Smooth-reading FAQ
From DPCanadaWiki
This is a list of Frequently Asked Questions about Smooth Reading.
General
What is smooth-reading..?
Smooth-reading is reading a text as you would read any eBook, but making notes where you spot a glitch; that is, anything that disrupts the sense or flow of the text. This might be a scanno, typo, strange or non-existent punctuation or even missing text, from a single word to a page or more. It is also a great way to get a sneak preview of a book, and to minimise the annoyance Gutenberg readers everywhere feel when they spot a problem.
What isn't smooth-reading..?
It is not DPC-proofreading; you do not need to look at the page scans. It is not 'professional' proof-reading; often author's mistakes are noted but retained. It is not backup full Post-Processing; you don't have to ensure that every minor piece of formatting is as per the guidelines. You're reading for smoothness and sense, with an eye out for any errors that would jar or jolt an average reader. It shouldn't be a chore - if it's not fun, don't do it!
Why is it useful..?
Even after four rounds of proofing and a PPer's tender loving care, texts can still have mistakes or problems. Rather than finding these issues after the book has been published at PGC, it's great to be able to fix them before that upload. A fresh pair of eyes is often able to catch errors that have been otherwise missed.
What will a smoothie-ready text look like..?
At the moment, smooth-read texts should be in plain text format, and so they will have underscores showing _italics_, and the PPer's choice of formatting for bold, commonly = or ALL CAPS. The smooth-reading pool page gives an idea of the length of the book. It will not have illustrations. If a PPer wishes to make a project available in HTML format, they will need to make their own arrangements - the smooth-reading pool should not be used for this. Occasionally a Post Processor will include HTML to accommodate smooth readers that find it an easier format to read. (LaTeX projects are usually provided in PDF.)
For smooth-readers
What sort of books are available..?
It's up to the PPers! If you'd particularly like to smooth-read a book you've been proofing, post to the project forum and request it. The smooth-reading phase is an optional one, and not all books will go through it! If you'd like to be notified when (if) a project becomes available for smooth-reading, go to its project page, scroll down to the "Event Subscriptions" section, and tick the appropriate box.
What does a smooth-reader need to do..?
- There may be important information on the Project Page, so it's a good idea to look at that before downloading.
- You need to download the text, and open the zip file to get to the text version.
- Next, read it generally. Mark any point which seems odd or unusual to your eye. This is best done in the file itself, using the [**correction or query] style. Don't forget to save as you go along.
- Finally, put the file back into a zip format and upload it to the smooth-reading pool page.
What if I accidentally upload the wrong smooth-read file..?
You can upload the right one and the new copy will overwrite the old.
What software / tools do I need..?
- A web browser (which you must have already, or you couldn't see this :))
- A text viewer (whatever you like to read electronic text in ... a web browser, a text editor, or special software for your eBookReader etc. If your text viewer doesn't have editing abilities, you will need a copy of the file open elsewhere, so you can add [**correction or query]
- A zip program (WinZip, Mac ZipIt, FileRoller etc.) to open the downloaded file, and to compress it again before uploading.
How long will I get to read..?
The smooth-read page will show how many days the project has left before being taken out of the smooth-read pool. Some PPers may add more time to the counter, so check if you think you are coming up to the deadline.
What if I can't start / finish it..?
This is a completely obligation-free activity! If you take a text and never get a chance to look at it - that's okay. If you can read half of it in the time given - just upload the file with those comments. Half is better than nothing. Even just one potential mistake spotted is valuable.
What is a mistake..?
Mistakes are in the eye of the beholder. Authors were sometimes terrible spellers, editors were sometimes eccentric in style, print-setters sometimes had liquid lunches. Just note anything you *think* might be an issue. The PPer will check against the original text and decide what action (if any) to take.
How do I provide feedback to the PPer..?
Make a note in the original file [**correction or query]. Put your note right next to the problem word / phrase. When you've finished, or have read as far as you can, save your file in .txt format, zip it up[A] and upload it by following the "Project Info and Upload" link on the smooth-reading pool page (this will take you to the Project Page where you will find a link called "Upload a smooth-read text" at the very bottom).
