[bksvol-discuss] Re: Romances and grants
- From: "Shelley L. Rhodes" <guidinggolden@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 11 May 2009 22:02:50 -0400
Hi Roger, the simple answer is it is a Federal Government grant, and need I say
more. Guidelines of our fine Government state that romance and irratica are
not educational no matter what we feel to the right course.
the Complicated answer is politics, politics, politics, smile.
Shelley L. Rhodes, M.A., VRT
And Guinevere: Golden Lady Guide Dog
guidinggolden@xxxxxxxxx
Guide Dogs for the Blind
Alumni Association
www.guidedogs.com
The people who burned witches at the stake never for one moment thought of
their act as violence;
rather they thought of it as an act of divinely mandated righteousness.
The same can be said of most of the violence we humans have ever committed.
-Gil Bailie, author and lecturer (b. 1944)
----- Original Message -----
From: Rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2009 9:57 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Romances and grants
My first message on this topic was copied to volunteer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx because
I would like some official clarification of this, but I suppose that we will
have to wait at least until tomorrow for that. In the meantime, though, I would
ask if anything but romances and erotica is classified as educational then why
are romances and erotica not? It is undoubtedly true that one can learn
something from virtually any book that has ever been written even if some have
a lot more to teach than others, but if virtually every book that has been
written can be classified as educational then the classification of educational
loses its meaning. If the grant money can be spent only on educational books
then it would seem, in this case, that the grant money can be spent on any book
at all. If that is the case, then why is it a grant for educational books
rather than a grant for just books? And still, how is a romance not educational
and a book about the adventures of an elf queen in the land of the ogres is?
"Philosophers have merely interpreted the world in various
ways; the point is to change it." Karl Marx
table with 2 columns and 6 rows
Subj:
[bksvol-discuss] Re: Romances and grants
Date:
5/10/2009 9:03:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From:
airadil@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Reply-to:
bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To:
bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent from the Internet
(Details)
table end
Dear Tammy,Shelley, Roger, and Booksharian Friends,
Thank you, Shelley, for your lucid, experience based explanation of how it is
that most books qualify for grant support at Bookshare. A good example of
the popular fiction books Bookshare is scanning by the dozens is the
Goosebumps series. Some kids love 'em and teachers use 'em so into the
collection
they go!
Tammy, as a romance lover you're going to find plenty to read in the
Bookshare collection. Bookshare isn't shunning romances, but when spending
grant funds,
it must follow grant guidelines from the government which supplies the money.
Several active volunteers contribute quality scans and proofreadings of
romances.
In fact, though it isn't my favorite genre, I've scanned and proofread some
romances myself.
As for why Bookshare isn't encouraging donations of romances, aside for the
fact that the grant doesn't supply funds for staff to process it in house,I
suspect lack of space to store donated books is part of the problem.
Bookshare rents office space. I've heard from staff that at times boxes of
donated
books have lined the walls of the conference room and they can only be
stacked so high before becoming a hazard.
Did you notice that the first several books on John's list of new books are
romances? Bookshare and many readers welcome them. The cool thing is that we
volunteers are free to submit and proof any type of book we like. I love it
that we aren't bound by grant specifications.
Since I'm a volunteer like you and only communicate with the staff on the
rare occasions, 2 or 3 times a year, when I need information I can't get on this
list, or botch information I've filled in on a form and want it corrected, I
can't answer your questions officially. In my experience the staff are patient
with our questions so don't hesitate to ask them the questions you asked in
your post.
I'll be glad to talk to you off list about your scanning and proofreading
questions. When I began volunteering about three years ago, and all along since
then, I learn techniques and tricks on this list and off list with helpful
volunteers who enjoy sharing what they know. Like Allisa who is new and already
giving good advice, you'll soon be answering questions yourself.
Always with love,
Lissi
block quote
----- Original Message -----
From:
Tammy Blaker
To:
bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2009 9:04 AM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Romances and grants
Lissi,
I don't understand , why would Romances not be covered? I love romances and
lots of other women do too. If it covers SCI-FI and other fiction books then
why would it not cover romance? If it is the sex in romances they should
read some SCI-FI and mystery books, because sex is in lots of other books too.
I scan Harlequin books and other romance all the time so I can submit them if
there are proofreaders for them. I want to get the rest of Catherine Coulter
books and scan them too.
Why wont Bookshare do a training class for scanners and proofreaders like
they do for Victor Reader and Read Out Loud? The manual does not give much info
on what is the best fonts, how to do the best headers and how the auto
computers work with the scan programs. I want the books I submit to sail
through
without problems and would take the time to fix them so they would.
I set my OCR to English UK and it is doing great now and I'm scanning 50
pages a day. I hope to get faster as I learn. Almost every romances is in UK
English not American.
I have a question. On the book I submitted. Radha Ayalasomayajul Checkout
the book and it says: Active artifact id 421897 (RFT)
Then it say Radha Ayalasomayajula Checkout Active artifact id 421898 (Daisy)
I understand the first Radha Ayalasomayajul is proofing my rft file of the
book. But the second part does it mean she is turning it into a Daisy book so
it can be checked out? Does she work for Bookshare? I'm just trying to
understand the steps from my rft book file to a book that can be checked out at
Bookshare.
Tammy
block quote end
**************
Recession-proof vacation ideas. Find free things to do in the U.S.
(http://travel.aol.com/travel-ideas/domestic/national-tourism-week?ncid=emlcntustrav00000002)
Other related posts:
