[bookshare-discuss] Sacred Texts: Where to Get Them in Alternate Media
- From: "Chela Robles" <cdrobles693@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <"Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@freelists.org>
- Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2010 11:53:23 -0800
I thought I'd pass along some helpful resources for getting alternate media for
religious texts including the holy bible.
Sacred Texts: Where to Get Them in Alternate Media
Bartimaeus Alliance of the Blind
On this site, you'll find a variety of pages offering good Bible study and
reference tools, for example, Lewis Sperry Chafer's Systematic Theology, Arno
C. Gaebelein's Annotated Bible Commentary, along with more books by these and
other authors. Additionally, over the last two years, a lot of time has been
spent gathering and preparing New Testament Greek grammars, lexicons, and
several versions of the Greek New Testament in braille ready files. You will
also find recorded messages from the annual Bartimaeus Bible Conference, as
well as interesting articles and life stories on the personal pages.
Some of the books come in braille ready files and print format, the majority
only in print. Things believed to be under copyright in the Christian Bookshare
section or in the Braille Library section require a qualified membership to
access, but , there are plenty of Public Domain articles and books.
They also have a few items that are free or at low prices in hard copy or audio
form which are free or which involve a small donation. These include the
popular Solar Talking Bible, which they call the "Pocket" Bible", in either
King James or New American Standard (NASB) versions. Proof of visual impairment
or reading disability is required. They have a 7 volume Brail Bible Dictionary
for a "donation" of $100 They also offer two Bible story books for kids and
several versions of the Bible in various formats. Applications are available on
the website, but there will be an additional phone call for verification of
information relating to disability. This is a great deal for the pocket Bibles.
They sell anywhere from $70 to $119 from commercial sources.
If you are not familiar with the website, > http://bartimaeus.us>do come check
it out and see if there is anything you find of interest: >>
http://bartimaeus.us.
DAISY Scriptures
This web page contains Daisy audio and text versions of scriptures from several
faiths, perhaps most notably the New International Version of the Bible and the
Qu'ran.
Click this link to visit the DAISY Scriptures website.
Helping Hands Braille Ministry
The Helping Hands Braille Ministry has a great number of braille books that
relate to the church and some braille Hymnals. There are too many to list here,
but you can click this link to see their entire list of books.
KITABA: Islamic Texts for the Blind
The Islamic Texts for the Blind project is a social enterprise community
project dedicated to empowering and promoting the growth and well being of
visually impaired Muslims and their communities through meeting their
religious, educational and developmental needs, thereby advancing accessibility
and awareness.
To read more about KITABA, volunteer or become a member, please visit
http://www.kitaba.org.
Bibles for the Blind
Biblesfortheblind.org prints and distributes the Bible in braille without
charge to the blind and visually impaired throughout the world who are
otherwise unable to afford to read God's Word.
Biblesfortheblind.org has announce that the BRF files they use to create hard
copy braille bibles are available on their website. The KJV Bible, 17 BRF
files, The daily devotional My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers 4 BRF
files and more are ready for download at: http://www.biblesfortheblind.org.
Unitarian Universalist Resources for People with Vision Impairments
The following resources are now available for those with impaired vision.
Spoken Word
The following are currently available on four-track audio tapes with tone
indexing and Braille labels.
a.. UU World: No cost from Identity-Based Ministries.
b.. Chosen Faith: Two-tape set is $12 from the Massachusetts Association for
the Blind.
c.. UU (Unitarian Universalist) meditation manuals: From the Massachusetts
Association for the Blind.
d.. UU Pocket Guide: From the Massachusetts Association for the Blind.
MP3 format CD
The following is spoken word, searchable, and with tone indexing:
a.. Welcoming Children with Special Needs by Sally Patton: No cost from
Identity-Based Ministries.
Digital Files in Microsoft Word
These can be sent as an email attachment or a CD, and converted on an
individual computer to any size font for printing, to spoken word (screen
reader), or to Braille.
a.. Unitarian Universalist Pocket Guide: No cost from Identity-Based
Ministries.
b.. Singing the Living Tradition, all lyrics and readings: No cost from
Identity-Based Ministries.
c.. Soul Work: Anti-Racist Theologies in Dialogue, edited by Marjorie
Bowens-Wheatley and N.P. Jones: No cost from Identity-Based Ministries.
d.. Weaving the Fabric of Diversity (Religious Education curriculum): No cost
from Identity-Based Ministries.
