[bksvol-discuss] Re: where are the new books?
- From: Mike Pietruk <pietruk@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2005 09:55:48 -0500 (EST)
Sue
More and more of us are getting concerned over BookShare's seeming
inability to process in a timely manner books that are submitted and
validated.
Just so there is no misunderstanding, I do not fault any of the
individuals employed at BookShare for this situation as I gather these
individuals are overworked with far too many tasks on their collective
plates.
First priority in the approval process, it appears, are special project
books. Second are those by the in-house volunteers in Palo Alto.
Those from that group get approved almost imediately.
The ones that get left behind, so to speak, are books submitted by
outside volunteers such as ourselves which, even when validated, can
languish for a long long time.
Hopefully, the higher ups at Benetech, BookShare's parent organization,
have gotten wind of the situation and can figure out some new approach on
final approvals so that books ready to go can be gotten in the hands of
the users.
One of the hallmarks of BookShare is its theoretical ability to get books
in the hands of users quickly unlike systems such as NLS and RFB&D.
MOre and more these days, that system seems to have broken down. Yes,
BookShare can trumpet specific titles which have gone up in a matter of
hours after print publication (Jose Canseco's book is the latest such
book)
but most ordinary
books get hung up in limbo.
In many ways, This bottleneck is an indication of just how successful
BookShare has been in getting books submitted.
What hasn't changed, and economics comes into play here, is PPalo Alto's
capabilities in dealing with the deluge.
There has to be a workable fix such as perhaps finding skilled volunteers
to handle the routine final approvals and calling the administrator's
attention to specific books which might require their personal attention.
I am certain that, as frustrated as we are, those working at BookShare are
likely even more frustrated and overwhelmed by the backlog.
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