[Nfb-or] NLS Digital Talking Books

[Corinne]

Library Takes 'Talking Books' Digital
 Products for the Blind Migrate From Cassette to Flash Drive By 
 Christopher
 Lee Washington Post, March 5, 2008

 Judith M. Dixon, a clinical psychologist by training and a sophisticated
 techie by avocation, is helping to lead the Library of Congress  into 
 the
 digital age.

 Dixon, 55, who gave up university teaching 27 years ago to join the
 library's National Library Service for the Blind and Physically
 Handicapped,
 is a key player on a team that has been working for the better part of a
 decade to create a new generation of audiobooks for the library's more
 than
 700,000 registered blind and disabled users.
 The goal is to make the digital format the backbone of the library's
 "talking book"
 program by transferring onto special digital flash drives the 60,000
 titles
 that the library has on audiocassettes and giving patrons new machines 
 on
 which to play them.

 "The library system is here because free public library service is a 
 basic
 tenet of our society," said Dixon, who is blind and navigates with the 
 aid
 of a guide dog.
 "This program is providing access to people who would otherwise not have
 it."

 Under the program, blind and disabled users may obtain audiobooks 
 through
 the mail from any of the service's more than 130 regional libraries
 throughout the country.
 There is no charge for the books or the players, but to keep the 
 machines,
 users must check out at least one book a year. The library plans to roll
 out
 the new machines and digital books by the end of the year.

 One of the new digital cartridges can hold 46 hours of audio. In 
 contrast,
 a
 single cassette tape holds six hours -- and then only when recorded at
 half-speed and on four tracks. Since the typical book is 15 hours long,
 the
 new format means all but the longest books can be contained on a single
 cartridge, Dixon said.

 The transformation also is driven by necessity. The cassette tape 
 belongs
 to
 a generation of technology whose time has passed. As the library-issued
 cassette players on which blind users play tapes fall into disrepair,
 finding spare parts grows harder and harder.

 The Library of Congress and its users have been through technological
 revolutions before. The library began offering audiobooks on long-play
 records in 1934. It added books on cassettes in the late 1960s, but the
 vinyl era lasted well into the 1980s.

 "This transition is probably going to have to happen a lot faster 
 because
 cassettes just aren't going to be available much longer," said Dixon, 
 who
 is
 a consumer relations officer for the library.

 The new players resemble the flat, dictionary-size cassette machines of
 old,
 with large buttons and a single built-in speaker. The digital cartridge 
 is
 about the same size as a cassette tape, but it connects to the player 
 via
 a
 USB port rather than fitting over two rotating pegs.

 Dixon and advocates for the blind say that relying on commercially
 available
 books on compact disc or in MP3 format is not an option. Many blind 
 users
 have difficulty operating the tiny buttons of MP3 players, and the
 inventory
 of available books is usually limited to commercially popular titles.

 Congress has approved $12.5 million annually for four years to help the
 program go digital, less than the $19.1 million that the library had
 sought.
 That means it will be able to make 3.5 million copies of audiobooks over
 four years instead of 4.8 million, officials said. The program's 
 advocates
 plan to press their case for more money today at a House Appropriations
 subcommittee hearing on the library's budget.

 "The old players will start to break down and the new players will not 
 be
 available yet, and a lot of patrons are going to experience a halt in
 service," said Chris Danielsen, a spokesman for the National Federation 
 of
 the Blind. "The talking-book program is the primary source of reading
 material for most blind people. Imagine if someone told you, 'You know
 what,
 you just don't get to read anything for a while.'

-------------- next part --------------
Library Takes 'Talking Books' Digital
 Products for the Blind Migrate From Cassette to Flash Drive By
 Christopher
 Lee Washington Post, March 5, 2008
 
 Judith M. Dixon, a clinical psychologist by training and a sophisticated
 techie by avocation, is helping to lead the Library of Congress  into
 the
 digital age.
 
 Dixon, 55, who gave up university teaching 27 years ago to join the
 library's National Library Service for the Blind and Physically
 Handicapped,
 is a key player on a team that has been working for the better part of a
 decade to create a new generation of audiobooks for the library's more
 than
 700,000 registered blind and disabled users.
 The goal is to make the digital format the backbone of the library's
 "talking book"
 program by transferring onto special digital flash drives the 60,000
 titles
 that the library has on audiocassettes and giving patrons new machines
 on
 which to play them.
 
 "The library system is here because free public library service is a
 basic
 tenet of our society," said Dixon, who is blind and navigates with the
 aid
 of a guide dog.
 "This program is providing access to people who would otherwise not have
 it."
 
 Under the program, blind and disabled users may obtain audiobooks
 through
 the mail from any of the service's more than 130 regional libraries
 throughout the country.
 There is no charge for the books or the players, but to keep the
 machines,
 users must check out at least one book a year. The library plans to roll
 out
 the new machines and digital books by the end of the year.
 
 One of the new digital cartridges can hold 46 hours of audio. In
 contrast,
 a
 single cassette tape holds six hours -- and then only when recorded at
 half-speed and on four tracks. Since the typical book is 15 hours long,
 the
 new format means all but the longest books can be contained on a single
 cartridge, Dixon said.
 
 The transformation also is driven by necessity. The cassette tape
 belongs
 to
 a generation of technology whose time has passed. As the library-issued
 cassette players on which blind users play tapes fall into disrepair,
 finding spare parts grows harder and harder.
 
 The Library of Congress and its users have been through technological
 revolutions before. The library began offering audiobooks on long-play
 records in 1934. It added books on cassettes in the late 1960s, but the
 vinyl era lasted well into the 1980s.
 
 "This transition is probably going to have to happen a lot faster
 because
 cassettes just aren't going to be available much longer," said Dixon,
 who
 is
 a consumer relations officer for the library.
 
 The new players resemble the flat, dictionary-size cassette machines of
 old,
 with large buttons and a single built-in speaker. The digital cartridge
 is
 about the same size as a cassette tape, but it connects to the player
 via
 a
 USB port rather than fitting over two rotating pegs.
 
 Dixon and advocates for the blind say that relying on commercially
 available
 books on compact disc or in MP3 format is not an option. Many blind
 users
 have difficulty operating the tiny buttons of MP3 players, and the
 inventory
 of available books is usually limited to commercially popular titles.
 
 Congress has approved $12.5 million annually for four years to help the
 program go digital, less than the $19.1 million that the library had
 sought.
 That means it will be able to make 3.5 million copies of audiobooks over
 four years instead of 4.8 million, officials said. The program's
 advocates
 plan to press their case for more money today at a House Appropriations
 subcommittee hearing on the library's budget.
 
 "The old players will start to break down and the new players will not
 be
 available yet, and a lot of patrons are going to experience a halt in
 service," said Chris Danielsen, a spokesman for the National Federation
 of
 the Blind. "The talking-book program is the primary source of reading
 material for most blind people. Imagine if someone told you, 'You know
 what,
 you just don't get to read anything for a while.'