Without our hardworking, dedicated volunteers, PBS would surely not be the wonderful site that it is. All week we will give you an overview of what our volunteers do and why.

We asked our volunteers to finish this sentence:

I volunteer at PBS because__________.

Elizabeth R. (esjro): PBS has given so much back to me:  new friends, laughter, and (most importantly) great books!

Rebecca and Keith (rocky1): I volunteer at PBS because I want others to find as much joy in reading as I do.

Robin K. (jubead): it is not what you give but what you get in return.  PBS gave me wonderful friends and memorable times so volunteering allows me to give back to the membership and site.

Giselle R. (Giselle): I would like to give back a little of what I got when I joined, great books, great guidance and of course the many wonderful friends I have made in the process.

Alisa F. (Greycat133): I love this site and what it does.  If my efforts can help bring people to love PBS as much as I do, then it is time well spent!

Shelia R. (MamaDragon3): it’s a simple way to give something back to a site I love and a service I adore.  PBS supplies me with two of life’s biggest necessities–good books and good friends.

Sarah (Delos): I like to give back to the place hat has given me so many books, therefore, enjoyment; to try to make it even better for future swappers.

Hunter S. (Hunter1): in helping others, I am also helping myself.  I have a strong desire to help others and when I satisfy that desire by volunteering, it’s a win/win for both me and those I help.  In addition, I have a strong desire to learn and by volunteering, I ultimately learn more about PBS and its members.

Troy D. (tdaulton): it satisfies my OCD monster.

Mary S. (MaryMary): I love this site and believe it’s one of the best sites on the internet (and helping out keeps it that way)!  I enjoy helping people and want other members’ time here to be as enjoyable as mine is.

Anna B. (classicana): I volunteer for all of the above reasons, PLUS, it helps me ignore the thing  I hate most — housework!  and especially vacuuming.  (Nature abhors a vacuum, and so do I).

Linda B. (herbalhorse): there is something about this site that is unique and I love being part of it.  Besides the obvious benefits of  getting some wonderful books, I have enjoyed the interaction with members from all walks of life, each with  their own point of view.  Some have become friends, some not, but all are valuable.

Lou B. (justloux): I volunteer at PBS because it’s FUN to find/correct/edit book data & images, being very like a digital puzzle to be completed/fixed.
Also because doing all this scratches my OCD itch. (LOL)

Emily E. (EmilyKat): I volunteer at PBS because it isn’t just a book exchange. It is a community. I love the feeling of being in a family that is all as book obsessed as I am.

Diane G. (icesk8tr):  I enjoy helping other members get addicted to the best bookswapping site there is, and because of the friendships I have made here. PBS is more than just books, it is a great community!

Kathy H. (Nellie): No wait. I volunteer at PBS because really, I just love books.

Tammy (CrystalRose): I volunteer at PBS because I enjoy the site and want to make it enjoyable for others.

Michael G. (doctorslime): Its nice to return the favor. It’s fun to meet cool people. Because if I didn’t I’d feel guilty, about all the cool books they have gotten me, and I didn’t get them anything in return.

Ronda K. (cakirkette): I volunteer at PBS because I enjoy the site so much myself, I want to help other people enjoy it too.

Cyn C. (Cyn-Sama): I volunteer because I enjoy helping other members, and because I am happy to give back to a site that has brought me so much joy.

Stephanie: I volunteer at PBS as my way of saying “thank you” for such a wonderful site that has allowed me to indulge my love of reading!

D. G. (riahekans): I volunteer at PBS because I need to give something back to a place that’s given me so much joy!

Patty P. (Patouie):I volunteer at PBS because it seems like a natural extension of some of the things I love in life.  Books… I love books, along with the world of computers.  And I’ve grown to feel a sense of community here.  I also am one of those odd ducks who reads the computer manual (and likes it!) so becoming familiar with the help docs was a given.  The big plus is that the help docs here are so well-written on this website.  I “get” the logic, at least most of the time.  So tour guiding — helping other members sort through a problem, or find their way around the site — wasn’t a big leap.When I started doing book data edits, that was another extension of things I already do.  Proofreading comes pretty easily.  My odd-duckyness also expresses itself in caring where the comma goes.  In a good way — I love the written word.  And then I learned how to work with book cover images — what a joy!  I’d never cropped an image before in my life before I started volunteering here.  Now I can wantonly manipulate them, if I choose. Bwah ha ha!I volunteer at PBS because it fits well with who I am, because of the people, and because I’ve learned so many new things here, such as how to work with images. I love the people, love the laughs and hugs, and love how it stretches me.

