[Dtb-talk] If you are a student, BookShare is now free

Tue Oct 2 21:19:33 CDT 2007

Yes but it is still the case that content with some problems is better  
than no content. When I was speaking about the XML I was not referring  
to the quality of the content only that the XML should be  valid.

Greg Kearney
535 S. Jackson St.
Casper, Wyoming 82601
307-224-4022
gkearney at gmail.com

On Oct 2, 2007, at 8:02 PM, Mike Freeman wrote:

> I had the same misgivings. According to Gary Wunder, President of  
> the NFB of Missouri, Bookshare is going to try to work with  
> publishers to get electronic copies of the books. If so, they won't  
> be scanned. If not, however, I agree with you that the current  
> offerings are not, by and large, of sufficient quality for textbooks.
>
> Mike
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From:
> mailto:vlewis at suffolk.lib.ny.us Valerie Lewis
> To:
> mailto:dtb-talk at nfbnet.org 'Discussion of Digital Talking Books'
> Sent:
> Tuesday, October 02, 2007 6:30 AM
> Subject:
> Re: [Dtb-talk] If you are a student, BookShare is now free
> Good morning all,
> Is it my misunderstanding or is it correct that the books available  
> from
> Bookshare are not proof read. If this is the case, should these  
> books be
> used for educational purposes? If this is not correct, please  
> provide me
> with the correct information.
> Valerie
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mailto:dtb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org dtb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:dtb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Pratik Patel
> Sent: Monday, October 01, 2007 7:45 PM
> To: 'Discussion of Digital Talking Books'
> Subject: Re: [Dtb-talk] If you are a student, BookShare is now free
> The figure of 32 million is in question and may be lower.  It's a
> possibility that it was a typo.  Inquiries are pending.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mailto:dtb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org dtb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:dtb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Aaron Cannon
> Sent: Monday, October 01, 2007 5:25 PM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Cc: National Association of Blind Students mailing list; Discussion of
> Digital Talking Books
> Subject: [Dtb-talk] If you are a student, BookShare is now free
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: RIPEMD160
> This was just posted to the bookshare.org site:
> We're happy to share incredible news, which will transform  
> Bookshare.org. On
> Friday, the Office of Special Education Programs of the U.S. federal
> Department of Education made a major five-year award of $32 million to
> Bookshare.org. This will further the objectives of the Individuals  
> with
> Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), by supplying high quality  
> textbooks and
> educational materials to students with special needs.
> This funding is to fully support all schools and students with  
> qualifying
> print disabilities in the United States, K-12 and post-secondary, with
> access to the entire Bookshare.org collection of accessible  
> electronic books
> and to software for reading those books. As of October 1, 2007, we  
> will
> cease charging these schools and students anything to join  
> Bookshare.org. We
> also expect to add over 100,000 new educational titles in high  
> quality DAISY
> and Braille formats over the next five years, getting students the  
> terrific
> quality textbooks they need for academic success!
> And, from an email:
> Forwarded from Jim Fruchterman:
> I'm happy to share incredible news, which will transform  
> Bookshare.org. On
> Friday, the Office of Special Education Programs of the U.S. federal
> Department of Education made a major five-year award of $32 million to
> Bookshare.org.
> This funding is to fully support all schools and students with  
> qualifying
> print disabilities in the United States, K-12 and post-secondary, with
> access to the entire Bookshare.org collection of accessible  
> electronic books
> and to software for reading those books.  As of October 1, 2007, we  
> will
> cease charging these schools and students anything to join  
> Bookshare.org as
> members.
> In this initial news flash, I can't begin to share with you all of  
> our plans
> for Bookshare.org now with this funding.  But, we are planning on  
> adding
> more than 100,000 new educational books and materials to our existing
> collection of over 34,000 titles.  We are going to reach out to every
> student, every family with a disabled student, and every school in  
> the U.S.
> to offer them the chance to join the Bookshare.org community and  
> transform
> the practice of making books accessible.  We are going to coordinate  
> with
> schools and publishers to deliver the best quality content possible  
> and
> lower their costs in meeting
> our shared obligations to serve every student with a disability in the
> nation.  We expect to provide millions of books to students through  
> this new
> program over the next five years, at a tenth or less of the  
> historical cost
> of providing these services.
> And, we expect our improvements to serve all of these students will  
> make
> Bookshare.org better for all of our Bookshare.org users.  
> Bookshare.org's
> track record of being highly responsive to our members will be  
> enhanced with
> significant funding to implement major improvements to our content and
> services.
> Our volunteer community is an essential part of what made this grant
> possible, and you are a crucial part to making this a success in the  
> future.
> Your
> commitment to our shared vision of better access to information is  
> core to
> where we are heading.
> We want to make equal access to educational materials for disabled  
> students
> a reality!
> Jim
> Jim Fruchterman
> President and CEO
> - --
> Skype: cannona
> MSN/Windows Messenger: mailto:cannona at hotmail.com cannona at hotmail.com
> (don't send email to the hotmail
> address.)
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