Off the top of my head...1. Top priority: Fix the volunteer manual (which I know Mayrie is doing) so that it is clear, and easily navigated. It's essential that it can be downloaded and searched in its entirety all at once. Currently it's intimidating, poorly laid out and nearly impossible to use as a new volunteer right now, which new volunteers often post when they join this list. Even as an experienced volunteer you can't find things in it. 2. The volunteer manual can't cover everything. It's too intimidating for a new volunteer. So make up a searchable FAQ or database or Wiki or whatever that all volunteers can go to and search for answers. I made up a FAQ as a possible starting point for Scott based on thousands of postings, and he loved it but then it got dropped for whatever reason. We have huge expertise in the volunteer community and it's getting lost and wasted by not preserving that knowledge and making it available. 3. Fix the "who is safe who isn't" publishers list so it's obvious where it is, not buried, and accessible easily to volunteers, not buried somewhere that you have to ask all the time where to find it, and make sure it gets updated at least once a month. 4. Put an updates page on the volunteer website that documents (and keeps a history of) when things change, by date--the way software developers do for versions of their software. That way we can check and know that when we proof or scan if something's changed in the way we're supposed to handle things, like footnotes or ellipses or whatever. 5. Fix the books checked out page as we've been promised now for years would happen so that you can release a book and put comments in so that anyone who looks to check out a book knows why it was released.
Whew. That's it for now. smile. Judy s. On 3/29/2012 1:45 PM, Madeleine Linares wrote:
Hi all,One of our big projects is redoing the Volunteer section of the Bookshare website and I would love your input! As some of you may have noticed, it's a bit out of date and confusing. Here are just a few questions I came up with that I thought might have especially helpful answers. Feel free to answer one question, all, or add other comments if you feel so inclined. Please note that this is NOT a discussion about the Volunteer Manual. We are currently working on that and will ask for your feedback as soon as we have made more progress on it.What information would be helpful for new volunteers that is currently missing or hard to find?What do you think of the current layout of the "Volunteer Overview" page as compared to the "Community Overview" page? Is it easier to find what you're looking for? More difficult?What do you like least about the Volunteer section of the website? What do you like most or find most helpful? Is there anything that currently is not on the website but should be?For those who use other tools to read the website (such as Screen Readers): what are your thoughts? Is the "Volunteer Overview" page any different from the pages on the Bookshare website?Your feedback is very much appreciated, as, of course, is your time and effort in the volunteering process. Thanks for everything!Best, Madeleine Linares Volunteer Coordinator
