[nabs-l] research methods

Hope Paulos hope.paulos at maine.edu
Thu Oct 30 17:37:33 UTC 2008 

Hi Ashley.  There are also pdf to word converters out there that 
are free.  I'm not sure right off the top of my head which one I 
use, but if you google it, yll get lots of results.

Hopeand Beignet

> ----- Original Message -----
>From: "Ashley  Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net
>To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>Date sent: Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:54:50 -0400
>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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