Wikimedia/The History of Wikisource

Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content source materials. The project was born as an idea in 2001 following a disagreement about how to incorporate primary source materials into Wikipedia. In order to keep Wikipedia a tertiary source, the new "Project Sourceberg" was proposed. With the title meant primarily as a pun on the popular library archive site of public domain materials Project Gutenberg, it also carried the implication of "primary source" in its initials. Unlike the more inclusive Project Gutenberg, it had a focus on material of historical and cultural interest. It finally debuted on November 24, 2003, but in less than a month changed its name to Wikisource, following a vote that closed on December 6th. In March 2004, there was a proposal to change the name again, to Wikimedia Commons, and to fold into it other public-domain media source material, including pictures and artistic artifacts. Despite the proposal, Wikisource remained a distinct project. As of 2020, it is available in 70 language editions.