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100 Million Downloads and a Mellon Foundation Grant

Posted on April 5, 2012 by | Posted in about LibriVox, News | Comments: 26 Comments on 100 Million Downloads and a Mellon Foundation Grant

LibriVox.org, the world’s largest producer of free public domain audiobooks, and the Internet Archive are pleased to announce a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, on the heels of a recent landmark achievement: 100 million downloads free LibriVox audiobooks from the Internet Archive.

A Tech Infrastructure Overhaul

The Mellon grant will go towards rebuilding LibriVox’s technical infrastructure, and improving accessibility of the LibriVox website (we’re hiring a dev and project manager on contract, if interested, please apply, info here: LibriVox hiring).

“It’s fantastic to get this support from the Mellon Foundation,” said LibriVox founder Hugh McGuire. “It will be put to good use, helping our hard-working volunteers create many more free audiobooks. We’ve made 5,500 free audiobooks to date, and we hope to make many more in the future.”

LibriVox, a volunteer project of the Internet Archive, gets volunteers from around the world to make audio recordings of public domain texts, and gives those recordings away for free. All LibriVox audiobooks are hosted at the Internet Archive.

5,467 Free Audiobooks

Founded in 2005, LibriVox has to date produced 5,467 free audiobooks, in 31 languages. Popular audiobooks include “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” by Arthur Conan Doyle, “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, and “Jane Eyre,” by Charlotte Brontë. In addition to novels, the LibriVox collection includes numerous texts of importance from philosophers such as Kant, Descartes, and Hume, political documents such as the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” and scientific texts including as Einstein’s “Relativity,” and Darwin’s “Origin of the Species.”

100 Million Downloads

“The LibriVox collection is one of the most popular on the Internet Archive,” said Brewster Kahle, Founder and Director of the Internet Archive. “100 million downloads is awesome. LibriVox is an integral part of our commitment to making important texts available to the world in the best format for people, and we are thrilled at the support from the Mellon Foundation.”

Cori Samuel, a long-time LibriVox volunteer, who has recorded some of the project’s more popular books, was in shock at the numbers. “It’s hard to believe that what started out as a small project among some passionate people on the web has turned into something so big. It’s incredible to imagine that we could have touched the lives of 100 million listeners.”

For More Information

For more information, please contact Hugh McGuire, LibriVox founder: hughmcguire@gmail.com.

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[UPDATE] Jobs! We hired a PHP developer and a tech project manager

Posted on April 5, 2012 by | Posted in about LibriVox, News | Comments: 9 Comments on [UPDATE] Jobs! We hired a PHP developer and a tech project manager

[UPDATE: We recruited in May 2012 and now have two great people on board for this project. We are not recruiting further at this time.]

LibriVox is very happy to announce that, thanks to a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, we are undertaking a tech overhaul, and we are hiring (on a contract basis):

* a technical project manager
* a sysadmin/advisor
* a PHP/Ruby developer

Pay range is “starving non-profit contract price” … or somewhere between $35-50/hour.

The objectives of the technical overhaul are:
1. To implement a LibriVox website redesign
2. To improve LibriVox’s internal workflow systems
3. To improve catalog accessibility through API
4. To complete a security audit
5. To assess server infrastructure

We are looking for some great people. Maybe you?

(see very bottom for how to apply).

PHP & Ruby developer

about 25-40 hrs/week over 20-30 weeks

The PHP & Ruby developer will be responsible for:

  • Working with the technical project manager to define the scope of work
  • Doing a full code review of existing LibriVox software
  • Defining software engineering decisions and specifications for refactoring the work planned
  • Refactoring existing LibriVox code
  • Implementing a number of fixes and new features

You should have at least 2 years experience in software development, with expertise in:

  • PHP
  • Ruby
  • MySQL
  • LAMP stacks
  • WordPress

The ideal candidate will have a degree in software engineering or computer science, or significant experience in developing and implementing web software. You should be comfortable working in a distributed project. And we’re looking especially for developers with experience in non-profit and open source communities, with many extra points for having experience in the LibriVox community.

Scroll down to see how to apply.

Technical project manager

10-20 hrs/week over 20-30 weeks

The technical project manager will be responsible for:

  • coordinating work with the LibriVox volunteer community to better understand specific technical needs under the scope of the project
  • defining the detailed scope of work with the other contractors, in conjunction with Internet Archive staff and senior LibriVox volunteers
  • establishing a more detailed work plan
  • ensuring timely delivery of technical progress
  • establishing a detailed budget
  • ensuring the project stays under budget and on time
  • communicating progress to the LibriVox community (volunteers, listeners), to the Internet Archive, and to other stakeholders

Ideally you’ll have an Engineering or Management degree, or significant technical project management experience.

We’ll be happier if you’ve got experience working in non-profit, open source communities, and even happier if you have experience in the LibriVox community.

Scroll down to see how to apply.

Sysadmin/systems architect

The sysadmin/systems architect will be responsible for:

  • Evaluating the current LibriVox systems and server setup
  • Overseeing a security audit
  • Working with the developer and project manager to propose an ideal hosting solution, including reduced costs
  • Making a recommendation about longer-term hosting arrangements, with cost being a significant factor
  • Depending on scale of work, possibly moving LibriVox to a new server setup.

