[Faith-talk] Bookshare and other reading sources

Sun May 28 21:46:02 UTC 2017

I have found Bookshare to have a wealth of useful reading material for my needs, both religious and otherwise. This includes Christian fiction. There is also an option to submit a request for a title to be scanned. 

I also use the Kindle app on my Iphone and occasionally I purchase books that have text to speech enabled and read them via Kindle. This has been very liberating for me. If I find a book on Amazon and it has text to speech enabled, there is no need for me to worry about any other agency having it, only my own money (just like everyone else). It means I do a little less reading than I am used to, but it also makes me feel good to support the authors.

-----Original Message-----
From: Faith-Talk [mailto:faith-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ashley Bramlett via Faith-Talk
Sent: Sunday, May 28, 2017 4:02 PM
To: Faith-talk, for the discussion of Blindness in faith and religion <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] miscellaneous

Hello,
Bookshare focuses on academic and pleasure reading. Many students go there for texts now especially since it is free to k-12 students.
I am not a  member but in searching for things there, it seems like they are heavy on the academic side.
No, they are not primarily religious, Sandra.
They just have some religious stuff, but there primary focus is not at all religion.
There are other Christian resources out there, such as Christian Record Services and Gospel light foundation, but book share is not a Christian resources.

I'm going to clarify some things I know.
NLS still has magazines although I am not sure about Guidepost.
NLS still has special media. They have music scores and even a small collection of foreign language material.

Yes, there are more resources out there but most are electronic which excludes many blind people. Many people are not using the computers with internet for  a number of reasons such as money, lack of training, or just inability to grasp the skill.

I feel there is less and less out there in books for audio format. I comprehend more by hearing a human voice as opposed to synthesized.
But everything is going digital, meaning text based only, it seems. Sure we still have NLS which is a blessing.
But less and less places record on demand. There used to be a nonprofit in WA called Tape ministries, and now that tapes are obselete, I'm not sure what they are doing.
How cool you had people read for you on tape as volunteers Sandra.
I also think more is out there from  a conservative perspective.

On a positive note, if you hav a good high quality scanner, you can scan any book you want or buy an accessible electronic copy if it exists.

Ashley

-----Original Message-----
From: Sandra Streeter via Faith-Talk
Sent: Saturday, May 27, 2017 1:31 PM
To: faith-talk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Sandra Streeter
Subject: [Faith-talk] miscellaneous

Hi, Nick and everyone else,

Welcome to the list, Nick—I attended Western MI University in the early 90’s, when I thought I was going to teach blind people, but God closed that door. 
Still, I have very happy memories of school and of the two AG churches I attended while there, so you already have a soft spot in my heart. Thanks for the Bookshare info, and to whoever commented that membership in Hadley or another blindness org can help us avail ourselves of free Bookshare membership—I hadn’t known that, so when it’s time to renew, I will remember that bit of info.

Yes, Ericka, we should meet---prior to Heaven, preferably!!! I am not a great phone person, in the meantime, but feel free to email me off-list if you want to go deeper—I, too, am enjoying our ongoing conversations, and that comment goes for the whole list!

I’m not sure NlS is still offering the Mags in Special Media—I thought they had let that go—but I could be wrong.

Nick, it is good to hear that there are more Christian resources available than was the case when I was attending Christian liberal arts colleges back in the 80’s—most of my books, I had read onto cassette, which actually was pretty neat, in that, I had nonChristian family that had the opportunity to be exposed to different aspects of my faith through the readings they did for me. but aside from that aspect, I am glad there’s more out there for us. 
I’m assuming Bookshare offers from a variety of perspectives, since they are not just a religious org? I don’t fit neatly into any branch of Christianity, like you, and that is partly the fault of the Christian liberal arts system, ha, ha, ha—we were taught to think critically, and although it wasn’t left-leaning by any shape, you could find folks from a whole spectrum of church traditions/beliefs. But, what has disturbed me is that, at least from the religious book sphere, it has been really easy to find things from a very conservative perspective, it has been harder to find more moderate resources—for instance, I’ve been looking for an audio of “The Message,” and haven’t yet found it. So, I’m thinking Bookshare might be a source of more diverse Christian materials... Anyone could tell you, I am not a liberal by any means, but I’m not the easy-to-fit conservative,either. 
Nick, I already sense we have a lot in common. Please, if you don’t mind, share more of your story with us.

Sandra

Not “Revelation” – tis – that waits
But our unfurnished eyes –
(Emily Dickinson)

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