[bksvol-discuss] Re: books I validated today

  • From: "Evan Reese" <mentat1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006 14:26:09 -0800

I haven't looked at the book Lissi is refering to, but if her description is accurate, then how can Bookshare justify giving this book a Good rating. It should have been rejected, and it would have been if a validator had bothered to take the time to check it out beyond the minimum requirements. I have gotten other books marked as Good that were in similar condition and have resubmitted two so far.


As for tacit censorship, that is nonsense. Censorship is a policy of restriction that is imposed by an organization or government, not a result of a group of people doing what they choose to do. If Bookshare had a paid staff of proofreaders, then they would be obligated to validate and proofread everything that shows up on the doorstep, or on the website. But until that day comes, I choose to scan and validate what I like to read, and make it the best it can be. But, Monica, clearly you are doing more than the minimum required validation. A good spell check would have done wonders for some of the books rated Good that I have gotten, and the Burns book, if Lissi's description is accurate. So if you want to get these books out of Step One and into the admin queue, that is good. But it is not tacit censorship if most people do not feel obligated to take them. Volunteers are just that, and they use their time as they feel they wish to. Besides, it is certainly true that a submitter has the right to expect that their submission should be dealt with in a timely manner, but what is your definition of that? If it takes a week or two, for busy volunteers, or even a bit longer, to get a mediocre scan into a nearly perfect scan, is that really too long?

Since you are not doing the kind of minimalist validation that has let obviously some rather poor stuff get on the system - even though it is rated as Good - I'm not sure if this discussion has a point other than to highlight that we are a diverse group with different philosophies and interests, and who feel different obligations.

Since you asked for a practical solution: If it were possible, I would advocate that the ratings be tightened up substantially. I'm not sure how that could be done with the automated system, since there is quite a bit of variability in the percentages between books of different types that could be perfect scans. I am reminded of Gerald's example of The Wheel of Time books wich have a huge number of proper names in them, which brings down the rating by the automated system. So it is up to validators to try to ensure the best quality they can. If the same kind of analysis could be done on a book upon submission that is done when it goes to the admin queue, and books below a certain level were rejected on the spot, that might help. Because even with the caveat I just mentioned, I still expect that the quality standards could be tightened up without fear of books like Jordan's being rejected. But I don't know if such a thing will ever happen, so I guess I don't have a practical solution, either. Sorry. <grin>

Evan

----- Original Message ----- From: "Monica Willyard" <plumlipstick@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 12:30 AM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: books I validated today



I can see how using Braille would point out the flaws in a book. Speech is far more forgiving in that department. That said, I believe that submitters have the right to have their books processed in a timely fashion if they comply with Bookshare's submission requirements. Since Bookshare allows good rated submissions to be accepted, it leaves validaters with the critical choice of determining the fate of those books. I understand your commitment to quality. The thing is that if we were honest with ourselves, how many of us are interested enough in corporate finance to validate books about it? Is the submitter of such a book worthy of less attention because he has chosen a subject that doesn't capture our interest? Our volunteer base is small compared to the membership base. Is it fair to them that we keep books in pergatory for a year or more because we have stringent standards beyond those of Bookshare itself and impose those standards on books in the step 1 area? To say that one should only validate what one likes in order to produce maximum quality imposes a tacit policy of censorship, skewing the content of the collection toward books validaters enjoy. This undercuts the will and efforts of the submitters and possibly that of the Bookshare membership as well if they have requested that certain titles be scanned. Further, I would submit that many Bookshare users would prefer to have access to a book rated good and to have the choice of whether or not they will read it. To me, this position against submission of books rated as good is objectionable, and I am beginning to feel frustrated when the same people bring up this issue from time to time but do little to present a practical solution that would protect the interests of submitters.

Our over all trend is toward scans rated as excellent, and that is a wonderful thing. Some of our submitters are getting credits that they actually earned last year, and I think that is a good thing too. I would like to see more people celebrating the fact that these books have been dealt with and that our step 1 queue is much smaller and more current. I would also like to see people with an eye for detail pitch in and help process these older books, whether that means fixing them up or rejecting them if they do not meet Bookshare's requirements.


Monica Willyard
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