| Books Without Barriers | Issue 9: Spring 2011 | Jump to Content |
Connect with BookshareWe invite you to join us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter and Accessible Twitter. In This IssueBookshare Highlights:
Family Spotlight: Educators’ Corner: Meet Our Collections Team: Publishing News: Bookshare On the Road! Fun Stuff UnsubscribeThe Bookshare Bulletin was sent to you because you wished to receive information about Bookshare or you subscribed at our web site. If you no longer want to receive The Bookshare Bulletin, please click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this page. |
Bookshare Highlights Spring at Bookshare: Collection Close To 100,000 Books!This spring, as buds appear, and flowers bloom, and fresh green growth pops out all over, think of the growth as a new book, full of the joy, freshness, and new meaning like springtime. Think of that rapid growth happening all year, and you'll be picturing the Bookshare collection; rapidly growing toward a major milestone, 100,000 books! Want to find out when we hit that number? Subscribe to our blog. We'll announce it there. What good reading lies hidden in Bookshare waiting for you? Bookshare – and the literacy program at Benetech – did not hibernate this winter. In this Bulletin, you’ll find many examples, such as Read2Go, Route 66 Literacy, a Texas accessible book initiative, an Android DAISY e-reader project, new publishers, the great work of Mentor Teachers, and much more. Read on! Coming Soon! Read2Go, an accessible DAISY app for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touchMany of you are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Read2Go, an accessible e-book reader developed by Benetech (Bookshare’s parent company) and Shinano Kenshi Co. Ltd., known for its PLEXTALK® brand of digital talking book players. Read2Go is a full-featured, accessible DAISY reader for the Apple iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. The Apple app store must approve all new apps, and developers are never told how long the approval cycle will take. Thus, we can’t give you a definitive date when the app will be available. As soon as we know, we’ll tell you via email. Be on the lookout. You can use Read2Go to connect directly to Bookshare and search, download, decompress, and read digital books. It’s only $19.99 for one device. New Route 66 Literacy ProgramAnother piece of exciting news is the launch of the Route 66 Literacy Program for adolescent and adult beginning readers. We developed Route 66 in partnership with Dr. Karen Erickson, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies, University of North Carolina. The program includes built-in, research-proven pedagogical methods and pairs beginning readers side-by-side with teacher-tutors who guide reading and writing interactions with the Route 66 tool online. Teachers and other individuals who provide literacy instruction can sign up for a free 45-day trial. During the trial you can use Route 66 with students and get access to sample bookshelves with word study lessons, writing lessons, and blackboards. At any time, you can convert your trial to a full subscription for $140. An annual subscription includes everything you enjoyed in the free trial, plus unlimited access to high-interest content in more thematically organized bookshelves. We hope you will share these key benefits of Route 66, our new online literacy tool and program, with educators, families, and tutors you know. Key Benefits:
Ed Tech Digest Interview with Jim Fruchterman, CEO Jim Fruchterman was recently interviewed in Ed Tech Digest. This extensive article covers Jim’s background as a rocket scientist and inventor of one of the first optical scanning machines. You can learn more about Jim’s vision and how Bookshare was conceptualized and be inspired by his tenacity to serve individuals with disabilities. To stay abreast of Jim’s activities, you can also sign up for his Benetech blog which describes his pursuits on literacy, the environment and human rights issues. Calling Developers Who Want to Work on an Open Source Reader for Android DevicesIn addition to Read2Go for the iOS platform, we are working on a DAISY 3.0 reader for Android devices. This will be an open source project based on the Android FBReader. We’re adding accessibility, support for DAISY 3.0, and integration with the Bookshare API. Any developers who would like to lend a hand and take part in this project should check out the details of the project and download the app at this link. Bookshare BlogAre you reading the latest Bookshare blog posts? Employees, volunteers, students, teachers, parents and members contribute information about classroom activities, technology advancements, educational and recreational books, real-time stories and important discussions topics. Join the discussion now around these latest posts:
Family SpotlightElina Hughes, Blooming Artist
