Since its founding in January 1993, Project Bartleby--like its namesake, Melville's stubborn scrivener--has adhered unwaveringly to the following four standards:

1. Accurate and Loyal Editions

   Project Bartleby electronic media represent with 100% accuracy an original work--a goal achieved by professional editorial standards that spare no expense in the scanning, data entry, data manipulation, spell-checking, proofreading, and markup protocols. The quality of the services make them suitable for both pleasure reading and professional scholarship.

2. Free Public Access

   Project Bartleby media are made available free to the public for educational purposes. Allowing freedom of choice to great literature and reference materials is the foundation of any public library--supporting research, building literacy, and abetting democracy.

3. Careful, Well-Researched Selection

   Project Bartleby chooses materials either in the public domain or under Columbia copyright or license based on some of the following criteria: (a) preponderance of use in educational settings; (b) fairness to works in all literary and reference fields, especially to alternative authors; (c) availability of extant authoritative editions that will not be superseded in print; (d) reference works of general interest; (e) at the request or as a byproduct of academic projects; (f) consensus of a representative group of the Columbia community; (g) regard for authors' place in an intellectual history; and (h) above all, a fundamental love for the literary value of the work.

4. State-of-the-Art Presentation

   To maintain its role as a leader in electronic-publishing methods, Project Bartleby is committed to explore the presentation and experience of multimedia techniques as they become standardized.