[Foundation-l] Global Text Project

[phoebe ayers]

The Global Text project has been getting some press lately:

Story from the New Scientist:
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn9906-wikistyle-textbooks-to-aid-poorer-nations.html
Nature:
http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060911/full/060911-13.html (which talks
about Wikibooks)
Ars Technica (which mentions Wikiversity)
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060905-7662.html

Apparently, the project's innovation is editorial control -- the Nature
story quotes the project manager, who is from the Universty of Georgia, as
saying "Anyone will be able to contribute to the new textbooks, true — but
unlike wikipedia, the online, user-made encyclopedia, only an editor will be
able to approve contributions. "

They don't seem to have gotten very far yet; their biggest example text
(about XML) is actually hosted on en.wikibooks.

-- 
phoebe ayers | brassratgirl /at/ gmail.com


On 9/5/06, Erik Moeller <eloquence at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> FYI - we need to talk to these people.
>
> http://globaltext.org/
>
> Global Text Project
>
>     * The goal is to create a free library of 1,000 electronic
> textbooks for students in the developing world
>     * The library will cover the range of topics typically encountered
> in the first two years of a university's undergraduate programs
>     * The global academic community and global corporations will be
> engaged in creating and sponsoring this library
>
> The project will create open content electronic textbooks that will be
> freely available from a Web site. Distribution will also be possible
> via paper, CD, or DVD. Our goal initially is to focus on content
> development and Web distribution, and we will work with relevant
> authorities to facilitate dissemination by other means when bandwidth
> is unavailable or inadequate. Thus, while the goal, educating the
> disadvantaged, is the same as that of the $100 laptop project, we are
> not tied to a particular device or medium.
>
> We have experience with developing a free textbook, XML: Managing Data
> Exchange. This project started in January 2004 when a graduate class
> at the University of Georgia wrote the first version of the book.
> Subsequent graduate and undergraduate classes at the University of
> Georgia and elsewhere have improved and extended the book. It has been
> used as the XML text in a variety of classes, and in each case the
> class has been required to leave the book in better shape that they
> received it at the beginning of the term.
>
> Experience with this project and the success of WikiBooks has
> convinced us that we can further develop the idea of free and open
> content books to increase the value of these books to students,
> particularly those who cannot afford paper-based textbooks. We want to
> add several innovations to improve the quality of the books.
>
>
> --
> Peace & Love,
> Erik
> ______________________________________________
>