I do almost all of my validating in Kurzweil including unzipping the file. I don't change the format until I am ready to upload the book. If I have been validating in Kurzweil, when I convert to RTF, I check to see if there are still the same number of pages. I don't even go to M.S. Word to do the space/backspace thing unless Bookshare tells me it is an invalid file because it happens so seldom now. If I am taking the synopsis from the book's cover, I copy this in M.S. Word, and then paste it from the clipboard into the upload information. I read as I go,, usually running ranked spelling at the end. If I am encountering a lot of 1's for I's or other repetitive scanos, I will run a find and replace along the way. I am saving your steps, Bob, to see if I think I would be better off using any of them that I'm not already, and would also be interested in what others do. Jill ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob" <rwiley@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "bookshare volunteer discussion" <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, December 21, 2007 12:43 PM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] The validation process I use.
Here is a general list of the things I do when validating a book, in hopes that others who vary from this method can tell us what they do and why.1. Download the zipped book from step 1 into a temp directory. I use a temp directory just because it's a place to hold the original copy of the book in case I have to start all over. 2. Open the zipped file with windows explorer, and copy and paste the book to a directory I have in k1000 called in progress.3. Open the book that is in in progress with ms word. 4. Check for page images and, if found, change them to page breaks.5. Run a spell check to check for glaring errors. I don't worry here about every error, just glaring ones that can easily be fixed, or ones that may point to potential problems to look for later in the process.6. Save the book in .rtf format.7. Open the book in k1000 and save it as a .kes file. This will be my working file from here on out. I have version 10 something of k1000, and understand that if I had v11, this conversion wouldn't be necessary. However, it is necessary for me. 8. If there are page numbers in the book, I find the real page 1 and set it appropriately in the navigation menu. Check the last page to see if the last page matches Kurzweil's page number. If so, I let out a cheer. If not, I fix a drink, as this may indicate missing pages, or pages that have been scanned twice, and I may need a drink. 9. I now perform my first rank spelling, making sure that capitalized words are not checked. If the initial rank is less than 95% I'm either going to have difficulties or there are a lot of words that are unique to the book. When I encounter a suspicious word, I use read context to determine whether the use seems valid or not. If so, I ignore the problem throughout the text. If not, I hit "edit" and look/fix each occurrence of the problem. 10. I save the .kes book. and sign out as I can't mentally handle more than this in one sitting. 11. I bring up the .kes book again, and, if necessary, repeat step 9 until I'm satisfied. 12. Now it's time to read the book. Generally, this is the fun part. I read the book listening for glaring errors such as missing words that a rank spelling will not catch. 13. One final rank spelling to see if the score is greater than 98%. This is an arbitrary score I've selected--others may use another percentage of acceptable errors. 14. Save the book as an .rtf file in the "in progress" folder. You should already have the original .rtf file which you now write over with your corrected book. 15. Once more open the book in word to make sure k1000 didn't mess things up in the conversion. Also you can make any change to the book, like the inclusion of a blank space, then correct that change, and save the book again. This is to prevent the bookshare validation system from throwing you an unknown error. 16. Copy down the title, author, isbn, copyright information, and create short and long synopses In a temporary .txt file for reference in the next step. Too many times I'll find an item that has been overlooked by the submitter, and had to scurry around finding the information. 17. It's off to the bookshare site and the step2 page, where I upload the file.18. Fix a celebratory drink.I hope other validators will tell me things they do differently, and new validators may find this a helpful tool for processing a book.Thanks. Bob "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."--Margaret Mead To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxput 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.-- No virus found in this incoming message.Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.6/1192 - Release Date: 12/21/2007 1:17 PM
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