Craig's Desk Episode 13 - Transcript

Intro Music bed starts up then fades into Disclaimer:

The following show was recorded in the studios of NCLBPH, unmasked, in a sound proof booth that is socially distant and responsible. It's content is intended for people who are blind or print impaired.

Hello and welcome to Craig's Desk, a program from the North Carolina Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, NCLBPH. I'm your host Craig Hayward, the technology librarian at NCLBPH.

This show's main purpose is to help answer library technology questions and offer insight about the library's digital and online resources, with an occassional look at what's happening with the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, known as NLS. I hope I can help you learn something about the library's service, how to navigate the technology and just find more to read.

Whether it's the online catalog, the website, how to use social media or downloading books from BARD, I'll do my best to answer your questions. I'll also try to give you a little bit of insight into the library's technology future. I created this show for you, as a guide in the evolution of our service, so you can navigate the changes and be more empowered. I want you to use the technology better, so you can enjoy your reading more.

For this lucky 13th episode of the show, we are coming to you from the comfort of our library's recording studios. I'm so happy we get to do this at the library and not from my bedroom closet. It's a little bit more comfortable and much better quality. I'm also really happy for your support and following of the show. Without you, there isn't a show. I hope what I offer you on this episode will keep you following us and that more and more people will learn about this show. Keep sending your questions to nclbph.tech.librarian@gmail.com and I'll keep answering them.

Enough talk, let's get this episode of Craig's Desk started.

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Your technology questions

Now let's answer a question you've sent us to the email address nclbph.tech.librarian@gmail.com (spell out slowly). On this episode:

I've been spending some time recently updating some of the instructional materials, quick online video tutorials, we have for the public to use our online catalog. One small thing to point out, if you're curious what I'm talking about go to the State Library of North Carolina's YouTube channel and look at the offerings we have put up for how to use our online catalog. I think they are very helpful. With the coming updates they should get even better.

So I think this leads us really well into a question from our audience. 

It's one about BARD and setting up a new computer or mobile device. In this case it's kind of both, because this is a case where one of the features on the BARD website that talks to the BARD Mobile app comes in really handy.

The person asks, I have a new Microsoft Surface Tablet and I'd like to listen to my books there and also on my new iPhone.

This is a good question. First off the new tablet they've gotten is a Microsoft Suface. That means it's a Windows computer. There is no mobile app for Microsoft devices. So you can't actually play the books there. But you can use it as a download device, meaning you can search and find books and magazines from BARD and then download them that way. However, you still will need to copy them over to a flash drive of some kind so you can play them on a digital talking book player.

As for the new iPhone, you can put the BARD Mobile for iOS app on that device, search the BARD website, and play your books and magazines on your iPhone. Here you are able to get onto the BARD website and work with your own BARD account.

One feature or tool on the BARD website I'll mention that is a go between for both of these devices and any others you have had would be the BARD Wishlist. If you want to put anything you've previously had on older mobile device or downloaded to a computer, you go into your BARD account, look at the section called My BARD and find your previous downloads list.

From here, you can see all of the items that you've either downloaded to a computer or found in the mobile app and downloaded to play. Open up one of your previously downloaded books or magazines by clicking on the link for the title. From the next screen go down to the link titled add to my wishlist. Then this item will be shown on your wishlist on the BARD website itself and the wishlist in the BARD Mobile app. The wishlist is a bridge between the 2 places and way to share reading materials across devices. Note, you won't be able to play the books or magazines and pick up where you left off on each, but you'll be able to have them in both places. Also when you get a new device of some kind, you'll be able to read these books or magazines on that new device. The wishlist tool is really a way share items you want to read and this is a good way to use the wishlist. The wishlist has become one of favorite tools in BARD. I use it all the time as a helper and if I find a book I want to save for later I can put it here.

Thanks so much for asking that question and trying to figure out how to use BARD better. This is why I created Craig's Desk. So that I could more directly answer these kinds of question and help you realize all of the tools you have to take your reading farther. I hope what I've presented here helps you today or down the road.

Thanks for those questions, keep them coming and we'll keep answering them.

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NLS News

Oh where, oh where, is the NLS braille e-reader?

