IFLA Best Newsletter 2000 and 2001
The IFLA/LBS Newsletter is issued twice a year.
Editors:
Lina Kouzi
Information Coordinator
National Council for the
Blind of Ireland
Whitworth Road
Drumcondra
Dublin 9
Ireland
Tel: +353-1850-33 43 53
Fax: +353-1-830 77 87
E-mail: lina.kouzi@ncbi.ie
Beatrice Christensen Sköld
Chair
TPB
122 88 Enskede
Tel: +46-8-39 93 74
Fax: +46-8-659 94 67
E-mail: bea.christensen@tpb.se
The Newsletter is available in Braille and on diskette.
Content
Standing Committee Members
Chairperson
Beatrice Christensen Sköld
The Swedish Library of Talking Books
and Braille (TPB)
SE-122 88 Enskede
Sweden
Tel: +46-8-39 93 74
Fax: +46-8-659 94 67
E-mail: bea.christensen@tpb.se
Secretary
Helen Brazier, Director
National Library for the Blind
Far Cromwell Road, Bredbury
Stockport SK6 25G, United Kingdom
E-mail: Helen.brazier@nlbuk.org
Henri Chauchat, France
Elke Dittmer, Germnay
Marie Hélène Dougnac, France
Galina Elfimova, Russia
Lina Kouzi, Ireland
Keun Hae Youk, Korea
Ku Jo Bee, Malaysia
Barbara Mates, USA
Francisco J. Martinez Calvo, Spain
Marie-Cecile Robin, France
Johan Roos, South Africa
Eugenia Shepovalova, Russia
Carolyn Sung, USA
Elsebeth Tank, Denmark
Dick Tucker, the Netherlands
Päivi Voutilainen, Finland
Section News:
LBS Newsletter in electronic form
Each year the Section receives a minor sum from IFLA HQ for its administrative costs. However, this sum dose not cover the whole cost of the newsletter. To save money we would like to reduce the printing costs and the costs of postage by distributing copies electronically to all members who have e-mail. In order to estimate the print and postage cost we would be happy if members could send me a message before May 15 if you still want the printed or brailled copy of the News-letter. The electronic Newsletter will come in two versions, pdf and text file.
Beatrice Christensen Sköld
e-mail: bea.christensen@tpb.se
Standing Committee mid-year meeting in Grahamstown, 2-3 December 2004
The Section's mid-year Standing Committee meeting took place earlier than usual this year, so that the Section could also contribute to the World Blind Union's quadrennial General Assembly in Cape Town, December 2004. This gave us the pleasurable opportunity to hold our Standing Committee meeting at the South African Library for the Blind in Grahamstown, where we were made extremely welcome by Johan Roos and his team.
Nine SC members attended the meeting and we were delighted to be joined by Chris Friend, Chair of WBU's IFLA-DAISY Liaison Commit-tee and André Roos, of the South African Ministry of Arts and Culture.
The main business was to shape the strategic plan for 2005-2007 and a draft of the plan will be distributed via the Section's smartgroup before the next SC meeting.
The Standing Committee also received progress reports on the Section's current projects. The updated guidelines for libraries for the blind have been sent to IFLA for publication, and work on the new guidelines on digital library systems for libraries for the blind is almost complete. Work on Project START, which will collect benchmark data from libraries for the blind, is about to get underway. Members agreed that it would be useful to try to find funding for a new project to compare funding and management of libraries for the blind in different countries.
The meeting received reports on international copyright developments, the result of the IFLA-LBS/Ulverscroft Foundation awards for 2004, research into postal arrangements, and the very pleasing outcomes of the conference for libraries for the blind hosted by Microsoft in Seattle, 7-9 November 2004. The delegates at this Microsoft meeting included many IFLA and DAISY members as well as some interested representatives from mainstream libraries, who agreed to create a number of international joint working groups to tackle various issues and barriers that prevent the development of the global library for the blind. Bill Gates made an appearance at the meeting and showed interest in DAISY, and the conference also produced a list of requests for Microsoft.
