News
July-September 1995, Vol. 26, No. 3

ISSN 1046-1663

National Library Service 
for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
The Library of Congress

International delegates consider audio technology

Thirty representatives of blindness organizations from eleven countries met
in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on April 20-22 to discuss the future of audio
technology as it applies to library services for blind individuals. This
third international meeting was convened by NLS and hosted by the Canadian
National Institute for the Blind.
     The discussion focused on digital technology, agreed upon as a common
format for international exchange of information. The basis for this
discussion was research prepared by John Cookson, head of the NLS
Engineering Section, developed from a concept he first presented at the
second international meeting held in Dublin, Ireland, in 1992.
     Participants in the first two international meetings represented
Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This year's
meeting also included delegates from Australia, Denmark, Finland, Japan, the
Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden as well as representatives of the
International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), Section of
Libraries for the Blind, and of the World Blind Union.

Systems development
NLS endorsed research that applied specifically to requirements for
libraries for the blind and did not support reliance on a proprietary
commercial product. Plans for modeling an affordable NLS digital playback
machine suitable for both low- and high-end users are several years away,
and much discussion revolved around the economic advantages of present
digital technology, technological cycles of the future, and length of time
realistic for developments.
     Sweden reported progress on its DAISY indexing system that would allow
users to search for phrases on a compact-disc-based product and offered to
make the software available. Canada expressed interest in its use by the
National Transcription Service for educational resource centers.
     Great Britain's Royal National Institute for the Blind demonstrated two
portable CD-ROM players, one developed with Plextor of Japan and the other
developed with ACT, a company that has produced a player storing fifty hours
of recording for museum purposes. Both were built with commercially
available components. It was agreed that these players were untested and
needed further development before an endorsement could be considered.

Information exchange
The Internet will be used to establish a forum for participants to exchange
technical information for research purposes. Interest in specific areas was
expressed by the delegates from Denmark, Great Britain, the Netherlands,
Sweden, and the United States.
     It was agreed that IFLA was the appropriate mechanism for international
meetings as well as for establishing standards in audio and other alternate
forms of production, and that steps would be taken to place these concerns
on the agenda of the next meeting of the Section of Libraries for the Blind.
     The group also explored issues regarding copyright and international
interlending of audio book materials, including whether the nature of
interlending would eventually be in the form of electronic files or of
braille and talking books.
(Proceedings of the _Third International Meeting to Discuss Audio Technology
as Applied to Library Services for Blind Individuals_ are available from:
ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS)
7420 Fullerton Road, Suite 110
Springfield, VA 22153-2852
Telephone: (703) 440-1400
USA: 800-443-3742
Fax: (703) 440-1408
Internet: edrs@inet.ed.gov
The order number is ED 380 147. Paper copies are 425 pages in three volumes
at $65.45 plus postage. Microfiche copies are $1.30 plus postage.)
(Information for this article is from a report prepared by Rosemary
Kavanagh, executive director, CNIB Library for the Blind.)
(photo caption: Delegates at the conference were (left to right at table)
David Mann and Christopher Day, UK; John Cookson and Kenneth Jernigan, US;
David Blyth, Australia; Blaithin Gallagher, Ireland; Ingar Beckman
Hirschfeldt, Sweden; Frank Kurt Cylke, US; Clive Lansink, New Zealand; John
Griffiths, UK. Also attending were (left to right in the background) Caryl
Hamilton, Rosemary Kavanagh, and Lynn Leith, Canada; Wells B. Kormann, US;
Lars Sonnebo, Sweden; and Hiroshi Kawamura, Japan.)
(photo caption: Judy Dixon, NLS, and Caryl Hamilton, CNIB, confer at the
audio technology conference.)
                              ###

Regional conferences hold biennial meetings

The four NLS regions held conferences in May with programs scheduled to meet
specific interests of each region as well as items of general interest.
Regional conference meetings are held in odd-numbered years, between the
biennial national meetings.
     "There's a more intimate atmosphere at the regional meetings," says
Devon Skeele, network consultant. "Since they are held more locally, travel
expenses are generally less than for the national meetings, so there's a
greater possibility for involvement of subregional and support staff."

