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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="http://athenpro.blogspot.com/2007/07/ahead-e-text-solutions-group-at-ahead.html">http://athenpro.blogspot.com/2007/07/ahead-e-text-solutions-group-at-ahead.html</a><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>I have recently returned from the <a
href="http://ahead.org/index.htm">AHEAD</a> 2007 conference and rather than
confront the backlog of messages, student files, eMails, and other flotsam
awash upon my workspace I shall instead attempt to make sense of my notes from
the conference and update my readers on the doings of the AHEAD E-Text
Solutions Group. Caution - these notes are incomplete and are fullest where my
interests were perked. The <a href="http://www.ahead.org/etext/etext_main.htm">E-Text
Solutions Group website</a> has been updated with much good information and <a
href="http://ahead.org/etext/etext_bio.htm">its membership</a> is available to
answer questions and such.<br>
<br>
I also recommend taking a look at the independent website <a
href="http://altformat.com/">AltFormat.com</a>.<br>
<br>
There were two meetings of the group during the conference. The first was a
semi-informal Q&A session on Thursday evening. Led by <a
href="http://www.ahead.org/etext/etext_bio.htm#rstewart">Chairman Ron Stewart</a>,
this public forum was designed to be an <em><i><font face="Times New Roman">"informative
discussion to learn about the continuing work of AHEAD to foster the
availability of e-texts for all college students."</font></i></em> The
second meeting took place the following morning and was a more formal
"informative session on current activities" designed to provide
"up-to-date developments in the provision of educational materials in
accessible formats". Both were very well attended and the following notes
are a combination culled from both meetings.<br>
<br>
Rick Bowes, representing the AAP (<a href="http://www.publishers.org/">Association
of American Publishers</a>) and the AFSI (<a
href="http://www.publishers.org/press/releases.cfm?PressReleaseArticleID=321">Alternate
Format Solutions Initiative</a>), provided an update on the cooperative
agreement that is being developed between the major educational publishers in
partnership with the AHEAD E-Text Solutions Group. The slides from Rick's
presentation in both PowerPoint and Outline Format are available on the <a
href="http://www.ahead.org/etext/etext_main.htm">E-Text Solutions Group webpage</a>.
Much good information is also available on the <a
href="http://www.publishers.org/main/HigherEducation/higherEd_Access_01.htm?id=40">AAP
Higher Education Accessibility webpage</a>.<br>
<br>
Rick updated the audience to a degree but could not say much beyond what he <a
href="http://connect.educause.edu/blog/DBerkowitz/aapupdateonaccessibl/21200?time=1185364632">reported
at the CSUN conference</a> earlier in the year. This is actually good news in
that the publishers are taking his work seriously and moving forward. Bad news
he could have shared - good news needs to be kept under wraps for the time
being as the publishers discuss, deliberate and design their next moves.<br>
<br>
Rick did go into a brief overview of <a href="http://nimas.cast.org/">NIMAS</a>
/<a href="http://www.nimac.us/">NIMAC</a> for those who were unfamiliar with
them and noted that as worthy as this legislation is, the implementation has
not been without problems. While NIMAS is being sorted out, Higher Education
must not allow itself to become complacent to the idea that there will soon be
similar laws for us and we must learn from mistakes made in the implementation
of NIMAS and not make the same. NIMAS has had a slow-go since the green light
of December 3, 2006 and as of mid-July 2007 there are less than 400 textbook
file sets in the NIMAC repository with a total library of approx. 1,100 file
sets - the majority being supplemental materials. This is out of a potential
inventory of a quarter of a million titles.<br>
<br>
Rick pointed out that a <a
href="http://nimas.cast.org/about/resources/creating_nimas.html#fileset">NIMAS
File Set</a> is not simply a single document and it has become apparent to both
the NIMAC and the publishers that there is as much interest in the supplemental
materials associated with the textbooks as there is with the textbooks
themselves. This has tempered the publishers enthusiasm a bit as they try to
figure out how to provide materials that are not necessarily specified under
the law but which are none-the-less integral to the academic mission.<br>
<br>
As for output, so far there have less than 300 downloads by the educational
systems of nine (9) states. Much of this has to do with the need for individual
states to decide how they are going to confront NIMAS and incorporate it into
their state education statutes. In essence, many Attorney Generals and
Departments of Education around the country are stymied and until they figure out
what to do and move forward there could be a log-jam effect that has a negative
on both postsecondary operations and efforts.<br>
<br>
For example, <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Texas</st1:place></st1:State>
recently dodged a bullet when legislation was introduced that would have
directed publishers to only provide digital materials in <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascii">ASCii format</a>. A knee-jerk
reaction would be to question the technical know how of the Texas legislation [<a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_of_tubes">a'la the grand Senator from
Alaska</a>], but a closer look reveals that this is perhaps simply lazy
continuation of previous <a
href="http://www.tsbvi.edu/textbooks/afb/state-laws.htm">Braille legislation
(circa 2001)</a> that calls for <em><i><font face="Times New Roman">"ASCII,
ICADD 22 or SGML for Windows or DOS, or agreed format produced upon 3.5"
DDHD diskette, 5.25" Syquest, or other agreed on media."</font></i></em>
Unfortunately lawmakers in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Texas</st1:place></st1:State>
<a href="http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?243">are not alone</a> in
their inability to keep up with evolving technology. Fortunately the right
lobby intervened and the wording was changed to something more user-friendly
and appropriate.<br>
<br>
The <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Texas</st1:place></st1:State>
side-swipe points out a general misunderstanding in both publishing and
legislation that a mandatory one-size-fits-all solution is perfectly applicable
