[nabs-l] Fwd: research techniques and assistance
Katie Wang
bunnykatie6 at gmail.com
Tue Aug 26 01:19:50 UTC 2014
Hi Ashley,
Converting pdfs using OpenBook is very straightforward. After you
launch OpenBook, use Control o to bring up the Open File dialog,
change the file type to Adobe pdf, then select the file you want to
open. Depending on the file size, the conversion process can take a
few minutes (use Insert Page Down to check on progress), and once
conversion is complete you can save the file in your preferred format,
such as .doc, .rtf, or .txt. I generally find the results to be good
for digital articles (hand-scanned materials vary more in quality). I
personally convert most of the pdf articles I use for research; I find
it much easier to move around and locate information I need in a Word
document than in a pdf, and I also transfer some of the articles to my
notetaker for braille access.
As for the web browser commands, the hotkey n can sometimes take you
past the navigation links to the main text. Also, you can turn off
heading announcements by pressing Insert v then arrow down to Heading
and Frame Options.
Like others, I agree that research is something that takes a lot of
practice for both blind and sighted people alike. I also believe that,
once you are fairly well-acquainted with your topic, you should be
able to get a pretty good sense of whether an article is relevant by
just reading the abstract. It is important to keep in mind that you do
not need to read every word of all your citations; instead, you should
focus on parts of each article that are most applicable to your
research topic. If you are using a journal article to support a
theoretical point, for example, reading the introduction and
conclusion sections might be most helpful; in contrast, if you are
looking for an example of a particular research paradigm, then you
might want to focus on the section describing study methods and
designs. As a psychologist, I primarily work with PsycInfo and Google
Scholar, which are both accessible.
Best,
Katie
On 8/25/14, Ashley Bramlett via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Kirt and all,
> Well, I have found numerous accessibility issues with files from
> publishers.
> Its in pdf. I have my accessibility settings set.
> Still, issues.
>
> Dss will get publisher files for me. How do you use coursesmart? If you
> have to be online all the time, not a good idea for me as sometimes my wifi
>
> at home is spotty.
>
> The issues with pdfs are the words are smashed together, jaws says grapic in
>
> the middle of text, and some words are broken up.
>
> I've always prefered human readers because although they make mistakes on
> occasion, they are not monotone and I can get the material with out the
> struggle of understanding a broken worded file.
> I could not live without learning ally. but with this, I have to plan in
> advance to have people look up the index
> for me for certain topics. Then with the pages, I can go to those pages on
> my daisy recording easily with the go to page function.
>
> Glad electronic text seems to work for you.
>
> Ashley
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kirt Manwaring via nabs-l
> Sent: Monday, August 25, 2014 3:12 PM
> To: Cindy Bennett ; National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Fwd: research techniques and assistance
>
> Ashley,
> I've been gradually moving away from audio text books and towards
> electronic text as my preferred format. I love coursesmart.com because
> it's accessible (mostly), easily navigable and those problems about
> using the index in audio books are conveniently absent. Of course,
> previous generations of blind college students often had to wade
> through indexes on 8-track audio casettes without the handy navigation
> features we have in BARD or learning ally books these days, so I
> suppose it's all relative anyhow.
> Best,
> Kirt
>
> On 8/25/14, Cindy Bennett via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I think that a lot of great suggestions have been given thus far.
>>
>> I remember going through a time where the whole idea of research and
>> finding references from reputable sources was incredibly aloof to me.
>> Even still, one of the things I do when pondering research ideas is to
>> talk to other people, especially those specializing in your topic. If
>> there is a professor with a specialty in your topic, go to their
>> office hours even if they aren't your professor. Maybe there is a grad
>> student who can help you. Several departments feature the department's
>> labs or concentrations and some even list the students in each.
>>
>> One thing that hasn't been brought up yet is taking advantage of your
>> professor's office hours. I have often found this to be helpful.
>> Often, they will talk about my ideas with me. What do I want to write
>> the paper about. If the assignment includes an experiment that I have
>> to run, how do I learn about a topic that I want to expound upon in my
>> own research? Often, they will start searches with you and may even
>> send you links to papers they find helpful.
>>
>> I do believe that reading an abstract should give you a pretty good
>> idea of whether reading the paper is a good use of your time. This
>> does take a bit of practice. I think that if you are unable to
>> understand an abstract, try to Wikipedia some of the terms surrounding
>> your topic. Then, if you can't understand abstracts, they probably
>> aren't relevant to your topic or worth your time.
