   
Newsletter of the Section of Libraries for the BlindFall ‘96Conference and Meetings NewsEXPERT MEETING-1997The Section’s Expert Meeting of Libraries for the Blind is scheduled to be held August 26-29, 1997 prior to the IFLA General Conference. The theme will be “Information Technology and Library Service f/t Visually Impaired”. There will be numerous workshops, papers, and planned social activities. The conference venue is the Hotel Hvide Hus, Strandvejen 111, 4600 Koege, Denmark. The conference is projected to cost $600. (USD) and will include the fee, accomodations for 3 nights, meals and a get-together reception on the evening prior to the start of the meetings. Further information may be obtained fromWinnie Vitzansky, Director, The Danish National Library f/t Blind, Teglvaerksgade 37, DK-2100, Copenhagen O, Denmark, Phone 45-39-27-4444, FAX 45-39-27-1021, E-mail: DBB@DBB.bibnet.dk A complete and final program will appear in the Spring Newsletter. (A Note to Developing Countries: A grant from DANIDA to the Danish ‘97 Organizing Committee will allow the Organizing Committee to support the participation of a number of delegates from developing countries. A second purpose is to acquaint recipients with Danish libraries and their services. The grant will cover travel, accomodation, a per diem allowance and the conference fees. Priority will be given to younger professionals with minimum 5 years of experience in the field of libraries. Applications, including professional C.V. and information on present occupation should be sent as soon as possible and no later than February 1, 1997 to:
IFLA ‘97 COPENHAGEN, Danish Organizing Committee, C/O National Library Authority, Nyhavn 31E., DK-1051 Copenhagen, Denmark.
For further information contact: FAX: +45 3393 0788, E-mail: ifla-97@inet.uni-c.dk THE 62nd IFLA GENERAL CONFERENCEReport by Karen Marie EllefsenThe largest IFLA General conference ever took place in Beijing, 25-31 August 1996. The theme of the conference was “The Challenge of Change: Libraries and Economic Development”. In attendance were 1376 international and 800 Chinese delegates. Thanks to the Chinese Local Organizing Committee, more than 200 meetings were carried out successfully. Careful planning in advance made everything smooth: simultaneous interpretation, transportation, meals, special arrangements. Every section had more than one Chinese liaison to help with paper handling, translations, messages, technical equipment etc. Our Section was represented at the Open Forum by Mr. Frédéric Plain-Japy, who gave his paper in French: “Origines et genese du braille dans le monde; les origines de l’ecriture tactile”. At the Open Session, which attracted 43 persons, our Section had 4 papers under the headline of “National Strategies”. Papers were presented by Song Jianmin, Shellatay Devadason, Winnnie Vitzansky and Hiroshi Kawamura. “Advancing the Next Generation of Talking Book Systems” was the theme of half a day’s -Workshop. Papers were presented by Ingar Beckman Hirschfeldt, Beatrice Christensen Sköld, Stephen King, Hiroshi Kawamura and Diana Hjort. The DAISY project and the Plextor player were presented and demonstrated. A very special event took place during the week, as Mr. Song Jianmin, the Director of the China Library for the Blind invited all interested persons to a study tour, which included a tea-party with Chinese collegues. The tour was both interesting and pleasent, and all attendants were impressed by the achievements of the Library, which was founded in 1994. It appeared that the Library is a part of the Chinese Braille Publishing House, which employes 174 persons. The Library uses modern technology in the production of braille and houses approximately 2,000 titles in 20,000 copies. Postal delivery of braille books are free of charge in China. The China Library for the Blind is planning for the future. They want to start production of talking books and also to produce large print for visually impaired persons. For further information the following paper can be obtained from the IFLA Headquarters: “Present Situation and Strategy for Further Development of the China Library for the Blind” by Song Jiamin. (221-BLIND-5 English or Chinese). CopyrightAnother important theme of the 62 IFLA Conference was Copyright. A Pre-Conference Seminar on Copyright took place in Tianjin Public Library, 21-24 August 1996.During the General Conference the Section of University Libraries and other General Libraries hosted an open meeting on Copyright. Three papers were presented: Sandy Norman (FLA) presented Emanuella Giavarras’ (European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Association, Brussels) paper, “ECUP - European Copyright User Platform”. We also got a situation report from the United States by Duane E.Webster, Association of Research Libraries, Washington D.C. Copyright is of critial concern for libraries. In the recognition of this, IFLA has produced a position paper which was approved by the Professional Board on Aug. 23, 1996 entitled, “IFLA Position Paper on Copyright in the Electronic Environment”. Finally, the Section’s only professional resolution also concerned Copyright. REPORT: THE FORUM ON FUTURE AUDIOBOOK TECHNOLOGIESOrganized by the Technology Committee of the CNIB Library for the Blind, in conjunction with the meetings of the World Blind Union August 23, 1996by Paul E. Thiele, Director, Crane Resource Centre University of B.C. Fred Poon, manager, Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired, B.C., and I attended a one day Forum on new audiobook technologies, organized by the CNIB Library for the Blind, Toronto. The Library’s Subcomittee on Technology organized six presentations from key international developers of new talking book technologies and invited a number of guests from other agencies and organizations which produce audiobooks. New audiobook technologies revolve around two main issues; -- the need for a new medium to replace the outdated, inefficient and highly fragile Phillips-style tape cassette and the need for structured random access to the contents of the recorded book. One of the presenters, Kjell Hansson of the Swedish Library of Talking Books and Braille made the analogy that reading an audiobook for the blind is like a sighted person trying to read a novel printed on a roll of bathroom tissue. The process can best be accomplished