[bksvol-discuss] Re: book synopses and volunteer poll
- From: "Lori Castner" <loralee.castner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:40:38 -0700
Hi, Lissi,
I very much admire your ability to write or rewrite synopses. It is one of
the chores I intensely dislike doing. However, when I read one that is
really poor on the medidata, I grit my teeth and rewrite it!
I forgot to mention one item in my survey that I feel strongly about and
wish it could be added to existing data. The questions did not remind me to
mention it and I was having a lot of trouble getting information into the
form.
I wish that Bookshare would create one SEARCHABLE database including all the
books in bookshare--whether they are "planning to be scanned", already in
the collection, on the checkout list, in books in processing or being
processed by outsourcers. With one such database, volunteers could find out
much more easily when a book is being worked on. Right now it is necessary
to search too many databases. The difficulty of finding out the status of a
book is one reason I have virtually stopped scanning. I have mentioned this
before on this list and to staff--hope it will happen someday!
And, not to begin a thread of off topic messages, Happy Earth Day to all.
We live on a fragile planet!
Lori C.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Estelnalissi" <airadil@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 8:42 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] book synopses and volunteer poll
Dear Jill and Booksharian Friends,
Jill, I agree with your observation that synopses are sadly neglected,
underwritten and uninformative. In the survey I suggested that another
task volunteers could take on to assist Bookshare is to replace inadequate
synopses with thoughtfully written ones. This includes short synopses
which consist of the first 50 words of the dust jacket information which
often don't give an overall summation of the book and even cut off in
midsentence. The volunteer might not need to read the entire book, but
should spot read and do enough research to write from knowledge, not
copying Amazon or other reviews which isn't allowed anyway.
I made several other suggestions and raved about the many things I love
about Bookshare, too.
It was disappointing to hear that fewer than ten per cent of volunteers on
this list filled out the survey. The problems I had with it, which were
just like those Lori Castner noticed, have been corrected. With Windows XP
and JAWS 10, the survey was easy to read and fill out.
A few months ago I missed a survey because I procrastinated. I've been
kicking myself ever since. Now there's a new survey and I hopped to it to
make my experiences and ideas known. I hope more of you will take this
opportunity to communicate your impressions of what works and isn't
working so well from your perspective as volunteers. This is our chance to
talk to the staff. I'm so glad they are asking and are listening. Let's
not waste this chance.
Always with love,
Lissi
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jill O'Connell" <jillocon@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 1:48 AM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Currently scanning
Has anyone seen Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons in the
collection? I entered this in the search box the other day and it took me
to other books by this author but not the one I had sought. I read this
book in braille a few years ago but may have obtained it from Web
Braille. While I am on this subject, I think most of the comments that
are showing up about the books are abysmal. They are obviously pieced
from original synopses or something, often including an advertising about
the book or author, marginally helpful in my opinion.
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