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

Pratik Patel pratikp1 at gmail.com
Tue Oct 2 23:34:18 CDT 2007 

Greg,

Let's chat off line about the Bookshare XML content and see what we can do.
I am one of the technical advisors to Bookshare and am aware of these
concerns.  Until now the main ocncern has been funding to fix these
outstanding problems.  Now, that should not be an issue.

Pratik


-----Original Message-----
From: dtb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:dtb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Greg Kearney
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 10:20 PM
To: Discussion of Digital Talking Books
Subject: Re: [Dtb-talk] If you are a student, BookShare is now free

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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