Educators — Universities
The Bookshare™ community is a valuable resource for universities working to meet the needs of students with print disabilities.
- As a central repository for college textbooks, Bookshare can greatly reduce the nationwide challenge of providing accessible materials. By “scanning once, and sharing many,” all campuses can reduce their workload and still increase access to materials for their students. Bookshare encourages universities to share their scanned in books with Bookshare to make them available to their own students as well as to the entire post-secondary community.
- Bookshare also provides individual memberships for students, which encourages them to independently access the library for educational, professional and leisure reading.
This page contains information and resources for colleges and universities serving students with print disabilities.
- Member Stories
- Discussion and Information Sharing
- Resources
- Items of Interest
- Submitting Scanned Books
- Volunteer Opportunities
- Customer Support
- Membership Information
Discussion and Information Sharing
Bookshare has many avenues for sharing your ideas and insights:
- Share your teacher recommended reading lists.
- Share your thoughts, ideas, comments and questions with the Bookshare staff.
- Get handouts and materials for giving trainings, talks or sharing Bookshare information with groups and organizations.
- Hear Member stories.
- Invite Bookshare to your school to conduct a training
- Sign up for the Bookshare newsletter
Resources
There are a number of resources for organizations serving people with print disabilities. Keep checking this page for new links:
Items of Interest
- A recorded webinar for universities from February 2009 is available for playback. Bookshare is hosting a series of webinars focused on the many new features of the ‘new’ Bookshare library.
- View videos of Bookshare Members who use various assistive devices to read Bookshare books. The short profiles demonstrate how Members are using the technology. The longer stories describe how Bookshare has affected Members lives.
- Bookshare will be attending a number of conferences around the country. Get the latest information on conference dates and locations.
Submitting Scanned Books
Bookshare is a repository for accessible textbooks and literature. Your university can benefit from the efforts of universities across the U.S. who are scanning books for their own students and sharing them with the entire post-secondary student population. If your university has scanned books you’d like to share, please contact the Bookshare Collections Team about placing them in the Bookshare library.
Additional Resources
- Download the Book Sharing Guidelines for educators (RTF).
- Watch a step-by-step tutorial on how to share a scanned book with Bookshare – Flash video, MP3 audio.
Learn more about why sharing books is legal.
Volunteer Opportunities
If you want to share books that you have scanned for students, please contact the Collections Department for information about contributing scanned books.
If you want to help build the Bookshare library with other efforts, you can donate funds, books, or time and expertise.
By volunteering with Bookshare, you not only help add books to the library, you also become part of a very lively community. Bookshare Volunteers hold contests, sponsor books clubs, and run a discussion group and chat rooms. In addition, Volunteers with print disabilities can earn credits toward their membership fees. Learn more about volunteering.
Customer Support
Bookshare has a number of resources to help with any question:
- Downloading books:
- Requesting books:
- Access Technology:
- Other Questions:
If your question is not answered here, feel free to contact Bookshare.
Membership Information
Through an award from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), Bookshare offers free memberships to U.S. schools and qualifying U.S. students. Read more about the OSEP award.
Universities and students outside the United States can also join Bookshare and pay the nominal subscription fee. This provides access to freely distributable titles (e.g. public domain or Creative Commons licensed) and books that publishers and authors have given permission to Bookshare to share internationally.
Membership in Bookshare is also available to individuals with qualifying print disabilities and to the institutions supporting those individuals. Learn more about joining Bookshare.
The Bookshare service is possible through an exemption in the U.S. copyright law (Chafee amendment) that permits the reproduction of publications into specialized formats for those with print disabilities.