[bksvol-discuss] 550 books in the download queue
- From: "Jesse Fahnestock" <Jesse.F@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2004 13:49:34 -0700
As someone just pointed out, we have lots and lots of books awaiting
validation. More than we ever have. Certainly, that's a good thing: it reflects
the growth of the volunteer community and the high number of submissions we're
receiving. Unfortunately, it also means that many books are spending a long,
long time in the validation process before making it to Bookshare.org: It's not
at all unusual for submitted books to take 3-4 months to make their appearance
on Bookshare.org right now.
One of the reasons we started this project was to help make books available in
a more timely fashion -- we were all too aware of how the intensive recording
process slowed the release of so many books on audio tape, and we believed that
a sharing-based website would allow people to access bestsellers and new
releases (among other kinds of books) very quickly. Bookshare.org has been
hugely successful in doing just that, though over the last half-year, we've hit
some delays. I think we can overcome them and get back to quicker turnarounds
on submitted books.
Back in March the delay was on the administrative end -- we had more than 600
books awaiting administrative approval. But in the end we knuckled down and
cleared out the backlog, and now the administrative queue is lean again. I
wonder if we can't do the same thing with this validation backlog. We have the
resources -- there are more active Bookshare.org volunteers than ever before --
and the problem is not unmanageable.
What will it take to get that number down from 550 to, say, 150? I'm not sure.
I'd love to hear your suggestions. But one suggestion that I'd like to make is
one I've made many times before: be careful not to allow attention to detail to
overwhelm your volunteering efforts. While I have been truly impressed by the
quality control of this volunteer group, and believe that raising the quality
of the books on Bookshare.org is perhaps the most important collection goal we
have right now, I don't believe we have to sacrifice timely publication of
submissions while aiming for a higher quality standard.
I'd encourage everyone to be judicious about where you spend your proofreading
time. If you download a book for validation that is in excellent condition,
with few major errors, I encourage you to perform the essential validation
tasks and not to pore over every word of text. Remember that the next book may
really need your tender loving care!
Remember that these are the only steps you are required to take as a validator:
1. Check that the book is not already on Bookshare.org, or if it is, that it is
being submitted as a superior replacement or transcribed Braille copy.
2. Check that the book is not an eBook acquired under proprietary agreement
(e.g. a commercial eBook, a book from WebBraille, etc.)
3. Make sure that the copyright name and date are included.
4. Make sure that the title and author are included somewhere in the book.
5. Make sure the book is not missing multiple pages of core content.
6. Make sure the book is readable.
Please don't hesitate to give the better-quality submissions a close inspection
on these points and either approve or reject accordingly, and lavish your
editorial attention on the scans that really need them!
Thanks for considering this suggestion. I think we can get this backlog down
and start the approvals flowing again. Please don't hesitate to make other
suggestions for how the volunteer community can tackle this challenge!
jesse.
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