Wikipedia books launched worldwide
Worldwide launch of the book feature
6 May 2010 marked the launch of
the book tool on the English Wikipedia.
[1]
[2]
[3] Previously, the creation of
Wikipedia books was limited to logged-in users because of
scalability issues, but now anyone in the world can take collections of Wikipedia articles, arrange them into chapters, and get them delivered to their door by
PediaPress, the official
print-on-demand partner of the
Wikimedia Foundation. The books come as
A5 format
paperbacks, and users are able to select an image and background color for the book's cover. The books ship within two business days, and start at US$8.95 for a 100-page book. The books can also be freely downloaded as
A4 format
PDFs, as well as in
ODT format, which can be printed at home and further edited. There are plans to make hardcover and color versions available by the end of August.
| “ | The service provided by PediaPress is an extremely important way of making sure that the free educational content of Wikipedia is available to all, everywhere, in areas with connectivity and without. Books made with the PediaPress service are a great asset to further the mission of Wikipedia: allow every single human being to share in the sum of all human knowledge | ” |
| — Jimmy Wales, Co-Founder of Wikipedia [2] | ||
| “ | Whether you want to learn about climate change or you‘re seeking information about your new travel destination – reading long texts on paper is not old fashioned, it is more comfortable, plus it's plain smart: people read 10 to 30 percent faster on paper than on screen. And you have no distractions: no chats, no emails. On the web, people are skimming for information. But when reading on paper, they can take their time to tackle a subject in depth. | ” |
| — Heiko Hees, Managing Director of PediaPress [2] | ||
The book tool is currently enabled for 17 languages, and books have been delivered to 33 countries. [2] The launch of books caught the eye of several media outlets, such as TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Mashable, and The New Yorker. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Screencast explaining how the book tool works
Make your own book with Wikiproject Wikipedia-Books
6 June 2011
ArbCom tally pending; Pediapress renderer; fundraiser update; unreferenced BLP drive
6 December 2010
Fundraisers start for Wikipedia and Citizendium; controversial content and leadership
15 November 2010
Wikipedia books launched worldwide
10 May 2010
Wikipedia-Books: Proposed deletion process extended, cleanup efforts
22 March 2010
New Book namespace created
11 January 2010
35k donated, WikiProject for Wikipedia-Books, 2M rated articles, and more
30 November 2009
Books extension enabled
2 March 2009
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Make your own book with Wikiproject Wikipedia-Books |
PediaPress released a new screencast for the book launch, explaining how to create books with the book tool.
Users interested in creating and maintaining "community books", that is books which can be edited by everyone (such as Book:Canada and Book:Messier objects), can join WikiProject Wikipedia-Books, which is a collaboration of editors who are interested in creating and maintaining Wikipedia books.
100 free books
To celebrate the launch of Wikipedia books to the world at large, PediaPress is giving away 100 coupons for free printed books. Each coupon has a value of $20 ( USD) and will be awarded on a first-come first-served basis to editors who create a community book (books uploaded in the Book namespace). If the price of the book comes to more than $20, then a $20 discount will be offered instead. For the full details, see User:Headbomb/Coupons.
References
- ^ Moka Pantages (6 May 2010). "More Ways to Share". Wikimedia Blog.
- ^ a b c d "Wikipedia Starts Offering Books: The free encyclopedia's newest feature lets users create their custom printed books based on Wikipedia content" (PDF) (Press release). PediaPress. 6 May 2010.
- ^ "Who on Earth Needs Wikis in Print? An interview with Heiko Hees, Managing Director of PediaPress" (PDF) (Press release). PediaPress. 6 May 2010.
- ^ Leena Rao (6 May 2010). "Wikipedia And PediaPress Now Allow You To Create Books From Content In English". TechCrunch.
- ^ Jolie O'Dell (7 May 2010). "Wikipedia Now Lets You Order Printed Books". Mashable.
- ^ Andrew Liszewski (7 May 2010). "PediaPress Takes The Offline WikiReader One Step Further By Providing Printed Books From Wikipedia Content". OhGizmo.
- ^ Kevin Hall (7 May 2010). "New service turns Wikipedia pages into printed books". DVice.
- ^ Noel (7 May 2010). "PediaPress Lets You Compile Wikipedia Entries Into A Custom Book". CoolThings.
- ^ Kat Hannaford (7 May 2010). "Buy You Favorite Wikipedia Subjects in Books Form, for 9$". Gizmodo.
- ^ Meredith Blake (10 May 2010). "The Book Bench: Wiki Books". The New Yorker.
Discuss this story
"Wikipedia books launched wordwide" — the Signpost-article-start — could be a pun but I suspect it contains a typo and should be
"Wikipedia books launched worldwide"
72.244.204.154 ( talk) 06:50, 13 May 2010 (UTC) reply