Distributed Proofreaders was founded by Charles Franks in 2000 as an independent site to assist Project Gutenberg [REF].
On 8 November 2002, Distributed Proofreaders was slashdotted,[REF][REF] and more than 4,000 new members joined in one day, causing an influx of new proofreaders and software developers, which helped to greatly increase the quantity and quality of e-text production.