[bksvol-discuss] Re: adult content?
- From: "Sarah Van Oosterwijck" <curiousentity@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 11:34:39 -0500
Yes, that may be official policy, but in actual fact, there are a very large
number of books that are not rated as adult in the collection that probably
should have been. I wonder if people uncheck the checkbox sometimes.
I have a question. when a review is written, does it appear on the download
page for the book, or do you have to follow a link to read it?
Thanks.
Sarah Van Oosterwijck
curious entity at earthlink dot net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Scialli" <Peter.s@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 8:10 AM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: adult content?
> I'm joining this thread late, but below is our official statement on
the
> Adult Content issue.
>
> At Bookshare.org, we know that the definition of so-called adult content
is
> subjective. We try to be flexible in terms of working with individual
users
> and the parents of our minor subscribers in delivering open access to
books
> while not exposing anyone to material which might be deemed offensive or
> inappropriate.
> Every book in the Bookshare.org collection is processed through an
> automated tool which assesses the content for the prescence of language
> which is customarily thought to be violent, profain, explicitly sexual or
> otherwise objectionable to a significant number of people. When our
> volunteers review books for publication on the Bookshare.org site, they
are
> asked to agree or disagree with the automated assessment. If they
disagree,
> the book is more carefully reviewed by a member of the Bookshare.org staff
> to help in providing the rating. Children or adults requesting shielding
> from adult content will not normally have access to books which carry the
> Adult rating.
> While the system may not be perfect, we have found it to be very
effective
> in limiting the delivered material to the standards of most people who
> subscribe to Bookshare.org. Of course, there are times when a book may be
> rated as having Adult content contrary to the opinion of most. Less
often,
> a book which may have some objectionable material may make it past the
> screening process. In either case, we are able to take action to assist
the
> individual user in getting only the material that he or she wants.
> Adults may request access to adult material at any time. Those under
> eighteen years of age may provide a signed request from a parent or
guardian
> asking for access to an individual title or to adult content in general.
In
> the latter case, the child will be classified by the system as being over
> eighteen and the parent has agreed to be responsible for the material
> requested by the child memb er.
> If you have any questions about the process or about access to a
particular
> book, please feel free to contact us by writing to
> support@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
> ________________________
> Peter M. Scialli, Ph.D.
> Associate, Technical Projects, Bookshare.org
> www.bookshare.org
>
> A Project of The Benetech Initiative - Technology Serving Humanity
> peter @benetech.org
> www.benetech.org
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sarah Van Oosterwijck" <curiousentity@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 9:07 AM
> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: adult content?
>
>
> > I too vote for the same notation as the library of congress listings.
> They
> > are far more accurate and informative than the adult content check, and
> > there aren't any judgement calls, or distortions to the true meaning of
> the
> > word adult. Adult really doesn't have anything to do with the issue as
> far
> > as I am concerned.
> >
> > I don't object to the blocking of books containing adult content,
because
> I
> > don't see how not allowing people under 18 to read those books could
> really
> > hurt them, and parents can tell bookshare to override that setting for
> their
> > children if they can think of a reason for doing so, but I also think
> people
> > under 18 can learn to make their own choices, and obey their parents
> wishes
> > without a programmed inforcer. Calling that content adult is just a way
> to
> > make it sound more appealing to kids wanting to be adults. It is also
an
> > insult to adults who don't want to read that stuff.
> >
> > Sarah Van Oosterwijck
> > curious entity at earthlink dot net
> >
> >
>
>
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