[nabs-l] academic library access
Carly Mihalakis
carlymih at comcast.net
Wed Jan 13 02:09:12 UTC 2016
So, what's wrong with getting help to access website materials?
Isn't that why they made sighted people?
Don't mean snark of any kind!
CarAt 01:12 AM 1/10/2016, Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l wrote:
>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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> > -- 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!"
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