What are e-texts?
E-text, or electronic text, is a computer readable electronic file which duplicates a physical text such as a textbook. There are many types of e-text such as TXT, HTML, RTF (rich text format), PDF (portable document format) virtually any text representation.
How do I use e-texts?
There are a number of mediums in which e-texts can be utilized. Some of these include:
- Text-to-speech software, which allows computer text to be processed and then synthesized or "spoken" by the computer.
- Screen enlargement software, which allows computer text to be displayed in a magnified size. For example, a typical sentence could be magnified and displayed one word at a time.
- Specialized Braille printers allow computer text to be processed and embossed.
In order to make use of these technologies, the material to be processed must be in a digital format. Because of its digital nature, e-text can be distributed via electronic media; i.e., floppy disks, CDs, USB drives, e-mail and FTP.
How do I create e-texts?
E-text is created via a process which scans any printed text and converts it into a computer file which can be read by word processors and other document programs. There are five distinct processes required to create e-text:
- Scanning (the process of creating a graphic file of the original printed document);
- Zoning (the process of identifying the text portions of the scanned page (as opposed to graphic portions such as figures and tables);
- Optical character recognition (the process of taking a graphic image of text and producing a text representation of the original material;
- Recognition checking (basically, checking the document accuracy by performing a spell-check of the document)
- Saving and archiving the file in the appropriate format.
How do I donate e-texts that I have created?
To contribute to the TTE, a consortium member can upload a prepared e-text using FTP (file transfer protocol) to the TTE internet site:
- Prepare the e-text by adding appropriate copyright and bibliographic statements. Here is an example of this.
- Go to the donation page to fill out bibliographic information about the book you are donating.
- Upon successful completion of the donation page, you will be brought to a page that allows you to upload your file(s). File sizes should not be larger than 8MB per file.
- The TTE librarian will check your book for completeness and accuracy. If the book is acceptable, other TTE members will be granted immediate access to it.
Where can I get a high speed scanner?
Texas A&M purchased past scanners at VisionScan Scanners and through Canon USA. To contact VisionScan, access there website at http://www.visionshape.com. To contact Canon visit their website at http://www.canon.com/.