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Winter 2012

    "A smile is the universal welcome."
            – Max Eastman

Welcome Long Island Patrons!

 
As of January 1, 2012 the Andrew Heiskell Library will begin to serve Long Island residents for digital and cassette books, in addition to the braille service we have always provided to Long Island residents. Welcome aboard! All of your machine and “Has Had” records came with you, so the transition should be a smooth one. We invite you to use our new toll-free number, 855-697-6975 (NYPL), and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Fresh Start

A new year is a great time to learn something new. Why not try a new hobby? From cooking and gardening to knitting and woodworking and activities in-between, the following books might help.
BR = Braille, DB = Digital Book.

• Barefoot Contessa – How Easy Is That? Fabulous Recipes and Easy Tips by Ina Garten – DB 71944
• The Beginner's Handbook of Woodcarving: With Project Patterns for Line Carving, Relief Carving, Carving in the Round, and Bird Carving by Charles Beiderman – DB 70055
• Charmed Knits: Projects for Fans of Harry Potter by Alison Hansel – BR 18615
• The Complete Guide to Houseplants: The Easy Way to Choose and Grow Healthy, Happy Houseplants by Valerie Bradley – BR 17207
• Crocheting in Plain English by Maggie Righetti – BR 14215
• The Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin – DB 71524 (A guide to marketing handicrafts.)
• A Hedonist in the Cellar: Adventures in Wine by Jay McInerney – BR 16869
• If I Had a Hammer: More than One Hundred Easy Fixes and Weekend Projects by Andrea Ridout – DB 67825
• Modern Coin Magic by J. B. Bobo – BR 15930
• The Nature-Friendly Garden: Creating a Backyard Haven for Plants, Wildlife, and People by Marlene A. Condon – BR 16677
• The Nonstop Garden: A Step-by-Step Guide to Smart Plant Choices and Four-Season Designs by Stephanie Cohen – DB 71745
• Small Loom and Freeform Weaving: Five Ways to Weave by Barbara Matthiessen – BR 18595, DB 69781

Citizens Advisory Council

The Council meetings are an opportunity for patrons to give their feedback on library service. All library patrons are welcome to attend. The next meeting will be on Saturday, January 7 at 11:30 a.m.

Programs

Book Discussion Group

Our book discussion group meets every other month on Saturdays at 10:00 a.m. Register by phone (212-206-5400), email (ahlbph@nypl.org), or in person.
Schedule:

• February 18:  Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann – DB 70450
• April 21: To be determined. Please call for the title.

Upcoming Programs for Kids

Story Time for Babies and Toddlers

Wednesdays, January 4, February 1, and March 7 at 10:30 a.m. Children and their parents/caregivers can enjoy interactive and tactile stories, action songs, and fingerplays, while spending time with other babies and toddlers.

 
Questions Of The Season

We'd love to hear from you! And to help you provide us with feedback, we've included a tear-out sheet with just a few questions to help us see how we’re doing and what you might want or need. We may ask the same question from time to time, or over the course of several issues, to help us gauge our improvements. You can send in your answers by mail, fax, phone, or email. Do you follow us on Facebook or Twitter? You can send in your answers there, too.
    Naturally, we hope we’re giving you service that makes you happy, but we want honest feedback that can help us shape our focus and show us where resources are needed. So don’t pull any punches! We’ll share the results of each issue’s questionnaire in the following issue.

Results from NewsLion Survey about Format Substitution from the Fall 2011 Issue
Thank you, those of you who took part in our last survey! Forty-eight people responded!

Question 1: If the book I want isn’t available in the format I prefer:
Send the cassette, even if I’d rather have the digital - 4. Send the digital, even if I’d rather have the cassette - 4. Send whichever is available first - 23. Wait until my preferred format is available - 17.

Question 2: If the library were able to substitute formats automatically:
I want automatic substitutions - 23. I don’t want substitutions - 16.

Thank you all for your feedback!

 
Winter 2012 Questionnaire

Our survey this issue is about Braille and Audio Reading Download, also known as BARD, our digital book download site: http://nlsbard.loc.gov. Over 730 of you are already using BARD to download digital books! These books are available 24 hours a day and never need to be returned. All that’s required is a computer with high-speed internet access and a USB flash drive or blank digital book cartridge. If you’re not currently using BARD, help us understand why not.

1. Before reading the introduction to this questionnaire, had you ever heard of BARD?
a. Yes
b. Yes, but I don’t understand how it works
c. No

2. If you’re not using BARD, what’s holding you back?
a. I don’t have the necessary computer skills
b. I don’t have access to a computer with high-speed internet
c. I prefer receiving my books in the mail
d. I’m already registered for BARD

To answer, call the library at 212-206-5400 or email us at: ahlbph@nypl.org.

