Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

 

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit organization (since 2000) that maintains an electronic library of public domain materials that have been digitized (converted into electronic books or e-books) by volunteers. These materials are archived for download from the organization’s website (www.gutenberg.org).

The project got its start on July 4, 1971, when Michael Hart, a student at the University of Illinois, began typing the US Declaration of Independence into the school’s computer system for distribution free of charge. He soon followed with the works of William Shakespeare and the Bible. Thus began Project Gutenberg, the oldest digital library.

Over the next 20 years, Hart transcribed about 100 books before the spread of the Internet allowed for a vast international expansion in interest. The project grew to include hundreds and then thousands of volunteers around the world, and Hart took on more administrative duties, including fund-raising to maintain a website. The number of public works scanned (beginning in the 1990s) or transcribed steadily grew to 1,000 (1997), 10,000 (2003), 20,000 (2006) and 40,000 (2011).

In 2000, Charles Franks founded Distributed Proofreaders, a web-based program for parsing the difficult task of proofreading scanned texts for Project Gutenberg. In 2002 Distributed Proofreaders became part of Project Gutenberg. The ability to distribute the proofreading task among volunteer teams was reported in 2002 by Slashdot, a popular technology website. As word spread, hundreds of teams formed to scan and proofread new works. By 2009, roughly half of all Project Gutenberg books had been handled by using Distributed Proofreaders.

The vast majority of materials in the Project Gutenberg library are in English, although the addition of materials in other languages was started in 1997. In 2004, Project Gutenberg Europe and Distributed Proofreaders Europe were formed to facilitate the process of adding more non-English works. Project Gutenberg now includes works in more than 50 languages.

It is noteworthy that the copyright on any book published before 1923 expired no more than 75 years later, at which point it entered the public domain. Any work published between 1923 and 1977 retains its copyright for 95 years. The copyright on any work published in later years expires 70 years after the author’s death or 95 years after publication in the case of a corporate work.

The future of corporate reporting: a review article (2000)

 

In a research article published in 2000, Professor Vivien Beattie noted that: “Significant changes in the corporate external reporting environment have led to proposals for fundamental changes in corporate reporting practices. Recent influential reports by major organisations have suggested that a variety of new information types be reported, in particular forward-looking, non-financial and soft information.”

This paper presents a review and synthesis of these reports and provides a framework for classifying and describing suggested information types. The academic antecedents for certain current proposals are identified and the ambiguous relationship between research and practice is explored. The implications for future academic research are discussed and a research agenda is introduced.

For additional insight, read the article “The future of corporate reporting: a review article” by Vivien Beattie published in the Irish Accounting Review 2000, 7(1), pages 1-36. As well, refer to the 1991 landmark research study called Information to be included in the Annual Report to Shareholders published by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA). This 317-page study was drafted by J. Paul-Emile Roy, CA under the direction of a seven-member Study Group chaired by Gerald Trites, FCA.

Principles-based standards and professional judgment - then and now

At a historic roundtable discussion in New York, the chairman (Charles B. Couchman) stated that: “For many years the leading practitioners of public accountancy have been reducing the practice of accountancy to rules and standards as far as it has been found practical and logical to do so. The elements that make up financial statements have been reduced to standard classifications to the extent permitted by complicated and constantly changing transactions of the business world. Rules have been adopted covering, to a large extent, the various entries affecting the financial classifications. These classifications and these rules have been made widely available through books, articles, addresses and accounting curricula. Practically all the progress that has been made in reducing accountancy to rules and standards has been accomplished by the public accounting profession.”

“If all of the transactions of business were susceptible to analysis into a definite and rigid number of effects that could be analyzed to an extent that would allow exact classification, then rules could be adopted that would cover correctly each one. However, that is not the case. No matter how long one is engaged in an extensive practice of accountancy, he is continually faced  by new and unexpected transactions, each legitimate but each presenting combinations of effects not previously encountered. That is why the sorting of accounting transactions is rigid classifications to which rules and standards may be applied without distortion of fact is a slow process and cannot be otherwise.”

“No fixed rule may be laid down until all of the accounting elements that may fall within its scope have been studied and their effects determined so completely as to bring exact knowledge that the rule, when applied to them, will result in a proper statement of financial facts. Even then the rule must be subject to possible exception, as there is always the possibility that a new and unexpected set of circumstances may arise to which the rigid application of this rule would result in distortion of truth.”

