The Future of Wikipedia: Printed Books or Online Presence?

Wikipedia, as a massive and dynamic online encyclopaedia, has long been a cornerstone of digital information. However, with the advent of print-on-demand services and the increasing availability of e-books, there has been a growing interest in the possibility of making this vast resource available in printed form. Logistically, however, this is no small task. This article explores the challenges and realities of creating a printed version of Wikipedia.

The Vast and Dynamic Nature of Wikipedia

Wikipedia stands as one of the largest collections of knowledge available, with nearly 6 million articles in the English version alone. Its content is constantly changing, with new articles, updates, and revisions taking place almost every moment. This dynamic nature makes it inherently difficult to create a static printed version that would reflect the current state of knowledge at any given time. The moment a printed book is released, it becomes outdated.

Efforts to Create Printed Editions of Wikipedia

Despite the challenges, there have been various initiatives and efforts to create printed materials based on Wikipedia content. Here are some of the notable ones:

Wikipedia Book

The Wikipedia Book project allows users to create and publish their own books using Wikipedia content. However, these books are not a complete and official version of Wikipedia. They are user-generated and often specific to particular topics or themes, making them a less comprehensive resource for a general audience.

Printed Editions for Specified Topics

There have been specific Printed Editions created by contributors who focus on specific topics or themes. For instance, the German Wikipedia has produced a nice collection of selected articles, which is a testament to the effort and dedication of its community. However, these volumes are not a reflection of the entire encyclopedia.

Wikimedia Projects

The Wikimedia Foundation, the organization behind Wikipedia, has produced some printed materials such as books or anthologies focusing on specific topics. These publications, however, are not complete representations of the entire encyclopedia. They are more specialized and community-driven, catering to specific interests rather than providing a sweeping overview of all Wikipedia articles.

Challenges in Creating a Comprehensive Printed Wikipedia

Creating a complete printed version of Wikipedia would face several significant challenges:

Size and Costs

A back-of-the-envelope calculation reveals that a single printed version of the English Wikipedia would require over 2,000 five-hundred-page volumes. This makes it both costly and logistically impractical. The sheer volume of content would make the project inefficient and unaffordable for most publishers. The costs of paper, printing, and distribution would be astronomical.

Content Updates

As Wikipedia’s content is constantly updated, a printed version would quickly become outdated. The ever-changing nature of the information would make it impossible to keep a printed version up-to-date, rendering it less useful as a reference tool. Additionally, the dynamic nature of Wikipedia means that many of its articles include multimedia content such as audio, video, and images, which would be difficult to include in a printed format.

Print-On-Demand Services

In 2014, PediaPress, a print-on-demand service, attempted to print the entirety of Wikipedia in 1,000 volumes as part of an art project. Their Indiegogo campaign did not succeed, highlighting the financial and logistical hurdles involved in such a project. Moreover, the resulting volumes were more of a conceptual art piece than a practical reference work.

Conclusion

While there have been efforts to create printed versions of Wikipedia, a fully comprehensive and up-to-date printed encyclopedia is currently impractical. The dynamic nature of Wikipedia, its vast size, and the challenges of keeping a printed version current make it a largely impractical idea. Instead, Wikipedia’s primary presence remains online, providing a continually updated and accessible source of knowledge for its millions of readers worldwide.