[bksvol-discuss] Re: Headers, pages, and the future

  • From: "Julie Morales" <inlovewithchrist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2005 23:48:53 -0700

MessageIf Bookshare retains a copy of each book as originally submitted, that 
would be a lot of work to bring them up to par again, I'd think, or at least if 
you wanted some of them to be as good as they are now. Some of them, if they 
had been submitted as they were, wouldn't be in the good shape they're in now, 
that's for sure, and it would be a pity to have to go through all that work 
again. Now, if they have copies of the book at both points, when submitted and 
again when validated, then that would work out perfectly, I think. Take care.
Julie Morales
inlovewithchrist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Windows/MSN Messenger (but not email):
mercy0421@xxxxxxxxxxx
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Rick Ely 
  To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2005 2:43 PM
  Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Headers, pages, and the future


  Charlene ,
  It is my understanding that Bookshare retains a copy of each book as 
originally submitted. So, stripped or not the important issue is what was 
originally scanned.
  Rick 
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Charlene 
    To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
    Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2005 5:13 PM
    Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Headers, pages, and the future


    So, wouldn't it be in the best interests of everyone to not strip the 
books?  And, I keep meaning to mention this, if the stripper is retired and 
sent elsewhere, then the books should be uploaded again with their old headers, 
chapter titles, page numbers and the like intact again.  It seems like I read 
recently that bookshare still has the files after validation and before they 
were stripped.  I'd like to see that included in our request.

    Charlene

    -----Original Message-----
    From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Rick Ely
    Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2005 9:42 AM
    To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
    Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Headers, pages, and the future


    Though this is not a comment on what the stripper does or does not do at 
any given time, I do want to comment on the long discussions regarding the 
presents of headers and page numbers for the future. Though as users we can 
elect to download a Daisy copy of a book, those copies are not examples of 
fully implemented Daisy books. The DAISY/NISO Standard is a means for creating 
accessible media that may or may not include human voice recordings. If actual 
text is use, it can be marked up to greatly enhance its delivery and 
accessibility. Headers, footers, page numbers and many types of text structure 
can be indicated. With a fully functional player or reader, one could choose to 
show headers 
    or page numbers or to effectively turn them off. Someone wishing to read 
through a book ignoring pages or footnotes could do that, while a student 
needing to know a page number of a particular quotation could have access to 
that structural information. 

    If the books that volunteers produce have no headers or page numbers, then 
obviously no one now or later can determine just where they are in the print 
equivalent of that book. When, in the near future, there is full implementation 
of the DAISY/NISO Standard, the value of a collection like that of BookShare or 
the Gutenberg project  will be determined by how much structural data is 
present in the digital text. If there are no page numbers, then they cannot be 
marked and it will not be possible to jump to page 247. For any of you who have 
found the correct page in a book by listening to little beeps, then the notion 
of entering a page number and accurately landing there must seem magical.  

    As readers, we are at a very early stage in digital access. I am sure that 
BookShare wishes they could fix that stripper this Monday  and use all of the 
DAISY/NISO  features next week. What is important to remember is that the 
"Halfblood Prince" was available the same day it was released in print. In the 
days when NLS was the primary source for accessible books, that production 
would have taken nine months to a year. It is volunteers who have changed all 
that. If those volunteers allow  the annoyance of the stripper, to stop them 
from submitting, then we, at some level, surrender our rights to timely, broad, 
access to information.
    Rick

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