Because of copyright restrictions, these alternative format media are for use
only by people who cannot utilize them in regular printed form.
Contact Information
Email: access@xxxxxxx or
interconnections@xxxxxxx
The Massachusetts Association for the Blind has hundreds of books on 4-track
tape for sale, including, many progressive books. For more information, email
rpierson @ mabcommunity.org or call 617-926-4232.
Christian Record Services
Christian Record Services provides free Christian publications and programs for
people with visual impairments. The goal of the many volunteers, employees, and
trustees of Christian Record Services is to reach every blind or visually
impaired person in North America with their free Christian publications and
services. Services include:
a.. Subscription Magazines are available in braille, large print, and audio
cassette.
b.. Full-Vision Books combine braille and print, enabling blind parents to
read to their sighted children and sighted parents help their blind children
learn to read braille.
c.. The Lending Library lends more than 2,000 volumes in braille and audio
cassette.
d.. Gift Bibles and Study Guides are available in braille, large print, and
audio cassette.
e.. National Camps for Blind Children are operated throughout North America.
f.. Scholarship Assistance is given on a limited basis to blind young people
trying to obtain a college education.
For more information, contact:
Christian Record Services, Inc. / National Camps for Blind Children
4444 South 52nd Street
Lincoln NE 68516-1302
Phone: 402-488-0981
Fax: 402-488-7582
Email: info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Web: http://christianrecord.org
Bartimaeus Alliance of the Blind, Inc.
Bartimaeus Alliance of the Blind, or BAB Inc., was designed and created
primarily to minister to the needs of blind and deaf-blind individuals for
Bible teaching and ministry; to promote Christian growth through Bible centered
teaching and fellowship; and to provide study and reference materials centered
in the Christian faith.
Born the 4th of July on a farm in western Iowa, Grant Metcalf gradually lost
his sight over the space of a year as a result of an injury suffered when he
was 7 years old. Enrolled at the Iowa School for the Blind at 8, he graduated
high school in 1958. Soon, Grant moved to the San Francisco bay area where he
met and married his wife, Judi--they have 2 daughters; Shari and Pam, and 1
grandson, Anthony.
Grant has worked as a masseur; mechanic (rebuilding automatic transmissions);
musician; darkroom technician and medical transcriber at Seton Medical Center;
and as Executive Director, President and General Manager of The East Bay Center
for the Blind in Berkeley, California.
Nelly Metcalf, Grant's mother, was a devout Christian who would read the Bible
to her son and pray with and for him. Her last gift to Grant was a braille
Bible when he was 15.
Grant has always been active in the local church. He has scrubbed bathrooms,
taught Sunday School, accompanied congregational singing, provided special
music, served as a deacon, and occasionally preached at Gospel missions.
Grant now serves as coordinator of the Bartimaeus Bible Conference. This annual
event has provided an opportunity for ministry in a special way to the blind.
Out of this activity has grown the Bartimaeus Alliance of the Blind, a
non-profit, Christian organization, dedicated to serving blind and deaf-blind
individuals through a Bible teaching ministry: promoting Christian growth
through Bible centered teaching and fellowship, as well as making available
study and reference materials centered in the Christian faith.
For more information, contact:
Grant E. Metcalf
Bartimaeus Alliance of the Blind, Inc.
P.O. Box 572
South San Francisco, CA 94083-0572
Phone: 650-589-6890
Web: http://bartimaeus.us
The Bible In Excel
John Walkenbach of The J-Walk Blog: http://j-walkblog.com has created an Excel
version of The Bible.
"I found a text file with the complete King James Version of the Bible. I wrote
a few macros and dumped it all into an Excel workbook. Each book is on a
separate worksheet, and each verse is in a separate cell.
It has a handy hyperlink table of contents so you can jump to any book. I also
wrote some summary formulas to calculate the number of characters in each book,
and the average number of characters per verse. Then I added a word count
feature: Enter a word and it displays the number of occurrences in each book."
You can click this link to download The Bible In Excel. It's a 1.8 Mb zip file,
and it expands to a 6.1Mb Excel workbook.
Here's a website that contains The Bible as HTML and audio:
http://scriptures.lds.org.
