NLS: That All May Read

What's New? 2006

What’s New? is an annual update for those already familiar with the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). It describes the most recent developments in the NLS program. Please contact your cooperating network library to request any item mentioned, unless otherwise indicated.

Digital materials

NLS continues to prepare for the transition from an analog to a digital format for its audio materials. Recent issues of NLS Flash, the monthly bulletin reporting NLS activity related to digital books and magazines, have focused on such topics as the development of a digital asset management system, Internet download of reading materials to patrons, and the timely progress of the NLS digital transition. Each issue of Talking Book Topics and Braille Book Review includes reprints of the two most recent issues of NLS Flash. Current and back issues of NLS Flash can be found on the NLS web site at www.loc.gov/nls/newsletters/flash.

Digital audio equipment design contract.

A contract was awarded to Battelle, a leading technology innovation firm, and a team of subcontractors for the design of NLS’s future digital talking-book (DTB) player, flash-memory cartridge, and cartridge-mailing container. The subcontractors working with Battelle are HumanWare (formerly VisuAide), the National Federation of the Blind, and the Trace Research and Development Center of the University of Wisconsin—Madison. Extensive usability testing with a broad cross section of patrons has been completed.

The new player will be smaller and lighter than the current NLS cassette player, will include a built-in speaker, and will support the easy navigation functions inherent in DTBs. The cartridge will be larger than a credit card but smaller than a cassette and will be very easy to handle. The contractors will place great emphasis on the usability of the products designed, testing them with blind and physically handicapped users at many stages throughout the design process.

Conversion contracts.

NLS has begun converting selected older analog titles to DTB format. Four contractors have been producing the first batch of DTBs, working from the open-reel masters in NLS’s archive. In addition, all audiobooks recorded since the beginning of 2004 are produced in digital format, as well as on cassette, so that they will be ready to duplicate on flash-memory cartridges by 2008.

Web-Braille

Web-Braille, the system that provides NLS braille books and magazines on the Internet, continues to grow. With more than 4,500 users and more than 8,000 NLS-produced titles, Web-Braille is now a permanent part of the NLS program.

During 2005, NLS added books and magazines produced in Iowa and Minnesota, bringing to a total of nine the number of regional libraries contributing materials to Web-Braille.

Publications

Cassette Books 2005 will be released this summer in large print and will be available on cassette from the collection; Braille Books 2003-2004 in large print and in braille has been delayed because of technical difficulties but has been rescheduled for summer release. Braille and recorded editions of For Younger Readers 2002-2003 have been issued, and NLS plans to publish For Younger Readers 2004-2005 in large print in the fall, with braille and recorded editions to follow. Readers who requested these catalogs on their most recent publications order form should receive them through the mail.

Blind Justice: Jacobus tenBroek and the Vision of Equality, by Floyd Matson, was published by NLS in regular print in hardcover and paperbound editions under the auspices of Friends of Libraries for Blind and Physically Handicapped Individuals in North America. This full-length biography of the blind lawyer, activist, and founder of the National Federation of the Blind may be borrowed in braille (BR 15863) and recorded (RC 59656) editions through cooperating network libraries and is available for purchase from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Blind Justice recently won a prestigious Blue Pencil Award from the National Association of Government Communicators.

Music materials

The Music Section constantly acquires new material in all of the formats offered: braille, digital braille, large print, and audio.

In braille, new titles were purchased from the Danish and Swiss libraries for the blind and the National Braille Association. In addition, several hundred uncataloged scores that had been resting unknown and unidentified in the music stacks were collected and analyzed. The scores ranged from classical to popular, old to new, and obscure to well known—from Mozart’s Six Viennese Sonatinas and Geibel’s Sleep Waltzes to Bryan’s "Peg o’ My Heart" and the traditionally-based "Banana Boat Song."

Numerous digital braille music scores have been added to Web-Braille this year. Most of the more than eighty titles have been added as a result of scanning older titles that have been in our collection for some time. When a patron request uncovers the fact that we have only one remaining copy, or only copies in poor condition, we will scan that title and reemboss it for circulation.

