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No! Please remove all images before you submit your scanned book. You may include image descriptions. They must be written in complete sentences and placed in square brackets. Check out the instructions here.Proofreaders should also make sure they've deleted out all... more
There are several ways that Organizational Members can access Bookshare TitlesThe "traditional way" of having Sponsors download the books for them and copy them onto a device or media storage for the org member to use later.The "add an individual membership route",... more
While we greatly appreciate the generosity of those who wish to donate print books to Bookshare, limits on space, staff and funding currently prevent us from accepting them. We suggest that you offer these books to other libraries who are actively seeking such... more
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Video Tutorial: Search for Bookshare Books
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You may want to start with a simple search in the standard search box at the top of every page. This box searches... more
Get Help from the Experts -- Our Volunteers!Join the Bookshare Volunteer Discussion List to connect by email with other Bookshare volunteers. Ask questions and share suggestions related to book scanning, proofreading, and accessibility.Subscribe: Send a blank email... more
No! If you have checked out a book and no longer want to proofread it (because the subject matter doesn't interest you, because it's not what you expected, or for whatever reason), feel free to release it back to the Checkout Queue for someone else to proofread. To... more
Yes! Bookshare is a project of Benetech, which is a nonprofit organization. We are able to provide letters and sign paperwork confirming community service as needed, provided you follow our procedures.We can provide proof of your volunteer hours if you do the following... more
You may proofread any book in the Checkout Queue unless it has the words "HOLD FOR [someone's name]" before the book's title. These books are on "hold" for a particular proofreader. The scanner and proofreader have agreed beforehand to work together or the book has... more
Proofreaders have two weeks to proofread their book. At the end of two weeks you will receive an email stating that you have had the book for 2 weeks and you must either check the book in if you're finished proofing it, or renew it for more time to finish proofing it.... more
Once you have proofread your book, you must check it in for approval. A staff member or qualified volunteer will review it and either approve it or return it for more editing with notes about what to fix. Your book will typically reviewed within 7 business days of... more
It depends. Proofreaders may choose any book to proofread, just like scanners may choose any book to scan. The time in which your book will be proofread will depend on how well the book is scanned, how long or complicated the book is, and whether or not a proofreader... more
OCR is short for "Optical Character Recognition" and it is a type of software that we require scanners to use. It turns a picture of text into computer-readable text so that our books may be read in different formats.
For quality control, we ask that different people scan and proofread each book. Occasionally we will make an exception for a highly-skilled, experienced volunteer. If you would like to be considered for this exception, please Request Help.
Yes! When you submit your newly scanned version, make sure to put the letters "BSO" in all capitals before the title of the book so that proofreaders know that you're improving an existing copy.Check out this page for more information about BSOs.
If you're having trouble uploading a scanned RTF (Rich Text Format) file, try skipping the step where you input the ISBN the first time. This does mean that you'll have to put in a bit more information manually, but it hopefully will solve the uploading problem. Do... more