News
ISSN 1046-1663
January-March 2001, Vol. 32, No. 1
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
The Library of Congress
NLS publishes significant work
Braille: Into the Next Millennium
A major new anthology presenting articles by more than two dozen
international experts and advocates in the field of braille has been
published jointly by NLS and the Friends of Libraries for Blind and
Physically Handicapped Individuals in North America. Braille: Into the Next
Millennium, edited by Judith M. Dixon, NLS consumer relations officer,
presents perspectives on the history of braille, the current state of
braille as a medium of literacy, and the outlook for braille in the future.
     Braille literacy is of vital concern to blind individuals, advocacy
groups, and service providers. "Braille holds a special place of honor in
the lives of those who use it," writes Dixon in her introduction, "not only
as a tool for true literacy but also as a tool for personal dignity,
privacy, and independence."
     In his foreword to the volume, NLS director Frank Kurt Cylke notes
that "with a tactile medium such as braille comes literacy--spelling,
writing, and broad communication possibilities are open and available. With
literacy comes the possibility of freedom. With freedom comes the
possibility of endless achievement, from pleasant living to significant
social contributions. Personal and institutional commitments to braille by
enthusiasts in the United States have helped advance literacy for blind
individuals in North America and have therefore advanced the possibility of
freedom for thousands."
     The book is divided into three parts. Part I, "Braille in the Past,"
features a discussion of the origins of braille, an account of the history
of embossed printing in the United States, and a reflective essay based on a
visit to the restored site of Louis Braille's birth in Coupvray, a country
town twenty-five miles northeast of Paris. Part II, "Braille in the
Present," contains eighteen articles on a range of issues in contemporary
braille usage, including the various purpose-specific codes and the role of
the Braille Authority of North America; braille in business, law, and
everyday life; the use of braille with computers; braille library service;
and issues in braille literacy. Part III, "Braille in the Future," assesses
braille's prospects and includes an affirmative assessment of braille
competency as a predictor of success in the education of blind persons; a
view of the realities and some of the possibilities inherent in the
electronic distribution of braille; and a discussion of future braille codes
and fonts, and prospects for a unified braille code, particularly in the
expanding electronic environment. The volume is rounded out with an appendix
of ASCII braille equivalents, capsule biographies of contributors, and an
extensive bibliography.
     Each of the volume's twenty-nine contributors is "an expert in his or
her field and has brought to this work a perspective that can be acquired
only through experience and a profound closeness to the subject," according
to the book's editor.
     The late Kenneth Jernigan, who served for many years as president and
then president emeritus of the National Federation of the Blind, wrote in
his preface, "it is in [an] atmosphere of renewed opportunity and hope that
the current book is produced. It will make a valuable contribution to the
new emphasis on braille, and it will give historical background and
perspective. It will also synthesize and draw together present thinking and
point the way to the future."
     Print copies have been supplied to major libraries around the world
and to universities and specialized collections in the United States and
Canada through the Friends of Libraries for Blind and Physically Handicapped
Individuals in North America. Braille: Into the Next Millennium will be
available in braille (BR 13188) and recorded (RC 50969) formats for NLS/BPH
readers early in 2001.
     Single print copies are available at no cost upon request to the
Reference Section, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped, The Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20542.