Western Conference
Librarians serving blind and physically handicapped persons in the western
United States met in Lead, South Dakota, on May 3-6 for discussion on
various aspects of library service. The conference was hosted by the staff
of the South Dakota Braille and Talking Book Library.
     Preconference. This year's conference was preceded by a two-day
preconference, "Volunteers: Reaching for the Future." The program featured a
workshop by Nancy Macduff on retention and productivity of volunteers.
Macduff, president of Macduff Associates of Walla Walla, Washington,
explored what motivates volunteers and how volunteers can create a rich
motivational climate. She conducted interactive exercises in which
participants developed lists of activities and defined elements for
effective recruitment and retention of volunteers within their libraries.
Small groups met later in the day around common topic areas to develop
resource materials and build plans for improving their capacity to recruit
volunteers.
     Freddie Peaco, NLS government information and volunteer specialist,
addressed the group on her role in providing assistance to library volunteer
coordinators. On the second day, LeAnn Bromeland, volunteer coordinator with
the Oregon Talking Book Library, spoke on "Working with Volunteers Who Have
Disabilities." She discussed accommodations, job coaching, and training.
     The preconference was attended by volunteer managers and funded through
a grant from the Western Council of State Libraries.
     Conference activities. The Western Conference began with a welcome from
hosts Dan Boyd, head of the South Dakota Braille and Talking Book Library,
and Jane Kolbe, South Dakota state librarian. NLS director Frank Kurt Cylke
reported to librarians on budget projections for the upcoming years and the
uncertainty associated with future planning. He encouraged libraries to
continue managing effective volunteer programs and making the best use of
available resources.
     The proceedings continued with reports from librarians from eighteen
states, who highlighted recent accomplishments, current activities, and
future plans. Many of the librarians spoke of their increased use of
volunteer services and focused on accomplishments in the areas of automation
and Internet access. Multistate Center West director Karnell Parry brought
librarians up to date on playback machine availability, the facility's new
warehouse section, and the new print/braille cassette labeling system. 
Robert McDermott, NLS automation officer, briefed the attendees on the
status of automated services and systems such as NLSNET, BPHICS, CD-BLND,
and READS.
     The conference featured a guest speaker, Charles Tremper, of the
Nonprofit Risk Management Center. Tremper held a workshop titled "Legal
Barriers to Volunteer Service," which was designed to help librarians stay
within the law and effectively manage the risks of volunteer programs. He
covered legal topics including the Fair Labor Standards Act, taxation of
payments to volunteers, and antidiscrimination laws. In the risk-management
component of the workshop, Tremper presented a system for developing
safeguards and offered tips for preventing harm to staff, volunteers, and
patrons.
     On the second day of the conference, NLS staff members Michael Moodie,
research and development officer, and Steve Prine, head of the Network
Services Section, spoke about recent NLS activities in many areas and
answered questions from librarians. Librarians who served on NLS committees
as Western Conference representatives briefed attendees on their experiences
and the outcomes of the committee meetings.
     Two topics of common interest, service to Native Americans and local
machine repair, were the focus of discussions on the final day of the
conference. Many librarians had recent or renewed contact with Native
American groups and shared ideas for communicating and providing resources.
The segment on machine repair focused on ways to recruit and keep volunteers
for repair programs and methods for maintaining quality control of repairs.
     Planning. In the business meeting, conference members elected John
Brewster of New Mexico as chair and Keri Putnam of Nevada as chair-elect.
The participants also chose Anchorage, Alaska, as the site for the 1997
conference, to be held May 8-10, 1997.

Midlands/Southern Conference
The Midlands and Southern regions met jointly in Richmond, Virginia, on May
10-13, hosted by the Virginia regional library. Conference activities were
planned by Mary Ruth Halapatz of the host library and the two regional
chairs: Pat Klemans of Wayne County, Michigan, for the Midlands and Charles
Fox of North Carolina for the South.
     Preconference. The conference opened on Wednesday afternoon with two
optional sessions, one devoted to Internet access and the other to library
services for deaf persons. At the latter session, three speakers covered
"Orientation to Deafness," "Living in a Hearing World as a Deaf Person," and
"Talk to Me about Deaf Blindness."
     Conference activities. The morning session on Tuesday featured Ellyn
Bache, one of the North Carolina library's ARROW author-volunteers who have
recorded their own books for the library. She spoke on the making of her
novel _Safe Passage_ into a movie starring Susan Sarandon. She was followed
by Eugene Rugala, a special agent with the FBI Academy at Quantico,
Virginia, on the subject of "Violence in the Workplace." The afternoon
sessions were devoted to service to Native Americans and individual
conference meetings.
     The Friday morning breakfast meeting was a conference highlight, with
an address by Dr. Elliot Engel from North Carolina State University, whose
topic was "Scarlett Fever: The Greatness of _Gone with the Wind._" Engel's
address on Edgar Allan Poe was one of the high points of the 1992 bienniel
conference in Baltimore.
     Friday's programming included tours of the newly completed Virginia
regional library and Instructional Center and the Rehabilitation Center for
the Blind. Breakout sessions were held in the morning at the conference
hotel and in the afternoon at the Virginia library. Topics included Friends
groups, a dial-in on-line catalog, readers' advisory services, children's
services, and descriptive video.
     The Saturday sessions were devoted to automation, with an update on NLS
activities by Robert McDermott, automation officer, followed by meetings of
automation user groups.
     Planning. The Midlands region elected Geraldine Adams of the Oklahoma
regional library as chair; Lisa Davis of the Iowa regional library as
vice-chair; and Margaret Wolfe of the Washtenaw County, Michigan,
subregional library as secretary. The 1997 conference will be held in
Oklahoma City.
     The Southern region elected Guynell Williams of the South Carolina
regional library as vice-chair, chair elect; Deenie Culver of the Anniston,
Alabama, subregional library as secretary; Joyce Smith of the Huntsville,
Alabama, subregional library as treasurer; and Rahye Puckett of the
Mississippi regional library and Linda Stokes of the Savannah, Georgia,
subregional library as board members at large. The current chair elect, Mary
Ruth Halapatz, will assume the chair. The conference accepted an invitation
from the Midlands to meet with them in Oklahoma City in 1997.