>>
>> I actually really like Google scholar, and many of the articles
>> brought up are located in databases that my school subscribes to. I
>> found it accessible just as Google searches are accessible.
>>
>> I have not tried out this service, but have heard of Mendeley which is
>> a free paper and reference management system. If you use Chrome, you
>> can sed papers right to Mendeley if you search them on Scholar.
>>
>> I recommend that if you are doong research for your field to start
>> your own folders of helpful papers on your computer.
>>
>> I also recommend looking at other papers' references. You can even
>> look at the references on Wikipedia. If you find one helpful paper,
>> chances are that references to other helpful resources are right there
>> in the article. Further, if you are researching a topic that is
>> covered somewhere in your textbook, looking at the references in the
>> chapter can be good, especially if they are referencing a study they
>> are using as an example.
>>
>> Cindy
>>
>> On 8/25/14, Karl Martin Adam via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> That index problem is one of the many reasons I always use
>>> publisher files or scanned books not audio. Another place you
>>> could go, at least in the humanities where a lot of scholarly
>>> work is published in books not journal articles, is bookshare.
>>> They actually have a very good selection of academic books these
>>> days often including edited collections of relevant articles. If
>>> your looking at websites, what you really want are pages with
>>> .edu domains--they typically are written by professors
>>> specializing in the area of the content. Also for statistical
>>> information there are many (usually relatively accessible)
>>> government websites--.gov domains.
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: Ashley Bramlett via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>> To: "Derek Manners" <dmanners at jd16.law.harvard.edu>,"National
>>> Association of Blind Students mailing list" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>> Date sent: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 13:54:50 -0400
>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Fwd: research techniques and assistance
>>>
>>> Derek,
>>>
>>> I use my textbook too for general info and an overview of
>>> something. I
>>> usually need a reader for that though because I need to look up
>>> that in the
>>> index and cannot do so with a audio version of the text.
>>> Most of the time though its not in the text or it's a paragraph
>>> so its not
>>> helpful.
>>>
>>> Do you use the internet for sources or just to get started? My
>>> concern with
>>> internet is sites are not always authentic
>>> but I've found some with .org domains to be okay at least to get
>>> started.
>>>
>>> Thanks for the advice.
>>>
>>> Ashley
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Derek Manners via nabs-l
>>> Sent: Monday, August 25, 2014 11:11 AM
>>> To: justin williams ; National Association of Blind Students
>>> mailing list
>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Fwd: research techniques and assistance
>>>
>>> I can't speak to the accessibility options but just generally,
>>> your research
>>> librarians are bored and would love to help you out. I rely on
>>> mine all the
>>> time. Also, I also tend to read a lot of articles that don't pan
>>> out so I
>>> also think this is pretty common.
>>>
>>> I'd also agree with the comment about needing to know something
>>> about the
>>> topic. My approach is to google/Wikipedia the topic or topics
>>> first. Then
>>> check my textbook if the topic is in there. Then I do a little
>>> searching.
>>> But if I get stuck, I turn to the research librarian pretty
>>> quickly to get
>>> moving.
>>>
>>> Best
>>> Derek
>>>
>>> PS
>>> I use zoom text so that is why I can't speak to the accessibility
>>> options.
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>> On Aug 25, 2014, at 10:00 AM, justin williams via nabs-l
>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Oops, How did that not go to the list?
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>>> Mary
>>> Fernandez
>>> via nabs-l
>>> Sent: Monday, August 25, 2014 9:56 AM
>>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>> Subject: [nabs-l] Fwd: research techniques and assistance
>>>
>>> I think Justin meant to send this to the whole list
>>>
>>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>> From: justin williams <justin.williams2 at gmail.com
>>> Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 09:53:05 -0400
>>> Subject: RE: [nabs-l] research techniques and assistance
>>> To: Mary Fernandez <trillian551 at gmail.com
>>>
>>> I take each paper as a separate entity as far as accessibility
>>> is
>>> concerned.
