[bksvol-discuss] Re: gaps in the collection

  • From: "Homme, James" <james.homme@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2009 06:23:34 -0500

Hi,
Last time I looked, the sports arena was extremely slanted toward horses. We 
need some classic biographies of pro sports people. I don't read a lot in that 
area, or I'd be better at steering the request in the right direction.

Thanks.

Jim

From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carrie Karnos
Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 3:42 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: gaps in the collection

Hi Monica,

Unbeknownst to anyone, because the books haven't been put into the collection 
yet, I bought 20 books at the Home Depot a month ago. These books are on 
plumbing, wiring, drywall, trimwork, barbecues, kitchen remodeling, brick and 
tile, landscaping, backyards for children, how houses are built, etc, etc.  I 
also got some books on cutting electricity bills and creating 'greener' houses.
And thanks to a donation of 600+ books a couple of months ago, there are maybe 
16 books coming on perennials, annuals, orchids, greenhouses, house plants, 
African violets, etc.
And a week ago, I bought a dozen books on films, and some TV series (Lost, 
Firefly, Star Trek).
And I bought a book on the history of American birding. Never occurred to me 
that someone would write a book about that, but they did, so I got it.

I'll see if I can find books on defensive driving, car maintenance, 
beauty/fashion, scrapbooking, home decorating, and flower arranging.

Our star Googler is looking for histories of the various countries around the 
world from non-American, non-European people, per another person's request. And 
she's looking for pro-communism writers too, per yet another person's request. 
Since she likes international politics, she's having a good time with these 
last two requests.

Carrie

________________________________
From: Monica Willyard <rhyami@xxxxxxxxx>
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 12:04:11 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: gaps in the collection
Hi Carrie. Since Bookshare serves sighted people, I see some gaps others may 
not have mentioned. Books about defensive driving, car maintenance, 
beauty/fashion, bird watching, scrapbooking, and home decorating and remodeling 
are missing from Bookshare. We also don't have many books about flower 
arranging, varieties of flowers and plants, and landscaping. Many of our books 
about houseplants and gardening are rated fair and are hard to read. They 
aren't visible to new members by default. In fact, our "Home and Garden" 
category is fairly anemic, especially since around half of the 181 books are 
Shelley's series of children's books about animals that are "nature's 
children." If you watch TV, networks like TLC, A&E, Style, and HGTV are full of 
shows about decorating, remodeling, and restoring houses or about planting 
lovely gardens and landscaping with designs that flatter the style of a home.

So far, Bookshare's collection doesn't reflect these types of interests. I 
haven't figured out if this lack of content is due to lack of interest from 
submitters or if the material is difficult to scan. It could be a combination 
of both. I do know that sighted people read books on these subjects and think 
they will expect to see books about these topics in the collection.

Monica Willyard
"The best way to predict the future is to create it." -- Peter Drucker


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