Northern Conference
The Northern Conference met in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 24-26. The event
was hosted by the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped, where Elsie Leonard, current chairperson of the Northern
Conference, serves and where Sharron D. McFarland is the director.
     Conference activities. The Internet and technology were the major
topics on the meeting's program. Anne E. Norman, Northern Conference
co-chair and Delaware regional librarian, moderated a panel discussion
titled "Beyond Internet--Libraries of the Future," which included comments
from Craig Flainsburg, sales manager of Data Research Associates; Judy
Dixon, NLS consumer relations officer; Margaret Colvano, director of Health
Information Programs Equitable Access; and consumer Ellen Waechtler,
Rehabilitation Instructor, Blind Industries and Services of Maryland. In
addition, Jane Somers, regional librarian at Albany, New York, discussed
service to Native Americans in her state.
     The conference passed a resolution requesting that NLS investigate the
impact of the increased enrollment of people with dyslexia on the
talking-book program. Julie Klauber, Suffolk, New York, quoted an article
from the May 1995 _Braille Forum_ in which Recording for the Blind said that
"80 percent of [its] 20,000" new patrons would include people with dyslexia,
and that the number was expected to double. Ultimately, she explained, this
directional change in service recipients could affect the program for blind
and physically handicapped patrons.
     The group toured Future Home, the "intelligent home" designed for
elderly and handicapped people by the Volunteers for Medical Engineering, in
Jarrettsville, Maryland. They also visited the Maryland regional library,
the Maryland Technology Assistance Project, and the Howard County Public
Library, which is noted for serving the total community through the use of
various assistive devices.
     Planning. Officers elected for the next term are Louis Berkel of the
New York City regional library as chairperson; Julie Klauber of the Suffolk
County, New York, subregional library, as co-chair; and Eileen Keim of the
New Hampshire regional library as secretary. The 1997 conference is planned
for New York City.
                              ###

Revised ALA standards, guidelines published

_Revised Standards and Guidelines of Service for the Library of Congress
Network of Libraries for the Blind and Physically Handicapped_ has been
published by the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies
(ASCLA) of the American Library Association (ALA). The standards form the
basis for evaluation of network library activities and determining how well
each is meeting common goals for providing special-format reading materials
to patrons.
     The revision was underwritten by NLS, at the request of ASCLA, to
address changes in library service since the previous revision in 1984. A
committee directed by Donna Dziedzic, ALA senior program director, produced
the draft document, which was circulated for review and comment in 1994. The
final draft was ratified by the ASCLA standards review committee, the ASCLA
board of directors, and the ALA standards committee at the midwinter ALA
meeting in February 1995.
     The introduction states, "A hallmark of the process was the
unprecedented effort to provide opportunities for service providers and
consumers to have input on the development of the document for the duration
of the project." Four representatives of consumer organizations served on
the fourteen-member advisory committee, along with representatives of state
libraries and network libraries across the country.
     The standards document lists thirteen principles of service, followed
by specific standards for meeting these goals in twelve areas such as
resource development and management, public education, volunteers, and
policies and procedures. Guidelines are also given for determining
appropriate levels of personnel and for minimum space requirements.
     The document has three appendixes containing service fundamentals:
Public Law 89-522, which authorizes the service; eligibility criteria for
patrons; and the lending-agency service agreement for sound reproducers and
other reading equipment, which are government property provided on loan to
network agencies for individuals using the service.
(Advisory committee
Donna Dziedzic, Project Director and Chair
James Gashel, National Federation of the Blind
Edwin Gleaves, Tennessee State Library and Archives
H. Neil Kelley, Illinois State Library
Julie Klauber, Suffolk County, New York, subregional library
Barbara Mates, Cleveland, Ohio, regional library
Thomas Miller, Blinded Veterans Association
Karen Odean, Northwest Illinois subregional library
David Oertli, Nebraska regional library
Gail Ostensoe, National Organization for the Disabled
Barbara Perkis, Illinois regional library
Marvin Price, American Council of the Blind
Stephen Prine, NLS
Donald John Weber, Florida regional library)
                              ###

Lakomyj appointed to coordinate equipment and materials maintenance

"My goal is to offer the best possible service so that when people think of
this organization, they associate it with excellence," says Alexander
Lakomyj, NLS's new equipment and materials maintenance coordinator.
     Lakomyj (pronounced la-KO-mee) replaces John Reiner, who retired in
1993, and coordinates the maintenance and repair programs for the NLS
network; analyzes repair operations; makes recommendations concerning
equipment production and reliability to the Quality Assurance and
Engineering Sections; and conducts training sessions for the Telephone
Pioneers, Elfuns, and other volunteer repair organizations.
     Lakomyj says this job will be exciting because it is not
"one-dimensional." He says, "It is one of those rare jobs where you get to
use everything you ever learned. It has engineering aspects, it has managing
aspects, and it has speaking aspects."
     The equipment materials coordinator has an extensive background in
electrical engineering and computer systems. He has been employed by the
Architect of the Capitol, the Department of Defense, the Defense
Communications Agency, Western Union, Xerox Corporation at the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Naval Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Service, among others.
     To meet the challenge of getting all repair volunteers to embrace the
same vision and to work to the same standards, Lakomyj plans to create a
communication system to promote the exchange of ideas and needs on a
"real-time" basis. "If they need information and they need it now, then I
need to communicate it to them now," he explains.
     He already has a training schedule in place to help implement NLS's new
machine-repair standards and wants to create a user-friendly manual that
will provide repairmen with step-by-step instructions for machine repair.
"If they get stuck, we'll be there to answer their questions," he says.
     Lakomyj holds a BS degree in electronics engineering from Thomas Edison
State College and an MS degree in management and computer systems from the
University of Maryland. His professional memberships include the Institute
of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the Audio Engineering Society, the
Acoustical Society of America, and the Society of Motion Picture Television
Engineers.
     In addition he has served as recording engineer and sound designer for
feature films, documentaries, industrials, Broadway-style musicals, and
plays. He is an active acoustical consultant.
     NLS's new equipment and materials maintenance coordinator has also
recruited and worked with volunteers throughout the Washington, D.C.,
theater community, as well as with local church groups, consulting and
designing electronic and acoustic projects to improve and upgrade their
facilities.
     His theater experience includes developing electronic media contracts
and managing contractors at the John F. Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap Farm
Park for the Performing Arts and with television networks and major
Hollywood studios.
(photo caption: Alexander Lakomyj, NLS's new equipment and materials
maintenance coordinator. Photo by Jim Higgins.)
                              ###

