[nabs-l] academic library access

Carly Mihalakis carlymih at comcast.net
Wed Jan 13 04:28:26 UTC 2016


Evening, Kaiti,

         I aggree wholeheartedly. Indeed 
Sometimes having an electronic copy of an article 
from which to find spellings and to copy 
quotations is also a huge undertaking with a 
human reader. I just try to keep all my options 
open at all times, with no one way of doing anything.
Car 05:35 PM 1/12/2016, Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l wrote:
>Carly, No one was "fixating" on 
>anything.  Ashley was asking for suggestions and 
>several of us were throwing out what we do to 
>accomplish the things she asked about.  No one 
>said using human readers was not an option, but 
>having access to the actual article itself in 
>some electronic form has its benefits, and for 
>some students scheduling every little research 
>session out with a human reader would be a huge 
>undertaking and burden to the task at hand.  No 
>one was saying technology is the only way to go, 
>but it certainly has benefits and makes things 
>easier, which was precisely what it is supposed 
>to do if I'm not mistaken.  If you prefer to use 
>human readers over technology then that is your 
>choice, and everyone has the right to like what 
>suits them best. On 1/12/16, Carly Mihalakis via 
>nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote: > Afternoon, 
>"STOMBERG, >   Seems, you are fixating on a 
>single strand of > the idea of accessing the 
>illusive printed word > and fixating on it, 
>regarding it as inherently > prohibitive, the 
>fact seems to be that yes, with > enough 
>hammering out, two people can find > schedules 
>that give. However, if your technpology > 
>chooses not to be functional for what you need 
>to > get done, your hands are as good as tied, 
>getting > work done remaining a pipedream. This 
>is to say, > use everything you have at your 
>disposal, nothing > works all the time for every 
>scenario! Perhaps, > Remaining open 
>and  flexible might be a key to your success, 
>don['t ya > think? > Car57 PM 1/12/2016, 
>STOMBERG, KENNEDY via nabs-l wrote: >>Kaiti, You 
>bring up a very good point! I am >>the  only 
>blind student at my college, and the >>first 
>blind student there in twenty years, not >>to 
>mention the firststudent who relies 
>comletely >>on Braille. As a result, my campus 
>has no >>computers with JAWS or other screen 
>readers, >>asside from my own personal laptop. 
>This means >>that if something happened with my 
>technology, I >>would have to rely solely on a 
>human reader. >>However, I do try to avoid human 
>readers if I >>can, that way I am only bound by 
>my own >>schedule. On Tue, Jan 12, 2016 at 11:41 
>AM, >>Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l < 
>nabs-l at nfbnet.org> >>wrote: > Hi, Carly and 
>all, > > Of course the >>choice to use 
>technology or work with another >>person is > a 
>personal choice, but in my >>experience 
>technology works a good 80% of > the >>time at 
>least (in that 20% I'm counting when PDF >>files 
>from the > library are not 
>innately >>accessible).  IN that case, what I do 
>as > >>stated before is get human intervention 
>in the >>form of my disability > services 
>converting the >>files to a readable format for 
>my > >>computer/notetaker.  That's what they're 
>there >>for, after all. > > I have used readers 
>before, >>but I think I'd dread using them on > 
>something >>as extensive as a research project 
>where >>multiple, long > articles or books need 
>to be >>read.  It is essential, I think, to 
>have > a >>copy of the printed material at your 
>disposal so >>you can see how > statements are 
>punctuated and >>how exactly the author worded 
>them when > citing >>in your paper.  It also 
>allows for you to draw >>your own > conclusions 
>without some other person >>unintentionally 
>adding their > interpretation >>into their 
>reading or screwing up the reading >>because > 
>they're not familiar with the subject >>you are 
>studying. > > Lastly, I usually avoid >>readers 
>because I hate the idea of being > >>beholden to 
>someone else's schedule to get my >>work 
>done.  I'm not > above asking for help 
>and >>have used readers in the past for 
>short > >>projects, but to do something like 
>extensive >>research reading like a > thesis or 
>senior >>capstone project like I did last 
>semester would >>be > crazy.  I worked on it 
>whenever I had free >>time because the project > 
>was so large, >>including late at night and over 
>the weekends >>when a > human reader probably 
>wouldn't have >>been available because of 
>their > own life >>commitments. > > Also, even 
>in cases when >>personal technology goes down, 
>there should > be >>a few different places one 
>could go to have >>computer access. > Colleges 
>are supposed to be >>required by ADA law to have 
>an accessible > >>computer in a library for 
>public accommodation, >>and if not I've used a > 
>computer in the testing >>center before when 
>nothing else was working. > >>Think about it; if 
>a sighted student's laptop >>went down they'd 
>have > plenty of other >>computers to use to get 
>their work done, so as >>blind > students if our 
>work goes down having >>access to a computer at 
>least > somewhere on >>campus is a reasonable 
>accommodation. > > > On >>1/11/16, Carly 
>Mihalakis via nabs-l >><nabs-l at nfbnet.org> 
>wrote: > > Good morning, >>everyone, > > > > 
>What about when tech doesn't >>work? At least 
>when > > a reader is humanoid, >>you are likely 
>to get work done. > > CarAt 03:46 >>PM 1/9/2016, 
>Ashley Bramlett via nabs-l >>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> >>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 > 
>To: >>"National > >>Association of Blind 
>Students >>mailing list" 
>< > > >>nabs-l at nfbnet.org > Date >>sent: Sat, 9 
>Jan 2016 > >>16:22:05 -0500 > >>Subject: 
>[nabs-l] academic > >>library >>access > > Hi 
>all, > > I’d liklike to > >>hear >>ar about 
>the level of support >>and > >>accessibility of 
>your > library and >>the > >>resources it has. > 
>I’ve writritten >>about my > >>strugglesles 
>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 at >>Northern 
>virginia co 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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> > -- 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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