Public Domain Rank: Identifying Notable Individuals with the Wisdom of the Crowd

Abstract

Identifying literary, scientific, and technical works of enduring interest is challenging. Few are able to name significant works across more than a handful of domains or languages. This paper introduces an automatic method for identifying authors of notable works throughout history. Notability is defined using the record of which works volunteers have made available in public domain digital editions. A significant benefit of this bottom-up approach is that it also provides a novel and reproducible index of notability for all individuals with Wikipedia pages. The method promises to supplement the work of cultural organizations and institutions seeking to publicize the availability of notable works and prioritize works for preservation and digitization.