Craig's Desk Intro - episode 14 Welcome Intro Music bed starts up then fade into. Music bed 40-45 seconds long. (Disclaimer voice) The following show was recorded in the studios of SLNC-ABLS, 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 State Library of North Carolina Accessible Books and Library Services, SLNC-ABLS. I'm your host Craig Hayward, the technology librarian at SLNC-ABLS. Yes, you may have noticed we have a new name, to better reflect how we serve you with accessible reading materials and services. The name may be new, but the show's main purpose remains the same, 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 14th episode of the show, we are coming to you from the comfort of our library's recording studios. You may have noticed on our earlier episodes I was recording this show in a bedroom closet at my home. I'm very thankful that we can now be more comfortable and offer much better recording quality. In this new year of 2022 I'm also very thankful 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. Note with the name change of the library I thought it was time to update our email address for technology questions. The old one was a little bit long to say and spell out. This new one I hope will be easier to use and remember, because it's named like the show now. Now you can send your questions to craigsdesknc@gmail.com (spell it out slowly) and I'll answering them. Enough talk, let's get this episode of Craig's Desk started. ************************************* Fade out, use transition "music" then fade in to next section ************************************* Your technology questions Now let's answer a question sent in by a listener. On this episode We got a question very recently from one of the library's followers on Facebook. As noted the show's email address has recently changed, so for this episode, we look at a Facebook message to the library. This one involved using BARD with a portable braille device. The braille device in question is one that is a mix between a note taker/e-reader and a tablet. A listener asks "I have a question about using BARD on my BrailleNote Touch Plus to download books in Braille. I've tried, but have been unsucessful so far." This was an interesting question, because in looking at third party players that are acceptable to download books from BARD, this unit wasn't listed. Although there is another portable braille display on the acceptable list from another manufacturer that has a similar name. The one in question is made by Humanware and not by Apex, as is the BrailleNote listed. This could cause confusion, because you may think it's an acceptable third party player for BARD books, but it isn't. In talking to NLS BARD national support I discovered that the Humanware Braille Note Touch, because it's technically more of a tablet, counts as an Android mobile device for BARD use. This means it could use the BARD Mobile Android app. However, the Android version of the app will not work with braille. It doesn't support it. That means you need to use a web browser, probably Chrome, to download braille books from BARD. Then you need an unzipping app from the Google Play store to unzip the books. The manufacturer, HumanWare, should be able to recommend an unzipping app. Then you can copy them into the BrailleNote's reader app to read them. One thing of note, while braille currently is not supported in the BARD Mobile for Android app, it will be at some point. NLS is field testing it now. If and when braille support becomes available we'll let you know. That was a great question. It also was lesson learned for me. Thanks so much for that opportunity. This is why I created Craig's Desk. So that I could more directly answer these kinds of questions and help you realize all of the tools you have to take your reading farther. Your questions help me learn new things as well. 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. **************************************** Fade out, fade in music, fade out to next section ***************************************** NLS News Some good reading for the NLS braille e-reader Hey listener, it does look like we are getting closer to offering at least one version of an NLS braille e-reader. Over the last month we did receive a demonstration model of the 2 different ones that NLS will offer. This doesn't mean the library will be providing both, but it does mean that we are preparing to offer at least one of them to you. 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. The NLS is concluding the pilot stages with a select few network libraries and is now expanding the number of libraries offering them. We hope to be one them soon. Since we are braille lending library we are on the list to start offering them broadly to our own patrons. We just aren't sure where we are on that list. Plus logistics issues caused by the pandemic have had an impact of getting these devices out to more libraries. We as a library have just completed a portable braille display/e-reader pilot project of our own to test the concept with a small group of our own braille reading patrons. Based on survey feedback, many of these patrons continue to use them. Note we did receive mixed feedback on the devices we offered ourselves based on the size of them and features provides. It has been mostly positive, but we do realize there were some limitations because the unit we provided were 14 cell version of Humanware's Brailliant line of braille displays. This brings us to something interesting discovered and brought to my attention by one of our patrons. One of the units being offered will be made by Humanware and it will be a 20 cell display. This is a great development based on feedback we received. The patron mentioned to me that there is a digital talking book version of the NLS Braille eReader Humanware version user guide on BARD. This was recorded by our neighbors to the north, the Minnesota Talking Book and Braille Library. It's a good read that offers a glimpse into how the braille e-reader is laid out and how to use it. If you are curious you can download it right now from BARD or even request the library send you a copy on your Books On Demand cartridge. Just ask the library or search our online catalog or BARD for DBC024650. Then you can start learning about what one of these wonderful portable reading devices offer you the braille reader. I've been listening to it, I've learned a great bit about this device. It will be useful to help support our patrons using them. If you want one of these braille displays, I'd recommend getting ahold of a copy of this guide to prepare yourself. Getting back to the actual offering of braille e-readers by the library, we hope some time soon we'll start offering this reading technology to our own patrons. Mainly I think if the pandemic hadn't happened right at the beginning of 2020 and hadn't lasted so long, NLS wouldn't be having logistical issues getting them and we would be offering them right now. But as we sit here now in February 2022, we aren't there yet, although we are much closer. One way you can help, if you want one, 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. The time is coming, let's get ready. 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. **************************************** Fade out, fade in music, fade out to next section ***************************************** The Library's Online Resources The Library's Online Catalog - the tool that let's you take control of your reading Recently I've begun reshooting the library's screen casts offered on the library's online catalog. Years ago I created what currently resides on the State Library's YouTube channel and with the move to a new name and some rebranding of page, I thought it was a good time to update the look and feel of these videos. Also there is so much more you can now do with this resource. The goal in offering a video kind of show and tell is to make this powerful reading tool more useful and help our patrons take more control of their reading. Once you learn how to use the library's online catalog you can then search for your own books and order them. The library's OPAC or online public access catalog was developed over 20 years ago. In that time it has evolved from a simple structured way to find books in lists by author and subject to a kind of search engine to the library's collection, with all kind of modern features just waiting to be used. For example, instead of having to search for an author using last name comma first name, now you can just put in as much as you know of the author's name and use the catalog to help you refine or narrow down your search. This handy search box can also find books by title name with as much as you know or even subject with as much as you know. This kind of looser searching or keyword search offers you a way to put the power of the online catalog to work for you. Once you have your results then you have what are called facets on the left side of the page to use to guide you to the books you want to read. Click on a link to one of these facets and you get further refinement. Click on a minus on one of these links and it removes that facet from your search. This all helps you narrow down or expand your choices of books to read. If you want to get started using our library's online catalog, the web address of the catalog is https://ncabls.klas.com. While you're there, check out the Browses area. Go to the link near the top labeled Browse. It gives you a focused way to find things like staff picks, recently recorded local books and even the most recently added Descriptive videos. It's a good place to look if you want some inspiration for your next read. I think once you start using the library's online catalog you'll keep coming back for more. This is a taste of what you can do. In future episodes, I'll feature some more specific things you can do with this powerful reading tool. As always, if you have comments about things like this, you are welcome to email me at craigsdesknc@gmail.com ********************************************* Closing 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 craigsdesknc@gmail.com (spell out). Craig's Desk is a production of The State Library of North Carolina Accessible Books and Library Services, 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 SLNC-ABLS. 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. 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