[bksvol-discuss] Re: Rethinking A Decision
- From: "Estelnalissi" <airadil@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2007 19:21:32 -0400
Dear Monica, and Booksharian Friends,
Please don't mind my too long, too emotional and too fanciful reply to your
post about whether or not to duplicate web braille books for Bookshare.The
short version of my opinion is an emphatic, Yes, duplications are well worth
adding to Bookshare.
When books are available from both web braille and Bookshare, I usually read
the web braille versions because I know the accuracy will be impeccable.
When Cindy said she thought I'd enjoy Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising set of 5
fantasy books for middle grade children, I downloaded the first, then the
second book from web braille. That's before I knew she'd validated
bookshare's copy of all 5 books in a single volume. She validates so
carefully, I could have downloaded that version with confidence. Now, I'm
really involved in the story and ready to read, "Greenwitch," the third
book, but since Saturday, my computer has been unable to complete the
download process for web braille. It's a good thing for me that my finicky
computer still downloads Bookshare's files so I can finish the series
whether I solve my problem with web braille or not.
I agree with Cindy's thoughts about clichés. They are repeated until they
become part of our vocabulary because they are so often true. So, regarding
your consideration of whether it is worth the effort to scan and validate
titles for Bookshare which are available in web braille, my opinion is yes.
Let's not put all of our eggs in one basket, I.e. all of our copies of books
on one shelf.
I don't dwell on it, but one of my recurring nightmarish what ifs is, "What
if computers failed and paper braille books burned and were discontinued?"
What if NLS or Bookshare disbanded with no organization to preserve their
books?"
With the abundance of multiple copies of print books, sighted readers have
more assurance that they'll be able to own or find books they want to read.
Even for them, the availability of books is precarious as libraries seem to
keep only books with high circulation and wonderful books which lack mass
appeal go out of print every day.
Amber recently scanned a children's book about the holocaust, called,
"Children of Bach," which was published I believe 15 years ago. My Summit
County libraries only have 2 copies. Amazon has 3 copies used and new
starting at over sixty dollars. Though it's a good book, it lacked mass
appeal because the children were so comforted by classical music which
doesn't interest the majority of today's kids, and because its depiction of
the holocaust was thought, by reviewers to have bypassed too many
graphically horrible details. Children of Bach is too good a book not to be
available to us. I appreciate it that Amber took time to scan it. In a few
years, it might be so obscure that it wouldn't have any chance of being
added to the collection.
When I was a teenager I read several Dickens novels I loved. They aren't
available on web braille or paper braille, now. Project Gutenberg has them,
but if there's a way to convert those files to braille, I haven't learned
it. So, the fact that some books are on web braille now doesn't guarantee
they'll be there in the future, and I do understand there are no guarantees
about anything.
I digressed, but my point is that the more places books are preserved where
they can be accessed by the masses, in our case, by the print impaired, the
less likelihood they have of vanishing.
I was profoundly saddened when I read about Alexander the Great's ruined
library. Our understanding of history would be vastly different if that
fabulous collection of ancient manuscripts hadn't been lost.
Thank you, Monica, for bringing up this interesting topic for discussion.
Always with love,
Lissi
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jill O'Connell" <jillocon@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 5:08 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Rethinking A Decision
I'm no computer whiz, believe me, but I believe that the reason we are
able to have Web Braille is that it is based on the way books are
published in hard copy and really has nothing to do with the digital
issue. I know Judy Dixon could explain all of this to us but I probably
wouldn't understand her answer.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Monica Willyard" <rhyami@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2007 1:23 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Rethinking A Decision
Hi, everyone. Something has been bugging me over the past few days, and
I'd really like some input from you all. After reading a couple of
articles about the General Accounting Office suggesting that NLS funding
for going digital should be denied, I'm becoming worried about a decision
several of us made some time back. As has been discussed here before,
many of us do not scan books that are available in WebBraille since that
would be a duplication of efforts. We do scan books that are available
on cassette only because we have several users with hearing impairments
who can't listen to tapes. If funding for going digital is not approved,
will that impact existing NLS services? Brf files are digitally
prepared, aren't they? If so, should we rethink our decision not to scan
books that are on WebBraille? As a person who can hear, I know I can
just move to Audible and get commercially available audiobooks. I'm
trying hard to be aware of the needs of people who don't have that
option. Maybe I'm worrying over nothing here. If I am, a friendly
"chill out" message would be appreciated. (smile)
"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today!" Will Rogers
Monica Willyard, rhyami@xxxxxxxxx
Add rhyami to your Skype if you'd like to chat.
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