[bksvol-discuss] Monday's meeting
- From: talmage@xxxxxxxxxx
- To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 09:24:14 -0500
Hi Marissa,
Not that you probably want it, but another thing you could ask on Monday is
why so many formats are needed for submitters? I know BRF and RTF are
necessary, and TXT should probably be kept even though they are causing
many headaches, but why do we need to provide:
BBX (Bookshare.org Book),
DOC (Microsoft Word),
DSY (Daisy),
HTML (Web Browser Format),
WYN (WYNN),
formats to the average submitter?
Actually, I'm not sure if it is possible to submit in BBX format, or if it
is just a Bookshare internal format, as I don't even know what it is.
I also only remember ever coming across 1 WYN file, and the person that
validated it said it was the wrong format, it was either a RTF or BRF file
incorrectly placed.
I would also be highly suspicious of the source of any DSY file someone
might submit as a scan, as I can't imagine any scanning software creating
one at this point.
As all these file types are required to be converted to RTF before they are
accepted, why not just require the submitter to do it? After all, they're
the ones making the big bucks, and it would also help in keeping junk
characters from being introduced by different versions of the same program.
I understand that as validaters we would still come across some of these
file types when the source is either a publisher, or a large collection,
that has been contributed, but there doesn't seem to be a good reason for
exasperating the situation by so many choices for submitters. Sometimes
fewer choices are better, as they cause less confusion.
I would also like to mention again it would be nice if the software
engineers could incorporate a program to convert TXT files to RTF files,
maintaining the page breaks, during the process the system checks the
submission for viruses, zips them, etc. I know there are a few open
architecture free conversion programs out there for Linux systems, so it
wouldn't seem like that big of a deal. If nothing else, it would cut down
on this page break issue coming up as often as it does.
As I find that I am typing double words, I have come to the conclusion it
is time for another cup of coffee. When you get in this morning, read
this, and realize it is just more aggravation for you, just hit that magic
delete key and pretend it never happened. After all, it's Friday.
Dave
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