[nabs-l] technology question

[Sean Whalen]

Speaking only for myself, I couldn't disagree more. Scanning and OCR is, for
me, vastly superior to using a human reader. Certainly readers are necessary
for some tasks, but I got through college almost exclusively by scanning and
OCRing my materials. Of course you are correct that the scans are imperfect,
but the ability to read things at over 500 words per minute, as opposed to
the maybe 200 at which a person can read aloud, makes the imperfections a
small price to pay. I think that anybody who tries to get by exclusively on
readers is putting her or himself at a distinct disadvantage. With an
electronic text, you have access to the material any time you need it. If
you use a reader, you only have direct access to whatever notes you happened
to take. When you read e-texts, you are in direct control of the information
presented and do not need to communicate your desires to another person. I
100% agree that electronic texts and OCR should not be used to the exclusion
of readers when there are reasons that make a human reader a better option,
but neither should one rely solely on readers if they wish to maximize
efficiency and have the best shot at success.

 

Sean