[bksvol-discuss] Re: changes in books and volunteering

  • From: "Bob" <rwiley@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:35:38 -0500

Hi Gwen.

Most bookshare members are not volunteers.

I think it is admirable that you want to help out, but, if it is going to create a lot of stress, it probably isn't worth it.

I'm not saying don't volunteer, that's a decision only you can make. However, if solving the problems that come up when scanning or proofreading a book are not fun, then don't stress yourself out over it. What's the worse thing that can happen? Maybe bookshare will cut your pay. <lol>.

I know for myself and probably most others on this list, if proofreading ever gets to be a real hassel and not fun, that's when I hang up my spurs.

Just my opinion,
Bob


"We know the future will outlast all of us, but I believe that all of us will live on in the future we make,"
Senator Edward M. Kennedy
----- Original Message ----- From: "gwen tweedy" <gstweedy@xxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 5:57 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: changes in books and volunteering


It is wonderful to have more books get on site,
that means more to read and this is good.
And I am glad quality has gone up,
this is what it should do, because no one enjoys reading a poor book.
Where I'm concerned is,
I can correct words that are wrong or missing,
I can make sure there are no missing pages,
and there numbers are there that kind of thing.
But I have to be honest,
I'm probably gonna mess up,
like beginning and ending of paragraphs, or maybe won't see a blank line,
I have to   figure  out how to erase blank lines,
I've been known when I have had to add a missing word or correct I've ran it into another word and had to take it out and put it on a new line.
That insures that I don't mess up something,
and yet that messes up the book probably the paragraphing the ends of lines that kind of things,
and if my book is gonna be rejected for those types of things,
there is no way in the world I'm gonna turn out a book that meets or is totally satisfactory. I just am not gonna know always where a paragraph ends or maybe I'll break it off at the wrong place. Not seeing the print or the screen I'm afraid that is gonna be tough to get it perfect, and Gwen's having enough trouble as it is,
so this seems like a puzzle for me anyway.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob" <rwiley@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 5:23 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: changes in books and volunteering


I think we can all agree that bookshare has changed.

Every day we get a list of the new books added to the system, and it's normally at least fifty books or more. Once we were lucky if we got fifty books a week.

We now have a choice of downloads, daisy or Braille, and sometimes we can choose daisy with or without images.

The clientele for bookshare has changed too. Bookshare isn't just for the blind anymore.

Most of us look back with some sense of loss (them was the good ol' days). But as I see it, I welcome these changes. This is a long long way from where I started getting books via the internet. My first books were downloaded from newsgroups and illegal sites that rose up to fill a need.

Volunteering for bookshare has also changed. Books rated fair are no longer accepted, submitters and proofreaders are asked to do much more, including changing the fonts of chapter headings etc.

As I see it if volunteering for bookshare becomes a thing of the past, it will be because we can't, or won't, keep up with the other changes going on.

Roger, and others, have asked some wonderful questions. The main one, I think, is, is there a future for volunteers, and my answer is there will be a future, if we make it so. Frankly, I'm enjoying being part of that future.

Just my opinion.
Bob


"We know the future will outlast all of us, but I believe that all of us will live on in the future we make,"
Senator Edward M. Kennedy
----- Original Message ----- From: "Donna Goodin" <goodindo@xxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 3:05 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] changes in books and volunteering


Hi all,

I have been feeling for some time that the blind/braille community is becoming almost an afterthought here at bookshare. I agree with the person who said that bookshare is getting away from its original mission, perhaps broadening it, but in broadening it, also focusing more on the reading issues of other groups. More and more I find that when I submit a book to bookshare, I have to produce two copies, one for myself, and one for Bookshare. Honestly, I'm not sure how much more of that I am willing to do. I also wonder if it's really realistic to have a one-size-fits-all approach to formatting. It makes total sense that the needs of a user who is sighted like Judy, would be different from the needs of someone like myself who is not. For example, the first thing I do when I pull up a book in MS-Word, is make the font size uniform throughout the document. I find that getting rid of large fonts makes the editing process much easier. Similarly, I don't care about page numbering in fiction books, and I don't want to have to forward my braille display through a line of dashes, another line that says "blank page" and then another line of dashes. Bookshare seems much more willing to ask me to put up with that, than to say that a sighted user should have to live without enlarged chapter headings. I'm not sure what the answer to all this is, but I will say that I've been feeling unhappy for a while now about what I'm seeing coming out of Bookshare.
Best,
Donna
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