(photo caption: A young braille reader)
Contents--Braille: Into the Next Millennium
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Frank Kurt Cylke
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Kenneth Jernigan
Editor's Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . Judith M. Dixon
Part I: Braille in the Past
Origins of Braille . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Pamela Lorimer
Embossed Printing in the United States . . . . . . Carol B. Tobe
La Maison Natale de Louis Braille  . . . . . . . Euclid J. Herie
Part II: Braille in the Present
The Literary Code  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Darleen E. Bogart
The Nemeth Code  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Abraham Nemeth
The Braille Music Code . . . . . . . . . . Harvey Horatio Miller
Code for Computer Braille Notation . . . . . . . .Tim V. Cranmer
Unifying the Braille Codes . . . . . . . . . .Darleen E. Bogart,
 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tim V. Cranmer, Joseph E. Sullivan
The Braille Authority of North America and
   Its Contribution to Braille Production Dolores Ferrara-Godzieba
Alternative Methods of Braille Production  . . . . Geoffrey Bull
Tangible Apparatus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Carol Tobe
Braille Library Service  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kim Charlson
Braille Transcribing in the United States:
   Past, Present, and Future . . . . . . . . . . .Mary Lou Stark
Braille in the Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marc Maurer
Braille in the Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . Fredric Schroeder
Braille in the Environment . . . . . . . . . . .Freddie L. Peaco
Computer Access with Braille . . . . . . . . . . . .Curtis Chong
Refreshable Braille Displays: Their Origins and Evolution Judith M. Dixon
Tactile Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jane M. Corcoran
The Art of Marketing Braille: The National Braille
   Press Experience. . . . . . William M. Raeder, Diane L. Croft
Braille Literacy . . . .Susan Jay Spungin, Frances Mary D'Andrea
Part III: Braille in the Future
Braille as a Predictor of Success  . . . . . . . . . .Ruby Ryles
Electronic Distribution of Braille . . . . . . . . . . Jim Allan
Future Braille Codes and Fonts . . . . . . . . . John A. Gardner
Appendix: ASCII Braille Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
List of Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Linda Redmond
Museum and web site showcase braille technology
The Marie and Eugene Callahan Museum of the American Printing House for the
Blind (APH) in Louisville, Kentucky, features a collection of artifacts
relating to the educational history of blind people and the role of APH in
that history. APH produces braille, large type, tactile graphic, computer
diskette, and recorded materials, often under contract to government
agencies including NLS, and provides a broad range of consumer and
professional services. It is the oldest organization of its kind in America,
and since its founding in 1858 has played a central role in the provision of
educational services and products for blind people.
     Materials at the Callahan Museum represent the history of various
raised-line reading systems, the development of braille printing, and the
history of recorded books. Artifacts on display include embossed books,
historical tactile drawings and maps, tactile globes, abacuses and slates,
mechanical braillewriters and historical braille production machinery, and
photographs. Displays on the history of talking books feature examples of
different formats used over the years and machinery used in their production
and playback. Exhibits bring to life the early search for a practical
reading method for blind persons and include books printed in obsolete
tactile reading systems such as Lucas type, New York Point, Boston Line
type, and Snyder type.
     More than 5,000 visitors a year come to the museum, which is housed in
a part of the original APH building built in 1883. The museum is accessible
to blind and physically disabled persons, with large-print and braille
labels and audiophones that deliver audio versions of the written material.
Visitors can also enjoy audio and video presentations by APH's narrators and
an interactive "mental arithmetic" test from a nineteenth-century text for
blind students. Many artifacts are also displayed to allow for hands-on
examination.
     Color photographs and thorough descriptions of 35 items from the
Callahan Museum collection of mechanical tactile writers and typewriters
adapted for use by blind people are now accessible on the APH web page
<www.aph.org>. One of the oldest and most unusual is the McElroy Point
Writing Machine from 1888, an early upward-writing device. Another unusual
writer, Todd's Improved Edison-Mimeograph Typewriter (1894), was originally
made to cut stencils for the mimeograph machine and later adapted for use by
blind people. The smallest writer in the collection is the Minerva Pocket
Braillewriter, made in Germany around 1900, which measures 6 by 5 by 2-1/2
inches.
     The museum's research collection includes materials on schools for the
blind in the United States and abroad, the history of tactile printing and
mechanical writers, notable blind individuals, and organizations for blind
people.
     A floor-to-ceiling colonnade, constructed of shiny metal braille
plates, enhances the entrance area to the museum. The plates were originally
used to emboss The Oxford Book of Aphorisms.
     According to Carol Tobe, the museum's curator and director--and a
contributor to Braille: Into the Next Millennium--many items in the
collection originally came from "the basements and attics of APH's
buildings, but there were also many generous individuals and organizations
that donated artifacts for the museum." Acquisitions include twenty-nine
braillewriters from around the world donated by Judith Dixon, NLS consumer
relations officer; abacuses donated by APH's customer service manager Fred
Gissoni; and talking books from the Texas State Library. "We continue to
actively collect artifacts for the collection, as well as archival
materials," says Tobe, "and APH is developing a collections fund to help
purchase important additions to the collections."
