The 2000 edition of What's New? is now available in braille. What's New? is an annual update for people already familiar with the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. It describes the most recent developments in the NLS program, including new publications and reference materials, and advances in automation and technological research such as Web-Braille and the Digital Talking Book Project. What's New? is available on request from the Reference Section, NLS, Washington, DC 20542, and may also be accessed on the NLS web site www.loc.gov/nls.
Date finder
Braille date finders for July 2000 through June 2001 are now available free from NLS. The pocket-sized card gives the day of the week on which the first day of each month falls during the twelve-month period and incorporates a convenient cut-out signature guide window. To receive one or more date finders, contact the Publications and Media Section, NLS, Washington, DC 20542.
The following announcements may be of interest to readers. The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped reserves the right to publish announcements selectively, as space permits. Items mentioned are not part of the NLS program and their listing does not imply endorsement.
Electronic Braille Book Library
The International Electronic Braille Book Library, a project of the International Braille Research Center, is a collection of more than 1,000 electronic braille books available free online in ASCII text files, which appear as grade 2 English braille on paperless braille displays and braille printers. The books may be read online or downloaded for use offline as hard-copy braille or in devices such as braille notetakers. The collection is indexed by author and title, and the range of books is extensive, covering literary output from the ancient world to the present. Classic English and American authors are well represented, alongside Greek drama and philosophy, Tom Swift and Sherlock Holmes stories, and publications of the National Federation of the Blind. New titles are added regularly. Interested readers may visit the web site at http://www.braille.org/braille_books/, and follow the navigation instructions there. The library project is also interested in recruiting volunteers to help with translation, scanning, and modification of texts in order to expand the online offerings and improve existing files. Contact information is available at the web site.
Braille book news
The braille-books list is an e-mail subscription service to announce the availability of newly brailled books for leisure reading produced according to BANA standards for braille readers in the United States. The service will list only books that are completed or in progress. Interested readers should send a blank e-mail to braille-books-subscribe@egroups.com and follow the instructions contained in the return e-mail.
The following information is reprinted from Talking Books Topics, July-August 2000.
Scourby awards announced
The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) has announced the winners of the Alexander Scourby Narrator of the Year awards for 2000. Recipients this year are Graci Ragsdale (Insight for the Blind) for fiction, Tom Martin (AFB) for classical fiction, and James DeLotel (American Printing House for the Blind) for nonfiction.
NLS narrator Ray Hagen is being honored with an Alexander Scourby special lifetime achievement award for excellence. Hagen has recorded more than 400 titles over twenty-seven years and compiled two dictionaries for talking-book narrators. The two publications, Say How? A Pronunciation Guide to Names of Public Figures and The ABC Book: Acronyms, Brand Names, and Corporations, are updated every six months and distributed to all NLS studios.
The Alexander Scourby awards were established in 1986 in memory of the acclaimed talking-book narrator who died in 1985.
Remembering narrator David Palmer
The American Printing House for the Blind announces the death of David Palmer on April 25. David recorded several hundred books for the NLS collection over twenty years. Most of his fan mail was for his narration of mysteries and ghost stories. He also recorded classic American and British fiction and bestsellers; he had recently finished Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Palmer was active in professional and academic theater, radio, and television in the Louisville area.
Reminder: FD magazines, including TBT on FD, to end
Just a reminder: Talking Book Topics (TBT) is among the recorded magazines and periodicals being shifted from flexible-disc to audio-cassette format in January 2001. Flexible-disc recordings of TBT will not be produced after December 2000. TBT will continue to be available in five other formats--large print, audio cassette, computer diskette, online through the NLS web site www.loc.gov/nls, and as an abridged edition that is included in each braille issue of Braille Book Review. Patrons who now receive TBT on flexible disc will automatically receive cassette recordings of the publication unless they request another format through their network library.
The following announcements may be of interest to readers. The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped reserves the right to publish announcements selectively, as space permits. Items mentioned, however, are not part of the NLS program, and their listing does not imply endorsement.
Talking Book Marker available
Jim Daily, a patron in Butte, Montana, invites orders and inquiries concerning a switch he has devised that serves as a cassette bookmark. The switch plugs into the cassette player and is held in the hand as an individual listens to the recording. Releasing the switch causes the tape to stop. For further information, contact Jim Daily at (406) 782-2202, e-mail jandmdaily@yahoo.com, or web site www.angelfire.com/mt/jdaily, or write to The Talking Book Marker (TBM), 835 Emma, Butte, MT 59701. The cost is $27.95, including shipping and handling.
International affairs information on tape
Current History magazine offers a series of audio cassettes covering international trends, world regions, and events in recent history. Topics covered include: Volume 1--The Disintegration of the Soviet Union; Volume 2--China Rising: A Superpower Awakes; Volume 3--The Fundamentalist Challenge in the Middle East; Volume 4--Latin America: Open for Business; Volume 5--The Cold War: Beginnings; Volume 6--The Pacific Century; Volume 7--The Global Economy; and Volume 8--Narcopolitics.
For further information, call toll-free 1-800-726-4464 or contact Current History, 4225 Main Street, Philadelphia, PA 19127. Outside the USA call (215) 482-4464. The Internet web site is http://www.currenthistory.com.
The cost of each tape is $5.95; shipping and handling are free to US addresses.
Vision Community Services resource list
Vision Community Services (VCS), a division of the Massachusetts Association for the Blind, has published the 17th edition of its VCS Resource List. It mentions more than 100 items available in large print, in braille, and on cassette, with information on eye diseases and conditions, consumer organizations, electronic reading and computer aids, financial resources, recreation, and many other topics. The list is available without charge from Vision Community Services, 23A Elm Street, Watertown, MA 02472, or by calling (617) 923-2790.
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