[bksvol-discuss] Re: Are volunteers really that important anymore?
- From: "Kim Friedman" <kimfri11@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:32:39 -0700
Hi, Evan, I take your meaning and if this is so, I think there should be a
single standard of excellence for all to follow, I.e., if they expect
volunteers to do certain things to insure book quality, it seems only right
to me that the same demands are issued to publishers, sub-contractors, and
outsourcers of books. I don't think they should have it both ways here.
Regards, Kim.
_____
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of EVAN REESE
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2009 12:54 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Are volunteers really that important anymore?
You're probably right about publishers not wanting their books to be
altered. However, if a volunteer submitted a book without page breaks or
page numbers, it would be rejected out of hand--as it should be.
When I first joined Bookshare back in 2006, I asked here why it was
necessary to bother with page numbers or page breaks. After all, the book
was in electronic format; you could search for any word or combination of
words in the book and find them almost immediately. I was told in quite a
bit of detail why page numbers and page breaks were important. Well, I came
around on that issue fairly quickly. But now, a publisher can get their
books added to the collection without either page breaks or page numbers.
Seems to be a bit of a step backwards.
I'm not sure what the solution is to that problem. On the one hand, it's
great to have publishers donating their books. The text quality
is--usually--very good, although not perfect. But on the other hand, it
seems a bit unfair that a book can be accepted from one source with missing
stuff that--if volunteers sent it up, would be--rightly--rejected..
Evan
----- Original Message -----
From: Rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2009 2:03 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Are volunteers really that important anymore?
I don't think the publishers want their submissions altered.
"Can a nation be
free if it oppresses other nations? It cannot." Vladimir Lenin
The Militant: http://www.themilitant.com
<http://www.themilitant.com> Pathfinder Press:
http://www.pathfinderpress.com
Granma International: http://granma.cu/ingles/index.html
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Subj:
[bksvol-discuss] Re: Are volunteers really that important anymore?
Date:
8/28/2009 7:11:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From:
wyomiia@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Reply-to:
bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To:
bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent from the Internet
(Details)
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There is one real problem with publisher's books. No page numbers! I use
the Stream to read books at night and it has a sleep button that lets me set
the Stream to turn it's self off in 60 min. I however, go to sleep sooner.
When I turn it on the next day I have to go back anywhere from 10 to 100
pages
to find where I went to sleep.
Could volunteers proof the publisher's books to add pages? That is one
thing I love over the NLS BARD books is page numbers. I'm sure others
prefer Bookshare
books to NLS for this reason too and the fact they take up less room in
storage.
I feel sure there are going to be other problems to show up with publisher's
books that will need volunteers to fix. If Bookshare and the publishers
will
let them.
block quote
----- Original Message -----
From:
Reggie & Brooks
To:
bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 9:00 AM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Are volunteers really that important anymore?
I agree. It seems to me that quite possibly we are, as volunteers, becoming
less and less important to the whole process. It is much simpler to take a
book that has already been made electronic and use that. I personally felt
much more needed at the beginning when I was proofing submissions from my
fellow
volunteers. The idea behind being able to volunteer also was to help anyone
who wanted to spend the time help themselves build up credits to get free
subscriptions. For me, this was an important part but not really the reason
I volunteered. I wanted to help blind people get books that when I was
young
I would have had to wait years for NLS to make available. If BKS decides we
are an unnecessary part, I am unsure if I would look for books on Bookshare
as 50 dollars a year on top of ever higher prices of things is a lot for me.
I think I would be heart broken, however, because Bookshare is a way to
share
with each other, and there is little of that left in this country, in my
opinion. Everyone seems to be out for himself. For me Bookshare is a way I
can
give back to the blind community. I don't do anywhere near the books that
some do, but the time I volunteer I knew was going to give someone somewhere
a book to make them smile, cry, or laugh that he or she might not have
gotten to read if I and my fellow scanner had not taken the time to give to
them.
I don't know if this new publisher books is a good idea and if it will
eventually be deemed we are no longer needed, but I definitely don't feel as
close
to the process or to the people who might enjoy my work.
Reggie
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