New York State Library | Talking Book & Braille Library | Newsletters
Number 127
Spring 2006
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Note (Listen): RA | MP3 This issue of Upstate Update is available on this page in two audio formats (Real Audio and MP3), as well as text.
To hear an article, click on the "RA" or "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. |
| In this issue: | Real Audio |
MP3 |
|---|---|---|
| [Listen to the Table of Contents] | RA | MP3 |
| Happy 75th, NLS! | RA | MP3 |
| Annual Publications Survey | RA | MP3 |
| Cassette Machine Controls, Part II | RA | MP3 |
| Cassett Controls (Continued) | RA | MP3 |
| Sleep Sentry Hypoglycemia Alert | RA | MP3 |
| Mailing Reminder | RA | MP3 |
| Lost Machines | RA | MP3 |
March 3, 2006, marked the 75th anniversary of the Pratt-Smoot Act that created the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). The national program began in 1931 as the Books for Adult Blind Project; it was later called the Library of Congress Division for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, and became NLS in 1978. The Act authorized an annual appropriation of $100,000 to the Library of Congress "to provide books for the use of the adult blind residents of the United States."
The basic Act was amended several times, not only to increase appropriations
but also to delete the word "adult" in 1952, thus opening the service
to blind children. In 1962, the program was expanded to maintain a collection
of musical scores and music instructional texts.
Blindness being only one of the disabilities that make a person unable to read
print, many people who sought the service were ineligible because the program
was specifically limited by law to blind persons. In 1966, Congress passed PL
89-522 to authorize the Library of Congress to provide the service to everyone
who can't read standard print because of a visual or physical disability. The
40th anniversary of this Act falls on July 30.
It's interesting to note that the New York State Library for the Blind was already 35 years old when the national program began, having been founded in 1896. In 1931, we were one of the original 19 designated Regional Libraries, established to distribute the Library of Congress materials. This has the distinction of being the oldest network of American libraries.
Every year, you are queried by means of a mailed survey to assess your need for a copy of the various braille, recorded, and large print catalog cumulations and bibliographies to be published in the coming year. It's important that you complete and return this survey if you want to receive these publications. They are made available to help you choose books. The survey also helps the National Library Service to determine with accuracy the quantity of each publication to be produced.
The accumulated information goes to CMLS (Comprehensive Mailing List System), the company in Florida that maintains the national mailing list for all the magazines and catalogs you receive. If you receive Talking Book Topics or Braille Book Review you will get this survey. It's usually mailed out in the spring, though the timing can vary depending on the production schedule of the year's first catalog or bibliography. The publications you request will be sent directly to you when they are produced.
In the last edition of Upstate Update we told you about two controls on your cassette machine that regulate the speed at which the tape plays. This time we will address three more controls.
Volume Control: Closest to the front of the machine is the slide control that makes the sound louder and softer. Move this to the right to increase the volume and to the left to reduce it.
Tone Control: Directly behind the volume control is another slide control that adjusts the tone. For a deeper sound, lowering the pitch of the narrator's voice, slide this to the left. To brighten the tone, raising the pitch, slide it to the right.
Side Selector Switch: Behind the tone control is a rocker switch, labeled "1-2" to the left and "3-4" to the right. This is a very important control whose operation you must understand to listen to the entire book. Before you use the side selector switch, here is some basic information you should know.
The recorded material in each cassette is on four tracks, or sides. You will note that when you receive a recorded book containing three cassettes, they are labeled in a strange way: "1," "5," and "9." Side one of the first cassette is "1," and the next four tracks are also on this cassette. The first side of the second cassette is labeled "5," and it also contains sides 6 through 8. Side "9" is the first side of the third cassette. The function of the side selector switch is to let you navigate around these four sides of each cassette.
To listen to the entire book, you must change this switch after listening to each even side. Press "play" and listen to the first side, and turn the cassette over to listen to side two. After side two, turn the cassette over again and press the side selector switch to the right. Now you can listen to side three. To hear side four, turn the cassette over one last time.
To listen to the second cassette (labeled side "5"), insert it into the machine and press the side selector switch back to the left before hitting the "play" button. Note that, depending on the length of the book, some cassettes will contain fewer than four sides.
Listen to the narrator's directions at the end of each side; these provide guidance as to what you should do to continue reading. It is very important that you master the side selector switch, otherwise you may find yourself skipping whole sections of the book and getting very confused. We recommend that you listen to the instruction tape that came with your machine, and please call us at (800) 342-3688 if you need further help.
Hypoglycemia is a condition that people with diabetes experience when their blood glucose level is lower than normal, usually less than 70 mg/dl. Signs of this include hunger, faintness, mood swings, headache, nervousness, perspiration, dizziness, confusion, and, sometimes, the need for the paramedics.
A person with moderate hypoglycemia usually feels some of these symptoms soon enough to self-treat by eating or drinking something containing carbohydrates. But there is a condition called "hypoglycemia unawareness" where the physical warning signs of low blood glucose do not appear because epinephrine is not released. People with this condition do not realize that they have low blood glucose, so they do not treat it. Their blood glucose then falls to dangerously low levels. They may become weak, disoriented, or lose consciousness. Such a condition can be a medical emergency as, if not treated in a timely manner, it can lead to permanent brain damage, seizure, coma, and death.
More than half of all episodes of hypoglycemia occur during sleep (which is during the night for most of us). While many people sleep right through these episodes, this is a dangerous time to have hypoglycemia because a sleeping individual cannot be aware of warning signs.
"Sleep Sentry" is a small battery-powered device that's designed to wake the diabetic person up when their blood sugar gets too low. It's worn on the wrist and sounds a warning whenever the wearer's blood sugar drops to a level of risk. It's not a blood glucose monitor but a non-invasive meter that monitors two symptoms that are associated with hypoglycemia: the moisture level of the skin (perspiration) and a drop in skin temperature (cold sweat). The presence of either of these physical symptoms triggers an audible alarm.
For more information, contact the source below. "Sleep Sentry" costs $389 plus shipping and handling from Diabetes Sentry Products Inc., 1200 Dupont Street, Suite 1D, Bellingham, WA 98225, 1-866-270-5675 (toll free), www.diabetessentry.com.
Make sure you turn over the mailing card in the slot in the book container, and check that the library's address is showing, before mailing the book back to us. If you overlook that, you'll get the book a second time.
In upstate New York, thankfully we are unlikely to have a disaster on the scale of hurricanes "Katrina" and "Rita" that devastated large areas of the South last year and, among other things, interrupted the service of the Regional Libraries in those areas. Even so, personal disasters caused by fire, theft, or accident can certainly disrupt your ability to make use of this service.
We obviously hope it never happens, but if the machine on loan to you is lost, stolen, or destroyed in any way, please report this to us. We must advise the Library of Congress of the loss of the federal property under our charge. In the case of theft, report the incident to the police too. We can let you have the serial number of the equipment assigned to you to help the police trace it.
Please remember that you have no liability or financial responsibility for the equipment and other library materials on loan to you that are lost in a disaster or in any other way. We will send you a replacement cassette machine when we know of your need.
__________________________________________________________________
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: May 12, 2006/kd
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