[A2k] print on demand books
Manon Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org
Thu Jul 13 08:33:00 2006
Last night, in a papyrophilic mania I was trying to "put together" a
book (I could not resist, I admit) but some articles have already
changed (of course) since I had read them and I did not include the
new ones...you're of course right: the process cannot be fixed.
Well, it is still very tempting for me to print whatever I want to
read or re-read. And I think that many people are still like that
(we're in a transition period, it might not be the case in a few
years). Also, in some places teachers and students do not have easy
access to computers or libraries and they might like the print on
demand? I went to visit a (rich) school in Yaounde 2 years ago: the
2 teachers had 1 book for a class of 70 children and no access to any
kind of teaching materials.
So, print on demand: for one thing it is relatively cheap, at least
for us in the North. As you know, course packs are over priced (over
$100 for a compilation of some copryright laws for a copyright course
at a US university recently) and should not be since the content is
free and the production is basic, if not primitive (xerox). My own
pediapress version ended up at $15 (I'll get it via snailmail in a
few days). You can also "publish" or make the book available to
others and if sold you can either make money or give it to the
foundation (around $2 per book).
I have a young French high school student staying with us this summer
and he was disappointed not to be able to "make a book of articles"
he contributed to while working on a science report this year (the
pediapress does not seem to work with wikipedia.fr?). We both, the
student and former teacher, saw many possible teaching and learning
applications of this "print on demand". It is interesting to imagine
some teachers/learners putting together their own textbook knowing of
course that that would be only a (black and white) snapshot of
knowledge.
Manon
On Jul 13, 2006, at 5:19 AM, Gu=E9don Jean-Claude wrote:
> This is a somewhat funny idea, obviously aimed at papyrophilic
> individuals (to use Stevan Harnad's terminology of old).
>
> There is an interesting consequence to this offer: Wikipedia
> evolves all the time. Each book will be like a snapshot slice of
> the process.
>
> I say process because Wikipedia, in my opinion, is not a body of
> texts conceived as objects; it is a body of texts conceived as an
> attractor of people that keep on making it evolve. It is a hugely
> accelerated process of creation that was first inaugurated by
> scientific publishing in the 17th century. This, to me, appears to
> be the truly revolutionary dimension of Wikipedia. It simply
> materializes - a most problematic materialization, by the way,
> since it relies on electronic bits - the conversations of thousands
> of communities.
>
> Best,
>
> Jean-Claude
>
>
> -------- Message d'origine--------
> De: a2k-admin@lists.essential.org de la part de Manon Ress
> Date: mer. 12/07/2006 17:59
> =C0: a2k discuss list
> Objet : [A2k] print on demand books
>
> Thanks to Achal for interesting pointer.
> Check it out:
>
> http://pediapress.com/
>
> Individual books based on Wikipedia articles!
>
> PediaPress is a service that enables you to compile and order a book
> with contents you pick from over a million Wikipedia articles. You
> will then receive a unique, bound book with high quality, selected
> articles!
>
> The goal of Wikipedia is to give every single person free access to
> the sum of all human knowledge.
> The goal of PediaPress is to make this knowledge available in a
> printed form and promote the offline usage of Wikipedia articles.
> FAST
> build and order your encyclopedia in minutes
>
> * gather relevant articles in minutes
> * preview and order your books with only a couple clicks
> * your personal encyclopedia is printed and shipped within 2 days
>
> EASY
> compiling a book with PediaPress is simple
>
> * PediaPress lets you quickly browse and search for Wikipedia
> articles
> * PediaPress suggests further articles based on what's in your
> book
>
> INDIVIDUAL
> unique, individual encyclopedias for a great price
>
> * you only pay for information you want in your book
> * let others participate in your editorial talent by publishing
> your book
>
>
> ************************************************
> Manon Anne Ress
> manon.ress@cptech.org,
> www.cptech.org
>
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************************************************
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org
Consumer Project on Technology
1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA
Tel.: +1.202.332.2670, Ext 16 Fax: +1.202.332.2673
Consumer Project on Technology
1 Route des Morillons, CP 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 791 6727
Consumer Project on Technology
24 Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RX, UK
Tel: +44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252 Fax: +44(0)207 354 0607