Friends
of Libraries for Blind and
Physically Handicapped Individuals
in North America

Friends and NLS publish poster on library services worldwide

An educational poster titled "A World Perspective of Library Service for
Blind and Physically Handicapped Individuals" has been published by NLS in
cooperation with the Friends of Libraries for Blind and Physically
Handicapped Individuals in North America, Inc. (Friends).
     The large-print poster, shown on pages 8 and 9, features nearly one
hundred key dates from 308 A.D., with the birth of Didymus, blind head of
the Catechetical School in Alexandria, to 1995, with the publication of the
Library of Congress's 10,000th numbered braille book. The poster is
illustrated with a dozen original watercolors painted by Alfredo Da Silva, a
_U.S. News & World Report_ illustrator who also designed the unique poster,
and two dozen color photographs depicting historical events and sites.
     This project was a joint effort with the Friends to help raise the
international level of awareness of library services for blind and
physically handicapped individuals provided worldwide over the centuries.
The poster traces many of the major people, organizations, and events that
have helped shape a world perspective on blindness.
     The poster will be distributed jointly by NLS and the Friends to
libraries and educational institutions around the world. Members of the
Friends will also receive a copy. The poster measures fifty-two inches by
twenty inches and is suitable for framing.
     Other Friends publications have included the _International Yearbook of
Library Service for Blind and Physically Handicapped Individuals,_ a
117-page compendium of commentary, reports, and technical information
published in 1994; and _How Do I Do This When I Can't See What I'm Doing?_
by Dr. Gerald Jahoda, published in 1993 to help people cope with reduced
sight.
     Currently in preparation is a new edition of the 1821 _Biography of the
Blind_ by James Wilson, with a foreword by Friends member Ken Stuckey, head
of the Samuel P. Hayes Research Library of the Perkins School for the Blind
in Watertown, Massachusetts. Stuckey was featured in the Friends section of
the July-September 1994 issue of _News._

The artist
Alfredo Da Silva was born in Potosi, Bolivia, in 1937 and studied at the
Potosi Academy of Fine Arts and the Prilidiano Pueyredon Academy of Fine
Arts in Buenos Aires, where he obtained his degree as a teacher of drawing
and painting in 1958. The following year he won the first of many prizes,
and was invited to have a one-man show at the Pan American Union in
Washington, D.C., in 1961. During the 1960s he won a Pan American
fellowship, a Guggenheim fellowship, and a grant from the Pratt Graphic
Center in New York City.
     Da Silva has had numerous individual exhibitions in his native Bolivia
as well as at galleries in several cities in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and
Uruguay; in Milan, Italy; Washington, D.C.; New York; and Montreal, Quebec,
Canada. He has also been represented at collective exhibitions in North and
South America and in Europe, and has works in collections available to the
public on all three continents.

The paintings
Eleven original watercolors depict people, places, and events. Most of these
paintings combine several symbolic elements to elucidate the concept
portrayed. For example, the first painting, which illustrates the entry
about Didymus, blind head of the Catechetical School at Alexandria in the
fourth century A.D, shows the head of a Greek statue with the facade of an
ancient building and wooden blocks with raised Greek letters.
     Other combinations show Louis Braille handling a card with the embossed
dots of his code resting on two print books to indicate reading; the
American Printing House in Louisville, Kentucky, with a nineteenth-century
founder and a braille press; and a seated Helen Keller reading a braille
book, which is superimposed on her own portrait.
     This symbolic technique is also used to illustrate the development in
1889 of the first major library of braille books at the Valentin Hay
Institute in Paris, France; the publication in 1922 of the first weekly
newspaper in Moon Type in Brighton, England; the acceptance 
in 1985 of the BLINDPOST label for international free mailing; adoption of
the Spanish braille code in 1988; and the 1995 production of _Molly
Sweeney,_ a play about an extraordinary journey of a blind girl. The
illustrations become increasingly realistic as events depicted approach the
present time.
(Photo by Lorenzo Da Silva.)
(How to join the Friends
Individuals, institutions, and corporations may join the Friends. The
nonprofit group supports library programs for blind and physically
handicapped persons in the United States and Canada through a number of
activities and products. The Friends is associated with national library
programs and encourages local Friends groups in the United States and
Canada.
     Different benefits of joining the Friends are available at various
membership levels, including programs in special media featuring eminent
poets, authors, and lecturers; a journal with in-depth feature articles,
interviews, and research reports; and a semiannual newsletter.
     A $25 membership entitles an individual member to several cultural
programs, a newsletter subscription, and a membership card and certificate.
For a $5 membership fee, an individual member receives one cultural program,
a newsletter subscription, and a membership card. Institutional members are
also welcome, with categories ranging from $500 to $5,000.
     For more information, contact Friends of Libraries for Blind and
Physically Handicapped Individuals in North America, Inc., 1555 Connecticut
Ave. NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036, USA; phone (202) 462-9600; fax
(202) 462-9043.)
                              ###

Network exchange

Washington, D.C. The D.C. regional library presented a program on assistive
technology and universal design at its open house in May. About 150 patrons
and guests learned about hand-held magnifiers, kitchen implements, computer
screen enlargers, voice synthesizers, dial-in newspapers, and many other
programs and services from exhibitors at the event.

