[bksvol-discuss] For Gwen and Robert

Gwen, you're right. Robert is an experienced and valuable member of our
community. Robert, how many books do you have that are waiting to be
approved? Are they on step 1 or in the admin queue? 
 
Gwen, there are several factors in play regarding Robert's books. I don't
know if you're aware of all of these, so I thought I'd share them. Some of
them can probably be addressed by people on this list. Others can't.
 
On the staff side, Carrie was on vacation for a week before Thanksgiving.
Also, most of the staff had some time off last week for the holiday. I have
found that she generally approves books from volunteers within 24 to 48
hours of their entry into the admin queue. Carrie used to be a volunteer
just like us, and she remembers the frustration of waiting and waiting for a
book to be approved. She has worked with Robert as a fellow volunteer as
well and knows of his skills and flexible attitude.
 
From here, it looks like the bottleneck right now is in getting books
proofread. The number of books on step 1 is piling up again. Our number of
active volunteers and their preferences for reading determine how fast a
book is processed. This factor affects everyone who submits books. For
awhile everyone was worried about not having any books to work on. Some
people quit looking for new books on step 1 because of all of the books with
holds on them. Now there are a lot of excellent books needing a proofreader.
 
The other factor, on a more personal level, is hard for me to explain.
Robert is a consistent and dedicated volunteer. I respect him for his
dedication and teamwork. Yet I am hesitant to take his books for a personal
reason. In the past, Robert has been willing to scan some adult-rated
content for Bookshare. It's my perception that much of what he scans would
be classified as steamy romances. I prefer not to read the steamier books.
This isn't about Robert or his skills as a submitter. It's about me and what
I want to read. I generally don't like to draw attention to this issue since
I think it's a personal one on my part. Since I feel uncomfortable asking
Robert which books are adult, I let others take his books when he submits. I
figured it would make him angry if I asked about it. If I am wrong about
what Robert submits, I apologize and take full responsibility for not
checking out my assumptions with him.
 
I think what I'm saying is that we might do a better job of communicating
with each other. I know I need to do that. I didn't know that Robert's books
weren't getting added to the collection. I also assumed that most people are
more comfortable with adult content than I am and that those would be done
quickly. I could be wrong on both counts.
 
The last thing I want is for you or Robert to feel ignored or unappreciated.
I don't have an immediate solution. I think we could find ways to work this
out together, with the help of the Bookshare community. It would help us fix
the problem if we know exactly what's going on, if the books are on step 1,
or are they getting lost in the admin queue.
 
Monica Willyard
"The best way to predict the future is to create it." -- Peter Drucker
 


  _____  


At 10:32 AM 11/30/2009, you wrote:


I think a timely manner is the key.
And those who have scanned for years and their books are good, and everyone
knows they are good, to me there shouldn't be a delay.
Some books get up there right away, so what is the difference  in books?
 Especially those of like  Robert's when his books have been tried and true
for a long time.
 Eventually  volunteers  are gonna quit submitting books, because they
aren't getting anywhere. Some books stay up there for a long time.
It's grand for   kids books grand for grants, but I think they are
forgetting the  submitters  especially those hard working ones like Bob who
turns in a quality scan each and every time not like his wife who turns no
quality scans LOL.
I understand me, but Bob that is different.
His should go right away.
Gwen
 


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


From: robert tweedy <mailto:roberttweedy@xxxxxxx>  


To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 


Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 11:58 AM


Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: What is the main concern these days?



That's fine as long as our books get into the system on a timey matter. 



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


From: Denise Thompson <mailto:deniset@xxxxxxx>  


To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 


Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 2:50 PM


Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: What is the main concern these days?



I think BKS's concern is to do books that fit their grant money. educational
which seems to be most books for kids and teens in addition to text books,
of course. Adult books don't seem to be educational- especially those that
have some romance in them. Since they have out-sourcers and do their grant
books with them as well as in house, I feel like I need to continue to scan
adult books for the rest of us who aren't students and who don't want to
read kids books and teen books. 


Denise




  

At 09:32 AM 11/30/2009, you wrote:



I've noticed a strong emphasis on children's books as well. This is
wonderful, so long as it isn't at the expense of books for us adults, too.



Melissa




robert tweedy wrote:



I am just wondering about bookshare policy of submitted books. Taking a look
at the cue, it looks like children's books which is okay but what about
books that are just for pleasure.

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