[bookport] Re: Webbraille
- From: DanFlasar@xxxxxxx
- To: bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2005 18:46:02 EST
I am on the advisory board of the Wolfner Library of Missouri, our state
distributor of Talking Books and other supplies for the blind. The last
half of the meeting was a phone call from a high-ranking member of the US
Library Of Congress team developing the digital talking book (DTB) that will
be
released for use by patrons of the US Library of Congress Talking Books
program. Exciting news coming.
The new standard will be a DAISY variant with embedded encrypted codes
to protect the digitized talking books from piracy. These books are audio
files transferred from the original audiotapes - and of course, new ones to be
added.
All software and hardware authorized for use with the new digital
format will have embedded keys, eliminating the annoyance of having to key in
codes as, for example, RFBD requires. The most exciting news - LOC will begin
making digitized audio books available in mid 2007, thus making them
downloadable. There will still be a mail service to encode the books on
cartridge-loaded flash cards for those who don't wish to and can't use the
internet to get
their books. The new digital talking book units are not due for release
until late 2008 so those of us who are willing to download will thus get a
headstart. Since the files are encrypted and can only be accessed by patrons
of
the LOC, it will be perfectly legal for us to keep copies of the digital
books!
And as for interlibrary loan, we will be able to search - worldwide -
all comparable libraries for talking books. If we find a selection we would
like to receive, our local library (Wolfner in my case) would request the
book,
encrypt it with the LOC codes and then either send it to me or give me an
URL for download.
So, if you want "Die Zauberberg" by Thomas Mann, for example, (The
Magic Mountain"), I will be able to get a digital copy of the narrated book in
German from Germany via the LOC, and vice versa. If Hans wants a copy of
"Huckleberry Finn" in English, he can do the same from his own Talking Books
system.
I know, I know, the rest of the world has been able to do this for
years. I'm just glad it's finally going to happen.
Dan
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