Digital Text Notes

Another Faculty Resource for Custom Etextbooks

2008-07-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

I didn't know about this service from McGraw Hill when I posted a piece about faculty creating custom etextbooks and/or course packs.

from their website:
http://catalogs.mhhe.com/mhhe/buildBook.do

"Together we can create better educational tools!
McGraw-Hill’s Primis Custom Publishing

Some ideas to consider:
Combine chapters from more than one McGraw-Hill textbook
Delete chapters you do not cover
Include special readings or assignments with textbook chapters
Change the order of chapters to perfectly match your syllabus
Add your syllabus or lecture notes to the textbook
Add original artwork
Join the text and the student study guide together in one text

Need to learn how to type or keyboard? Free online typing tutorials.

2008-07-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

There are many "free" typing tutorials listed on the web and for some the "free" part was the ability to freely download after paying for the course. These 4 seem to have clear directions and have decent visuals like the one to the left; without so many annoying pop up ads. Let me know what you think or if you know of an excellent site that you have used yourself.

Free online typing courses:

1. GoodTyping.com
Can check out first lesson without registering; free registration
Logging into your account allows you to enter where you left off without having to start at the beginning every time you want to practice.
http://www.goodtyping.com/

2. Typing Lessons. org
No annoying ads; has ergonomic hints; no need for registration so need to finish a lesson or exercise, or retake it; more in depth instructions and overview of how best to learn to type; good visuals
http://www.typing-lessons.org/

3. TypingWeb.Com
Has typing tutorials, self tests to assess speed, free internet typing games; need to register (free) to keep track of lessons/exercises completed so don’t have to start at the beginning each time
http://www.typingweb.com/

4. Learn2Type.com
Has different levels of instruction; one especially for kids; free login or registration
http://www.learn2type.com/

Free online typing games at:
http://www.freeonlinetypinggames.com/

High Speed Scanning Services that use Kurzweil

2008-07-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

For students who are used to having all of their textbooks available in Kurzweil format here at Landmark College, it is often difficult to obtain Kurzweil formatted books at a new college especially in a timely manner at the beginning of each semester. One possible solution is sending the books to a high speed scanning service; where for a fee, the textbook will have its binding removed, put through a high speed scanner, converted to Kurzweil's format, rebound. Some will return a CD and some have you download the material.

High Speed Scanning Services that use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to convert files to .kesi (Kurzweil’s format)

In the USA:
1. Badger Scanner Services
http://www.bas.wisc.edu/index.html
Document Conversion Pricing:
.25 cents per page for Standard Document Conversion,
.50 Cents per page for Document Conversion with Individual Page Optimization.

2. National Scanning
http://www.nationalscanning.com/services-OCR.php
National Scanning utilizes specialized software and processes for industry leading data recognition accuracy and results.
Call for rates:
Corporate Office 25 Commercial DriveWrentham, MA 02093
Phone: (888) 211-1797 Fax: (508) 384-5322

3. Transaccess scanning services
http://www.transaccess.org/services/scanning.php
It's easy - just fill out this Book Scanning Request Form and we will contact you with what to do next!
- Cost: $1.25 per scanned page in Kurzweil 3000 format. $.75 per scanned page in TIFF (with no editing).
- There will be a $15.00 charge for additional copies of a CD. For these, we will also need a letter and proof of purchase indicating that a corresponding print copy of the document exists as noted above.
- If you are expecting a large volume of books requiring scanning (approximately 40 or more), you might consider a subscription service. For this service we charge $1000 and offer half price on all scanning for one year. (Please see the prices quoted above).
For more information contact John Cavano, OTR/L at (408) 278-2005.

In Canada

4. Microscience scanning services
http://microscience.on.ca/hss.asp
Files are placed on a CD and shipped back to you. You will require Kurzweil/Wynn software to read these files.
• Editing, spell checking & zone editing of the document can be provided upon a request.
Please call in for our special pricing!
Toll Free: (800) 290-6563info@microscience.on.ca

Great Resource; Often Overlooked - Kurzweil 3000 Classic Literature CD

2008-07-04T12:38:00.000-07:00

Included in every software bundle of Kurzweil 3000 is an incredible resource; a CD of classic literature in a Kurzweil readable format. The Classic Literature CD is a "portable library of approximately 1800 electronic texts, selected from public domain material available from Web sites such as http://www.gutenberg.net/."

Included on the CD are important US history documents like the presidential inaugural addresses and the Declaration of Independence, religious texts, and some scientific works.

To see a Table of Contents and general organizational tips, click on http://www.kurzweiledu.com/files/classicliterature.pdf

Firefox Mozilla upgrade lacks Kurzweil add-on

2008-07-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

If you currently use Mozilla Firefox to read the web with Kurzweil, please wait to download Mozilla Firefox's latest upgrade, Firefox 3.0.

Right now there are no add-ons for the Kurzweil reader available to download. In the past, it has taken about 3-4 weeks after a new release for the add-ons to be available.

We’ll create a new post when the add-on is available so you can upgrade to Firefox 3.0 and still be able to read the web with Kurzweil. Happy reading.

Digital Textbooks available from Coursesmart.com

2008-07-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

If you wish to use a textbook that is already in digital format, which saves the student money and the problem of getting a book digitized; check out CourseSmart.com. "With thousands of titles across hundreds of courses with a wide variety of publishers, CourseSmart lets you evaluate complete textbooks online and recommend eTextbooks to students in one convenient location."
http://www.coursesmart.com/instructors

Faculty resources for creating digital textbooks

2008-07-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

Are you frustrated by not finding the perfect textbook for your courses? Here are 2 solutions that will save your students a lot of money, will get you closer to your heart's desire, and will provide a digital copy to students who require a print disability accommodation.
1. Create a course pack or
2. Create a Custom Book with Pearson Custom Publishing

1. You can create a course pack.

What does that mean?

You select what you would like your students to read: which chapters, short stories or poems from existing textbooks; or articles from journals or from the web. You arrange your selections into the desired order for either Coursepacks, Etc. (or another publisher with an agreement with the Copyright Clearing House) to print a copyright-cleared and hard copy course pack to be sold for a modest price at your Bookstore. Coursepacks, Etc. will even repaginate the course pack for you if you wish.
https://coursepacksetc.com/

2. You can publish a custom book with Pearson Custom Publishing. Details at:
http://www.pearsoncustom.com/create.html

Screen Readers

2008-06-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

Here at Landmark College we currently rely upon Kurzweil 3000 for students requiring text to speech software. We have a beta computer, named Bertha, with several other software programs installed for students to try other options and this summer we are doing a small sample evaluation of Read/Write Gold. It seems that a simple thing like having a computer read digital information on a computer is not at all simple. Enter little details like PDF's and you run into many, "only if's," "only whens," "and "ya buts" instantly. Kathy Burris, Landmark College's assistive technology trainer compiled a great chart comparing a variety of screen readers. Some of the for fee software programs are loaded on Bertha, our dear beta machine, so current students can experiment with them before they leave Landmark. Most of the for fee programs also have a free 30 day trial version available to download.
https://intranet.landmark.edu/oit/tls/documents/Alternativeschart_withlogos_final_6.17.pdf You can also create your own comparison chart for text to speech software and other assistive technology programs by going to Tech Matrix 2.00
http://www.techmatrix.org/.

Dame Digital Text's Notes From UnderColonnade

2008-06-20T07:41:00.000-07:00