News
ISSN 1046-1663
October-December 2001, Vol. 32, No. 4
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped
The Library of Congress
NLS creates Digital Long-Term Planning Group
NLS has established a group made up of consumer
representatives and network librarians who, along with
appropriate NLS staff, will contribute to planning for the
deployment of digital information technologies throughout
the network in years to come. To guarantee continuity and
responsiveness to ever-changing prospects, it is likely that
the group will meet once or twice each year through the next
five years. Robert McDermott, NLS automation officer,
chaired the first meeting, held October 24-26, and will
continue to coordinate the effort.
     "We're on the brink of a new epoch in library service,"
says NLS director Frank Kurt Cylke. "The digital talking
book (DTB) is about to become a reality, and we must also
examine the contribution digital technology can make to the
full range of services and communications throughout the
network and for the blind and physically handicapped
community."
Goals and structure
In a letter to committee members, McDermott identified the
goals of the group. "We are calling the Digital Long-Term
Planning Group together to identify the opportunities the
digital world provides to improve library services to blind
and physically handicapped individuals across the nation and
to propose initiatives to take advantage of those
opportunities. At the same time, the group will be asked to
review decisions that have been made or are to be made in
the design and development of the digital talking-book
program."
     "This is a new, uncharted kind of meeting for NLS,"
says McDermott. "We have no agenda. We're going into it with
no preconceived notions of how much work will come from NLS
and how much from the network participants."
     The first meeting addressed organizational matters: how
the group will operate, how often it will meet, how it will
communicate, and what it might produce. Two areas of topical
interest will then be addressed: the digital talking book
and untapped digital opportunities. The organizational and
DTB components of the meeting represent no particular
departure from standard NLS meetings, conducted according to
ample precedent. But, McDermott emphasizes, the portion of
the meeting devoted to untapped opportunities will be unique
in NLS procedure, for there is no agenda, no set goal, and
no premise--nothing from NLS for you to react to," as he
says in a memo to the group. "We are looking for your ideas,
your leadership, your expertise.
     Meeting sessions were divided into two phases. In half
the sessions, the NLD Digital Audio Development Project
(DAD) team presented its status to date and the issues for
discussion by team members. The other sessions were for
brainstorming and discussion of developments in the digital
world that might be incorporated into the service. That part
of the program was also twofold: those developments we can
choose to make use of and those developments that will
affect the program in any case.
Network considerations
Commercial e-books were presented as a technology that could
have an enormous impact on the service. Related to this and
other emerging technologies were the questions of library
staffing and needed areas of expertise along with the aspect
of service to blind individuals that make it unique.
Considerations for maintaining and expanding service to
patrons included the NLS legislative mandate, patron
demographics, and program ease of use. Opportunities for
change and improvement from technology included mainstream
sources for NLS materials and new methods for patron
selection of reading materials.
DAD reports
NLS staff members of the DAD committee outlined the current
status of planning and development of the Digital Talking
Book (DTB) with features based on the NISO standard, along
with phasing contractors into digital production of titles
and selecting current analog titles to be converted into
digital format.
     A major issue to be addressed is selection of a medium
for distribution of DTBs--possibly CD-ROM, Internet
delivery, or flash memory--all of which currently present
problems of usability, availability, or cost.
     One session was devoted to design features and the
trade-off between added navigation methods to improve access
by patrons to specific levels of information and the need
for the basic player to avoid operational complexity.
     DTB distribution scenarios were considered in light of
the Life Cycle Cost model NLS is developing to obtain and
compare costs of various alternatives for use when actual
production decisions are required.
National conference
These issues will be considered in depth at the biennial
conference (see below). All sessions for Tuesday, April 30,
have been set aside for presentations from this group. On
Thursday there will be break-out sessions, with each topic
repeated two or three times. Topics selected are
demographics, ten speculative scenarios, voice-recognition
technologies, digital signatures and patron transfers,
commercial audio books, and nonappliance-based e-books.
(Digital Long-Term Planning Group
Consumer representatives: Steven Booth, National Federation
of the Blind; Christopher Gray,* American Council of the
Blind.
Network representatives: Kim Charlson* (Massachusetts) and
Deborah Rutledge (New Jersey), North; Michael Gunde*
(Florida) and Guynell Williams (South Carolina), South;
Karen Keninger (Iowa) and Karen Odean* (Illinois), Midlands;
Gerald Buttars (Utah) and Barbara Goral (Colorado), West.
COSLA: James B. Scheppke*
* Not present at meeting)
(photo caption: Enjoying the formative meeting of the new
Digital Long-Term Planning Group are Deborah Rutledge (New
Jersey); Steven Booth (NFB); Gerald Buttars (Utah); Guynell
Williams (South Carolina); Judith Dixon, Robert McDermott,
and Michael Moodie (NLS); Barbara Goral (Colorado); Karen
Keninger (Iowa); and Paul Edwards (ACB).)
NLS video honors Telephone Pioneers for forty years of
repair service
Informative and upbeat are two of the adjectives that have
been used to describe a new video, Telephone Pioneers of
America Answering the Call.
     The video, produced this past summer, was designed to
recognize the massive contribution Telephone Pioneers of
America (TPA) have made repairing machines for blind and
physically handicapped readers since 1960. By performing
this service, according to the video, the Pioneers have
saved the government more than $70 million during their 40-
year partnership with NLS. This generosity of service has
also been extended to the Canadian National Institute for
the Blind.
     The film opens with TPA talking-book repair persons
explaining why being a Pioneers volunteer is meaningful to
them. Over a montage of historic photos, the narrator
relates the history of the talking-book program, bringing
viewers up to the present. NLS patrons are also featured,
explaining why the work of the Pioneers is important to
them. Central to the message of the video are the discourses
of Jim Gadd, TPA executive director/chief operations
officer, and Bob Toye, TPA talking-books resource manager.
     One of America's oldest volunteer organizations, the
Telephone Pioneers of America was founded in 1911 by
retirees of the telephone industry. Today the organization
boasts 84 chapters with about 800,000 members in the United
States and Canada.
     Aside from its involvement with the talking-book repair
programs in the U.S. and Canada, TPA sponsors programs like
"A Book about Me," which helps build the self-esteem of
children four to seven years of age, and Hug-A-Bears, which
provides soft, cuddly stuffed animals made by TPA volunteers
and used by police, fire, and emergency relief units to
comfort children.
     Much of Telephone Pioneers of America Answering the
Call was shot in Denver, Colorado, at the Telephone Pioneers
headquarters and at the Colorado regional library.
     The commemorative project will be distributed to
network libraries, each of the TPA talking-book repair shops
in the NLS network, regional coordinators, regional vice
presidents, and sponsoring agencies. Telephone Pioneers of
America Answering the Call will also be used in talking-book
repair-person recruitment.
(photo caption: This scene from Telephone Pioneers of
America Answering the Call shows volunteers at work in a
machine repair workshop.)
2002 National Conference of Librarians: "Our Digital World:
A Leap to the Future"
The National Conference of Librarians Serving Blind and
Physically Handicapped Individuals will be held April 28-May
2, 2002, at the Omni Richmond Hotel in Richmond, Virginia.
     The five-day conference will feature an update on NLS
plans for the talking-book program's conversion from analog-
to digital-format reading materials. NLS speakers will cover
developments in the first nine of twenty steps outlined in
Digital Talking Books: Planning for the Future and Twenty
Steps to Next Generation NLS Technology. The new Digital
Long-Term Planning Group will make presentations. In
addition, a preconference workshop on children's services is
planned for Saturday, April 27.
     On Sunday, April 28, NLS will provide program updates,
followed by regional conference meetings in the afternoon.
An evening reception will close the first day.
