[bksvol-discuss] Re: volunteering

  • From: "Gerald Hovas" <geraldhovas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 20:46:51 -0500

Patti,

I'm not a Braille user, so I can't help you with the numbers that you're
talking about.  As for headers appearing in the middle of sentences, that is
because of the way publishers publish books.  Pages do not always end in
complete sentences.  Also, headers are only in books where the Stripper
can't recognize them or books where the volunteers didn't strip them
manually to prevent the possibility of the Stripper having problems with
them.  If you read your validation instructions, you saw a section that
talks about normalizing running headers (making them consistent) in order
for a Bookshare tool to be able to recognize them and remove them.  That
tool is what we call the Stripper.

HTH

Gerald


-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of patti
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 7:41 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: volunteering


Hi everyone:  Okay, I'm all signed up and ready to go to work.  We, my
boyfriend and I, that is, read on the braillenote, and we're noticing
numbers randomly inserted in the text of books we're reading.  Are those
supposed to be there?  If so, what are they?  I don't see them in nls books.
The numbers are 2 groups, they're consecutive.  Ex., number sign 1. Then
later 2 and so on.  Then you have other ones that are consecutive and move
upwardsfaster.  Hope I'm making sense here.  That's in addition to headers
and footers.  Wondering if it's a formatting issue on the bn or is it in the
book written like that.  I find headers and footers right in the middle of a
sentence very annoying.

I mean, I intend to finish the book, because it's so good; but I've seen
this in every book I've downloaded.  I download to the computer using a
flashcard reader, and put the compact flash card in my bn to read it.  Well,
I unpack it first, then I read it.  I keep my books stored on the cf card,
then read in bookreader.

Okay, I'm off to find a fascinating book to work on.  All for now.  Patti


----- Original Message -----
From: "Gerald Hovas" <geraldhovas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 12:44 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: volunteering


> Hello Patti,
>
> Welcome to the list.
>
> There's a form you need to fill out in order to volunteer.  You can find
> it
> on Bookshare's website.  I think it's under the link on About
> Volunteering.
> You can either fill out that form or send the same information to
> volunteer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx  Let us know if you have any trouble finding it
> or
> filling it out.
>
> Once you have been registered as a volunteer, you'll be able to access the
> links which will allow you to work on books which have been submitted to
> Bookshare for validation.  You'll also receive a message with validation
> instructions that should help get you started.  After reading the
> validation
> instructions, you'll probably still have plenty of questions, so feel free
> to ask them since that's what this list is for.
>
> From your message, you obviously have downloaded a book from the
> collection
> which you feel needs cleaning up.  Bookshare doesn't encourage cleaning up
> books already in the collection, although they don't discourage it either.
> It's a matter of where they can best spend their time, and they prefer not
> to have to reprocess books since processing them multiple times is a waste
> of time.  However, they do understand that there are some books in the
> collection which need updating like the books rated Fair which need to be
> rescanned.  The best way we as volunteers can help, though, is to make
> sure
> the books are in good shape before they are added to the collection.  That
> way they only have to be processed the one time.  The volunteers on this
> list are more than happy to help you learn how to do that.
>
> Now, I'm sure you have questions about the book you downloaded.  Let us
> know
> which book you're talking about so someone can help you with it.  It may
> be
> that the book needs to be rescanned, or part of the problem could be as
> simple as changing some settings on your Braille Note (or a similar piece
> of
> equipment) in order to prevent some of the formatting characters from
> being
> displayed.  It also may just be that you're expectations are higher than
> what Bookshare expects from a book.  If so, you're certainly not the only
> one on this list which has high standards.  <Smile>  Marissa, the
> volunteer
> coordinator which left in May to attend graduate school, referred to the
> volunteers on this list as a bunch of deranged perfectionists which she
> had
> enjoyed working with.
>
> Again, let us know if you need help signing up to be a volunteer, and feel
> free to ask questions. <Smile>
>
> Gerald
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of patti
> Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 10:16 AM
> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] volunteering
>
>
> Hello everyone:  I've just joined this list, and would like to volunteer
> validating books.  Are there some specific guidelines somewhere to give
> instructions?  Do you have to fill out any application to volunteer?  I
> have
> a book in mind, one that I downloaded that needs a lot of work; but I'm
> not
> sure what I'm supposed to delete.  There are a lot of extraneous numbers,
> for example, not sure what they represent; page numbers, paragraph
> markers,
> perhaps?  I have no clue, but they're annoying; also, all the headers and
> footers are there; also very annoying.  So I look to you all for your
> expertise.  I love to read, and read Braille, and I think bookshare is
> such
> a wonderful thing, and blind people should be reading good quality
> material,
> too.  Too bad I'm not a certified proofreader, because I catch mistakes
> all
> the time.  (grin)
>
> Anyway, thanks for having me.
>
> Patti Cutler
>
>
> 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@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@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@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.

Other related posts: