG 文本的有声书版本。用户还提出了让 AI 代理自动进行排版以便更易打印等想法。
讨论显示社区高度珍视 Project Gutenberg 作为文化宝藏，用户积极参与并支持开发团队的改进。对数据访问、机器人流量及在 AI 爬虫时代维护免费资源的挑战有广泛关注，对更好地与电子书阅读器集成和改进格式选项的需求尤其强烈，Standard Ebooks 成为寻求更精美版本用户的重要补充。 • Project Gutenberg has undergone significant recent improvements, with the team actively working on further updates including a redesigned book page coming in the next 1-2 weeks.
• The site maintains strong accessibility, remaining fully functional even with JavaScript disabled, which users appreciate.
• A mobile rendering issue was noted where book list elements scroll both horizontally and vertically, though homepage redesign is already high on the priority list.
• Several technical issues were reported and quickly addressed, including a Chrome Android menu bug and a Kindle user's difficulty downloading books, which appears to have been resolved.
• The team provided guidance on proper data access, directing users to XML/RDF metadata files and tarballs rather than scraping the website, while encouraging donations to support the infrastructure.
• AI crawler traffic is acknowledged as a growing challenge for the site.
• OPDS 2.0 support is coming soon, with the current 0.x version available by appending .opds to URLs.
• The top downloaded book being "Concrete Construction: Methods and Costs" sparked speculation about bot behavior, with the team acknowledging this as a possibility.
• Standard Ebooks was frequently recommended as a source for better-formatted versions of Gutenberg texts, with users noting they polish the source material significantly.
• PDF support is planned for this year, while EPUB3 is already available for most books alongside plain text versions.
• The project was previously geo-blocked in Germany, but this has been resolved.
• Third-party apps like LoudReader.io have emerged, offering audiobook versions of PG texts.
• Users suggested ideas like an AI agent for automated typographical processing to make books more printable.
The discussion reveals strong community appreciation for Project Gutenberg as a cultural treasure, with users actively engaging with the development team on improvements. The conversation balances technical feedback with broader questions about data access, bot traffic, and the challenge of maintaining a free resource in an era of AI crawlers. There's particular interest in better integration with e-readers and improved formatting options, with Standard Ebooks emerging as a complementary resource for those seeking more polished editions.