[nabs-l] academic library access

Loren Wakefield theweird1 at mediacombb.net
Wed Jan 13 23:18:33 UTC 2016 

Sighted people have got to be good for something.  


Loren 



-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Carly Mihalakis via nabs-l
Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2016 8:09 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list; National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Cc: Carly Mihalakis
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] academic library access

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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