The ideal candidate will have 5 years experience running MySQL systems, with particular experience running servers with big installations of phpBB forum software and WordPress installations.

Scroll down to see how to apply.

How to apply!

To apply please send the following items to jobs@librivox.org:

1. a brief description of why you’d like to help LibriVoix
2. a CV with references
3. a comment on your favourite LibriVox recording
4. MAKE SURE YOU TELL US WHAT POSITION YOU ARE APPLYING FOR

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LibriVox World Tour 2012: Asia

Posted on March 31, 2012 by | Posted in about LibriVox, Blog, For Volunteers, Monthly Picks | Comments: Comments Off on LibriVox World Tour 2012: Asia

Welcome to the second leg of the 2012 LibriVox World Tour! Go on a roundtrip through the Orient with 10 gems from our catalog.

Henry Morgenthau was the US ambassador to the Ottoman Empire 1913 – 1916. He was one of the first and most prominent people to speak out against the Armenian genocide, an account of which can be found in his book Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story.

Tamburlaine the Great, a play in two parts by Christopher Marlowe, is loosely based on the life of Timur the Lame. Its beginnings take us to Persia.

From there, we go straight to Kafiristan, a remote part of modern Afghanistan, where The Man Who Would be King is set. Two adventurers set up a scheme to become kings – if they succeed or not can be found out in the masterful story by Rudyard Kipling.

Rabindranath Tagore was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. His collection of essays Sadhana, the Realisation of Life, describes Indian culture, beliefs and philosophy from various points of view.

The first Anglo-Burmese War was fought over the control of northeastern India, and marked the beginning of the end of Burmese independence. On the Irrawaddy is a fictionalized account of the war, written by George A. Henty.

Probably the most famous account of Asian court life is Anna Leonowen’s book The English Governess at the Siamese Court. While a great success in the West, her memoir of six years with the Royal family is still deemed controversial in Thailand today.

Assume something terrible happens to you and all you want is to die – so you engage a hitman. But then you change your mind – and you have to get hold of the killer… This is essentially the plot of The Tribulations of a Chinaman in China, a humorous adventure by Jules Verne. We also have a French version of this book.

China was only the end of a long journey that started in Siberia and led Ferdinand Ossendowski also through Mongolia on his escape from the Bolshevik Revolution. Beasts, Men and Gods – which were the most dangerous?

One Hundred Verses of Old Japan is a compilation of Japanese poetry by 12th century poet Fujiwara no Teika. It contains one poem each from 100 poets. It has been translated into many languages, but we also have the Japanese original.

Young Crisostomo Ibarra returns to the Philippines after studying in Europe. He expects to get married to his childhood sweetheart, but the wrath of the local curate stands in their way… Read Noli Me Tangere, the novel by José Rizal, which led to the country’s revolution – and to the death of the author.

Enjoy your travels – and send a postcard!

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Mighty Women

Posted on March 1, 2012 by | Posted in about LibriVox, Blog, For Volunteers, Monthly Picks, News | Comments: 5 Comments on Mighty Women

March is Women’s History Month – a perfect time to celebrate all women around you with 10 gems from our catalog.

Arabella, The Female Quixote, is a truly mighty woman. After all, she can kill with a mere look! Or so she believes… Read the wonderful parody of “Don Quixote” by Charlotte Lennox, and who knows, maybe Arabella can be cured by her fiance?

Miss Sara Sampson has just eloped with Bellefont, who promised to marry her. Much to the dismay of her father, and to that of the former mistress of the unfaithful Bellefont. Listen to G. E. Lessing’s drama as a furious Marwood uses all female tricks to get her lover back.

In Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, the tables are turned: The female protagonist is the promiscuous one. Never before were the desires of a woman described so forthrightly, and the book promptly caused a scandal.

Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin caused many scandals too: she was smoking and wearing trousers at a time women were not supposed to. And she was able to sustain herself as writer – The Devil’s Pool is one of here novels (also available in French) – but only by writing under the male pseudonym George Sand.

At least she grew up in a time when a formal education for women was not a complete taboo any longer. Until then, many a Woman in Science faced almost insurmountable obstacles, as described in their biographies through the centuries, collcted by John Augustine Zahm.

With education off the list, the next item was: voting. And, just as with abolition, the frontiers ran right through families, like in The Sturdy Oak, a novel in 14 chapters by just as many authors. It tells the story of a newlywed lawyer who is deadset against suffragists… until his wife discovers she might be one herself…

A somewhat more realistic description of the suffrage movement is Eighty Years and More, the memoirs of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, one of the best known suffragists of the United States, who was at times also working in Great Britain.

Voltairine de Cleyre was an important leading figure in the American anarchist movement, and a renowned writer and poetess. Here, we put a selection of her Poems in the spotlight.

At this early time of women’s lib, women travelling the world alone slowly became more common. Go with Ida L. Pfeiffer on A Visit to the Holy Land, Egypt and Italy. The proceeds of this book funded her next adventure: Iceland.

If you don’t have a husband or children, and you’re neither intersted in politics nor in foreign lands, you are bound to become a grumpy, lonely woman, like The Third Miss Symons in F. M. Mayor’s story. Right?

Enjoy – and pamper yourself!

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