[bksvol-discuss] Re: Are volunteers really that important anymore?

Roger, that's assuming that outsourced books have more mistakes than volunteer 
produced books. I don't think that's necessarily true.

Bob

“We know the future will outlast all of us, but I believe that all of us will 
live on in the future we make,”
Senator Edward M. Kennedy 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx 
  To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 6:16 PM
  Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Are volunteers really that important anymore?


  The outsourced books I have tried do have errors. I can't say they have more 
errors than the volunteered books that I have read, but I do not recall that I 
have necessarily tried the outsourcer that I have heard the most complaints 
about. I do have one of those in mind though. Another question to consider 
might be, does the quantity of outsourced books make up in any degree for a bit 
less in quality.

                                                            "Can a nation be 
free if it oppresses other nations? It cannot." Vladimir Lenin     

               The Militant: http://www.themilitant.com Pathfinder Press: 
http://www.pathfinderpress.com
  Granma International: http://granma.cu/ingles/index.html
               _

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  Subj: 
  [bksvol-discuss] Re: Are volunteers really that important anymore?   
  Date: 
  8/27/2009 6:13:52 PM Eastern Daylight Time  
  From: 
  popularplace@xxxxxxxxx  
  Reply-to: 
  bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx  
  To: 
  bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx  
  Sent from the Internet 
  (Details) 
  table end

  Have you checked the quality of the outsources books? When I was doing the 
list of new books that John is now doing (thank you, again and forever, John)
  I gnashed my teeth in frustration because of how poor the synopses were, both 
re spelling and content. If the books are anything like those, they're not
  of as good quality as volunteer-done books. People have at times  complained 
about some of thePQ books. What takes volunteers so long to get the books
  into the collection is the care we take making sure they are perfect.

  Cindy

  Wish List (i.e., books wanted added to the collection) and 
books-being-scanned list available at sites below

  Wish List: https://wiki.benetech.org/display/BSO/Bookshare+Wish+List

  Books Being Scanned List: 
https://wiki.benetech.org/display/BSO/Books+Being+Scanned+List

  --- On Thu, 8/27/09, Rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx <Rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx> wrote:

  block quote

  From: Rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx <Rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx>
  Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Are volunteers really that important anymore?
  To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Date: Thursday, August 27, 2009, 10:36 AM

  If I had a stack of those gay and lesbian books on hand I can imagine that I 
might send them off to Bookshare and I might be out the postage and the cost
  of the books if I had bought them, but I would also be out many hours of 
volunteer labor to get them into the collection. I am not particularly 
interested
  in children's picture books, so I have not downloaded any, but I would think 
that outsourcers could handle them. I think that Pavi, in fact, said that
  the more difficult books have priority for being outsourced. The main thing I 
have noticed, though, is that the proportion of books added to the collection
  by means other than volunteers is now considerably greater than the 
proportion added by volunteers and that proportion is growing. Also, a good 
many books
  already in the collection by means of volunteers are being replaced by other 
means. Furthermore, the proportion that are being added by volunteers could
  , in most cases, be done faster and just as easily or more easily, by those 
other means. No one has mentioned it. In fact, the Bookshare staff is proceeding
  away with more and more innovations for volunteers. What I was really 
wondering is whether volunteering is becoming obsolete and nobody has noticed 
it.

                                                            "Can a nation be 
free if it oppresses other nations? It cannot." Vladimir Lenin     

               The Militant: 
  http://www.themilitant.com 
  Pathfinder Press: 
  http://www.pathfinderpress.com
  Granma International: 
  http://granma.cu/ingles/index.html
               _

  table with 2 columns and 6 rows
  Subj: 
  [bksvol-discuss] Re: Are volunteers really that important anymore? 
  Date: 
  8/27/2009 4:25:38 AM Eastern Daylight Time 
  From: 
  rwiley@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Reply-to: 
  bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  To: 
  bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent from the Internet 
  (Details) 
  table end

  Roger, this is an excellent summary of some of the things I have also been 
thinking. 

  When I first started with bookshare a couple of years ago, there were tons of 
books whose rating was fair, and in most cases that designation was kind.
  But, the books were available, and for a group starving for reading material, 
they were great to have. 

