[nabs-l] academic library access

[Ashley Bramlett]

Hi all,

I’d like to hear about the level of support and accessibility of your library and the resources it has.
I’ve written about my struggles before. The gist is that many library databases have access issues. The ebsco ones are the worst. Its hard to open the pull down list of options, but I think I finally did open them with spacebar. I find that databases run through Oxford and proquest are generally user friendly and accessible. Jstor is fairly decent, but seems like most articles are image pdfs or display on the screen as images. I kept wondering why jaws was saying graphic and the next line said page 1 of 5 or however many pages it was; then it occurred to me that the text must be an image; so I found the pdf link to download it.
The pdf was an image too, so I had to convert it.

Generally, when I was in the university setting, I got support from the reference desk. They retrieved books for me and other students had to find them by call number. I got pretty much the same support as other students. I was on my own with access barriers. Sometimes, I was able to get a library assistant to sit down with me and look at the database and then email me relevant articles. This worked much faster than jaws.

Now, to learn more, I’m taking classes at Northern virginia community college, nova, while looking for work.

Many Nova reference staff are great and in fact go the extra mile. They explain well how to search databases. Others seem to struggle how to verbalize things. Normally, they demo the task and have the information seeker watch what they are doing.
I’ve also learned how to use library sources through one on one support at Nova.

But, if an ebook or database is inaccessible, I’m on my own.
Nova has several campuses, each with its own library. One campus offered to scan selections from a few books for me for school related projects.
Only two campuses provide a computer with jaws to use. One of them is the campus I go to, annandale.

I think libraries need to provide more access to us  especially when its school related; its part of our education, after all.
I’m wondering if having books scanned for you is the norm or the exception.
Does your library provide any help if their ebooks are not accessible?

It seems to me that to do research, even in this techy age, that we need readers, as the vast majority of information is in hard copy print or inaccessible. I remember working on my conflict resolution paper  and found a few ebooks that seemed perfect and the librarian even checked the contents to tell me what chapters were relevant. At  first I was glad; oh an ebook, and I can read the chapters at home on my own time, because its electronic and should be accessible. Then, I found out the ebook was not accessible. I did fine on the research, but had to use an old fashioned reader.
I like readers as it gives me interaction and they can skim for info skipping irrelevant info that  a pc could not do. But readers pose problems with scheduling and mine are often not reliable or cancel on me last minute if they have exams.

Anyway, look forward to your thoughts.

Ashley