Dear Pavi,Your answer to my concerns is more reassuring and promising than I ever hoped for! It feels so good knowing that even though the Bookshare staff has grown considerably, volunteers work and feelings are still given so much consideration.
I'm practically levitating with joy at the news the staff may be scanning books for volunteers to proofread in the future. Your industrial strength scanner works massive miracles in terms of quantity and quality of books scanned, but I know from experience that a dedicated proofreader will be rewarded by finding a few scannos to correct in them, and yet not be frustrated by lapses in text and page numbering which are frustratingly beyond repairing. If all of the volunteer's sighs of relief at this wonderful news were directed toward the Bookshare offices in Palo Alto, you just might be blown right over the Pacific Ocean!
Was it Mike who suggested comparing the number of errors the tools find in a submit to those found in the checked out book? He read my mind. That's a quantitative, unbiased way to measure how much a book has been improved, though many submits have been so carefully prepared scanned and pre-checked that finding the occasional mistake is no mean feat. I know it's a fine line between giving the volunteer community its head and micro-managing. And, no amount of rules and regulations substitute for the individual's ethical values. Those of us with years of experience may occasionally forget that what seems obvious to us is unchartered territory for newcomers. We wouldn't want the work of dealing with us to outweigh our contribution, either.
It takes quite a bit of initiative and planning to develop teamwork between specific submittors and proofreaders. Sometimes there's considerable investment in books and postage, too. Faith, risk, patience and practice are called upon as teams discover how best to complement one another's skills for the best productivity and enjoyment. Thank you for recognizing the value of such teams and allowing them to continue working together.
It's great that some members and volunteers got to meet you at the conference. You returned to the office to find quite a stir! Thank you for digging in and working so constructively with Carrie and then writing to the list on your very first day back!
Always with love, Lissi----- Original Message ----- From: "Pavi Mehta" <pavim@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, March 23, 2009 3:17 PM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: proofreading crisis
Hi Lissi and others,Thanks for the thoughtful discussion that has taken place on this list while I've been away at C-SUN. (It was a pleasure to meet some of our volunteers and members in person there!)Carrie and I just had a follow up discussion on the problem of the scarcity of books on the checkout list. To answer your question Lissi, staff and paid subcontractors don't use the checkout list (except for rare exception cases) so that isn't where the problem lies.1. As you have all pointed out -- there are a few people who have checked out and checked in large numbers of books without according to each, a reasonable time for proofing.I have written to these volunteers (my thanks to all the submitters who wrote in with their concerns) and let them know that in the future if that trend continues their checked in books will be returned to the checkout list due to "insufficient time for proofing" and further action will be taken if needed. Carrie is ccd on these letters so she stays in the loop as the approval queue manager. We will certainly be watching the proofing time more carefully here on.2. Carrie and I talked about the possibility of scanning more books in-house explicitly for the Checkout List. We are hoping to be able to up the weekly number of new titles we scan here and place on the checkout list, so that our proofreaders have more to choose from.Regarding Hold Fors -- we know that many of you work in excellent teams and do not want to do anything to prevent you from being able to reserve books for your tag-team partner or anyone whom you have a good working relationship with. That said, when I receive emails from proofreaders asking that I place a Hold For on a book that is on the download list in their name, I let them know that in order to be fair to other proofreaders I can only do this for a maximum of two books, and if they want a Hold For on more books the best way to do that is to develop a working relationship with the submitter. If you would like me to modify this policy please let me know.All good things, Pavi Pavi Mehta Volunteer Coordinator, Bookshare Benetech 480 S. California Ave., Suite 201 Palo Alto, CA 94306-1609 USA Phone: +1 650 644-3459 pavim@xxxxxxxxxxxx www.benetech.org The Benetech Initiative - Technology Serving Humanity A Nonprofit Organization -----Original Message-----From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of MickeySent: Monday, March 23, 2009 8:42 AM To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: proofreading crisis Well said, Lissi. I have some time off, and looked at the checkout pagetoday. The books are almost all either Holdfors or something not in my fieldof expertise. Frankly, I'm ready to throw in the sponge.I have some books to scan, but I don't even like my scans. But I'll do themanyway. We also need to be careful