Emily, I like your take on this. Just as a side note, Random House is submitting a lot of classics in their original form with background material included. I have downloaded some of these and intend to add them to my personal library. Just some positive thoughts, Sue S. ----- Original Message ----- From: Emily Harrison To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 10:27 PM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: I don't know what to think about things right now I just want to add my support for Roger's statement. Although we all enjoy volunteering for Bookshare, if someday our volunteering becomes obsolete due to the instant accessibility of all books, that will be a happy day indeed! Volunteers at a homeless shelter would not complain if the shelter became obsolete due to all its tenants finding homes of their own, so we should try to see things at that level. Publishers may have a ways to go in improving their scans, but publisher-submitted scans are still a relatively new phenomenon, and the relationship between publishers and Bookshare will develop and improve over time. Volunteers should never feel their efforts were wasted if their scan is replaced with a publisher scan. I personally feel that just the idea of having books be accessible to all makes the hours of hard work worthwhile. Think of all the people who have downloaded and enjoyed the scans we've worked on, even if those scans have since been replaced. If the enjoyment of others doesn't make the effort worthwhile, then maybe volunteering for Bookshare is not a good choice in general. Of course, I certainly think it IS a good choice, and that it will continue to be so as long as volunteers are still needed! -- Emily Harrison greeniebone@xxxxxxxxx -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.851 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3034 - Release Date: 07/28/10 03:37:00