Jennifer K. (Fungurl1979): I love helping others and this site has made my life better.

 Christina B. (christinaholly): I love this site, and want others to as well.

Geri (geejay): I want to give back a bit of what I’ve received and still recieve.  Friendship, fun and most important help and companionship from people with similar interests.

Sianeka: I volunteer at PBS because I love PBS. I volunteer at PBS because I like to help out.

Amanda S. (ABCatHome): I volunteer at PBS because I have truly found my niche…helping people and feeding my book addiction!  I love being an integral part of a site where Admin Team truly cares about their membership and has worked diligently to make it the best book club ever!

Kim C. (kontessa): I believe we should serve in our communities and I love the PBS commity, so this is how I honor it.

Margaret (Yellowdogs1): I want to help others and also I want to give just a little bit back for all that I have received here.

Tiffany K. (tiffanyak): I volunteer at PBS because it is a great online community that has done so much for me, and it’s nice to be able to give something back. Also, I like being able to help those who need it, in any way I can.

June E. (junie): I really love to help members out and am happy to have made so many good friends here.

katzpawz: I volunteer here at PBS because of all the joy I have received as a member.  It seems really “right” to be giving back as a volunteer here.

Wendy H. (donkeycheese): I love the site and the people!

Virginia H. (holtzy): I believe in the power of reading and books.  It is wonderful to help others, but I’m especially thrilled that so many children have received books from our wonderful, generous members.  I also love the camaraderie of all of you, the friendships, encouragement and just tons of fun and laughing out loud until your stomach hurts times.  I also volunteer at PBS because I think this site is like a little piece of book heaven and I want everyone else to enjoy and appreciate it as much as I do.

Kay M. (maydayzee): I want to help the site be better, since it has given me so much for so little.

Cathy W. (Firefly): volunteering is a way of life for me.  Books have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember (and even longer than that, truth be told).  PBS gives me the ability to combine these two basic needs and have fun doing it!

Meghan (bookreadera): I believe our lives are measured not by what we have, but by what we give.  I also believe that while grand causes are great, it’s the simple kindnesses of the people around us every day that really make a difference in our lives.

James (JimiJam): I volunteer at PBS because, considering all that it’s done for me over the years, it’s the least I can do in return.

Without our hardworking, dedicated volunteers, PBS would surely not be the wonderful site that it is. All week we will give you an overview of what our volunteers do and why.

Today we cover Book Data & Book Image Teams

By Robin (Sianeka) Book Data Coordinator and Book Image Approver

What the Data and Image Teams Do

Data Team Members submit edits for the book details, adding missing information and revising incorrect data.  Data team members add book descriptions but also try to provide information such as the publisher, genre, number of pages, book dimensions as well as try to add some consistency to title and author information as it is presented in the database, so member searches are more productive and accurate.  A Data Team member will try to fill in ALL book data information with their submissions, researching data and trying to fill in any missing or blank data fields and will format information to match current database standards.

Team members often involve themselves in special Team projects to work on improving specific areas of the database, so that there are a group of Team members all working to reach a special goal.

Image Team Members seek out book cover images to replace the empty listings with the blue boxes and to replace poor quality images that are already in the database.  They will try to find clear and crisp images in .jpg format that meet the site’s size standards, and then crop them so that the image is visible without extra outside area displayed and without logos or photo glare or other flaws showing.

Both Team forums have guidelines posted to show site standards and help show new Team members what is expected from a submission that will be Approved and there are members around almost all the time to answer questions Team Members may have.

What the Data and Image Approvers Do

All data and image submissions need to be Approved before they actually appear on the site.Approvers are the Team Members charged with this important duty – reviewing the submissions sent in to assure they follow all the site’s guidelines before they show up on the site.

