[Foundation-l] News from English Wikisource

[daniwo59 at aol.com]

I thought it would be a good idea to share some news about another  project, 
the English Wikisource, which has been doing some remarkable work in  the past 
few months, thanks to a small group of dedicated editors and  contributors.  
First for some background: Wikisource is much more than a library of old  and 
PD texts. It can, and should, operate in tandem with the other projects, by  
providing the background to the information we offer. For instance, take a 
look  at our English Wikipedia article on the Book of Omni, one of the books of 
the  LDS scriptures. (_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Omni_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Omni) ). By clicking on any of the verses mentioned 
in  the citations, you will be taken directly to the actual verses in 
Wikisource,  set in the context of the entire chapter. One of our goals is to make this 
 possible for a wide range of texts, including the Qur'an, the Vedas, and, of 
 course, the Bible, as well as classical Greek and Latin texts, which have a  
standardized verse numbering system. One of our contributors, Robth1, is 
already  working on a version of Xenophon's Hellenica which will be integrated as 
source  material into the relevant Wikipedia articles, where chapter and verse 
will link  to chapter and verse. 
Wikisource, however, is not just for old sources that already exist. We  are 
also doing some fascinating translation work, some of it never before seen.  
One contributor, Dmitri Smirnov, is hard at work creating stunning translations 
 of some of the major Russian poets, including Baratynsky, Mandelstam, and  
Pushkin. Here is just one example: 
_http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/More_tender_than_tender_ (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/More_tender_than_tender) . 
BirgitteSB managed to find a document in French,  describing the establishment of 
colonies along the  Mississippi. It has already been  transcribed and posted to 
French Wikisource, and a new English translation is on  the way. You can see it 
here: _http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/An_account_of_the_founding_of_St._Louis_ 
(http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/An_account_of_the_founding_of_St._Louis) . In 
breaking news, we are about to collaborate  with the Italian Wikisource to 
transcribe and translate a series of manuscript  letters by Michelangelo and 
Galileo, found by Sherurcij. These letters appear  nowhere on the Internet, and 
will be a great addition to our collection.  
We are also examining ways to handle multiple versions and translations  of 
texts. This month, our featured text is Donne's Elegie II, a poem for which  we 
have two editions (1663 and 1896). You can read the editions individually, or 
 find a comparison here: 
_http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Elegy_II_Comparative_text_ (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Elegy_II_Comparative_text) . The Bible 
offers a particularly challenging  problem, when it comes to multiple transl
ations. To see one way that we are  handling it, check 
_http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Bible/Obadiah/1/1_ (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Bible/Obadiah/1/1)  for 
the first verse of the Book of Obadiah.  
Journals are a great addition to Wikisource, and can provide some great  
references for articles in other projects. For instance, in 1917, National  
Geographic published an article about the Russian Revolution and its impact on  
America. You can  find the article, along with the images here: 
_http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/National_Geographic_Magazine/Volume_31/April_1917/The_Russian_Situ
ation_and_Its_Significance_to_America_ 
(http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/National_Geographic_Magazine/Volume_31/April_1917/The_Russian_Situation_and_Its_Signif
icance_to_America) . That same year, NG published a series of  sketches on 
warblers, complete with paintings by famed Swiss-American naturalist  Louis 
Agassiz. You can find an example here 
(_http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/National_Geographic_Magazine/Volume_31/April_1917/Friends_of_Our_Forests/Magnolia_Warbler_ 
(http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/National_Geographic_Magazine/Volume_31/April_19
17/Friends_of_Our_Forests/Golden-winged_Warbler) ), complete with links to 
the English Wikipedia  (click on the link above the painting) and Wikispecies 
(click on the Latin  name).  
Finally, a word about other encyclopedias – we have them too, and many  
different ones to keep us busy. Laverock is hard at work adding the original  
letter B articles from the 1911 edition of Britannica, but we also have  
specialized encyclopedias of Catholicism, the Bible, and more. Shanel,  BookofJude, 
Shimgray and others have been adding to The New Student's Reference  Work, a 1914 
edition of an encyclopedia for young people: Here is an article  about 
Australia: 
_http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_New_Student%27s_Reference_Work/Australia_ (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_New_Student's_Reference_Work/Australia) 
.  
Some of our texts appear nowhere else on the Internet. These include  poems 
by Francis Ledwidge (_http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Francis_Ledwidge_ 
(http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Francis_Ledwidge) ) and the Historical 
Library of Diodorus Siculus,  is being developed by Zhaladshar. Soon to come are 
the diaries of Kaiser Wilhelm  II. Also, keep an eye out for our new French 
Literature portal, which was  developed by our friends in French Wikisource. 
You will probably notice the specialized headers on each of these pages,  
which were created by Pathoschilde. They help to create a uniformity among all  
the texts, and make it easier to skip from one chapter to the next.  
This is just some of the news from the English Wikisource. I hope people  
will drop by and suggest ways that can help their pet projects by providing a  
reliable system of internal sources. With all these projects underway, we are  
also looking for volunteers to help transcribe, translate, scan, proof, link,  
and add their favorite texts. All of the projects mentioned above are "in  
progress," and we need all the help we can get. For more information, drop by  
the #wikisource channel on IRC.  
Danny