If a book contains dialect that might be a problem with synthesizers, it might be helpful to note this in the synopsis. Otherwise, people unfamiliar with the book might think it was full of scanning errors. I also like the idea of creating a pronunciation dictionary to handle such books. Regards, Paula > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Louise" <lougou@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2004 12:01 PM > Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: **text Quality** > > > > speaking of text quality, how do you handle a book in which the word you > > appears as a y and an apostrophe, or the word you're appears as y'r or > the > > word to appears as the letter t and an apostrophe. This may be fine with > a > > Braille display, but it's very annoying with speech. As an example: > > > > Are y' going t' the store today? > > > > I realize this is a form of dialect and assume it should be left as is, is > > this correct? If it was me, I would put the letter a after the y' and > the > > t', which would make it easier to listen to, but that would change the > book, > > which I assume is a no-no. Louise > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: <talmage@xxxxxxxxxx> > > To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2004 10:02 AM > > Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: **text Quality** > > > > > > > At 10:49 PM 4/28/2004, you wrote: > > > > > > > >This without doubt is my biggest issue with bookshare. The "fair > > rating." > > > > >In my experience, anything marked fair is usually almost unreadable. > > > > > > I agree with the overall sentiment of what you are saying, but there are > > > always exceptions to any rule. > > > Some books are still rated fair as a result of the bug that existed in > the > > > Bookshare rating system a while back; > > > Some books are rated fair because of numerous foreign language words, > and > > a > > > poor job by the person who edited the submission in not catching this > and > > > boosting the rating; > > > Some are rated fair because the headers and footers didn't scan well and > > > weren't stripped out, but the text may deserve a good rating; > > > Some books may have instances of hand written letters inserted which may > > > not seriously impact the overall readability of the book; > > > Some books may be accurate reflections of the written text, but by > todays > > > standards of spelling and grammar may get a fair rating; > > > and, some books may be so old and rare that you can't find them > elsewhere, > > > but you can only get a fair rating out of them. > > > > > > Perhaps Bookshare should also have a poor rating for the really bad > scans, > > > but where the books may still have some redeeming qualities. > > > > > > > >To the people who say, "having the book is better then no book at > all," > > I > > > > >say, you are outright wrong!!" > > > > > > > >I have to say, that 1 word "wrong", was probably the only reason I > > decided > > > >to respond to this message. > > > As the saying goes, "different strokes for different folks." I may like > > > single malt scotch, while you may not, but this doesn't make you > > > wrong. It's called a different opinion. > > > While I may not read books with a fair rating often, there have been > > > occasions where I have because they may have been the only copy I could > > > find available. > > > Personally, I hate braille, and wouldn't even consider reading anything > > > longer than a label in that form; likewise, I no longer listen to tape > > > books as I can kill a cassette player probably quicker then anyone you > > have > > > ever met. > > > It also used to drive me crazy trying to coax a tape along that wasn't > > > cooperating, or getting to tape 4, of a 6 tape set only to find it was > > useless. > > > > > > Ultimately, I would like to see Bookshare start a program aimed at > > > improving the quality of the collection. Maybe have a separate download > > > section for the volunteers where the books rated fair could be rescanned > > to > > > improve the quality. > > > > > > In closing, I have to add, that after using a KRM model 400 for years, > > even > > > some of the books rated fair on Bookshare are an improvement. > > > > > > Dave > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >