Matthijs Balfoort, Holland
Odissa Blanco, Cuba
Rodolfo Cattani, Italy
Henri Chauchat, France (Special Advisor)
Catherine Desbuquois, France
Jo Dister, Holland (Special Advisor)
Galina P. Diyanskaja, Russia
Rosemary Kavanagh, Canada
Hiroshi Kawamura, Japan
Stephen King, UK
Barbara Mates, USA
Michael Moodie, USA
Nic Snyman, South Africa
Marie-Pierre Tallec, France
Winnie Vitzansky, Denmark
Rainer Witte, Germany

Corresponding members:
Diane Bays, Canada
Barbara Fewtrell, Australia

Section News

Nomination time

It is now time to nominate new members of the Standing Committee. 1999 is Council year when elections take place during the Conference General in Bangkok. However nominations must be sent to IFLA Headquarters no later than 1 March 1999. To be nominated to the Standing Committee you need nominations from two IFLA member institutions. A nomination form was sent out to all members by IFLA Headquarters at the end of October.

The nomination must be accompanied by

Among the outgoing members in Bangkok are Karen Marie Ellefsen (Secretary of the SC), The Norwegian Library of Talking Books and Braille and Stephen King, Royal National institute for the Blind (RNIB) who served 2 terms and cannot be reelected. The Standing Committee will also have to elect a new chairperson as I have served two terms of office, which is the maximum. However I will stay on the Committee another two years.

Beatrice Christensen Sköld

Standing Committee Meetings

Two meetings of the Standing Committee were held on Saturday August 15th 1998 at the Okura Hotel in Amsterdam and August 21, 1998 at the RAI Amsterdam with twenty observers in total attending. With the cooperation of the National Library of Canada, Terry Kuny, provided an overview of Metadata and its importance to assist the Metadata Committee and educate Section members regarding standards appropriate to libraries for the blind. Committee business focused on the African Seminar in Grahamstown, South Africa, a Seminar in French speaking Africa and the upcoming pre-conference on libraries for the blind in Malaysia and the Open Session planned for the IFLA Conference in Bangkok August 20-28 1999.

Overcoming the Barriers

The theme for the open session held on August 19, 1998 at the IFLA Conference in Amsterdam was AOvercoming the Barriers of the Virtual Library: Linking Communities, People and Service@. Marten Verboom gave a presentation on >>Electronic Library Services for the Visually Disabled in the Netherlands.@ He described how the creation of the Federation of the Libraries for the Blind in the Netherlands would lead to a more efficient, coherent and accessible service including the development of existing electronic services into a complete electronic library for people with reading disabilities. But graphical interfaces are still a challenge except for a small group of skilled computer users. Consequently, a specially designed user interface is required for access to the information society.

Hiroshi Kawamura's paper A Disabilities Information Resources: accessible Website Building Merges Daisy on the Internet@ described how the Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons With Disabilities (JSRPD) is building an accessible multimedia website to disseminate information on disabilities. Software which includes non-visual browser, telephone-browser and DAISY compliant recording software have been developed. Standards are based on both DAISY and W3C.

Rosemary Kavanagh (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) and Michael Moodie (Library of Congress) discussed linking collections in their paper entitled APreparing for the Millennium: Linking Libraries for the Print-Disabled@. High costs and delays for transcribing materials limit availability in accessible formats, consequently libraries must link their holdings to close the information gap. The use of the Z39.50 protocol promises more timely solutions and inspires hope of far greater access by print disabled people by linking library collections across continents.

David Mann's paper ARights V. Rights - When Copying is Not Copying: How Copyright Impinges on Digital Media and Visually Impaired Readers@ highlighted the copyright barriers in the context of the information society. The historical context is described and recent legislation summarised, issues raised by the information technology as well as potential solutions are addressed.

Readers with Special Needs

This workshop was held on August 19, 1998 at the IFLA Conference in Amsterdam joint with Section of Libraries for the Blind and Section of Libraries Serving Disadvantaged Persons. The Theme: Readers with special Needs: their library service needs and experiences, was amplified in several papers presented. In a first time ever presentation by a deaf-blind person at IFLA, Shin Kadokawa ( Councillor of Japan Deaf-Blind Association, Osaka, Japan) spoke passionately about the importance of braille library service to deaf blind persons. Lotta Rosentröm (Swedish Easy-to-Read Foundation, Stockholm, Sweden) described initiatives to provide people who are mentally retarded with easy-to-read books by using intermediators.

Marij Schols from the Dutch Library of Talking Books and Braille talked about large print services in Netherlands and Belgium. Of great interest was the large print-on-demand services. Cathy Evans, UK, introduced the new Antidiscrimination Act in the United Kingdom and how it can be applied in libraries. Finally Marie-Pierre Tallec who is working as librarian at the Mediatheque of the Cité, a technical museum in Paris, gave a presentation. She gave us a lively description of how her clients use the Louis Braille Room of the Mediatheque and how they are helped to a normal assimilated life by using the same information sources as sighted people.

African Seminar

February 17-19, 1999 the Section of Libraries for the Blind in cooperation with South African Library for the Blind, is holding a seminar on Library Services to Blind and Print Handicapped readers, in Grahamstown, South Africa.

For more information please contact South African Library for the Blind, PO Box 115, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa, Telephone +27-46-622 7226, Fax +27-46-622 7650, e-mail: blindlib@iafrica.com

Pre-conference on Bridging the Gap 1999

Prior to the IFLA General Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, the Section is planning to hold a preseminar in Malaysia in cooperation with the Round Table of Mobile Libraries. For more information please contact Karen Marie Ellefsen (Secretary of the Standing Committee), Fax +47-22607473, e-mail: karen.m.ellefsen@nlb.no

Theme:
Bridging the Gap in the Provision of Library Services and Literacy Support for the Blind in Realising the Information Age

Venue: Penang, Malaysia
Date: 18 August, Tuesday-20 August, Thursday 1999
Fees: USD400 Including 5 star accommodation for 3 nights

Draft Programme

August 18: Arrival and optional study tour in the afternoon
August 19: 09.30 Opening Ceremony; 10.30 Coffee break; 11.00 Session1: Library services for the blind: Experiences from the Region.; 13.00 Lunch; 14.30 Session 2: Mobile libraries and the latest trends in library services for the blind. Exhibitors introductions
August 20: 08.30 Session 3: The Digital Talking Book.; 10.30 Coffee Break; 11.00 Session 4: Computerised braille production; 13.00 Lunch; 14.00 Session 5: Tactile material; 16.30 Plan of action; 17.00: Closing remarks

Braille Guidelines receive IFLA Support

A project of the Standing Committee of the Section of Libraries for the Blind, the Braille Guidelines have been accepted by the IFLA Professional Board and are to be published in the IFLA Journal 5/6. The Braille Guidelines were developed by the Committee to promote the importance and value of braille in the literacy of blind people and to urge libraries to provide access to braille materials. As stated in the guidelines:

" Neither technology nor taped recordings are acceptable substitutes for an inability to read and write in both the sighted and blind communities. The foundation of literacy in both communities is the ability to read and write print or braille. The following principles are intended to extend the spirit of the [Public Library] Manifesto to all types of library service for blind and visually impaired users where literacy and access are critical factors in empowering those unable to use print"

It is expected that advocates for braille literacy and for services to blind people will use the guidelines to make braille collections accessible everywhere. A brochure for the guidelines is being planned by IFLA.

The World

President of the World Blind Union addresses National Conference of Librarians

World Blind Union President, Euclid Herie spoke to the National Conference of Librarians serving Blind and Physically Handicapped Individuals in Burlington, Vermont May 4, 1998. He urged Librarians to rise to the challenge of improving library services to blind people all over the world and observed that:

The reality is that a majority of blind people in this world live in societies where life is desperate and poor without the means to help most of their citizens. Many of these societies do not have basic requirements such as clean water, food and safe shelter. In addition to poverty many blind people live with social restrictions more severe than that for the general population.

