[bksvol-discuss] Re: synopses and reviews

  • From: "Jill O'Connell" <jillocon@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2009 12:27:14 -0800

Monica, Will you please tell me where you found the information about the meta data base? Thank you. Jill ----- Original Message ----- From: "Monica Willyard" <rhyami@xxxxxxxxx> 

To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2009 7:10 AM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: synopses and reviews



Tracy, the new Bookshare system does fill in a synopsis for you now. While
you're submitting or validating the book you can make changes. There is an
"edit book data" link on the form when you're uploading the book. You can
edit either or both of the synopses fields on the form if you don't like the 
data it provides or if it gives you a description that doesn't match your
book. The system is getting data from a metadata service that stores book
data like the author, title, ISBN, book jacket description, and such. It's
an enormous database similar to what Amazon uses for their descriptions.
Sometimes, as in the case of an obscure biography I worked on, the publisher 
didn't submit all of their data. Amazon doesn't even carry the book except
by special order, so I'm not complaining about Bookshare's database. I'm
just describing the process. The short synopsis provided totally missed the point of the book and had nothing to do with the description on the back of the book either. I edited that synopsis so it was closer in content to what was on the book jacket. It's not a perfect system, but I like it better than 
just seeing the word "none" or "romance" as a book's synopsis.
Unfortunately, you'll see some books that look more like reviews because the database has the content from the back of a book or from its jacket. They do 
tend to write things like "Mary Miller has written another heart-pounding,
nail-biting thriller with more plot twists and turns than the Indie 500."
That's often the kind of first line on the book jacket, so it's what the
database uses for the short synopsis. A growing number of volunteers had
been scanning book covers and using their description for the long synopsis 
for books in the collection, minus the quotes from Publishers Weekly and
such of course. I guess the database just standardizes it, and the system
won't let you submit a book with no synopsis at all now.

Monica Willyard
"The best way to predict the future is to create it." -- Peter Drucker

-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Tracy Carcione
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2009 7:49 AM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: synopses and reviews

I was under the impression that the new Bookshare was automagically
getting book descriptions from somewhere and sticking them in the
synopsis.  With the new site, a surprising number of synopses seem to be
more like reviews.  It's markedly different from what I used to see in
synopses, at least I think so.
It went from "Regency romance" to "Amelia Zagreb has penned a fiery tale
of passion and suspense..."  Well, that's all the splashy reviewspeak I
can make up at one time.
Tracy



Cindy, only Bookshare volunteers can write a synopsis for a book. Either
the
submitter or the proofreader writes it, and they may actually be correct.
Unless you read the book yourself, I think it is high-handed to assume
that
you know what the book should be about just from reading School Library
Journal or an Amazon description. By rewriting someone's synopsis based on 
Amazon, you are communicating that the person doesn't know what they're
talking about, even though they worked on the book. Bookshare asks us to
describe a book in our own words rather than using a source like Amazon.
So
a description may look more like a review to you, but it is within
Bookshare's guidelines. For that reason, I would be offended if someone
spent time rewriting my synopses and would vigorously object to the
practice. There are enough books in the collection with no synopses at all 
that need to be updated. Rewriting another volunteer's synopsis because
you
don't like it is a waste of our limited resources when there are so many
things left undone at this point. If you don't like a synopsis, just write 
a
review and describe the book in your own words. Then let the reader
decide.

Monica Willyard
"The best way to predict the future is to create it." -- Peter Drucker

-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Cindy Rosenthal
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2009 3:07 AM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] synopses and reviews


I have a habit of looking up books on Amazon and/or B&N, especially books
for children through young adult levels, and also other titles sometimes
to
see what genre they fall into, e.g., science fiction or fantasy. I read
the
reviews, and sometimes they are in agreement, both professional review
journals and customer reviews, and sometimes they are not. I think perhaps that is why the bookshare policy is that reviewers' comments, whether from 
the book jacket, where of course they're going to be favorable--can you
imagine a publisher including an unfavorable review on is book jacket or
inside the book--or from another source are not to be included in the
synopsis.

From the synopses of bookshare books that I've read, while some are
excellent, others are nothing more than reviews, and in the case of a
children's book added to the collection recently, it was the opposite of
School Library Journal's review.

I've reached the conclusion that some people do not know what a synopsis
it.
Unfortunately, I think some of these people are not bookshare volunteers.
For any of you who don't know, a synopsis is a plot summary. If any of you 
see synopses of books that need rewriting, I hope you'll take the time to
do
so and send the rewrite to Carrie or Allison to use as a replacement.

I've read customers' reviews online that differ markedly from each other,
which is why I read the reviews before I decide to buy a book. There is a
place on a book's bookshare site for readers to write a review. The good
thing about that is that you can write what you think having read the
book.
Others can read your review and after a while they'll know whether your
tastes are the same or different from theirs. I know some of us do write
reviews and I hope others of you will, too. It really doesn't take very
long.

Cindy




 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.





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. 




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.233 / Virus Database: 270.10.18/1935 - Release Date: 02/04/09 16:35:00 

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.

Other related posts:

  1. Home
  2. bksvol-discuss
  3. Archive
  4. 02-2009