Hi all

I am so excited to join the Global Text Project and become part of this team!

I have been helping with the project for a number of months and applied for a position as soon as one opened up. Since graduating from Elon University with a degree in Professional Writing and Rhetoric in 2004, I have been working in the publishing industry both writing for a magazine and freelancing for myself. However, I was continuously looking for a job that I could relate to my field of interests while making a contribution to the community (a global community, in this case). I believe I have finally found the match for my aspirations.

Now with the title of Associate Editor and with the incredible momentum this project is taking on, I find there is lots of work to do. As Rick mentioned, we are being offered books for publication at the rate of one per week. While I do enjoy absorbing as many college subjects as possible every day, I think we need help pushing this project forward. Along with my introduction here, I am calling for volunteers.

This is an easy way for anyone, anywhere to get involved with the such an admirable project. We need help transforming previously written textbooks into a standard format that we will use for the Global Text library. While many would think that we could just post a book to a website, we are actually trying to re-create a book that optimizes usability and accessibility for all people all around the world.

We use a standard set of styles for each book so that we can quickly reformat any book to meet the needs of a particular audience. For example, if a student is print impaired, we can apply a new style sheet in which all text is formatted in a large font. Therefore, that student will easily be able to access and use the new version of the same book; but one that better meets his or her needs.

This means that we must apply standard styles to each book before publishing. We have several University of Georgia students already helping in this phase and welcome other professionals and student volunteers all over. This is an especially excellent way for someone to acquire service hours without even leaving the house or office! Feel free to spread the word.

If you would like to help prepare these books for electronic publication and/or with copy editing or have any questions about volunteering, then please email me: drexel@uga.edu.

I look forward to working with everyone here at the Global Text Project and also hearing from new volunteers.

Kind Regards,
Marisa