[bksvol-discuss] Re: For Gwen and Robert

  • From: "Monica Willyard" <rhyami@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 00:19:43 -0500

Hi Gwen. The things you've mentioned are cosmetic and are not mandatory
according to the manual. They're like the rosettes of icing on a cake. The
layers of the cake are what really matter in the end. As a proofreader, your
primary job is to listen to all of the text, fix scannos to the best of your
ability, make sure all of the book is there, and make sure that the
copyright notice is intact. If you do those things, Bookshare will accept
your book. You don't have to be a computer genius, and we have several
submitters who work well with new proofreaders.
 
Just like anything else you learn, please start small. Consider proofreading
a book by a submitter who has done a lot of the prep work. Try working with
someone who won't mind if you make a mistake. Focus on reading the book and
getting comfortable with the process of proofreading. Then you can decide
how far you want to go with adjusting the cosmetics. 
 
You might want to start out with books that are rated excellent from the
step 1 page. Books rated good are harder to proof. They would be sort of
like jumping in a pool at the deep end while not knowing how to swim.
 
You don't have to worry about line length. That's something people using
Word deal with. I keep thinking that you and Robert use Kurzweil for
scanning. If so, use that for proofreading too. It has many features that
make proofreading easier. If you use your Kurzweil for proofreading, you
won't have to adjust your page size or margins like Word users do. 
 
Kurzweil tells you when it finds a page break, so you'll be able to tell
that they're present. It even makes a sound when it goes to the next page.
 
As far as extra blank lines go, the Bookshare software removes those while
converting to daisy format. The primary reason some people remove them by
hand is because it looks better for sighted proofreaders. Since you'd be the
proofreader, it wouldn't be necessary for you to do that. Bookshare's tool
will do it automatically when Carrie approves your book. Over time, you may
start to notice line breaks in the middle of sentences. You can fix those.
That skill can wait a bit though while you're learning about working with
text.
 
If you proofread in Kurzweil, you can handle fonts with a hotkey built into
that program. While this is helpful for good navigation, the Bookshare
software knows what to do if you aren't able to adjust the fonts. I can
teach you how to do this. It sounds harder than it really is. You won't need
any sighted help to do it, and you can't break anything by using the font
hotkey.
 
Gwen, you already have what it takes to be a good proofreader. You just
haven't honed the skill yet. You are smart enough to do it, and making
mistakes just means you're learning. (smile)
 
Monica Willyard
"The best way to predict the future is to create it." -- Peter Drucker
 


  _____  

From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of gwen tweedy
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 11:23 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: For Gwen and Robert


I think what you do is grand.
I think what  scares me about proof reading is this.
I've heard you have to change faunts, and make sure lines are so long and
cut off at the right places.
It seems like I've heard that anyway, and I'd have no idea about that, I
just know what things sound like to me.
All I have are my ears or seeing if something occurrs and is  right in a
book.
I wouldn't have the least idea, if my line is to long, all I know is what it
sounds like in my ears.
I can't look at it to see like how long the line is or the paragraph is
stuff like that.
I can tell split words and can fix those and put Chapters in I hope at the
right places, and I think I could take the headings out.
But other than that, all this other stuff y'all do in proof reading I'd be
just lost.
 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Kim  <mailto:kimfri11@xxxxxxxxxxx> Friedman 
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 9:37 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: For Gwen and Robert

My goodness Gwen, you have nothing to fear when it comes to proofreading
should you decide to do it. One thing I can tell you is that there are many
ways to do it. I have a BrailleNote mPower and I use it as a Braille display
while I read a book from the beginning to the end. I listen to my screen
reader read the text while I follow along with my fingers using the
BrailleNote. I'd call it kind of like a feedback or redundancy thing. Have
you seen those flour sifters with double or triple screens in them? Think of
what I do as if I were sifting flour because what the ears hear the fingers
check. I have to make sure that everything is all present and accounted for,
title, author bylines, copyright dates, ISbn numbers,
publishers, etc. After the prefatory material I read every word of the book.
Now I'm taking in the story (if I'm reading fiction), I'm checking to see if
there are any errors in the scan you might have missed. If I find any, I use
the delete key so I only get rid of stuff that is extraneous to the text.
I'd write you and let you know what I'm doing. If I come across a bit of
something in the text I'm not sure about, I'd email you and ask you about
it, pasting the bit of text I'm having trouble with in the email to you.
You'd send me the copy of what the text should be, and I make sure it's in
the file I'm working with. One thing I heard right from the start was to
have a copy of the file that isn't touched in case I mess up the one I'm
working with. I'm still in the beginning stages of this thing. I don't do
anything fancy. Eventually I expect to learn the art of this. What I want to
know is if the text makes sense. I don't heed the word processing program
should it have grammar suggestions for me. If I come across a weird spelling
of a word or name, I'd want to know how many times it's in the text. I'd
probably write you to verify that the word and the way it's spelled is
supposed to be in the text. My philosophy is to do just enough and err on
the side of caution. Some people may not use Braille at all when
proofreading while others do. I'm still learning the ropes, but so far what
I've done is in the Bookshare collection so I must be doing something right
or at least I hope this is so. Nobody will twist your arm and you can
proofread anything that interests you. So far everything has interested me.
The very first thing I did was a children's book, but the others I've done
are fiction books for grownups. Regards, Kim.  
  _____  

From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of gwen tweedy
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 2:56 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: For Gwen and Robert


I too assumed that those books would go very fast simply from  things I have
read here from time to time.
I think they are getting lost in the admin cue now that would be up to him
to correct me if I am wrong.
And yes for me, if I were a proof reader, except for some of the books he's
helped me with, I wouldn't read them either I just can't read those kinds of
books. 
As for my books, I've learned a lot, I feel that even as much as recently I
have gotten better, but as for myself, I am keenly aware that my books might
be as fast on the uptake because of my past reputation as a new scanner.
So I understand that, and can now deal with that.
If I find that I am not making it I promise you, I'll be the first to leave
volunteering altogether, because I  do not need nor want to be in the way of
good reading material here bookshare is so famous for.
I promise you, I would not want anyone putting up junk from me that would
not be fair to y'all.
Some things you can learn, some things a person can't and if I fail to get
it, then I'm out of here lock stock and barrel.
Most here scan and proof excellently, and I would no more  tarnish that
reputation for this whole world.
It was my hope when I first  put my name up to be a  volunteer to put up
more of the Christian type of books, if not Christian wholesome books  those
my  grandma would care to read.
But that wholly has not happened,  from a number of factors of my own making
the buck stops here as it were.
If I fail to meet this my personal goal, that at that time, which could be
today, tomorrow, or perhaps never then I would bow out and leave it to those
who know best.
I wish I could proof books, but I've bungled scans lord knows what I'd do to
a proof.
Plus there are so many rules to proofing my lands I couldn't keep up with
them all, that is to hard for me simple  mind LOL.
I most likely should have just stuck to reading it would have been a lot
less trouble for us all.
You have a wonderful day,
Gwen
 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Monica Willyard <mailto:rhyami@xxxxxxxxx>  
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 3:26 PM
Subject: [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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