How to Build a Computer and other offerings at Wikibooks
In the 1990s a White House staffer assured me that books with many collaborators could substitute in K-12 for the usual copyrighted variety written by individuals. That was a pretty simplistic vision compared to a well-stocked national digital library system.
Still, I don’t think he was entirely wrong. The delightful surprise is that some of the most useful collaborative works could potentially come not from bureaucratic institutions but from the Wiki crowd. Check out Wikibooks for “collection of open-content textbooks that anyone can edit.” Wikibooks’ May Book of the Month is How to Build a Computer, described this way:
…teaches you how to build your own computer, starting from choosing the right parts, assembling them, and choosing and installing the right software. You can learn more about computer hardware by building a computer than you can by reading every computer hardware textbook ever written. Aside from that, you get a totally personalized computer that no OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) could match, and the opportunity to save a lot of money in the process.
Not everyone likes everything about the articles in the Wikipedia, and presumably the same would apply to whole books created this way. Still, I can envision healthy collaborations between the present Wiki types and librarians, content specialists and others.
I myself found How to Build a Computer to be useful as a quick overview, but at 14,000 words lacking the level of detail I would have wanted, as well as illustrations. I’m hopeful, however. More detail, especially the step-by-step specifics needed here, should come in time since this is an evolving project. Of course, the computer book could evolve better and faster with particpation from more specialists–and from librarians to encourage accuracy and clarity.
As supportive as I’d urge librarians to be, I would also suggest that they not compromise their standards. My concerns as expressed to the White House guy still stand. The last thing we need is let the rich enjoy an unlimited selection of books while limiting the plebes to not-ready-for-prime-time books created through collaborations.
Meanwhile…other titles: History of the United States, LSAT Prep Guide and Introduction to Paleoanthropology.
Related: Wikiversity.
May 31st, 2005 at 3:23 pm
I am always surprised when I come across the assumption that text books could not be written collaboratively. After all, what could be more natural than a bunch of teachers sitting down together and creating lecture material?
May 31st, 2005 at 4:41 pm
Hi, Branko. Totally agree about textbooks. Well put. Conventional textbook publishers already use collaborations. At the same time, I hope that the K-12 and library worlds will reach aout to the Wikipedia folks to help on QC matters and expand production (how about students even writing for students–with proper supervision and QC?). Thanks, as usual, for your thoughts. TeleBlog traffic has gone up, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the quality of the comments contributed to that! - David