     The keynote address will be given by author and
storyteller Fiona Page on Monday, April 29. Described as "a
captivating teller of tales," Page draws on a repertoire of
personal anecdotes, regional folklore, and fables. Her
stories bring humor and poignancy to areas of self-discovery
such as accepting limitations and goal setting.
     Page's talk will be followed by an address by Jim
Sanders, president and CEO, Canadian National Institute for
the Blind.
     The majority of Monday's presentations will concern the
NLS digital update program. Closing the day's deliberations
will be a speech by Elisebeth Tank, director, National
Library for the Blind, Denmark, on the topic
"Transformations." Later, a reception will be held at the
Virginia House of the Virginia Historical Society.
     On Tuesday, April 30, the conference will hear Rosemary
Kavanagh, executive director, Canadian National Institute
for the Blind Library, present "Challenges in Shaping the
Digital Generation of Service." The remainder of the day's
sessions will be a continuation of the NLS digital update
program. A reception is planned for the Virginia Museum of
Fine Arts.
     The National Automation Conference will be held on
Wednesday, May 1, with reports from the Automation Advisory
Group, an NLS automation update, and user group meetings.
     Activities planned for the closing day, Thursday, May
2, include a breakfast colloquy, "Focus on Native
Americans," a panel on the NLS outreach campaigns, an update
on CMLS activities, and an optional tour of the Lewis-Ginter
Botanical Gardens.
(photo caption: Cover art for the conference brochure is an
early seventeenth-century visual rendition of scientific
challenges.
This illustration from Rosa ursina sive sol, completed in
1630 by Christopher Scheiner, a Jesuit rival of Galileo,
shows seven different techniques for viewing sunspots.)
(photo caption: A pedestrian path and revitalized riverfront
stretch along a 1.25-mile corridor skirting the James River
and the restored Kanawha and Haxall Canals envisioned by
George Washington as a link to the West.)
About Richmond
NLS is fortunate to have its biennial conference in
Virginia's lively capital, Richmond. With a long, varied
history, this port city on the James River stars not only
such early American patriots as George Washington, Patrick
Henry, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, John Marshall, and
John Tyler, but also later historical figures--among them
Robert E. Lee and Edgar Allan Poe. A wealth of shrines and
monuments today, including the Richmond National Battlefield
Park, Capitol Square, Hollywood Cemetery, the Poe Museum,
and many others, attest to the past.
     The Omni Richmond Hotel, overlooking the river and
historic downtown, is at 100 South 12th Street, about two
blocks from the revitalized Richmond riverfront. This
bustling neighborhood, a notable example of urban
restoration and historic preservation, thrives commercially
nowadays with a cluster of shops and restaurants while
harking back to its heyday as a hub of shipping. In the
hotel's immediate vicinity are Canal Walk, the Black History
Museum, the State Capitol, the Valentine Museum, and the
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Nearby is the Library of
Virginia, home of the Library of Congress-affiliated
Virginia Center for the Book.
     The Omni is a full-service hostelry offering, in
addition to its meeting facilities and business center,
several features of particular value to blind and physically
handicapped individuals--wheelchair access, braille signage,
visual strobe-light fire alarms, phone-alarm hookup, double-
level peepholes, audio fire-and-smoke alarms in all areas,
and complimentary shuttle service to downtown locations
within a four-mile radius.)
Laura Bridgman remembered
Forgotten figure in deaf-blind education
The Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery
combined forces with the National Library Service for the
Blind and Physically Handicapped to present a panel
discussion about the life and significance of Laura
Bridgman, the first blind and deaf individual in North
America to learn language. The program took place Friday,
September 14, in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the
Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Two new full-scale
biographies of Bridgman have sparked a resurgence of
interest in this now obscure figure who in her time was
reckoned as one of the two most famous women in the world,
along with Queen Victoria.
