Bookshare Blog

Published September 17, 2010

What We’re Reading {September 17 2010}

This week in “What We’re Reading” we’re sharing Fiction & Literature Classics that are regularly included on high school required reading lists. Download these books today; they’re fantastic reading! I would also like to ask you to please share your required reading lists with us. And be sure to take a minute to let us know what you think about the weekly “What We’re Reading” feature. We love to hear from you! Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston – Their Eyes Were Watching God is a story of growing up, discovering, and embracing one’s true self. Janie, in her attempt to find love, navigates through…

1 Comment

Published September 17, 2010

What Does Bookshare’s Librarian Do?

This post was contributed by Amy McNeely, Bookshare’s librarian. While this post is longer than most, it’s quite interesting and worth taking a few minutes to read. After you’ve read the post be sure to leave Amy your thoughts, comments and questions! ****************** How to read a book like a (particular) (cataloging) librarian To begin with, there are three main types of librarians: the kind who find things, the kind who build things, and the kind who put things away. The kind that find things are called public services librarians, and these are the most widely known of all librarians. They include…

2 Comments

Published September 15, 2010

Parents In The Know! Where Are the Accessible Textbooks?

“Good morning students, let’s begin by opening our textbooks to page 1…” Has your child been welcomed to a new school year with a greeting like this? Were they ready with an accessible version of their textbook they could read? For many students with print disabilities, traditional textbooks are not an option. Accessible versions, like digital books, now provide a promising alternative. Accessible textbooks allow students to listen to words being spoken, read words on the computer screen, look up word definitions and much more. Until recently, getting accessible textbooks has been difficult. Parents have alerted teachers of their children’s…

Leave a Comment

Published September 13, 2010

Want to Make a Difference? Become a Bookshare Mentor and Make a Difference, One Teacher at a Time.

Teachers who are using Bookshare in the classroom tell us time and again that Bookshare makes it easier for their students to keep up with their peers, that their students are reading better, writing better, and are more actively participating in classroom discussions. Would you like to see every qualified student in your school and district benefit from Bookshare? Sign up to be a Bookshare Mentor today and you can help make that happen! Bookshare Mentors can significantly impact their schools just by teaching their fellow teachers how to use Bookshare with their qualified students. If you have a Bookshare…

Leave a Comment

Published September 10, 2010

What We’re Reading {September 10 2010}

This week’s Bookshare recommendations come to us from our Young Adult members.

Leave a Comment

Published September 10, 2010

Requests Turn into Timely Access for Many Students

Last spring, we suggested that you might want to “spring into action for fall satisfaction” and send us book requests, NIMAC conversion requests, and even physical books to convert. And you did spring into action! Hundreds of requests and books arrived. Besides textbooks, an educator in New Hampshire sent a collection of books about the state for student research and reports. We got a batch of leveled readers, which are always in demand. Over the summer, we processed hundreds of books. Volunteers, partners, and the Bookshare staff worked very hard to chop, scan, and proofread the books you sent, to…

Leave a Comment

Published September 3, 2010

What We’re Reading {September 3, 2010}

The Bookshare team reads a lot of books every week. And so do our children, friends and families. Among those, there are always a handful of standouts — the shortlist, the books with buzz–perfect for children, tweens, teens, college students, and young adults. “What We’re Reading” brings you picks of the most interesting recent reads, along with short descriptions; sometimes we’ll even include candid comments and notes from the team. We’ll be bringing you “What We’re Reading” every Friday, be sure to look for it and download some great books! This week our recommendations come to us from our tweens! All books are appropriate for grades 5…

Leave a Comment

Published September 1, 2010

Digital Resources in the Classroom?

A guest post from Robin Seaman, Publisher Liaison for Bookshare “At the revamped Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) summit, the opening session took a unique tack. Months earlier, the AEP decided the best way for traditional publishers to understand what teachers needed and wanted in digital resources in the classroom was to hear from the teachers directly – using the digital tools already at the teachers’ disposal,” explained Frank Catalano, the noted educational consultant. Frank worked with the AEP and the social networking site edWeb.net to solicit teacher videos to be submitted via YouTube and he posted the following in…

Leave a Comment

Published August 31, 2010

Get the Most Out of Study Time with Textbooks From Bookshare

This very informative article written by Deborah Armstrong, Alternate Media Specialist at De Anza College in Cupertino, CA, provides some great tips and ideas to get the most out of your study time reading textbooks from Bookshare. She is a lifelong learner who is addicted to reading and says that she’s downloaded over 1,075 books and has read over 900 of them. While this post is a bit longer than others, it’s really good. ****************** If you are new to electronic books, or don’t read much, you’ll find study skills training intended for print readers might not work well for you. Worry…

5 Comments

Published August 28, 2010

What We’re Reading {August 27 2010}

The Bookshare team reads avidly. And we read a lot of books every week. And so do our children, friends and families. Among those, there are always a handful of standouts — the shortlist, the books with buzz–perfect for children, tweens, teens, college students, and young adults. “What We’re Reading” brings you picks of the most interesting recent reads, along with short descriptions; sometimes we’ll even include candid comments and notes from the team. We’ll be bringing you “What We’re Reading” every Friday, be sure to look for it and download some great books! Mockingjay (The Hunger Games Trilogy #3) by Suzanne Collins – Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has…

Leave a Comment

Bookshare Blog Posts