[WikiEN-l] WikiPrint service - Could we make it easy to print out a selected category of Wikipedia for libraries etc.?

[Rory Stolzenberg]

There's already a site that does something like this, though I dont think
it's for institutions, more for private use.  See http://pediapress.com/

On 9/12/06, jasonspiro4 <jasonspiro4+news at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> Huge libraries (large / U.S. Ivy League universities' libraries, public
> libraries in world-class cities, Library of Congress, etc.) spend
> unbelievable
> amounts of money on buying books and magazines every year. Books and
> magazines
> are great, but there are certain subjects with no relevant books or
> magazine
> articles available. Example: TV. For any popular TV show, Wikipedia has a
> main
> article and numerous subarticles on characters, episodes, and so on. For
> some
> subjects, Wikipedia is truly the best choice for information.
>
> I propose we band together and start a WikiPrint service. We could somehow
> make
> it easy for schools, corporations and libraries to print out subsets of
> Wikipedia: e.g. if they want a PDF of a whole category to send to an
> online
> print-on-demand shop, we compile the PDF for them, add a nice cover page
> etc.,
> and send it to the shop for them if they like. They would pay us for the
> service.
>
> I am not sure if this would be a for-profit service or a free service (e.g
> .
> part of the WikiPress system). For-profit would mean we would be able to
> promote ourselves more and we would be more motivated to do well.
>
> Would this be a useful / popular service? What kinds of customers would
> come to
> us? For example, a question for you librarians among us: would libraries
> be
> interested in such a service?
>
> Jason Spiro
> Computer programming student and Wikipedian
> Toronto, Canada
>
> --
> Jason Spiro: computer consulting with a smile.
> I also do computer training and spyware removal for homes and businesses.
> Call or email for a FREE 5-minute consultation. Satisfaction guaranteed.
> jasonspiro4 at gmail.com / 416-781-5938 / Skype ID: jasonspiro
>
>
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