I thought the reason for a textbook was for it to be linear. Otherwise, people could just use the encyclopedia.
The preliminary OChem book I am playing with has trains of continuity, although they are more flexible than in a printed book. Its a flexibility to link to all related subjects that I wish the textbooks that I use had. I dont think that most people would confuse an interlinked textbook with an encyclopedia, as a textbook seeks to actively teach, where an encyclopedia presents information more passively. Plus there is an overlying scheme of nested links that adds structure. But thats just how I see this book on this subject turning out right now, and is no comment on any other book or any other way or etc.
I guess a textbook as I see it should help lead a person thru the subject even if it gives him freedom to change direction. Isnt learning more fun for you as a learner when you have some say on how you do it ?
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I think one important point of the textbook project is that we can actually *print* it as a textbook. That doesn't mean it should not take advantage of the dead-easy wiki hyperlinks, just that there should be a way to run a script and get a PDF, RTF, or something, that actually handles like a book.
One way would be for each page containing a link with a defined name, like [[The next topic|>>>]] (or just "next" or "forward" instead of ">>>"). A script could run through that easily, as could a reader who prefers linearity over mini-webs.
Magnus
Karl Wick wrote:
I thought the reason for a textbook was for it to be linear. Otherwise, people could just use the encyclopedia.
The preliminary OChem book I am playing with has trains of continuity, although they are more flexible than in a printed book. Its a flexibility to link to all related subjects that I wish the textbooks that I use had. I dont think that most people would confuse an interlinked textbook with an encyclopedia, as a textbook seeks to actively teach, where an encyclopedia presents information more passively. Plus there is an overlying scheme of nested links that adds structure. But thats just how I see this book on this subject turning out right now, and is no comment on any other book or any other way or etc.
I guess a textbook as I see it should help lead a person thru the subject even if it gives him freedom to change direction. Isnt learning more fun for you as a learner when you have some say on how you do it ?
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--- Magnus Manske magnus.manske@web.de wrote:
I think one important point of the textbook project is that we can actually *print* it as a textbook. That doesn't mean it should not take advantage of the dead-easy wiki hyperlinks, just that there should be a way to run a script and get a PDF, RTF, or something, that actually handles like a book.
One way would be for each page containing a link with a defined name, like [[The next topic|>>>]] (or just "next" or "forward" instead of ">>>"). A script could run through that easily, as could a reader who prefers linearity over mini-webs.
Magnus
I'm not the programmer, but should it really be a link to a regular wiki page? I think it would be more appropriate if it linked to something like [[Special:Next]] or {{NEXTPAGE}}. It would also be convienient for that to appear at the bottom of the screen automatically, but that would take some coding. -LDan
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Magnus Manske wrote:
I think one important point of the textbook project is that we can actually *print* it as a textbook. That doesn't mean it should not take advantage of the dead-easy wiki hyperlinks, just that there should be a way to run a script and get a PDF, RTF, or something, that actually handles like a book.
I agree with this. In the distant future, perhaps online hypertext will be the default for all textbooks.
But one of my interests is that knowledge be shared far beyond the wealthy nations where Internet access is ubiquitous. The UN estimates that 1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water. Those same people have very limited access to the Internet, even at their Universities.
What I want to see is easy distribution of printed text, undertaken by competitive firms who compete based on how cheaply they can print the books, rather than competing on the basis of proprietary content.
I want this for the encyclopedia, but it seems as important or perhaps even moreso for the textbooks.
--Jimbo
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