RE: For the blind
- From: "Pickrell, Rebecca M." <rebecca.pickrell@xxxxxxx>
- To: "'jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 06:39:03 -0800
What exactly is the point? A "regular" librarian can do these same tasks.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ryan Mcmanomy [mailto:ryan.mcmanomy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2004 9:39 AM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: For the blind
New Information Service for visually Impaired
Ask a librarian to help you find information about absolutely anything!
From
locating a list of symptoms for common eye diseases, to finding a
gingerbread cookie recipe, our librarians can find the information you
need.
You can chat live with a librarian using text-chat, or email a
question.
Best of all, you can communicate online with audio, hearing a
librarian's
voice while we co-browse the Internet with you. The web pages we go to
will
appear simultaneously on your computer screen. If you have a
microphone, you
can also speak to us; if not, you can type your questions using text
chat.
If no one is available, you can email your question! Visually impaired
persons in select libraries around the United States are participating
in a
six-month pilot project which officially opens on Monday, March 22, to
test
an online information and virtual reference service designed
specifically
for their needs. The service will be offered through InfoEyes
http://www.infoeyes.org
,
a virtual reference and information community for
the visually impaired. Through the pilot project, visually impaired
patrons
will use QuestionPoint to work with librarians virtually to find what
they're seeking on the Internet. QuestionPoint, the collaborative
virtual
reference service developed by the Library of Congress and OCLC, helps
librarians track and manage questions from patrons through a network of
reference librarians around the world. The Illinois State Library and
the
Illinois State Library Talking Book and Braille Service are
coordinating the
pilot project; the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) has provided
software and resources. The project will test the effectiveness of
assisting the visually impaired in using the Internet. "The goal of the
QuestionPoint service and other online reference services is to
increase
access to information," said Frank Hermes, Vice President, OCLC
Cooperative
Discovery Services. "The InfoEyes pilot project will increase access
to
online reference. OCLC is proud to be part of this effort which is
consistent with our mission of furthering access to the world's
information." In the pilot project, librarians will provide services
that
include voice over IP, co-browsing and application sharing. InfoEyes
users
will be asked to evaluate the service and resources to help librarians
further develop the service. Hours of service will be posted on the
InfoEyes Web site. If users would like service outside of those hours,
they
may schedule an appointment or a reference session. "Virtual reference
for
the blind and physically handicapped population is nothing short of
imperative toward the inclusion of this population in mainstream
society,"
said Barry Levine, a Talking Book reader and library leader in
Illinois.
Libraries participating in the project, which will run from January to
July
2004, include: the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library in
New
York City, Cleveland Public Library/Library for the Blind and
Physically
Handicapped, the Illinois State Library, the Indiana School for the
Blind,
the Iowa Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, the Library
of
Congress, Maine State Library Outreach, Mid-Illinois Talking Book
Center,
Nevada Talking Book Services, Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library,
Southern Illinois Talking Book Center, Texas State Library and Archives
Commission, TAP Information Services,
For more information, contact Sharon Ruda at
sruda@xxxxxxxxx
,
Diana Brawley Sussman at
dbrawley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
,
Tom Peters at
tapinformation@xxxxxxxxx
,
or Lori Bell at
lbell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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