[bksvol-discuss] Re: Downloading fair-rated books

  • From: "Jill O'Connell" <jillocon@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 09:56:40 -0700

Julie, Hopefully you can answer this for me. If I download a book in DAISY format, can I then make corrections and resubmit? If I do, will this affect the braille format as well?
----- Original Message ----- From: "Julie Morales" <mercy421@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2006 9:57 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Downloading fair-rated books



Hi, Robin. I always download the BRF copy of the books and it's not
advisable to work with that format if you plan to resubmit, so I haven't
done that, but there are a few books, if ever I can, that I'd like to
rescan. I think the few I've made note of, or at least more of them than
not, are actually rated excellent, but as I've said, there were missing
words, sometimes quite a few of them, and that just irritated me! <smile> I
guess I can handle a few, but when it happens on every page or every other
page and on most of the lines on that page, that's just too much. Take care.
Julie Morales
Life is a gift from God. What we do with it is our gift to Him.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Robin Mandell" <robinmandell@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2006 8:32 AM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Downloading fair-rated books



I have actually corrected and resubmitted a few books that were rated good,
or even excellent...in which there were scanning errors, and improperly
inserted page breaks.


At 10:20 PM 13/05/2006, you wrote:
Hi, Jill. Most of the time, I don't download them, either, unless it's one
I really want to read, but even then, I have to want to read it really
badly and have no other option for getting the book. Sometimes, I'm
pleasantly surprised and it's really not that bad, but there have been a
few times when books have slipped through the cracks and were rated better
than they should have been. Those are the ones that really frustrate me.
If something is rated fair and I choose to download it, anyway, at least I
can be prepared for what I might have to deal with, but really, I can't
blame any kind of automated tool for these books slipping through the
cracks. Some of the ones I've read recently had half a line or more
totally missing, but what was there was complete and did make sense, so no
automated tool would have picked up on that. Take care.
Julie Morales
Life is a gift from God. What we do with it is our gift to Him.
----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:jillocon@xxxxxxxxxx>Jill O'Connell
To: <mailto:bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2006 6:08 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Protecting page numbers and chapter headings

I can't help wondering how many of us even download books marked fair or
even good; I know I don't.
----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:donnafsmith@xxxxxxxxxxx>Donna Smith
To: <mailto:bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2006 10:32 AM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Protecting page numbers and chapter headings

Hi Evan and others following this thread.

I apologize for being the one to open this particular can of worms.  Every
time we've had this discussion on the list, it has brought up these same
issues.  There is no official requirement for this from BookShare.  The
goal is still to get as many books as possible in the collection following
the absolute guidelines regarding copyright laws as amended, and the
concern of quality is next in line with the understanding that it is
possible to rate books as fair, good or excellent.

However, many of us who do the work have our own standards of quality for
our submissions and so we've come up with tips for how to get the best
quality possible.  These standards, and they vary from volunteer to
volunteer, are not required by anyone.  It's just a self-imposed standard.

Personally, when I submit a book, I try to do as much clean-up as possible
so that the validator has an easy job.  Actually, I try to submit the book
in a form I'd not mind reading.  I knew from previous discussions on this
list that the BS software has little quirks that we can accommodate by
creating a particular format, though I had forgotten what that was
specifically.  I choose to follow this pattern of blank line, page number,
blank line, text, or, false header, blank line, chapter heading, blank
line text, because it will produce a better end result for all formats,
but there is no requirement to do so.  Volunteers can do as much as they
are comfortable with doing both as submitters and validators, and the
addition to the collection is appreciated by all.

Hope this helps to explain it all a bit.  Keep on scanning and keep up the
good work!

Peace and Hope,

Donna


---------- From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Evan Reese Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2006 11:17 AM To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Protecting page numbers and chapter headings

Ok, now I'm more confused than ever.  If I strip the headings manually,
then why does the stripper need something to strip.  If I don't strip
them, then I need to make them consistent so the stripper can strip them
correctly?  But if I do strip them, then I need to put a fake one at the
beginning of each chapter so the chapter heading doesn't get stripped?  Do
I have this all correct?  Wouldn't it be a lot simpler just to not strip
anything?  Aren't we supposed - ideally anyhow - to be replicating the
original book, in which there is in fact a heading at the top of each
page, except on those which begin a chapter.  This makes a lot of extra
work and complexity and a reduction of quality for those who can't keep
straight all the persnickety demands of the Bookshare software, or who
don't have the time to go through and fix everything just right so that
other readers can have a decent reading experience.  I would say, just
drop the whole stripping thing and make life simpler for everyone and then
we won't have these quality problems.

----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:GeraldHovas@xxxxxxxxxxx>Gerald Hovas
To: <mailto:bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, May 12, 2006 4:18 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Protecting page numbers and chapter headings

Donna,

Yes, put a blank line before and after the page number when the page
number is in the header as well as a blank line at the bottom of the
page.  I'm not sure if the blank line is necessary between the page number
and the text, but I can say that putting one after the header does work
well.  If you leave the blank lines at the top and bottom of the pages
off, then some odd things will happen to the page numbers when the HTML
file is created.  The page numbers end up as part of a paragraph instead
of on a separate line.

Example of how the page should look...

[Page Break]

95

.
.
.
text
.
.
.

[Page Break]

Yes, put a blank line between the chapter heading and the first line of
text.  Again, I don't know that this is necessary, but it does work well,
and some people have said that it is necessary.

3. Yes, you need to give the Stripper something to strip other than the
chapter heading or the chapter heading will be stripped.  The easiest
thing to do when page numbers are normally at the top of pages except on
pages where a chapter begins is to move the page number from the bottom of
the page to the top.  If page numbers are always at the bottom of the
page, then place a false header above the chapter heading.  Using the
title works well, and it won't look as odd if the Stripper fails to strip
it for some odd reason.  It helps to strip all of the real headers
manually since its easier to strip them yourself than to insure that they
are consistent so that the Stripper will remove them all, but if you do
leave them in, then just follow the pattern of the headers and put
whatever header would normally appear on the top of that page above the
chapter heading.

Examples of how pages should look...

[Page Break]

95

Chapter Seven

.
.
.
text
.
.
.

[Page Break]

[Page Break]

The Firm

Chapter Seven

.
.
.
text
.
.
.

95

[Page Break]

Or if the page would normally contain the author's name instead of the
title...

[Page Break]

John Grisham

Chapter Seven

.
.
.
text
.
.
.

[Page Break]

I can't say that these are the only ways to do it, but I've had excellent
results with these approaches.

HTH

Gerald


---------- From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Donna Smith Sent: Friday, May 12, 2006 5:41 PM To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Protecting page numbers and chapter headings

Hi all.

I hesitate to ask this question, but I can't find the answer on any of the
official or unofficial sites giving tips to scanners.

Did we ever determine absolutely what should be done to protect page
numbers and chapter headings?  What I want to know is:

At the top of each page, do I need to put a blank line before and/or after
the page number?
For chapter numbers/titles that appear at the top of the page, do I put a
blank line before and/or after it?
Is it necessary to have something at the top of the page for the BookShare
stripper to strip?

I spend a good bit of time cleaning up each scan regarding page numbers,
chapter headings and stripping out unwanted headers. I'm trying to do it
in such a way that it will result in the best book in the finished product.


I really, really hope that an answer has been found to this question and
that I'm not opening up the can of worms we've had before about the
different perceptions of what might work.  <smile>

Thanks.

Peace and Hope,

Donna


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