[Textbook-l] Wikibooks - removal of games walkthrough books

[Erik Moeller]

On 4/22/06, Jimmy Wales <jwales at wikia.com> wrote:
> We have to draw a line somewhere, and we can argue internally endlessly
> without getting much resolution.  So a useful technique is to try really
> hard to reference some external standards.

Perhaps the project should be officially renamed to "WikiTextbooks" to
avoid misunderstandings - or would that be overkill? People probably
base their ideas of what is acceptable on a) the content that is
already there, b) the name "Wikibooks" suggesting an open-ended
project to create books using wiki technology.

I agree that clear standards of what a "textbook" is are needed. But
besides these, I think it is important to work out a way to get
Wikibooks from "here" to "there".

For projects which are deemed outside the scope, as an alternative to
deletion, it might be a good idea to have "Votes for adoption" - books
tagged in this form could continue to be developed for the time being,
but people would be encouraged to find a different, free content wiki
to host them. Once there is consensus about a new home, the Wikibooks
version would be redirected there.

This would recognize the fact that in its first couple of years,
Wikibooks hasn't been very strict about the "textbook" requirement.
People may be understandably concerned to have their work deleted
without trace, having links break, etc. A gentle process might help to
strengthen the textbook focus of the project without making people too
mad about it.

Just some ramblings from a non-Wikibooks editor,

Erik