[bksvol-discuss] Re: Volunteers: how much work is realistic
- From: "Jana Jackson" <jana@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2004 11:05:29 -0500
Hi, Paula! Apart from the basic guidelines issued by the Bookshare staff,
the amount of time you spend validating and the steps you take with each
book is up to you. Just FYI, you can get rid of a bunch of junk characters
by doing a find and replace and replacing them with nothing. Another
suggestion that would probably be helpful is that you may want to read the
first five pages of the actual text to determine its readability. This is
just a suggestion, though, not a requirement. <Smile> Take care!
Jana
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paula Mack" <pmack1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2004 7:28 AM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Volunteers: how much work is realistic
> Hi listers,
>
> I have been reading with some dismay the discussion regarding book
validation. I volunteered my time, because I was under the impression that
volunteers were needed. This is evident in the amount of books awaiting
validation. I assumed that the job involved making sure that all title,
author and copyright information were included and that they were accurate.
I assumed that a spellcheck would be necessary to eliminate the OCR errors
that crop up. The guidelines I was sent seemed to indicate this, and in
fact, didn't even suggest spellcheck, although I think that would be
necessary in even the most perfect scan.
>
> However, from this list and the other Bookshare list, I am getting the
feeling that anything less than going over each word and page number with a
fine-tooth comb is not wanted. Now, I can't speak for any one else, but I
am extremely anxious to help out at bookshare. However, when I scan my own
books, I don't expect perfection. When I read Bookshare books, I don't
expect perfection. OCR, can not, at least at this point in time, provide
perfection. If people have the time to go through every character
comprising a book, that's fine. Personally, I have a full-time job, a home,
and a family. I don't have that kind of time, and frankly, if I did, I
don't think I'd want to spend it in this manner. As an avid reader, I'd
rather see more books available, then have less books to choose from and
have them be perfect.
>
> I would like the staff to make some kind of statement regarding this
issue. If this kind of microscopic examination of each book is desired,
then I suspect there may be less people willing to volunteer.
>
> Personally, I still want to volunteer. However, if following the
guidelines as they are, along with spellchecking is not acceptable, then I
would like to know this. I certainly would not want to cause problems by
releasing books that the staff does not deem acceptable. however, if a
microscopic examination of each book is truly what is wanted, I think this
needs to be made clear so that potential volunteers can make an informed
decision.
>
> thanks,
>
> Paula
>
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