Most of Pathfinder's books were written before the age of computers. It has become a necessity to computerize the books in order to take advantage of the latest technology in printing. In the new computer-to-plate technology acquired by Pathfinder's printshop, plates can be made rapidly from compact disks.

The Reprint Project started in February 1998. As of June 15, the international team had converted 88 titles out of the 350 on Pathfinder's backlist. The Pathfinder editorial staff in New York has also produced numerous new titles using this new format. A total of 115 books are fully digitized now. The 33 percent mark is a goal the project set in January to complete by the end of June.

During the first two weeks of June, Reprint Project volunteers turned in to Pathfinder compact disks for Art and Revolution by Leon Trotsky, the first volume of W.E.B. DuBois Speaks, edited by Philip Foner, and Thomas Sankara Speaks.

Books completed electronically in April and May were The Long View of History by George Novack; La revolución tracionada, En defensa del marxismo, and Portraits: Political and Personal, all by Leon Trotsky; Marxism and the Working Farmer by Doug Jenness and others; The Leninist Strategy of Party Building by Joseph Hansen; Is Biology Woman's Destiny? by Evelyn Reed; and What Is Surrealism? by André Breton with an introduction by Franklin Rosemont.

The number of supporters of the communist movement working on the Reprint Project has increased recently. Many signed up at a series of meetings held across the United States in February and March celebrating Pathfinder Press, the Cuban revolution, and the geographical expansion of the communist movement in the United States. In addition, a dozen volunteers who translate Pathfinder's English-language titles into Spanish and French recently joined the project. Today almost 200 people have signed up. Of those, 118 did actual work in May, the highest one-month total in the history of the project. Earlier in the year, the monthly participation was around 80 volunteers.

This influx of active new volunteers has made possible the reorganization of the final stages of digitizing the books. The formatting team has doubled to 25 volunteers. The graphics team has grown similarly to 19. The new volunteers usually start out in proofreading and indexing. There they learn to use the Reprint Project database on the Internet, improve their computer skills, and practice other skills they will use in all aspects of book digitization.

Having 25 volunteers instead of 12 has made an enormous difference to formatting. About a month ago, the formatting group divided into three production teams. Each one is headed up by two or three experienced formatters, and includes five or six people who are at various stages of learning the process. Trainees usually start by learning how to check the quality of the work of other formatters.

The workflow for formatting a book was also revised. Previously one formatter processed an entire book. This could take weeks and, on occasion, months. Now an experienced formatter divides a book into smaller chunks, formats a section as an example, and does initial formatting steps on the rest of a book. The processed sections are then handed out to the trainees.

The 19-person graphics team has also reorganized. More and less experienced volunteers are being paired up to speed up skill acquisition. Other team members have taken on additional responsibilities for quality control.

The focus of the final stages of work of the production teams in April, May and June has been on training. In the near future we expect to see the impact of this training pay off in increased production by the volunteer teams.

The next challenge facing the Reprint Project is to meet its goal of putting 50 percent of Pathfinder's books in digital form by the end of the year 2000. With 83 Pathfinder books now out of print, and increasing opportunities to sell these books, reaching the goal becomes ever more pressing.

Scores of supporters of the Socialist Workers Party who are active in this project will be attending the Active Workers Conference at the end of July in Oberlin, Ohio. The volunteers will have a chance to see firsthand how their efforts to keep the irreplaceable arsenal of revolutionary books in print are contributing to building the communist movement today. Following the conference, the reprint project steering committee will organize training workshops for volunteers who attended the gathering.

For information on the conference, contact the branch of the SWP nearest you. For more information about the Reprint Project contact Ruth Cheney at ruthchen@flash.net.

Peggy Brundy and Tom Tomasko are members of the San Francisco Bay Area-based steering committee of the Reprint Project.  
 
 
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