NLS Conference Notes

Rapid City, South Dakota

May 2-6, 2004

Approximately 180 persons attended this biennial conference. These informal meeting notes were taken by Tom Peters, one of the attendees. He was not able to attend all of the sessions. Errors may have been introduced through inattention, misperception, misunderstanding, poor typing skills, etc. Please send corrections to tpeters@tapinformation.com. These notes are not intended to serve as a substitute for actual conference attendance.

Keynote Address by Eric Kraft, an author (http://www.erickraft.com/):

Peter Leroy is Kraft’s primary fictional character. He imagines two ideal readers and two types of reading: silently in bed, and aloud in a living room. Passionate Spectator is the ninth book in the Peter Leroy series. Leaving Small’s Hotel is another title. Little Follies is the first book in the series. Inflating the Dog is another title in his series. What is the nature of the relationship between an author and his enduring main character? Eric and Peter liberate the other. They are not the same person, but they share a mind. Peter grew up in Babbington, on the south shore of Long Island. Kraft modifies excerpts from his book for listening audiences. Some listeners are captive listeners. Kraft suggests there is no such thing as inspiration, hence there may be no Muse. Neural noise is the closest thing to inspiration we have. Neural noise is a Darwinian process. Noises within the neural network can come from within the brain or from an external stimulus. Reading is one type of external stimulus. Kraft writes to please his ideal audience. His ideal audience is his motivation, so he calls her his Muse. Invent your ideal reader, if you need to. If you write to impress and satisfy your ideal reader, you will produce your best work. Peter writes his memoirs in order to woo and impress his wife, Albertine. Kraft also writes for his ideal reader, his wife. She has a discriminating reader’s palate. She meets a work on its own terms. He wants to prove to his wife that he is living an examined life. Kraft knows a book is finished when it is good enough to read aloud to his wife. He tries to get his wife into a receptive mood with a martini. His wife listens to books on tape and on CD. Digital books are clearer. The medium is more durable. Random access is an advantage of both printed books and digital books, but not audiocassettes. Eric’s wife can add up to 99 bookmarks to a DTB. DTBs are smaller and lighter than other types of books. The iPod mini holds 3 gigabytes.

National Outreach Initiatives:

Robert Fistick (Head, Publications and Media Section, NLS): A planning meeting was held in 2003 to update outreach efforts. Current outreach efforts include “take a talking book” (which has produced only 724 new readers spread across 11 libraries). It is difficult to obtain and maintain media coverage. The imagery needs to be more diverse. NLS wants to attract 70,000 new readers. Target audiences will be seniors, veterans, students, and public libraries. A private PR firm will be hired to conduct this campaign. They want to develop partnerships, then add web links to NLS from the websites of those partners. They also plan to revise the application process. Place stories about patrons or the program in target publications. Develop new posters and circulars. The PR firms suggest more media outreach, enhancing the NLS website, expanding exhibits, and updating posters and brochures.

Catherine Durivage from the Minnesota Regional Library discussed how to reach seniors. Seniors make up to 65 percent of active patrons. Take a Talking Book is the current outreach effort. Libraries are reporting they do not have the time and staff to fully implement this campaign. Good ways to reach these seniors is to work with organizations of daughters of these seniors, because daughters often are the primary caregivers. The Talking Book for Senior manuals for care facilities need to be updated. Develop partnerships with AARP, the National Council on Aging, and other organizations. One idea is to establish book clubs.

Jerry Packard from the New Mexico Regional Library discussed ways to reach veterans. The 1931 Pratt-Smoot Act mandates that service preference be given to veterans. Work more closely with VA Hospitals and Offices. American Legion would be another good way to distribute information. Invite veterans to serve on library advisory boards. Develop targeted information packets. Engage in some direct marketing to veterans. Develop partnerships.

