[bookshare-discuss] Re: What's with the weird synopses?

From: Scott Rains <scottr@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 07:12:45 -0800
Ron,

Two suggestions.

Double check to see if the books in question are Publisher Quality. If so the 
problem is with the tool they use called Bowker or sometimes Onix. Bookshare is 
building a workaround but projects like that take a very long time.

If the books are from volunteers maybe the list could pick up your discussion 
and come up with a consensus outline of what makes for a good synopsis. There 
are a few articles on the Internet to use as a starting point.

Scott Rains
________________________________________
From: Ron Miller [ron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 6:02 AM
To: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bookshare-discuss] Re: What's with the weird synopses?

Good morning,
I've been unhappy about many recently included synopsis content but haven't 
said anything until now. I guess I'm seizing the reins of the bandwagon I just 
jumped onto.

My comment isn't regarding html code in the synopsis text, but rather, the 
content of the text itself. For the last year or so (perhaps less), the short 
synopsis content shown in the New Books list gives no indication of what the 
book is actually about. "Mr. X" by Peter Straub, which recently appeared in the 
"New Books" list is a case in point. The short synopsis offers no hint about 
the actual plot of the book instead, it contains part of an informational blurb 
about the author.

I don't mean to sound too critical because I most certainly appreciate the time 
and effort invested by Bookshare volunteers and staff but I would humbly ask 
that the Brief Synopsis would once again always contain enough plot info to 
allow one to decide if the book may be of interest. If the Brief Synopsis 
contains only a truncated piece about the "number one, New York Times 
bestselling author" publishing yet another "blockbuster novel," I've got to go 
to the book's page to read the long synopsis and decide whether I want to 
download the book after all.

I haven't seen similar thoughts voiced on this list yet so I may be a very 
small majority of one with this opinion and, as such, I will happily continue 
to use Bookshare as the great resource it is.

Best to all

Ron Miller
-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Rains [mailto:scottr@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 12:49 PM
To: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bookshare-discuss] Re: What's with the weird synopses?

Thanks Bob. Don't know the answer but have passed it along to foks who can look 
into it.

Scott

________________________________________
From: Bob W [rwiley45@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 6:41 PM
To: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bookshare-discuss] What's with the weird synopses?

I've seen synopses with html tags in them before, but they seem to be more 
prominent lately.

Here's an example from
The Allegra Biscotti 
Collection<http://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/291666?returnPath=L2Jyb3dzZS9sYXRlc3Q%2F>

&lt;p>&lt;b>&lt;i>Emma Rose is SO not a diva. &lt;/i>&lt;/b>&lt;/p>&lt;p>She 
doesn't want her turn on the catwalk-she'd rather be behind the scenes creating 
fabulous outfits!

Is there anyway to prevent this mess?
Bob (grumble grumble)

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[bookshare-discuss] Re: What's with the weird synopses?

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