     The theme for the day was "Universal Design and Assistive
Technology--Opening Doors for Persons with Disabilities." As a part of the
program, Patrick Sheehan, director of the Assistive Technology Center at the
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, spoke to the visitors about training in
assistive technology. Other speakers discussed how public libraries are
meeting the Americans with Disabilities Act standards to be fully accessible
to disabled persons.
     During the open house, the library also awarded prizes to volunteers
who tape materials for patrons or who use sign language to tutor persons
with hearing impairments.
     In May the library also celebrated its first year of support from its
Friends of the Library group. The Friends group purchased an HP Deskjet
printer that enables the library to produce large-print book listings for
patrons, a Xerox copier that enlarges text, and Zoomtext computer
screen-enlarging software for use by patrons at the library.
     The donated items are the first features of the Assistive Technology
Center the library is assembling. The center will eventually enable patrons
to have access to catalogs of public library print collections; the NLS
_Union Catalog,_ encyclopedias, and other reference works on CD-ROM; and
on-line databases containing information on resources for persons with
disabilities. Access methods will include synthetic speech, braille, large
print, computer diskette, and modem.
Wisconsin. As a part of its summer reading program, the Wisconsin regional
library sponsored Reid Miller, a traveling storyteller, to tour the state
and get kids interested in reading. Miller combined stories, songs, jokes,
and music in his "Swing Away, Sport" production presented in Janesville,
Madison, and Milwaukee, three Wisconsin cities with a large population of
children.
     The library's program encourages children to join in the statewide
summer reading program "Sportacular Summer!" by participating through their
public libraries using materials from the regional library. This cooperative
effort enables blind and physically handicapped children to benefit from
local programs by meeting other children, joining in fun activities, and
winning prizes. At the same time, the regional library is not overburdened
with scheduling activities and events. The regional library provides braille
activity pages for the statewide program and features five audio tapes of
storyteller Miller in its local collection. Miller has been active in
storytelling since the late 1970s and is past president of the five-state
Northlands Storytelling Network.
Alabama (Tuscaloosa). Helen Keller's great-niece, Keller Johnson, last
summer dedicated a collection of books and videotapes to the memory of the
late Alex Pow, a longtime patron of the Tuscaloosa subregional library.
     Pow, who was blind and hearing impaired, died in 1993 at the age of
seventy-four. "We wanted something real special for Alex because he was real
special," said Barbara Jordan, library director. Pow, who earned a Ph.D.,
was an active reader and friend of the library. He helped raise money for
the library's first large-print typewriter, Jordan remembers, and was active
in support of other persons with multiple disabilities.
     Johnson, of the Helen Keller Eye Research Foundation in Birmingham,
Alabama, dedicated thirty-five books, three videotapes, and several
brochures about her relative, Helen Keller. According to Jordan, the library
receives many requests for information about Keller, who was a native of
Tuscumbia, Alabama, and is a regular subject of research by children and
adults.
Florida. The governance of Florida libraries for the blind and visually
handicapped has been transferred from the Department of Education to the
Department of Labor and Employment Security. The Division was transferred
intact with all positions and funding. Don Weber, regional librarian, stated
that he does not anticipate any changes in service.
                              ###