     The panel, titled "Laura Bridgman: The First Experiment
in Deaf-Blind Education," was introduced by NLS director
Frank Kurt Cylke and Marc Pachter, director of the National
Portrait Gallery, and featured discussants Floyd Matson,
Judith M. Dixon, and Mark Maurer. Matson, a scholar and
author of eleven books of history and social science, is
professor of American Studies at the University of Hawaii.
He is perhaps best known to readers of News as the author of
Walking Alone and Marching Together: A History of the
Organized Blind Movement in the United States, 1940-1990
(National Federation of the Blind, Baltimore: 1990), a
comprehensive history of the NFB. Dixon, NLS consumer
relations officer, scholar, and writer, is the editor of
Braille: Into the Next Millennium (Washington: 2000). Mark
Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind,
is a lawyer, scholar, and writer.
     The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon, which had taken place only three days earlier,
were much on the minds of panelists and audience alike, and
colored the event. At the start of the proceedings, NLS
quality assurance head Don Smith read a presidential
proclamation urging the observance of a three-minute period
of silent remembrance for the victims. Cylke commented that
the decision to hold the conference was "one of the most
difficult" he had made, but he determined that "not letting
terrorists affect our program" was vital. Marc Pachter said
that the group was "blessed to have this way to gather
together...celebrating the lives of individuals who
transcend what some may see as insurmountable limitations."
Pachter displayed a bookmark, available from the National
Portrait Gallery gift shop, commemorating Laura Bridgman.
The three-inch gold figure of Bridgman in profile is adapted
from a nineteenth-century silhouette held by the gallery.
     Floyd Matson took the podium to briefly review Laura
Bridgman's life and to assess her significance in the
history of education. Born in 1829, near Hanover, New
Hampshire, Bridgman was left blind, deaf, and with her
senses of taste and smell severely impaired as the result of
an early childhood attack of scarlet fever. Samuel Gridley
Howe, an idealistic and somewhat romantic New Englander who
had fought in the Greek war for independence, had been
recently appointed director of the new Perkins Institution
for the Blind and became interested in Bridgman's case. In
1837, with her parents' consent, Howe moved the girl to
Boston and set about educating her, using tactile tools and,
in time, books embossed with raised letters along with a
system of hand signing. Bridgman became the first deaf-blind
person who had ever been taught to read and communicate in
standard language, and Howe proudly used her to demonstrate
the credibility of his program for reform in the education
of blind children, to promote interest in his projects, and
to raise funds for the school. Howe's exhibition of Bridgman
may be repugnant to twenty-first-century sensibilities, but
it should be noted that his impulses were humane and
progressive in the context of his times; and it is possible
that Bridgman found solace and incentive in the attention
lavished upon her. For a time she was a celebrity, her fame
enhanced by Charles Dickens's poignant account in American
Notes of a visit with her during his 1842 trip to the United
States.
     Matson yielded the floor to Judith Dixon, who spoke
briefly but pointedly in praise of braille as the liberating
medium of full literacy for blind individuals. Cylke had
whimsically identified Dixon in his opening remarks as "the
mother of Web-Braille" because of her key role in the
development of the Internet-based system that makes
available the complete texts of thousands of books from the
NLS collection to computer users with the appropriate
assistive technology. If braille is important for people who
are blind, Dixon observed, it is absolutely critical for
blind people who are also deaf and without recourse to
spoken or speech-synthesized text. Web-Braille, she noted,
with its ease of use, portability, and wide variety, offers
blind and deaf-blind readers almost limitless freedom to
choose the substance and the circumstances of their reading.
     Mark Maurer praised NLS for its support of braille over
the years. As the country's leading producer of braille, NLS
"has promoted braille more than any other organization, and
its persistence is one of the most important things it has
done." Braille, Maurer said, offers blind people hope--"to
go, to be, to become"--and then provides access to the tools
and techniques that facilitate education, employment, and
participation. He noted that the National Federation of the
Blind, an advocacy group of "the organized blind," is the
nation's second-largest braille producer.
