Resources for Older Adults and Caregivers

Did you know that the USA.gov website has a section of resources for older adults? It includes information on caregivers' resources, consumer protection, education, volunteering, jobs, health, housing, taxes, money, retirement, travel, and recreation.

Check it out at http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Seniors.shtml

Read at Work!

Do you love to read? Do you like to read at work? :)

Thanks to a blog post on Kimbooktu's blog at http://kimbooktu.wordpress.com/2008/05/28/read-at-work/,
I learned that now you can easily read, for free, on your computer! The whole thing is set up to look like Microsoft Windows, so no one will even know that you're reading... lol. But of course I do NOT advocate reading on the job. :) Unless of course you're already a librarian, because everyone already thinks that's all we do all day long anyway... :)

You can go directly to the Read at Work website at http://www.readatwork.com/

Learn a new language, for free! (including sign language!)

Would you like to learn a new language, for free? Well, ReadWriteWeb has a great post listing 20+ ways to learn a language online! Check out the blog post at http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/20_ways_to_learn_a_language_online.php

Don't miss the Bonus Site featuring American Sign Language (ASL) at the bottom of the list http://asl.ms/

Myself, I would like to learn Czech someday... what about you all?

Another free teaching resource! TeacherTube - Teach the World

Have you heard of TeacherTube? It's online at http://www.teachertube.com/

The site says, "Our goal is to provide an online community for sharing instructional videos. We seek to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners. It is a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill."

Looks like lots of great and FREE resources for teachers on TeacherTube!

Does our money violate the law?

Does our paper money violate the law? Check out http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/20/news/money_blind/?postversion=2008052015

The article states, "A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the U.S. Treasury Department is violating the law by failing to design and issue currency that is readily distinguishable to blind and visually impaired people." The article also talks about how other currencies, such as the Euro, are much more accessible.

What are your thoughts on this? I would especially love to hear from anyone out there who is visually impaired!

Changes in Audio Player Technologies

The May edition of AFB's AccessWorld is now online at http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw0903toc

It includes an article by Darren Burton titled From Vinyl to Digital: My First Experiences with Electronic Audio Players at http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw090304

Mr. Burton discusses the changes in audio player technologies for those who are visually impaired, as well as the NLS Digital Download Project, Bookshare.org, and Audible.com. Be sure to check it out!

Getting Opinions from People All Over the World... Public Opinion Polls for the World

Have you ever wanted to know what people all over the world think about a certain topic? Well, now you can find out! Check out the Ask500 people website at http://www.ask500people.com/

You can create polls and then vote on polls other people have created - people from all over the world will vote on your poll. It's free to join and vote on polls - I've been a member of this site for several months now (it's currently in Beta, and it's free to sign up), and have seen a wide variety of questions asked, and answered. I have seen various business-oriented questions asked on the website too! You can even link to a poll on your website. But be forewarned... the website can become addictive!

How did the website get started? The site states, "There are tools for surveying groups of independent voters, but they're either slow, expensive or both. We built Ask500People to gather input and opinion data in minutes instead of days, and to create a platform that other applications can integrate."

National Disability Statistics for Disability Advocacy Webinar

There is going to be a free webinar on May 22 - National Disability Statistics for Disability Advocacy Webinar. For more information, check out
http://www.tabinc.org/blog/archives/2008/05/national_disabi_2.html

The website states, "The presenters will discuss and illustrate the relevance, availability, and quality of existing data sources for centers for independent living and state disability public policy advocates. This course will additionally outline how participants can use these data to enhance grant and funding application preparation as well as target outreach to unserved and lesser-served communities in their states."

Choosing an MP3 Player

(From TekTalk newsletter:) Are you trying to decide which MP3 player to buy, or would you like to know how to use your MP3 player more effectively? If so, Anna Dresner's new book, A Pocketful of Sound, available from National Braille Press can help. It compares and describes a variety of mainstream and adaptive players and includes instructions for their use.

The Accessible World is excited about having Anna Dresner as its presenter during the upcoming regular Monday event. Anna will describe some key features of the book. She will then demonstrate searching for and downloading music from Amazon.com's MP3 site, eMusic, RealPlayer, and iTunes and transferring music from RealPlayer and iTunes to MP3 players. The time is right for carrying a library of books and music in your pocket, and this
demonstration will help you learn how.

Join us at the date, time and place below where you will have an opportunity to ask questions of this nationally recognized technology expert following her presentation.

Contact: Woody Anna Dresner, National Braille Press, 888-965-8965
Web: http://www.nbp.org.
Email: adresner@nbp.org

Date: Monday, May 19, 2008

Time: 5:00 p.m. Pacific, 6:00 p.m. Mountain, 7:00 p.m. Central, 8:00 p.m.
Eastern and elsewhere in the world Tuesday 0:00 GMT.

Where: TekTalk Conference Room at:
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rsc9613dc89eb2

or

http://www.accessibleworld.org. Select the Tek Talk room, enter your first and last names on the sign-in screen.