  However, our tastes--and our tolerances--have improved. Where once we would 
accept day-old bread because we were starving, we now want freshly baked goods.
  (Wow, I must be hungry). 

  So, I think your comments about the changing role of the volunteer are right 
on target. There will always be a need for volunteers to do the specialty
  books
  (such as children's books with pictures), and books of special interest. I 
can't imagine NLS having a whole category of gay and lesbian books, nor can
  I imagine the department of education wanting their money going toward that 
end. (I'm not being critical, just can't imagine it happening.) But, we 
volunteers
  can make it happen. We can also put books in the collection from those 
publishers who won't cooperate with us (after all, we have the law on our side).


  In short, I see the role of the volunteer changing, but not going away any 
time soon. 

  There's an old Chinese proverb that says "may you live in interesting times." 
I've always wondered whether that was a curse, challenge or a blessing. Whatever
  it is, we live in very interesting times with bookshare. 

  Bob 

  “We know the future will outlast all of us, but I believe that all of us will 
live on in the future we make,”
  Senator Edward M. Kennedy 

  block quote
  ----- Original Message ----- 

  From: 
  Rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx 

  To: 
  bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

  Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 9:22 PM

  Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Are volunteers really that important anymore?

  I am not taking a position one way or another. I just thought I would express 
some thoughts and questions that have been running through my mind. I have
  been involved with Bookshare for just a little over a year now and have seen 
some considerable changes. I have also surmised changes that came about before
  I came along. As I understand it the name Bookshare was literal in the 
beginning. That is, people posted the books they had scanned for themselves and
  actually shared them with others who were posting books they had scanned for 
themselves. That would have meant that the only source of books Bookshare
  had for the most part was from the volunteers. Since then, though, publishers 
have come to contribute large numbers of books. Bookshare is acquiring books
  from donations or from buying them and scanning them in house or outsourcing 
them. It actually appears that the number of books added to the collection
  by means other than volunteers is considerably greater than those added by 
the volunteers. I have noticed other things being done that volunteers do that
  may be being done more prolifically by other means than by volunteers. On 
more than one occasion now I have made a quality report for a book that 
contained
  an error or errors. To my surprise the whole entire book was promptly 
replaced by an outsourcer. That makes me wonder why we should bother with 
scanning
  a BSO. Volunteers are more and more frequently finding that the books they 
intend to scan are being added by outsourcers before the volunteer get a chance
  to add it. Yes, that means that the volunteer can work on something else, but 
it still remains that work that would have been done by a volunteer is being
  done otherwise. We were asked for some suggestions about gaps in the 
collection and I made a suggestion. As I scan the new books lists I see that it 
appears,
  to my gratification, that my suggestions are being acted on. I am pleased, 
but I cannot help noticing that it is being done without volunteers. If time
  is money I wonder if it might be more efficient to donate money to Bookshare 
to buy books and pay outsourcers rather than donate our time. If we want certain
  books in the collection I wonder if it might be faster and more efficient to 
just donate the books rather than put so much of our own labor into them.
  As things change devices to accomplish our goals become obsolete when they 
are replaced by better devices and certain jobs become obsolete when better
  and mor efficient ways are found to do things. I wonder if Bookshare 
volunteering is a job that is becoming obsolete. Since we have not even heard 
hints
  from Bookshare that new volunteers are no longer welcome or that volunteers 
can give up on certain jobs I wonder if Bookshare volunteering is becoming
  obsolete and the folks at Bookshare do not even realize it yet. It does seem 
that the volunteers are becoming less important to Bookshare and that Bookshare
  could probably now do quite well without volunteers while still adding books 
at a rapid rate. I am not saying that is good or bad. I am not saying that
  I want it to be like that or that I don't want it to be like that. I am just 
wondering and thinking. What do you guys think about what I have said? 

  "Can a nation be free if it oppresses other nations? It cannot." Vladimir 
Lenin 

  The Militant: 
  http://www.themilitant.com 
  Pathfinder Press: 
  http://www.pathfinderpress.com
  Granma International: 
  http://granma.cu/ingles/index.html
  _ 
  block quote end

  block quote end

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