[Dtb-talk] Bookshare.org, internet archive and other automated DAISY production

[Fred Wurtzel]

Hi,

Don't know much about automation, etc.  As a reader, I strongly believe the
goal should be to create a DAISY book as near the print book as possible .
Perfection is difficult, granted, but it can be the goal.

To me DAISY holds the promise of using a recorded or digital book just like
a print book. This includes notes, indices, making my own marks and notes
and highlights, etc.

I say this feeling very grateful about the wonderful strides that have been
made in past 10 years on text availability.  This is a far different world
than when I graduated from high school in 1969.  I love Kurzweil, Google and
Bookshare.  NLS's digital system, especially the player is fantastic, though
the markups are not always ideal.

Remember, cassette tapes came out when I was in high school.  My first
Talking Books were on 33 1/3 RPM records.


This is a great  time to be a blind person.  Thank you to NFB, Helen keller
and all the pioneers who had the imagination to help create this future.

So, Greg, I say, YES, keep pushing for the best.  We will all benefit.

Warmest Regards,

Fred
-----Original Message-----
From: dtb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:dtb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Greg Kearney
Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 9:41 PM
To: daisy group; Discussion of Digital Talking Books
Subject: [Dtb-talk] Bookshare.org,internet archive and other automated DAISY
production

I have been thinking of late about the various attempts to generate DAISY
from fully automated systems such as seems to be the case at Bookshare.org,
Internet Archive and some other sources.

The issue I have with these books is that their DAISY structure does not
reflect the printed book. In most cases that I have seen the book is a
single long heading level 1 with perhaps page numbering in place. In many
cases these page numbers are again not reflective of the printed book, for
example I have found books with duplicate page numbers. For example where
there is a page number 4 in the front matter and a page number 4 in the body
matter.

More troubling however is the lack of navigation to chapters and other
subsections of the books. This is of particular concern in non-fiction text.

Am I just being overly picky here? What do you all think?

Gregory Kearney | Manager Accessible Media
Association for the Blind of WA - Guide Dogs WA
PO Box 101, Victoria Park WA 6979 | 61 Kitchener Ave, Victoria Park WA 6100
Tel: 08 9311 8246 | Fax: 08 9361 8696 | www.guidedogswa.com.au
Tel: 307-224-4022 (North America)
Email: greg.kearney at guidedogswa.com.au
Email: gkearney at gmail.com


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