[bksvol-discuss] Re: adult ratings Re: Re: Uh oh -- re weird, Adult rating

  • From: "Pratik Patel" <pratikp1@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 09:08:17 -0500

Shayla,

I agree.  That is the reason why I would rather not choose adult/non adult
rating on a book.  I leave the check box unchecked and let someone else
decide, though, as you correctly sa, this concept of adult rating is
somewhat of an arbitrary and a subjective process.  I believe bookshare
follows the system for marketting reasons more than anything else.  If
parents are so much concerned to subject teenagers/others to restrictions,
they should read and examine material prior to letting them read it.  But,
I'm sure there others on this list who find the ratings helpful and find it
necessary.  In my opinion, no library should be in the business of telling
people what they should read or what they should not.  And, while Bookshare
may not have started that way or the organization itself not see itself as
such, I perceive it to be a library.  Its main function should be to
disseminate knowledge, no matter in what form it comes, regardless of
marketting reasons.  People/clients will come to find a good product and
good quality.  As Jim pointed out in his e-mail about  Text Page Breaks,
users consistently reported that quality was significant.  Once Bookshare
assures that it is absolutely devoted to quality and consistency, it will
find itself swarming with users.  

Sorry bout the rant, folks.  I feel particularly philosophical this morning
because we are plagued with several inches of snow.

Prat



Pratik Patel
Interim Director
Office of Special Services
Queens College
Director
CUNY Assistive Technology Services
The City University of New York
     ppatel@xxxxxx
 
-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Shayla Parker
Sent: Monday, January 17, 2005 3:14 AM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] adult ratings Re: Re: Uh oh -- re weird, Adult
rating

This is neither here nor there, but I've always been more than a little 
amused by the Bookshare adult rating system. Automated checker or not, it's 
always seemed quite arbitrary to me, particularly as it more often than not 
depends on the discression of an individual validator. I highly suspect 
that what I consider to be adult content and what some other validators 
think is adult content are very different things.

Though, personally, I find the entire concept to be vaguely pointless. 
There's an underlying assumption in this sort of system about people's 
inability to deal with complex topics that is in the end more than a little 
paternalistic. If people don't want to read a particular sort of book 
that's one thing, and for that I suppose the system is useful. But telling 
young people what they should and shouldn't read is an inherently flawed 
idea, as is the whole concept of 'look away! look away! bad things in the 
book will leap off the page and infect you!'

I imagine it's partly a legal issue for Bookshare, though, which is a shame 
really because more than one excellent book I remember fondly from my 
teenage years is out of reach of Bookshare's younger members. I have no 
suggestions on how to make the rating process more intuitive, or even more 
uniform as it clearly is not now. So in the end I am entirely unhelpful 
except to muddy the waters a little bit.
skp

At 10:05 PM 1/16/2005, you wrote:
>Sue,
>
>Yes, but the way the bookshare site works is that adult rated books should
>not show up without logging in.  Not only can I see them when I'm not
logged
>in, but the adult rating is totally missing.
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "siss52" <siss52@xxxxxxx>
>To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2005 10:49 PM
>Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Uh oh -- re weird, Adult rating
>
>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > HHi Cindy,
> >
> > Even if folks can see the titles and authors without logging in, they
>can't
> > download them if they are copyrighted..  So I don't see any big deal.
> > <<lol>
> >
> > Sue S.
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Cindy" <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx>
> > To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2005 10:28 PM
> > Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Uh oh -- re weird, Adult rating
> >
> >
> > -But I did at least on Love Slave, which was rhe first
> > I did. I don't think Rosamund needed it. I can' t
> > remember if I did on Until You, but that probably
> > didn't need it either. After that I stopped scanning.
> > Unless it's no longer necessary to log in to see Adult
> > rated books, that is no longer marked Adult.
> >
> > Cindy
> >
> > > You know, I never marked Adult on the bErtrice Small
> > > books.
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________
> > Do you Yahoo!?
> > The all-new My Yahoo! - Get yours free!
> > http://my.yahoo.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >

Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve.
And I am not resigned.

-- 'Dirge Without Music', Edna St. Vincent Millay

Ring the bells that still can ring,
forget your perfect offering,
there is a crack in everything,
that's how the light gets in.
--Leonard Cohen

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