     Maurer looks forward to a time when braille is present
everywhere as a standard alternative to conventional print,
"taken for granted" in signage and product labeling. He
observed that the history of the aspirations of blind people
toward self-determination is reflected in the shift in
accounts of education from emphasis on the story of the
teacher to a foregrounding of the achievements of the pupil.
The story of the teacher--embodied in the subtitle of
Elizabeth Gitter's book, The Imprisoned Guest: Samuel Howe
and Laura Bridgman, the Original Deaf-Blind Girl, and in the
linkage of the names of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan--
gives way in our times to the story of the autonomous
individual; a model of dependency is replaced by exemplary
accounts of the independent blind individual. Maurer
suggested that the story of the life of NFB founder Jacobus
tenBroek was an instance of the dynamic contemporary shift
to the theme of autonomy. Bridgman, Keller, and tenBroek,
Maurer said, mark steps in an evolutionary process and
express the American spirit at its finest. Bringing his
remarks to a close by returning to the troubling
preoccupations of the week, Maurer affirmed that "the
American spirit is unkillable."
     The authors of the two new biographies of Laura
Bridgman, Ernest Freeburg and Elizabeth Gitter, were
originally scheduled to appear on the panel, discussing and
signing their books, but the catastrophic events prevented
them from appearing. Freeburg is the author of The Education
of Laura Bridgman: First Deaf and Blind Person to Learn
Language (RC 51875, BR 13354), published by Harvard
University Press (Cambridge, Massachusetts: 2001); Gitter is
the author of The Imprisoned Guest: Samuel Howe and Laura
Bridgman, the Original Deaf-Blind Girl (RC 51840, BR 13353),
published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York: 2001).
     Because of the simultaneous publication of these books,
public interest in Bridgman's almost forgotten life has been
rekindled. She is said to be a precursor of Helen Keller.
Both attained celebrity status in their lifetimes, but,
where Keller became a spokesperson for blind and deaf-blind
individuals as well as a credible autonomous intellectual
force in American cultural life, Bridgman's attainments were
nowhere near as rich. Her education seems to have reached
limits set by outsiders who found her useful in
demonstrating one philosophical point or another; but after
her patrons' purposes had been served and their interest
withdrawn, Bridgman was left to drift in the unproductive
shallows of a static institutional life. She lived to be
fifty-nine years old.
(photo caption: Panel moderator Floyd Matson, professor of
American Studies at the University of Hawaii, briefly
reviewed Laura Bridgman's life and its significance in the
education of deaf-blind individuals.)
(photo caption: The figure of Bridgman in profile is adapted
from a nineteenth-century silhouette held by the Smithsonian
Institution's National Portrait Gallery.)
NLS exhibit schedule--FY 2002
NLS will exhibit at eighteen conferences in fiscal year 2002
as part of its public outreach effort. Audiences are
selected to maximize contact with potential patrons and
groups that work with eligible individuals. Exhibits are
operated by NLS staff and local network affiliates.
Conferences on the 2001-2002 schedule are listed in order of
their appearance.
2001
American Congress of Rehabilitation
Tucson, Arizona
October 25-28
East West Eye Conference
Cleveland, Ohio
October 25-28
TASH
Anaheim, California
November 14-17
2002
American Optometric Student Association
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 9-12
American Library Association--Midwinter
New Orleans, Louisiana
January 18-23
Music Library Association
Las Vegas, Nevada
February 16-21
Public Library Association
Phoenix, Arizona
March 12-16
International Vision Expo
New York, New York
March 15-17
American Society on Aging
Denver, Colorado
April 4-7
Music Educators National Conference
Nashville, Tennessee
April 10-13
Visiting Nurse Associations of America
San Francisco, California
April 24-26
American Library Association--Annual
Atlanta, Georgia
June 13-19
American Nurses Association
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
June 29-July 2
American Council of the Blind
Houston, Texas
June 29-July 7
National Federation of the Blind
Louisville, Kentucky
June 30-July 6
Association on Higher Education and Disability
Crystal City, Virginia
July 8-12
American Association of Diabetes Educators
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
August 7-11
Blinded Veterans Association
San Antonio, Texas
August 13-17
IFLA meets in Boston
Preconference held in Washington, D.C.