Ruth Hemphill from the Tennessee Regional Library discussed ways to reach students. NLS has been serving children since 1952. There are approximately 11,000 school districts in the U.S. Reading disabilities and physical handicaps qualify students to use the service. Work with teachers and parents to enroll students. Develop customized packets for parents. Provide program information for special education teachers. Work with disability offices at colleges and universities. Use the web to attract teens to the program.

Bob McBrien from the New York Regional Library discussed ways to reach public libraries: Over 16,000 public libraries in the U.S. ASCLA=Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies. Interface is ASCLA’s quarterly newsletter. Partner with state library associations. Provide an education program for library staff members. Provide multimedia information for library students. Honor libraries for their accessibility efforts. Host seminars and workshops for patrons of public libraries.

The next steps will take 6-18 months: contact the PR firm, research and planning, develop materials, execute, and evaluate the program. The PR firm will be retained in the coming weeks. The goal is to enroll 70,000 new patrons within the next year. This will be the biggest national campaign NLS has ever undertaken. It will be a multilingual campaign. They plan to work with ALA. They plan to spend approximately $500,000 on this campaign. New patrons should get new machines. Some of the advertising will be paid advertising. Local outreach efforts should continue, too. Outreach coordinators will be involved in this national campaign.

Peter Osborne from RNIB re: European Digital Initiatives

The Royal National Institute of the Blind in the United Kingdom distributes DTBs on CD. They have a good synthetic voice on their Victor Classic playback device. He focused on UK initiatives. He predicts we will have similar experiences in the U.S. He currently is responsible for all RNIB library services. He has four librarians for the entire country (1.5 million visually impaired persons). RNIB is the largest charity in the UK, founded in 1868. They provide over 60 services, including the talking book service. They currently serve 42,000 members. They have used LP records, tapes, and now CDs. Many of the people over 100 are happily using CDs. 80 percent of their members rely on pensions and other statutory benefits. 35 percent of the members live alone, so the talking book service is their lifeline. The average length of membership is 6.3 years. Death usually is the cause for discontinuation of membership. 12 percent of members have access to computers. There is no core statutory funding for the talking book service. Membership costs $100 per year, which includes a playback device. Operating costs are approx. $6.3 million per year. The conversion cost is approx. $35 million, to be funded by charitable contributions. The 21^st Century Library is a 3-year project to convert 40,000 members from analog to digital. Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and other countries are following the basic 3-year business plan. 10,000 books are being converted from analog to digital. They add 1500 new books to the library. 2,000 volunteers will be trained to support the digital service in the field. Production studios are going to be relocated and digitized. The BBC is using these studios, too. Keeping the volunteers engaged is critical to the success of the program. A digital archive will be created. Future distribution possibilities are being explored. They are working on the management of their assets (books, production, etc.). The important thing is to work on asset management, not on the distribution system. They are looking at flash memory, micro drives, etc. They have a CD duplication and distribution facility. They can distribute 30,000 items per day. To date, they have 24,000 digital members and 7,500 digital books (including 900 new recordings). They’ve received only 120 complaints from end-users. 5,000 DTBs are circulated each day. 85 percent of the volunteers have been trained and are actively supporting members. Digital catalogs on CD and other information about the program has been produced (e.g., TV listings). Most of the CDs come back to RNIB. They already are barcoded. Only 10 percent of what circulates actually goes back to the shelves; most recirculate within a day. They want to produce more magazines. They plan to switch off the analog service in March 2005. They also offer book-only memberships, to allow people to get their own playback devices. They are going to work with public libraries to house master copies. They went with CDs because they are cheap. The seashell and wallets cost less than 20 cents each, and they tend to circulate 10 times. A major funding project has been underway to deliver 40,000 digital players.

Osborne noted that cooperation between European organizations will lead to the successful interchange of content. They have an agreement with CNIB (the Canadian National Institute for the Blind) to provide digital masters. Osborne noted that in most instances need multiple versions of the same content. There are 75,000 DTB users in Europe at the present time. The logistics of the U.S. DTB program are extremely complex. Should we try to provide digital protection? RNIB has opted not to attempt to protect the digital content. DRM does not work, and is not worth the time and effort. There have some instances of loaned books appearing on the Internet, and they were able to track down and expel the member.

