See Note Newsletter
Previous editions of the See Note Newsletter are available here
Newsletter of the Utah State Library for the Blind and Disabled
Winter 2012 - Number 89
This newsletter is available in Braille, on cassette, or via email by contacting the library.
Download alternate forms of this newsletter:
| Large Text (.pdf) | Braille (.brf) | Audio (.mp3) |
Table of Contents:
Braille Calendars for 2012 Now Available
Once again the library is providing Braille calendars, compliments of the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults. To request one please telephone or email the library (blind@utah.gov) to request this item.
Digital Talking Books Plus 2010 Catalog Available
The large print edition of Digital Talking Books Plus 2010 is now available. It includes all adult, young adult, and Spanish language books on digital cartridge (DBs) and on cassette (RCs) produced by the Library of Congress during 2010. Titles are arranged by nonfiction subject or type of fiction. The catalog also contains a bestsellers index.
If you have not already received a copy, (it is pink in color), please telephone the library or email the library (blind@utah.gov) to request this item.
Bookshelf Feature on the Digital Player
If your book cartridge or flash drive has several books or magazine issues loaded on it, you can jump from book to book or magazine to magazine by using the Bookshelf feature on your player. To activate this feature on a cartridge or flash drive currently inserted into the digital player, hold down the green Play/Stop button for about three seconds until the machine says “Bookshelf.”
Now you can use Rewind or Fast Forward to go from book to book or magazine to magazine. When you hear the announcement for the book or magazine issue you wish to hear, press the green Play-Stop button to listen to that book or magazine.
Digital Player Software Revision
A software revision for the digital players is being added to the cartridges for new DB books. When a book with the new software is inserted into a player that has not yet been upgraded, it will announce, “Upgrading your player’s software. Please do not power off your player or remove the cartridge from the player.”
While the machine is updating, there will be a series of beeps. After less than a minute, the update will be complete. The machine will then announce “Software upgrade completed. Stand by while your player is restarted.”
Please do not remove the book cartridge while it is updating your player’s software.Prison Production Building Dedicated
The Utah Department of Corrections (UDC) and the Utah State Library (USL), a Division of the Department of Community and Culture (DCC) have officially opened a new facility at the Utah State Prison equipped with state of the art recording rooms that allow inmates to record and produce materials for the library’s patrons.
A permanent structure has been built inside the prison perimeter specifically dedicated to Reading for the Blind. The facility is complete with soundproof reading rooms, and was constructed solely from the generous gifts from donors who wished to expand the program. The building has been functioning since July, 2011 but was formally dedicated in a ceremony on November 1, 2011.
State Librarian Donna Jones Morris, DCC Executive Director Julie Fisher, UDC Executive Director Thomas Patterson and blind patron Kristen Cox officially cut the dedicatory ribbon.
“The State Library is pleased to partner with the Department of Corrections,” says State Librarian Donna Jones Morris. “It’s a win-win for the patrons and for the inmates who read for the blind.”
While the building is new, the Utah Department of Corrections has partnered with the Utah State Library for decades to produce local interest audio recordings for the library’s blind and disabled patrons. The Reading for the Blind Program (RFB) at the Utah Department of Corrections (UDC) employs 25 inmate staff and produces books of local and regional interest and/or books written by local authors.
Utah Produced Digital Books Now Available
The Utah State Library now has local and regional interest books available on digital cartridge format. The books are being produced at the new Reading for the Blind facility at the Utah State Prison. We received 30 titles in December and the books are currently in circulation. Other titles will be available after the first of the year. Please contact the library if you would like to place a reserve on local book titles in the digital cartridge format.
You may also find these books on the library’s online catalog. Their book numbers begin with the letters DBU (Digital Book Utah).
Go to the library’s homepage at blindlibrary.utah.gov
In the left margin, click on "Online Catalog – KLAS."
This brings up the Basic Search screen of the catalog.
In the "Search For:" field, enter the letters DBU.
In the "Search Index:: field, click on Subject.
Click Submit Search
This results in a list of books that can be either checked out or reserved.
The Utah State Library for the Blind and Disabled is also developing an email list as a means of notifying patrons about the new digital and Braille format titles that are recent additions to our local interest book collection. The new book update will be emailed quarterly to everyone subscribed to the list. If you would like to subscribe, please email the library at blind@utah.gov.Type the words “new book list” in the subject line. Please type your name and/or patron number in the body of the email. If you have questions about how to subscribe to this list, please contact the library for assistance.
This new catalog from the Library of Congress lists Western novels and short stories available on the audio formats - digital cartridges (DBs) and/or cassettes (RCs). It contains sections on the writers Max Brand, Zane Grey, William W. Johnstone, Elmer Kelton, and Louis L’Amour, as well as a section on other authors. Following the listings for audio books, there is a section of Westerns in Braille.
To receive a copy, please telephone the library or email the library (blind@utah.gov) to request this item.
The Consumer Advisory Committee of the Utah State Library for the Blind and Disabled meets twice a year at the State Library in Salt Lake. There are currently 3 patron at large positions open on the committee. Appointment to this committee involves a 4 year commitment, which begins in the Fall of 2012.
If you are a patron of the library and would like to serve on this committee, please send a letter of interest and a brief resumé by March 1, 2012 to:
Lisa Nelson
Program Manager
Utah State Library
Program for the Blind and Disabled
250 North 1950 West, Suite A
SLC, UT 84116-7901
or email her at lfnelson@utah.gov
By providing information in the See Note, the Utah State Library, Program for the Blind and Disabled, does not endorse any product, service, organization, or company mentioned herein.