What you say is true about the translating. Given that bookshare is using old old braille translator software and daisy software in need of correct implementing, translating well cannot be expected.
So my hard work ends up mangled by aged software. I know I ought to be grateful not to be using a slate and stylus. I am old enough to remember reel to reel tape. I am grateful not to be using RFBD flex disks which I also remember.I am less grateful for staff thunderous silence and for the lack of a decent manual in a useable form.
E. At 05:11 PM 5/29/2008, you wrote:
Hi all. First, thanks to Maria and others for providing such great detailed information about how to make scans/validations better. I am aware of Jake's web site, but often get overwhelmed by all that is possible to do to clean up a book and so don't make it through all the tips listed there. This one about smart quotes is one that I have never addressed at all in all my years of scanning. Second, (and the real point of this message), is to plead with volunteers to remember why it is that we do all this. We want to make available print information to people who can't use the print versions. We're trying to put books in the hands of those who want to read them. We are volunteers, not paid staff, and we freely give of our time and effort to make this happen. While most of us do the best job we can do and are looking to improve on that job at every opportunity, what we put up is better than not having the access in the beginning. I know that there is a lot of discussion on this list about rejecting fair quality books and I'm not trying to reopen that discussion. I'm just trying to say that a book that contains smart quotes and doesn't translate perfectly with Daisy is (1) okay, and (2) not our fault but the fault of the translator. For those of us who want to make this next leap about how to make our already good scans/validations even better by replacing smart quotes to make Daisy happy, then great! But there is no reason at all to feel bad because of other books we have sent through without doing this. Perfectionism is good and we tend to really reinforce it on this list, but if it begins to take away our volunteers, then we begin to defeat our purpose. At least four of you who responded to this thread trying to get more information about how to make a better book in the end, Sue, Christina, E and Tracy, have all validated books I've scanned and you are all superb validators. If we lose any of you, BookShare will suffer as will all the folks who depend on BookShare for reading material. So take a moment and pat yourselves on the back, take a deep breath, save Maria's messages in a file for later, and when you're ready, read them again and add in the new technique as you can. Here's to doing the best we can without demanding more of ourselves than anyone should expect! Donna To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxput 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.__________ NOD32 3145 (20080529) Information __________ This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. http://www.eset.com
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