[bksvol-discuss] Re: Three Asterisks: An explanation from the staff

  • From: Roger Loran Bailey <rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx>
  • To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:35:37 -0400

Here is how I understood the explanation. The asterisks are used when there is a chapter heading for the benefit of the Braille readers. It is the standard in Braille that when a chapter heading appears in the middle of a page that there be a blank line before and after it because Braille does not indicate bolding or other indications that the chapter heading is apart from the rest of the text and the blank lines need to be there to indicate that. Again, though, the bookshare conversion tools will strip out those blank lines. The three asterisks are to be inserted to substitute for the blank lines that will not survive the conversion tools. That goes for all blank lines that you want the presence of to be indicated. It follows then that if the chapter heading is at the top of the page rather than in the middle of it that the three asterisks need only to be placed after the chapter heading. That would mean that the format of a page on which a chapter heading appears at the top of the page should be this: Page break, blank line, page number, blank line, chapter heading, three asterisks, text of page, blank line, page break. If the chapter heading appears in the middle of the page with text before and after it then the format should be like this: Page break, blank line, page number, blank line, text of page, three asterisks, chapter heading, three asterisks, text of page, blank line, page break.
On 10/4/2012 9:17 PM, Lisa Gorden-Cushman wrote:

Maybe I did not read the explanation closely enough, but arenât the three asterix not only something we have to do if we are formatting a chapter heading in the middle of a page? So if the chapter is like most chapters, canât we still forego them?

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From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Martha Rafter
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2012 6:09 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Three Asterisks: An explanation from the staff

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Hi Madeleine,

 Thanks for this, but I think Iâm either confused or really, really dense! Smile Donât we need to put in a blank line between the page break and the chapter heading any more? Then it would be:

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Page break

blank line

Chapter heading

* * *

text of page

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Again, thanks you!

Marty

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Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2012 5:43 PM

Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Three Asterisks: An explanation from the staff

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Hello everyone,

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My sincere apologies for my delayed response re. asterisks but here is whatâs going on:

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In Braille, neither bolding nor font size changes show up, which means that it is really difficult to tell when there is a new chapter or section. Therefore, three asterisks are added after each chapter title or chapter name to make it clear where the chapter title or name ends and where the text begins. For example:

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-----page break---

Chapter Three

***

[text]

----page break-----

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It could also look like this:

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-----page break-----

[text from ch. 4]

***

Chapter Five: Kristy Kills

***

[text for ch. 5]

--------page break---------

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This is especially important if there is a chapter name. For example, Chapter Three: The Woman in Red (or whatever). Without the star, Braille readers would have no way of knowing whether or not âThe Woman in Redâ was the first line of text or a chapter title.

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Three asterisks are NOT needed at the beginning of a page before a new chapter (if the new chapter starts at the very top of a page) but ARE needed if the chapter starts in the middle of the page. Three asterisks are also used to show other breaks in the text, whether itâs a change in narration and the sighted reader sees a font change or all italics, if there is a symbol in the page to indicate a time change or something, and when there is a new section of the book (such as Part One or Book One of several).

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Many volunteers already do this, which is wonderful. Since we want Bookshare books to be as accessible to everyone as possible, we strongly encourage adding in three asterisks after the chapter number or name. I know there has been a lot of confusion about this. From my understanding it is not a new idea, but it has never been enforced, which is likely why some people do it and others donât and have never been aware that they should. We want to encourage it going forward.

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Please contact me directly with any questions or concerns.

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Thank you all so much for your hard work and dedication!

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Best,

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Madeleine Linares

Volunteer Coordinator

Bookshare, a Benetech Initiative

650-644-3459

madeleinel@xxxxxxxxxxxx

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Join us in celebrating our 10th Anniversary!

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