>>> I take a day of two and just do the research. In other words, I
>>> have no
>>> intent to write the paper, but to simply get the articles I want
>>> and
>>> figure
>>> out my base for the paper. Folks, I spend 6 to 8 hours, but I
>>> get 6 to 7
>>> articles and sometimes more, though I have found any more than
>>> about 9 or
>>> 10
>>> more cumbersome then helpful. I work out all the
>>> accessibility issues
>>> before I do anything with writing the paper. Don't forget your
>>> nls books,
>>> or books on the blio. Sometimes the articles are pdfs, and
>>> other times
>>> they
>>> are web based; I try to stick to web based, but that is not
>>> always
>>> possible.
>>> Pdfs can be made accessible in a variety of ways, but sometimes,
>>> none of
>>> those ways are adequate; the article can still become unusable.
>>> I have
>>> found google scholar inaccessible for obtaining the articles, If
>>> someone
>>> has
>>> a tip for this, please share. I write down my citations for
>>> each articles
>>> and save them in a separate file.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Mary Fernandez [mailto:trillian551 at gmail.com]
>>> Sent: Monday, August 25, 2014 9:44 AM
>>> To: justin williams; National Association of Blind Students
>>> mailing list
>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] research techniques and assistance
>>>
>>> All,
>>> I think this is a fabulous topic! First, research skills are
>>> ones which
>>> are
>>> not necessarily intuitive, and which all successful college
>>> students learn
>>> to refine and perfect throughout their college career.
>>> Unfortunately, there are numerous accessibility barriers with
>>> databases
>>> and
>>> eBooks, which others have access too readily. Part of the
>>> answer, and
>>> Ashley, you are on the right track, is to learn how to most
>>> effectively
>>> use
>>> databases, and search tools like Google Scholar.
>>> Most universities have workshops that students can attend, and
>>> which focus
>>> specifically on research, many times even by topic. Through my
>>> senior year
>>> in college, it wasn't strange for a class, which had a major
>>> research
>>> paper
>>> do at the end of the semester, to have a class scheduled at the
>>> library,
>>> and
>>> have a reference librarian show us the tips and tricks. The
>>> other half of
>>> the equation, is to be creative with using your assistive
>>> software, a lot
>>> of
>>> times websites are inaccessible enough to be a nightmare, but
>>> sometimes
>>> there is a hidden work around, like using the different cursor
>>> modes in
>>> Jaws, right clicking instead of pressing enter, etc. This makes
>>> things
>>> more
>>> time consuming than they ought to be, but unfortunately, until
>>> we can get
>>> this trend of technology being developed inaccessibly reversed,
>>> we must
>>> live
>>> with that reality.
>>> As far as articles, that's part of research. You do your best to
>>> narrow
>>> down
>>> the material you get back by using good search terminology, by
>>> categorizing,
>>> by reading the abstract, but at one point you have to just read
>>> the
>>> articles. No one article is going to give you all the
>>> information your
>>> need,
>>> that's why you use so many citations at the end of the day,
>>> because one
>>> part
>>> of one paper may be of relevance, but the other twenty pages
>>> aren't. Good
>>> research takes time, and the better you get at it, the better
>>> you become
>>> at
>>> using that time more efficiently.
>>> As far as PDFs, I've been suggesting to students to ask for
>>> Adobe Pro from
>>> VR or to purchase it if possible. If you take the time to learn
>>> some
>>> accessibility remediation techniques with Adobe, many tutorials
>>> are
>>> available online, you can tag your own pdfs and fix reading
>>> order and
>>> navigation. It won't be perfect, but at least it'll make them
>>> legible.
>>> Kurzweil 1000 is also incredibly useful. If it's 2 AM and the
>>> paper is due
>>> in six hours, not that I've ever been there, you can save pdfs
>>> to your pc,
>>> run them through Kurzweil and that way the articles become
>>> legible if not
>>> perfect.
>>> Last, not all databases are created equal. Depending on your
>>> subject, you
>>> may want to filter through subjects when choosing databases, for
>>> the
>>> humanities I found EPSCO databases to be really accessible,
>>> Jstor,
>>> PsychInfo, the Oxford databases, and quite a few others were
>>> very good.
>>> And
>>> some won't be. There are so many tips and tricks to conducting
>>> research,
>>> so
>>> I strongly suggest seeing if a college does those research
>>> workshops, and
>>> just taking the time to figure out what works for you and what
>>> doesn't.