“It is true, not only of accountancy, but of almost every other complicated subject, that the one who has only a smattering of knowledge of it considers that the subject is reasonably simple and that he can readily devise rules governing each phase thereof. To the simple, all things are simple. It is only when one goes deeply into the subject, whatever it may be, that he becomes aware of the complications and the difficulties of proper treatment that is applicable to each element.”

To learn more about the history of the principles versus rules debate, read the transcript of an October 19, 1937 roundtable at the Waldorf-Astoria, New York titled “To What Extent Can the Practice of Accounting Be Reduced to Rules and Standards?” For more information and different perspectives regarding this ongoing debate, refer to previous postings during the past year.

Encyclopaedia Britannica ends print edition after 244 years

The 32-volume Encyclopaedia Britannica has been discontinued. The first edition, a three-volume set, was printed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1768. Now, after 244 years in print, the encyclopedia will live on and grow in the myriad digital forms which have been popular with millions for years. In announcing the end of the print set, on March 14, 2012, the company stressed the wide diversity of its product line today, which includes not just reference works but curriculum and learning solutions used in schools around the world.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica began exploring digital publishing in the 1970s, and created its first digital version, likely the first digital encyclopedia ever, for LexisNexis users in 1981. That lengthy history of online information may come as a surprise to many. As the company switches off the presses, it faces new forms of competition, notably Wikipedia, which also contains a history of the company dating from 1768 to the present.

For more information, watch the YouTube videos “Totally Digital: The Encyclopaedia Britannica Now” and “End of an era for Encyclopedia Britannica video - CNET TV.” Also, see the FoxNews article “After 244 years, Encyclopaedia Britannica ends sale of print edition” and read the Vancouver Sun article “Stop the presses: Encyclopaedia Britannica ends its print publication”

Information to be included in the Annual Report to Shareholders – 1991 Research Study updated 2008

In 1991, the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) published a landmark research study called Information to be included in the Annual Report to Shareholders. This 317-page study was drafted by J. Paul-Emile Roy, CA under the direction of a seven-member Study Group chaired by Gerald Trites, FCA.

The Foreword to this study states: “The annual report has long been used by an enterprise as a primary vehicle of communication, not only with its investors or members, but also with other audiences who, for a variety of reasons, have a legitimate interest in the affairs and operations of the enterprise. Generally, the annual report contains the financial statements and associated notes. It also contains additional information which both elaborates upon the financial condition and operating results of the enterprise and provides non-financial information of interest and value to its audiences.”

It further notes: “To date, accounting and auditing standards have concentrated on the financial statements. They have paid relatively little attention to information outside the financial statements, which, to a large extent, has been regarded as the domain of the enterprise’s management. It is considered, in many circles, that a greater amount of discussion and analysis of the financial information needs to be provided than that currently contained in notes to the financial statements. This has resulted in a greater scrutiny being given to such matters, particularly by regulators such as the securities commissions.”

In addition, it states that “some concern has been expressed about the general quality of annual reports, which varies significantly among enterprises. It has been noted that the annual report has the potential of being "a shining affirmation of the company’s scope, strength, philosophy and aspirations"; on the other hand, "it can be dismal, ineffectual and boring - a wonderful opportunity lost".”

To address these matters, the CICA Accounting Standards Committee was prompted, in May 1989, to commission a research study to discuss the objectives of the annual report to shareholders and to recommend what information should be provided, beyond that which must be presented in the financial statements, to assist in achieving those objectives. Besides addressing information content, the study considers the form and presentation of information, reviews the concept of effective communication and considers annual reporting formats, summary reporting, graphics and other presentation matters.

It is noteworthy that this research study was updated and re-published by the CICA in 2008, under the title Corporate Reporting to Stakeholders (also refer to the August 25, 2008 blog posting). The updated study was prepared by J. Paul-Emile Roy, CA (author of the 1991 study) under the direction of a seven-member Study Group chaired by Gerald Trites, FCA (chair of the 1991 Study Group). It aims to promote effective communication between a company and its stakeholders by providing useful guidance to preparers of corporate reports. It is based on an in-depth review of the annual reports and websites of 125 companies that participated in the ongoing CICA Corporate Reporting Awards program. In addition, this study examines practices and significant trends in corporate reporting by analyzing:

·       more than 50 different types of information disclosed in 2004-2005 annual reports;

·       major changes in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 annual reports of award-winning companies;

·       information content, presentation and navigation on company websites in 2007.