Besides that, when I first began volunteering there was no guarantee that I would work on more than the one book I started out with. I was trying it out while I waited for my qualification information to get from my NLS library to Bookshare. If I had had to be paired with a mentor or teacher I think I would have regarded that as too much of a commitment and I might have backed out. Your suggestion about new volunteers just subscribing to this list and asking questions untill someone who knows the answer and has similar equipment to respond is pretty much the way it is done anyway. When I first subscribed it was because I had finished my first proofreading job and could not figure out how to upload it. I asked on list and got several answers from people who seemed to expect that I already knew more than I did. Then came along Bob Wiley who quickly assessed my level of ignorance and got me through it. I suppose he was my first mentor. If I had been assigned to him I am not sure I would have wanted to take on the amount of commitment that would have implied to me.
_ _ _"No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says; he is always convinced that it says what he means." - George Bernard Shaw
The Militant: http://www.themilitant.com Pathfinder Press: http://www.pathfinderpress.com Granma International: http://www.granma.cu/ingles/index.html----- Original Message ----- From: "Emily Harrison" <greeniebone@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, May 08, 2010 9:05 PM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Beginning Volunteer Ideas
Yes, but my point was that there are so many combinations of software accessand software knowledge, among beginning proofers and experienced proofersalike, that it's highly unlikely that a perfect match could be made. MaybeBookshare could just encourage new solo proofers to post to this list andrequest the aid of a mentor or proofing-buddy. That way, it's less work for Bookshare proper, and new volunteers who want help can get the guidance theyneed. To be honest, if I'd signed up as a solo volunteer, I probably would have been uncomfortable being arbitrarily assigned to someone as their proofing pupil. (But maybe that's just me!) Sorry, I'm not trying to be argumentative, just adding my thoughts! On Sat, May 8, 2010 at 6:18 PM, Melissa Smith <mdsmith25@xxxxxxxx> wrote:Which is why I suggest matching mentors and beginners using the samesoftware, and only volunteers who have submitted several high quality scanscan be mentors. Melissa Smith-- Emily Harrison greeniebone@xxxxxxxxx
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