February 29, 2008
From DPCanadaWiki
Issue #6--February 29, 2008
(Full listing of previous issues is available at DPC Newsletters)
Recently Launched: BEGIN & Newcomers Only Programs
Recently at DP Canada, users have seen some odd looking project names in the proofreading queues. What is this BEGIN project or that "Newcomers Only" project? And how can I participate in Rapid Review?
All of these are different ways to make it easier for volunteers to enter the fascinating world of distributed proofreading and then, hopefully for them and for DP Canada, to stay. Let's look at each project type.
A BEGIN project is for those who have just signed up and want to get past that initial hurdle. I know when I started many years ago I was very afraid that I would make a proofreading mistake or that, worse, it would go by unnoticed and then be archived forever. With BEGIN projects, this is very unlikely to happen.
For BEGIN, a book is selected that will offer the proofer typical scannos and other tasks to correct. A BEGIN book undergoes less pre-processing that a normal book since it is meant to be a learning experience. In some cases, common scannos are intentionally inserted, for example, "yon" scanned for "you." Both are valid words that might go unnoticed by a spellcheck. It's up to the conscientious proofer to catch this sort of error.
Typically, for BEGIN a larger project is broken into small chunks, perhaps 40 pages, and then made available in the P1 queue for beginners. They do a few pages as described in the project instructions and then, because the projects are quite short, their work is reviewed by a special mentor trained to work with these BEGIN pages. A detailed, personal response is generated for each proofer. This feedback is the best and most thorough a new proofer will receive, but it's not the only feedback.
"Newcomers Only" projects are available for those proofers who are ready for larger, more typical projects. There still is a page limit, though larger than for BEGIN. Typically about 15-20 proofers, each who has proofed fewer than 500 pages, will complete a "Newcomers Only" project in P1. That's where the "Rapid Review" comes into play.
Timely feedback at this stage is essential for the burgeoning proofer. Instead of taking place at the end of the P2 queue, "Newcomers Only" books are reclassified as "Rapid Review" and move right to the front of the P2 queue. Experienced proofers then P2 proof the page normally. The Project Manager watches for P2 to complete and then runs automated programs to generate individual difference reports for each P1 proofer, the newcomer. Private messages (PMs) are sent as soon as possible along with an offer to explain any of the diffs that the P1 can't figure out.
So where do all these special books come from? From any volunteer, really. It's just a matter of making a larger commitment than for a normal production book, whether that is pre-processing or providing feedback. For a BEGIN, send a PM to BEGIN if you think you have a book appropriate for that special first encounter with DP. For "Newcomers Only", anyone can provide a book simply by including the words "(Newcomers Only)" in the title. Make sure to watch the project and change it to "(Rapid Review)" as it finishes P1. Then, when it finishes P2, use the freely available p1p2diff.pl program to generate the diffs.
If you have questions about any of these programs or want to participate more fully, send a PM to DP user rfrank. These programs not only provide improved training for newcomers but offer a real sense of accomplishment and reward for everyone involved.
Roger Frank (rfrank)
Editorial
Our newsletter name is now official: The Beaver Bulletin / Le Bulletin de Castor. Now, we need a tagline and a logo or mascot.... Deadline for the tagline entries is March 12, 2008. See this forum thread for some ideas: http://www.pgdpcanada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=377
BEGIN & Newcomers Only Programs--Roger Frank (rfrank) has volunteered to shepherd these through the proofing and formatting system. Please read his article above--it is very informative and he's more than willing to answer any questions that you should have regarding it.
Revisions to the Proofing Guidelines--Simple Simon and IonaV are still working on draft revisions--not an easy job I understand. They are revising the Guidelines to comply with DPC's proofing requirements and, hopefully, making them more understandable to both old and new DPers.
Eligible Authors--Warmheart is working on a wiki page Eligible Authors that will eventually incorporate the former Canadian book/author wikis (French and English), authors who died in 1957 or earlier that we can do and Simple Simon's DOD clearance list. The forum thread that discusses it is here: http://pgdpcanada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=236 . If you can help out with sources, other Canadian authors and their books, other eligible authors and their books, etc. just send her a pm.
Quotable Quotes--have you seen a thought-provoking quote while you were doing your proofing that you just had to pass onto someone else? Well, you can do that here and do it anonymously if you so choose. We have one that was recently found.... It follows the Simon Says... article.
Check out the list of "possible future articles" at the end of the newsletter--are you interested in contributing or do you know of someone who could, or would like to, contribute, we'd love to have your article and/or thoughts. And you can do so anonymously.
Simon Says...
I have always loved books—my mum was a school teacher, got me started early, and I’ve never slowed down. I inhale the printed word, haunt libraries and bookstores, and have far too many books on my shelves.
About 3 years ago, I visited the main reference library in Toronto—just browsing—and found a collection of the complete works of James Branch Cabell. A very strange writer, who claimed all of his books were part of the history and biography of a (fictional) count of Poictesme named Manuel, and his descendants.