NLS and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB)
cohosted the International Federation of Library
Associations and Institutions Standing Committee for the
Blind (IFLA SCB) preconference in Washington, D.C., from
August 13-15. A highlight of the preconference was a
reception and dinner at the Library of Congress for Canada's
national librarian Roch Carrier. Brad Kormann, chief of the
Materials Development Division, represented NLS at both the
preconference and the IFLA conference in Boston,
Massachusetts, August 18-24.
     Attendees at the preconference in Washington
participated in various forums, met in small groups, and
visited twenty exhibits. Tours and cultural events were held
in the late afternoons and evenings, including a tour of
Mount Vernon, in Alexandria, Virginia. NLS staff also hosted
an "American picnic" at the Taylor Street facility. A
separate tour of the main buildings of the Library of
Congress on Capitol Hill took place on the last day of the
conference.
     Four panels focused on areas of interest: the first
addressed children and youth and whether libraries for the
blind were meeting their educational needs; the second
emphasized digital library services and education; the third
analyzed how libraries for the blind create and develop
inclusive models of service; and the final panel explored
the creation of small digital libraries. Carolyn Sung, chief
of the Network Division, briefed the conference participants
on digital technology from an American perspective.
     The top issues discussed at the preconference included
managing copyright and digital rights, being advocates for
patrons and libraries, reviewing braille and electronic
texts, developing and enhancing collections, and increasing
the production of materials in print formats. Discussions of
union catalogs, digital technology, and specifications for
digital library systems also featured prominently. IFLA SLB
members also shared their best practices in library services
for blind people, even conducting a best-practice contest
during the final preconference sessions.
     Roch Carrier, who became National Librarian of Canada
on October 1, 1999, spoke to an international audience of
leaders and directors of blindness organizations at a
reception in his honor in the Jefferson building of the
Library of Congress. He shared plans for reaching Canadians
who have not previously been served and for improvement of
current library practices. These recommendations are the
result of a task force established in conjunction with CNIB
and focus largely on accessibility to materials.
     Carrier also read from his 1979 children's book The
Hockey Sweater. An internationally acclaimed author, Carrier
is known for novels and stories in both French and English
that are used in schools and universities around the world,
as well as plays and screenplays.
     In Boston, the IFLA Standing Committee for the Blind
(IFLA SCB) held two meetings.
     Dick Tucker of the FORCE Foundation in the Netherlands
reported on collection development and resource sharing.
Tucker spoke about a workshop he attended in the Crimea
(Sudak, Ukraine) in June 2000. The main objective of this
meeting was to explore and develop a network of library
holdings that could be used to produce Russian reading
materials in alternative formats. Tucker said that, given
the cost of braille and other materials, there are clear
advantages in resource sharing among countries where Russian
language materials are needed. Tucker presented a report
about his efforts to update the interlending guide.
     Paivi Voutilainen of Finland and Barbara Freeze of
Canada (CNIB) reviewed the progress of the Integrated
Digital Library Systems project. Hiroshi Kawamura of Japan
and Henri Chaucaht of France reviewed copyright and rights
management issues. Elisebeth Tank of Denmark, management and
strategic planning coordinator for SCB, updated the
statistics for libraries for the blind, and Beatrice Skoeld
of Sweden reviewed the National Library guidelines.
     NLS provided one of the two hundred conference
exhibits, which was staffed by Carolyn Sung, chief of the
Network Division, and James Herndon, head of the Collection
Development Section.
Network exchange
California (Los Angeles). Braille Institute Library Services
held its annual Summer Reading Celebration on July 27, 2001,
with a record ninety-five adults and ninety-five children in
attendance. The theme of the program was "Reach for the
Stars and Read."
