[bksvol-discuss] Re: adult content?
- From: Guido Corona <guidoc@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 12:49:06 -0500
Sarah, if you have concerns about particular books, please send notes
directly to the administrator with the list of books and your concerns
clearly explained. Bookshare staff can make an official call on each
title and take appropriate action.
Guido
Guido D. Corona
IBM Accessibility Center, Austin Tx.
IBM Research,
Phone: (512) 838-9735
Email: guidoc@xxxxxxxxxxx
Visit my weekly Accessibility WebLog at:
http://www-3.ibm.com/able/weblog/corona_weblog.html
"Sarah Van Oosterwijck" <curiousentity@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent by: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
06/08/2004 11:34 AM
Please respond to
bksvol-discuss
To
<bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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Subject
[bksvol-discuss] Re: adult content?
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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