[bookshare-discuss] Re: Missing Annotations

  • From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2008 12:46:21 -0600

Good afternoon Cindy and listers,

The character limit can be raised to accommodate a longer scinopsis.

Peter Donahue

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Cindy Rosenthal" <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 2:03 AM
Subject: [bookshare-discuss] Re: Missing Annotations


As I said in my post,the short synopsis is restricted
to 250 *characters.* The synopses to which you refer,
usually on the cover flap or the back cover of a book,
are more than that and have to be edited. Plus, some
books, especially paperbacks, and possibly the ebooks
donatged by the publishers--I have no idea about
them--have no such synopses. (the word is spelled s y
n o p s i s in the singular and s y n o p s e s in the
plural form, btw. smile.)

The publishers, as I think Bob said, don't so anything
but send the books, I gather in ebook form, to
bookshare. Designated personel prepare them for
bookshare form. My solution to avoid upsetting people
would be not to add them to the collection until the
synopses are added, and I think I suggested this to
Carrie to be passed on, but I don't remember. The PQ
books added yesterday or the day before did have short
synopses.

There is no excuse for volunteer-processed books not
having short synopses, and I think they all do now.
There is a place on the submission form for both long
and short synopses, and people have been told not to
write in the short synopses space "See long synopsis."
Upon occasion I've gone to the long synopsis and
edited it to fit the short synopsis and added it to my
list that I mail out (I don't think you receive it but
if you want to, let me know. Since only 6 books were
added today (Tuesday) I'll post the list at the end of
this and you can see how it differs from the Browse
New Books list, from which it's taken ). On one
occasion all I had to do was take the first couple of
lines; I don't know why neither the scanner nor the
validator didn't do that.

Cindy Ro

6 English-Language books, added to the collection Dec.
9
All Books are downloadable in BRF and Daisy unless
otherwise stated; May include (or not) Adult-rated
books. THIS LIST DOES NOT INCLUDE books only available
to public K-12 schools and organizations in the United
States for use with students with an IEP (NIMAC)

Abbreviations Used: LJ= Library Journal;' SLJ=School
Library Journal; PW=Publishers' Weekly; PD=Product
Details--from Publisher; A=Amazon; BN=Barnes&Noble;
K=Kirkus; BL = Booklist; CL=Children's Literature;
CM=Child's Magazine; KL (KLIATT=bimonthly magazine,
publishes reviews of paperback books, hardcover
fiction for adolescents, audiobooks, and educational
software recommended for libraries and classrooms
serving young adults V (VOYA)

***My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John
Adams by Margaret A. Hogan (editor), C. James Taylor
(editor)
Quality: Excellent, almost no errors.
Nonfiction
Synopsis: Letters that were sent by Abigail and John
Adams during their courtship, marriage (separation
when John Adams was in Europe) and when they were
apart in the States. Touching history brought into
life.
Copyright Date: 2007

***The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by
Annette Gordon-Reed
Quality: Excellent, almost no errors.
Nonfiction
Synopsis: Not only a biography of Sally Hemings, who
bore 7 children by Thomas Jefferson, this book details
the extraordinary lives of her ancestors and
descendants also. Winner of the National Book award.
Copyright Date: 2008

***A Country Christmas by Bonnie Lou Risby
Quality: Excellent, almost no errors.
Chlildrens/adult fiction
Synopsis: It's such a hard year in the Ozarks even
Santa's broke. A tornado, illness, and being teased
and cheated can't keep Francy and her large family
down. They use what they have in surprising ways to
make a beautiful Christmas. Ages 6-9 and all ages.
Copyright Date: 1996

***Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime
Unit by John Douglas, Mark Olshaker
Quality: Excellent, almost no errors.
Nonfiction
Synopsis: True stories of how some of the most
notorious serial killers and rapist were tracked down.
Learn how they think by understanding the way they
think and reason.
Copyright Date: 1995

***The Promise by Chaim Potok
Quality: Excellent, almost no errors.
Fiction
Synopsis: The Promise is the sequel to and continues
the story begun in The Chosen
Copyright Date: 1969

***Halo: The Cole Protocol by Tobias S. Buckell
Quality: Excellent, almost no errors.
Science fiction
Synopsis: In the first desperate days of the
Human-Covenant War, the UNSC enacted the Cole Protocol
to safeguard Earth and its inner colonies from
discovery by a merciless alien foe.
Copyright Date: 2008

***WISH LIST (CALLED REQUESTED ADDITIONS TO THE
BOOKSHARE COLLECTION)IS AVAILABLE AT
http://www.friendsofbookshare.org/
www.lljfm.net/bookshare/home.htm

A LIST OF BOOKS CURRENTLY BEING SCANNED IS AVAILABLE
AT http://www.friendsofbookshare.org/
www.lljfm.net/bookshare/home.htm