     The museum opened its doors for the first time in October 1994 and, in
August 1999, was renamed in honor of the Callahans. Eugene Callahan, an
inventor and former General Electric employee, created a generous endowment
to provide for the continuing support of the museum's day-to-day operations.
Callahan and his wife, Marie, were longtime Louisville residents. In 1995
the Kentucky Humanities Council named the museum winner of an Outstanding
Public Humanities Project Award, recognizing the excellence of the museum in
telling the story of the education of blind persons. The Kentucky Humanities
Council, along with generous individuals, foundations, and corporations,
funded the development and original construction of the museum.
     The Marie and Eugene Callahan Museum is free and open to the public
from 8:30 to 4:30 Monday through Friday. It is located in the American
Printing House for the Blind at 1839 Frankfort Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky.
(photo caption: Banks Pocket Writer, New York, ca. 1928. The writer used a
1/2"-wide tape. It was made available nationwide through Lions Clubs.)
(photo caption: Todd's Improved Edison-Mimeograph Typewriter, Chicago, 1894)
(photo caption: Stainsby-Wayne Braille-Writer, England, ca. 1899)
(photo caption: Minerva Pocket Braillewriter, Germany, ca. 1900)
Soros Foundation fellows selected
NLS will welcome six important visitors from Russia and Eastern Europe as
part of the Network Library Program of the Open Society Institute in
Budapest, Hungary, in April. The six have been selected to participate in
the Visiting Fellows Program, initiated by Librarian James Billington in
1992 in cooperation with the noted philanthropist George Soros and the Soros
Foundation. The six librarians will work from NLS.
     The foundation sponsors programs dedicated to strengthening fledgling
democracies in Eastern Europe and the newly independent states of the former
Soviet Union, through the Open Society Institute. The Library of Congress is
a valuable partner in this effort because its dedication to the free flow of
information among all American citizens is a model to program participants
in their work in their home countries.
     The eighth group of visiting fellows was assembled through a lengthy,
detailed screening process. Librarians and information specialists were
encouraged to apply to overseas offices of the Open Society Institute.
Applications for the 2001 program were received from Bulgaria, the Czech
Republic, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, the Slovak Republic, and
Slovenia. After English language tests and interviews, reviewers forwarded
twenty-two applications to the Library of Congress and NLS for final
selection. The applications were screened in particular for interest and
experience in library service for blind individuals and for the
determination and ability to share new insights in this field with others.
     Members of the NLS committee for this project are Linda Redmond, head,
Reference Section, chair; Vivian Crump, assistant to the chief, Materials
Development Division, logistics coordinator; Judith Dixon, consumer
relations officer; Steven Prine, head, Network Services Section; Carolyn
Sung, chief, Network Division; and Frank Kurt Cylke, director, NLS. Besides
handing the selection process, committee members are responsible for program
planning and monitoring ongoing activities.
Busy schedule and daunting itinerary
The eight-week program will begin with an introduction to NLS and agencies
that serve blind and physically handicapped individuals in the Washington
area, as well as to the Library of Congress. The visitors will gain first-hand experience in NLS operations, and they will participate in a workshop
given by a faculty consultant who specializes in services to blind and
handicapped readers. A four-week work assignment at NLS will include time
dedicated to training and expanding Internet access for library
applications.
     In May, the contingent will travel to four other cities--Baltimore,
Maryland; Princeton, New Jersey; New York City; and Watertown,
Massachusetts. These cities were chosen in part because of the dynamic
organizations in the field of information services for blind or handicapped
citizens in each locale. The itinerary will include visits to the National
Federation of the Blind, a consumer advocacy organization, in Baltimore;
Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, a private-sector recording group, in
Princeton; and the American Foundation for the Blind, an advocacy group and
recording contractor for NLS, in New York City. In Watertown, the Perkins
School for the Blind will welcome the visitors with a tour of its library
and other facilities. The group will visit regional libraries in three of
the four locales. During the final days of the program, the group will
return to the Library of Congress to review their experiences and to
consider ways to incorporate them into library service management at home.
