Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Plenary Talk at the Eighth General Assembly of the World Blind Union Access to published information is an essential requirement for education, employment and full social inclusion. People with vision impairments and other print disabilities deserve equal access to that treasure of information.

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Accessibility Global eBook Copyright 155

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 19, 2013

Benetech, my nonprofit organization operates Bookshare, the largest online library dedicated to serving blind and print disabled people. We have 197,000 books available in the United States today, and serve 250,000 people , mainly in the United States, but also in 40 other countries.

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Library United States Copyright Accessibility 203

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 16, 2011

Statement of Benetech to the 22nd Session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights at the World Intellectual Property Organization June 15, 2011, Geneva, Switzerland • Greetings from California’s Silicon Valley! Our collection has grown from 70,000 books to almost 110,000 books in the U.S.

Qatar 154

Qatar Accessibility People Copyright 154

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 3, 2016

If you can buy a book, you can’t borrow it. That’s the lobbying position of some companies in the intellectual property field when implementing the new Marrakesh Copyright Treaty. Marrakesh is intended to end the book famine for people who can’t read regular books because of their disability.

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Copyright United States Library eBook 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 30, 2013

Bookshare As followers of this blog know, Benetech's largest social enterprise is the Bookshare online library for people with print disabilities. Our commitment is to provide access to books for those who are unable to read a traditional print format and to do so without harming the economic interests of authors and publishers.

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Accessibility eBook New York City Social 171

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 7, 2013

have been asking about the Treaty of Marrakesh (formal name: The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities. However, as the founder of the Bookshare online library, we have a great deal at stake in how the Treaty gets implemented. Works Covered.

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Copyright Law United States Library 158

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 14, 2009

Last Friday I spent almost two and a half hours in a wide-ranging conversation with Maria Pallante of the Copyright Office (and two other folks whose full names I didn't write down). copyright exemption for serving the print disabled is commonly called the Chafee Amendment: Section 121 of copyright law. copyright law.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

The goal of the Treaty is to make a copyright exception for the blind and other people with disabilities that stop them from reading print, and to make import and export of accessible content legal. My core point: Don’t put up bureaucratic barriers to access. The biggest challenge for access is that it’s expensive.

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Copyright India Library United States 158

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 7, 2013

Bookshare International Library We’re always thinking about new ways in which Benetech could go deeper and help many more people. Bookshare , our flagship literacy program, is the world’s largest accessible library and currently serves more than 230,000 members with visual and learning disabilities.

India 225

India Literacy United Kingdom United States 225

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 8, 2010

A Policy Update from an engineer, Jim Fruchterman of Benetech June 8, 2010 The international copyright negotiations in Geneva around a proposed Treaty for the Visually Impaired (“TVI”) have been steadily heating up. Counterproposals have been made, governments have been engaging with rights holders, consumers and NGOs (or not!)

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Accessibility Global Copyright Law 133

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 17, 2015

Access to information and knowledge is a basic human right and a necessary first step towards personal, economic, and social development. They include people who are blind, visually impaired, have dyslexia, or have a physical disability that prevents them from reading regular printed books. Chief negotiator Justin Hughes and the U.S.

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Copyright Law Library eBook 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 3, 2016

We are joining with our peers in the disability and library community in a joint statement to strongly encourage the Senate to ratify the treaty and for Congress to implement the minor legislative changes recommended as part of the package. The creation of Bookshare was made possible because of an enlightened copyright law exception.

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United States Language Copyright Library 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 5, 2013

I’ve been actively advocating for an international copyright exception model that would greatly benefit people with disabilities, as anyone who has read my blog over the years can attest! After all, Benetech’s Bookshare initiative is the largest online library serving people with print disabilities in the world. copyright exception.

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Morocco United States Copyright Library 127

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 22, 2009

Guest Blog from Amy McNeely, Bookshare Librarian This past week, April 12th through April 18th, was National Library Week. Every year, the American Library Association picks a different theme for the occasion. This year’s theme was “Worlds connect @ your library.” Bookshare is a unique library. Bookshare is no different.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

The latest session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) just concluded last week. The first issue is that the treaty would not permit direct access by consumers to international authorized entities.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

I’m thrilled to share with you some of the recent amazing impact of Bookshare , a Benetech Global Literacy initiative and the largest accessible online library of copyrighted content for people with print disabilities. a11y accessibility Bookshare Braille DAISY ebooks Global Literacy print disabilities Reading'

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Literacy eBook Global Audio 129

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 20, 2013

He started Computerized Books for the Blind the year before we started Benetech, and became one of our earliest partners. Even back then, we included information about his service in the box of each Arkenstone Reader because we knew people would rather not have to scan a book before reading it! We hope you’ll join us on this journey.

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eBook Award Copyright Syria 221

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 15, 2012

Benetech’s Bookshare library is living proof that real, transformative change happens through partnerships and by helping people unleash their talents and energies. We blew up the old approaches to converting inaccessible books into accessible equivalents. copyright law.

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Library Student eBook Accessibility 164

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 23, 2010

with print disabilities, with more than 70,000 copyrighted works in our library, the majority of which have been created under the US copyright exception by volunteers, mainly people with disabilities themselves, helping each other. • We now have global permissions for around 8,000 copyrighted books out of our 70,000. •

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South Africa Copyright Ghana India 150

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 27, 2015

We’re doing a ton of work with partners in India , the first country to ratify it, to allow people in India to take full advantage of India’s now-favorable copyright environment. We also hope to lend our Bookshare online library infrastructure to developing world countries not currently able to build their own online library at this time.