 
Supervising Librarian, Rachelle Stein, Retires   

After 30 years with the New York Public Library, more than 20 of which were spent at the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library (formerly Library for the Blind), our Supervising Librarian for Services, Programs, and Outreach, Rachelle Stein, retired on December 27, 2011. Over the years, Rachelle has offered excellent reader advisory service and spearheaded our web and social media efforts. Her talents and knowledge will be truly missed! Please join us in wishing her a very happy retirement.

NLS Digital Book Player and BARD Workshops

Take listening to digital books to the next level by learning how to use the advanced features of both the Standard and Advanced model players. The workshop includes a demonstration of downloading books from the BARD website and a discussion of commercial book players as well as the library-issued players. Registered patrons who do not yet have a player will be able to take one home after the workshop.
The workshops will be held in the library's second floor computer lab on Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m., January 11, February 15, and March 28. Attendance is limited, so please register in advance by phone (212-206-5400), email (ahlbph@nypl.org), or in person.

Tech Talk

Software Upgrade Available for NLS Digital Player

The National Library Service has issued a software upgrade for the NLS digital players. Version 2.1.7 includes the following enhancements:

• A new user guide and key describer message discusses the use of the “bookshelf feature.”
• USB flash drives connected to the side AT port are no longer suspended between uses by default. This will mean that all conventional USB flash drives can be used to play books, albeit with a 30 percent reduction in available battery play time.
• Books on a multi-book cartridge are now ordered by alpha-numeric folder and filename.

You may upgrade your player by going to the NLS Firmware site: http://www.loc.gov/nls/DTBM/index.html

BARD Overview

The BARD Support Team wrote an overview of the BARD site, intended for new users and for experienced users who might want to delve a bit deeper into the wonders of all that is BARD. Here's the first of what they promise will be a series of posts.

Think of the Main Page as being organized in something akin to outline form.  Below the main or "Level 1" heading called "BARD main page," located near the top of the page, come three "Level 2" headings: "Find Books," "Find Magazines," and "Additional Links." In keeping with outline form, there are subheadings (Level 3) beneath each of these.  The beauty of this is that, with most screenreading programs, you can navigate quickly to the specific part of the page you want by jumping from section heading to section heading, and then, within each section, from subheading to subheading. (The keystrokes necessary to accomplish these jumps will vary slightly from screenreader to screenreader.)
    Let's start at the top of the page and look at the options contained within each of these three main categories.
    Within "Find Books," we see that we have seven possible ways to browse and search for books.  We can:
1.    View a list of books added in the last 30 days.
2.    View a list of the most popular books in the last 90 days.
3.    Use a search box to look for a particular title, author, narrator, catalog number, etc.
4.    Browse by authors' last names
5.    Browse by book title
6.    Browse by subject
7.    View a list of titles in languages other than English, produced by organizations abroad

In the "Find Magazines" section, we have two choices:
1.    View a list of recently added magazine issues, listed alphabetically
2.    Locate all available issues of a particular magazine

Finally, we come to the section of Additional Links.  Here, we find three options:
1.    Update your account settings, including the ability to change your password and email address, as well as apply for authorization of a purchased player
2.    Get answers to frequently asked questions
3.    Download the latest DTBM firmware and obtain instructions for installing it

Near the bottom of the main page, just below the sections we've been talking about, you will see the email address and phone number for your supporting library, followed by a link to its main page. Below that is a link to the BARD main page and a link to Log out.
    More detailed information on these sections will be featured in future newsletters.

BARD Tips and Tricks

Are you having trouble finding an author or title on the BARD site? There might not be anything available in digital format, or you might not have the right title or spelling. But don't give up! Call or email us and we'll verify the information for you.
    Do you have a BARD tip to share? We'd love to hear it. And we'll publish the best tips in a future newsletter.

Using BARD with Internet Explorer 9

Internet Explorer (IE) often automatically upgrades. If you use IE and are having trouble using BARD, you might now be using IE9. The National Library Service offers the following advice:
    When you download a book with Internet Explorer 9, the prompt to download or save appears in the Information bar. You have two options for handling this. One is to press Alt-N, which leads you to the Information bar, where you can choose whether to open or save the file. The other is to press Alt-S, which bypasses the Information bar and saves the file.
    Once you press Alt-N and choose to save, or press Alt-S, the file begins to download. To see the progress of the download, press Control-J to open the Download Manager. Within the Download Manager dialog box is an Options button that takes you to a dialog, where you can choose whether to be notified when downloads are complete.

The New York Public Library Ebook Accessibility Program

NYPL is pleased to offer the Library Ebook Accessibility Program (LEAP) to readers with print disabilities. Patrons with visual impairments, physical disabilities that affect their ability to read print, and reading disabilities with a physical basis are eligible for LEAP.

