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{{Short description|Free site featuring the complete works of Shakespeare}}
[[File:William Shakespeare by John Taylor, edited.jpg|thumb|right|The "Bard of Avon," William Shakespeare (1564–1616)]]
'''Open Source Shakespeare''' is a non-commercial [[web site]] allowing free access to searchable digital versions of the complete works of [[William Shakespeare]]. The site was created using [[Moby Project#Shakespeare|Moby Shakespeare]], which is based on the 1864 Globe edition of the complete works.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Introduction: The History of Open Source Shakespeare
|last=Johnson
|first=Eric M
|work=Open Source Shakespeare: An Experiment in Literary Technology
|accessdate=19 April 2012
|url=http://opensourceshakespeare.org/info/aboutsite.php
}}</ref>

==History==
The idea of a free online resource compiling Shakespeare's works was conceived in 2001 by Eric M. Johnson, then working as a web designer and theater reviewer for the ''[[Washington Times]]'' newspaper while pursuing a [[Master's degree]] at [[George Mason University]].<ref name=Alumni>{{cite web|first=Art|last=Taylor|url=http://news.gmu.edu/articles/5380|title=Alumnus Makes Shakespeare's Works Easy to Search|work=George Mason University News|date=14 February 2011}}</ref> In the process of looking up the source of Shakespearian quotes online, Johnson was surprised to learn that no single web resource allowed users to freely access a comprehensive collection of William Shakespeare's writings.<ref name=Alumni />

"The ones that were comprehensive were not free, and the free ones were not comprehensive" Johnson recalled.<ref name=Alumni />

Johnson started to create just such a free and comprehensive digital collection as part of his graduate program, unveiled as the Open Source Shakespeare website in December 2003.<ref name=Call>{{cite conference|url=http://shaksper.net/archive/2006/240-december/25157-call-for-advisors-open-source-shakespeare|title=Call for Advisors: Open Source Shakespeare|conference=SHAKSPER: The Global Electronic Shakespeare Conference|date=1 December 2006}}</ref> The site was formally announced to the scholarly community in February 2004.<ref name=Call />

According to the site's founder, about 77,000 people made use of the resource in 2005, with a further 170,000 anticipated to visit the site in 2006.<ref name=Call /> The operating costs of the site were minimal; through 2006, these were paid out of pocket by the site's creator.<ref name=Call /> Subsequently, a grant application was made to the [[National Endowment for the Humanities]] by Johnson and three members of the English Department of George Mason University to provide funding for the project.<ref name=Alumni />

==Site structure==
Shakespeare's works are divided on the site into three genres: [[drama|plays]], [[sonnet]]s, and [[poetry|poems]]. The site also includes a [[concordance (publishing)|concordance]], [[search engine]], and information about basic usage statistics.

The site has gained functionality over time, with a "Version 2.0" released in 2005 which added the capability for users to search for [[word stem]]s or [[phonetics|phonetically]] and to save and print search results.<ref>{{cite web|first=Eric M|last=Johnson|url=http://catholiclight.stblogs.org/archives/2005/03/open-source-sha-1.html|title=Open Source Shakespeare 2.0 Released|work=Catholic Light|date=7 March 2005}}</ref>

In the middle of 2009 a site version designed for portable devices was unveiled, called Mobile Open Source Shakespeare.<ref name=Alumni />

==Footnotes==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|1=http://opensourceshakespeare.org}}
* [http://mobile.opensourceshakespeare.org/ Mobile Open Source Shakespeare]

[[Category:Internet properties established in 2003]]
[[Category:William Shakespeare]]
[[Category:Free-content websites]]

Open Source Shakespeare - Revision history

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