Greetings from Philly!

[Ellene]

Ellen E here. Decided it’s time for me to introduce myself..I’ve been a most devoted listener for a year or more. As a matter of fact you can assume that if I am not sleeping or eating I am happily absorbed in a Librivox creation. I would like to volunteer but I don’t think I have the skill set to be of service. I do recommend you to everyone I meet so perhaps I am helping you grow your listener base.

I don’t know if Librivox is interested in constructive criticism but I think ongoing self examination in a project as far reaching and important as this is necessary to address problems inherent in a come-one come-all volunteer policy.

Is there or can there be a dedicated forum in which listeners can make comments and offer suggestions in a polite and helpful way?

Thanks to all of you for your valuable service. I love you all

[moniaqua]

Welcome at LibriVox, Ellene

I would like to volunteer but I don’t think I have the skill set to be of service.

How does it come that you think this? You obviously can read, as you can write. This and a mic should be sufficient

If you do not want to read, you could proof-listen. Just as idea.

There is a section for suggestions; I am rarely there because I am busy with reading and such things

[Ellene]

Thanks for responding.
I read about proofreading but dismissed it because monitoring to assure compliance with recording rules does not address reader pronunciation problems or overall performance quality. With all due respect some narrations are so awful that they render the book unlistenable. Unforeseen consequences may arise such as turning the listener off from the work or to the author entirely.
I understand your open armed invitation for all to participate but it is causing real problems. Frustration leads to anger when someone gets emotionally involved with a work and is wrenched from the story by the sudden introduction of a substandard reader. This is such a pervasive problem that I have started previewing chapters in books with multiple readers. I will not start a book if I know the rug will at some point be pulled out from under me once I have become lost in the story.
Librivox may be shooting itself in the foot with its overriding preference of quantity over quality. If you read listener reviews it will become clear which works have been slaughtered by well meaning volunteers who are not up to the job.

As a proofreader I would be happy to monitor recording rules but I could be of better service if I could identify books in your catalog which are causing persistent outcries. There are many books presently unreadable that can be saved by re-recording a few chapters.

Please forgive me for presuming Librivox is interested in hearing my two cents. I am an avid fan and I want to help make it provide the best service it can considering the vast job it has tasked itself to fulfill.

Thank you,
ellene

[moniaqua]

With all due respect some narrations are so awful that they render the book unlistenable.

I can perfectly understand your point. There, for me, is only a "but": it is really a matter of taste whether someone likes a reading or not. It is a matter of taste whether someone can accept "wrong" pronounciation (there are a lot of readers actually asking for being told by the DPL if they pronounce something wrong) and, additionally, what is wrong pronounciation? Do I have to learn Oxford-English in order to get it right? Is it how the people in New York speak, or the ones in Montreal, or the ones in California? An Australian, who certainly pronounces a word different from someone who comes from Middle England or Southern America, pronounces he or she that word wrong?

Librivox may be shooting itself in the foot with its overriding preference of quantity over quality

This discussion is as old as LibriVox I know what you are talking about. I have heard recordings I didn't like that much. I only think that it sort itself out all by itself. For my feeling recordings here generally have become better over the years (hmm, is there a teacher for the grammar here? This kind of sound weird). If someone can explain what "good" or "high quality" means in this case. I understand you are talking about the reading, not about the tech specs. I am very sure that the last ones have improved the last years. And I personally think, someone who reads on a, lets say not that optimal quality like a professional reader would, he or she still hears other recordings, gets hints somehow and will improve the reading. I have heard people improving, and I am really not often listening to a book, as I prefer to read - silently for myself or aloud for others.
And even if there is a book you don't want to listen to - you still can read it for yourself, you can do a second recording, do a second recording of one chapter if you like, LibriVox loves the choice of voice.