Diverse backgrounds and interests
The 2001 Soros Foundation/Library of Congress visiting fellows are
    Nana Merabi Alexidze, program coordinator at the Disabled Persons and
Veterans Assistance and Employment Union in Tbilisi, Georgia. This
nongovernmental organization was founded in 1995 to enable blind and
disabled individuals to assess and improve their job skills. The Union also
helps its members find appropriate jobs and has established several small
manufacturing plants that employ Union members.
    Galina Sergeevna Elfimova, head of the Foreign Literature Section at
the Russian State Library for the Blind in Moscow. This is the country's
largest library for visually impaired readers, the center of a network of
seventy-two specialized libraries for the blind. With more than one million
items in its collections, the Moscow library serves some 15,000 print-handicapped visitors each year with braille, recorded, and large-print
volumes. The library also has a recording studio for the production of
talking books.
    Alexander Mikhaylovich Kungurov, librarian-in-chief at the Sverdlovsk
Regional Library for the Blind in Yekaterinburg--the third largest library
for the blind in Russia (after Moscow and St. Petersburg). The library
serves nearly 5,000 patrons who have visual impairments or other
disabilities. Its collections contain more than 55,000 audio recordings and
26,000 other items. Current programs emphasize expanding the library's
outreach to local libraries and broadening the use of computers and
electronic texts to facilitate the flow of information.
    Olga Leonidovna Kuznetsova, chief of the Publishing Department at the
St. Petersburg State Library for the Blind, the largest such library in the
northwestern region of Russia. The library serves some 11,000 readers with
collections of 400,000 volumes in recorded, large-print, and braille
formats. The institution also conducts research in the field of specialized
library services and is expanding its automated systems of cataloging and
communication.
    Vladimira Sykorova, consultant at the Library and Printing House for
the Blind in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. The Library and Printing
House's annual production includes at least fifty textbooks and music scores
in braille and one hundred recorded books. These items are loaned free of
charge to about 7,100 registered patrons, most of whom are in Prague.
    Daniela Tthov, librarian at the University Library in Bratislava,
capital of the Slovak Republic. As the national library and leading academic
collection in the country, the University Library is expanding its services
to blind and physically handicapped patrons by organizing seminars on ways
to improve access to information for all citizens in this new democracy. The
library is also exploring ways to improve interlibrary loan practices and to
expand its collections of large-print publications.
Regional librarians join network
Their titles are just an indication of the diversity of backgrounds, goals,
and accomplishments that six of the network's newest regional librarians
bring to the quest to serve the nation's blind and physically handicapped
readers. Expanding services, holding outreach activities, and improving
technology are among the projects targeted by these directors, coordinators,
and program administrators.
Rhode Island. Andrew Egan took the helm as regional librarian of Rhode
Island at the Talking Books Plus Program, Office of Library and Information
Services, in May 2000.
     Since his appointment, he has reached out to the library community.
"I've done several presentations to librarians about the services for the
visually impaired," he recalled. In addition, he started a summer reading
program, published articles in the agency's newsletter, and attended
orientation at NLS and the National Conference of Librarians Serving Blind
and Physically Handicapped Individuals. He says he also "made it through his
first audit and NLS consultant visit."
     Egan holds an MLS from the University of Rhode Island, having
completed his undergraduate work at the University of Massachusetts at
Lowell. He came to Rhode Island's Office of Library and Information Services
in 1980. He served then as the institutional and network services librarian,
and he held these positions until April 2000.
     Upgrading the library's computer equipment and software--primarily the
personal computers and operating systems--is his priority. He also plans to
establish a Friends group, develop customer service for public librarians
serving patrons with disabilities, and set up a technology resource center
for visually impaired persons.
     He says he is spending most of his time "working to acquire skills
that all regional librarians need to provide resources to people in their
communities."
Missouri. Richard J. Smith, director of the Wolfner Library for the Blind
and Physically Handicapped in Jefferson City, brings a wide range of
academic and library experience to the position. Smith spent his early
career working with libraries. He has served as director of the Allegany
Community College in Cumberland, Maryland, and as the director of Special
Services for Louisiana, which administered the Section for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped. He was a librarian at the Indiana State Library and
the State Library of Ohio.
