[bksvol-discuss] Re: gaps in the collection
- From: "Monica Willyard" <rhyami@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:01:34 -0500
Gary, according to Jim F. and Susie, Bookshare is going to begin retaining
images for educational books soon. It won't affect us because the images
won't be part of the files our technology uses. They'll be extra files
sighted users can access. Jim and Susie have discussed this project in some
of their public seminars and speeches. I think sighted members will love it.
Monica Willyard
"The best way to predict the future is to create it." -- Peter Drucker
_____
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Gary Petraccaro
Sent: Friday, February 27, 2009 2:18 AM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: gaps in the collection
But those books will more than likely have pictures and their pictorial
content may well be central to their point. I don't see how most of us will
be able to do justice to such titles. Nor do I see BookShare changing to
include diagrams, photographs, or line art.
----- Original Message -----
From: Monica Willyard <mailto:rhyami@xxxxxxxxx>
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 3:04 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: gaps in the collection
Hi Carrie. Since Bookshare serves sighted people, I see some gaps others may
not have mentioned. Books about defensive driving, car maintenance,
beauty/fashion, bird watching, scrapbooking, and home decorating and
remodeling are missing from Bookshare. We also don't have many books about
flower arranging, varieties of flowers and plants, and landscaping. Many of
our books about houseplants and gardening are rated fair and are hard to
read. They aren't visible to new members by default. In fact, our "Home and
Garden" category is fairly anemic, especially since around half of the 181
books are Shelley's series of children's books about animals that are
"nature's children." If you watch TV, networks like TLC, A&E, Style, and
HGTV are full of shows about decorating, remodeling, and restoring houses or
about planting lovely gardens and landscaping with designs that flatter the
style of a home.
So far, Bookshare's collection doesn't reflect these types of interests. I
haven't figured out if this lack of content is due to lack of interest from
submitters or if the material is difficult to scan. It could be a
combination of both. I do know that sighted people read books on these
subjects and think they will expect to see books about these topics in the
collection.
Monica Willyard
"The best way to predict the future is to create it." -- Peter Drucker
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