All of that is perfectly true--as based on actual publications readily to hand. Still, it is completely fair for the reviewer to point out those shortcomings--and I would suggest expected as we should want an honest assessment. Just because a book is sloppily done does not mean that the reviewer (who is ultimately being challenged in this thread) must be equally sloppy in reviewing it. --Ediger
On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 10:26 PM, Carl Kunath <[email protected]>wrote: > Many caving publications are done with very low budgets. As a result, > there is no staff of well-paid graphic artists and proofreaders standing by > to take over when the manuscript and illustrations are plopped upon the > publisher's desk. As a result, volunteer, non-professionals do the best > they can with the time and resources available. Results vary depending on > deadlines, level of interest, ability, and (perhaps most importantly) the > personal standards of those involved. > > Fortunately for many authors/publishers, the caving community is not too > picky about such things and many readers are satisfied with mediocre > journalism, sloppy layout, muddy-looking illustrations, and slip-shod > indexes. > > The production of a work of any significant size is a major undertaking > and, when the end appears near, some things are pushed aside in the last > minute fervor to "get the job done." Indexes are often casualties in such > situations. > > As Pete has mentioned, the job of indexing is very important and offers a > last opportunity to catch errors, particularly in spelling of proper names. > A good index is a vital part of a book and deserves just as much care as any > other portion. > > The indexes for 50 YEARS OF TEXAS CAVING (22 three-column pages) were meant > to be as thorough as possible and are the result of many, many hours of > labor by Katie Arens, Logan McNatt, Jerry Atkinson, and myself. Human > indexing to the max! > > ===Carl Kunath > > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* [email protected] > *To:* [email protected] > *Cc:* [email protected] ; [email protected] ; > [email protected] ; [email protected] ; > [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected] > *Sent:* Thursday, September 17, 2009 9:41 AM > *Subject:* Re: Re: [Texascavers] Re: book review: Huautla > > Computer indexing is often nearly a joke. Human indexing, alas, is seldom > done any more. > > T > > > Sep 16, 2009 04:08:33 PM, [email protected] wrote: > > You can always do additional editing and checking, but I suspect in this > case it was deemed more important to have the book out in time for the ICS. > One way to catch the errors that Mark mentioned is to do an index. > Particularly for a book like this, where there are a number of people and a > number of places mentioned, an index is valuable for folks to find a > particular name. And when you index such a volume you always end up with > "almost duplicate" or similar spellings that can then be discovered and > corrected. > The *Atlas of the Great Caves of the World* is a good example where the > index paid off big time because of the amount of "foreign" names that went > well beyond the 128 character fonts available at the time. The solution was > to design a special 256 character font with all the special accents, etc. > Fortunately computer technology has come a long way since that 20 year old > edition. > I thought it was a great read and look forward to similar books by both > Bill and others cavers. > > - Pete > CaveBooks.com > > On Sep 16, 2009, at 1:14 PM, Mark Minton wrote: > > Charles Goldsmith said: > > >Bill, just my opinion on it, but I disagree on your critique. > >It was probably edited too much, so no, it shouldn't have been edited > more. > > I have to disagree about the editing, Charles. It _did_ need more, > as Mixon said. Sure, it reads well and makes a great story, but there are > things an editor should have caught. For example, the large room in San > AgustÃn where Camp III was located is spelled at least three ways: Sala > Grande de la Sierra Mazateca (p. 26), Sala Grande de las Sierra Mazateca (p. > 109), and Sala Grande de las Sierra Mazatecas (p. 146). The first is > correct. Swiss caver Philippe Rouiller's last name is also spelled three > different ways on pages 193-4. Or how about on p. 201 where it says that a > row of stalagmites hung on the ceiling? However the most egregious error is > that the north arrow on all of the line maps in the chapters points the > wrong way, although it is correct inside the front cover. That can be very > confusing if one doesn't know the system and tries to make sense of some of > the progress described in the book. There are also several minor factual > errors, but those are mostly inconsequential and would not be detectable by > the casual reader. > > Don't get me wrong, I like the book and found it to be fast > reading. I too look forward to Steele's next book. But I hope it is better > edited. > > Mark Minton > >