     At the helm of Missouri's regional library now, Smith is especially
interested in technology. He's already developed a project based on the NLS
Web-Braille program--the Missouri Web-Braille page. The web site houses
files accessible to braille output devices that cover Missouri sports,
events and festivals, literature, and magazines. In addition, Smith has
implemented an electronic newsletter that will "communicate to Wolfner
Library users library policies and procedures, relate items of interest to
the blind and physically handicapped community, announce staff and
administration changes, forward NLS information, and suggest reading
materials for our patrons."
     Prior to taking the position as Wolfner regional librarian, Smith
worked as an instructor of various technology programs. At San Jose State
University, he taught new technologies to school library media personnel and
public librarians, including web page design and development. He trained K-12 teachers, school administrators, and public and school librarians to use
the Internet during a one-year assignment with Three Rivers and Pathfinders
Library Systems, and he taught library automation, information science and
technology, and information retrieval for the School of Library and
Information Science at the University of Iowa.
     Smith holds a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh's School of
Library and Information Science and an MLS from the University of
Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Library and Information Science. He
completed his undergraduate work at Penn State University.
(photo caption: Richard Smith, backed by the Missouri state capitol)
Louisiana. Elizabeth Hecker Perkins, Louisiana regional librarian, is also
concentrating on undertaking outreach and customer service initiatives.
"There is a significant population of Louisiana citizens who can benefit
from our services and I have a strong desire to offer the services to them,"
says the coordinator of Special Services at the State Library of Louisiana.
     Perkins, who oversees Services for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped and the library's Audiovisual Resource Center, bubbles over when
talking about her job. "I believe the work done by the Services for the
Blind and Physically Handicapped is more important than any other work I can
do as a librarian in Louisiana," she says.
     She already has moved ahead on plans to produce audio materials. "I am
fortunate to have started this job at a very exciting time." Perkins notes,
"My predecessors, Jennifer Anjier and Sharilynn Aucoin, had put in place the
groundwork for an onsite audio-book production studio. I have hired the
first manager, Christy Oliver, for the new Audio Book Production Program,
and the State Library will begin recording Louisiana-specific titles very
shortly."
     The new regional librarian holds a BA degree from Louisiana State
University and an MS in Library Science from the University of North Texas.
Perkins says her "professional history is wildly diverse. I've worked both
technical and public-services positions in the Visual Resources Center at
the Dallas Museum of Art and the Louisiana State University Veterinary
Medicine Library." She was an employee of the State Library for four years
before receiving her present appointment October 1, 2000.
Iowa. Like Perkins, Iowa regional librarian Karen Keninger has a few things
she's looking forward to accomplishing. Keninger says she applied for the
program administrator position at the Iowa Library for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped because "I had a lot of ideas about the direction
the library should take and I wanted the opportunity to try them out."
     Appointed acting program administrator in September 2000, Keninger has
been with the Iowa Department of the Blind for six years. Prior to that she
was a "freelance business and technology writer for money," she quips, "and
a creative writer for fun." The regional librarian holds an MA in English
from Iowa State University and a BA in Journalism from Drake University, Des
Moines, Iowa.
     Officially appointed to the position in December of 2000, Iowa's new
regional librarian is immersed in planning and organizing for the future.
"My goals are to increase readership in the circulation department and to
expand production of braille and cassette materials," she notes. She also
wants to broaden the range of materials by adding more tactile and more
music items, such as sheet music and instruction manuals.
North Dakota. Opportunity is what brought Alfred L. Peterson, North Dakota
regional librarian, to the network of librarians serving blind and
physically handicapped individuals.
     "I accepted my current position because of the unique opportunity to
serve blind and physically handicapped people," he says. "It was a program I
was not familiar with and presented me with a challenge." His primary goal
is to see the services provided by North Dakota State Library Talking Book
Services expanded through a statewide outreach education program.
     Peterson, a native of Pittsburgh, received his Master of Science in
Library Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania in December 1999. In
July 2000, he was hired as head of the Services for the Disabled at the
North Dakota State Library. He brings a lot of zeal to the position.
     For now, however, he is concentrating on familiarizing himself with
the program. "I have to thank my great staff for helping me with the
transition and also thank all the great people at NLS for their help."
