[bksvol-discuss] Re: Why People Submit Poor Quality Scans
- From: "Lora" <loravara@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:30:13 -0600
I think you're right on track. And perhaps we could undertake the project
of writing such quality guidelines ourselves, since we're in the trenches
every day, scanning and validating books. Maybe if we could present
Benetech with some guidelines already completed, it might help to expedite
the process.
The other solution is to ask Bookshare to scan the book on submission, just
as it does when we're submitting it after the final validation. By doing
this, it would provide some instant feedback for the submitter on the
quality of their book, as well as alerting the validator as to the true
quality of the book they were about to tackle.
-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Monica Willyard
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 2:49 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Why People Submit Poor Quality Scans
Dear Bookshare friends, I think we're making several assumptions about
people who submit poor scans. Because of that, I would like to propose a
solution that may work. Even if you disagree with me, would you please hear
me out and give this some thought?
First, I think we assume that people submit bad scans just to get credits.
That may be true in some cases, but I don't think it applies to everyone. I
also think it's possible to have several motives for submission mixed
together, motives like wanting to share a good book paired with wanting to
earn credits.
I think we also assume that all of these people know how to create quality
scans. If they aren't on this list, that's probably a wrong assumption. I
used to think that getting a 93 percent scan was great because I didn't have
anything to compare it to. I thought I was doing just fine and would have
rated my scan as good or even excellent in some cases. I would have done
this because the book is excellent compared to most of my other scans. As I
look back now, many of my older scans are flat out garbage! It took seeing
how Katie and Tom scan and submit for me to see how poor my scans were.
Then I felt ashamed of my sloppy scans and would have quit but for Katie's
encouragement and Elizabeth and Gerald's clear, direct help.
Another assumption I catch myself making is that Bookshare members really
understand the purpose of the two mailing lists and that they can learn from
this list even if they aren't an official volunteer. I talked to someone
the other day who was submitting books and volunteering for a year before
joining our list and learning from it. How might the knowledge here have
impacted her submissions during that year?
The other assumption I found myself making is that people are using K1000,
Openbook, or FineReader to scan books. I found out today that there are two
scanning programs that sell for $75, and some of our members may be using
those.
Ok, you might be thinking, so what could possibly resolve these issues? I
can think of three things. Can you come up with some too?
First, most of us know at least one person who is submitting books here and
who isn't on this list. We could spend a little time teaching that person
about how to adjust OCR settings to get better scans and gently teach the
person about solving his or her specific bugaboos. You know, we all have
scanners with minds of their own, and there were certain errors we had to
compensate for over time to get our scans to come out better. (smile) Some
people won't care, but others will gladly accept help to get better scans.
Second, we can personally invite these people to join one of the lists if
they like to submit books. Then they have an immediate source of help if
they hit a scanning problem they can't solve. If they're shy, they can read
the archives for ideas or write to someone privately.
>>The third solution would be on Benetech's end. I think it would help
>>submitters if they had a better set of guidelines for rating their
>>books. What does the phrase "some errors" actually mean? Bookshare
>>doesn't rate your book as you submit it like it does when you
>>validate. For those of us without K1000, how can we rate our book
>>accurately if we know it has errors but don't know how many?
>>Bookshare has made the ratings for submissions a very subjective thing
>>that submitters have no concrete guidelines for. As a consequence,
>>validaters will keep on getting poorly scanned books rated as
>>excellent by submitters who may not be sure how their book should be
>>rated.
What do you all think? Do you think this is on track, or am I nuts?
Monica Willyard
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