Elina, with her mom and cuddly dog. Elina Hughes, shown here with her mom, Karla, created this original artwork, entitled ‘Grandma and Grandpa Hughes.’ This artwork is on its way to Washington, DC where it may be featured in the VSA (Very Special Arts Organization) National Exhibition. Kudos to you Elina! We are cheering for you! Elina is an 8th grader at Danbury School in Claremont, CA. She is one of four artists, ages 5-15, chosen to represent California. Elina has athetoid cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair with cool wijit sticks attached to her wheels. To create her painting, she imagined the wonderful things she could do with her grandparents. Then she used her Mac laptop with an adapted slow speed joy stick and a jelly switch to create the image. “Without assistive technology, I can only do abstract works,” said Elina.  Mrs. Hughes credits her daughter’s love of art to a teacher, Ginny McKee and to the Conductive Ed Therapy Program (www.conductability.org) which facilitates movement for people with physical motor issues. Ms. McKee inspired Elina to learn more about the VSA showcase and introduced her to the world of assistive technology that could accommodate her physical challenges. “We want to thank Ginny and Conductability for the vision that Elina could do something other than scribbles and abstracts,” said Mrs. Hughes. Not only does the talented Elina like to draw and read accessible books from Bookshare, her mom says that she does well in math and loves to write short stories. “Bookshare, great teachers, and assistive technologies have opened a new world of learning for me,” said Elina. If you are a blooming artist, you can learn more about VSA, (Very Special Arts Organization). Educators’ CornerNEW Texas Accessible Books InitiativeBenetech, Bookshare’s parent company, was just awarded a contract with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to conduct training and outreach on the benefits of accessible instructional materials (AIM) for K-12 students with disabilities. In this project, “Accessible Books for Texas” or ABT, three in-state coordinators will work with teachers to develop a broader understanding of digital accessible books, how accessible materials can benefit students and how to obtain and use AIM. Another component of the project will help to ensure the availability of AIM through a dedicated conversion effort of Texas-adopted books. Texas teachers… stay tuned to Benetech and Bookshare for more exciting news about this ABT initiative. Mentor Teacher Contest WinnersThis year, Bookshare Mentor Teachers have worked diligently in their schools and districts, and we thank them for all their efforts. These leaders AIM higher and train colleagues (teachers, parents and students) to use Bookshare more effectively. They track and report the work they do and also provide motivation to other educators. Their goal is to elevate the usage of accessible books for the benefit of students with disabilities. Several Mentor Teachers were recently recognized for their hard work. Donna Schneider, pictured below, is our grand prize winner. If you’re ready to become a Bookshare Mentor Teacher, join us in the fall and watch for announcements in our bulletins and the Bookshare in Action newsletter for K-12 educators.  Donna Schneider, AT Coordinator, Brewster Central School District, NY received an all-expense trip to the Closing the Gap Conference (Oct. 2011). Donna has taught third grade and math intervention classes. She is currently an AT Specialist for her district and is responsible for completing AT consults, recommending software and hardware and implementing technologies to benefit students. Congratulations, Donna! College NewsWe are thrilled to announce a new partnership with one of the largest woman-owned trade book publishers in North America, Sourcebooks. Sourcebooks publishes college and test study guides including: Gruber’s SAT, The Fiske Guide to Colleges, and the U.S. News & World Report Ultimate College Guide, as well as books about college life, such as The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run into in College, by Harlan Cohen. Dr. Norman Coombs – Pioneer of Accessibility and One of our First Bookshare Members 
Cherie Miller, Bookshare's University Program Manager with Dr. Coombs at the CSUN Conference holding the professor's new book. I met Dr. Norman Coombs shortly after I joined the Bookshare team. He is one of the true leaders and pioneers in the field of accessibility in education. He is a celebrity and a person we admire very much at Bookshare. Dr. Coombs is an educator, author and the CEO of the Equal Access and Software Information (EASI) organization. He is also one of our first Bookshare members and is well-known throughout the world for his contributions to equal access. His new book, Making Online Teaching Accessible, can be downloaded from our collection, thanks to his advocacy. You can read our interview with Dr. Coombs in our latest blog and learn about his teachings that have guided the development of access-to-information through adaptive technologies for many years. We thank Dr. Coombs for all of his wonderful work! From the Collection Development TeamQuack if You Love Bookshare!