and acceptable. As Rick noted throughout both sessions, the publishers want to
do what is right, but simply do not know how. Actually, it is not proper to
white-wash the publishers - perhaps some numbers will clarify. According to
Rick, in terms of books used in education, there are some 4,600 publishing
organizations in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United
States</st1:place></st1:country-region> producing in excess of 250,000 titles
annually. These are not always 'publishers' per se and the majority are small,
independent, affiliated with professional organizations or university presses
and more than 50% are non-profit entities. As one of the panelist pointed out -
there is no "they" when referring to publishers.<br>
<br>
In fact, the <a
href="http://www.publishers.org/main/HigherEducation/higherEd_About_01.htm">AAP
Higher Education group</a> includes a half-dozen of the most prominent textbook
publishers who produce 70% to 80% of the textbooks in use today. These
publishers 'get it' in terms of what they should do and must do both morally
and under the law. Unfortunately, until the dust settles on NIMAS and similar
efforts take hold for Higher Education their hands and efforts are tied. The
big publishers have a bottom line to look out for and cannot risk moving in a
direction that may turn into an unprofitable dead-end. The small publishers are
in worse straits as many of them <a
href="http://www.allbusiness.com/accounting/debt-debt-resolution/1113-1.html">run
in the red</a> and simply do not have the resources or know-how to create accessible
formats. Akin to the <a
href="http://athenpro.blogspot.com/2006/04/report-ahead-e-text-institute-3.html">AHEAD
E-Text Institute trainings</a> for the 3,500+ colleges and universities in the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>, Ron
Stewart notes that there should be similar trainings for the 4,600+
organizations that publish.<br>
<br>
One point that kept coming across through both sessions was the need for
flexibility in formats. This cannot be a one-size-fits-all proposition as that
will not work for any of the participants (publishers, educators, and
especially students). The key to NIMAS is supposed to be its flexibility in
that the source files are supposed to be able to be easily converted to a
variety of outputs (DAISY, Braille, variable print, etc.) but creating the
source files that go into the NIMAC seem to be causing a bit of a headache for
those that publish.<br>
<br>
Time in both sessions was devoted to the rights and permissions process as
regards converting textbooks in alternate formats. Though worthy of attention,
the <a href="http://www.publisherlookup.org/">Publishers Look-Up Service</a>
sponsored by the AAP is only an interim step and only contains information on
less than a quarter of publishing entities. Also throughout both meetings there
was information and discussion on a variety of topics, including activities of
the E-Text Solution Group, basics of NIMAS/NIMAC, current and pending legal
cases and <a href="http://www.dlrp.org/html/topical/FAPSI/OCR/ccsf.html">OCR</a>
<a href="http://athenpro.org/node/37">letters</a>, <a
href="http://www.rnib.org.uk/">international</a> <a href="http://altformat.com/">interests</a>,
<a
href="http://www.thejournal.com/the/newsletters/k12techtrends/archives/?aid=19334">lessons
from K-12</a> and more. Unfortunately my notetaking skills ain't what they used
to be and I was unable to keep up with the conversation. Perhaps in the future
these sessions can be recorded for pod/vodcasting. Anyway - check the <a
href="http://www.ahead.org/etext/etext_main.htm">PPT/RTF of Rick's presentation</a>
as it has a lot of good information.<br>
<br>
Other items Rick presented include the AFSI vision of a national portal for
digital formats of materials - akin to a NIMAC for higher ed, improving and
streamlining rights and permissions procedures under copyright, file sharing
beyond immediate state systems and created a system for trusted transactions
(example <a href="http://www.google.com/products">Froogle</a>) along with a <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federated_search">federated search</a> to
improve the process of locating materials, creating a virtual repository
allowing publishers and others to physically control their content, directed
and secure distribution points and more. All of this is covered in his slides.<br>
<br>
The meat of the meetings - and what most people came to hear - was Rick's
report on the AFSI initiative. As he put it, he could not divulge too much but
at present the publishers involved are "gnawing on the report" that
was present in May of this year. On the Tuesday of the conference (July 17) the
AAP voted to move from a research phase to developing a plan of action.
According to Rick - the Executive Committee has tasked a select subcommittee to
determine how publishers working with AHEAD and its members may better serve
the needs of students with print disabilities. Over the next 120 days specific
action plans will be formulated alongside evaluation process and financial
requirements.<br>
<br>
Yes -- money is an issue and needs to be openly acknowledged. As anyone who has
developed an E-Text production facility can attest it takes money to put the
technology, people and processes into place. Extend this to a for-profit
corporate entity putting out a lot of product and needing to show a profit - or
for that matter a non-profit that operates in the red and daily fights for its
very existence - and you get an idea of one reason why things are perhaps not
moving along as swiftly as we seem to think they should. As regards the idea of
a centralized entity, there will be costs associated with the development as
well as the maintenance at least to a point where it can maintain self
sustainability (if ever).<br>
<br>
I know there is a lot of information here and admit is is a bit jumbled and
incomplete. If anyone else out there has notes from the meetings and would like
to share their take on the things please drop me a line. I would be remiss if i
did not thank Rick, Ron and all the members of the AHEAD E-Text Solutions group
for all of their efforts and communication. <br>
<br>
--<br>
Posted By D. Berkowitz to <a
href="http://athenpro.blogspot.com/2007/07/ahead-e-text-solutions-group-at-ahead.html">Access
Technologists Higher Education Network </a>at 7/25/2007 07:18:00 AM <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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