     The highlight of the party was an appearance by award-
winning children's author Caroline Arnold, who kept guests
in rapt attention as she led them on a literary journey
through the continent of Africa. Arnold has penned more than
one hundred children's books, eleven of which are part of
the library's collection.
     Other entertainment included a play enacted by Braille
Institute students and magic tricks performed by Gene Green.
The play, titled The Victory Play, chronicled the story of
an eagle that is losing its site. Student performers were
dressed as an eagle, a cloud, a bumblebee, and a bear. A dog
guide dressed as a skunk was an audience favorite.
     The day's festivities also included a dance contest and
karaoke singing. Children were given gift bags and lunch at
the close of the program.
     The party was the culmination of a summer reading
program that began on June 4 and lasted until July 20. Two
hundred five blind, visually impaired, and physically
handicapped children and young adults from ages one to
eighteen participated. Library director Henry C. Chang
handed out awards to those who had read the most books for
their age group.
     The success of the program was largely due to the hard
work and careful planning of Darlene Lock, Summer Reading
Program Committee chair. Staff members Chuck Petithomme,
George Miller, George Crosswhite, Jeanette Mezquita, Siran
Aytayan, Nicole Bailey, and many volunteers also contributed
to make the day a success.
(photo caption: An eagle explains his plight in the student
performance of The Victory Play.)
(photo caption: Summer reading program manager Tina Herbison
with author Caroline Arnold.)
Colorado (Denver). Lois Rubin Gross, senior consultant at
the regional library, sends us the following article about
the library's new web site:
     "As you navigate the Internet, don't forget a stopover
at the web site created for the Colorado Talking Book
Library (CTBL). The web site is the newest innovation in
making the CTBL accessible to the wider community of print-
handicapped users in Colorado. The address for the CTBL site
is <www.cd.state.co.us/ctbl>, which takes the user directly
to the home page.
     "Among the features of the site are a current,
printable application and list of subject headings; the
Talking Book Library newsletter, on line; lists of magazines
available in accessible formats; lists of narrated
videotapes circulated by the library; and, perhaps most
important, a place where registered users can order books on
line. This increasingly popular feature permits patrons to
reserve and check out books even during the hours when the
CTBL is not open.
     "Of special interest to our youngest users is the
Children's Corner. Currently, this area of the web page
features the results of last year's Summer Reading Program
and thumbnail pictures of collages created by program
participants to show what tactile outer space aliens might
look like. This feature enabled program participants to
share their creations with family across the country. There
are also staff-recommended talking books for both adult and
young readers. In response to the recent terrorist attacks
on the East Coast, the staff-recommended books include lists
of talking-book titles relevant to the situation in
Afghanistan and the Middle East. The recommended titles are
updated frequently, so check to see the new reviews that are
available on the site.
     "The potential for reaching out to patrons at a
distance and making CTBL users more independent makes this a
most exciting addition to the services of the Colorado
Talking Book Library."
Washington (Seattle). After twenty-eight years of providing
library service to NLS patrons, Phyllis Cairns retired in
July in order to spend more time with her family. Cairns
spent the last ten years of her career at the Washington
Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL) in Seattle. There she
was in charge of the talking-book program, as well as
outreach activities.
     "Phyllis's expertise, experience, and commitment to
public service to NLS borrowers, both at WTBBL and
throughout the network, will be sorely missed," commented
Jan Ames, WTBBL director. "We also miss her wit and sense of
humor."
     Prior to joining WTBBL, Cairns spent eighteen years at
the Braille Institute of America (BIA). She was on the staff
of the Southern California regional library from 1971 until
1988, first as assistant to the librarian and then library
supervisor before becoming library director.