>>> Unfortunately, there isn't a universal answer when it comes to
>>> accessibility. We must advocate for manufacturers and
>>> universities to
>>> become
>>> responsible for only procuring and implementing accessible
>>> learning tools,
>>> but that's a battle that has to be fought outside the research
>>> library!
>>> Thanks.
>>> Mary
>>>
>>>
>>> On 8/25/14, justin williams via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>> wrote:
>>> It just depends on what I am looking for; I take pieces parts of
>>> several articles, and just put them together into a research
>>> paper.
>>> It helps to no something about your topic. If you have no
>>> knowledge
>>> about a topic, get a book from nls to start you off, then fine
>>> your
>>> articles.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>>> Sofia
>>> Gallo via nabs-l
>>> Sent: Monday, August 25, 2014 7:33 AM
>>> To: Helga Schreiber; National Association of Blind Students
>>> mailing
>>> list
>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] research techniques and assistance
>>>
>>> I also have to read a lot of the article to see if it's relevant
>>> but I
>>> thought this was true for everyone?
>>>
>>> Sofia
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>> On Aug 25, 2014, at 4:10 AM, Helga Schreiber via nabs-l
>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi all! I have the same questions as Ashley. For me, research is
>>> not
>>> so easy as well!! Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks so much
>>> and God
>>> bless!! :-)
>>>
>>> Helga Schreiber
>>>
>>> Fundraiser Coordinator for Phi Theta Kappa, Alpha Delta Iota
>>> chapter.
>>> Member of National Federation of the Blind and Florida
>>> Association of
>>> Blind Students.
>>> Member of the International Networkers Team (INT).
>>> Independent Entrepreneur of the Company 4Life Research.
>>> Phone: (561) 706-5950
>>> Email: helga.schreiber26 at gmail.com
>>> Skype: helga.schreiber26
>>> 4Life Website: http://helgaschreiber.my4life.com/1/default.aspx
>>> INT Website: http://int4life.com/
>>>
>>> "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
>>> that
>>> whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
>>> John
>>> 3:16 Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>> On Aug 25, 2014, at 3:17 AM, Ashley Bramlett via nabs-l
>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> Its been my experience that research is very challenging. Have
>>> you
>>> run into these issues?
>>>
>>> Not all databases are fully accessible, although that has been
>>> better in the past couple years.
>>> For instance, academic search complete and other Search complete
>>> databases do not let you change the combo box from the default
>>> and
>>> to read "or". This means it would look for search terms A and B
>>> or
>>> search term C.
>>>
>>> Other challenges I've had are evaluating if the article is
>>> relevant.
>>> I do read abstracts first and think through it. It seems like I
>>> read
>>> most of an article only to realize its not relevant.
>>> Also, some articlesare pdfs with words smashed together; I end
>>> up
>>> asking a reader to read them.
>>>
>>> What assistance have you had with research? All school libraries
>>> have reference librarians at a certain desk. Do you just ask
>>> them
>>> where to look? Have you needed or wanted more help learning the
>>> databases and electronic references? Has the librarians worked
>>> 1 on
>>> 1 with you? At the community college and my university,
>>> Marymount,
>>> they did assist me a little privately to get me started. They
>>> gave
>>> me specific instructions on what to click on and which boxes to
>>> check to get what I needed. I needed to limit to full text, for
>>> instance; also if I needed recent articles, I was taught how to
>>> write in
>>> the date range.
>>>
>>> These references seem inaccessible. Was that your experience?
>>>
>>> a.. Encyclopedia Britanica
>>> b.. Credo reference
>>> c.. Gale biography in context
>>>
>>>
>>> Also, books are not accessible and libraries have lots of them.
>>> How do you direct readers to find what you need? I've tried
>>> asking
>>> for headings and table of contents. This does not always work.
>>> Is
>>> skimming relevant chapters the best thing?
>>>
>>> Thanks.
>>> Ashley
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>> --
>>> Mary Fernandez
>>> "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will
>>> forget
>>> what
>>> you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
>>> --
>>> Maya Angelou
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Mary Fernandez
>>> "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will
>>> forget
>>> what
>>> you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
>>> --
>>> Maya Angelou
>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Cindy Bennett
>> Treasurer of the Greater Seattle Chapter and of the National
>> Federation of the Blind of Washington
>> Affiliates of the National Federation of the Blind
>>
>> clb5590 at gmail.com
>>
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>
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