to nourish volunteers, to bring them along andshow them what we require, not only give to the ones we know are good. Thatpromotes cliques, which ruins any good volunteer organization.Not trying to start something, just trying to make the organization better.Mikey----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob" <rwiley@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, March 22, 2009 12:36 AM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: proofreading crisisYou do bring up some very valid points Lissi, and I want to second your concern. Some time ago I did notice that a few books were scanned and proofread by the same person and given the short path to the collection. I didn't notice many like that, but that could be one of the reasons for ourincredible shrinking checkout page. I really love the book history featurethat bookshare has implemented. In that way we can track a book's path to glory. Bob----- Original Message ----- From: "Estelnalissi" <airadil@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2009 11:21 PM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: proofreading crisisDear Bud and Booksharian Friends, The scarcity of books to proofread on the check-out page is alarming.I understand Bookshare wouldn't want to alienate its volunteers en masse,but I think a small number of volunteers may be responsible for a large amount of poor quality material being shunted through the system. Certainly conscientious proofreaders are missing the opportunity we had, a mere 3 months ago, to find books upon which to lavish our attention, but worse yet, members are again, despite the elimination of the fair category, being given books to read which are below the high standardmost of us willingly give our time and acquired expertise to maintain. Itonly takes a couple of frustrating reading experiences for a member to write Bookshare off as an unreliable source of reading material and I think we shouldn't underestimate the damage the resulting word-of-mouth criticism does to Bookshare's reputation.The purpose of proofreaders is to catch the errors which submittors miss. A proofreader who runs a routine spell check and copyright check is boundto overlook errors which will be all to obvious to subsequent readers. Submittors like you, Bud, trust when you put a book on the check outpage, that the volunteer who checks out your book will take as much pridein their proofreading as you do in your scanning.A few weeks ago I checked out a book by Avi, a book for middle school agechildren, which was missing many page breaks and had had extra hard returns on at least 95 percent of the lines. Some other scanning errors had also been left uncorrected. It was put back on the check out page after being checked in by a proofreader who would have to have noticed these mistakes on practically every line, in just a few minutes ofexamining the file. It took a couple of weeks for me to get a copy of thebook and to fix what needed fixing, but I'm a fan of Avi and I was horrified at the thought of a kid getting such a good book in such sorry condition. Another important point in my mind is the fact that we're watching the check out page dwindle without knowing the cause. We're speculating because we're concerned and because proofreaders' source of workable files is drying up. Are their fewer submissions? Are a small number of manic proofreaders who are ignoring the reading implicit in the wordproofread turning books around in the time it takes to fill out the checkin form? Is the staff proofreading books from the check-in form? Why has the number of books on the check in page dropped an average of 100 books a month. At that rate the page will be empty soon and May first will truly be a May Day for dedicated proofreaders. Is there a future for Proofreaders at Bookshare?Pavi, Carrie, Anyone on staff would ask you personally, but the answers Iseek are not just for myself. I believe concern and anxiety are running high in this segment of the volunteer community. Please catch us up... fill us in. Solid information would serve us far better than our continued hypothesizing. Always with love, Lissi----- Original Message ----- From: "Bud Schwab" <budschwab@xxxxxxxxxxx>To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2009 11:22 PM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] proofreading dilemmaHi guys, I was out this afternoon and when I got home I had 95 emails, mostlydealing with the shoddy proofreading. Maybe my thoughts are too simple,but why doesn't Bookshare have the authority to just dump those people who aren't really putting their heart in their work? I don't think a slap on the wrist is going to do anything. After all the hard work Iput into scanning and cleaning up a book I resent it when it gets just ashort checking and returned as proofread. Just my thoughts. Bud Schwab W 6 Z Y P Malibu, California 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 listof available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.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 listof available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.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.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.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.
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