[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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