(photo caption: North Dakota's Al Peterson)
Florida. Florida's new director is already well-known in the NLS network of
cooperating libraries. Michael Gunde has served as chairperson of the
Southern Conference of Librarians for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
since 1997. Prior to that, he served as editor of the conference newsletter,
Dikta.
     Gunde began his career at the Florida Bureau of Braille and Talking
Book Library Services fifteen years ago as head of Reader Services. In 1988,
he was promoted to assistant director, where he worked very closely with his
predecessor, the late Donald John Weber. Gunde was appointed director in
August 2000.
     Not surprisingly, Gunde says his primary goal is "to continue the
efforts to improve customer service, which we began more than ten years
ago." He emphasized, "We want every patron request filled promptly when it
is received."
     Creation of Florida's statewide computer network has been a key factor
in meeting the goal. The initiative, implemented in 1988, involved linking
all of the libraries serving blind and physically handicapped in Florida
through the Keystone automation system, Gunde explained, which provides
access to the statewide catalog and allows the libraries to interact with
each other. Through the system, patrons can order their books online and
whichever library has the book sends it to the patron.
     This type of "seamless interlibrary loan" reduces costs and "empowers
customers," Gunde said. The process eliminates the need for patrons to
complete forms or to complete their orders by phone. In addition, they can
learn the status of their books while online, receive a receipt for their
order, and get their books one to two days earlier than the old process
would allow. Currently, all but two libraries have been linked to the
system. Gunde expects the project to be completed in 2002.
     Another benefit of the automated process is that the conversion to
Keystone also allowed the libraries to link with the United States Post
Office database. The process allows the library to detect problems with
addresses, to standardize addresses according to postal regulations, and to
ensure the correct ZIP-plus-four code the moment they are entered into the
database. Gunde is happy with this accomplishment because it also decreases
the time it takes patrons to get their materials.
     The veteran librarian holds an MS in Library Science from Florida
State University. He received his undergraduate degree in English from the
University of Florida.
Fresno subregional library celebrates 25th anniversary
The Talking Book Library for the Blind in Fresno, California, celebrated
twenty-five years of service as a subregional library in 2000. The library's
annual open house became an anniversary party, and over seventy patrons,
volunteers, and friends came to share in the festivities.
     The celebration was held on Thursday, November 2, 2000, at the Talking
Book Library's facility in the Ted C. Wills Community Center in Fresno. The
silver-anniversary theme was carried out in the decorations and on the cake.
Visitors enjoyed refreshments and had an opportunity to see the library,
meet the staff, greet old friends, and make new contacts. Fresno county
librarian John K. Kallenberg and associate county librarian Karen Bosch Cobb
were among the guests.
     A Disability Resource Fair also was held as part of the 2000 open
house. One room of the library was devoted to tables with representatives
from local agencies serving those with disabilities. The Friendship Center
for the Blind in Fresno, the local Center for Independent Living, the
Veterans Administration, and the Social Security Administration were all
represented. Many patrons and other guests took the opportunity to talk to
the agency representatives and pick up brochures and other information.
     The Fresno subregional library began service in 1975 as the Special
Services Department of the Fresno County Library, working out of the
basement of the Central Branch of the Fresno Public Library. The library
moved to another Fresno location in 1977 and became known as the Blind and
Handicapped Services branch. In 1980, the move to the Ted C. Wills Center
was completed, and in 1994 the library was renamed the Talking Book Library
for the Blind. Currently the Talking Book Library serves more than 1,700
patrons in Fresno, Kings, Madera, and Tulare Counties.
(Submitted by Wendy Eisenberg, librarian, Talking Book Library, Fresno)
(photo caption: Fresno Talking Book librarian Wendy Eisenberg with silver
anniversary cakes)
Network exchange
District of Columbia. The regional library's winter newsletter announces a
grant from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to set up a Health
Information Center at the Martin Luther King Memorial Library. The purpose
is to make the NLM's database of medical information available to the
general public. Martin Luther King Memorial Library is one of thirty-seven
public libraries selected for this pilot program.
     Resources consist of two bibliographic databases. One, open to
everyone but intended primarily for researchers and clinicians, covers the
fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care
system, and the preclinical sciences. The other covers more than three
hundred selected health topics intended for the general public and aimed at
a lay level of language and information. The site is equipped with a
synthesized voice reader.
