Editing Wikisource (section)

{{Short description|Free online library on a wiki}}
{{for|linking to or citing Wikisource|Wikipedia:Wikisource|selfref=y}}
{{Primary sources|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Wikisource
| logo = [[File:Wikisource-logo.svg|100px|The current Wikisource logo]]
| collapsible = yes
| caption = Detail of the Wikisource multilingual portal main page
| logo_alt = Wikisource logo, depicting an iceberg
| screenshot = [[File:Wikisource 2024.png|250px|Detail of the Wikisource multilingual portal main page.|class=notpageimage]]
| url = {{URL|https://wikisource.org}}
| commercial = No
| type = [[Digital library]]
| language = [[Multilingual]] ({{NUMBEROF|active|wikisource}} active sub-domains)<ref name="Sitematrix" />
| registration = Optional
| owner = [[Wikimedia Foundation]]
| author = User-generated
| launch_date = {{Start date and age|2003|11|24}}<ref name=ayersmatthewsyates>{{cite book|title=How Wikipedia Works|first1=Phoebe|last1=Ayers|first2=Charles|last2=Matthews|first3=Ben|last3=Yates|publisher=No Starch Press|year=2008|isbn=978-1-59327-176-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/howwikipediawork00ayer_0/page/435 435–436]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/howwikipediawork00ayer_0/page/435}}</ref>
| current_status = Online
}}

'''Wikisource''' is an online wiki-based [[digital library]] of [[free-content]] [[source text|textual sources]] operated by the [[Wikimedia Foundation]]. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole; it is also the name for each instance of that project, one for each language. The project's aim is to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, it has expanded to become a general-content library. The project officially began on November 24, 2003, under the name '''Project Sourceberg''', a play on [[Project Gutenberg]]. The name Wikisource was adopted later that year and it received its own [[domain name]].

The project holds works that are either in the [[public domain]] or [[freely licensed]]: professionally published works or historical source documents, not [[vanity press|vanity products]]. Verification was initially made offline, or by trusting the reliability of other digital libraries. Now works are supported by online scans via the ProofreadPage extension, which ensures the reliability and accuracy of the project's texts.

Some individual Wikisources, each representing a specific language, now only allow works backed up with scans. While the bulk of its collection are texts, Wikisource as a whole hosts other media, from comics to film to [[audiobook]]s. Some Wikisources allow user-generated annotations, subject to the specific policies of the Wikisource in question. The project has come under criticism for lack of reliability but it is also cited by organisations such as the [[National Archives and Records Administration]].<ref name="NationalArchivesMention">{{cite web | url = https://www.archives.gov/citizen-archivist/transcribe/ | title = Transcribe {{!}} Citizen Archivist | access-date = 4 October 2013 | archive-date = 31 October 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131031144924/http://www.archives.gov/citizen-archivist/transcribe/ | url-status = live }}</ref>

As of {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}, there are Wikisource subdomains active for {{NUMBEROF|active|wikisource}} languages<ref name="Sitematrix">[[Wikimedia]]'s [[MediaWiki]] [[:mw:API:Sitematrix|API:Sitematrix]]. Retrieved {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}} from [[:c:Data:Wikipedia statistics/meta.tab|Data:Wikipedia statistics/meta.tab]]</ref> comprising a total of {{NUMBEROF|articles|totalactive.wikisource|N}} articles and {{NUMBEROF|activeusers|totalactive.wikisource|N}} recently active editors.<ref name="Siteinfo">[[Wikimedia]]'s [[MediaWiki]]  [[:mw:API:Siteinfo|API:Siteinfo]]. Retrieved {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}} from [[:c:Data:Wikipedia statistics/data.tab|Data:Wikipedia statistics/data.tab]]</ref>