[bksvol-discuss] Re: volunteering
- From: "Gerald Hovas" <geraldhovas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 13:51:02 -0500
Hello Patti,
Every book in the collection has been validated, but not necessarily
proofed. You'll see when you read your validation instructions that
Bookshare doesn't require a validator to read the entire book when
validating it. Many volunteers do while still many more do not. That's one
reason why Bookshare gets books in the collection that need to be rescanned
or cleaned up. When validators don't read the entire book during
validation, then some of the problems aren't caught until members start
downloading the book to read. That's why many of the volunteers on this
list go beyond what Bookshare requires of volunteers. Well, that, as well
as the fact that many of us are deranged perfectionists like Marissa said.
<Smile>
Now that you've called the list's attention to this particular book, I'm
sure someone else will take a look at it and give you an oppinion on what
should be done. I checked the rating for this book, and according to the
vvolunteers who worked on it, the book is in Excellent shape. It may have
been overrated, though, and the rating may need to be downgraded, and the
book may need to be added to the list of books needing to be rescanned.
We'll see what others on the list say.
BTW, one of your responses to your message was from Janice who is one of the
staff members at Bookshare. She gave you the address for the form you'll
need to fill out. It sounded like it was the link I saw labeled About
Volunteering. You'll find that the staff often reads the list and
occasionally will reply to messages. They don't always have the time,
though, so you'll most likely hear back from one of us instead.
HTH
Gerald
-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of patti
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 1:19 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: volunteering
Hi Gerald: Thanks so much for the info. The book in question is called
Womens Moods What every.brf is how it shows up in my braillenote; tehre are
123456 signs between each word. It's a good book; the headers and footers
need to be stripped, and there are a lot of numbers that come right in the
middle of sentences, usually 2 or 3 digit numbers. Also, some virtually
unreadable chart illustrations which I think I'd have left out entirely,
since they can't be columnized to make any sense. That's just my opinion,
but I could certainly be wrong.
I'm glad there are so many good braille readers on this list; sometimes I
feel like the lone ranger when it comes to braille reading, because most
people I know either read via tape or not at all. I think braille reading
makes me a better speller, and makes me more conscious of grammar and
punctuation, etc.
I plan to go to the site today and fill out the form.
Who should I ask about this particular book? Should I just leave it alone,
or would they want it validated? Is every book proofed or validated? All
for now. Patti
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gerald Hovas" <geraldhovas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 12:44 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: volunteering
> Hello Patti,
>
> Welcome to the list.
>
> There's a form you need to fill out in order to volunteer. You can find
> it
> on Bookshare's website. I think it's under the link on About
> Volunteering.
> You can either fill out that form or send the same information to
> volunteer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Let us know if you have any trouble finding it
> or
> filling it out.
>
> Once you have been registered as a volunteer, you'll be able to access the
> links which will allow you to work on books which have been submitted to
> Bookshare for validation. You'll also receive a message with validation
> instructions that should help get you started. After reading the
> validation
> instructions, you'll probably still have plenty of questions, so feel free
> to ask them since that's what this list is for.
>
> From your message, you obviously have downloaded a book from the
> collection
> which you feel needs cleaning up. Bookshare doesn't encourage cleaning up
> books already in the collection, although they don't discourage it either.
> It's a matter of where they can best spend their time, and they prefer not
> to have to reprocess books since processing them multiple times is a waste
> of time. However, they do understand that there are some books in the
> collection which need updating like the books rated Fair which need to be
> rescanned. The best way we as volunteers can help, though, is to make
> sure
> the books are in good shape before they are added to the collection. That
> way they only have to be processed the one time. The volunteers on this
> list are more than happy to help you learn how to do that.
>
> Now, I'm sure you have questions about the book you downloaded. Let us
> know
> which book you're talking about so someone can help you with it. It may
> be
> that the book needs to be rescanned, or part of the problem could be as
> simple as changing some settings on your Braille Note (or a similar piece
> of
> equipment) in order to prevent some of the formatting characters from
> being
> displayed. It also may just be that you're expectations are higher than
> what Bookshare expects from a book. If so, you're certainly not the only
> one on this list which has high standards. <Smile> Marissa, the
> volunteer
> coordinator which left in May to attend graduate school, referred to the
> volunteers on this list as a bunch of deranged perfectionists which she
> had
> enjoyed working with.
>
> Again, let us know if you need help signing up to be a volunteer, and feel
> free to ask questions. <Smile>
>
> Gerald
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of patti
> Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 10:16 AM
> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] volunteering
>
>
> Hello everyone: I've just joined this list, and would like to volunteer
> validating books. Are there some specific guidelines somewhere to give
> instructions? Do you have to fill out any application to volunteer? I
> have
> a book in mind, one that I downloaded that needs a lot of work; but I'm
> not
> sure what I'm supposed to delete. There are a lot of extraneous numbers,
> for example, not sure what they represent; page numbers, paragraph
> markers,
> perhaps? I have no clue, but they're annoying; also, all the headers and
> footers are there; also very annoying. So I look to you all for your
> expertise. I love to read, and read Braille, and I think bookshare is
> such
> a wonderful thing, and blind people should be reading good quality
> material,
> too. Too bad I'm not a certified proofreader, because I catch mistakes
> all
> the time. (grin)
>
> Anyway, thanks for having me.
>
> Patti Cutler
>
>
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