International briefs

The Netherlands. Several developments in technology and services are
identified by the five libraries serving visually handicapped persons in the
Netherlands (see _News,_ January-March 1992). The Centre for Talking
Magazines is now producing four daily newspapers for some 250 subscribers.
The Study and Vocational Library produces about 1,300 new recorded titles
and circulates almost 4,000 books each year. The circulation of the other
four Dutch libraries totals more than 1,900,000 books a year.
     The five libraries are subsidized by the Ministry of Education,
Science, and Culture, with about one-third of the total grant for library
services for the blind going to the Study and Vocational Library. The five
institutions share a central automated catalog and participate in
interlibrary loan. The Parliament has decided to establish a fund with
authority to coordinate all five libraries, creating a single telephone
access point for the entire program.
     Other developments under consideration are digital audio production for
all the libraries and creation of master recordings directly onto computer
hard disks.
European Community. "Smart" cards and their use by people with disabilities
were the subject of a seminar held in November 1994. The seminar was
sponsored by the European organization for Cooperation in the Field of
Scientific and Technical Research (COST), with the additional support of
British Telecom Age and Disability Unit and the European Commission.
Participants came from the fields of telecommunications services, banking,
public transportation, the smart-card industry, and consumers. They
discussed the use of the credit-card-sized plastic card with an integrated
microcircuit for a wide range of activities from bus riding to shopping, and
special requirements that must be considered for the smart-card technology
to be practical for elderly and handicapped persons.
     The seminar covered an overview of smart cards and their applications,
user requirements for various transactions, user selectable interfaces for
individuals with a specific disability, legislation, market influences,
standardization, and benefits of the technology. The seminar was part of a
ten-year action plan (COST Action 219) on Future Telecommunication and
Teleinformatics Facilities for Disabled People and Elderly, which will
collect and evaluate information through September 1996.
     Countries participating in COST are Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta,
Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United
Kingdom.
     Further details about COST Action 219 or its publications, as well as
print or computer diskette copies of the seminar proceedings, are available
free of charge from Dr. Jan Ekberg, National Research and Development Centre
for Welfare and Health, P.O. Box 220, Siltasaarenkatu 18A, SF-00531
Helsinki, Finland; telephone +358 0 3967 2091; fax +358 0 3967 2054.
Denmark. The 1994 annual report of the Danish National Library for the Blind
showed a circulation of one million books, magazines, and music in audio and
braille formats to 12,000 registered users. New production included 6,600
master tapes and 94,000 master braille pages that were produced in about
500,000 audio cassette copies and 5.5 million braille pages. The annual
budget was approximately DKK 32 million.
     At the end of 1993, the Folketing (Danish parliament) adopted a new
Public Library Act that made statutory the library's function as the
superstructure for lending audio materials. The subsequent executive order
gave talking books equal status with print books and stated that main
libraries were obligated to maintain collections of the talking books
financed by state subsidy.
     Starting in autumn 1994, the Library was able to lend Danish classics
in braille via the CD-ROM "Magnus." Titles available are from the National
Literary Archives.
     In addition, the library held a two-week training seminar for seven
library employees from Lithuania and Latvia. Topics covered orientation,
teaching, and participation in most of the library's functions. The seminar
was made possible by the Danish National Library Authority, supported by
funds earmarked for cooperative projects between Eastern Europe and the
Baltic countries.

     For further information, contact Winnie Vitzansky, Director, Danish
National Library for the Blind, Teglvaerksgade 37, DK-2100 Copenhagen,
Denmark.
New Zealand. Jette Slomp, student taping service coordinator at the Royal
New Zealand Foundation for the Blind, announces the production of an audio
tape version of a 1,000-page Classical Greek dictionary. The tone-indexed
lexicon occupies 191 C90 two-track cassettes and comes with braille and
large-print indexes.
     Each letter begins on a separate series of cassettes, and announcements
on each cassette give the beginning and ending entry on each side. Braille
and large-print supplements also include this information for every
cassette. The tapes are tone indexed with one short beep and a brief silence
before each entry, and with one long beep to indicate the beginning of each
page. The use of a phonetic pronunciation system, developed by the student
who requested the book and one of its volunteer narrators, Professor
Emeritus Patrick Lacy (formerly of Auckland and Cambridge Universities),
eliminated the need to spell each entry.
     An introductory cassette provides details about the various systems
used in the recording and also includes the authors' preface, lists of
abbreviations used, and lists of authors cited.
     _An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon--based upon the 7th Edition of
Liddell & Scott's Greek-English Lexicon_ is available for purchase by
students with print disabilities and by their umbrella organizations
worldwide. Charges (in New Zealand dollars) to cover the cost of materials
and staff time in copying the cassettes break down as follows: 191 cassettes
@ $1.40 = $267.40; 191 boxes @ $0.20 = $38.20; staff time @ $4.00 per
cassette = $764.00; total = $1,069.60. The indexes are sold separately at
$256 for braille and $35 for large print.
     For more information or to order copies, contact the Student Taping
Service Coordinator, Homai Vision Education Centre, Royal NZ Foundation for
the Blind, Private Bag 801, Manurewa, Auckland, New Zealand; telephone (9)
266-7109, ext. 716; fax (9) 267-4496.
China. An announcement received through the World Braille Union lists
fourteen titles available in English braille from the China Braille
Publishing House in Beijing. The titles selected are focused on introducing
traditional Chinese knowledge and culture, and include works on acupuncture
and Chinese medicine, military strategies from ancient China, poetry, and
folktales. Recent additions are two classical Chinese novels.
     An annotated list of titles, with information about number of volumes
and prices, accompanied the announcement. For more information, contact
China Braille Publishing House, 39 Chengnei Street, Lugouqia, Fengtai
District, Beijing, China 100072; telephone 381-7417; fax 383-3585.

