[nabs-l] overdrive and public library access

Ashley Bramlett via nabs-l nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Wed May 21 03:49:00 UTC 2014


Kaiti,
Thanks. I'll use a pc for overdrive and hope it works well. Does that 
software have books in every genre?

Our public libraries do not have accessible computers. So, what I'll do is 
bring my laptop over to one, and set up an appointment to go over overdrive. 
They do tutoring for anyone, so its not a special request. I cannot figure 
out how it works.

If anyone uses overdrive on a windows 7 tablet or computer, let me know how 
it is.

Now, regarding the school databases, as I mentioned previously, I've had 
trouble with our library website since its in tabs. Its hard to open the 
articles tab where you find the databases link, let alone use them.
I had trouble with jstor too. Additionally, I
was using business source complete to do research on conflict resolution for 
a paper. I was not able to click on those boxes to change your word search; 
by default when you write in two search boxes, it says "and" in the box. but 
you can change it to "or". The search results were easy to navigate since 
they were by heading.

Be thankful the disability office helped you. I did not get that help at any 
university. At my first one, GMU, librarians assisted me and
sent me pdf files through email. They sat down with me to research, and read 
off article titles and abstracts so I could pick what I wanted. At marymount 
university where I transferred to, some staff helped me, but mostly I used 
readers.

Has anyone used encyclopedias? My public library has several electronic 
ones, and I hope their accessible.
They are the grolier online encyclopedia, gale reference, and something 
americana.

You took music history; nice. I'm searching classical and baroque composers 
now and some of this will go into a presentation for seniors at a senior 
center.

is this a good email to chat off list?

Ashley
-----Original Message----- 
From: Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2014 10:25 PM
To: louvins at gmail.com ; National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] overdrive and public library access

Hi Ashley,

I used Overdrive for a time, and only deleted it because I just rely
on Bookshare so much that I wasn't going to it on my phone.  However,
when I did use it, I found it to be pretty accessible.  It was working
fine with VoiceOver, and the layout was very user-friendly.

Second, I have not had much luck with scholarly databases.  My
university primarily likes students to use either Oxford University or
JStor, and JStor was particularly difficult for me.  I was collecting
articles, coincidentally for my music history class, and I needed the
help of someone in the disabilities office to download the articles I
wanted as PDFs and send them through Robo Braille so I could read them
and write my paper.  I was not very happy with those issues, and
actually put in a complaint to my university library and JStor.

I hope this answers your questions.  P.S, like I mentioned, I took 2
music history classes this past year.  We learned about a few
historical women composers, so if you want any names to look up, or
want to know a little about them to give you something to search by,
I'd be happy to help off-list.

On 5/20/14, Joshua Hendrickson via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hello Ashley.  I have used NVDA on a USB flash drive at our local
> public library before, and it does work.  At my library, you usually
> only get 30 minutes of computer access, but this can be extended for
> at least an hour, and I think to another hour if the librarian helps
> you get guest access.  Now, since window-eyes is free for those who
> have MS-word 2010 or higher, I'd think libraries could just download
> the free copy of window-eyes and you could use that.  I haven't got my
> local library to install window-eyes on one of our computers just yet,
> but I do intend to let them know about this.
>
> On 5/20/14, Sophie Trist via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> She's right about the CD's. I often go to my public library with
>> a reader who knows what genres I'm into--sci-fi fantasy--and
>> helps me look over the CD's. It's a good way to access free
>> audiobooks.
>>
>>  ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Lillie Pennington via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> To: Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>,National
>> Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Date sent: Mon, 19 May 2014 22:41:28 -0400
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] overdrive and public library access
>>
>> I can't answer most of your questions, but I can answer some. The
>> databases I used when I was using databases for a research paper
>> were accessible. The only tricky part is getting the text of the
>> article since the database generally only provides a citation and
>> abstract. I just googled the article name and author name. Once I
>> had the full text I pasted it in a word doc in my drop box in a
>> folder where I kept stuff relating to my paper. You should be
>> able to use most databases at home.
>> In terms of audio books, your library may have a collection of
>> CDs that are audio books.
>> Hath
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>  On May 18, 2014, at 7:48 PM, Ashley Bramlett via nabs-l
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>>  Hi all,
>>
>>  Well, I have a library card and may soon find out what I can
>> use.
>>
>>  It seems to me we get minimal access at university libraries;
>> like only  one pc with jaws and most databases are not real
>> accessible.
>>  But, at public libraries, we cannot even use the pcs.
>>
>>  This has bothered me for some time as an active citizen.
>>  Do you access your public library?
>>  Now, I realize we cannot read print.
>>  But, with jaws, we can use the e audiobooks and evideos.
>>
>>  So questions.
>>
>>  1. does your library have jaws, zoomtext, or any software for
>> the vi population?
>>  2. Most libraries use overdrive for e resource material. This
>> means ebooks, e-audiobooks, and evideos. Is overdrive accessible?
>> If you used it for an e audiobook, how is it divided up? by
>> chapter? I'm sure its not as much as our daisy books.
>>
>>  3. If you've gone to a library to  get books that you might
>> read via your own CCTV, magnifier, or with a reader, were the
>> staff helpful?
>>
>>  Also, anyone want to comment on what electronic resources they
>> found accessible at public libraries using your own equipment
>> like a laptop?
>>  Our libraries have free wireless access so I'm sure this is
>> pretty standard elsewhere. So, you could bring your own equipment
>> in  and search the databases. I'm wondering if encyclopedias
>> like Gale Reference library or Grolier online are usable. My
>> hunch would be yes, but have not tried. I plan to though as I
>> would like to do some research on historical famous composers and
>> women soon.
>>
>>  Thanks.
>>  Ashley
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-- 
Kaiti

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