I don't know who you are but you do. Special thanks to those volunteers who discretely came to Marty R.'s aid. It takes confidence to ask what may feel like a "silly question" especially when asked among experts. You made Marty feel right at home as a Bookshare volunteer. Thank you. It's stories of that kind of generosity that circulate among the in-house staff and make them brag about you. Here are bios from two more of you who have earned bragging rights: Debby Franson and Jamie Prater Scott Rains Benetech Fellow, Bookshare Volunteer Department ________________________________________ Debby Franson I'm a homemaker. My husband, Bruce and I celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary last May. When I was a child, I didn't do a lot of extra curricular reading. I would check out a braille book from our meager supply our school library had when our class went to the library. As I advanced through my grade school years, there were few braille books at my reading level, so I'd read books that were simpler than what I should have been reading. I finally got into the NLS program in junior high, and felt that my selection of reading material was much increased. I developed a real joy of reading in junior high with mostly talking books. In 1981, I felt that the whole world of books was opened to me after going to philadelphia to be trained to use an optacon, which allowed me to read any printed material I could buy from a bookstore or book sale. It's a slow way to read each vibrating letter that passes under my finger when compared to the speed of braille reading, but I can't imagine life without it. I have read a variety of books and catalogs for pleasure as well as things I needed to read. I got a scanner and OpenBook in 1994. I had accumulated quite a few books over the years, so I was never at a loss for reading material to scan. I loved the speed of reading, and, although I thought the recognition was pretty good, I knew that OCR can't be perfect. In 2005, a friend was telling me about Bookshare and that she was scanning books. I didn't quite understand what it was all about, so I visited the web site, and decided it would be worthwhile to join. I was almost exclusively a member, though I would upload a few books here and there. I was thrilled with so many books available. I found so many books I wanted to read through searches as well as browsing the new books list. When the new site was launched, I didn't submit any books, because I wasn't a formal volunteer. Last October, I decided that, if I wanted to start submitting books again, I needed to join the volunteer community officially. I read the manual twice, since there was so much to absorb, and then I signed up. I'm glad I did. I joined the volunteer discuss list at the same time. Before I joined up formerly as a volunteer and the list, I was a very light Word user, since my writing is mostly done in e-mail. I have learned so much about Word from many kind and helpful list members as well as tips on formatting to make the books I have proofread as cleanly formatted as I can get them. I read every word and format as I go along. I have gotten back into scanning and submitting books also, which I enjoy as much as proofreading. I have become more conscious of formatting while scanning also, such as when to recognize columns and when not to, such as not to have that setting turned on while scanning the table of contents or poetry. The optacon is a great tool while scanning, because I have corrected scannos or cut-off words by checking the hard copy. I read what I have scanned, because I want to read the book and, at the same time make it easy for the people who are my proofreaders. I have also submitted a few cookbooks, and used it to make sure that all of the fractions are correct, since OCR has a terrible time recognizing them. I have met several volunteers through e-mail and chat who have enriched my life. Jamie Prater I've been a member and have been volunteering for almost two years and have thoroughly enjoyed proofreading clean children and juvenile literature as well as Christian titles to the Bookshare library. My first book was a child's book that I had read and I proofread it and added it to the collection. It thrilled me that because of me, one more book was added that people could download and enjoy and the collection number was higher. Since then, I have enjoyed proofing books for the nature's children set of books about many animals, some Christian romances of the love inspired authors, and many books that Jamie Yates and others have scanned for preschool readers. I remember what it was like not to have the number of books accessible to me and to not be able to read to little kids when they would hand me a book, and not to get to read all of what the other kids were reading, so Bookshare involvement both as a member and a volunteer has changed my life in many ways. I have downloaded recently some classics that I know I will need to read when I go back to school to study English and English as a second language teaching in a few months. Bookshare will be a lifesaver for me then. Thanks and have a blessed day. To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list of available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.