George Kerscher Ph.D.George Kerscher Ph.D.Last updated May 16, 2007
On
May 12, 2007 at the graduation ceremony at the University of Montana, George
Kerscher was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters, the highest honorary degree
the University can bestow. The initiative was initiated from within the Computer
Science Department. The recommendation received the unanimous endorsement
of the CS Department, the University faculty, and the Board of Regents.
Two photos shown are of Dr. Dennison, President of University of Montana with George Kerscher to his right. The other is of George Kerscher making his acceptance speech. The recording is of Dr. Dennison's remarks followed by George Kerscher's acceptance. George Kerscher is wearing the graduation robe, cap and hood awarded as part of the doctoral process.
Recording of George Kerscher's
acceptance speech (MP3)
George Kerscher, who was one of the founding members of the Open eBook Forum (OeB), now the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) was re-elected to the Board.
George Kerscher was asked to serve on the Advisory Committee for the NIMAC. The NIMAC has been established as the repository for K-12 publishers to deposit XML files using the DAISY Standard that conform to the NIMAS guidelines for quality. More information about the NIMAC can be found at the NIMAC Web site.
In September 2005, George Kerscher became the chair of the Advisory Committee to the DAISY/NISO Standard. As his first move as chair, he initiated a change in policy to open the committee's work to a broader audience and make the process transparent. A general call for participation by experts was broadly circulated and companies stepped forward making their best people available for standards work. The work plans and minutes will be available from the Z39.86's maintenance Web site.
The 2004 Harry Murphy Catalyst Award was presented to George Kerscher at the CSUN Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference on March 16, 2004. This biennial award is presented by the Trace Center to honor those who bring people together and facilitate the efforts of others in the field of technology and disability. Past award winners are Judy Brewer (2002) and Harry Murphy (2000).
George Kerscher began working on document access in 1987 and has been a tireless advocate and leader ever since. He coined the term "print disabled" to describe people who cannot effectively read print because of a visual, physical, perceptual, developmental, cognitive, or learning disability, and believes that in the Information Age access to information is a fundamental human right. He also believes that properly designed information systems can make all information accessible to all people, and has worked consistently and effectively to push evolving technologies in that direction.
Although his personal accomplishments stand on their own, he is receiving the award for the quiet work he has done advancing the efforts of others in this area. Never one to take credit to himself, he has helped foster and advance the work of many and brings out the best in teams that he is associated with. He has also spearheaded the creation of, and then quietly bore a large share of the support for, key groups that we have all come to rely on in this area.
Find the press release at the Trace Research Center Archives.
At the General Meeting of the DAISY Consortium, May 12, 2003 in Amsterdam, George Kerscher was voted to be the Secretary General of the DAISY Consortium.
In the Fall of 2002, George Kerscher was nominated to serve on the technical panel which was charged with:
On August 15, 2001, At a gala dinner as part of the International Federation of Library Associations Section of Libraries for the Blind (IFLA SLB) conference in Washington, DC, the CNIB Library for the Blind awarded the 2001 Dr. Dayton M. Forman Memorial Award to Ingar Beckman Hirschfeldt and George Kerscher. These two individuals, coming together from two different organizations on two different continents, have shown outstanding leadership in the development of the next generation of talking books, called DAISY (Digital Accessible Information SYstem).
"No single effort in the past 10 years has so radically altered the reading experience of those unable to read print," said Rosemary Kavanagh, executive director of the CNIB Library for the Blind and chair of IFLA SLB. "Through the DAISY Consortium, the visionary capabilities of Ms. Beckman Hirschfeldt combined with the technical and managerial talents of Mr. Kerscher have resulted in a monumental change in the talking-book experience."
For more information about the Dr. Dayton M. Forman Memorial Award visit:http://www.cnib.org/library/awards/dmfm/dmfm.htm.
May 23, 2000 George Kerscher was unanimously elected as Chairperson of the Board of Directors of OeBF. In May of 2002, he was reelected to the Board of Directors and retained as Chairperson of the Board. To learn more about the IDPF, its Mission, and the organization, please visit: http://www.idpf.org/
December 15, 1999 George Kerscher was elected to the Interim Board of the OeBF, by the leaders in the emerging Electronic Book Industry, and charged to establish a formal organization to promote the emerging eBook industry.
Mr. Kerscher received the Keith E. Denton Member of the Year Award. This most prestigious and rarely given award is made to a member of the Association for exceptional service to the blind.