--- Peter Donahue <pdonahue1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hello Cindy and listers,
>
>     How many books have you read that contain a
> scinopsis or a brief
> annotation at the beginning. It's just a matter of a
> volunteer or publisher
> copying and pasting this information in to the
> validate along with the other
> data and it's done!! This whole business about this
> requirement being too
> time-consuming is nothing but first-class poppy cock
> if you asked me! And
> that also goes for Braille titles not being
> proofread before they're posted.
> My wife Mary over heard me writing this note and
> said, "Amen!!" That's to be
> expected from her since she's a Braille proofreader
> at the Education Service
> Center Region Twenty in San Antonio. If
> Bookshare.org wants someone to
> assist with proofreading their Braille titles they
> need only give Mary's
> boss a call. All the best.
>
> Peter Donahue
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Cindy Rosenthal" <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 4:40 AM
> Subject: [bookshare-discuss] Re: Missing Annotations
>
>
> The PQ books have been put on the list by bookshare
> staff--certain ones are assigned to this--and at a
> later time they will fill in the synopses. They
> aren't
> validated by anyone.
>
> For a while Mayrie and I were suppling short
> synopses
> but it is very time-consuming--not as easy as it
> sounds, Peter, because of the restriction of 250
> characters. I was very relieved to learn that they
> would be supplied later and that I needn't bother
> doing them.
>
> I think I did write and suggest that maybe it would
> be
> better not to post them until the synopses were
> ready--but maybe I just thought about it. I did
> notice, though, that the PQ books added to the
> collection today all had short synopses, though not
> perfect ones--not really synopses but something that
> gave one an idea of what the book was about.
>
> Sometimes, when I know the book or have read about
> it,
> if I see a synopsis that is way off the mark, I've
> rewritten it for my list and notified Carrie in case
> they want to take what I wrote.
>
> As Bob said, anyone who had time can write one and
> send it to Allison to be added--we aren't allowed to
> just take what's posted on B&N or Amazon because
> that
> is copyrighted, but we can use what is on the back
> cover if it is up there.
>
> Cindy Ro
>
>
>
> The problem
> --- "Shelley L. Rhodes" <guidinggolden@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
> > Hi Peter and Bonnie and All.
> >
> > The fact of the matter is that no one writes the
> > synopsis' for the publisher
> > quality books.  For a while volunteers were
> mailing
> > synopsis's to Alice
> > hilliger and she was adding them, I believe she is
> > still doing this.  So if
> > you see a book, do some research figure out what
> it
> > is, write a short and
> > long synopsis and send it to Bookshare they will
> add
> > it to the database so
> > the book has one.
> >
> > I know right now I don't have the time or energy
> to
> > devote to that project
> > with the other projects I am doing.  have way to
> > much on my plate as it
> > stands, and can't do that too.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Shelley L. Rhodes, M.A., VRT
> > And Guinevere: Golden Lady Guide Dog
> > guidinggolden@xxxxxxxxx
> > Guide Dogs for the Blind
> > Alumni Association
> > www.guidedogs.com
> >
> > Though force can protect in emergency, only
> justice,
> > fairness, consideration
> > and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn
> of
> > eternal peace. -Dwight
> > D. Eisenhower, U.S. general and 34th president
> > (1890-1969)
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > To: <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 6:37 PM
> > Subject: [bookshare-discuss] Missing Annotations
> >
> >
> > > Hello everyone,
> > >
> > >    For some time I have been greatly troubled by
> > the number of
> > > publisher-quality titles posted to the "Browse
> New
> > Books" area of the site
> > > with missing annotations or book summaries. Its
> > this brief scinopsis that
> > > often determines whether I feel a book is worth
> a
> > read or not. I've had
> > > previous communications with the folks at
> Benetek
> > concerning this matter
> > > and
> > > received a less than satisfactory answer. This
> > problem should be caught
> > > during the validation process and corrected
> before
> > a book is posted for
> > > membership access. For God sakes it doesn't take
> a
> > week to extract a book
> > > annotation and paste it in to the appropriate
> > validation field. If I'm
> > > going
> > > to pay a subscription to this service I expect
> to
> > have access that will
> > > enable me to choose whether to download and read
> a
> > particular book or not
> > > and I'm sure there are others of you who feel
> the
> > same way.
> > >
> > >    When asked what particular titles were
> missing
> > a scinopsis I explained
> > > that there are way too many for me to list. For
> a
> > while an effort was made
> > > to include book annotations in the listings, but
> > the number of titles
> > > which
> > > don't include them is on the rise again
> including
> > a missing scinopsis to a
> > > book entitled, "Raising Hell" by Ronin Ro.
> > >
> > >    I would again urge the folks at Benetech to
> > remedy this problem and
> > > would appreciate the battle joined to ensure
> that
> > this solution is put in
> > > place. It shouldn't be too much to ask a book
> > publisher to include an
> > > annotation when they send files for inclusion in
> > the collection. Now I'm
> > > done ranting. Here's hoping 2009 will bring with
> > it a solution to this
> > > problem and more ways for us to find information
> > about particular titles
> > > quickly and easily.
> > >
> > > Peter Donahue
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > "Given a chance to dream it can be done
> > > The promise of tomorrow is real.
> > > Children of Spaceship Earth the future belongs
> to
> > us all."
> > > Flying for Me,
> > > John Denver
> > >
> > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank
> Email
> > to
> > > bookshare-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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> > > of available commands, put the word 'help' by
> > itself in the subject line.
> > >
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank Email
> to
> >
> > bookshare-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.
> >
> >
>
>
> WISH LIST (CALLED REQUESTED ADDITIONS TO THE
> BOOKSHARE COLLECTION)IS
> AVAILABLE AT
>
http://www.friendsofbookshare.org/wish_list/wish_list.htm
> www.lljfm.net/bookshare/home.htm
>
> A LIST OF BOOKS CURRENTLY BEING SCANNED IS AVAILABLE
> AT
> http://www.friendsofbookshare.org/
> www.lljfm.net/bookshare/home.htm
>
>
>
>
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>


WISH LIST (CALLED REQUESTED ADDITIONS TO THE BOOKSHARE COLLECTION)IS 
AVAILABLE AT
http://www.friendsofbookshare.org/wish_list/wish_list.htm
www.lljfm.net/bookshare/home.htm

A LIST OF BOOKS CURRENTLY BEING SCANNED IS AVAILABLE AT
http://www.friendsofbookshare.org/
www.lljfm.net/bookshare/home.htm




To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank Email to
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  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 
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  Put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the Subject line.  To get a list of 
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