if one reads from beginning to end; finding a specific passage or page is virtually impossible and the medium is almost as fragile and vulnerable to breakage as tape cassettes. In addition to a more permanent medium and the need for random access to the audio text, there is the equally important issue of the relatively short life expectancy of the Phillips-style cassette, which some predict will be phased out altogether within the next eight to ten years. Response to these issues has been somewhat slow and disorganized with virtually no unanimity on the nature of the solutions but a number of impressive research and development efforts from a number of sources but no declared front runners at this point and certainly no major funding efforts on hand to support development of one universal standard format, which is highly alarming. The Forum brought together presentations and in many cases demonstrations from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress, the DAISY SYSTEM, developed by Labyrinten Data AB, Sweden on behalf of the Swedish Talking Book and Braille Library, the PLEXTOR programmable CD playback device, developed by a Japanese electronics firm, the DIGITAL TALKING BOOK READER, a software product being developed by a Quebec company connected to the Institut Nazareth et Louis Braille, the DIGITAL AUDIO PROJECT, a dual medium, speech and e text combination, developed recently by Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic Inc. And the IBM DIGITAL LIBRARY PROJECT, a complete audiobook production, storage, medium and distribution analysis produced by IBM, Germany on behalf of the Danish Library for the Blind, Copenhagen. The forum also offered ample opportunities for discussions, feedback, hands-on tryouts, demonstations and brainstorming. NATIONAL LIBRARY SERVICE FOR THE BLIND AND PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT AND RESEARCH PROGRAM.John Cookson, Head, Engineering Section, reported on a number of commercial software encoding programs he had reviewed for the purpose of structuring audiobook materials. None apparently was successful.N.L.S. administers a research and development budget of several million dollars annually and has been responsible in the past for the development of the four track extended cassette playback format and equipment, the flexible disc format for expendable materials such as magazines and for many other innovations in audiobook and Braille formats and equipment. Mr. Cookson reported that NLS does not have a definitive format, direction or system in mind and that it is continuing to consider various options. THE DAISY SYSTEMThe Swedish Library of Talking Books and Braille, one of the most progressive and modern multiservice producers and disseminators of alternate format materials commissioned Labyrinten Data A.B. a software designer, to develop a sound recording encoding software package to permit the structuring of materials recorded by human readers. Once appropriately structured, audio books would then provide the user with random access to sections of the book by page number, chapter heading, key word, subject, or any other access point chosen at the production source.DAISY (for Digital Audio-based Information System) is based on digital technology using personal computers as hardware platform. Design goals were:
The central concept of the system is “Phase-based Data Handling” in which the recorded narrator’s voice is divided into small data bits called segments and phrases. Phrases, which are the smallest unit in the system are the accounting and record-keeping funtion of the system which can be flagged and entered into a table of contents in order to search and access specific and designated parts of the audio book. Moreover, the system does not record silences or normal breathing spaces as normal data, but simply registers it and measures its length, providing an automatic stop/stop function and allowing the user playback in faster or slower than realtime. In addition, the digital compacting of audio material permits playback capacity of 15 30 hours on a regular CD, sufficient to produce most text or leisure titles on just one container or medium, the most obvious distribution medium at present is the recordable CD or CDR, played on a personal computer with speech or Soundblaster hardware or dedicated portable CD player. The DAISY system can be used in original recording or to convert old analogue transcriptions into the new format, The presenters envisage the system and the company literature underscores the direction, as being of particular appeal to students requiring recorded textbooks. However, since books and materials can be structured at will, with as much or as little information as is needed, the system appears equally applicable to recreational material and will permit the transcription of such general information materials as cookbooks, recorded dictionaries, encyclopaedias, home repair manuals and many other items currently not available. PLEXTALKMr. Motoaki Kaneko, Vice President and Mr. Tatsuo Nishizawa, Manager of Shinano Kenshi Co. Ltd. gave a presentation on the PLEXTALK unit, which promises to be the platform for the next generation of talking book.PLEXTALK is a CD/ROM player with built in speech module and a ten key telephone style touch pad. The prototype shown at the Forum was intended for tabletop use; the production unit will be portable and handheld. It will play audiobooks on structured CD’s and provide the same text access options as a personal computer. It provides playback of audio books from 15 30 hours on a single, standard CD with full random text access opportunities. The unit is intended as replacement or supplemental platform for digitized audiobooks. The suggested production model cost will be around $200. U.S. The PLEXTALK unit is being marketed in conjunction with the DAISY system. Shinano Kenshi Co. Ltd is a very old, large and diversified company, manufacturing textiles, electric motors and industrial machinery. Presently it is the largest manufacturer of CD/ROM drives, which are installed in major brands of computers. THE DIGITAL TALKING BOOK READERGiles Pepin, Director, VISUAIDE CO, Montreal in association with the Insitut Nazareth et Louis Braille, gave a presentation on a software based approach to recording audiobook materials, which is being developed by his company. The