We’ve pivoted a bit from doing full digital restorations to simply getting people basic access to this material. Here’s what that means going forward:
We’ve been using our sources to input the text of each edition to Markdown files, and have been crafting a website to make this text viewable. You can find that beta website at read.thesparkive.org. We have a few editions up, and are always working in the background on more versions.
Some of the text is being sourced from original documents, but some are being sourced from sister publications, like Rules for Electric Light and Power Equipments by Associated Factory Mutual Fire Insurance Companies. Since there was no state-level enforcement of electrical codes back in the early 1900s, these requirements were used by insurance companies to guide their customers on what sorts of installations they were willing to insure. As such, the National Electrical Code was often reprinted by insurance companies, along with additional commentary that the respective insurance company found important.
So basically, the text should be accurate, but some of the formatting or reference notes may be different. We’ve noted the source for each edition so it’s clearer for folks.
Aside from that, we’ve begun making rough scans to upload for people to enjoy, since the actual digital restorations are very time-consuming. Ultimately we’d like to share those digital restorations as purchasable books as well, but there’s no sense waiting to share reference scans in the meantime.
We’ve just uploaded the 1937 National Electrical Code, and as we gain access to other physical books, we’ll scan and upload those, as well. These are fairly rough, and the books we have access to have varying levels of quality, but they’re definitely readable, so we hope you enjoy.
