[bookshare-discuss] Re: Time for validating a book, correccting errors in scans, and I like Daisy

From: "Gerald Hovas" <geraldhovas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 15:07:56 -0600
Rick,

You sure managed to ask a lot of questions in this message. <Smile>  I'll
try to answer all of them for you.

The Bookshare system gives you 7 days to validate a book before your edit
session expires.  It also counts the day you download the book as day 1 and
will return the book to the list early on day 7.  That doesn't mean you only
have 7 days to validate a book, though.  Somewhere around the fourth or
fifth day you will find a third link for the book on your Step 2 page which
will allow you to renew the book for another 7 days.

If you click on the Download link for a particular book in the Step 1 list,
it will take you to another page where you can see the long synopsis, as
well as click on a link to download the book.  If you're using Windows, I
recommend opening that new page in a separate window by using either
Shift-Enter or Ctrl-LeftMouseClick.  That will save time returning to the
Step 1 page since it will not need to be requested from Bookshare when you
return to browsing it.

It definitely improves the quality of the book to correct errors while you
go, either as you scan and read, or as you read after the book is scanned.
Scanning the book all at once using the Express Batch mode is quicker, but
you'll want to stop every so often to make sure that the quality of the scan
is still in good shape.  You'll want to especially pay attention to the
pages in the middle of the book if you're using a flatbed since they can be
the most difficult to scan because of the curvature of the book due to the
binding.

Having letters like "m" come out as "rn" or "rn" come out as "m" is a common
scanning error.  It can't be eliminated, but can be reduced by choosing the
best scanning contrast.  Usually Automatic works fine with my Microtech
scanner, but if you see a problem, you may want to play around with the
contrast a bit to see if you can reduce the errors.

Also, OpenBook has an Automatic OCR Correction feature which attempts to
correct many of these errors using a dictionary of words with common
scanning errors along with the words they should be.  This dictionary has at
least two known incorrect entries that you will want to fix if you use the
feature.  You'll want to delete the entry of "com" to "corn" if you're
scanning SF or military books since com is often a substitution for the word
communication.  You'll also want to mark the "tom" to "torn" entry as case
sensitive to prevent OpenBook from changing the name "Tom" to "Torn".

If you haven't notified Bookshare that you plan to scan the book from the
Wish List by clicking on the link next to the book and sending them the
message that the link opens, then I recommend doing so because someone else
may have already informed Bookshare that they are scanning it.  If that is
the case, then someone from Bookshare should reply to the message letting
you know that the book is being scanned or will make a note that you plan to
do it to prevent others from duplicating your effort.

HTH

Gerald

-----Original Message-----
From: Rik James [mailto:d28rik@xxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 12:00 PM
To: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bookshare-discuss] Time for validating a book, correccting
errors in scans, and I like Daisy


Among the text somewhere in the flurry of posts over the weekend someone
said that you could take as much time as you needed to validate a book.  I
am a new bookshare volunteer, and while I have scanned a number of books,  I
am just beginning to try to validate some of the titles in the Step 1 area
that have the .ARK format since I have OpenBook.

This morning when I looked over some of the .ARK format titles,  I think I
recall reading in the text that a person had ONE WEEK to validate the book
after downloading it, after which the title would be put back on the Step 1
list.

Can someone clarify this?  I did not get one today, as I was not sure if I
had the time.

Also, are the longer descriptions available to read before you download
them, in order to know a bit more about the title before choosing to get it?

Thanks.

Someone also mentioned correcting scanning errors as they proceeded in a
book.   I really appreciated hearing that.  I too feel like if I can read as
I go, it makes for a better scan.  Sometimes I find that when there are
errors, I just re-scan and the page errors are not repeated.

Sometimes I have a problem with  the letters o and m being thought to be o r
n. So for example the name Tom might be thought to be the word torn.  I
tried making and OCR correction but then what happens to that fellow, the
poor real Tom?  Or maybe the word commen is thought to be cornmon.   Sounds
like a Reggae cereal, doesn't it?

Also... About reading files in Daisy format... I have just begun using the
FS Reader the little Freedom Scientific Daisy reading software.  It sure
works slicker to me using JAWS than the one that came when I first joined
Bookshare.  I think it was the Viktor demo, which I found to be rather
awkward for navigating through text.  And navigating is what I like about
Daisy as opposed to just plain text.  Nice to have the means to skim through
the article titles and chapter headings and such.


I am going to try and complete a scan on a book I borrowed from our library
that is on the bounty Wish List....   Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert
Jail by Malika Oukfir and Michelle Fitoussi.

Anyway, thanks for the community and have a great week everyone.

Rik
d28rik@xxxxxxx
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References:
- [bookshare-discuss] Time for validating a book, correccting errors in scans, and I like Daisy
  - From: Rik James
[bookshare-discuss] Re: Time for validating a book, correccting errors in scans, and I like Daisy

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