The Web, a Multilingual Encyclopedia

Marie LebertProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.3

Word count: 32K words
Chapters: 4

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The web, a multilingual encyclopedia by Marie LebertAuthor: Lebert, Marie,Language: English, Class: TK: Technology: Electrical, Electronics and Nuclear engineering, Release Date: Jan 10, 2013

Editor's review

Marie Lebert's book discusses the web as a multilingual encyclopedia, a topic at the intersection of technology and society. Its focus is not on technical implementation details but on how linguistic diversity affects the organization, dissemination, and access of knowledge: whether the web can accommodate knowledge in many languages, how multilingual entries correspond to one another, and how readers can cross language barriers to find the information they need. These questions remain relevant today, and collaborative encyclopedias like Wikipedia and multilingual search are extensions of them. The book is short, and its discussion is more overview and advocacy than conclusion. Read it with a questioning mind: which of the difficulties of multilingual knowledge organization that the author raises have been eased by technology today, and which remain. For readers concerned with knowledge equity, language rights, and internet governance, this book offers an early perspective.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in the internet and the dissemination of knowledge
Students and scholars studying linguistic diversity and multilingual information organization
Those interested in the history of encyclopedias and collaborative knowledge projects
Practitioners who need background on early internet multilingual issues

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking systematic technical solutions or programming guidance
Academic readers expecting in-depth empirical research or data analysis
General users concerned only with single-language web content

Reading tips

Read the introductory chapters first to grasp the author's basic argument about the multilingual encyclopedia.
As you read, compare with current multilingual Wikipedia practice and take brief notes.
Read alongside an introductory book on internet governance or language policy.
Given its short length, read it through in one sitting, then revisit key chapters to deepen understanding.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book about Wikipedia?

Not exactly. The book discusses the overall idea of the web as a multilingual encyclopedia, touching on multilingual knowledge organization and cross-language search; Wikipedia is only one example of such practice. Readers should not treat it as a dedicated introduction to Wikipedia but as an overview discussion of multilingual knowledge dissemination.

Are the book's views outdated today?

Some of the technical background has changed, but the core questions remain. The correspondence between knowledge in different languages, the shortage of content in minority languages, and the accuracy of cross-language search are still real difficulties today. When reading, compare the book's descriptions with the current situation and distinguish what technology has eased from what persists; this is itself a valuable exercise.

Can someone without a technical background understand this book?

Yes. The book leans toward discussion of issues rather than technical implementation and does not require programming or systems knowledge. Readers need only a basic interest in the internet and language issues. Unfamiliar terms can generally be understood from context, or you might first learn the basics of the multilingual web before starting.

Comments

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About the author

Marie Lebert Author · French

Marie Lebert is a French translator and researcher of books and digital publishing. She holds a doctorate in linguistics from the Sorbonne and has worked in translation and library roles at international organizations in several countries; she now lives in Australia. Her research focuses on multilingualism online, e-books and the history of translation, and her writing for general readers traces how books have moved from print to digital form. Representative works include La Jérusalem médiévale, Del libro impreso al libro digital, Le Projet Gutenberg and Le Livre 010101: Enquête, and 47 of her titles are held in the collection. Her e-books and writings on Project Gutenberg are distributed free of charge through the University of Toronto's NEF and Project Gutenberg, making them easy to access online. Public information about her is limited, and her works centre on digital publishing and changing reading practices.