[Ads-l] Incorrect dates displayed in Internet Archive scans

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Thanks for sharing a fascinating article and video, Grant. The book
source metadata for the Internet Archive copy of "A Burnt-out Case" by
Graham Greene lists the following digital publication data:

dc.date.digitalpublicationdate: 2013-03-06

If I am reading this data correctly, the book was scanned circa 2013.
The scanner bug was present in 2013. The precise identity of the
hardware device used to create the scans for this book does not appear
in the metadata (it seems). In any case, it is conceivable that the
error was caused by a bug in the scanner compression software.

Garson

On Thu, Oct 29, 2026 at 3:00 PM Grant Barrett
<00001c78cf50a67a-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
>  This related story may interest you:
> https://www.dkriesel.com/en/blog/2013/0802_xerox-workcentres_are_switching_written_numbers_when_scanning
>
> "Scanners / copiers of the Xerox WorkCentre Line randomly alter written
> numbers in pages that are scanned. This is not an OCR problem (as we
> switched off OCR on purpose) [...] patches of the pixel data are randomly
> replaced in a very subtle and dangerous way: The scanned images look
> correct at first glance, even though numbers may actually be incorrect."
>
> GB
>
> On Oct 29, 2026 at 10:03:23, ADSGarson O'Toole <
> 00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> > Thanks for your responses, Rich and JL. I have hesitated to mention
> > this topic because the environment is punitively litigious for
> > databases such as the Internet Archive and Google Books. I agree with
> > JL that this type of error is rare.
> > Garson
> >
> > On Mon, Oct 26, 2026 at 4:31 PM Jonathan Lighter
> > <00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
> >
> >
> > I've seen this problem in Internet Archive as well, but only once or
> >
> > twice in thousands of instances.
> >
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Oct 26, 2026 at 1:52 PM Rich Lowenthal
> >
> > <000018596069864c-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
> >
> > >
> >
> > > The initial copyright date is also incorrect: "1910" rather than "1960."
> >
> > >
> >
> > > There are also leather-bound copies of the book available on the
> >
> > > Internet that cite the 1916 date. I would guess that the incorrect date
> >
> > > is the result of poor scanning and OCR work, as is the case of many
> >
> > > print-on-demand titles that come from India. The scanned copy also
> >
> > > differs from the first edition in that it lacks the "all rights
> >
> > > reserved" notice on the copyright page.
> >
> > >
> >
> > >
> >
> > > ------ Original Message ------
> >
> > > From "ADSGarson O'Toole"
> >
> > > <00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >
> > > To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >
> > > Date 10/26/2026 12:40:27 PM
> >
> > > Subject Incorrect dates displayed in Internet Archive scans
> >
> > >
> >
> > > >While searching in the Internet Archive I came across a novel with an
> >
> > > >incorrect publication date. It is common to find mistakes in the
> >
> > > >metadata of databases such as the Internet archive, Google Books,
> >
> > > >newspapers.com, etc. But this situation was different and more
> >
> > > >dangerous. The incorrect data appeared on a page scan of the book that
> >
> > > >was supposed to display the correct publication data.
> >
> > > >
> >
> > > >The novel "A Burnt-Out Case" by Graham Greene was first published in
> >
> > > >1960, but the publication date on the scan claimed that the book was
> >
> > > >published in 1916.
> >
> > > >
> >
> > > >Incorrect Date on Page Scan: 1916
> >
> > > >Actual First Publication Date: 1960
> >
> > > >Book Title: A Burnt-Out Case
> >
> > > >Author: Graham Greene
> >
> > > >Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd, London
> >
> > > >Book Source: Digital Library of India
> >
> > > >
> > https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.150016/page/n3/mode/2up?q=1916
> >
> > > >
> >
> > > >[Begin excerpt]
> >
> > > >This English language edition first published 1916
> >
> > > >[End excerpt]
> >
> > > >
> >
> > > >I think (and hope) this problem is rare. Have others seen this
> >
> > > >problem? Can someone offer an explanation (on or off list)?
> >
> > > >Garson
> >
> > > >
> >
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