NLS director Frank Kurt Cylke said, "We look forward to working with the research and development staff at APH on this project. APH has long been a leader in the development of materials for the education of blind children and adults. Its staff has expertise in testing and test production that will complement the NLS expertise in the literary braille code and in the certification process."
During the next two years, APH will participate with NLS in organizing two committees to facilitate the revision process and to manage and maintain the testing program over time. The Administrative Issues Committee (AIC) will oversee administration of the test and recommend policies and procedures associated with the testing program. The Test Development Committee (TDC) will develop and maintain the test (e.g., introduce new test forms as needed). The Administrative Issues Committee will have members from the American Council of the Blind (ACB), the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER), and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). The Test Development Committee will include a representative group of teachers.
The American Printing House will further assist the effort by producing the print and braille test materials.
For additional information contact: Mary Lou Stark, Head, Braille Development Section, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20542; telephone 800-424-8567; fax (202)707-0712; e-mail: msta@loc.gov
Life-saving techniques for blind people. Safe without Sight is a manual that teaches people who cannot see how to use their skills to avoid or protect themselves in dangerous situations. The book was a collective effort by Scott McCall, a blind director of the rehabilitation center that developed the program; Wendy David, a blind clinical psychologist who specializes in trauma and assault; and Kelly Kollmar, a sighted self-defense instructor who has designed a variety of programs for disabled people. The guide suggests practical self-defense techniques and is available in print, in braille, on cassette, and on computer diskette for $14. Add $3 shipping and handling for print. Write the National Braille Press, 88 St. Stephen Street, Boston, MA 02115 or call 1-800 548-7323.
Children's book club on the World Wide Web. The National Braille Press (NBP) offers a new print-braille children's book every month for children in preschool through third grade. The same children's picture books available at many stores are enriched with the identical text in braille embossed on transparent plastic sheets.
Membership in the book club is free and entitles you to receive monthly notices (in print or braille) describing each month's feature book, which range in price from $4.95 through $15.96.
Members can also choose to subscribe and automatically receive the print/braille book each month for an annual fee of $100. For more information, visit NBP on the World Wide Web at http://www.nbp.org/bookclub.html
Triangle Braille Services (TBS) releases catalog. TBS produces lesbian and gay literature in braille for purchase at affordable prices. Their inaugural catalog includes nonfiction, fiction, and poetry not otherwise available in accessible formats. For more information or to request a free catalog in braille, on computer diskette, or via e-mail, contact Triangle Braille Services, P.O. Box 50606, Minneapolis, MN 55405; phone: (612) 822-0549; e-mail jenshar@concentric.net
The following information is reprinted from Talking Book Topics, November-December 1998.
Bestsellers 1984-1994 is recorded on four-track cassette and features listings of fiction bestsellers that are in audio format. The bestselling novels are by authors such as Danielle Steel, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Stephen King, and John Grisham, among many others.
Cassette Books 1997, which is recorded on flexible disc, lists adult cassette books produced by NLS during 1997. Books are listed alphabetically within subject categories under nonfiction and fiction headings.
Entertainers is recorded on cassette and is a bibliography of selected books about actors, singers, dancers, comedians, and television personalities.
The catalogs are being sent directly to patrons who ordered them on their annual publication order forms. They can also be ordered from your cooperating library.
Life-saving techniques for blind people. Safe without Sight outlines a program of crime-prevention and physical safe-defense strategies for people who are blind. The guide suggests practical techniques for avoiding attacks, ensuring personal safety, fighting back, and constructing a personal safety plan. The manual is available on cassette tape, on computer diskette, in braille, and in print for $14. Add $3 for postage for print. Write National Braille Press, 88 St. Stephen Street, Boston, MA 02115 or call 800-548-7323.
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