Some time was spent on planning the Section's future events and considering how to respond to IFLA's Section evaluation process that is now underway.
It was noted that, as this is an election year, nominations for members of the Standing Committee must have been received by IFLA by 2 February 2005. Section Chair, Beatrice Christensen Sköld, confirmed that she will stand down at the Oslo SC meeting, so the Section will need to appoint a new Chair.
Further details of all these items, and more, can be found in the draft minutes which have been posted to the Section's smartgroup. Anyone who is interested can join the smartgroup free of charge. Please contact Helen Brazier
helen.brazier@nlbuk.org if you would like to join.
Information about the Microsoft conference can be found on the website of the DAISY Consortium http://www.daisy.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsId=172
Dates for your diary
31 March 2005: Microsoft Conference follow up meeting, London (details available from George Kerscher kerscher@montana.com or Helen Brazier helen.brazier@nlbuk.org)
10-12 August 2005: IFLA Libraries for the Blind/Libraries Serving Disadvantaged People joint conference on "Accessible Libraries", Gothenburg details on
http://www.regionbibliotek.vgregion.se/ifla
14-18 August 2005: WLIC, Oslo http://www.ifla.org
13 and 19 August 2005: Standing Committee meetings, WLIC, Oslo
Accessible Libraries - Satellite meeting, August 10-12 2005
Gothenburg, Sweden
Conference Language: English.
Venue: Room H 1, Swedish Fair (Svenska Mässan)
Mässans gata/Korsvägen
Hotel accommodation: Hotel Gothia Tower, single room 1268 SEK/Night; Double room SEK 1668
Conference fee (excluding hotel rooms): Swedish Kronor 1875 (including VAT)
Registration and more information at http://www.regionbibliotek.vgregion.se/ifla
This year the Section holds it satellite meeting in Gothenburg (Göteborg), Sweden, in cooperation with IFLA Libraries Serving disadvantaged persons and the Region Library of Västra Götaland. This region is known for its work with making libraries accessible for all citizens. For this purpose they have introduced a new profession: Literacy technician. Friday the 12th, the last day of the Conference, is dedicated to study visits to libraries in Gothenburg and neighbouring towns. In conjunction with the conference there will be an exhibition.
Programme
Tuesday, August 9th
Arrivals
Get together party
Wednesday, August 10th
09.00
Registration/Coffee
10.00
Opening by HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden
Welcoming remarks by
Lena Skoglund, Regional Librarian of Västra Götaland Beatrice Christensen Sköld, Chair IFLA Libraries for the Blind Section Joanne Locke, Chair IFLA Libraries Serving Disadvantged Section
10.30
Session 1. Accessible Cultural Institutions in Sweden and Norway
Convenor: Kerstin Wockatz
The Swedish Programme for accessibility of Culture
Christina Herder, Swedish National Board of Culture
Universal Design for Cultural Institutions
Tone Eli Moseid, Senior Adviser, Norwegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority
11.30
Opening of Exhibition
12.00
Lunch
13.00
Session 2. Accessible libraries in Västra Götaland
Convenor: Lena Skoglund
Accessible Public Libraries in Västra Götaland
Kerstin Wockatz, Regional Library Västra Götaland
Uno Nilsson, Public Library of Tjörn
Monica Malmqvist, Kungälv Public Library
Eva Fred, Gothenburg City Library
14.30
Coffee break
15.00
Accessible University Libraries in Västra Götaland
Convenor: Kerstin Wockatz
Göran Bergh, Gothenburg University Library
Katarina Eggertz-Hede, Chalmers Technical University Library
16.00
An Accessiblity Project at Torshov Branch Library, Oslo, Norway
Hege Finset Eidseter, Project Manager, Torshov Branch Library
16.30
End of programme
19.00
Reception at the Governal Residence hosted by Göte Bernhardsson, the Governor of Västra Götaland
Thursday, August 11th
09.00
Session 3. IFLA Guidelines
Convenor:
Beatrice Christensen Sköld
Integrated Digital Library Systems guidelines by IFLA Libraries for the Blind Section
Margaret McGrory, Executive Director, CNIB Library for the Blind
Accessibility Check List by IFLA Libraries Serving Disadvantaged Section
Gyda Skat Nielsen and Birgitta Irvall
09.45
Session 4. DAISY
Convenor: Elsebeth Tank
DAISY Development- an overview
Markus Gylling, Project Manager, DAISY Consortium
