[bksvol-discuss] Re: prohibiting kes and arc formats
- From: "Gerald Hovas" <GeraldHovas@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2007 10:32:38 -0600
Diane,
The staff stated last August that RTF is now the preferred format. They
just haven't gotten around to updating the website yet. I'm pasting the
message which states it below.
Gerald
Dear Bookshare.org Volunteers:
The Bookshare.org staff, with the support of OUR VOLUNTEER technical
advisers, has decided to make some changes to the range of book formats that
the system will accept. We realize that these changes may impact the ways
in which some of you work on books, but given the feedback we've had from
members, schools and other organizations, we feel that these changes will
bring significant benefits to all in the Bookshare.org community.
Starting on Friday, September 29, books may be placed into the system for
validation and submission in the following formats:
-- RTF
-- Microsoft Word
-- KES (Kurzweil)
-- Ark (Open Book)
-- WynWizard (Wyn)
These file formats permit the back-end processing tools to obtain and retain
as much structure as possible, including items like page numbers. ASCII
(plain text) files require some arduous work-arounds both on the part of
volunteers and on the back-end of the processing system. HTML and DAISY
offer markup, but because they can be created in so many different ways,
users are served best when we generate these files for Bookshare.org
customers using internal tools.
Books already in the various queues will be processed as normal. Again,
this change will be effective as of Friday, September 29, 2006.
As most of you know, Rich text Format (RTF) is the preferred file format for
book submission to Bookshare.org. RTF enables us to produce the most
consistent content output. This file format may be generated by using the
"save as" feature in most word processors, and it is a file format that is
available on all computer platforms.
We regret any inconvenience these policy changes may cause you. The
Bookshare.org team and many on the Bookshare.org lists are ready to assist
you in finding the best ways to support consistent file editing. We do
recognize that many of you prefer not to edit on your computers, but we
believe most note-takers offer you the ability to edit in one of the file
formats listed above.
Our goal is to provide a more consistent, quality reading experience for you
and for the other members (almost 5,000) of the Bookshare.org community.
We appreciate your continued commitment to Bookshare.org.
Sincerely
John Glass
Customer Support Manager, Bookshare
-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Diane Scalzi
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2007 10:15 AM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: prohibiting kes and arc formats
The scanning preferences page at bookshare.org also shows the following:
Scanner settings
1. Keep Exact View / Image File
list of 3 items
. If your scanner allows you to do so, keep the image file of the scanned
pages along with the text translation. If you are using a Kurzweil 1000
version
6 or Kurzweil 3000, the image file is saved with the .kes file format. If
you are using OPENBook or WYNN, the image files will be included if you have
"Keep Exact View" enabled.
Why do we ask for this? Over time, as the quality of Optical Character
Recognition technology improves, we hope to be able to go back to the
original image
files that are submitted to provide an even higher quality book.
However, the size of books scanned with exact view on is quite large, and
people with limited disk space or slow connections may find this
impractical.
We want your book with or without the images!
. If your system does not allow you to keep the image file of the scanned
pages along with the text translation, or if the file size makes this
impractical,
please save the scan in RTF format.
The link to this page is
http://www.bookshare.org/web/SupportScanningPref.html.
I think this begs the question of which preference is more important to
bookshare.org. Does the organization want submissions where it might be
possible to improve the quality in the future, or is it more important to
submit books that more people will be able to validate? I can upload books
either way, so it makes no difference to me, but perhaps someone in the
organization should weigh in. Thanks.
-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Grandma Cindy
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2007 2:44 AM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: prohibiting kes and arc formats
I didnd't say that the newsletter should prohibit ARC or KES
submissions--just that it suggest that they should be submitted in rtf if
possible--which has been suggested before ("or to the instructions for
volunteers it could be added that books should be submitted in rtf") True, I
didn't add "if possible," but I did add "unless it can't be done."
On the volunteer page, underneath the list of acceptable formats, is this
paragraph:
"Rich Text Format (RTF) is the preferred file format for book submission to
Bookshare.org. RTF enables us to produce the most consistent content output.
This file format may be generated by using the "save as"
feature in most word processors, and it is a file format that is available
on all computer platforms. "
All I was suggesting was that this be put in a newletter or in the volunteer
acceptance information.
Of course, as I suggested, or asked, and as you eplained in a previous post,
if a person can't convert to rtf for any reason then he/she can't, and
people like you and Grace and others who can validate in ARC and KES and do
those books. Possibly if the message on the volunteer home page were more
widely disseminated, more people who had the option of converting to rtf
would, and more books would be available to a wider group of volunteers.
Cindy
--- "E." <thoth93@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I am just a bit concerned when i hear somebody suggest that the
> newsletter put out by bookshare ask that kes and arc formats not be
> used. The fact is most of the books on step 1 are in fact submitted
> in more universal format such as rtf. I know some people cannot use
> kes or arc formats. I also know some cannot use doc because they do
> not have word. I know we need all the submitted books we can get and
> I hesitate to restrict formats for suvmitting them too much in case
> that cuts down on the number of books submitted.
> Please let the list know about particular kes or arc books which
> anyone wants worked on and I am sure someone will do their best to get
> to them.
>
>
> E.
>
>
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>
>
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