And the list of books to be validated is growing constantly larger. I wonder
why Bookshare couldn't check a book for accuracy before its going on the
step 1 list and returning books for rescan if they don't meet a certain
standard. I would think this would help eliminate all of the good and fair
books out there that Bookshare encourages readers to do over, ending up
paying twice as much in volunteer fees for the book. It seems to me that we
have come so far beyond the original concept of Bookshare that meaningful
changes need to be made in the expected standards if Bookshare is really to
continue to thrive. It particularly bothers me when I see books that would
be desirable for students to read and then find significant errors. If I
were a school district or an individual, I would really resent it if I had
such a book embossed with all the expense that that entailed. I believe
Bookshare is at the point in its development where quality is more important
than quantity.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Cindy" <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 8:24 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: link for gift subscription
Yay!! I am indeed jumping for joy. That's great!!
And I'm glad to see that gift subscriptions are available., as E mentioned.
I guess I missed the suggestion of credits for new members--but I do think, as has been mentioned before, that credits for careful validation should be increased. I thought membership was $50 not $75, but even at $50 (is that for continuing subscriptions?) 100 validations to get the next subscription, and only 20 submissions. No wonder more people are submitting, and books are Fair or Good, than are validating.
Cindy
Good news is a major grant has been given to Benetech so we get to open the job requisition for more staff to manage the Bookshare.org collection and production of same. Please take a moment to jump with joy. M
--- Janice Carter <Janice.C@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Great idea to revisit the use of credits for new members. Give us a couple of weeks to come up with some suggestions.
As far as "poor Gustavo," yes, he has been carrying quite a lot over the past six months (as are lots of others at Benetech). Good news is a major grant has been given to Benetech so we get to open the job requisition for more staff to manage the Bookshare.org collection and production of same. Please take a moment to jump with joy. More details in Gustavo's newsletter next week.
On the road until next Thursday....
Janice
-----Original Message----- From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of E. Sent: Friday, December 02, 2005 7:06 PM To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: link for gift subscription
I understand why not giving away personal credits could be discouraged. I am not talking about that. I am talking about giving someone something toward a subscription using credit cards. I think it might increase the
money flow some and not be much trouble to set up.
E. At 06:57 PM 12/2/2005, you wrote:
>I tried a couple of years ago to give my credits to >someone who might need them,but Jesse said it wasn't >possible for two reasons; one wouldn't apply to gift >certificates, but the other was some kind of a >technical transferring problem. Maybe that doesn't >apply any more. I think gift certificates is a great >idea. Mostly what I give my adult children for >Christmas is give certificates to stores where they >usually shop. > >Cindy > >--- tom hawkins <tjhawk1@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > Since it seems that increasing our membership is > > also part of the issue > > maybe a sponsorship using credits earned from > > scanning and validating. > > Perhaps there sighted folks in schools or where ever > > that would recomend > > canidates. Once a member likely is some of them > > will stick. Tom > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "E." <thoth93@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > Sent: Friday, December 02, 2005 10:26 AM > > Subject: [bksvol-discuss] link for gift subscription > > > > > > > What about a link so someone can give you a gift? > > They could give you a > > > renewal of an existing subscription all or in > > part. Would this be > > > possible using, say, credit cards. Kind of like > > me buying someone a $20 > > > gift certificate at Amazon. The agreement might > > be that the $20 is to be > > > applied to an account. Hope this makes sense. I > > want a way so someone > > > could give someone else $20 or something in case > > the giver does not wish > > > to pay for a whole year's subscription. > > > > > > It might be a fun thing for the community to be > > able to gift each other in > > > that way. We could send each other gift > > certificates. > > > > > > > > > > > > At 12:34 PM 12/2/2005, you wrote: > > > > > >>Tom, > > >> > > >>Since you're obviously wondering why you as a > > volunteer couldn't be > > >>allowed to help with approvals, let me explain the > > issues. BTW, You > > >>aren't the first volunteer to wonder about this, > > and certainly won't be > > >>the last. I had seen this issue brought up > > earlier this year, so I asked > > >>Gustavo the question several months back when I > > began monitoring the list > > >>because I knew it would eventually pop up again > > and wanted to be prepared > > >>if it did. > > >> > > >>Time isn't the issue here. It's money. An > > administrator needs to be a > > >>paid employee in order to have accountability. > > Bookshare has legal > > >>obligations to meet every time they add a book to > > the collection. If an > > >>employee adds books to the collection without > > ensuring that those legal > > >>obligations are met, then they can be held > > accountable. Volunteers can > > >>not. There is also the issue that it would > > probably take a considerable > > >>number of books in the collection with incorrect > > titles, authors, or > > >>copyright info before the problem could be > > discovered. if the problem > > >>gets that far, then Bookshare has a serious > > problem to deal with. Also, > > >>accountability means possibly losing your job, not > > losing your membership. > > >> > > >>There is also the issue of administrators having > > access to members' and > > >>volunteers' personal information since that info > > is probably kept in the > > >>same database or on the same system. > > >> > > >>As for Gustavo handling the load by himself at > > this time, He seems quite > > >>capable of doing so, so I wouldn't worry about him > > having to do it all by > > >>himself right now. There will no doubt come a > > time in the future when he > > >>will no longer be able to carry the load without > > help, and Bookshare will > > >>address that problem when it occurs. Hopefully > > Bookshare will be in much > > >>better shape financially before that does occur > > and can hire someone who > > >>can not only share in some of the responsibility > > of approving books, but > > >>can act as a volunteer coordinator as well which > > will free up Gustavo and > > >>Janice to focus on all of the other tasks they > > were doing before Marissa > > >>left for graduate school. > > >> > > >>BTW, don't worry about venting on the list. A > > certain amount of that is > > >>not only expected, but healthy. It's only a big > > deal when a volunteer > > >>chooses to post about the same problem day after > > day after day. > > >> > > >>HTH > > >> > > >>Gerald > > >> > > >>-----Original Message----- > > >>From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > >>[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On > > Behalf Of tom hawkins > > >>Sent: Friday, December 02, 2005 1:13 AM > > >>To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > >>Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: venting my > > frustrations > > >> > > >>Hi Gerald, I apologize for venting. I understand > > the book being kicked > > >>back under the circumstances. I didn't know that > > Gustavo was doing all of > > >>the administrator approvals.But then the question > > remains, Why is Gustavo > > >>trying to carry the entire program on his back? I > > know money is an issue, > > >>but cirtainly there is some way through some of > > these problems. I don't > > >>have a million to donate, but I do have time. Is > > there something I can do > > >>to help? Tom > > >>----- Original Message ----- > > >>From: <mailto:geraldhovas@xxxxxxxxxxx>Gerald Hovas > > >>To: > >
<mailto:bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > >>Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 9:55 PM > > >>Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: venting my > > frustrations > > >> > > >>Tom, > > >> > > >> From what Gustavo has told me, the most common > > error related to filling > > >> out the copyright fields on the submission form > > is entering the publisher > > >> in the copyright name field instead of the > > copyright holder. Because he > > >> has to kick so many books back due to this error, > > you should always > > >> provide information about the copyright holder in > > the comments field when > > >> the copyright holder turns out to be the > > publisher after all. In this > > >> instance, I believe it is well worth the trouble > > of verifying the > > >> copyright holder through an internet site like > > >> <http://www.copyright.gov>www.copyright.gov or > > through sighted assistance > > >> then including a comment informing him that you > > have verified that the > > >> copyright is actually the publisher and include > > an explanation of how you > > >> went about verifying it. If the book isn't a new > > release, then I'd > > >> recommend using the > > <http://www.copyright.gov>www.copyright.gov site > > >> since Gustavo can reference the site if he > > wishes. > > >> > > >>As for opening the book up and looking for > > himself, that isn't always the > > >>most reliable way to verify something as important > > as the copyright > > >>information since the volunteers who are putting > > the publisher in the > > >>copyright name field by accident could have been > > confused enough about > > >>copyright to have changed that line before > > submission. Granted that it's > > >>unlikely, but if I were in Gustavo's shoes, I > > wouldn't feel comfortable > > >>about trusting the contents of a submission by > > someone who couldn't fill > > >>the form out properly due to a possible lack of > > understanding of > > >>copyright. > > >> > > >>I understand your frustration, but when you take > > into consideration the > > >>number of books Gustavo has actually approved this > > year, it's > > >>understandable if he accidentally kicks one back > > by accident every now and > > >>then. I'm not sure, but I believe Marissa > > approved a handful of the 4900 > > >>books which have been added so far this year. > > Even if she did, I'd > > >>suspect that Gustavo's approved at least 4700 of > > those 4900 books, if not > > >>4850 of them. With that many books being > > approved, it's bound to happen > > >>since he is always going to err on the side of > > caution since adding a book > > >>to the collection which has incorrect copyright > > information has the > > >>potential to be a more serious problem than > > frustrating a volunteer over > > >>getting their book kicked back by accident. > > >> > > >>BTW, the staff is aware that it would be helpful > > for the system to notify > > >>a volunteer when one of their validations is > > kicked back or accepted. As > > >>long as Bookshare has limited resources though, > > Engineering will have to > > >>postpone some upgrades which volunteers want in > > order to make improvements > > >>which will have a greater impact on members and > > volunteers. > > >> > > >>Again, I understand your frustration. I've had a > > book kicked back on me > > >>too, and from what Gustavo and I were able to > > determine, it was due to > > >>nothing more than his approving books when he > > should have been in bed > > >>instead. My kickback didn't even happen to have a > > note. It just looked > > >>like Gustavo clicked the wrong button because he > > was tired. > > >> > > >>Gerald > > >> > > >>-----Original Message----- > > >>From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > >>[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On > > Behalf Of tom hawkins > > >>Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 9:55 PM > > >>To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > >>Cc: Gustavo Galindo > > >>Subject: [bksvol-discuss] venting my frustrations > > >> > > >>Hi Everyone, > > >> > > >>Well I' am totally frustrated with bookshare and > > the lack of simple > > >>communication procedures. I spent a great deal of > > time validating a book > > >>to make as near perfect as possible including > > using my wife's time which > > >>she treasures dearly. I went to the step one list > > to see if any of the > > >>Dale Brown books that I submitted nearly three > > months ago were returned, > > >>only to find the book that I just validated back > > on the step one list and > > >>no communication from bookshare. When I checked > > the notes, the > > >>administrator apparently did not like the > > copyright. > > >> > > >> Well a publisher is clearly listed as the > > copyright holder. So now what > > >> does it take to fix the problem! If the > > administrator took a moment to > > >> open the book it clearly states that the > > copyright holder is the > > >> publishing company as listed. Is there some > > special miracle to be > > >> performed? I have decided not to list the > > problems that I encountered > > >> with the web site, as Iwell it seems that the > > designer was a mouse user > > >> and could see what they were doing. > > >> > > >>Tom > > > > > > To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email > > to > > > bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > > put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the > > subject line. To get a list > > > of available commands, put the word 'help' by > > itself in the subject line. > > > > > > > To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to > > bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject > > line. To get a list of available commands, put the > > word 'help' by itself in the subject line. > > > > > > > > >__________________________________ >Start your day with Yahoo! - Make it your home page! >http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs > To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to >bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list >of available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.
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