10.15
Coffee break
10.45
DAISY for All
Dipendra Manecha, Project Manager, National Association for the Blind, India
11.15
Discussion
11.30
Lunch
13.00
Session 5. Copyright
Convenor: Beatrice Christensen Sköld
Copyright and Licensing
Johan Roos, Director, South African Library for the Blind
David Mann, Royal National Institute for the Blind, UK
Discussion
14.00
Session 6. Accessible OPACS and Net Services
Convenor: Helen Brazier
Anderslezen.nl, Marian Oosting, FNB, Netherlands
Celianet, Minna von Zansen, Celia Library for the Visually Impaired, Finland
14.45
Coffee break
15.15
Session 7. Concluding speech
The Future Role of the Library for the Blind
Ingar Beckman Hirschfeldt, Executive Director, Swedish Library of Talking Books and Braille (TPB)
16.30
End of programme
19.00
Reception at The City Hall hosted by The City of Gothenburg
Friday, August 12th
Visits to different Open Media Libraries and University libraries in Gothenburg and the Region: Choose two libraries you wish to visit.
9.00-11.00 AM
Gothenburg Public Library, The Economics Library (Gothenburg University Library) or Chalmers Technical University Library
12.00-16.00 PM
(including lunch). Public Library of Tjörn; (12-17), Kungälv Public Library, Chalmers Technical University Library or The Economics Library (Gothenburg University Library)
LBS Programme at WLIC, Oslo
The Section's contribution to WLIC this year will be a 2 hour programme on the theme "Achieving inclusion through partnership". There will be short presentations of case studies from a variety of countries including Vietnam, Korea, Sweden, South Africa, Canada, and UK, plus a keynote speech from IFLA President Elect, Alex Byrne, and, most importantly, time for discussion facilitated by Dick Tucker. The date has not been announced yet, but, as in previous years, we hope to attract a good turn out and a wide audience of delegates from different types of libraries to enjoy a lively debate.
New Secretary General: Professor Peter Lor
IFLA is delighted to announce the appointment of its new Secretary General, Professor Peter Johan Lor, who assumed the position on 15 February 2005.
Before this appointment Professor Lor held the post of Professor Extraordinary at the Department of Information Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Professor Lor brings this wealth of administrative, academic and association experience to the post of Secretary General. He believes passionately that good libraries are essential for the quality of life of individuals and communities. When accepting the appointment, Peter stated that he is "thrilled to serve IFLA as Secretary General because IFLA has a unique role to empower library and information professionals. Individually and through our organisations we enable participation by all in the knowledge society and we make an essential contribution to building an informed, tolerant, just and cooperative world community."
Welcoming the appointment, IFLA President Kay Raseroka said from Gaborone, Botswana that she is delighted that IFLA has secured a professional colleague of such high calibre to fill the important post of Secretary General:
"IFLA's participation in the World Summit on the Information Society has demonstrated the major contribution that libraries and information services make to society. Through its services to members and its strong professional programs, coupled with engagement in public policy arenas, IFLA works to create a more informed, just and safer world; to preserve heritage; to support education and research; and to promote democratic participation and tolerance. As Secretary General, Peter Lor will help us influence international agendas for the good of humanity."
Microsoft and DAISY Conference; Moving towards a digital future
As announced in IFLA/LBS Newsletter number 2/2004 the Microsoft Accessible Technology Group (ATG) hosted a three-day international forum in November 2004 in Seattle, USA. The Forum attracted library representatives from around the world and featured an address by Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft. Representatives from libraries around the world gathered at Microsoft to share best practices for improving services to people who are blind or print disabled. The event was co- sponsored by DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System).