What if I did not find any mistakes..?
This is also valuable information and you should let the PPer know. You can do this by:
- Putting a [**note] at the beginning of the file and upload it
- Sending a PM
I have this friend...
Great! This process is especially good for people who like 'regular' proof-reading or reading Gutenberg texts. Anyone can look at the smooth-reading pool page, and download files - they don't have to be a DPC member. To return comments, however, they will need to register, or know the PPer's email address (and be sure that the PPer is happy to receive files by email!)
For post-processors
Is my book suitable / will it benefit..?
Unless your book is extremely specialist and took months to crawl through the proofing rounds, it probably will be suitable for smooth-reading. As for benefit - *any* mistakes picked up before posting to PGC are good! And if no errors are found; that's a big gold star for your post-processing style :D
How much post-processing should I do first..?
Ideally, you should complete the .txt version, and submit this for smooth-reading before generating HTML. This means that you have just a single file to make changes in. If your project has images, this is a great time to fix them up, while the smooth-reading is going on. Or swap to a second project.
Where do I find smooth-readers..?
You can request them in this thread or in the project comments forum - but the best way is through the Smooth-reading pool page, which has been specially designed for this. Smoothies will probably look first at that page for books to review.
How do I provide a file for smooth-reading..?
You need to have the project checked out to you for PPing. Then, on the Project Information Page (reachable by clicking on the title of the book, in your PP page) you will see some links allowing you to upload a book to make it available for smoothreading, for either one, two or four weeks. Clicking this link will take you to a page where you can browse for the file to upload, and type in some comments that will be shown to smoothreaders. If you have any special instructions (see below), or just want to describe the contents of the book in more detail, add them here.
(Special instructions: these might be about what to mark up or not, but hopefully not HOW to mark up. If the desired SR correction markup is always asked to be done the same single standard way (described elsewhere in this document; basically: don't change or correct anything, just add [**correction or query] right after the spot of dubiousness) then once a smoothreader has learnt it once, on one project, they will be ready to smoothread ALL projects.)
What format should it be in..?
Your file should be in a text-only format (ASCII/ISO-Latin-1/Unicode) and then be zipped using a sensible filename[A].
An exception is if the project is LaTeX, in which case you should provide the PDF. In this case, you should give instructions to the smoothreaders on how to note possible errors: many are not able to annotate PDF files, so listing the errors in a separate text file may be the best option. Also, since your zipped PDF may be a large download, it is a good idea to warn the smoothreaders of the filesize.
How long will it take..?
You can set how long you wish your book to be available. The standard times are 1, 2 or 4 weeks. If you wish to reset the counter and thus add more time for the smoothies, you can do that too (by making the book available for smoothreading again, after the deadline has expired. Make sure you upload the same file, as it will be overwritten) You cannot decrease the amount of time a book is available for (this would be unfair to the smoothies who are working on your book already.)
What do I do with the feedback..?
You will need to consider any issues raised and deal with them as you would with [**correction or query]. Some genuine scannos or missing words may need to be changed. Other 'errors' may be a deliberate author / editor mistake which you will take a different action on. You do NOT have to act on a smoothie's suggestions if you don't want to. Use your best judgment, your knowledge of DPC & PGC guidelines and ask questions in the PPing forum if need be.
Can I get non-DPCers involved..?
Yes! The smooth-reading page has deliberately been made accessible to those not signed in so that you can, if you wish, promote your almost-finished book on relevant mailing lists that you are a member of, or to observant friends. Do Not Spam Your Book. Don't forget that smoothies without DPC-accounts cannot upload their commented text, so you will need to ask them to join up, or else provide them with an email address to contact you through. Ask in one of the gmail threads if you would like a new account to use for this.
[A] File names should be reasonably short, have no spaces or special characters such as / or *, and use the suffix .zip only. Do not use .ZIP, .Zip or try to upload .tar files or other compression formats, as they simply will not work.
