Interesting conversation!
A couple of observations:
(1) As Marissa has said, this problem applies only to a small subset of
submissions.
(2) This discussion shows the problems of what happens when idealism and
the desire for perfection meets the reality of dealing countless
volunteers working often independently in numerous locations using a wide
variety of scanners, ocr packages, editing tools, and
uploading/downloading software.
Those outside BookShare who love criticizing the service often don't sit
down to understand exactly what issues the system faces. Given all that
the system has to deal with, it is remarkable, and this is a testament to
the efforts of the scanners and validators, just how good the average
BookShare book happens to be.
While it is good to race the bar of expectations, we shouldn't raise it
too high where it slows down the amount of material available. And if the
bar is too high, beginning scanners such as myself who frankly are no
where ready to submit anything will feel that we are inadequate to attempt
to submit.
This is where the quality rating system becomes important; as long as
poorly scanned books are labeled as such, the potential downloader has
forewarning to decide if he/she can accept that.
A poorly scanned book is better than no book in my estimation; and a
poorly rated book can always be replaced by a better one down the road.