VISUAIDE system will concentrate on French language commands, and will most likely use a recordable CD as its distribution medium as well.RECORDING FOR THE BLIND AND DYSLEXIC (RFBD). DIGITAL AUDIO PROJECTRFBD, North America’s and possibly the world’s largest producer and distributor of recorded text and vocational support materials, has for only the last eight months been developing a most unique and highly impressive dual purpose/function structuring program. The program combines a regularly recorded audiobook with an e text version on the same platform. The end user is able to flip back and forth between the acoustic voice recording and the e text read in synthetic speech. This permits checking on spelling, punctuation, structure, etc. while still maintaining the dynamics and reality of a live verbal reading. An added bonus for persons with print disabilities is the therapeutic value of having a voice reading while the print text is simultaneously displayed on the screen, thus providing the double impress effect favoured by many dyslexia experts and by many print disabled individuals as well.RFBD also intends to use recordable CD’s as present distribution medium, playable on personal computers with speech output. The organization expects to have the first Digital Audio Books in production shortly and will begin offering them to their clients along with cassette and e text formats. The RFBD presentation and demonstration was co ordinated by John Churchill, Vice President, Operations. THE DANISH LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND DIGITAL LIBRARY PROJECTDr. Hans Schumacher and Mr. Uwe Fischer of IBM Germany gave a presentation on their consultancy to the Danish Library for the Blind, Copenhagen on the design of a comprehensive library digitization project. This involves the production of digital and digitised audiobooks, a master storage system on data tapes, automated circulation, distribution and statistics production as well as plans for distribution of audio and braille materials by e mail directly to the home PC’s of clients.This comprehensive plan may sound futuristic, but is realistic and doable even with to day’s technology. It should also be bome in mind that visually impaired readers in Scandinavian countries have been exposed to a number of technological firsts including national newspapers in digital format, delivered to home computers by radio transmission and many others. Patrons with this type of previous experience, will likely be very amenable to technology driven library services. IBM Germany is also recommending the recordable CD as the distribution medium for audiobooks. THE CRANE DIGITAL MUSIC TEXTBOOKAlthough not part of the formal presentations, I had the opportunity of discussing the Crane Digital Music Textbook Project with several of the presenters and participants.We have recently completed the fully digital recording of a standard Music text and anthology, THE ENJOYMENT OF MUSIC, 6th edition, by Joseph Machlis. The recording combines reading of the text, playing of musical notation, performed libretti and other vocal samples and selections of recorded music passages from the set of CD’s accompanying the text. This unique, multi media transcription was made possible by a grant from the University of British Columbia’s TEACHING AND LEARNING ENHANCEMENT FUND, which made possible the acquisition in part of sophisticated digital recording equipment and employment of senior and graduate students in Music, Film Production and Speech Sciences to undertake this complex production. The master recording of this text is contained on Digital Audio Tapes. Circulating copies will be made available on standard C 90 cassettes. My discussions with Forum participants centred on the possibility of structuring the material in DAISY or similar format for use on CD ROMs. CONCLUSIONThe Forum demonstrated that technologies are available now, which will considerably enhance the recorded audiobook, the most popular universal substitute for print documents for persons with vision or print limitations.The emphasis in current research and development on transcription performed by human narrator, but structured with relatively simple encoding information, to permit programmed random access to significant parts of the book, such as chapter, pages, subjects, keywords or any other salient points, is what patrons are requesting and what is needed to equalise their reading and information needs. Unanimity among most presenters regarding a new circulation medium to replace the inefficient and fragile tape cassette with a more stable and highly efficient medium, the CD, is also a move in the right direction. The promise of at least one purposedesigned, highly economical playback system and the fact that recordable CD’s are even currently within the price range of analogue master and cassette tapes, combined with the fact that all presenters emphasized an original transcription and structuring process which is not dependent on any one distribution medium, but which is designed with adaptability to market changes, are all highly positive indicators. The major caution is that the proposed new audiobook technology should not be regarded as applying only to textbooks for student use. The last thing audiobook users or producers need is another incompatible format. In order for the proposed technologies to be successful, they must be accepted universally and across the board for economical as well as practical reasons. REFERENCESLeith, Lynne, DIGITIZATION OF THE BOOK,A Report on Present Trends, Toronto, CNIB, 1996
DAISY DIGITAL TALKING BOOK SYSTEM, DATA FORMAT SPECIFICATIONS,
THE DAISY DIGITAL TALKING BOOK SYSTEM, A SYSTEM PRESENTATION, SEMINAR IN AFRICA-1998The section will hold a training seminar on library service to the visually impaired in cooperation with the Section on Regional Activities, Africa and ALP. The South African Library for the Blind in Grahamstown, South Africa, is expected to host the seminar which is scheduled to be held in February, 1998.Publications“Proceedings of the Summit on Print Disability Services-Negotiating the Information Superhighway with a Print Disability”. Available in print, large print, disk and braille from the “Round Table”,c/o Treasurer, Round Table, Royal Blind Society, P.O. Box 176, Burwood, NSW 2134 Australia. The Cost is $30. (Aus) per copy.