Electronic Bibles
You can now purchase electronic versions of The Bible. Click this link to visit
http://www.talkingbibles.org or click here to visit
http://www.audioscriptures.org.
Talking Bibles International
419 East Grand Avenue
Escondido, CA 92025
Phone: 760-745-8105
Email: info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Solar Powered Talking Bible
Need your bible on the go? Got bad vision? Dependent on solar power? Then the
Solar Powered Talking Bible is for you! It's easy to use, no batteries
required, and runs about 14 hours on a full charge. And it comes with a free
set of earbuds!
The Solar Powered Talking Bible is perfect for the 50+ crowd, the visually
impaired, or anyone on-the-go who wants to hear the Word of the Lord."
Order by phone from First Street Online: 866-915-8324 and mention promo code:
33063 or Click this link to visit shop.com to learn more.
The Bible in MP3 Audio Format
Welcome to the AudioTreasure site where you can download the Bible in the
popular mp3 audio format and find links to Bible audio resources in many
languages.
(Some of their mp3 Bibles can be legally copied and given to others.)
You can also order Bibles in mp3 audio and DVD format from their online store.
Bibles in mp3 available for Free Download
a.. The World English Bible Old and New Testaments
b.. The King James Bible voice only
c.. The King James Bible soft music background
d.. Hebrew Old Testament narrated by ASI
e.. Spanish Reina Valera Nuevo Testamento y Salmos
f.. The Mandarin Bible narrated by ASI Old and New Testaments
g.. Cantonese NT narrated by ASI
h.. Italian New Testament narrated by ASI
i.. Hindi New Testament narrated by ASI
j.. Russian New Testament narrated by ASI
Click this link to listen to download these texts as MP3 files:
http://www.audiotreasure.com. The New International Version of The Bible can be
streamed from BibleGateway.com.
Links to more Bible audio in different languages
Audio Scriptures International has produced The Bible in 68 languages which are
now available in the RealAudio format from their website. Click this link to
visit AudioScriptures.org.
If you are looking for a bible in large print or braille, the following
agencies offer different versions in alternate formats:
a.. Freedom Scientific has a copy of The Bible in electronic braille on their
FTP server. To download a ZIP archive use the following link.
Click this link to download The Bible from Freedom Scientific:
ftp://ftp4.freedomscientific.com/Blazie/books/bible/
b.. American Bible Society
Phone: (212) 408-1200
The following versions are available in braille:
Complete King James Version
Psalms New Revised Standard Version
New Testament New Revised Standard Version (5 volumes)
The following versions are available on tape:
Complete King James Version
Complete King James Version in Spanish
Complete Today's English Version
Psalms - Today's English Version
c.. Bibles for the Blind and Visually Handicapped International.
Phone: (812) 466-4899
The King James Version - Available in Braille, free
d.. Hosanna Ministries
Phone: (800) 545-6552
The Holy Bible available in English and Spanish
e.. Lutheran Braille Workers Union
Phone: (800) 925-6092
The complete New International Version is available in braille.
Parts of the New International Version are available in different languages.
The International Children's Bible is available in GRADE 1 Braille.
The Complete New International Version is also available in large Print - 18
pt.
f.. Christian Church Without Walls
Address: P. O. Box 26247
Wilmington, DE 19899
The King James and the New American Standard Version are available in large
print 13.5 pt. Send a written request stating that you are legally blind, and
what version you want to receive. These bibles are free of charge.
g.. Aurora Ministries
Phone: 941-748-3031
Address: P. O. Box 621
Bradenton, Florida 34206
Old Testament, New Testament, and Bible Studies materials are available free
of charge.
h.. The National Library Service (NLS) has a list of sources for sacred
writings on their FTP server. This is a large text document, around 38 pages,
so you will probably want to use your word processor's search feature to find
the book or books you are looking for. The list includes sources of braille,
large print and audio formats of several different editions of the Bible and of
sacred writings from other major religions such as the Koran, the Torah, the
Bhagavad Gita, and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. For more information, call the
NLS at the toll-free number below.
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
Toll Free: 800-424-8567
Email: nls@xxxxxxx
Web: http://www.loc.gov/nls/
i.. Bible Gateway: http://bible.gospelcom.net
Bible Gateway provides the Bible online for both research and study purposes.