BANA board studies braille unification

The unified braille code project (ICEB-UBC Project) was the main focus of
the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) board at its March meeting at
NLS.
     BANA's relationship with the Project has a three-fold basis: the
Project was initially under BANA sponsorship; it will be BANA that
eventually decides whether the unified code is to be adopted in the
countries BANA represents; and all of the BANA board members, including BANA
chair Hilda Caton, are also members of what is now called the ICEB-UBC
Project Committee (see accompanying article and membership lists).
     In addition, Caton is the director of the Braille Research Center
(BRC), which has been doing fundraising and research for the ICEB-UBC
Project and which will conduct evaluations of the unified code. BANA board
members serve on committees of the ICEB-UBC Project, along with braille
experts from other English-speaking countries.
     So for one and one-half days of the three-day session, BANA board
members donned their ICEB-UBC Project hats and met with other Project
members to discuss the unified braille code.
     The ICEB-UBC Project members voted to accept for evaluation a
seventy-four-page report titled "Objective II: Extension of the Base Code,"
which had been prepared by the Objective II Committee of the ICEB-UBC
Project. The report contains proposed rules by which the basic literary code
could be extended to encompass the symbologies used in the various
scientific and technical disciplines.
     The report will now be circulated to other IBEC-UBC Project committees
so that its contents can be coordinated with the work of committees dealing
with contractions, interface with foreign braille codes, format guidelines,
rules, and evaluation.
     BRC will develop the structures by which the Committee II report will
be evaluated. When the ICEB-UBC Project Committee is satisfied with the
unified code, the code will be submitted to the ICEB board for approval.
After it has been approved by ICEB, braille authorities in the various
English-speaking countries will decide whether or not to adopt the code.
BANA will make that decision for the United States; Canada; and New Zealand,
an associate member of BANA.
     Most of the ICEB-UBC Project Committee members are from the United
States, but each country has only one vote on all motions. The U.S. vote is
cast by Hilda Caton as U.S. delegate to ICEB. BANA has a total of half the
votes, however: Caton's and those of Darleen Bogart, the Canadian delegate
to ICEB, and of Raeleen Smith, the delegate for New Zealand.
     The evaluation, approval, and adoption of a unified braille code is
expected to take several years.

New BANA evaluation system
In its own meeting, the BANA board adopted a new system for evaluating new
codes. Previously, BANA technical committees, which consist of experts
usually not members of the BANA board, prepared proposals and submitted them
to other BANA technical committees for review. The proposals were then
revised and presented to the BANA board for approval.
     BANA board members felt that this method did not allow them enough time
to gather responses from their various constituencies before they were
required to either accept or reject the proposed codes.
     Under the new system, the technical committee submitting the proposal
will send it to BANA board members when they send it to other technical
committees, allowing board members to gather responses while the technical
committees are doing their reviews. The BANA board is scheduled to meet
again the week of November 13, 1995, in Philadelphia. The next ICEB meetings
are projected for spring and fall of 1996.
(BANA Board Members
American Council of the Blind--Christopher Gray
American Foundation for the Blind--Susan Spungin
American Printing House for the Blind--Phyllis Campana (treasurer)
Associated Services for the Blind--Dolores Ferrara-Godzieba
Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually
Impaired--Hilda Caton (chair of BANA and director of the Braille Research
Center)
California Transcribers and Educators of the Visually Handicapped--Fred
Sinclair (vice-chair of BANA)
Canadian National Institute for the Blind--Darleen Bogart (chair of ICEB-UBC
Project Committee)
The Clovernook Center--Charlotte Begley
National Braille Association--Sally Hering
National Braille Press--Eileen Curran (secretary)
National Federation of the Blind--Betty Niceley
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped--Mary Lou
Stark
Associate Member: Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind--Margaret Salt

International Council on English Braille-Unified Braille Code Project
Committee
BANA board members, plus the following:
Australia--Joan Ledermann
New Zealand--Raeleen Smith
South Africa--Connie Aucamp (chairperson)
United Kingdom--Bill Poole
United States--
Tim Cranmer (member of BANA's Committee II)
Abraham Nemeth (member of BANA's Committee II)
Joe Sullivan (chair of BANA's Committee II))
(photo caption: Shown at the ICEB-UBC Project Committee meeting are
(standing, left) Mary Lou Stark (US), Eileen Curran (US), presiding
chairperson Darleen Bogart (Canada), and Joe Sullivan (US). Photo by Yusef
El-Amin.)
(photo caption: Margaret Salt (New Zealand) (left), Joan Ledermann
(Australia), and Bill Poole (UK) also participated in discussion of unifying
braille codes. Photo by Yusef El-Amin.)
(photo caption: Attending the BANA board meeting were (left to right, first
row) Tim Cranmer, Joan Ledermann, Mary Lou Stark, Connie Aucamp, Phyllis
Campana; (second row) Raeleen Smith, Susan Spungin, Betty Niceley, Hilda
Caton, Dolores Ferrara-Godzieba, Eileen Curran, Abraham Nemeth, Fred
Sinclair, Christopher Gray; (third row) Margaret Salt, Sally Hering, Bill
Poole, Darleen Bogart, Joe Sullivan, Charlotte Begley. Photo by Yusef
El-Amin.)
                              ###

Caton tells history of braille unification efforts

Hilda Caton, director of the Braille Research Center (BRC), outlined the
development of the Unified Braille Code Research Project (UBC) at the annual
meeting of the California Transcribers and Educators of the Visually
Handicapped in Santa Clara, California, in March.
     Currently UBC, the goal of which is to unify all British and North
American braille codes except music, is under the sponsorship of the
International Council on English Braille (ICEB), with BRC assisting with
fundraising.
     Caton stated that calls for unifying the braille codes have come from a
number of sources throughout this century. Braille promoters note that the
teaching and use of braille have declined and that braille as a reading
medium has sometimes been replaced by recorded materials. Arguing the
superiority of braille as a medium of literacy, braille promoters decry the
increasing difficulty of learning and using the braille codes. They
attribute this difficulty to the proliferation of different codes: British
and American; literary, math, computer, textbook, and more. Braille
supporters have called for a single, unified code that could be used for
everything except music. To this end, several organizations and groups have
been established. Caton outlined four such initiatives, which have now
converged in UBC.

