I'm not entirely sure what the point of your exercise is - if you have access to the net, ,why do you want to collate code examples? They are frequently updated in the cookbook so an offline repository would quickly become out of date.
However.... you've aroused my interest in something related. We all know Python is significantly easier for novice programmers to grasp than, say, Java - I too am a newbie who started at uni with java and wished I hadn't. Tutorials are great, self paced learning is great, BUT, for the complete beginner a well structured, offline course with examples, exercises, tips etc. would be a brilliant resource. Python would fit the bill as a demonstration language to teach Object Orientation, flow control statements, other common constructs etc. A quick canvas of some IT teachers I know indicates support for such a thing - perhaps even in secondary shools (pre-uni). What does everyone think it would take to start such a project, and distribute it? or has it been done already? -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list