LEAP is made possible through the partnership of Overdrive and Bookshare, a nonprofit agency which provides ebook access to individuals with print disabilities. Participation in LEAP provides one year of access to Bookshare’s 70,000 digital books, textbooks, newspapers and magazines on a variety of subjects. Other LEAP benefits include:
•    On demand access to 20 downloads per month for 12 months, with no holds list or wait time.
•    Books in DAISY and Braille Ready Formats compatible with computers, assistive reading devices, braille printers and MP3 players.
•    Two free computer software applications that convert text to speech: Victor Reader Soft Bookshare Edition (PC Only) R Read: OutLoud Version 6 Bookshare Edition (PC and Mac)

To register, eligible patrons can follow the links on the ebooks.nypl.org page to create a Bookshare account. Patrons are provided information on how to enter their library card number and enroll in the program. Note: All eligible students (K-12, college, and graduate) are entitled to free Bookshare memberships and can register directly at Bookshare.org.

Borrow NYPL eBooks for the Kindle

The New York Public Library is now offering its ebooks, available through Overdrive, for use on a Kindle. You’ll need an Amazon account and an active wifi connection. These books will not be downloadable through the Kindle’s usual connection. If you don’t have wifi, you may download the books via a USB connection. No purchase is required to set up the Amazon account if you don’t have one, nor for the use of the library editions. Both PC and Mac users will be able to take advantage of this service.
    You can find out how to download a library eBook for your Kindle on this blog post (http://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/09/22/library-books-kindle). The post has images showing what the screens on the library’s ebooks site and Amazon look like, but the text is fairly straightforward. You will need a NYPL library card and will need to enter your library card number on the Amazon site once you choose your book(s) and proceed to checkout. If you don’t know your pin, contact the library and we can check that for you. Amazon will prompt you to sign in. If you don’t have an Amazon account, you’ll be able to create one. You’ll need an email address, but you will not be required to give credit card information.
    There is a 14-day borrowing period for these books, but you’ll be given the option to change that to 7 or 21 days. Once the time is up, the book will no longer be accessible on your Kindle unless you borrow it again.

American Museum of Natural History Science Sense Tours

From a press release:
    Visitors who are blind or partially sighted are invited to attend this program, held monthly in the Museum galleries. Specially trained Museum tour guides highlight specific themes and exhibition halls, engaging participants through extensive verbal descriptions and touchable objects.
    Science Sense is free with Museum admission.

Winter and Spring 2012 Schedule:

• Human Origins – Wednesday, January 18th, 2:30 p.m.
• Dinosaurs: Saturday, February 11th, 10:00 a.m.
• Animal Adaptations – Wednesday, March 14th 2:30 p.m.
• Scales of the Universe – Sunday, April 22nd, 10:00 a.m.

    Science Sense tours are available to individuals or groups. Space is limited and advance registration is required. Programs may be subject to change.
    For additional information or to register for a Science Sense tour, please call (212)313-7565 or email accessibility@amnh.org

Computer Support Clinic

Volunteer tutors are available to assist new computer users and experienced users seeking to brush up on skills. You'll be able to get help with email, blogging, downloading audio books, learning accessible computer games, using the web for research, configuring and using accessibility software, and more.
    The tutors read with braille and print, use text-to-speech technology, and speak a variety of languages. 
    The clinic takes place in the second floor Computer Training Room on Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., except during holiday weekends and library closings.  The Tuesday evening hours have been discontinued.
    To ensure someone will be available to help with a specific question, please make an appointment by calling Chancey Fleet at 347-632-8383.
 

Holiday Closings

The library will be closed Monday January 2, 2012 in observance of New Year's Day; Monday, January 16 for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday; and Monday, February 20 for Presidents' Day. You will still be able to leave a telephone message and someone will get back to you as soon as possible after the holidays.  

Reminders

• This newsletter is available in large print, braille, audiocassette, online on our website, and via email. Please contact the library if you'd like to make a change in how you receive it.
• Find us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/nyplheiskell) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/nyplheiskell).
• For timely updates and items of special interest, you can also follow us on Tumblr blog, NewsLion Extra: http://nyplheiskell.tumblr.com/.
• Read our blog: http://www.nypl.org/blog/library/8
• Please do not put notes in the book containers or write on the mailing cards. If you have any questions, wish to make changes to your service, or need to tell us of an address change, please contact the library by phone (212-206-5400), email (ahlbph@nypl.org), or in person. That way, we'll be sure to get your message and be able to act on it promptly.
• Planning a move? Let us know as much in advance as possible. If you are moving out of New York City, you may still continue your library service. Contact us and we'll arrange to transfer your service to the closest Regional Library to your new home.
• In order to keep the Talking Book players and keep your service active, you must borrow at least one talking book or magazine per year. Downloading a book from BARD counts.
• When returning books, be sure to turn over the mailing card in the slot on the container, so the library's address is facing out. The way to tell which side is which: when the small hole in the card is on the upper right, your address is facing forward. When the hole is on the upper left, the library's address is facing forward.