Complete matched set of beautifully bound volumes in tooled leather—too much to read there in the library, which is reference only, no circulation. I asked if I could arrange through inter-library loan to bring them, one volume at a time, to my local library (I live over 60 kilometres from the reference library). No way!
Did I mention that this set of books, donated in 1932, had never been read? All the pages were unslit, uncreased, untouched. So there they sit till today (I checked back about 2 months ago), useless to the world, but unavailable to me. A tragedy of bureaucracy.
A year later, I came across Project Gutenberg, the Distributed Proofreaders, and my reaction was: “that’s the ultimate revenge for the library’s stupidity—I’ll help digitize books that are unavailable to the general public”.
I gradually learned the techniques (still a long way to go), climbed up the ranks, became a PM and CPer, and then wet my feet with PPing. As someone once said, like playing the bagpipes while doing a Sanskrit crossword. I still have a copy of my first attempt, but I won’t show it to anyone.
Then about 10 months ago, I had a conversation with my friend and colleague Michael Shepard about what I was doing at DP-INT, and he was fascinated. We talked, agonized ... then plunged.
And the rest is a kind of history, I suppose. We are writing new tracks on the pages of time, every day, together.
Why don’t you tell me your story?
(And, by the way, Cabell died in 1958, so on January 1, 2009, we start another UberProject....)
Quotable Quotes
This little gem was submitted by Simple Simon who says that it sounds like DPC in action:
"In the making of a watch, if one should make the wheels, another the spring, another shall engrave the dial plate, and another shall make the case, then the watch will be better and cheaper made than if the whole work be put upon one person." ---Sir William Petty, 1683.
[Editor: And I could see Henry Ford agreeing most emphatically.]
Watch for "adoptions"
Please watch the Managing Projects forum thread for projects available for adoption by PMs.
Several have already been made available, and more are coming. Typically, the project will be copyright-cleared, scans complete, and OCR work done. So just grab it and go.
ÜberProject #1: Chronicles of Canada
Currently, Volumes 5 is in F2 and Volume 20 is ready for post-processing. Volume 29, The Day of Sir John Macdonald has been posted to PG Canada; "thumbs up" to everyone who worked on it. Several more are being prepped. Volumes 3 and 27 will be ready for “adoption” by March 1. And a complete list of all remaining volumes, sources where they can be harvested, and suggestions for ways to harvest will be ready by March 5.
Volume 13 is currently in "P2: Waiting" on DP-Int--Warmheart will let us know when it's ready for P2 proofing. Thanks to all who worked on it.
There are still lots of spaces for volunteers to PM, PP and even CP. Check out the ÜberProject wiki page for The Chronicles of Canada here: http://www.pgdpcanada.net/wiki/index.php/The_Chronicles_of_Canada.
ÜberProject #2: Jesuit Relations
We've started our test volume (Vol. 65: Lower Canada, Mississippi Valley, 1696-1702). Simple Simon is the PM and may PP as well. There has been some very interesting posts in the discussion forum mostly about how to proof the various non-standard characters. A set of standards has been determined and added to the Project Comments. IonaV will complete an ÜberProject wiki page for Jesuit Relations which will capture the basic instructions. lvl is PPing one completed volume on DP-Int and he and Simple Simon will discuss the PPing aspects at a later date.
Potential ÜberProject #3: Governor General's Award Books
Warmheart has created an ÜberProject page for this potential uberproject. The first thing to determine is what books we can actually do. You can see the details of what she has completed to date here: here
Contests / Competitions--Let Your Creativity Run Wild...
You've probably seen topic threads under the Promotion of DP Canada forum ... basically, how can we improve DPC? If you have any ideas, let us know. Simple Simon and coachmike won't make promises, but they'd like to know what you want to see improved and/or changed.
Newsletter Tag-line Contest:
I don't have one yet, or any ideas, do you? So start creating (yes, you can look up those old quotations that you learned in school for ideas ...). Any or all entries can be anonymous: send a pm to either Simple Simon or Quill by March 12, 2008 and then we can all vote on the results. And, I promise, no names will be released unless you want us to.
Calling all artists and wannabe artists:
Simple Simon has suggested a mascot for the newsletter and I thought, why not a mascot that can be used for the DPC site as well? After all, they already are asking for ideas to improve look of the DPC site. I did like his suggestion of a "beaver working on a book"; however, use your imagination. If some of you are "paper and paint/ink/pencil/pen" types and need help getting your creation into an electronic format, I'm sure one of our illustrator types or CPers would be glad to give you help or provide instructions on how to scan it. I've set up a folder on DPC's dpscans folder called "DPC_logos". We'll announce the deadline for the logos in March.
If you do not know how to access dpscans:
- You'll need to use an FTP program.