The seven members of the Bookshare Collection development team. The Bookshare Collection Development team is a group of eleven hard-working professionals who oversee the process of getting more books for you to read, study, and enjoy. Pictured: (Standing, left to right: Suzy Haines, Dan Morrison, Amy McNeely, and Linda Huang. Sitting, left, to right: Carrie Karnos, Carol James and Lindsie Verma.) Not pictured: Allison Hilliker, Liz Halperin, Mayrie ReNae and Jennifer Ofiana From converting thousands of NIMAC and publisher-supplied digital files into DAISY format to chopping and scanning student-requested textbooks, to proofing a new title and sleuthing why an old title suddenly has gone bad, the Bookshare Collection Development team’s work is never done. And you may ask…how did the rubber ducky become their team’s mascot? One Member found that she didn’t have enough room at home to display her fast-growing collection of rubber ducks, so she brought them to the office. The duckies never went home, and now there are 150 rubber ducks from around the world. It is a tradition that every Collection Development staff member must bring at least one new ducky into the flock. For questions regarding our book collection and its care, contact Carol James (Collection Development Manager, carolj@benetech.org). You can make suggestions on the Bookshare website too. Go to the Contact Us tab and select the Request a Book subject line in the subject drop-down menu. Publishing NewsPublisher UpdateMore than 97 publishers in the U.S. have signed up with Bookshare along with a dozen publishers from Canada, the U.K., and Asia and 20 partners in India. Fourteen new publishers have come on board since January, including two prestigious university press partners -- Harvard University Press and the University of Wisconsin Press. Coincidentally, Harlequin, the global leader in series romance and one of the world's leading publishers of books for women, and Harvard University Press both signed agreements with Bookshare on the same day. Additionally, the elegant literary Canadian publisher, Coach House Books, expands our growing list of titles for Canadian Bookshare Members. Through Simon & Schuster’s digital distribution operation, we’ve also brought on Meadowbrook Press, a premier publisher of children’s and parenting books, along with a well-branded publisher, Chicken Soup for the Soul. “Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul” is one of the most popular inspirational teen titles published, consisting of 101 stories every teenager can relate to and learn from -- without feeling criticized or judged. This edition contains important lessons on friendship and love, the importance of belief in the future, and the value of respect. Bookshare on the Road!Upcoming Conferences:April 2011 Texas AHEAD, April 7-8, Houston, TX National School Boards Assoc. (NSBA) Conference, April 9-11, San Francisco, CA Montana CEC Conference, April 13-15, Billings, MT Education Revolution 2011, April 16, San Francisco, CA Pacific Rim International Conference on Disabilities, April 18-19, Honolulu, HI Council for Exceptional Children Annual Conference, April 25-28, National Harbor, MD Building Futures Youth Transition Conference, April 29-30, Spirit Mountain, OR May 2011 Urban Special Education Leadership (USEL) Conference, May 1114, Los Angeles, CA Secondary Transition State Planning Institute, May 17, Charlotte, SC Virginia CASE Conference, May 25-27, Virginia Beach, VA June 2011 Family Cafe, June 3-5, Orlando, FL TX State CEC Conference, June 9-11, San Antonio, TX TX Assistive Technology Network Statewide Conference (TATN), June 14–16, Houston, TX American Association of the Deaf-Blind (AADB) Conference, June 19-24, Ft. Mitchell, KY
Fun StuffWhat AM I? Video..Have You Seen It?Don’t forget to share our fun video, “What Am I?” with friends, administrators, and teachers in your schools and organizations. This catchy video and lyrics will help you and others learn about digital accessible books. It’s great for in-service trainings! After you watch the video, jump on to Facebook and tell us what you learned, and how you might use the video in your accessible materials training discussions. There are a lot of benefits to reading digital accessible books; can you name them all? Follow us on Twitter. We appreciate your retweets and telling others about all the educational and recreational books available in our library! http://www.twitter.com/bookshare http://www.facebook.com/Bookshare
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