[nabs] Preferred medium for college texts

Fri Aug 5 23:51:26 EDT 2011

Chris,
You can't get braille books in college. So you can't really entertain the 
thought of what is best. To get in braille, you would need the book six 
months to be purchased and then sent to be transcribed in braille. Then who 
would pay for it? Sometimes schools pay for math texts to be brailled. 
George mason university has done it. But due to the cost, time, and yes 
space to store volumes college books are rarely brailled. A book would 
probably be 60  volumes and take up a whole room. College books are 
constantly changing; new editions come out all the time and RFB cannot even 
keep up with the latest editions.  Then you have several books used at the 
same level in college; it is not like high school where all nineth graders 
use one text.
Professors often choose their own book to use in the class.

As for braille, you can read the electronic text on a notetaker assuming you 
have a braille display. But that is about it.

For spelling of words I made do with a reader looking up the words/spelling.
Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Chris Nusbaum
Sent: Friday, August 05, 2011 9:20 PM
To: Discussion list for NABS,National Alliance of Blind Students. ; 
nabs at acb.org
Subject: Re: [nabs] Preferred medium for college texts

Hi everyone,

I was talking with a friend of mine today about this same topic,
and I brought up that while recordings were good for reading the
textbook, I still think Braille is the way to go.  But, I
understand that sometimes Braille copies aren't available, so you
have to go with a recording.  My friend disagreed, because he
thought a recording was a lot better than a bunch of volumes of
Braille.  I agreed, but asked "What about a textbook from
Bookshare or NLS that you can read on your notetaker?" What do
you all think of this: what is better for a college textbook,
Braille or recording? If Braille, do you prefer hardcopy or a
digital BRF file or something that you read on your notetaker?

Chris

"A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto)

The I C.A.N.  Foundation helps visually impaired youth in
Maryland have the ability to confidently say "I can!" How? Click
on this link to learn more and to contribute:
www.icanfoundation.info or like us on Facebook at I C.A.N.
Foundation.

Sent from my BrailleNote

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rhonda Partain" <201park2011 at comcast.net
To: "Discussion list for NABS,National Alliance of Blind
Students." <nabs at acb.org
Date sent: Wed, 3 Aug 2011 10:29:02 -0400
Subject: Re: [nabs] Preferred medium for college texts

I only found issues when I need to quote from a text that was
recorded.  I
also had a class that let students use their text books for
tests, so if I
had had a Word file it would have been easier.  There were
questions about
what percentage of students in the xyz s study said this, really
minute
items that one wouldn't think of writing down....most of the time
recordings
work, but I don't see why the school can't contact the publishers
to acquire
a Word or PDF copy for you.
Rhonda
----- Original Message -----
From: "Anjelina" <anjelinac26 at gmail.com
To: <nabs at acb.org
Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2011 7:22 AM
Subject: [nabs] Preferred medium for college texts

Hi all,
I bet lots of us are trying to acquire books for the semester,
search the
various databases  to find the format which works best.  How do
you prefer
to read your texts?
Most of the required books I need are available through Learning
Ally.
Since this is the case I've been informed the DS office is not
required to
contact publishers for electronic formats.  I'm fine with
purchasing the
books and scanning them if I must.  If you use Learning Ally as
your
primary medium, if you found you've missed information such as
spelling,
or am I worrying for nothing?
Thanks for your feedback

Anjelina
Sent from my iPhone
_______________________________________________
nabs mailing list
nabs at acb.org
http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs

__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of
virus
signature database 6292 (20110713) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus
signature database 6292 (20110713) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

_______________________________________________
nabs mailing list
nabs at acb.org
http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs
_______________________________________________
nabs mailing list
nabs at acb.org
http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs 