Erik Moeller wrote:
Expanding an idea by fonzy, I have created a skeleton for Wikipedians to organize the sharing of information from proprietary resources. See
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia%3AShared_resources
The current text that is there:
This page is a reference for Wikipedians in need of certain proprietary information resources (encyclopedias, CD-ROM archives, expensive books etc.). The page has a section of resources that are offered and one of resources that are wanted. These sections are separated into subsections for specific resource types.
Feel free to offer any type of resource, but please understand that this page is not intended to facilitate copyright violation -- "shared resource" implies that you are willing to make use of that resource for someone else, in your own time. Please provide as much detail as possible about:
- version of the resource
- storage form of the resource (paper, CD-ROM, online archive etc.)
It is assumed that these resources are available to you for free or that you are willing to cover any costs. Users should note that these shared usage offers, unless otherwise noted, are only valid for Wikipedia purposes.
Please add your own resources in the appropriate section.
Along the same line, I've often found interesting web sites which I've bookmarked for later reference when I can focus my attention on the subject matter. Several months later when I'm ready ... poof! it's gone. Some of these have useful information, and it's a shame that it becomes lost because somebody didn't pay his ISP bill.
These sites are covered by copyright, so for the most part we just can't copy the material onto Wikipedia and make it available to the public. Still it could be in the public interest to copy material from threatened sites into a restricted access file where it could be revived if and when the original site could no longer be maintained. It would be a lot easier to come to a conditional release agreement while the site is still functioning than after it has gone under.
Eclecticology