[nabs-l] academic library access

Sun Jan 10 09:12:33 UTC 2016

Hi Ashley and all,

My university's library web site to search databases is completely
inaccessible with jaws and NVDA. In spite of repeatedly reporting this to
DS over the past 3.5 years it still is the same. That is the biggest issue
I have with my situation.

Usually I have to get one-on-one help from our reference desk staff to find
the articles or books I need. If it is an article that I can have emailed
to me I ask the library staffer to do that. If it is in print I take it
downstairs to the DS office for them to handle the accessibility like any
other class material. If it is a book I try to avoid it. My last big
research project that was like my major's version of a capstone required me
to use a book since I was studying a particular theorist, and I ended up
buying it in EPub form. In some ways that was nice because it was already
accessible on my notetaker and I would have probably bought the book anyway
at some point since it is not on book share and probably never will be, but
it's been a real pain dealing with books in other projects unless I am able
to find them already on book share or another related service.

On Saturday, January 9, 2016, STOMBERG, KENNEDY via nabs-l <
nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Thanks for telling me about the trick with EBSCO databases! I will have to
> look into it!
>
> On Sat, Jan 9, 2016 at 5:46 PM, Ashley Bramlett via nabs-l <
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>> wrote:
>
> > Hello Kennedy,
> >
> > Glad you shared your thoughts. I guess we just have to do what we can do
> > and get help with human readers.
> > Readers are great when they work well and are dependable, but I've had
> > many unreliable readers.
> > I am glad someone gets the frustration with ebsco databases. They are
> > terrible. What I learned from a good librarian though Ii s something that
> > saves me so much time. Before, I did the same search in several ebsco
> > databases. This librarian showed me how to search all ebsco databases at
> > once, or you can pick which databases you desire to search by checking
> the
> > boxes. So, once you pick the databases you want, you press a button and
> it
> > sets it to that search. Then I limit it to certain types of articles so I
> > do not get hundreds of book reviews. It works great, and I wish I had
> known
> > that before.
> > I suggest that if you need many ebsco databases that you have a librarian
> > show you this trick. Press B to get to the buttons.
> >
> > My experience is also that some librarians are great, and some are not.
> > Yeah, a mixed bag of good and bvad ones.
> > It takes more skills and patience to describe what they are doing, and
> > some do not have it. They typically show students what they are doing on
> > the screen, and since I cannot see the screen, they have to verbalize it.
> >
> > I was researching Queen victoria, and needed biographical info not online
> > through databases. So, I used readers.
> > I got an extension on the project as I needed more time as my readers
> took
> > longer to find the info and they cancelled sometimes on me.
> >
> > Well, we pretty have much the same experiences. Man, if I ever have free
> > time and find an ebsco contact for accessibility, I'll write to them.
> >
> > Ashley
> >
> > -----Original Message----- From: STOMBERG, KENNEDY via nabs-l
> > Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2016 5:28 PM
> > To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> > Cc: STOMBERG, KENNEDY
> > Subject: Re: [nabs-l] academic library access
> >
> >
> > Ashley,
> >
> > It honestly depends on the type of research you are doing. You are so
> right
> > about the Ebsco databases, though. They are a nightmare!
> >
> > If you're looking for scinitific journal articles, I find that Google
> > Scholar is very
> > accessable. Bookshare or Learning Allz might also be an option, if
> > they have the books you need.
> >
> > I have had both good and bad experiences with librarians. And I
> deffinitely
> > agree that it's frustrating to still need readers in this day and age!
> It's
> > kind of redicubous!
> >
> > Good luck with your classes this semester!
> > Kennedy Stomberg
> >
> > On Sat, Jan 9, 2016 at 3:47 PM, Vejas Vasiliauskas via nabs-l <
> > nabs-l at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>> wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> >> If you have a Bookshare account, you could try looking for the book
> >> there.  If you're working on a research paper of some kind, Bookshare
> >> usually has some good books on the topic you're researching.
> >> I never used the databases in high school; do you find using them
> helpful?
> >> Vejas
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: Ashley Bramlett via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>
> >> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" <
> >> nabs-l at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>
> >> Date sent: Sat, 9 Jan 2016 16:22:05 -0500
> >> Subject: [nabs-l] academic library access
> >>
> >> 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
> >>
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> >>
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-- 
Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton-Music Therapy
President, Ohio Association of Blind Students 2013-Present
Secretary, The National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts Division
2015-2016

"You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back!"