[nabs-l] Database accessibility
Kaiti Shelton
crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com
Sat Jul 23 05:16:41 UTC 2016
Hi all,
Thanks for all the responses since my last email. I'll try to respond
a bit to a few things:
Justin: Ah, I see what you're saying. I get where you're coming from
using it as an accommodation so I will use that if I absolutely have
to. I also do see why it is important to try to branch out, but we're
in a bit of a bind if it simply can't be done or would require
significant assistance every time we just want to browse for research
material.
Greg: Thanks for the keystroke you mentioned. I have Jaws 13 still
because a piece of software I need to keep installed for school hasn't
caught up with recent jaws versions, but sooner or later I will need
to update it.
Katie and Greg as well: I do use google scholar a bit. Thanks for
those tips on it; I didn't know I could do those things with it.
Psycinfo is something that I have had success with as well, but
somehow I overlooked it. I know in the research methods class I'll
need to take that we're encouraged to use music therapy-specific
databases, but since that one is reputable and does have some music
therapy articles in there I don't see why it wouldn't be acceptable so
long as I show I am still trying to use the databases mentioned in
class. I'll see what my professor says when I get to talking about
that class with her... I'm asking actually quite in advance.
Katie and Karl: I had that issue when I worked on a thesis paper last
fall. Thank goodness for APA, though I do wish robo braille would
retain the page numbers as well. I suppose that in the worst possible
scenario you could save the pdf file and the accessible version, copy
and paste the text you're searching for into the search box in adobe
to find it, and use Be My Eyes or possibly KNFB Reader to find the
page number if no one sighted was around, but I have yet to try this.
General note about robobraille: It is wonderful. Definitely not
perfect, but super fast and great for those moments when you're given
assignments and don't know if disability services would convert them
for you in time. One thing I do appreciate about it is that you
receive an email back with your converted document within just a few
minutes, usually in under 15.
I hope that covers everything I wanted to respond to. Thanks for the
thinktank.
On 7/22/16, Karl Martin Adam via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Robobraille is a website <www.robobraille.org> that converts
> files for blind people. You can either go to the site, upload
> your file, and have it converted, or you can e-mail the file to
> convert at robobraille.org with the file type you want it converted
> to (doc, rtf, etc.) in the subject line. I mostly use it for
> inaccessible PDFs.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jameyanne Fuller via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'"
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Fri, 22 Jul 2016 19:30:45 -0400
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Database accessibility
>
> What is this RoboBraille that's been mentioned a couple times?
> Jameyanne
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Karl
> Martin
> Adam via NABS-L
> Sent: Friday, July 22, 2016 5:40 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Karl Martin Adam <kmaent1 at gmail.com
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Database accessibility
>
> Thanks Katie. Well at least now I know it's not just me.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Katie Wang via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Fri, 22 Jul 2016 16:51:26 -0400
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Database accessibility
>
> Hi Karl,
>
> Unfortunately I have not found an effective solution for
> preserving
> page numbers when converting image-based pdfs. Luckily for me,
> APA
> Style only requires authors to include page numbers with their
> in-text
> citations when they are using exact quotes, so I don't encounter
> this
> issue a lot, but in those rare instances when I do need such
> information I still find sighted assistance necessary. Sorry I
> can't
> be of more help!
>
> Katie
>
> On 7/22/16, Karl Martin Adam via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> wrote:
> Hi Katie, do you know of a way to get robobraille to preserve
> pagination when it converts an image PDF? When I have used it
> it
> always strips out the page numbers, which of course means I
> can't
> properly cite the article in research.
>
> Thanks,
> Karl
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Katie Wang via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Fri, 22 Jul 2016 14:18:08 -0400
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Database accessibility
>
> Hi Kaiti,
>
> Accessibility varies a lot across databases. As a psychologist,
> I
> primarily use PsycInfo and have found it very accessible. I
> don't
> know
> much about the specific field of music therapy, but I imagine
> that a
> lot of the research you cite might be indexed in PsycInfo, so I
> would
> encourage you to give the database a try if you haven't already.
> I
> also really love Google Scholar. As Greg pointed out, if you use
> Google Scholar while you are on your university's wireless
> network (or
> while you are logged in through VPN from off-campus), you will
> be
> provided with links to specific journal articles that fit your
> search
> criteria. Regardless of which database you use, it is inevitable
> that
> some of the journal articles located would be image-based pdfs
> or
> pdfs
> that do not interface well with JAWS, so I do a lot of
> conversion
> either via OpenBook or by emailing to RoboBraille. Hope this
> helps!
>
> Katie
>
> On 7/22/16, Greg Aikens via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> It has been a few years since I used this, but google scholar
> has an
> option where you can put in your school and it will
> automatically
> include a link in your search results if the resource is
> available
> through your school's library. I don't know if this will allow
> you to
> get past your inaccessible school library interface or not but
> I
> found
> it very helpful since the Google interface is far easier to
> navigate
> than many online databases.
>
> Best,
> Greg
>
>
> On 7/22/16, Justin Williams via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> wrote:
> I've used that though as an accommodation. There is a point
> where if I
> can't find accessible information, then either I use that as an
> accommodation so I can have enough resources. If I can't
> access
> the
> databases and professional journals, then I can't access them.
> I've got
> to
> get as many of the professional resources as I can, then just
> fill in the
> gaps and flesh it out with other resources. I prefer to use
> the
> professional journals whenever possible.
>
> Justin
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Kaiti
> Shelton
> via NABS-L
> Sent: Friday, July 22, 2016 2:05 AM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Database accessibility
>
> Hi Justin,
>
> Forgot to mention I already do that as well. I have had pretty
> good luck
> finding things that way, but it's a bit trickier in a research
> methods
> class
> where the prof wants to see we're using databases.
> Nevertheless, I do actually really like using books in
> research.
> We do
> have
> a find command in most technologies that helps, and I
> definitely
> am a
> Bookshare junkie in particular.
>
> On 7/21/16, Justin Williams via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> wrote:
> Books from the bard website, learning ally, and some articles
> from
> reputable online sites could help.
> I know books take a while to read sometimes, but they can help
> with
> backing up evidence.
>
> Justin ,
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Kaiti
> Shelton via NABS-L
> Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2016 7:38 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com
> Subject: [nabs-l] Database accessibility
>
> Hi all,
>
> The recent discussion on academic challenges has got me
> thinking.
> Especially for those of you who are in fields where reesearch
> is
> an
> important part of what you are/will be doing following college,
> how do
> you navigate around inaccessible databases online? I have a
> working
> system in place with disability services to tide me over
> through
> the
> remainder of my undergraduate career including my required
> internship
> after graduation, but thinking long-term I'm concerned about
> this
> issue being problematic if I ever decide to do research on my
> own, or
> am invited by colleagues to participate in a study. I
> obviously
> would
> want to do my fair share of lit reviews if that were the case,
> so I'd
> love to hear if anyone has tips or tricks that go beyond using
> resources from the disability services office at your
> university.
>
> I should add that I am still trying to figure out an accessible
> way to
> access my professional organization's journals online, which is
> a huge
> part of this problem I think. The database I find the most
> helpful is
> from Temple University but it links directly to these journal
> articles
> in many cases, which is the major hang-up there. On a more
> short-term
> note, one of the things my professors want me to do is to
> expand
> the
> sources I use for research papers since I tend to rely on the
> tried-and true databases and resources that I have the least
> amount of
> hassle in reading. I completely understand where they're
> coming
> from
> and why having information from a variety of sources would lend
> credence to evidence. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> --
> Kaiti Shelton
>
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> --
> Kaiti Shelton
>
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--
Kaiti Shelton
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