[nabs-l] research methods

Tue Nov 18 03:30:29 UTC 2008

Lauren,
Can you explain the skim feature?  Also is it available in Openbook 7?

Next I found I have to use books since articles are so specific; trying to 
write on child obesity.  Any tips on working with readers and books would be 
useful.  Its so much easier to ask them to read a textbook since its 
straight reading then with well organized headings and bold terms often.
How do I get them to look for what I need?  Do I
just ask them to skim for key words in a section or check the index?

Ashley
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lauren Tuchman" <ltuchman1 at comcast.net>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2008 1:45 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] research methods

> Hi Ashley,
>
> I apologize if this has been mentioned already as I have not caught up on 
> the entire thread. I, too, am an Open Book user. If you download version 
> 8.0 from the FS web site, it does have a skim feature. There is also a 
> virtual printer which will convert a pdf file to an accessible text 
> document. hth!
> Lauren
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2008 11:54 AM
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] research methods
>
>
>> Corbb,
>>
>> I like your idea to read the first few paragraphs and last few paragraphs 
>> of the article.  I've done that with a reader.  I know jaws can go by 
>> paragraph in word as well.  I think I'll use your strategy of one 
>> document
>> for each source.  My note files are big and then I often don't know what 
>> notes came from wich source even though I label it on top before writing. 
>> Its just that when reading further down in the document I forget what 
>> source it is.  If its named at the top of the document maybe this will 
>> help.
>>
>> I don't use Kurzweil but do have Openbook.  Is there a similar feature in 
>> it?  If so how do you use it?  Many database files are in PDF.
>>
>> Ashley
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Corbb O'Connor" <corbbo at gmail.com>
>> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2008 9:54 AM
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] research methods
>>
>>
>>> This will be brief because I am running to class in a moment. If you
>>> use Kurzweil, I open the articles in Adobe Reader, then print to "KESI
>>> Virtual Printer"--installed when you install K1000. The page numbers
>>> then appear at the top or bottom of the Kurzweil pages, as those are
>>> printed on each page of the journal. There's an option in K1000 to
>>> "review" or "skim" or something like that -- basically it reads the
>>> first sentence of each paragraph. I read the first few paragraphs of
>>> the article, the last few paragraphs of the article, and the first
>>> sentence of each paragraph. That usually tells me whether the article
>>> will be helpful -- if so, then I find parts that seemed of use and
>>> read those.
>>>
>>> I use a magnification program, not JAWS, so I am not sure about
>>> database accessbility.
>>>
>>> I am trying a new strategy for notes -- a new Word document for each
>>> source, and then later blend those together into an outline of quotes,
>>> paraphrases, etc. Then it's writing time!
>>>
>>> Good luck.
>>> Corbb
>>>
>>> On Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 2:09 AM, Serena <serenacucco at verizon.net> wrote:
>>>> I used the library data bases.  Proquest Direct and Ebscohost are 
>>>> pretty
>>>> accessible.  If the articles were relatively short, I read them all the 
>>>> way
>>>> through with Jaws, but if they were really long, I used readers.  The
>>>> librarians often helped me find books.  That often helped, so I 
>>>> wouldn't
>>>> have to use readers for that.
>>>>
>>>> Serena
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ashley Bramlett"
>>>> <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
>>>> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
>>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 9:14 PM
>>>> Subject: [nabs-l] research methods
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>
>>>>> I wanted some more ideas on this.  Then I'll have a sheet with ideas 
>>>>> for
>>>>> myself and others wo ask me.  I am about to begin a big research paper 
>>>>> for
>>>>> my senior class.  All seniors do this to demonstrate critical 
>>>>> thinking,
>>>>> organization and writing skills.  Research has been quite challenging. 
>>>>> I
>>>>> use readers a lot but its hard to communicate what I am looking for. 
>>>>> Much
>>>>> research is at the library and books and some other matterial is not
>>>>> accessible.  So my questions.
>>>>>
>>>>> Do you use your school's databases?  What ones are jaws friendly?  Its
>>>>> been my experience that databases are not very accessible.  There are 
>>>>> lots
>>>>> of boxes and info before jaws reads the titles of articles.  In an 
>>>>> article
>>>>> I'm sure you read the abstract first to determine relevance.  I do as 
>>>>> wel.
>>>>>
>>>>> How do you skim the article for relevant info?  Or perhaps you read it
>>>>> all?  Scholarly articles are big, about twenty pages long on average 
>>>>> from my
>>>>> experience. With jaws or a reader, skipping info is hard since I don't 
>>>>> know
>>>>> what I'm looking for exactly.
>>>>> How do you cite pages?  Does someone read you the page numbers as 
>>>>> well?
>>>>> This has been problematic for me.  I write notes but don't know later 
>>>>> what
>>>>> page it was on and cannot skim the article for that info.
>>>>>
>>>>> Have you used the librarians for help?  If so, what role did they 
>>>>> play?
>>>>> Did you ask them to search for you and they read you the titles of
>>>>> articles/books?  I have used them and they pointed me to the right 
>>>>> databases
>>>>> and card catalog for books but also served as a reader sort of as we
>>>>> gathered info.
>>>>>
>>>>> I find research frustrating when you think something sounds great and 
>>>>> read
>>>>> it but then its not so good.  I think this happens to all students, 
>>>>> but
>>>>> since it takes longer for us its more frustrating.
>>>>>
>>>>> Any ideas are appreciated.
>>>>>
>>>>> Ashley
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
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