[bksvol-discuss] Re: Hold for how long?

  • From: Rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx
  • To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:28:47 EDT

 
It is not really bothering me. I am simply having thoughts occur to me as I  
read these messages and I express those thoughts. In a message dated 9/11/2008 
 5:21:21 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, rhyami@xxxxxxxxx writes:

Tracy  and Roger, I think you may be underestimating the depth and
scope of the  Bookshare member and volunteer grapevine that operates
outside of this  list. This list doesn't even scratch the surface since
there are phone  calls, Skype calls, MSN messages, face to face visits,
voice chat groups,  other mailing lists, and online classes going on
between many members of  Bookshare. Very few Bookshare volunteers
operate in a vacuum.

When I  went to the hospital for emergency surgery this past May, I let
a friend  know about my situation. She thoughtfully posted to this list
and asked  people to take the books being held for me. Carrie
immediately removed the  words "hold for" from the titles so people
would know that the books needed  attention. When I got back home a
week later, all of the books had been  taken and were in the
collection. I was able to relax and rest, knowing  that others had
carried the ball for me. The same thing happened when I  went into the
hospital with pneumonia, a definitely sudden event. I used a  cell
phone from the hospital to let a fellow volunteer know, and she  picked
up my work for me.

The hold for system works very well most  of the time. Yes, as with any
system involving people, it has its flaws. It  depends on our open
communication with each other, and that doesn't always  happen. Still,
it doesn't take much time to send a two sentence email to  the list
asking if anyone knows what's up with a book and do they mind if  you
work on it. I can say with certainty that every Bookshare volunteer  is
known by at least one other volunteer or staff member. Some of us  even
know why certain books are lingering on step 1 and would gladly  share
that information with you if you ask. Pavi is also a resource and  has
asked people to contact her if they're having a problem with a  book
from step 1. So if the list doesn't know what's going on, Pavi is  able
to contact the person by phone and/or email.

Finally, I am  curious about why the hold for books are bothering you
when we have over 40  books that have been on step 1 for 18 months or
longer. These books have no  validater in mind, and the submitters are
waiting in limbo for their  credits. It perplexes me that the hold for
issue keeps popping up when  there is so much work that needs to be
done already. It's like having a  huge Hershey's chocolate bar and
fighting over just one or 2 of the  squares. There is plenty of work,
credits, and good books to go around.  Some of us submitters are
holding back on adding more books because we see  so many books needing
to be validated. We stop scanning to help get the  books moving off
step 1. We could literally tripple the step 1 queue  overnight if we
had more validaters. I'm talking about 900 books. Wouldn't  that be a
sight?



-- 
Monica Willyard
Visit my blog at  http://www.scannersguild.com
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