[A version of this post was cross-posted on RexBlog]

Yesterday, Wikipedia added the “ePUB” file format as an export option for collections of Wikipedia articles you want to compile. This may not sound like something new, as the ability to compile — and even order a print-on-demand version of — such a collection of articles has been around for a while.

What makes this new feature significant is that ePUB is a format optimized for display using all the major ebook reader devices or apps (Kindle, Apple iBooks, Google Books, Nook, etc.). While PDFs of such articles were readable on such devices or apps, the ePUB format will provide you with a document that is more book-like.

I encourage you to try the feature out. You can start on Wikipedia Book Creator Help Page. It includes a step-by-step guide.

As you play with it, think about what your customers could do if all of the information you create to help customers know how to use your products were collected and categorized in a wiki built on the same platform as Wikipedia.

Imagine being able to offer your customers the ability to go to this wiki and spend a few moments clicking around on the user manuals and how-to information they would like to compile — and then clicking a button and having all of that material magically appear as a document formatted for their iPads and Kindles.

One day I hope the companies I love become as obsessed with the potential of the MediaWiki platform as I am.

Side suggestion: For fun, even if you don’t want to purchase a physical print-on-demand version of a Wikipedia compilation, while you’re trying out the “book creator,” click the “preview” button on the “pediapress” option to see the tool that’s available for you to create a cover of a book. The template options and collection of public domain art related to your topic will impress you.

And, as always when I write about Wikipedia, let me add: The content you find on Wikipedia should never be considered, “The Truth,” however it can often provide a gateway to the truth.