New York State Library | Talking Book & Braille Library | Newsletters
Number 128
Summer 2006
Note (Listen): MP3 This issue of Upstate Update is available on this page in MP3 audio format, as well as text. MP3 files will play in Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, or iTunes.
To hear an article, click on the "MP3" link next to each article title below. If you just want to read the articles, click on the titles you want, or scroll down the page. The entire newsletter is also available as a single MP3 (9,611K), about ten minutes in length.
| In this issue: |
MP3
|
|---|---|
| [Listen to the Table of Contents] | MP3 |
| About Your Request List | MP3 |
| Taking Care of Your Battery | MP3 |
| Who Are You?! | MP3 |
| Large Print Labels | MP3 |
| Machine Problem? | MP3 |
| To Our Braille Borrowers | MP3 |
| Online Publications at AFB's Site | MP3 |
| Just Give Us a Call | MP3 |
Until the early 1980s, when we upgraded our computer system for the first time, good service depended on having a long request list, for this was the vital "fuel" that kept the service going. For borrowers who needed help choosing books, we used to have a squad of volunteers, as well as library staff, spending a great deal of time adding appropriate titles to the request lists of thousands of borrowers. This was inefficient and labor-intensive.
Now we have a computer system that can maintain service to those with empty or inadequate request lists by choosing and issuing books by matching subject-encoded books with similarly encoded borrower reading interests. In this way we can "keep the pot boiling" and automatically send appropriate books to people who are due for service but find it difficult to pick out books or communicate with us. This kind of service is available to all, but we don't choose for you unless you agree to it.
We still encourage you all to send in your own requests, for it's better to get a book you actually ordered than a computer selection. Moreover, some of you want only the specific titles you order, so if this is your preference you are in control of your service so it's essential to send lists that are adequate for your personal reading pace.
Depending on your individual basic book supply, we recommend that you keep a list of 30 to 50 titles on file at all times-and more if you like bestsellers and other popular works. If you have a high "maximum" or a fast turn-over, you'll need to send book orders more often, so remember to "top up" the list as you receive and return the books.
You can choose the latest books every other month from Talking Book Topics, and also from older catalogs available on request. Book orders should be given by book number when available (e.g. RC 65432), but if you just know the author and title you can ask for books that way.
Remember that you can't rely on the book you want being available when you want it. We serve around 40,000 borrowers in 55 counties and, even though we get multiple copies of recorded books, that's a lot of people to be sharing the books with! Sometimes we'll get a request list and all copies of the titles on it will be in circulation. The sender doubtless thinks they have a good list, though in fact there is nothing available to send. Again, an adequate list, or allowing us to choose for you, will keep your service going.
Unless instructed otherwise, we will add all book orders received to your list of requests, from which replacements for books you return will be chosen. However, remember that having an adequate request list just means that we will send "something" that you have asked for. Since what we send from your list is chosen based on various random factors, we can't promise that a certain book on your list will ever be mailed in the automatic operations. If there is a title on your list that interests you especially, it's best to ask us to send that right away when you order it.
Some borrowers have a very large number of requests-many hundreds in some cases-and keep adding to it with every edition of Talking Book Topics or when they discover a new author. We certainly recommend a long enough list to ensure a regular book supply, but when a list gets too long it's easy for a book that you are keen to read to simply get deeply "buried" among the hundreds of titles and never accessed as part of the normal due-for-service process. In other words, just because you have ordered a book, it doesn't mean that you will ever receive it, and the odds of this happening increase with the length of your list of requests.
Call us at (800) 342-3688 if you have any questions about your request list, or any other aspect of your service.
To maintain the life of the rechargeable battery in your cassette player, you should play it frequently unplugged, using the battery and giving it a good "work out." After several hours (up to six hours or until the battery fails), plug the machine into an electrical outlet to charge the battery. The player will operate, plugged in, while the battery recharges. Many library users plug the machine in at night while they're asleep so that it's charged for use during the day.
Don't remove the battery from the machine. This is a nickel-cadmium battery that contains toxic materials that are hazardous if not used or disposed of properly. If you suspect that the player isn't working because of a battery problem, or any other, call us at (800) 342-3688 and we will advise you.
It's easy to forget, we know, but when you contact us by mail or e-mail, please tell us who you are, or give the name of the person receiving our service if you're writing on behalf of someone else.
Please get into the habit of including both name and address. We must be certain that we are adding the book requests to the right person's lists, or sending the books to the person who asked for them. Sometimes there's neither a name nor an address, and we are supposed to send the books to "my mother" or "my son." Sometimes there's a name but no address, so if we have more than one person with that name registered for service, as we often do, we have to investigate further before we can provide the requested service.
Parsley, power, preheat, cumin, cancel, clear, basil, bake, broil, thyme, toast, timer, rosemary, roast, rear. These and many more necessary words and characters that appear on appliances such as washing machines, dryers, stoves, and microwave ovens, and on spice and herb jars, are available in large black peel-off letters on white laminated sheets to make labels. Each set costs $9.95 from Independent Living Aids, PO Box 9022, Hicksville NY 11802-9022, (800) 537-2118, www.independentliving.com. Contact ILA for their 55-page catalog of helpful household and other items that can help you live independently.
If you have a problem with the cassette player on loan to you, call us at (800) 342-3688 or (518) 474-5935 before returning it for replacement. Very often we can identify and help you solve the problem over the telephone without you having to return the machine. If necessary, we'll ship you another machine.
Please don't just return your machine and wait for another, even if you put a note in it. Notes can get lost, and there are many reasons for a machine to come back to us, so we don't automatically send a replacement when a machine comes back to us. A phone call is a free and quick way to get help.
If you're a braille borrower you might get a phone call from us sometime to ask for the return of a braille book that another person wants to read. You should know that you might well have the only copy of a braille book for all the borrowers in our 55-county service area. So please be very careful with these precious books and return them promptly for others' enjoyment.
For fast and easy access to online journals and other information for people with visual impairments, go to www.afb.org, the website of the American Foundation for the Blind, and locate "Quick Links."
Here you'll find AFB eNews, a monthly online publication that keeps you up to date on AFB's activities. Here too is AccessWorld, a publication on technology for people who are blind or visually impaired, and CareerConnect, a free resource for people who want to learn about the range and diversity of jobs performed by visually impaired adults in US and Canada, as well as general information about the US labor market.
At this site you can also check out the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, the international interdisciplinary journal of record on blindness and visual impairment that serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas, the airing of controversies, and the discussion of issues. JVIB is a monthly publication that includes research articles, as well as shorter pieces of interest to practitioners and extensive news coverage about the field of visual impairment.
Please don't write notes on the mailing card that comes in each book we send you. They can easily be missed or lost. If you need to tell us something about your library service, the fastest and surest way is to telephone us at (800) 342-3688 or (518) 474-5935.
__________________________________________________________________
Mention of a product or service in this newsletter does not
constitute endorsement by this library. Our intention is to
increase an awareness of programs and items that may be
helpful to our patrons.
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Posted: July 18, 2006/kd
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