He explained to the group the role and function of the World Blind Union and the importance of library service in enhancing learning opportunities for blind people everywhere.

The FORCE Foundation, Libraries and visually impaired readers

A New Foundation

In many regions people with a visual handicap suffer a double penalty when it comes to accessing information. There is already a great inequality between the availability of information in the industrialised countries and the rest of the world. Secondly, within the developing countries the gap between the information-rich and information-poor is usually much greater than the norm in industrialised countries. In developing countries handicapped people often find themselves on the outer fringes of society.

In 1998 a new international organisation was established to support those working in developing countries to provide better access to information and reading materials, and through these to have access to culture and knowledge.

This organisation is the FORCE Foundation, based in The Hague in The Netherlands. It is staffed by a team well experienced in library skills in support of visually handicapped people from The Netherlands and other countries.

The professional Dutch library community has already undertaken a long-term policy to assist libraries in developing countries. In this context, certain specialists proposed the setting up of resource centres for libraries for print handicapped readers in developing countries and the countries of the former Soviet Union. The concept of Aprint handicap@ is much broader than that of Avisual handicap@ in that it includes those who cannot readily read printed materials because of other disabilities such as dyslexia or physical handicap which prevents the holding of a book. It was therefore decided that support would be given to the establishment of the new organisation.

The Foundation benefits from the support of many professional organisations, IFLA, WBU, the Dutch Federation of Library Associations (FOBID) together with institutions and associations for and of blind people in other countries.

International Co-operation

FORCE is a member of IFLA as an independent organisation and a co-operation agreement between the organisations is being drawn up.

The Standing Committee of the IFLA Section Libraries for the Blind is discussing themes such as the production of spoken books, inter-library loans of alternative format materials, authors' rights, exemptions on postal tariffs, braille production, etc. The decisions taken by the Standing Committee can often result in savings for libraries. FORCE will be co-operating with the Section and ensuring co-ordination rather than duplication of effort. In the same way FORCE hopes to co-operate with the Regional Sections of IFLA and with its ALP Programme.

The Secretary General of the World Blind Union (WBU) is a member of the Board of Recommendation of FORCE and the Foundation collaborates with various professionals in developing countries who are associated with the WBU. The Foundation also has good working relationships with various committees within the European Blind Union.

FORCE has contacts with various sectors of UNESCO and is examining the possibilities of working together in projects in the programme for 2000 B 2001 and beyond.

FORCE has just carried out consultation meetings with a broad range of European organisations and institutions specialised in supporting the needs of blind and visually impaired people. These organisations B from the public sector, specialist and charity bodies and those charged with providing aid to developing countries B have provided FORCE with valuable advice.

Co-operation will be the key to FORCE's operations. For example, any activities in Spanish speaking America would be unthinkable without prior consultation and co-operation with the Spanish National Organisation of the Blind (ONCE), which is already very active across that region.

Proposed activities

FORCE proposes to undertake the following

To establish an information service about library services for print handicapped people and to disseminate that information to different target groups through various means including the Foundation's own web-site (www.f-force.nl). There are also proposals for an information bulletin.
The organisation of regional workshops. FORCE is providing a two-day workshop on tactile drawings as part of the Conference organised by the National Council for the Blind of Malaya. A workshop is being organised for the Crimea '99 Conference in June 1999. Workshops are also foreseen for Anglophone and Francophone Africa and Latin America, the latter possibly including the production of alternative formats of sheet music.
The creation of ARegional Resource Centres@ in selected countries to support professional practice and training in those countries and the regions. Centres are proposed for Francophone and Anglophone Africa, Latin America and Asia. Further centres may be considered depending on needs and available resources.
Help create a system of inter-library loan. The production of alternative format materials is very expensive. Inter-library loan can be a way of reducing costs.
FORCE can offer, on request, local help with the creation or development of libraries and/or production of materials within the financial limits at that moment. FORCE can also support training through the provision of experts or of transferring people to be trained to other centres of expertise.
Other short-term actions are also possible, in response to demand. A recent example is the payment of transport costs for a large quantity of braille paper from major European producer to production units in Cuba, Lithuania and Pakistan. Often such basic resources are in short supply in developing countries and the redistribution of surpluses can help.

