This page provides information about the organization of Project Runeberg. Send further questions to editors@runeberg.org.
What we do - Project Runeberg publishes Nordic literature and art on the Internet. This means scanning old books, converting the text to HTML files, and putting them up on the World Wide Web server at http://runeberg.org/ Anybody may read what we publish, free of charge. Project Runeberg also publishes information about Nordic authors.
How did this start - Project Runeberg does this since December 1992. The history of the project is documented as a timeline of important dates.
Is this legal - Copyright protects all published matters, and copyright laws are very much international. The authors or creators has the right to decide how their works can be used. This is the way it is, and the way it should be! But unlike diamonds, copyright is not for ever. The copyright term is the lifetime of the author plus 70 years. After this, anybody may re-publish and use the material. This is what we do, and this is why most of our publications are rather old. In some rare cases, the living authors have given us the permission to publish their books. This is very kind of them.
Who owns us - Project Runeberg is one of many projects of LYSATOR, a student's computer club at Linköping University (What is LYSATOR?). While membership in LYSATOR is open only to students and staff of Linköping University, many other people are involved in Project Runeberg. We think that it matters who owns us. We are not commercial. We are not governmental. We very much rule ourselves. As a volunteer, you have a say! Would you give your efforts away to anybody else?
Who pays our bills - Project Runeberg is a low-budget project based on voluntary cooperation between many people in several countries. However, some costs are inevitable. Computers, housing, and electricity are provided through LYSATOR, which in turn receives grants and donations from various sources (What is LYSATOR?). Project Runeberg has a small group of voluntary editors who are also LYSATOR members. From time to time, the project has received funding from Linköping University. You can reach the editors by e-mail to editors@runeberg.org. The postal address is
Project Runeberg
Lysator c/o ISY
Linköping University
S-581 83 LINKÖPING
Sweden
Who are we - Project Runeberg's project leader is appointed by the annual general assembly of LYSATOR (What is LYSATOR?). The current project leader is Lars Aronsson (since 1992). The project leader organizes an editorial board (sometimes called the steering committee), all members of which has the ability to edit our files, and answer your e-mail. The employed editor is currently Björn Brenander (spring 1997). Other members of the editorial board are currently Per Cederqvist, Lisa Hallingström, Karl-Johan Karlsson, Leif Stensson, and Johan Tufvesson.
Who does the work - You do! Project Runeberg is based on voluntary cooperation between many people in several countries. Many of our contributors use scanners or keyboards to enter text from (old) books, and send the text by e-mail to our editor. The editor is an expert in HTML and World Wide Web technology, so you don't have to know these details to be a contributor. Others contribute descriptions of Nordic authors, or other useful information. Some specialize in proofreading. Some write newspaper articles about what we do, this too is a very much needed help! Some just report spelling erorrs, but we love them anyway. :-)
Who uses all this - We want to know this too! Write to us
and tell us how you use
Project Runeberg! We know that schools in the Nordic countries use
our online literature. We know that students of Nordic languages at
foreign universities do. Many of our most enthusiastic helpers have
been Nordic citizens who work or study abroad, who have found their
roots to be more important than they had realized at home. And books
in the Nordic languages can be hard to come by in far off countries.