NLS has talked for the last couple of years, as part of it's committment to getting more braille readership, about a means of providing any patron who wants or needs a braille display with one at no cost to them. One more piece of reading technology that is a benefit of our library service. To test the concept and make sure what is offered is reliable and available to all, they have been conducting a braille e-reader pilot project with select libraries. Our own library was not selected as one the initial libraries, but since we are braille lending library we are on the list of libraries to expand this offering. We have had lots of questions about this pilot since it started back in 2020. We even have had our own one running that we have used to gauge some offering for our own service with a small select group of units purchased with a general LSTA grant. That particular part is finished now. Our patron who have those displays can continue to use them, but we won't be offering any more now that NLS has an offering coming. We hope some time soon. We are at a point now where we would expect to start being able to offer this reading technology to our own patrons. That is if the pandemic hadn't happened right at the beginning of 2020 and lasting the last at least 18 months. As we sit here now in December 2021, we don't have anything yet to offer. Unfortunately, the pandemic has made the logistics of getting materials by the manfacturers of the 2 types braille e-readers more difficult and has caused shortages in the availability of devices. Our hope is that soon enough things will improve and the first braille e-reader offering by NLS will show up here at the library. Time will tell. But please know that once we have them we will be getting them out as soon as possible. One thing you can do right now is contact the library and get added to our waitlist for NLS braille e-readers. This way we will know the demand and also that will ensure that you will be put at the top or near the top of the list to receive one once they get here. I wish I could tell you more about when that will happen, but I have this show and on a future episode, once we can start sending them out I'll let you know.

Who knows, maybe the next show or the one after that we'll be talking about how we're contacting those on the waitlist and starting to send them out.

Thanks so much again for listening.

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The Library's Online Resources
Another one of Our other Podcasts

This episode is a podcast on it's own and it has been enjoyable to put together for you. Thanks for the opportunity to talk to you today. I like sharing what I know with you and hope you enjoy getting this insight. Besides Craig's Desk, there are lots of things happening in our other podcasts. I'd like to take a moment now and let you know about some more great audio content the library has to offer on one of the library's other podcasts. Let's talk about the Heard Any Good Books Lately? podcast, a production of the North Carolina Reading Service, a great place to go for access to all kinds of audio information, and sponsored the Friends of The North Carolina Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, another great organization that helps support the library. Heard Any Good Books Lately? brings you news and reviews about the most popular books checked out of the library each month. It is hosted by George Douglas who has a great voice and does a fantastic job putting the whole show together each month. You owe it to yourself to check it out and take a listen. The show itself has been on the air for more than 5 years now, which is amazing in itself. It is also very popular and we get the comment from many patrons that the reviews George gives are very informative, entertaining and useful.

One of the great things about this show is that since it's a kind of collaboration between both us and the NC Reading Service its available on both organization's sites. As with all of our podcasts we take the recorded version of the show and offer it as a podcast, from our website, as a downloadable MP3 file, and from Apple, Google, Spotify and our podcast hosting platform Podbean.

One other thing, Heard Any Good Books Lately? is now available on your Books On Demand cartridge as a locally recorded magazine. So you don't even have to be a podcast listener to enjoy this great review of the library's top 10 books each month. Contact the library to subscribe today and we'll send it out on cartridge each month as we get a new episode.  

Now you have no excuse to the listen to this show any place you choose, on your computer, MP3 player and your iPhone, iPad, Kindle or Android device and even as part of your next Books On Demand order. So next time, you want to find out about some of those most popular books at the library each month or hear some reviews about books, check out Heard Any Good Books Lately? and find a good read.

As always, if you have comments about things like this, you are welcome to email me at nclbph.tech.librarian@gmail.com

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That's the end of this episode of Craig's Desk. If you have any questions about the library's technology, how to do something or would like to give some feedback, send an email to nclbph.tech.librarian@gmail.com (spell out).

Craig's Desk is a production of The North Carolina Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, a section of the State Library of North Carolina, part of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. This episode was produced onsite, in the studios of NCLBPH. Many thanks to the other person helping on the other side of the glass to produce this show, Clint Exum our Outreach Specialist and jack of all trades around our studios. As it has been from the beginning, this show is a production of EMC-squared productions.

Intro music is "One Fine Day" and closing music is "Step To The Beat" and are offered royalty free from the website Keep Calm and Podcast. Segment Transitions starring nature are from Zapsplat.com

If you like what you have heard or are just curious about upcoming episodes please subscribe to this podcast. There are links from our website for Apple Podcasts, Spotify, our podcast platform called Podbean and even an RSS feed to listen to it on your own podcatcher app. Whenever we put up a new episode you'll be the first to know.

Thanks for listening