Mr Bill Gates in his opening address shared his vision of empowerment for individuals with print disabilities. He reaffirmed his commitment to help libraries develop new techno-logy to assist in the transformation from analogue audio production to digital audio production. Mr Gates also showed commitment to improving dissemination and distribution of audio to people who are print disabled.
According to Madelyn Bryant McIntire, Director of the Accessible Technology Group at Microsoft, the purpose of the gathering was to "provide a forum where libraries could develop a common vision of a future where there are no barriers, and start planning for a digital technology infrastructure that would allow them to move from analog to digital formats".
Long Horn is the next release by Microsoft scheduled for 2006. Microsoft are interested in including features within Long Horn that would benefit the print disabled community internationally. The forum discussed a variety of features and released a list of short-term priorities that would be specific to Long Horn and would benefit accessibility for the print disabled:
1- A DAISY reading application integrated into the Windows Media Foundation or Microsoft Reader, supporting the DAISY standard, ANSI/ NISO Z39.86, with and without Digital Rights Management. This reading application will be backward compatible to the currently implemented DAISY standard to support playback of DAISY 2.02 content.
2- Support for "save as DAISY xml" in authoring and conversion applications with the option to generate the entire conformant file set.
Libraries around the World Unite
During the three day conference, the library representatives agreed to work together on various issues that will improve services globally for libraries that produce and disseminate books for the print disabled.
Some of the principles that were discussed included:
A variety of working groups emerged from these discussions and the groups have promised to follow through with the above principles.
Three more winners of a Frederick Thorpe Award
Following the success of the inaugural Frederick Thorpe Awards in 2003 the Ulverscroft Foundation and the IFLA Libraries for the Blind Section agreed to offer a second series of individual awards in 2004. The Trustees of the Ulverscroft Foundation made £5,000 available to encourage the development of best practice in library services for the blind by assisting an individual to spend time in a similar organisation in another country.
The winners are:
The visits have to be undertaken between November 2004 and October 2005.
Allan Leach, Chair of the Ulverscroft Foundation and the judging panel said, "It was difficult last time and even more so this year as we received more excellent applications from across the world. I am pleased that my fellow trustees agreed to let us exceed our budget so that we could make three awards as they are all equally worthwhile."
The judging panel comprised Allan Leach, Chair of Ulverscroft Foundation; David Owen, Executive Director of Share The Vision and Trustee of Ulverscroft Foundation; Dick Tucker, of FORCE Foundation, Netherlands representing IFLA Libraries for the Blind Section.
Around the World:
Exchange of Braille and DAISY books between Korea and Japan
Chief Executive Officer of the Korean Braille Library (KBL), Keun Hae Youk grew up with KBL. Her father, Byung II Youk who established KBL was blind and when Keun Hae was a student, she volunteered to produce Braille books.
As a member of the Government advisory committee, Keun Hae made an effort to improve the rules and standard of the Braille Library. She campaigned to improve services for visually impaired and print disabled in Public Libraries.
Keun Hae was a board member of the DAISY consortium in 2001 and a member of IFLA LBS in 2003.
Globalization driven by information technology helped Keun Hae gain a wider perspective. As a result, KBL has agreed to exchange Braille and DAISY books with Japan. Although the relationship between KBL and the Osaka Lighthouse dates back to 1970, an official ceremony was held to mark the occasion last year.
Riding on the success of the data exchange between the two countries, Keun Hae would like to develop an education program on teaching Korean Braille to Japanese students. She would like to spread this kind of exchange to a wider international library.
US Libraries for the Blind launch Digital Audio Book Service
State libraries for the blind in Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, New Hampshire, and Oregon, along with the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), part of the Library of Congress, have partnered to launch an innovative digital audiobook service for visually impaired users.
Unabridged
http://www.unabridged.info enables blind patrons to check out and download digital spoken word audio books directly to their computers. The digital audio books can then be played back on a PC, transferred to a portable MP3 playback device, or burned onto CDs.
Member Libraries include:
Colorado Talking Book Library;
Delaware Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped;
Illinois Network of Libraries Serving the Blind and Physically
Handicapped; National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped; New Hampshire State Library Talking Books Program Oregon; State Library Talking Book & Braille Services.
