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Wikipedia Will Be Published As 8000-Page Book--In Germany

It seems totally counterintuitive, not to mention ridiculously challenging, but a German publishing company plans to publish a hardbound edition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that is written and fact-checked (sometimes not well) by its users. It will take four years to publish the 8000-page encyclopedia, reports MediaGuardian, the London newspaper. An independent scientific advisor will be brought onto the project "to examine content," says the story. MediaGuardian's Grainger Laffan makes the point that seems obvious: "Observers believe the public contribution nature of the Wikipedia database, where updates and additions occur daily, makes it outdated as a printed version as soon as it comes out." However, Jimmy Wales, the Wikipedia founder, seems unopposed to the idea of a printed version of the encyclopedia; in fact, he's floated the idea in the past, explaining that it would enable people without Internet access to read Wikipedia. There are no known plans to produce an English-language version, according to MediaGuardian.

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