In the December 28, 1998 issue of US News and World Report, George Kerscher was honored as one of the Innovators of the year. For full details see: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/981228/28kers.htm
George Kerscher was appointed to serve on the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Steering Counsel as the co-chair. The WAI is working to make the Internet fully accessible to persons with disabilities. The WAI is a project of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). To learn about the WAI visit: http://www.w3.org/wai
George Kerscher was nominated and elected through a competitive interview process as Project Manager for the DAISY Consortium.
The DAISY Consortium is the leading organization in the world developing information systems specifically designed for blind and print disabled persons. DAISY is devoted to developing the next generation of information technology for their consumers. The goal is to develop the standard for the "Digital Audio-based Information SYstem" (DAISY) for the world.
As Project Manager George Kerscher coordinates the activities of the Consortium. His duties include: developing the business plan and a world-wide communication strategy, working with hardware and software developers, and managing work teams of the Consortium. To learn more about DAISY visit: http://www.daisy.org/
George Kerscher's position with RFB&D provides a consulting resource to all departments within RFB&D. His additional responsibilities are to work with initiatives that promote RFB&D's mission for access to educational and professional materials for all. RFB&D is not a research organization -- rather it is a service organization. It is important for RFB&D, through Mr. Kerscher's work, to facilitate development of emerging information technologies for persons with print disabilities. To learn more about RFB&D visit: http://www.rfbd.org/
Primary activity focused on E-Text, the new form of accessible book delivery, provided by RFB&D.
In 1992 Mr. Kerscher completed a research project for the National Science Foundation that specifies computer file language standards for electronic books for persons with disabilities. The difficulty in this arena is mathematical and scientific information representation. In one file standard braille, large print and electronic access must be specified.
Another objective of the R&D division is the development of software that makes electronic access to information easy and efficient. Soft copy technology offers the possibility of equal access by print disabled people side-by- side with the sighted community. This phase of R&D focuses on the delivery of that information to the print disabled community.
1996: George Kerscher was elected ICADD co-chair, to provide documents for people with print disabilities. He continued until its dissolution in 1997. Members of ICADD worked with early versions of HTML and other SGML specifications to ensure accessibility. Many of the members of ICADD were instrumental in forming the WAI, which carries on many of the activities that ICADD initiated.
1994 to 1995 Chair of the ICADD Technical Committee, which developed techniques to make documents accessible. Included in this work was access to mathematical and scientific information. The committee's work was primarily focused on the use of SGML for developing these techniques. They were incorporated in ISO 12083, Electronic Manuscript Preparation and Markup, and were in HTML 2.0.
1992 to 1994: Mr. Kerscher was the elected ICADD chairperson.
Mr. Kerscher received this award for his contributions to the developments of electronic access to information for persons who are blind or visually impaired.
This award was for Outstanding Contribution to the Blind and Visually Impaired of Idaho - Montana - Wyoming by the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind & Visually Impaired (Northern Rockies Chapter).
The Texas Braille Commission requested Mr. Kerscher's service as technical representative to this commission. The purpose of the commission is to advise on the implementation of the Texas Braille Bill. The bill requires publishers to provide files to the state for production of braille for school children. The wider scope of the commission is to look at other aspects of education of the blind in Texas.
The Texas Braille Commission adopted the standards developed by ICADD, as a requirement for publishers. Since 1996 publishers were required to submit computer files that comply with the standards developed by ICADD. At present more than 18 states have adopted legislation similar to what was pioneered in Texas.
Mr. Kerscher was the founder and developer of Computerized Books for the Blind and Print disabled (CBFB). He developed the concept of computerized books for persons with print disabilities. In this formative time the concept and support was developed. He demonstrated to publishers and consumers the effectiveness of electronic books for braille production and for direct access via adapted computers.
George Kerscher coined the term "print disabled" to describe persons who could not access print. The definition is as follows:
Post graduate studies in Computer Science.
Darby, Montana High School Chairperson English Department.
Stevensville, Montana classroom teacher and manager of computer lab.
Buffalo Narrows School District, Buffalo Narrows, Saskatchewan.
Completed B.A. in English Education.
The
Soundproof Book: exploration of rights conflict and access to commercial
e-books for people with disabilities.
Kerscher, George, and Jim Fruchterman. First Monday, v. 7, June 2002.
See http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue7_6/kerscher/index.html
"Implications of
Digital Talking Books and Beyond", George Kerscher. National Federation of
the Blind presentation 1999.
See
http://www.nfb.org/Images/nfb/Publications/bm/bm00/bm0001/bm000114.htm
"Beyond Gutenberg", Janina Sajka
and George Kerscher, 2000, American Foundation for the Blind.
See
www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=4&TopicID= 222&DocumentID=1224
more..
see The DAISY Consortium Web site at
www.daisy.org