Daniel Ehrenberg wrote:
I think I'm a bit unclear about Wikibooks' goals. Are we going to eventually send this to a publisher, or will this always be online?
I think we'll just create the content and leave those kinds of decisions for the future. However, I think that all textbooks created should be created with paper distribution firmly in mind. We're a long way from a world in which schools don't use paper books.
If we do send it to a publisher, how will that all work? Will we self-publish? How will distribution work? Will we just let someone else print Wikibooks?
All of these things can be left open for the future. If there's a market for it, and we're in a position to do it, we could do it ourselves, I personally think that would be great. But if not, then we can let other parties "play RedHat" and put this stuff together for print.
Sanford wants the State of California to actually publish the books itself. I oppose that profoundly, but after we argued about it for a long time, we came to the conclusion that it doesn't matter at all for what we're doing here.
--------------------- Following more deep thinking - and inquiring - about the latter option (California publishing its own textbooks), I've concluded (for many reasons) that the most likely way these books will get published and distributed in print will result from the distribution efforts of a private publishing group (e.g., per Jimbo's suggestions above). However, there is nothing that could stop California's educational bureaucracy from subcontracting the print function themselves (which is something they currently do with many other materials), if it chose to do so. btw, my current stance on this is completely neutral.
Finally, Jimbo's right in that who, or how, or in what media format the materials get distributed really doesn't matter at all for what we're doing at the moment. The important thing here is to get the project going and finished in a way that lends credibility to educationally-based open source content for K-12, and get these materials made in the hands of all at the K-12 level who want to use it - worldwide - no matter how distribution realizes itself.
Sanford
Sanford