Michael Moodie on NLS Digital Efforts

Section 4 of the business plan covers 16 major initiatives for the production and distribution of digital content. Moodie focused on a subset of these 16 initiatives.

1. User survey: Who are we designing this system for? What are the characteristics and needs of these users? This initiative has been completed.

2. Player transition plan: spare parts; repair capacity; timeline, etc. Complete in Oct.

3. Web Magazine Pilot: Can we deliver magazines on the Internet? Karen Keninger from Iowa is one of the beta testers.

4. Digital Data Management System Development: Create an archive and protect the assets while they are distributed. The average 12 hour DTB is 12 GB. Production, quality control, archiving, etc. WAV files are much too large, so they are using compressed MP3 files for distribution. The WAV files are the master files in this production process. Internet distribution will be a big part of the future distribution system.

5. Flash Memory: They are examining different types of flash memory.

6. Distribution Medium and System: This has been split into two separate studies. Will flash memory costs come down fast and far enough to be feasible in 2008. CD and other solid state memory systems will be explored this summer.

7. Distribution System Study: Explore different options for distribution, then select one. Develop a detailed design with specifications for this distribution system. One option for distribution is mass distribution of copied media—the current system. The current distribution system works well with low cost and robust medium such as cassettes. The current system requires a lot of shelf space, and lots of manual labor, plus a huge investment in media storage. A second model is full duplication-on-demand at regional distribution centers. A highly automated setting with little or no manual labor would be required to make this feasible. This would entail a shift in costs from the network to NLS, which is not really feasible. A hybrid system would use the network to house and distribute the bulk of the digital content. Distribution on demand at a national center would handle the low-demand content. 20 percent would be mass produced, and would account for 80 percent of the circulation. The books handled at the regional centers would never be out of stock. The talking book centers will not be in control of all the circulation activity, which may cause some concern and anxiety. The hybrid systems would need a clear, detailed set of rules and procedures. The COSLA representatives have been pressuring for a new business model that gets away from large inventories and lots of manual labor.

8. Circulation System Design

9. Web Book Pilot will follow the magazine pilot.

Revised Standards and Guidelines of Service

Courtney Deines-Jones, the ASCLA Project Director: The challenge is to make the document relevant from 2005 to 2015—the period where the digital solution will be implemented. The document also must pass ALA muster, so sometimes the language sounds a little stilted or downright strange. These will be service standards. Think about the functional equivalents of the services you offer, even is they are called something different. These are standards of excellence. They do not represent the best of all possible services. These are the standards for “damn good” service. The actual measures of service are almost 20 years now, which is a problem, because they will not be revised in the context of the current process. The last standards process in 1995 went through three drafts. This time they may be able to achieve this with one lengthy review cycle. The review cycle will conclude at the end of August. There will be a public comments session at ALA in Orlando. The Advisory Committee will meet in September, and the standards will be finalized in October. The last revision was in 1995. They are moving away from the notion of “core” services.

Program Statistics

Sylvia Dye from NLS: She has been with NLS in production control for 17 years. In October she moved over to the Reference Section. Statistics are important for libraries (internal use and for comparison purposes), for Congress, and the budget hearings. Stats are collected about the readership, circulation, collection, staffing, and budget. Look at the stats for previous years to ensure consistency. See lcweb.loc.gov/pics for the input screen (login required). Statistics are reported every half year. May 15 is the next deadline. They are planning a Centennial Celebration for those readers who are over 100 years old.