Currently, there are eleven different versions available in nineteen languages
including German, Swedish, Latin, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Tagalog (the
main Philippine dialect). Additional versions and translations are being added
as permissions to use these are obtained.
j.. Biblseekr: http://www.bibleseeker.org
Biblseekr is considered by some to be the most accessible Bible search
program. Some new versions of the Bible have recently been added to its options.
k.. Large Print Documents on CD
"Prayers & Psalms for Today" is a CD that can help in all kinds of life
situations. It includes selections from Prayers and Thanksgivings, Prayers for
the Sick, Prayers for Use by a Sick Person, as well as The Psalter from The
Book of Common Prayer (1979) of The Episcopal Church, USA.
The CD is in APhont, a special font designed for people who are blind or
visually impaired. The font was developed by the American Printing House for
the Blind. The CD is formatted in Microsoft Word. The main body is in 20 point.
The material is laid out for 8.5 x 11 inch paper.
The material on "Prayers & Psalms for Today" can be printed out and
distributed to the blind or visually impaired, including shut-ins, college and
seminary students, clergy, people in nursing homes, prisons, and hospitals. The
prayers and Psalms can be made into a booklet. ISN'T TECHNOLOGY AMAZING?
Blind individuals with electronic notetakers and special software, and
visually-impaired people with access to computers can use the CD. Optical
character reader equipment that can read documents formatted in Microsoft Word
should also be able to read the "Prayers & Psalms for Today" and "The
LARGE-PRINT Book of Common Prayer" CD material.
"The LARGE-PRINT Book of Common Prayer" CD includes the entire Book of Common
Prayer of the ECUSA (1979). It is formatted in Microsoft Word, 18 point type
and is laid out for 8.5 x 11 inch paper. The BCP CD can be used to help prepare
large-print worship materials. It was also suggested that it can be adapted and
used to help children.
Both CDs have been distributed to bishops, clergy, deacons, churches,
seminaries, colleges, bookstores, resource centers, prison ministries, eye-care
professionals, hospitals, military and veterans' hospitals, mental-health
ministries, and individuals throughout the U.S. They've been ordered by ECUSA,
United Methodist, Free Methodist, Anglican, and Assembly of God churches and/or
social service agencies.
To order "Prayers & Psalms for Today" or "The LARGE-PRINT Book of Common
Prayer" CD, please send a self-addressed, stamped 6x9 envelope with three 39
cent stamps attached (four if it's a padded envelope) to me at:
Ann Dahlen
1900 6th Avenue, Apt. 513
Rock Island, IL 61201.
If you need more information, please email me at anndahlen3@xxxxxxx or
largeprinthelp@xxxxxxxx
The E-Sword Bible Program is a powerful study tool featuring several versions
of the Bible as well as dictionaries and commentaries. the program is quite
usable with speech, and to make it more useful, there is a low-traffic mailing
list where users can ask and answer accessibility questions. To join, send a
blank message to eSword-Accessibility-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Optasia Ministry
Optasia Ministry has formed for the purpose of providing free, significant
Bible study resources to those with visual disabilities who use screen reading
software. Operating under a provision of the U.S. Copyright Code, Optasia
Ministry is able to provide free materials such as commentaries, Greek and
Hebrew word study, theological and ministry resources to those with visual
disabilities. Also available is a New International Version Bible (and other
Bible versions) which work well on a Braille note taker. Many of these
copyrighted resources are not available to those with visual disabilities in
any other way.
For more information, contact:
Tom Vos, director
Optasia Ministry, Inc.
185th St.
Wellsburg, IA 50680
Phone: 641-869-3305
Email: OptasiaMinistry@xxxxxxxx
Web: http://www.optasiaministry.org
--
"To me, music that breaks your heart is the music that stays with you forever.
It's one thing to be melancholy and one thing to be sophisticated, but when you
get the two of them together in a way people can relate to, then I think you're
on to something. You want the sophistication to lie in the purity of the sound,
the beauty of the arrangements, and the quality of the performances."-Trumpeter
Chris Botti--
--
Chela Robles
AIM/Facebook/Twitter/MySpace/E-Mail: cdrobles693@xxxxxxxxx
Skype: jazzytrumpet
WindowsLive Messenger: cdrobles693@xxxxxxxxxxx
Text my Cell at: 19252505955
I volunteer for a non-profit organization called Bookshare, to find out more go
to: http://www.bookshare.org
--
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