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

By no means are publishers, outsourcers and volunteers mutually exclusive. 
I have just been noticing that volunteers, the former main source of 
Bookshare books, have now become a minor source and that smaller share is 
shrinking 
even more. I just wonder when volunteers will become trivial. I can foresee 
the point that volunteers will become so trivial that it would be hardly 
worth continuing. I suppose that would be the point of obsolescence. And, 
again, I am not necessarily saying that is good or bad. The fact that those old 
talking books on vinyl disk are obsolete is not really a bad thing because 
there are so many newer and better alternatives that do the job so much 
better. On the other hand, by reading the BARD discussion list I know that 
there 
are a very few people who do still use those disks and that is just fine 
too, but it is so few that it is certainly not worth producing more of them.

                                                                  "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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[bksvol-discuss] Re: Are volunteers really that important anymore?   
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8/27/2009 7:57:06 PM Eastern Daylight Time  
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I don't think that publishers, outsourcers and volunteers are mutually 
exclusive.  

The more books the Merrier. 

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 

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----- Original Message ----- 

From: 
Rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx 

To: 
bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 6:48 PM

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

I think you are absolutely correct in your assessment of the difference 
between volunteers and outsourcers. But that does not address the purpose of 
having
volunteers for Bookshare in the first place. The purpose of volunteers is 
to add to the collection. Now, what is the most efficient method of 
accomplishing
that purpose, volunteers or other means? Note that I used the term other 
means rather than outsourcers. That is because outsourcers are not the only 
source
for the large number of books being added to the collection.

                                                          "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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[bksvol-discuss] Re: Are volunteers really that important anymore?   
Date: 
8/27/2009 7:23:39 PM Eastern Daylight Time  
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mirxtech@xxxxxxxxx  
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I tend to think of volunteers as people who work on books for the love of 
the book and outsources as people who work on books as a job. 

As a volunteer who is not a member, what I do for Bookshare is a labor of 
love, mostly the love of books, but there are many of you who I consider to 
be
friends of mine and I would do books for you just because you are my 
friend.  

I think that is the difference between a volunteer and the outsourcer. 
Volunteers put their hearts and souls into their work, in most cases. Since we 
don't
know the outsourcers, we can't make the same assumption. To them it may be 
just a job.
-- 
Jamie in Michigan
Currently Reading: The Assistant by Bernard Malamud
See everything I've read this year at: 
www.michrxtech.com/books.html
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