The first year of the program will serve as the pilot phase, with a limited number of users in each participating state. Early responses from librarians and patrons have been very positive. During the first month of the service use of the collection has been brisk, and reports of technical problems have been sparse. Lori Bell, Director of the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center, noted, "I am very excited about this project. Our readers are eager to try digital audio books. Through Unabridged they can browse, select a book and download it directly to their computers."
Unabridged is powered by the new digital audio book system from OverDrive, http://www.overdrive.com. The content is delivered as encrypted Windows Media Audio (WMA) files applying Digital Rights Management service (DRM). Playback on a personal computer is accomplished using the new OverDrive Media Console (OMC) software. OMC builds on the existing features of Windows Media Player to offer key functionalities useful to digital audio books users, such as MediaMarkers, which allow non-linear navigation, bookmarks, and the ability to skip back 15 seconds in the digital audio book. OMC Also enables variable speed playback, an exciting new feature for a mainstream digital audio book system designed for the general consumer market. The OMC offers enhanced accessibility and general usability for blind and visually impaired readers.
Tom Peters tpeters@tapinformation.com
Talking Book Anniversary in Sweden
The Swedish Library of Talking Books and Braille, TPB, celebrates the 50 year anniversary of the talking book services in Sweden. Talking book services started in 1955 both in the special library for the blind and the public libraries when the first tape- recorders came on the market. Experiments with gramophone records had been made already in the 1930s but the Second World war interrupted further development.
The anniversary is celebrated with exhibitions in all major public libraries and the Museum of the Visually impaired in Stockholm as well as an international conference "From Open reel to Broad Band" 12-13 April.
Hamburg Library celebrates 100 year anniversary
On March 18 the Central library for the Blind in Hamburg, Germany, celebrated its' 100 year anniversary. The celebration was opened by the Senator of Cultural Affairs of Hamburg, Professor Karin von Welck followed by addresses from Mrs Hella Schwemer-Martienssen,
Director of the Public Libraries in Hamburg and Chair of the Library Board of the Central library for the Blind; and the Vice Chair Mrs Helga Neuman, from the Organisation of the Blind in Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony).
Mr Ernst- Dietrich Lorenz, Mathemat-ician and Computer security respons-ible at the Medical School of Hannover, gave a presentation about tactile scripture for the blind. Mr Lorenz is a member of the German Braille Authority. Professor Birgit Dankert, from the College of Applied Science, Department of Library and information Science talked bout the reality of libraries for the blind and visually impaired.
The Ceremony ended with the announcement of Mr Willi Kuerpick as the winner of the literary contest "To conquer the world point by point". Mr Kuerpick's winning contribution was an essay entitled Letter to a dead Genius. This Genius is of course Louis Braille.
Talking Book Club Honours More than 1,600 Centenarians
More than 1,600 centenarians who are users of the talking books will be honoured during 2005 by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Library of Congress through member-ship of the 102 Talking Book club.
"The 102 Talking Book Club was conceived to recognize the accomplishments of the national reading program's centenarians. Through induction ceremonies in all states next year, The Library of Congress will honour these 1,600 individuals. The events will highlight the reading services provided by each state and also increase the awareness of other eligible to join their free local or state reading program" said Frank Kurt Cylke, Director of NLS.
Media Association for Blind and Vision Impaired People
A new association was formed to meet the future requirements of the digital age. Members of this association include producers of Braille books, Braille libraries, talking book libraries and associations for the blind of the German speaking areas in Europe.
The new copyright law in Germany contains an exception for the production of reading material for print disabled persons by non-profit organisations. For this exception, the producers of alternate formats have to pay a fee of 12 Euro per title to the Publishers Association.
The main goals of the Media Association include; building catalogues of all accessible material, supporting Braille and working together to convert and produce DAISY books.
Chair of the Association is Ms. Elke Dittmer, Director of the North German Library of Talking Books.
dittmer@blindenbuecherei.de