[blindkid] Bookshare - NIMAC News - a concern

Thu Jan 29 18:17:02 UTC 2009

I need to jump in and please correct me if I am wrong, but these files
ESPECIALLY for math and science with their tables and other symbols are NOT
stored in a format that is going to be directly downloadable and user
friendly.  I know for certain that even with my 10th grader's English
book(not math or science) that the direct download straight to a Braille
embosser was less than acceptable.

Would be interested in opinions of others, but when these files were first
discussed, this was one of the big warnings about this system.  Files would
be given by publishing companies such that it would be quicker to get the
file to a transcriptionist but NOT in a form that would be good to directly
download.  Has this changed?  Is Bookshare going to alter the file so that
it will be directly downloadable and user friendly?

Sandy taboada

-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Robert Jaquiss
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2009 10:59 AM
To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Bookshare - NIMAC News!

Hello Eric and list:

     I believe you are correct. The braille files could be read on a 
BrailleNote or other device, or used to emboss a braille copy. It will be 
interesting to see how well this actually works.

Regards,

Robert

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "DrV" <icdx at earthlink.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 9:21 PM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Bookshare - NIMAC News!

Does this mean that Middle & High School textbooks will be available for
downloading to a braille noting device?
Eric
(PS: Sorry, about the misfired messages.)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bookshare.org (by way of David Andrews<dandrews at visi.com>)"
<Bookshare.org at mail.vresp.com>
To: <david.andrews at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 16:36
Subject: [blindkid] Bookshare - NIMAC News!

<http://cts.vresp.com/c/?Benetech/5d787704f2/0ae99e823c/f8a1a1dc74>
Bookshare: Books Without Barriers

Bookshare and NIMAC Announcement

NIMAC books:

To find NIMAC books, go to:
<http://cts.vresp.com/c/?Benetech/5d787704f2/0ae99e823c/8cec87bc2a>http://ni
mac.us

<mailto:nimacrequest at bookshare.org>Then email us
to request the book be added to Bookshare

Dear David Andrews:

Have you heard the good news? There is a simple
new NIMAC process that will enable Bookshare to
provide NIMAC books to your students in a week or
less at no cost, thanks to funding from the U.S.
Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.

You can now name Bookshare as one of your
Authorized Users (AU) at the NIMAC. You need to
sign an updated NIMAC coordination agreement,
which the NIMAC recently sent directly to all
NIMAC state coordinators, and then appoint
Bookshare as an AU. The new coordination
agreement is available online at the NIMAC's
website at:
<http://cts.vresp.com/c/?Benetech/5d787704f2/0ae99e823c/07a24a3dec>http://ww
w.nimac.us/2009_NIMAC_COORD.DOC.

Then, when one of your students needs a book:
    * Any public school staff person (including
classroom teachers, special educators and
librarians) can send an email to
<mailto:nimacrequest at bookshare.org>nimacrequest at bookshare.org
requesting the book after confirming that it's in
the NIMAC at:
<http://cts.vresp.com/c/?Benetech/5d787704f2/0ae99e823c/64f515c348>http://ni
mac.us.
We just need to know the title, author, publisher and/or ISBN number.
    * We'll download the book, convert it into
accessible digital text formats (DAISY and BRF)
within a week and let the requestor know the book is in Bookshare.
    * The requestor logs into their Bookshare
account and downloads the book for a qualified
student with an IEP. Two different accessible
software packages that read the books are also
available free for download, as well as high quality synthetic speech.

After you send the AU request to the NIMAC, we
will inform those educators in your jurisdiction
who are Bookshare Members about the process and
we'll include the information in communications
to appropriate personnel in all districts, regardless of Bookshare
membership.

Together, let's get accessible textbooks flowing
smoothly from the NIMAC to students in a timely manner!

Best regards,

The Bookshare Team
<http://cts.vresp.com/c/?Benetech/5d787704f2/0ae99e823c/1303295a4d>
Ideas That Work

C Copyright 2008, Beneficent Technology, Inc. (The Benetech Initiative)
<http://cts.vresp.com/c/?Benetech/5d787704f2/0ae99e823c/b2c9e7bf48>Benetech
is a California nonprofit organization.

Your responses will be kept strictly confidential
according to Bookshare.org's privacy policy. This
email was sent out by our market services
provider. Bookshare.org does not keep a copy of
your email address. For inquiries about upcoming
events such as webinars, please email us at
<mailto:events at bookshare.org>events at bookshare.org.
If you have further questions or encounter any
problems, please email us at
<mailto:info at bookshare.org>info at bookshare.org or call us at
1-800-833-2753.

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