[bksvol-discuss] Re: who we are
- From: Cindy <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 23:45:07 -0800 (PST)
Thank you, Janice, for that information. And thanks to
Pratik, Rui, Guido, Gerald, Jake, Kellie, Gustavo,
you, and Dave Offen both for answering questions and
giving excellent help here on the list and for working
with you all at bookshare.org.
Cindy
P.S. Is there a quick way of ascertaining how many
non-members are volunteers? I know this isn't
important, but I am curious.
--- bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> Thanks Pratik for sharing your observations about
> the challenges of Bookshare.org and the information
> that is sometimes confidential to the running of a
> business. However, a lot of the questions can be
> answered and will hopefully give the list a sense of
> what everyone's accomplished over the past four
> years.
>
> The non metric answer to "who we are" is that we are
> an incredibly strong brand in the blind community.
> Schools, Departments of Rehab, Schools for Blind,
> etc. are finding out about us slowly (as they are
> also resource constrained). Reason we go to so many
> conferences even though we are short staffed is
> because that's the most efficient sales channel to
> reach DSS offices, teachers, and parents who should
> know about a service that provides such a rich
> collection of content.
>
> The answers to some of the list's questions are:
>
> 1. We have close to 4,000 subscribers.
> 2. Over half are students. The student population
> has doubled over the last year. The school program
> began two years ago.
> 3. Haven't kept records of how many members are
> vision impaired, mobility impaired, or learning
> disabled (those folks who qualify to join
> Bookshare.org).
> 4. We have over 26,000 books.
> 5. We have 125 newspapers from 39 NFB funded states
> plus Washington DC.
> 6. Regarding retention, we began sending quarterly
> emails to those folks who don't renew. The answers
> were varied - including "I forgot." The results of
> these emails are guiding the redesign of our
> website, the quality of our content, and the clarity
> of our messaging.
> 7. Top Ten downloads over the history of
> Bookshare.org included five Harry Potters, The Da
> Vinci Code (Brown), My Life (Bill Clinton), The
> Broker (Grisham), Holy Bible, New International
> Version International Bible Society Editors, and The
> Last Juror (Grisham)
> 8. A not-statistically-valid observation was made a
> few weeks ago when I asked the gentleman who runs
> our network why Bookshare.org was so slow (I was
> trying to answer one of these posts). It was
> because it was the President's holiday and for
> several hours, folks were downloading books at the
> rate of 1+ per minute. That was a very cool
> metric.
> 9. For the past six months, we have had a group of
> long term members who have a fairly deep
> understanding of technology, the internet, and the
> slow process of writing software. This group was
> asked to help Bookshare.org staff know the needs of
> the volunteer community. We can't answer every
> question and every email. That is the purpose of
> the list. But we definitely needed a few voices to
> listen to as well as guide the engineering and
> operations staff at Bookshare.org as we grow. The
> group includes Pratik, Rui, Guido, Gerald, Jake,
> Kellie, Gustavo, me, Dave Offen, and soon Jennifer
> Sutton. We've only had a few conference calls as
> we couldn't get started without funding.
>
> We haven't answered all of your questions because we
> don't have some of the answers. And it's very hard
> for us to measure that tremendous feeling of
> satisfaction when a parent or teacher or member
> approaches our booth to let us know the impact
> Bookshare.org has had on a child or student, etc.
>
> If you have suggestions for what you think could or
> should be measured for the Bookshare.org of the
> future, please send to me at Janice.c@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> Finally, as the great orator, Pratik Patel stated
> earlier..... It will continue to take time.
>
>
> Janice Carter
> Director, Literacy Programs
> �
> Benetech�
> 480 S. California Ave., Suite 201
> Palo Alto, CA 94306-1609�USA
> �
> (650) 475-5440 x122
> (650) 759-5828�cell
> (650) 475-1066 fax
> �
> janice.c@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 Pratic Patel
> Sent: Monday, March 13, 2006 6:41 AM
> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: who we are
>
> Mike et al,
>
> Because of the exponential pace of technology
> growth, we seem to have
> different expectations from organizations such as
> Bookshare in terms of how
> quickly it grows. Some informal economic analysis I
> have performed suggests
> that the employment rate among the U.S. blind
> population has not radically
> changed since he 1960's. It is difficult to attract
> blind users and
> individuals who do not have the means to pay for the
> excellent service that
> Bookshare provides. Unfortunately, Bookshare is
> also faced with the
> attitudinal barriers among the blind population--at
> least a part of the
> population that believes in receiving free services.
>
> The fact that Bookshare is not willing to share
> their user base information
> does not, by any means, suggest that the base is
> small and insignificant.
> Perhaps the threshold of information that you
> consider sufficient for
> Bookshare to divulge its subscription base is not
> the same as what the
> Bookshare advisory Board considers sufficient.
> Let's also consider, RFB &
> D, for instance. I have never heard anyone from RFB
> & D provide the type of
> numbers and information that is being requested. As
> a governmental agency,
> NLS does provide this type of information. But you
> will have to dig hard to
> find the data.
>
> Organizations such as RFB & D have certainly
> established their base
> successfully simply because they have been in
> existence for a long period of
> time. The comparison between Bookshare and RFB & D
> is not valid just for
> that reason. RFB & D was established in 1950's if I
> am not mistaken.
> Bookshare, on the other hand, was
> established--What, four years ago? While
> it may seem like a long time to those of us who have
> been affiliated with
> the organization from the beginning. Relatively
> speaking, however, that is
> not very long time. We also have to consider the
> fact that, when RFB & D
> was established, it had no competition. Bookshare
> has no such luxury. And,
> there are some significant challenges for Bookshare
> when looking at various
> populations. There are things on the horizon that
> will change some of that.
>
>
> Your point about hundreds of hours of work and the
> effort to make books
> accessible for individuals with disabilities is
> valid. As a volunteer, I
> can quite understand why you might wish to know
> whether your efforts are
> really going toward something worthwhile. Let me
> ask then, what number
> would satisfy you? How many subscribers do you feel
> Bookshare should have
> in order for the hundreds of hours to be worthwhile?
>
> As I've said before on this list, IT ... WILL ...
> TAKE ... TIME!
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Pratik
>
> Pratik Patel
> Director, CUNY Assistive Technology Services (CATS)
> The City University of New York
> T: 718-997-3775
> F: 718-997-5895
> E: pratik.patel@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
> Behalf Of Mike Pietruk
> Sent: Monday, March 13, 2006 6:24 AM
> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: who we are
>
> Pratik
>
> If Benetech is unwilling to supply some concrete
> answers, and I can
> understand why they may be unwilling to do so given
> the reasons you have
> outlined, this would suggest to me that the numbers
> may be so dismal that
> it wouldn't serve them competitively.
> If that is the case, then this calls to question the
> worth while of
> spending, as some of us do, hundreds of hours a year
> in intentionally
> scanning and validating material for BookShare.
> If few people read the books, then time could be
> better spent elsewhere;
> on the other hand, if many benefit from the books,
> then the effort is
> definitely worth while and this would encourage
> others (both sighted and
> handicappted) to offer their services.
> Elizabeth's questions cut to the core of the value
> of Bookshare to end
> users; and Benetech, if it expects donations both of
> dollars and time, has
> to be able to address these especially now that the
> service has been
> around for a number of years.
> I'd suggest that organizations such as RFB&D have
> established such success
> and longevity as they have successfully demonstrated
> the value of their
> service to their target audience.
>
>
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