[bksvol-discuss] Re: Monday's meeting
- From: Mike Pietruk <pietruk@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 10:56:58 -0500 (EST)
While everyone else jumps in with their thoughts, let me be no exception
<smile>!!
Obviously, the better the quality of the Bookshare book, the better off
the reader, the service, et al are.
However, let us not forget the spirit upon which BookShare is based. It
is not professional scanners -- though some of us are contributing vast
amount of material either through scanning or validating -- but it is a
medium for individuals to share what they've done.
And since folks for themselves don't necessarily strive for perfection,
what they attempt to contribute will be just that.
Cannot books be labeled to indicate to the downloaderthat page breaks
aren't present, whatever.
Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds -- the downloader is forewarned
while, at the same time, still having the ability to read something
otherwise not available.
Certain things are far more important in a textbook than they would be in
a Harlequin romance novel.
While I might not consider it acceptible to read a history text with
countless errors which might impact the accuracy of the information; the
mystery I am curling up with on a Sunday afternoon is for the story.
Hence, if I can follow it, I will put up with a lot of errors.
It seems, to some degree, in our drive for perfection we're forgetting
what BookShare was set up as.
What worries me far more is why it takes so long, in some instances, for
books to be validated or once validated to be accepted or returned to the
validation pool.
That, from where I sit, is a far greater concern as those time delays are
keeping many folks from enjoying or profiting from material.
Those processing delays and bureaucratic issues are the very concerns many
of us express about NLS.
As Bookshare grows, let us not fall into that same trap.
A less than optimum book can always be replaced; it doesn't have to be
posted forever unless we choose it to be.
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