[Athen] [ATHEN] [ATHEN] Idea: Bookshare + RFB&D = national provider

[Robert Martinengo]

My impression is that RFB&D has shied away from full-text books due to
the added cost, time, and complexity to produce them (you can start
recording a book as soon as you get it, but it takes time and effort
to get clean etext).

Also, RFB&D is heavily invested in human beings reading text.
Bookshare is being a bit misleading to put synthetic speech on equal
footing with human readers (saying their methods will be cheaper and
quicker than 'traditional' ones). Not to say synthetic speech isn't
essential to solve the timeliness issue, but it does have limitations.

Another big question mark in Bookshare's proposal is Braille - all
they do is pass it through Duxbury, which leaves a lot to be desired
for textbooks, from what I understand.

So, we are left with many more questions than answers.

On 10/8/07, Ron Stewart <ron.stewart at dolphinusa.com> wrote:

> Okay just to continue to stir the pot...

>

> But RFB&D do not do full text full audio books and the last I heard have no

> intent of doing so. Maybe this is why they lost a chunk of their funding if

> the rumor mill is to be belived.

>

> To put a Bookshare issue on the table how are they going to put some

> controls on their volunteers in regards to their activities in scanning and

> editing books.  What they scan, where they get the books, how they edit and

> what is contributed to the system.

>

> Ron

>

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On

> Behalf Of Robert Martinengo

> Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 1:09 PM

> To: Access Technologists in Higher Education Network

> Subject: Re: [Athen] [ATHEN] Idea: Bookshare + RFB&D = national provider

>

> Pratik,

>

> In Bookshare's abstract, they are basically building the same system

> RFB&D already has, but with etext instead of audio. They say they will

> add descriptions of images - well, that's what RFB&D readers do right

> now. RFB&D already has thousands of subject expert volunteers in their

> studios. No offence to Bookshare, but their expertise seems to be in

> romance, mysteries, and sci-fi.

>

> Bob

>

> On 10/8/07, Pratik Patel <pratikp1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> > I don't think Bookshare is in the position to solve RFB&D's bureaucracy

> > problems and adding Bookshare into the mix would only make things worse at

> > this point.  I would rather see Bookshare continue to focus on improving

> its

> > offerings rather than focus on something as elusive as this idea.  Mergers

> > need to benefit both parties.  In this case, I see no benefit to

> Bookshare.

> > As far as I can tell, and I might be persuaded to see it otherwise, RFB&D

> > has no significant process that can help Bookshare improve itself.  I am

> not

> > suggesting that RFB&D has no value and their services aren't important;

> but,

> > it is a different model.

> >

> > Pratik

> >

> > -----Original Message-----

> > From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On

> > Behalf Of Ron Stewart

> > Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 11:44 AM

> > To: 'Access Technologists in Higher Education Network'

> > Subject: Re: [Athen] [ATHEN] Idea: Bookshare + RFB&D = national provider

> >

> > Morning all,

> >

> > I would rather see them both continue on in their separate and very

> > different forms.  Each brings a unique perspective and orientation to the

> > provision of materials, as well as APH.  What I would like to see is that

> > each of them focus on their areas of strength.

> >

> > No one agency is going to be able to meet the demand necessary, and I also

> > do not want to see duplication and redundancy of effort.  A lot of

> specific

> > expertise has been developed by the authorized entities and I would not

> want

> > to see that lost.

> >

> > My other major concern is that this would just perpetuate the current

> > beaurocratic inefficancies that tend to impact RDB&D as well as the NLS,

> and

> > the state library systems.

> >

> > By the way whoever the person is who is forwarding all of my emails to

> folks

> > outside ATHEN, the appropriate thing to do would have been to ask first!

> I

> > do not say anything publically that I would not want shared, but

> permission

> > is considered standard list edicit.

> >

> > Ron Stewart

> >

> >

> > -----Original Message-----

> > From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On

> > Behalf Of Robert Martinengo

> > Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 11:11 AM

> > To: Access Technologists in Higher Education Network

> > Subject: [Athen] Idea: Bookshare + RFB&D = national provider

> >

> > I've been thinking about the Bookshare news, and have come up with an

> > idea: RFB&D and Bookshare should merge. Mergers happen all the time in

> > the corporate world, and this would be a logical solution to a real

> > problem - duplication of services and allocation of resources.

> > Bookshare and RFB&D could merge their services, creating one

> > comprehensive resource.

> >

> > What do y'all think?

> > Bob

> >

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