Concerned groups
--- Caton's organization, BRC, was formed in 1992 to research the "problems
limiting the usefulness" of braille and propose ways to overcome these
problems. Initially located at the American Printing House for the Blind,
BRC moved to the National Center for the Blind in Baltimore in 1995.
     --- Another group, called the International Coordinating Committee on
English Literary Braille, had met in Washington, D.C., in 1983 to discuss
unification of the North American and British literary braille codes. This
committee met again in 1988 in London, and in 1991 in Canada, where the
group changed its name to International Council on English Braille (ICEB)
and agreed to try to unify the British and American literary braille codes.
     --- Meanwhile, an organization called the National Association to
Promote the Use of Braille advocated research leading to the restoration of
braille as the medium for reading and writing by blind people. In a 1988
resolution, this organization called for a program to (1) identify major
factors affecting the teaching, learning, and reading of braille;
(2) formulate the questions that must be answered before any changes in the
existing braille codes are made; and (3) design and implement the research
paradigm that will generate the empirical data needed to guide future
improvements.
     Caton was appointed the principal investigator directing the research,
but the project never started because by that time BRC was already
established to do the same work.
     --- In November 1991, the Braille Authority of North America (BANA)
approved a proposal to unify all the North American codes except music and
assigned committees to the task. In November 1992, BANA authorized BRC to
conduct the research related to what became known as the UBC and conduct
fundraising. BRC conducted an evaluation of the first UBC Committee II
report and is preparing to evaluate the second draft of that report.

Effort becomes international
In spring 1993, at a meeting in Sacramento, California, ICEB representatives
called for UBC to become international in scope, pointing out that both
American codes and British codes are used in most English-speaking
countries. ICEB expanded its own braille codes project to deal with all
codes, not just literary braille.
     Meeting again in Sydney, Australia, in 1993, ICEB accepted official
sponsorship of UBC and recommended that BRC become an international center
and continue research and fundraising for UBC. BRC added a representative
from Britain to its advisory committee and began regular communication with
ICEB members.
                              ###

Arizona observes 25th anniversary

Library staff, volunteers, and patrons celebrated the twenty-fifth
anniversary of the Braille and Talking Book Library Division of the Arizona
Department of Library, Archives, and Public Records at an open house on
April 2. More than 400 guests enjoyed guided tours of the library, where
staff and volunteers described the library's functions.
     In a red-and-white striped tent in the library's parking lot, staff
members met guests at tables set up to provide help with mail, reader
services, catalogs, and play-back machines. A huge sign decorated with
dozens of red, white, and blue balloons stretched across the entryway to the
building. More balloons decorated work areas inside.
     The open house was the first such event since the library opened in
1970. "It was great to meet so many of our patrons and to have faces to go
with the voices we hear on the phone," says Linda Montgomery, the library's
director. "We thank the volunteers who made the event possible. It was a
great success," she adds.
     The library officially opened on March 19, 1970, in a building across
the street from its current location, where the Lions Foundation is now
located. The present building opened in 1983.
     At the end of the first year, the library had enrolled 1,323 patrons,
and the staff of seven had sent out 80,576 books. Over the years, the
recording program, the volunteer effort, and the circulation of books and
magazines have seen tremendous growth. In 1994 a staff of nineteen, aided by
volunteers, mailed more than 400,000 books and magazines to nearly 10,000
patrons, and the library produced more than forty books and six magazines in
its studios.
(This article was adapted from text provided by Linda Montgomery, Arizona
regional librarian.)
(photo caption: Balloons and a banner welcomed guests at the Arizona
regional library's silver anniversary celebration.)
                              ###

The Program
The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the
Library of Congress publishes books and magazines in braille and in recorded
form on discs and cassettes for readers who cannot hold, handle, or see well
enough to read conventional print because of a temporary or permanent visual
or physical handicap.
     Through a national network of state and local libraries, the materials
are loaned free to eligible readers in the United States and to U.S.
citizens living abroad. Materials are sent to readers and returned by
postage-free mail.

Books and Magazines
Readers may borrow all types of popular-interest books including
bestsellers, classics, mysteries, westerns, poetry, history, biographies,
religious literature, children's books, and foreign-language materials.
Readers may also subscribe to more than seventy popular magazines in braille
and recorded formats.

Special Equipment
Special equipment needed to play the discs and cassettes, which are recorded
at slower than conventional speeds, is loaned indefinitely to readers. An
amplifier with headphone is available for blind and physically handicapped
readers who are also certified as hearing impaired. Other devices are
provided to aid readers with mobility impairments in using playback
machines.

Eligibility
You are eligible for the Library of Congress program if:
--- You are legally blind--your vision in the better eye is 20/200 or less
with correcting glasses, or your widest diameter of visual field is no
greater than 20 degrees;
--- You cannot see well enough or focus long enough to read standard print,
although you wear glasses to correct your vision;
--- You are unable to handle print books or turn pages because of a physical
handicap;
--- Or, you are certified by a medical doctor as having a reading
disability, due to an organic dysfunction, which is of sufficient severity
to prevent reading in a normal manner.

How to Apply
You may request an application by writing NLS or calling toll-free
1-800-424-9100, and your name will be referred to your cooperating library.

_News_ is published quarterly by:
National Library Service for the
Blind and Physically Handicapped
Library of Congress
Washington, DC 20542
All correspondence should be addressed to the attention of Publications and
Media Section.
Editor: Vicki Fitzpatrick
Writers: Jane Caulton, Margaret Cytron, Robert Fistick, Ruth Nieland, and
George Thuronyi
                              ###


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