[Athen] [ATHEN] FW: [bksvol-discuss] Great news about Bookshare.org

[Ron Stewart]

Bookshare thinks they are a library as well, and from Jim Fructermans
comments at TechShare last week I have to agree with his logic.  Libraries
are inherently subsidized by the communities that they serve, and for the
future as long as I can predict it this will also be the case for alt format
materials.

Ron Stewart

-----Original Message-----
From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On
Behalf Of Marks, Jim
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 12:26 PM
To: Access Technologists in Higher Education Network
Subject: Re: [Athen] FW: [bksvol-discuss] Great news about Bookshare.org

I think Bookshare is a library, not a publisher.  I think the same of
Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic and the National Library Services
for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Library of Congress. 

A market solution sounds good, and it would be wonderful to eliminate
the specialness of disability by making important enough for the
marketplace to respond effectively.  Thing is, the numbers of people
with print disabilities just are not that large, certainly not large
enough for publishers to make a buck consistently.  Maybe I tend to be
pragmatic, but I think we have to live in the world as it is, and I
depend on the libraries above for my reading.  They may be segregated
and middle men, but I can read most of what I want when I want from
these three sources.  The questions of quality you raise hit the mark,
but I wonder whether the power to leverage better quality would be any
better in a market solution.  Anything that makes my libraries' services
stronger would be fine by me.  I also think society has a responsibility
to assure access, and if we subsidize the alternate format libraries,
society is living up to that promise.  I have to admit it would be cool
to buy a book that works for me right off the local bookstore's
bookshelf, though.  It's just that I cannot hold my breath for this
ideal to occur.  I want to read now.

Thanks for the discussion!




Jim Marks
Director of Disability Services
University of Montana
jim.marks at umontana.edu
http://www.umt.edu/dss/
 
-----Original Message-----
From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On
Behalf Of Robert Martinengo
Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 1:30 PM
To: Access Technologists in Higher Education Network
Subject: Re: [Athen] FW: [bksvol-discuss] Great news about Bookshare.org

Jim,

I think you are confounding the appropriate roles of libraries and
'alternate media publishers' (I wrote a little essay about this on my
blog:
http://accessiblemedia.wordpress.com/culture-vs-copyright-re-examining-b
arriers-to-books-for-the-blind/
 ). Libraries are wonderful places, but they are not free (its called
taxation), and Bookshare is not a library.

The DoE should have offered at least some money directly to publishers
to make their electronic versions of textbooks accessible (you know, the
ones we complain about on DSSHE for being inaccessible). You say the
cost of converting a book is greater than the market value, well, the
feds just provide $32 million in subsidies. The problem is, it all went
to a middle-man.

Its easy to paint the big publishers as the 'boogieman', but they are
the source of the material we want so badly to be accessible. So,
logically, if you really want equal access, you need to go to the
source. The publisher can be held accountable for the quality of their
product - Bookshare can't be, and trust me, they wont be (just like
RFB&D isn't).

Remember, RFB&D has been around for over 50 years, with a strong donor
and volunteer base, and a staff of hard working, dedicated people.
They had over 100,000 books in their catalog (until they went digital).
Yet, they simply cant meet the demand. This DoE grant is a band-aid that
will prolong the problem, not solve it.

Cheers,
Bob


On 10/3/07, Marks, Jim <marks at mso.umt.edu> wrote:

> Bob, I am surprised by your comments, and I would urge you to 

> elaborate some more in case I'm misunderstanding you.  Shouldn't any 

> library be able to offer its holdings for free?  Why should people 

> with disabilities be singled out with requirements like being forced 

> to purchase a print book we cannot use just to get a book we can read?

> I've never understood this ethic well, especially when one considers 

> that the cost of converting a book to a truly usable format is almost 

> always far more expensive than the market value of the print book.  

> I've heard all the arguments that the proof of purchase bit is a good 

> thing, but it's at best a gesture.  And it's a gesture that ought not 

> keep people from information solely because of a print disability.  

> The property rights boogieman is a tool of oppression.  It's entirely 

> possible for civil rights and property rights to co-exist.  I want to 

> go to my library and read it's materials for free.  That's what most 

> people want from a library, print disabled or not.

>

> For whatever it's worth, I think the grant will create more 

> accessibility all across the nation.  The money will drive the 

> improvements, and the Bookshare folks are well aware of the challenges



> they face in stepping up their services.  My office has been 

> contributing e-text to Bookshare for several years now.  Our 

> contribution numbers are not huge, but this grant will entrench 

> Bookshare more deeply in the post-secondary world.  I'll bet more 

> colleges will be contributing soon, and that publishers will be doing 

> the same.  It's not going to be "the" answer by a long shot, but the 

> grant is pretty good news if you're a student with a print disability.

>

> Jim Marks

> Director of Disability Services

> University of Montana

> jim.marks at umontana.edu

> http://www.umt.edu/dss/

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] 

> On Behalf Of Robert Martinengo

> Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 3:00 PM

> To: Access Technologists in Higher Education Network

> Subject: Re: [Athen] FW: [bksvol-discuss] Great news about 

> Bookshare.org

>

> I think this grant could finally wake up educational publishers to the



> reality that the government is paying a middle-man to give away the 

> publishers intellectual property.

>

> There is no stipulation from Bookshare that students have to buy their



> books in order to receive their services, so they will be getting 

> their materials free. Not a bad deal for students, but it will rankle 

> publishers.

>

>

> _______________________________________________

> Athen mailing list

> Athen at athenpro.org

> http://athenpro.org/mailman/listinfo/athen_athenpro.org

>


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