Hi Lissi,
First, the pdf files are used in place of the print book for someone to
proofread with. The pdf is not the copy being proofed.
No one has said that wish list books are’ meant for blind folks. The pdf’s that
sighted proofers can use to proof a book with are necessarily for the sighted
because they are images. No one is discriminating against you.
The wish list books are scanned in-house by staff or interns—no outsourcer is
being paid to do these books.
The books that outsourcers prepare for Bookshare are completely proofread and
are generally of high quality—and that’s what they get paid for.
The idea of paying volunteers real money potentially opens up a real problem
for those volunteers getting any kind of disability and is a terrible idea.
And finally, all of the issues that you listed in wish list book scans are
issues that can be fixed by any competent computer user who knows hw to use
their word processor. Could the scans be better? Absolutely. But largely they
are able to be proofread.
Deborah
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Estelnalissi
Sent: Friday, June 5, 2020 6:20 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Question for other deranged perfectionists
Dear Valerie, Judy, Beverly and Booksharian Friends,
First I don’t understand PDF very well because my JAWS doesn’t read it but how
can you proofread that kind of file if it isn’t RTF?
Second, I believe those books are prepared by an out sourcer. Can’t they be
expected to deliver books prepared to a higher standard? Are they paid. Are
they adults? Books I’ve proofread from the wish list are full of invisible
optional hyphens, speak in foreign languages with JAWS, have invisible text
that won’t allow me to delete it in the normal ways using Word 10, Have missing
portions of pages. I’ve had to buy the books I’ve done so Evan could rescan
many pages. The dust jackets aren’t scanned at all and I feel Bookshare members
deserve the right to read the book jacket information like any other sighted
reader.
Our volunteer scanners do a far better job scanning books. If the out sourcers
are paid, then why not pay scanners a nominal sum per book in actual money?
Third, Did I read correctly that wish list books aren’t meant for blind
volunteers? That makes me feel overlooked, and left out as if offering wish
list books for blind proofreaders is too much trouble for Bookshare which was
founded because blind people were sharing their scans of books. So sad.
I remain here, grateful to be able to proofread, which I love doing more than
anyone could believe.
Always with love,
Lissi
If you use
From: Judy <mailto:cherryjam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2020 9:24 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Question for other deranged perfectionists
*grin*
Judy
On June 4, 2020 8:16:44 PM CDT, Evan Reese <mentat1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:mentat1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > wrote:
Oh well, I didn’t know that.
So I guess my advice to buy the book is kaput. <smile>
Evan
From: Judy <mailto:cherryjam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2020 9:01 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Question for other deranged perfectionists
Hi Valerie,
Every wish list book scanned by staff has a pdf available from staff that
contains a scanned image of every page.
Send an email to volunteer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:volunteer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> ,
tell them you are proofreading a wish list book that you'd like to have the PDF
for, and list the title and the author. They will send you a link that lets you
view the PDF online, and that will let you download the PDF as well.
Judy
On June 4, 2020 7:46:44 PM CDT, dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In recent weeks I have picked up a couple of books off the wish list on
checkout. One of them is a YA book set in Hawaii with a lot of dialect. I have
put a ton of work into it already, realizing that the scanning had not only
stripped most of the italics, but had inferred traditional words in place of
dialect words. I guess my question is more often for sighted volunteers, but
how often do people feel the need to have confirmation from the physical print
in trying to achieve high accuracy? I'm debating about the necessity of paying
$6.50 to have the Kindle copy available to continue making corrections. The
first chapter was available as a peek and it made me realize how much was
missing or improperly handled in the scan. Money is tight, and I hate to spend
the money, but I've also already invested so much in getting this to where it
is now that I almost feel compelled.
Everyone's thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Valerie