FORCE supported 25 visually impaired people (and their guides) from Africa, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe, as delegates to the IFLA International Conference held in Amsterdam in August 1998. FORCE will be looking at all proposals within its area of interest that could benefit developing countries. It goes without saying that no project will be approved without first consulting the appropriate experts in the countries concerned. Those wishing to submit proposals to FORCE are requested to send an outline to the Secretariat. A more detailed document about FORCE will be sent on request.

The FORCE address is:

Platinaweg 10
2544 EZ The Hague
The Netherlands

Telephone: +31 70 3090 336
Fax: +31 70 3090 337

Centenary of Free Postal Service celebrated in Canada

On October 29th the CNIB on the occasion of its 80th Anniversary unveiled its Canada-Cross Country sculpture by Robert Murray an outstanding Canadian sculptor to celebrate Free Postal Service for the Blind. The Chief Executive Officer of Canada Post Corporation, Andre Ouellette, along with Bill Tsoukalis of Canada Post who has for fifteen years delivered books from the Post Office to CNIB�s Toronto offices attended. The plaque although honouring Canada Post celebrates free postage for the blind everywhere:

In celebration of the centenary of free transmission through the mail of braille and audio literature for blind Canadians and with gratitude to the Parliament of Canada and to the men and women of the Postal Service.

This visionary service set a world standard to assure that all may read and have equal access to information and the pursuit of culture leisure and lifelong learning.@

Childrens Service

Public Libraries are for Blind Children too!
Together with The National Federation of the Blind, The American Council of the Blind, The Cleveland Sight Center Library for the Blind & Physically Handicapped the Cleveland Public Library developed the Read Together Program. Over the summer ten braille books were read by children with multiple handicaps who participated in the program. The children were mainstreamed into the reading club at the Martin Luther King Branch and received their award certificate both in print and Braille at the Branch's Award ceremony. Braille readers and students were recruited to support the program whose purpose was to enhance braille literacy for children. In addition to the Braille tutoring, the tutors and the children learned that public libraries exist for them too and they are welcome to visit.

Canada

Over 100 blind Canadian children from every Province participated in the Library's summer reading program >Hungry for Books' Each child received an activity package including vegetable seeds, Mcdonalds coupons >crazy cutlery and straws', chopsticks, muffin mix, stickers, and a reading list with food as the theme. Prizes were given for the most books read and the writing contest.
The Third Annual Creative Writing and Braille Accuracy Contest was held by the CNIB Library in May of this year with over 38 children from across Canada participating. Cash prizes some at $200 provided at four grade levels for both short stories and poetry in English and French.

United Kingdom

The National Library for the Blind has recently launched its Fiction Cafe of books for young children on the World Wide Web. Visit the site at http://www.nlbuk.org.

CNIB wins Stevie Wonder Award

The Canadian National Institute for the Blind is the winner of the prestigious Stevie Wonder SAP Award for the role model organization of the year. Among the distinguishing highlights mentioned was the CNIB Library for the Blind and its Information Resource Centre. The Award was presented in New York on August 13, 1998 to Jim Sanders, Vice President Client Services and Technology. CNIB was selected from 69 organizations.

RNIB develops new guide to Internet for Blind Users

A new free guide for blind and partially sighted people detailing how to get connected to, and make the most of, the Internet has been published by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB ). The Internet and How to Access it, takes readers on a guided tour explaining what it is, how to access it, its benefits and how to avoid any pitfalls users might encounter. It is available on disk, tape, in Braille and large print.

Braille Readers threatened

The Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) is concerned that blind and partially sighted people are to be denied opportunities to read Braille if Government changes to the funding of embossed literature are implemented. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is proposing to remove an annual grant of , 200,000, paid to RNIB to produce embossed literature. Since the Conservative Government cut and froze the Braille grant from ,250,000 to ,200,000 in 1991, RNIB has been forced to increase its subsidy for the production of Braille. This includes: text books, materials and exam papers to allow children with serious sight problems to follow the National Curriculum as well as allowing others to read for work, leisure and education.

