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Webpages of Tamil Electronic Library © K. Kalyanasundaram Introduction to Electronic Texts and
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Electronic TextsElectronic versions of printed texts (abbreviated as ETexts) of ancient literary works are important pedagoic and scholarly resources. Stored in easily accessible archives, they permit preservation and wider distribution of ancient literary works around the globe through the means of internet. Etexts of literary works also allow quick search for phrases, words, and combinations of words in any literary work. This in turn allows one to try out notions and hypotheses with great speed and encourage large-scale searches over oeuvres, genres, and centuries, which are difficult and time-consuming with printed texts alone. Also such work can be done remotely from one's home or office. Thus they facilitate enormously the work of researchers involved in the study of evolution of language and literature.Electronic LibrariesThe purpose of the Electronic Libraries is to create a publicly accessible repository of public domain information: books, journals, catalogues, conference proceedings, magazines, manuals, maps, images, technical documentation, reference works etc. Copyright regulations confer propriety rights to the authors and they define as to whether a given work is in public domain or not.Copyright Issues associated to Electronic TextsAuthor's right to literary work is complex. In general, a work falls in the public domain when its author died at least 50 years ago. The years of World War (1914-1919, 1938-148) count double. A recent European regulation envisages extension of this author's copyright to 70 years. When a work is in public domain, everyone is free to reproduce and distribute it. This does not include mutilation or deformation of the original work. The moral rights of the author, with regards to its ownership is intemporale.Attention: The fact that a waork is in public domain does not signify that a given edition is free of repdoction. This is particularly the case of current and earlier editions of major literary classics established from the manuscripts or new translations and interpretations. The critical parts (notes, preface,...) and editorial (tables, index, pagination,..) cannot be reproduced. Electronic Texts (abbreviated as Etexts) of English WorksEtext collections of classical english literary works are already extensive. Contents already exceed gigabites! Works of over fifty well-known English authors ( A.C. Doyle, Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, Emily Bronte, Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, ....), King James Bible etc. are already available. Anyone having access to Internet can download freely contents of these electronic libraries.Here are some major Electronic Libraries of english works accessible on Internet:
EText Libraries in European languagesA logical thinking would be extend this concept of electronic library to materials available in other languages. EText Libraries in European Languages is growing steadily. Here are some examples:
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