Unearthed Arcana SRD - SCANNED

Okay, I was reading the large thread about releasing the UA as SRD. It seems that, as long as we can keep the fluff (intro's, flavor, etc) and stuff like 'Behind the scenes' out of the document, that this can be done.

I have taken the liberty of scanning my copy into my computer. I have OCR'd three pages to see how the quality came out - not bad.

If this is really going to get done, I forsee this taking place in several steps:

1) Scanning - DONE
2) OCR
3) Spell Checking and re-formatting of paragraphs
4) Document Review for OGL and Non-OGL content
5) HTML coding and structuring
6) HTML Hosting
7) Other formats?

None of these steps are easy, however I am prepared to complete the first two. Step 3 is a pain, as anyone that has done any OCR and document checing can tell you; no OCR is full-proof. However the quality of this scan seems to lead to a pretty good output, based on the three pages I already OCR'd.

There is noway I am prepared to perform step three - I simply do not have the time to spellcheck & format 220 + pages.

Step 4 will also be slow going, and probably an ongoing one at that. Alot of eyeballs will have to go over this output to determine what is proper OGL and what is not. There will be missed content, but I am confident that over time, what we miss will be pointed out, and then promptly removed.

Step 5 is also going to take time. 'Course it depends out how its done. I kinda like the ones at www.systemreferencedocuments.org (ie 'Sovelior & Sage' and 'roarerbull').

The easiest two are the last two. I forsee hosting it, being easy. As well as other formats, (ie, TXT, PDF, etc).

Anyway, I am prepared to OCR and release parts of the UA to qualified people who are willing to take the time and effort perform these steps. These people would, no doubt, HAVE to already have a copy of the UA, otherwise spellchecking without it would be ludicrous, and receipt of the UA-docs probably illegal.

At any rate, that's where I'm at with this...
Thougts? Suggestions? Comments?

Joe

Good luck!

jchristl said:

Anyway, I am prepared to OCR and release parts of the UA to qualified people who are willing to take the time and effort perform these steps. These people would, no doubt, HAVE to already have a copy of the UA, otherwise spellchecking without it would be ludicrous, and receipt of the UA-docs probably illegal.

At any rate, that's where I'm at with this...
Thougts? Suggestions? Comments?

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What you suggest is illegal. Just because someone else owns UA does not make it legal for you to scan UA and distribute those scans to them without first removing the PI, non-OGC, and otherwise following the proper procedures outlined in the OGL.

From what I remember from the old and very long thread about the UA OGC, was that someone had scanned/OCR it all, and said it would release it after 6 months. The six months are long gone now, but the guy never put the scanned OGC at disposal unfotunately. There also was another guy who said having done it, but also nothing there was released.

So if youplan to spend your time scanning everything, for very few reward, when someone else already did it, lets go. In fact I would be glad to get it. But I think it would be easier to try to contact the guy and ask him to make his stuff available.

pennywiz said:

What you suggest is illegal. Just because someone else owns UA does not make it legal for you to scan UA and distribute those scans to them without first removing the PI, non-OGC, and otherwise following the proper procedures outlined in the OGL.

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Isn't that what step 4, in the innagural post, is about?

jchristl said:

At any rate, that's where I'm at with this...
Thougts? Suggestions? Comments?

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I may be able to help you. Drop me a line if you're interested -- my email is my username plus "@yahoo.com".

Psion said:

Isn't that what step 4, in the innagural post, is about?

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That's not the way I am reading it. Doesn't the following quote suggest that he wants other to take the scans and decide what is OGC and what is not?

jchristl said:

Alot of eyeballs will have to go over this output to determine what is proper OGL and what is not.

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Until non-OGC and PI has been removed, and other OGL procedures followed, it's my understanding that it cannot be distributed. Do you have a different understanding of how the OGL is meant to work?

Until non-OGC and PI has been removed, and other OGL procedures followed, it's my understanding that it cannot be distributed. Do you have a different understanding of how the OGL is meant to work?

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No, I just have a different reading on what the author of the post meant. Why would someone posit to make an SRD-style document and then create a whole bunch of different designations. No, you are going to figure out what isn't OGC and exclude that. That seems fairly apparent to me. To assume that someone is going to be deliberately and publicly doing something illegal isn't the first reading I tend to jump to.

pennywiz said:

That's not the way I am reading it. Doesn't the following quote suggest that he wants other to take the scans and decide what is OGC and what is not?

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What on earth are you talking about?

pennywiz said:

That's not the way I am reading it. Doesn't the following quote suggest that he wants other to take the scans and decide what is OGC and what is not?

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What he's suggesting is a team project. He scan in the documents and do the OCR work (whatever that is ) and then someone else do steps 3 onward, before the finished product is then distributed. Only the OGL-compliant product would be distributed. Previous versions would only be passed to the next person willing to complete one of the production goals.

Or at least, that's how I read it.