Data Approvers look over the submissions, and fix or revise submissions before approving them, or decline them gently with a polite note to the submitter to let them know why their submission isn’t able to be approved at this time.  Data Approvers will often research the information submitted to verify accuracy and seek to find the missing information that a submission may not have included.  Data Approvers try not to allow any submissions through that still contain blank fields or missing information. Data Approvers will ascertain that all submissions conform to match site formats set up (such as title, series information, author format) in order to make Searches work more better to bring up more complete and accurate results.

Image Approvers will make sure that submitted images clearly display a book cover that matches the PBS listing.  They will make sure that the image is oriented properly and displays clearly visible title and author information, and that the image is cropped so that only the cover is showing.  Image Approvers will often seek out larger or clearer images if a submission is not up to optimal quality or too small, or too blurry or obscured, and they often will crop the many uncropped submissions.  Image Approvers will often fix up or retouch images showing labels or blemishes or photo/image glare if they can’t find a better image to replace an image that is flawed.

Image and Data Team Approvers always come from the ranks of the Data Correctors or Image Collectors team members.  If a member has been a member of the Team for at least three months and wants to become a Data or Image Approver, they will notify a Team Coordinator, and then add submissions as usual that are reviewed for a time by other Approvers and Coordinators who will provide feedback and suggestions regarding their submissions.  Submissions are reviewed until the candidate’s submissions no longer receive any Feedback suggestions.  The member is then elevated to Approver status, and gains access to the Approver screens.

Data Correction and Image Collection Team members are a friendly and helpful group, and we have a lot of fun together while making the PBS listings much more useful to the PBS membership.

Joining the Image and Data Teams

Do you love to pay attention to details?  Do PBS Book listings that don’t show a cover image or have a book description bother you???   If you can answer YES to these questions, you should consider joining the PBS Image Collection and Data Correction Teams.

The Image and Data teams are made up of members who help improve the PBS database, making it more accurate and fun to look at!  Frequently, members will join both teams at the same time to help out in both areas, but if your expertise lies favoring one or the other, members can certainly join only one team at a time.  Both teams enthusiastically welcome new additions with open arms!   Team members who want to be even MORE involved with the process can sign up to be Team Approvers.  Approvers are members who review all the submissions that are submitted by club members and Team members to determine whether the submitted changes make it to the final PBS pages that all members see when they look at a book’s information.  We can ALWAYS use more help!

Any PBS member can submit Data Edits or Images for the database, but Team members get some special benefits that general member volunteers don’t have.  Team member benefits:

* Team members have access to special forums where there are team-specific topics and where team members can interact with other team members.  These are especially good for discussions of team problems for which the general membership would typically not involve themselves or have answers.  Team members can interact with other team members, who are all very friendly and helpful, and all interested in helping out the site, so they are a WONDERFUL resource when you have data and image questions and problems!
* Team members get special icons identifying them as team members.
* Team members can get information about new features and problems before the rest of the general membership.
* Team members can advance to become Approvers, should they be interested in this job.

Research shows that books with images and descriptions are much more likely to be requested more quickly than books missing this data!  Team volunteers help make all members’ books more desirable to the rest of the membership!

To Join the Teams:

* Contact a Coordinator for the team(s) you are interested in.  Data Team Coordinators are Anna B. (classicana) and Sianeka.  Image Team Coordinators are Sarra B. (sarradee), Betsy B. (Betz68) and Anna B. (classicana).
* Read and sign the PBS Non-Disclosure Agreement
* Submit a message via feedback letting PBS know you are interested in joining the team(s)

If you are interested in helping out, here are a couple of Discussion topic links that list a lot of additional information about the teams: http://www.paperbackswap.com/Want-Help-Data-Images-Find/topic/60867/ and http://www.paperbackswap.com/Time-Slot-Project-Volunteers-Part/topic/190591/ .

There are no quotas or minimums for joining – each member volunteers at their own pace and can submit as often or as little as they like.  There are no pressures to do more than you can handle, and each member determines their own time schedule for themselves, submitting whenever they feel they can help. Team members can be as active as they want, and their efforts are greatly appreciated!