Barriers facing Jobseekers revealed

A new report from the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) reveals that blind and partially sighted students looking for work are less likely to receive careers advice and work experience than sighted students. This, despite the fact that their academic achievements equal their sighted peers. The UK wide survey AWhat Next?@ set out to identify the factors that helped or hindered the participation of visually impaired people in education and employment. Nearly 200 blind and partially sighted students took part in the survey for RNIB.

New Student Information Pack

A wealth of up to date advice and information for blind and partially sighted students and the professionals who work with them is available from the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). The new edition of the RNIB Student Information Pack 1998/9 has been compiled in response to the many requests which RNIB receives from blind and partially sighted people who are either currently studying at college or university or who are considering their future career options. It is also a valuable resource to for professionals offering guidance and information to students including library and information services.

SNOW Website an Experiment in accessing Information

SNOW Web Site http://snow.utoronto.ca offers a special service to teachers of students with special needs. The CNIB Library for the Blind is a partner in this unique arrangement to offer resources to school teachers and family members of blind and visually impaired students. For example in response to requests for more support for Grade One Braille the CNIB Library has made AOne is Fun: Guidelines for Better Braille Literacy@ by Marjorie Troughton available on the SNOW Website. Unique tactual experiences for blind students and teachers were arranged by the CNIB Library with the Art Gallery of Ontario to help expand student experience with math, arts and culture. The SNOW project has given the CNIB an opportunity to be part of the new teaching and learning paradigm.

Phase One of VISUTEXT launched

VISUTEXT is one of the modules of VISUNET:CANADA launched at IFLA in 1997 providing access to electronic and digital collections of the CNIB Library. You can visit VISUTEXT at hhttp://www.cnib.ca/library/index.htm, on the Web.

CNIB wins Stevie Wonder Award

RNIB develops new guide to Internet for Blind Users

Braille Readers threatened

Barriers facing Jobseekers revealed

New Student Information Pack

SNOW Website an Experiment in accessing Information

Phase One of VISUTEXT launched

VISUTEXT is one of the modules of VISUNET:CANADA launched at IFLA in 1997 providing access to electronic and digital collections of the CNIB Library. You can visit VISUTEXT at
http://www.cnib.ca/library/visutext.htm, on the Web.

New Books

Doctor's Thesis about Tactile Pictures

The thesis investigated the relationships between the philosophical, psychological and pedagogical theories on tactile perception and the design of relief pictures and maps for the visually impaired from 1784 to 1940. One of the results presented is that the pictures and maps produced for the teaching of the blind were from an early date based on explicit theories of tactile perception. Consequently, the thesis also considers problems related to visual communication, since visual representations were used as the basis of tactile representation.

Neither technology nor taped recordings are acceptable substitutes for an inability to read and write in both the sighted and blind communities. The foundation of literacy in both Earlier theories for teaching the blind originated from the theory and methodology of teaching by object- lesson and played an important role in the teaching of the blind during the 19th and 20th centuries. Relief pictures, maps, and models were used to illustrate concepts and phenomena. This study is the first comprehensive investigation of the representation of pictures for the visually impaired from the perspective of history and the theory of pictures.

The thesis proves that the production of tactile pictures and maps have a longer tradition than has been recognised, and that teachers of the blind were following the general development of the expanding printing industry of the 18th and the 19th centuries. It also documents a considerable number of inaccessible pictures and maps in widely scattered collections of pioneers and experimenters Alston, Guldberg, Moons, Kunz, Vogel and Thilander.

Individual picture books produced by other printers using a variety of techniques are also considered, such as Ektypographischer Bilderwörtenbuch, A Picture-Book for the Blind, A Toy Book with Imitation of the Verses and A Picture Book in color for the Blind.

Yvonne Eriksson: Tactile Pictures. Pictorial representations for the blind 1784-1940 is published by Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, Adress: PB 222, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden. TPB has decided to produce the book both in braille and audio.

Latest Revision: January 26, 1999