     In addition, library staff, under the direction of Grace Lyons,
regional librarian, have compiled three listings of Internet resources
related to health or aging. "Major Health Resources on the Internet" is an
annotated listing of web sites offering information on assistive technology,
AMA listings of physician, major health organizations, drugs, and particular
diseases. Other lists are "Major Hearing Loss Resources on the Internet" and
"Major Resources for Senior Citizens on the Internet." All three are
available in print and on cassette.
Illinois. The regional library and its six subregionals have installed the
Keystone Library Automation System (KLAS), which allows all network
libraries throughout the state to share the same data. All staff have access
to the same statewide book collection and title listings, along with
information about patrons and patron services, machines, and books on loan.
     The new system allows many processes to be centralized and carried out
by the regional, thus reducing duplication of effort and allowing the
subregionals to concentrate on services to patrons. Common functions include
downloading new titles from NLS and adding subject headings, reporting to
NLS, and submitting address and magazine subscription changes to CMLS. New
functions available to the subregionals include printing their own mailing
labels and generating reports, as well as paperless interstate patron
transfers.
     Previously, the libraries were using a DRA system with a shared
database. The libraries now share a database server managed by the State
Library and accessed at the various libraries via the Internet from desktop
workstations. A smooth transition was accomplished by careful preparation
and multiple training sessions at the regional library and each subregional.
All libraries were operational within two weeks of the conversion.
     The regional, under the direction of Sharon Ruda, is located at the
State Library in Springfield, which is itself in transition. Most of the
collection is in storage while the building is under renovation.
Nevertheless, the library is circulating about 1,500 items a month.
Circulation at individual subregionals averages from 14,000 to 30,000 per
month, depending on the size of the population served. Average monthly
circulation statewide is approximately 115,000 titles.
The Xavier Society for the Blind
Editor's note: The article is part of an occasional series about religious
organizations that provide reading materials for blind, partially sighted,
and physically handicapped individuals.
The Xavier Society for the Blind was the first organization in the United
States to produce and provide spiritual and inspirational reading materials
(particularly Roman Catholic resources) for persons who are blind and
visually impaired. Margaret Coffey, a blind layperson troubled by the lack
of inspirational reading materials, founded the society one hundred years
ago. Father Joseph Stadleman, a Jesuit priest working with deaf people, and
several of Coffey's sighted friends began their work from a single room at
St. Francis Xavier College (now St. Xavier High School) in New York City.
The first materials produced served Coffey and three blind friends.
     Today, the Xavier Society is an institution serving 11,000 visually
impaired clients in the United States and Canada and more than 700 clients
worldwide. It has one of the largest specialized lending libraries in the
United States, maintaining a collection of more than 1,500 titles in large-print, audio cassette, and braille formats. In 1995, the Xavier Society was
the first organization to provide the Catechism of the Catholic Church in
all these formats.
     In 1918, the Xavier Society for the Blind began using braille instead
of its original New York Point for embossed materials. By 1937, it also made
reading materials available on phonograph records and in large print, thus
expanding its services to seriously vision-impaired and print-disabled
persons. Recording on audio cassette, referred to as Operation Cassette,
began in 1962, and the Society's extensive collection of cassette recordings
became a model for the future Library of Congress cassette library. In
addition, the New York Times sought the guidance of the Xavier Society in
1967, when it decided to publish a modified large-print edition of its
newspaper. In 1968, the Xavier Society started to offer its readers not only
full-length books on audio cassette, but also three Catholic weekly
publications and three monthly publications.
     The Xavier Society offers its services free of charge, relying on
donations, grants, and volunteer services. Although the material is Catholic
oriented, the Xavier Society provides its services to anyone who is
seriously vision impaired or print disabled. All of its titles are cataloged
on computers and are available on loan via direct mail. Titles are also
listed in the NLS International Union Catalog. Clients in the United States
and Canada can obtain their reading materials in braille, large-print, or
cassette formats. Only materials in braille are available to residents of
other countries.