- Address: ftp.pgdpcanada.net; Account: dpscans; Password: has been changed; pm either Simple Simon or Quill if you do not know it.
- You'll see a "home" directory/folder--double click that and you'll see "dpscans".
- Double click on dpscans and you'll see a listing of directories; scroll down to "DPC logos" and then drag and drop your image file(s) to that directory.
- You're done; so just disconnect from the ftp server.
If you do not already have an FTP program, you can try FileZilla (which a number of other DPers use since IE7 won't work): http://filezilla-project.org/download.php. Click on the version that you want (.exe or .zip). The .exe will give an immediate install. It's has a quite intuitive user interface; but if you've questions you can send either Simple Simon or Quill a pm for further help. Or if you're still not sure about doing the upload, you can send a pm to either Simple Simon or Quill and we'll arrange for getting the files from you and you'll still be anonymous.
We Grow Every Day
We are now up to 316 members. Welcome to all new members; I hope you find some projects that you will enjoy doing. Many of our members are also members of DP-Int/US and/or DP Europe--we welcome them and thank them for all their continued support and interest in DPC. (Numbers are accurate up to "press" time.)
| New | |
|---|---|
| February 2008 | 21 |
| January 2008 | 58 |
| December 2007 | 142 |
| to Nov. 30, 2007 | 95 |
| Total to date | 316 |
Proofing & Formatting Stats
Our members continue to be very productive. Every day you continue to out do the goals set by Simple Simon and coachmike. February's goals are 2,900 pages per round. (It's a leap year, people; therefore, there is one extra day in February.)
P1 has the lead again. They are almost at 300% with 295%--WOW!! P2 is over 219%, P3 is over 122%, F1 is over 115% and F2 is over 54%. Great going, guys. There are a few more hours left in February: how many more pages can we do?
| Round | P1 | P2 | P3 | F1 | F2 |
| February goal | 2,900 | 2,900 | 2,900 | 2,900 | 2,900 |
| *February to date | 8,580 | 6,373 | 3,544 | 3,350 | 1,569 |
| February % | 295.86 % | 219.76 % | 122.21 % | 115.52 % | 54.10 % |
*Numbers accurate to "press" time.
One thing to keep in mind when we compare the numbers of pages done in each round: because some projects will skip P3 and/or F2 (for reasons you'd have to ask the PM &/or PPer about), the number of pages available for those rounds to work on can be less than the other rounds in any given time period. Of course, the other rounds must also complete their projects for more work to filter through to the following rounds--it's a cascading or domino effect.
I am advised that starting in March, the page goals for P3 and F2 will be reduced to reflect the fact that they have fewer total pages available. That will give them a much better chance to reach their goals each month.
For more statistics and related links go to: Statistics Central.
Books In Process And/or Posted To PGC
At press time, we had 30 Gold Star books posted to PGC (with 3 in PPV). Fantastic work, all; and many thanks to the PPVers who got them through.
There are currently 15 Silver Star projects in post processing and 65 Bronze Star projects which are currently undergoing proofing or formatting. For more details about these projects, please see the listings on the bottom of the DP Welcome page.
User Team Talk
Have you checked out our user teams? To check out the teams or to join one go to: User Teams. The Team threads are located under Proofing Team Talk. Is there a team that you'd like to see? You can create a team from the link on the User Teams page--you might be surprised by who shows up to join you.
We now have 15 teams: Our newest user team is Lusofonia and is a meeting space for speakers of Portuguese. Welcome to you.
Possible Future Articles
This is YOUR newsletter: yes, there are forum posts and user team posts, but is there something that you want to tell the whole DPC community? You are allowed to brag here. You can also be anonymous if you choose ... we won't tell.
- Tips or Hints: for those people who do/did a lot of proofing and/or formatting on DP-Int/US &/or DP-Eur, do you have any tips or "rules" that you follow to help yourself while you proof or format? Even a re-wording of a guideline that helps you remember how to do something specific.
- Tell us why you joined DPC.
- Quotable Quotes: have you seen a thought-provoking quote that is relevant to the DP Community while you were doing your proofing that you just had to pass on?...
- The most interesting, outrageous, or strangest line you proofed: before it was proofed (if that was the outrageous or strange part) and what it was after proofing (please do not submit obscene language, it will not be published).
- New projects: PMs is there a series of books or books by a very prolific author that you'd like to do?--let us know so that we can help pass the word to the proofers so they'll be there to jump in and work on them.
- Kudos, Bouquets & Compliments: are there any DPers that you would like to give special thanks and/or recognition to: a mentor who gave you lots of guidance, a PPer that made your project into a very wonderful looking book for posting to PG, a CPer or image/text preparer who went the extra little bit to provide you with clean scans, well OCR'd text, or good illustrations for your project, another DPer who made you feel really welcome or provided you with some good advice or....
- "Guest articles" by anyone and everyone who wishes to....