     Before becoming associated with NLS, Cairns worked with
a project that developed and produced bilingual materials
for Navajo Indian and Mexican-American children, and she
instructed advanced conversation courses for foreign-born
learners at UCLA. In addition, she served in numerous
positions in Illinois, Hawaii, Thailand, and East Malaysia,
where she was a Peace Corps volunteer.
(This article was provided by Jan Ames, Washington regional
librarian.)
International briefs
United Kingdom. ONEWORD RADIO is a new digital radio station
broadcasting from the heart of London's West End. It is one
of seven "digital only" stations granted twelve-year
licenses in 2000 by the UK Radio Authority. Dedicated to the
transmission of plays, books, comedy, and reviews, it
broadcasts to the UK and Europe eighteen hours a day, seven
days a week, from 5 a.m. to midnight, on Sky Digital Channel
877. Its program schedule includes readings of classic
literature, modern bestsellers, and children's stories; a
twice-daily educational show called "Oneword Core
Curriculum"; and a weekly topical talk show called
"Speakeasy." Each day's programming closes with a drama and
discussion, "I Have Seen the Future."
     The station is available not only through digital radio
and television but also through new-generation mobile
telephones and the Internet. To find out more, visit
<www.oneword.co.uk> or e-mail <info@oneword.co.uk>.
Sweden. At the DAISY Consortium's May 3 and 4 general
meeting in Stockholm, George Kerscher reported on standards
development. Kerscher, the Consortium's international
project manager, is active in the U.S.'s Recording for the
Blind and Dyslexic.
     The DAISY (Digital Audio-Based Information System)
Consortium is an international group of talking-book
libraries and organizations numbering twelve members, more
than thirty associate members, and ten friends. It was
founded in May 1996 in Sweden by the Swedish Library of
Talking Books and Braille.
France. Catherine Desbuquois, librarian from the
Bibliothque Publique d'Information in Paris, reports her
assignment to France's BrailleNet Association. Her twofold
tasks there are: (1) to study the Association's current and
projected potentials for assisting visually disabled people
to gain access to electronic texts and (2) to contribute her
expertise to the development of HELENE, a French server of
adapted publications. The BrailleNet Association was created
under a French law of 1901 to integrate people with visual
limitations into academic, professional, and social milieus.
Today it concerns itself with designing, developing, and
adapting Web-accessible teaching materials, as well as with
the software and hardware affording such access.
Music transcription manual being updated
Revision of the late Mary Turner De Garmo's Introduction to
Braille Music Transcription (1970) is well under way, with
drafts of several sections already written and others
nearing completion and readiness for review. The task,
authorized by the Braille Authority of North America (BANA),
is being performed by a committee comprising Beverly
McKenney of Florida and Michigan, chair of the BANA music
technical committee; Bettye Krolick of Colorado, past chair
of the BANA music technical committee, Lawrence Smith of
Florida and Michigan, current committee member; Sandra
Kelly, NLS braille music advisor; and Mary Lou Stark, head
of the NLS Braille Development Section. The committee has
met at NLS twice, most recently in July 2001.
     Two publications during the past decade made revision
of the De Garmo manual necessary: The New International
Manual of Braille Music Notation, completed in the early
1990s by a working group of fifteen countries, and the Music
Braille Code 1997, produced by BANA. The manual now in
revision will incorporate the numerous important changes in
the music code.
     The revised manual will reorganize the material in
several ways, while retaining the popular flavor of De
Garmo's original language where possible. The new version
will contain extensive additional examples and drills. Part
One addresses basic procedures, including single-staff
music, while Part Two will concern transcribing two- and
three-staff music. Part Three will cover such specialized
procedures as chord symbols and other aspects of vocal
music, additional information about stringed-instrument and
keyboard music, and scores for ensembles.
(photo caption: Members of the De Garmo manual revision
committee at their July meeting at NLS are Beverly McKenney
(standing), Mary Lou Stark, Lawrence Smith, and Bettye
Krolick.)
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, Robert Fistick, Nancy Galbraith,
Irene Kost, and Edmund O'Reilly