We continue to add to our collection of recorded materials on cassette. The most numerous category here has been instruction in playing popular songs on guitar and piano, created by Bill Brown in the Guitar by Ear and Piano by Ear series. Some of the titles are "Stray Cat Strut," "Pretty Woman," "Catfish Blues," and "Secret Agent Man," and there will be more to come.

A variety of new titles in large-print format has been acquired, including Beethoven’s Eleven Bagatelles for piano. But perhaps the most significant development for large print has been the revival of a volunteer program carried out by the international music fraternity of Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI), in collaboration with the Music Section of NLS. Up until the early 1990s, SAI provided about 40 percent of all of the large print titles, which were hand-produced. In the new version of this program, music-notation software will be used, providing a more professional looking and easier-to-read score.

Reference materials

Reference factsheets, circulars, directories, and bibliographies provide information on topics of interest to persons with disabilities and to service providers. All reference publications appear on the NLS web site at www.loc.gov/nls/reference and can be provided on computer diskette upon request from the NLS Reference Section. Braille editions of many of these publications are also on the web site as contracted braille files.

Reference Circulars and Factsheets 2004 comprises two audio cassettes that contain five reference circulars and the 2005 program factsheet produced by the Reference Section:

Facts: Books for Blind and Physically Handicapped Individuals, 2005
Braille Literacy: Resources for Instruction, Writing Equipment, and Supplies
Online at www.loc.gov/nls/reference/circulars/brailleliteracy.html
Deaf-Blindness: National Organizations and Resources Online at www.loc.gov/nls/reference/circulars/deafblind.html
Guide to Spoken-Word Recordings: Popular Literature Online at www.loc.gov/nls/reference/circulars/spokenword.html
Magazine Program of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) Online at www.loc.gov/nls/reference/circulars/magazines.html
Parents’ Guide to the Development of Preschool Children with Disabilities: Resources and Services Online at www.loc.gov/nls/reference/circulars/parents.html

The following NLS-produced reference factsheets were updated:

Facts: Books for Blind and Physically Handicapped Individuals, 2006 Available in regular print, online in contracted braille at www.loc.gov/nls/reference/factsheets/annual.brf and in HTML format at www.loc.gov/nls/reference/factsheets/annual.html
Facts: 2006 Calendars Available in large print and online at www.loc.gov/nls/reference/factsheets/calendars.html
Facts: Sources for Purchase of Cassette Players and Player-Recorders Compatible with Recorded Materials Produced by the National Library Service (NLS) Available in large print and online at www.loc.gov/nls/reference/factsheets/sources.html

The Reference Section produced the following reference materials in 2005-2006:

Assistive Technology Products for Information Access Available in large print and online at www.loc.gov/nls/reference/circulars/assistive.html
Magazines in Special Media 2005 Available in large print and online at www.loc.gov/nls/reference/directories/magazines.html
Reading Materials in Large Print: A Resource Guide Available in large print and online at www.loc.gov/nls/reference/circulars/largeprint.html
Subject Headings Used in the NLS Reference Collections on Visual and Physical Disabilities Online at www.loc.gov/nls/reference/subjectheadings.html

Consumer input

NLS receives information and advice on its program through two standing committees: the Collection Development Advisory Group and the National Audio Equipment Advisory Committee. If you have ideas on the development of the NLS book collection or on playback equipment, contact your consumer organization or your local library for the names of your representatives on these committees.

In addition, your comments and suggestions concerning the NLS program are always welcome. Address them to the NLS consumer relations officer at the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress, or e-mail jdix@loc.gov, telephone (202) 707-0722, or fax (202) 707-0712. Requests for copies of reference materials may be addressed to the Reference Section by e-mail at nlsref@loc.gov, telephone (202) 707-5100, or fax (202) 707-0712. Requests sent by the U.S. Postal Service may be considerably delayed.

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Posted on 2006-08-17