Knowledge extraction from unconstrained text has in recent years been referred to as learning by reading. The extraction method may be either direct or indirect. A direct method takes sentential information from some reliable source, such as word sense glosses in WordNet or descriptive and narrative text in encyclopedias such as Wikipedia, and maps this information into a (more) formal syntax for expressing generic knowledge. Indirect methods abstract (more or less) formal generic knowledge from the patterns of language found in miscellaneous reports, stories, essays, weblogs, etc.