     The Xavier Society for the Blind continues its commitment to serve the
blind and visually impaired just as it did one hundred years ago. It
continues to anticipate and embrace the benefits of new and experimental
technology by providing state-of-the-art resources to its clients. Many
dedicated volunteers contribute countless hours in monitoring voice
recordings, cataloging and repairing library books and tapes, transcribing
original texts, duplicating braille texts, proofreading newly transcribed
texts, and processing new applications. The work of the Xavier Society for
the Blind continues to be a source of inspiration and hope for those seeking
a wide range of reading materials.
(Information for this article is from "That All May See" by Maria Ruiz
Scaperlanda, published in the Linguorian, July-August 2000, pp. 14-16.)
International
At the 5th General Assembly of the World Blind Union (WBU) on November 20-24, 2000, in Melbourne, Australia, Canada's Rosemary Kavanagh presented a
paper stressing the need for cooperative effort by WBU and the International
Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). WBU is the
largest organization representing the interests and needs of blind people
worldwide. Kavanagh is chair of the Standing Committee of the IFLA's Section
of Libraries for the Blind (SLB).
     Her paper, "Transforming Libraries for the Blind in the Learning
Culture of the Information Age: The Role of the International Federation of
Library Associations (IFLA) and the World Blind Union (WBU)," focused on the
changing nature of library services to the blind and visually impaired
peoples of the world and the immensity of the challenges.
     To extend and improve library service throughout the world, Kavanagh
proposed that libraries serving blind persons should
    cooperate with national and other local libraries to develop advocacy
and marketing programs that would educate governments and consumers about
the needs of blind and visually impaired persons,
    eliminate duplicating library services that are already operational in
other libraries,
    adhere to mainstream library standards in organizing and distributing
their collections and seek cooperative agreements for sharing resources,
    engage in partnerships with universities and local libraries that have
access to the Internet and can assist in locating electronic content for
conversion to braille,
    promote social inclusiveness through cooperation with local, public,
academic, or national libraries in the communities where blind people live,
    negotiate worldwide arrangements with publishers and vendors to offer
access to thousands of journals and abstracts on any topic to blind people
everywhere,
    encourage the usage of digital resources (such as digital audio books)
to improve the availibility of more diverse titles for blind people, and
    participate in the Library of Congress international Union Catalog
(available online and on CD-ROM), which is the repository of worldwide
holdings of libraries for the blind.
     She concluded by urging all libraries to participate in IFLA and
especially in the SLB, which provides opportunities for training, awareness,
and project developments.
     "Membership in the SLB is the best opportunity libraries for the blind
have to become aware of developments in both mainstream libraries and
libraries for the blind, and learn about new library systems and
technologies. IFLA represents over 135 countries in the world and
specifically exists for promoting library services worldwide. Over 80
libraries for the blind are members of the SLB. Membership and participation
in these two organizations are crucial because libraries for the blind need
to solve problems together and create standards together in our ever-changing global society."
     In August 2001, IFLA's SLB will meet in the District of Columbia,
hosted by NLS.
(photo caption: Rosemary Kavanagh, chair of IFLA's Section of Libraries for
the Blind)
NISO committee concludes work, posts standard for public comment
In early February 2001, the National Information Standards Organization
(NISO) posted the draft digital talking book (DTB) standard on its web site
<www.niso.org> for public comment. This action represents the fruit of
several years of work by NISO Committee AQ, which developed the draft
document under NLS leadership. At a meeting held at NLS from January 10 to
12, 2001, the committee resolved nearly all open issues surrounding the
standard; the few problems remaining were solved by working groups by the
end of the month, after which the document was forwarded to NISO. Following
a thirty-day review period the document was scheduled to be updated based on
comments received and then sent to NISO voting members with the request that
it be accepted as a national standard.
     After several years of work, the committee was elated that the complex
process was nearing its end. Members agreed that they had no idea at the
outset how many new and highly technical subject areas they would have to
master in order to develop the standard. But they also were certain that the
results of their work--greatly enhanced capabilities for talking book
readers--would be worth the effort when the standard is put into practice.
     Members of DAISY Consortium work teams met at NLS on January 9 and 10
to develop work plans and then joined the NISO meeting, as many participants
are members of both groups and the concerns overlap.
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: Rita Byrnes, Jane Caulton, Irene Kost, and Ed O'Reilly