The number of eBooks that have been processed through Distributed Proofreaders has grown fast, with a total of 3,000 eBooks in February 2004, 5,000 eBooks in October 2004 and 7,000 eBooks in May 2005. On August 3, 2005, 7,639 books were complete (processed through the site and posted to Project Gutenberg), 1,250 books were in progress (processed through the site but not yet posted, because currently going through their final proofreading and assembly), and 831 books were being proofread (currently being processed).
From the website one can access a program that allows several proofreaders to be working on the same book at the same time, each proofreading on different pages. This significantly speeds up the proofreading process. Volunteers register and receive detailed instructions. For example, words in bold, italic or underlined, or footnotes are always treated the same way for any eBook. A discussion forum allows them to ask questions or seek help at any time. A project manager oversees the progress of a particular book through its different steps on the website.
Each time proofreaders go to the website, they choose the book they want. One page of the book appears in two forms side by side: the scanned image of one page and the text from that image (as produced by OCR software). The proofreader can easily compare both versions, note the differences and fix them. OCR is usually 99% accurate, which makes for about 10 corrections a page. The proofreader saves each page as it is completed and can then either stop work or do another. The books are proofread twice, and the second time only by experienced proofreaders. All the pages of the book are then formatted, combined and assembled by post-processors to make an eBook. (For more detailed information, check the FAQ Central.) The eBook is now ready to be posted with an index entry (title, subtitle, author, eBook number and character set) for the database. Indexers go on with the cataloguing process (author's dates of birth and death, Library of Congress classification, etc.) after the release.
Volunteers don't have a quota to fill, but it is recommended they do a page a day if possible. It doesn't seem much, but with hundreds of volunteers it really adds up. In 2003, about 250-300 people were working each day all over the world, producing a daily total of 2,500-3,000 pages, the equivalent of two pages a minute. In 2004, the average was 300-400 proofreaders participating each day, and finishing 4,000-7,000 pages per day, the equivalent of four pages a minute.