Editing Wikisource (section)

==Library contents==
[[File:Wikisource Inclusion Venn Diagram.svg|thumb|alt=A Venn diagram of the inclusion criteria for works to be added to Wikisource. The three overlapping circles are labelled "Sourced", "Published" and "Licensed". The area where they all overlap is shown in green. The areas where just two overlap are shown in yellow (except the Sourced-Published overlap, which remains blank)|Wikisource inclusion criteria expressed as a [[Venn diagram]]. Green indicates the best possible case, where the work satisfies all three primary requirements. Yellow indicates acceptable but not ideal cases.]]
Wikisource collects and stores in [[Digitizing|digital format]] previously published texts; including novels, non-fiction works, letters, speeches, constitutional and historical documents, laws and a range of other documents. All texts collected are either free of copyright or released under the [[Creative Commons|Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License]].<ref name=ayersmatthewsyates /> Texts in all languages are welcomed, as are translations. In addition to texts, Wikisource hosts material such as [[comics]], [[film]]s, recordings and [[Spoken word|spoken-word]] works.<ref name=ayersmatthewsyates /> All texts held by Wikisource must have been previously published; the project does not host "[[vanity press]]" books or documents produced by its contributors.<ref name=ayersmatthewsyates /><ref>{{cite web
 |title=Mission statement
 |url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Mission_statement
 |publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]]
 |access-date=2011-07-08
 |archive-date=2008-01-17
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117000000/http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Mission_statement
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |title=Wikisource
 |url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikisource
 |publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]]
 |work=Wikimedia.org
 |access-date=2011-07-08
 |archive-date=2011-07-13
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713065136/http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikisource
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |title=What is Wikisource?—What do we exclude?
 |url=http://wikisource.org/wiki/Wikisource:What_is_Wikisource%3F#What_do_we_exclude.3F
 |publisher=Wikisource
 |work=Wikisource.org
 |access-date=2011-07-08
 |archive-date=2011-07-09
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709021034/http://wikisource.org/wiki/Wikisource:What_is_Wikisource%3F#What_do_we_exclude.3F
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref><ref name=Boot />

A scanned source is preferred on many Wikisources and required on some. Most Wikisources will, however, accept works transcribed from offline sources or acquired from [[List of digital library projects|other digital libraries]].<ref name=ayersmatthewsyates /> The requirement for prior publication can also be waived in a small number of cases if the work is a source document of notable historical importance. The legal requirement for works to be licensed or free of copyright remains constant.

=== Annotations and translations – the difference to Wikibooks ===
The only original pieces accepted by Wikisource are annotations and translations.<ref>{{cite book|title=Wikipedia Reader's Guide: The Missing Manual|first=John|last=Broughton|publisher=O'Reilly Media, Inc.|year=2008|isbn=978-0-596-52174-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780596521745/page/23 23]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780596521745/page/23}}</ref> Wikisource, and its sister project [[Wikibooks]], has the capacity for [[Annotated novel|annotated editions]] of texts. On Wikisource, the annotations are supplementary to the original text, which remains the primary objective of the project. By contrast, on Wikibooks the annotations are primary, with the original text as only a reference or supplement, if present at all.<ref name=Boot>{{cite book|title=Mesotext|first=Peter|last=Boot|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-90-8555-052-5|pages=34–35}}</ref> Annotated editions are more popular on the German Wikisource.<ref name=Boot /> The project also accommodates translations of texts provided by its users. A significant translation on the English Wikisource is the [[Wikisource:Wikisource:WikiProject Wiki Bible|Wiki Bible]] project, intended to create a new, "laissez-faire translation" of [[The Bible]].<ref name=newsweek>{{cite news | work = [[Newsweek]] | url = http://www.newsweek.com/id/141516 | first = Matthew | last = Philips | date = June 14, 2008 | title = God's Word, According to Wikipedia | access-date = September 29, 2011 | archive-date = April 16, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090416105241/http://www.newsweek.com/id/141516 | url-status = live }}</ref>