The British Journal of Visual Impairment is a quarterly publication offering detailed articles addressed to all those professionally concerned with children and adults who have a visual impairment and is a national forum for all views on related subjects. The subscription rate is 28 (Br. Pounds) per year and is available from Exhall Grange, Wheelwright Lane, Coventry, CV7 9HP, United Kingdom. Infama is a South African Journal published bi-monthly by the South African National Council of the Blind. It its available in print, braille and tape through voluntary subscription. Ordering information is available from The Editor, P.O. Box 11149, Brooklyn, 0011 South Africa. Web SitesNational Library of Australia (To access the Link-Up Newsletter)- URL://www.nla.gov.au/dis/linkup/
The Seeing Eye (U.S. oldest guide dog school)-
The American Foundation for the Blind-
Lions World Services for the Blind-
Telesensory (Technical products for people with visual impairments)-
Descriptive Video Service-
Enabling Technologies Company (Manufacturer of Braille Embossers)-
Blindness Resource Center (For products and services related to braille)- Index Braille Printer Company- http://www.braille.se
Kurzweil Educational Systems (Reading systems f/t Blind)-
IN TOUCH Networks, Inc. and the Kansas Audio Reader (Download radio readings of English-language newspapers and magazines)-
ALSO: Check the IFLA JOURNAL for library-related sites. The MarketplaceThe American Foundation for the Blind has published is newest catalog of materials. Available for sale are publications, videos, textbooks, directories, etc. To obtain a catalog, contact AFB atll Penn Plaza, Suite 300, New York, N.Y. 10001, USA, or call them at 1-800-232-3044 or on the web at http://www.afb.org/afb/catalog.html.
The American Printing House for the Blind announces its 1996-97 catalog of products for people who are blind or visually impaired. This 150 page catalog offers the latest in electronic and other important and everyday items. Order the catalog from APH by writing them at P.O. Box 6085, Louisville, Kentucky 40206-0085, or call them at 1-800-223-1839 or by FAX at 502-899-2274.
Sighted Electronics, Inc. is a company offering sales of computers and adaptive technology. A catalog is available from them located at
Large Print Books (Fiction and non-fiction) for sale through Severn House Publishers, Inc.. For a catalog, write to them at 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10022 USA or call 1-800-830-3044 Calls for AssistanceThe following organizations have requested assistance in the areas of providing materials (braille books, recorded materials, a braille press, training materials, etc.). Send your donations and/or offers of support technical/training assistance to:Blind Education and Rehabilitation Development Organisation, House No. 2/6, Road No. 1, Shamoli, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh, Phone (02)911-4708, FAX 880-2-817426 and Louse International Braille Book House, 120/3, Gasmahal Road, Hazarebag, Dhaka-1209, Bangladesh Future IFLA General Conferences1997 Copenhagen, Denmark1998 Amsterdam, Netherlands 1999 Bangkok, Thailand 2000 Jerusalem, Israel 2001 Boston, Massachusetts, USA 2002 Glasgow, Scotland The Next Newsletter will be Published Spring 1997For all submissions, send them to the editor:
Bruce E. Massis, IFLA/SLB NEWSLETTER C/O IN TOUCH NETWORKS, INC. 15 W. 65th Street New York, N.Y. 10023 Tel. (212)769-7840 FAX(212)769-6266 E-mail: bemass@aol.com
| |||
 |
|||
|
| |||
| Latest Revision: November 6, 1996 |
Copyright © 1995-2000
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions www.ifla.org | ||