Multilingualism on the Web

Marie LebertProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 132K words
Chapters: 14

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.Multilingualism on the Web by Marie LebertAuthor: Lebert, Marie,Language: English, Class: TK: Technology: Electrical, Electronics and Nuclear engineering, Release Date: Oct 26, 2008

Editor's review

Marie Lebert's short book focuses on multilingualism in cyberspace, discussing how linguistic diversity has been represented, what obstacles it has faced, and what forces have driven it from the early days of the Internet onward. In an overview style, it surveys issues such as multilingual web pages, character encoding, translation tools, and language rights. It is concise and moderately dense with information, making it a suitable introduction for readers seeking a basic picture of the field. Its value lies not in technical depth but in examining linguistic diversity and the spread of the Internet within a single framework, helping readers recognize that English is not the only form of online content. The background it discusses bears the marks of a particular era, and some tools and data now appear dated; readers should treat it as a survey of historical developments rather than a complete report on the current situation. It suits readers who need to build a conceptual framework quickly, and works better when supplemented with more recent material.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of language policy or language planning who need an introductory overview of multilingual Internet issues
Translation and localization practitioners who want to understand the background of online multilingualism
Instructors of information literacy courses looking for brief materials on linguistic diversity online
General readers interested in Internet culture who want a quick grasp of the topic's basic framework

Not a good fit for

Localization engineers seeking the latest technical solutions and tool evaluations
Professional researchers expecting in-depth linguistic theory
Practitioners looking for concrete operational guidance rather than background

Reading tips

Read the book through once to build a framework, then consult more recent statistics on online language use for topics of interest
Note the era markers mentioned in the book and distinguish historical description from views that remain useful
Read alongside introductory articles on language rights and machine translation for complementary perspectives
After finishing, summarize in your own words the main obstacles to and drivers of a multilingual Internet

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

Does this book address technical or linguistic issues?

Both, but it leans toward the linguistic and social side. It focuses on multilingual presentation of online content, language barriers, translation, and language rights; technical details are not the focus, so it is best treated as a cross-cutting overview.

Is the content outdated?

The early Internet background and some tool information bear clear marks of their era, and specific data and product descriptions may no longer apply. But the basic issues of linguistic diversity and language barriers remain relevant, and reading with more recent material is recommended.

Is it suitable as a course textbook?

It is brief and clearly structured, and can serve as supplementary reading for courses on language policy or the information society, but it is not enough to support systematic teaching on its own. Instructors should add current cases and statistics and explain its writing context.

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.