The point about contacting the person for whom the book is being held is a
good one. Last year, I had a Hold for up there for three weeks before I
found out about it because I don't check that list very often unless I'm
expecting something. I did know the book was coming, and had asked for it
to be held for me, but I didn't know exactly when it would be submitted. I
only learned of it because someone else, not the submitter, told me I had
a Hold for up there.
In general, I use Hold fors quite a lot because its the only way of
ensuring that a book will actually be proofread, not just passed through
to the admin queue with the bear minimum. Even if I read through something
I submit, someone else will always find something I missed in their read
through of the book. Then there are books that I scan that I do not choose
to read through. I absolutely want to ensure that those get at least one
read through before getting into the collection. Those are scanned to
order though, so that isn't a problem, and I always contact the
proofreader so the books get picked up, often within minutes.
I also get hold fors from others for the same reason. They trust me to
actually read through the book and make corrections. I still put books up
there without hold fors, but I often feel uncomfortable just submitting a
book and hoping for the best.
So for me and others that I know, the hold for has become the best kind of
quality assurance.
But there definitely needs to be good communication between the submitter
and the proofreader to make things work efficiently.
Evan
----- Original Message -----
From: Monica Willyard
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 10:45 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Hold fors
Hi Mickey. Over time, I am slowly shifting my point of view on the hold
for issue. It used to be that less than ten percent of books were hold
fors, and I was content with that level. I still think it has value and
is needed in instances like Marilyn's or when someone needs help with
fixing up recipes, charts, and such. I have seen it abused though, and
I'm beginning to think we're going overboard as a group. I don't mean
that any specific person is doing this. I think it's more of a group
drift. I was startled Sunday night when I discovered that the entire
first page of books were hold fors when I went to look at books. I have
mine set to 50, and I didn't find one single book on that page that
wasn't being held for someone. In fact, only 16 books from page 2 didn't
have holds. I don't mind it if a person is actively working on a project
or is taking the books to proofread on a consistent basis. I recognized
some of the names like Marilyn's and understand what's going on with her
holds. After some thought, I wrote to a few of the people with books
being held for them, and three of them didn't even know someone had
posted books for them.
I don't have a great solution here. I'll bet we can come up with one
that works well, if not perfectly. I guess I would just ask people to
take a couple of very quick precautions. If a book is being held for you
and you find that you can't handle it, just post to the list. We
understand that life happens and would rather get the book proofread
than have you tied up in knots because you can't do it. If you are
someone who submits books with holds on them, I ask you to consider
doing two things. First, if your book is going to be held for someone,
please make a point of writing or calling them to let them know the book
is available once you submit it. Second, if your book has special needs
like recipes that need to be fixed, please note that in the comments.
That way, if your proofreader can't take on the book after some time,
Carrie could remove the hold with your permission and let another
qualified volunteer work on it. These things would keep communication
flowing for all of us. Maybe that would be enough to help us get back on
track with each other. What do you think?
Monica Willyard
"The best way to predict the future is to create it." -- Peter Drucker
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mickey
Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 8:48 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Hold fors
Hi. I just went to get a book to validate, but I'm truly discouraged.
There are so many hold for books that I have the definite feeling that
only the ones nobody else wants are available. There are some people who
have 10 and 12 books waiting for them.
I'm sorry, I'm just discouraged. Some of those books have been there for
a long time. Maybe if a book has been in the queue for two weeks, the
hold should be removed? Just a thought, and probably a very unpopular
one. <smile>
Not trying to be destructive, only trying to get books out there.
Mickey