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Germany Mexico North America India 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 5, 2015

Twelve years ago, the Fund made its first grant to Benetech, in support of the then newly launched Bookshare , our accessible online library for people with disabilities that get in the way of reading print, including visual impairments and dyslexia. This pilot paved the way for our work in the education field.

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Fund India United States eBook 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 2, 2012

Bookshare, Benetech’s pioneering digital library for people with print disabilities, celebrated its 10th birthday last night with a terrific party that was attended by many of our long-time friends and supporters. copyright law. As a result, we quickly became the largest online library for people with print disabilities.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 23, 2014

Technology currently serves privileged groups through tools that provide access to education, literacy, health, and justice. Our Bookshare online library is continuing to multiply its impact. And we do this at a per-book cost less than one-tenth of the traditional approaches! But what about everybody else?

Literacy 158

Literacy eBook United Kingdom Accessibility 158

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 3, 2011

One of these sub-themes is “Accessibility: removing barriers and promoting disability-inclusive development.” Of course, accessibility is right up Benetech’s alley and the focus of our Literacy program. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).

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Impact Technology eBook Student 140

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 27, 2013

I was delighted when Ron Schultz invited me to collaborate with him on his latest book Creating Good Work – The World’s Leading Social Entrepreneurs Show How to Build a Healthy Economy. I look forward to continuing the conversation the book has opened. Converting and delivering these accessible books was expensive and time consuming.

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Develop Social Library eBook 144

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MAY 3, 2010

Source: Pratham Books. Note from Beth: During my trip to India in February, I was introduced to a nonprofit children's book publisher in India, Pratham Books. “It was set up to fill a gap in the market for good quality, reasonably priced children’s books in a variety of Indian languages.

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India Strategy Skype Remix 99

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 7, 2010

An Insider Reveals How the Latest Hot Books Are Added to Bookshare’s Collection of Accessible Titles A Guest Beneblog by Liz Halperin After working for many years as a volunteer for Bookshare, I became a paid proofreader for the collection about two years ago. Since I was there to witness it, I want to tell you how it happens.

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Community Files Student Language 129

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 26, 2014

One of their main challenges is that they do not have adequate access to educational materials that are necessary to learn and succeed in school. Accessible ebooks and Bookshare have helped sixth grader Kevin Leong overcome his reading challenges.

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eBook Accessibility United States Student 203

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 6, 2006

We had a wide array of key people at the meeting, including the head of IT at the university, another blind professor, top librarians, the heads of NGOs serving the blind and the head of library services for the blind [check titles]. Plus, the demand for English accessible books is especially acute at the University level.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

We’re against piracy, and have made commitments to authors and publishers to encourage compliance with copyright law. Stopping fund raising and subscription revenue for Bookshare, the largest online library for people who have print disabilities. Bookshare is an online library for people who can’t read standard print books.

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eBook China Copyright Library 277

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 29, 2011

We're really proud of the rapid growth of our Bookshare online library for people with print disabilities. We're up to more than 125,000 users, with over 95,000 books available, and our users are now accessing content at a rate of more than million downloads per year! What is the school signup process for Bookshare?

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Student Accessibility New Jersey Learning 145

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 5, 2016

I just read the new book from Sally Osberg, President and CEO of the Skoll Foundation, and strategy guru Roger Martin, Getting Beyond Better: How Social Entrepreneurship Works. The book is an expanded version of their seminal article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review from 2007, “Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition.”

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Change eBook United States Conservancy 100

Museum 2.0

APRIL 1, 2010

While some aspects are quite technical and specific, it should be useful for anyone considering writing a book for a niche audience. I decided to self-publish The Participatory Museum for four reasons: OPENNESS: I wanted the flexibility to license and distribute the book using an open structure to promote sharing. Why Self-Publish?

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Participatory Museum Process Adobe 33

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

DECEMBER 8, 2011

We’re against piracy, and have made commitments to authors and publishers to encourage compliance with copyright law. Stopping fund raising and subscription revenue for Bookshare, the largest online library for people who have print disabilities. Bookshare is an online library for people who can’t read standard print books.

eBook 107

eBook Copyright China Law 107

Wild Apricot

JUNE 27, 2008

Download a copy of the full report as a PDF file from Imagine Canadas online reference library: Effective knowledge transfer & exchange for nonprofit organizations : a framework (PDF) Fataneh Zarinpoush, Shirley Von Sychowski, Julie Sperling. Nicks Book Blog. Accessibility. Copyright © 2008. Have Fun â?¢

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Knowledge Effective PDF Evaluation 60

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

APRIL 18, 2007

Unlike library subject cataloging, which follows a strict set of guidelines, tagging is completely unstructured and freeform, allowing users to create connections between data anyway they want. the work of copyright holders. You may be wondering whether copyright laws and remix culture are at odds with one another.

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Remix Professional Technorati Wiki 50

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 7, 2013

The goal of the treaty is to make it possible for people who are blind, or have other print disabilities, to get access to the books they need for education, employment and inclusion in society--no matter where they live. Today, as new books are produced, they are "born digital." Now, the progress made is all in jeopardy.

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United States Law Copyright India 166