User-Based Program Assessment

Deborah Toomey from NLS: The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the NLS program from the perspective of users and non-users and to identify appropriate approaches to measuring results. They plan to measure use, user satisfaction, and non-satisfaction during this period of transition to digital. The baby boomers may create a huge bulge in the service population. Improved health care may mitigate the impact of this population wave. In 1968 Nelson Associates conducted a user survey. In 1979 AFB conducted a study of the Users and Non-Users. This led to the conclusion that 1.4 percent of the general population is eligible for NLS services. In 2003 NLS conducted a patron survey. The NLS Reference Section has conducted an exhaustive literature search on this topic of evaluating library programs, community studies, and user population studies. Toomey currently is reviewing the literature. The next step will be to establish an advisory committee to assist in developing a scope of work statement that will go out to bid. A contractor will be hired to conduct the actual study. The results will be made available to the entire network.

Braille and Audio Conservation Project

Edwin Pitts from NLS: This unique collection has special preservation and conservation needs. NLS audio recordings began in 1934. In the early years, some authors read their own works, which are very valuable recordings now. Conservation efforts can be preventive or remedial. Braille Preservation and Salvage Guidelines, a technical circular, was published in August 2003. The Treasury of Talking Books project is focused on the audio books. Part of the project will focus on 3400 titles. Some of the narrated passages will be transferred to digital master files. 24 titles by famous authors and celebrities will be restored to their original sound quality. The famous narrators include Bob Hope, Desi Arnaz, Joan Crawford, Victor Borge, Alistair Cooke, Gene Shepard, Herbert Hoover, Eleanor Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lin Yu Tang, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Archibald MacLeish, Ogden Nash, etc.

InfoEyes (Lori Bell, Diana Sussman, Kim Charlson, Mary Mohr, and Jeff Penka)

Jeff Penka from OCLC: Questionpoint has been involved in over 20 pilot projects (e.g., elearning portals). Reference is a relationship business. Virtual reference has the ability to reach new patrons and serve patrons where they are. Joe Janes has develop a set of five practical (but not easy) and necessary steps for improving a reference service. See http://www.questionpoint.org/education/conferences/fabr_expertise.html. If you were starting a reference service from scratch, how would you design it? For Penka, anything you learn from is a success. Instability represents the greatest opportunity for significant advancement, according to Fred Kilgour. QP and 24/7 Reference in California handled over one million reference transactions last year.

Lori Bell from the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center: VR (chat-based) became popular in libraries as recently at 2000. Comments from patrons have been very positive and encouraging. The eight main goals of the InfoEyes project (www.infoeyes.org) include establishing a national model for providing virtual reference services and e-resources for visually impaired individuals, test Voice-over-IP as a component of enhanced virtual reference services, work with OCLC to make QuestionPoint more accessible for the visually impaired, etc.

Diana Sussman from the Southern Illinois Talking Book Center: 13 participating libraries in 10 states. Each library serves four hours of desk time each week. We offer three online service points: email, basic chat, or enhanced VR with VoIP, co-browsing, etc. Each library contributes four hours of service each week. All individuals involved in the InfoEyes project are encouraged to attend the monthly online meetings of the Advisory Committee.

Kim Charlson from the Massachusetts Regional Library: The patron base needs to be taught about how online reference works, and its value to individuals. Screen reader software had some problems with both QPS and QPE. In QPS the screen refreshes too quickly and too often for JAWS. With QPE JAWS could not find the text chat box. Scripts were developed for the two most recent version of JAWS so that JAWS could quickly locate the text chat box. [We also developed a procedure when answering a reference question to unlock the text chat box to make it easier to find.]

Mary Mohr from the Library of Congress: In January 2003 accessibility issues were raised by NLS about QuestionPoint. Licensing issues for e-resources when answering questions is a challenge. The multi-state collaboration has been very successful. Some of the participating libraries never really had provided a reference service prior to becoming involved in InfoEyes. Many of these service providers are born-digital reference librarians. Usage data and online satisfaction surveys are available for assessing the service. Comments from patrons have been very positive. An application for an IMLS grant has been submitted. Awards will be announced in September. Mohr encourages other network libraries to participate. Mohr applauded Lori Bell and Diana Sussman for their leadership in this project.