Having trouble finding your downloads in Bookshare?

In summer 2012, the website changed a bit.  As you go through the process of downloading a book, there is one last step that many people are having trouble with.  If you have gone through the steps, but the book never downloaded, see if the following is what you need:

Log into Bookshare and click on “My History” you should see the books you have tried to download.

From there, find the “available link” under the book title.

Click the Available link and then look at the bottom of your screen.  You should find a notice bar like this one:

Instead of clicking SAVE, click the triangle next to the word SAVE and then choose Save As.  Now you can save the book wherever you like.

Converting Bookshare to Kindle for eligible students

It's very simple to get books from Bookshare on the Kindle. At first I thought you had to do it through sending the file to kindle and having them convert the document, but it's MUCH easier than that...
 
1. Open the Bookshare book (which usually opens in a web browser)
2. Copy and paste the text you want into Microsoft Word
3. Save the document as nameofbook.txt (not as a .doc. ALSO if this is in the newest version of Word 07, it's going to save the document as a docx by default. THIS WILL NOT OPEN ON THE KINDLE.)
4. Once you have saved the document as a .txt, plug in the kindle. You'll see the kindle icon on the desktop, or in My Computer.
5. Open the kindle icon and open the documents folder
6. Copy and paste the book (the .txt version) into the documents folder of the kindle
7. Eject the kindle and it should be on there when you turn it on!

Why are there so many files created when I download a book from Bookshare.org and what do I do with them?

Question:
When I download a book from Bookshare and unzip it, a bunch of files appear in a folder. Why?

Answer:
The downloaded book is in a couple of formats so that you can access it with a variety of software programs. The rest of the files are "helper files" and are needed by the book files in order to open and view properly.

Question:
What do I do with them?

Answer:
The easiest thing to do is just leave them there.  Or, if you'd like to learn about more options for dealing with the files, see the quick guide on using Bookshare files with a text reader.

New rules for passwords on Bookshare.org (Updated)

Bookshare no longer requires that you have a download password that is different from your account password.  You will no longer be asked for a password when unzipping a downloaded file.

If you are unable to unzip a file that you previously downloaded from Bookshare, then it might be because you downloaded that book at a time when the download password was required.  Download the book again  from the Bookshare website.

Adding students to Bookshare

Question:
I finallly registered teachers as sponsors in Bookshare. Do I add the members (students) or let the teachers add them?

Answer:
You can do this either way, but if the teachers are going to add them, then you have to explain to all the teachers how to add the kids online. That might take up the same amount of time as adding them yourself!

Another thing to consider is that you have to notify the ITSS of all the kids who are added so they can have access to the Copyrighted Text folder on your network. Decide on a way that works best logistically in your school. The ITSS needs the kids names, grades, and login ids.

How do you handle this at your school?

Adding members and sponsors to Bookshare

Question:
I want to add new members and sponsors. Just give me a quick review. Do I use the template I received when I took the Bookshare class and upload it?

Answer:
I saw that Bookshare now has a simpler way to add kids and teachers. You can just click to get a popup window and add them one at a time. If you have a longer list to add, you can still use the spreadsheet if you prefer, but you might try the pop-up window way for one or two additions, just to make sure your account is active and working.

1. Log into your Bookshare account at http://bookshare.org/
2. Click on My Organization
3. Click on either Members or Sponsors
4. Then click the orange “Add a …” button and fill in the requested information

Bookshare's Free Daisy Readers

Question:
Do the students who have access to Bookshare need to be visually impaired to get the Daisy Reader free or can any of our qualified Sp. Ed. Students download the Daisy Reader so they can read books at home?

Answer:
Any member of Bookshare can download either of the two readers. One is Read:Outloud and the other is Victor Reader. They can both read DAISY files. Read:Outloud is better suited for kids with learning disabilities and Victor is better suited for kids with vision issues. (To be a member of Bookshare, students must qualify as having a print disability. Read more at http://bookshare.org/about/membershipQualifications).

Opening Files Downloaded From Bookshare

Question:
I downloaded a book from Bookshare. I unzipped the file I downloaded, but I can't open the book.

Answer:
Double check that you actually unzipped the file you downloaded. If you just double-clicked on the zip file, you are viewing the contents, but you have not actually completed the step to uncompress them yet.

1. Go back to the zip file
2. Right-click on the zip file and choose "Extract All" from the pop-up menu
   
3. NOW you can open the .xml file or the .opf file in your text reader