All Tech Talk training events are recorded so if you are unable to participate live at the above times then you may download the presentation or podcast from the Tech Talk archives on our website at http://www.accessibleworld.org.

All online interactive programs require no password, are free of charge, and open to anyone worldwide having an Internet connection, a computer, speakers, and a sound card. Those with microphones can interact audibly with the presenters and others in the virtual audience.

Text to Speech - Read the Words!

The infodoodads blog recently had a post about "Read the Words," which is a relatively new free text to speech program. You can see the blog post at http://infodoodads.com/?p=373

You can also check out the Read the Words website at http://readthewords.com/

The Read the Words website states, "ReadTheWords.com began as a simple concept in January 2008: To assist students with learning disabilities with their studies, by means of auditory learning and auditory processing."

For those of you that want to experiment with this text to speech software program, I would love to hear your feedback about it - feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I haven't tried it yet, but hope to soon!

Free Louis L'Amour book!

Thanks to the Southeastern Library Services blog at http://southeasternlsa.blogspot.com/, I learned about a cool free book offer!

You can go to the Louis L'Amour centennial offer at http://www.randomhouse.com/bantamdell/lamour/ for more information about how to get the Louis L'Amour memoir, Education of a Wandering Man for free.

However, it looks like this free offer applies only to free lending libraries, not to individuals.... so, if you work at a library, be sure to get a copy for your library... and if you don't work for a library, be sure to tell your local library about this offer, so they can order a free copy!

Podcast in American Sign Language!

"The first ever video podcast in American Sign Language is being launched today on the Disability Law Low down website at ASL.DisabilityLawLowdown.com. The Disability Law Lowdown ASL podcasts will bring a new level of service to the Deaf community by expanding traditional audio-only podcasts to include video that allows subscribers too see native Deaf speakers signing the show's content. The podcasts will deliver the latest in disability law information every other week via American Sign Language, captioning, voice-over, and transcripts to maximize accessibility. Free subscriptions to the ASL podcasts are available to have shows automatically delivered to MP3 players. The ASL podcasts are also available on the Disability Law Lowdown website, where transcripts of the shows are simultaneously available. And for the fastest viewing, the ASL podcasts are available on YouTube at www.youtube.com/disabilitylawlowdown.

The hosts for the ASL Disability Law Lowdown are native Deaf signers Danny Warthling and AJ Roupp. They will provide the latest information about disability rights and obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other disability-related topics. Subscription is free and RSS feeds are available to automatically download the shows to video iPods, computers, phones, and other video-capable devices."

(Found on eSight Community News at http://www.tabinc.org/blog/archives/2008/05/first_ever_asl.html)

Attention Email Subscribers of Talking Books Librarian Blog...

To those subscribed to Talking Books Librarian by email updates... Feedburner (the site that delivers email updates of my blog) recently had some technical issues sending out emails on some blogs. My blog was one that was affected.

Their website at http://groups.google.com/group/feedburner/web/known-issues-workarounds states,
"14-MAY 2008: Our email delivery system did not poll some FeedBurner feeds for updates on 13-May; as a result emails were not delivered...

UPDATE 12:00 CST: We restarted the polling process; starting now, any feed changes not yet delivered via email should be detected and delivered, albeit up to three days late, and from this point forward on your regularly scheduled window. We regret this error!"

Sorry for any inconvenience to those subscribed by email who may receive updates a day or more late, but it sounds like the problem should soon be corrected by Feedburner! Feel free to contact me by comments or email if you have any questions.

-Talking Books Librarian

Excuse me, could you repeat that?

"Excuse me, could you repeat that?”

“I couldn't hear a word he said!”

“Uh, what was that, again?”

If any of those phrases are familiar to you or someone in your life, hearing loss may be the culprit... (taken from http://tinyurl.com/4k3364)

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month! For more information, check out these links:

http://www.asha.org/bhsm/ (American Speech Language Hearing Association)

http://tinyurl.com/4k3364 (KU Medical Center)

Many places are even offering free hearing screenings, in honor of Better Hearing and Speech Month. Be sure to take advantage of these free screenings - it just might save your hearing!

Library of Congress meets the History Channel!

Did you know that the Library of Congress and the History Channel have created a partnership? It sounds like teachers will benefit from this as well!

According to the Library of Congress website at http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2008/08-075.html, "The Library of Congress and History™ have joined forces to create a multimedia partnership to showcase the Library’s collections to the vast audience of the History brands including the History channel, history.com and other television properties. The partnership will also bring historical content to more than 200,000 teachers across the country that use the channel’s branded educational materials in their classrooms. The announcement was made today by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington and Abbe Raven, president and CEO of A&E Television Networks."

To read more about the partnership, check out http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2008/08-075.html

Enjoy woodworking?

Do you like woodworking? Is it something you currently do, or maybe something you used to do, but now cannot because of vision difficulties? Then check out this free seminar.... (you can register at http://tinyurl.com/6h24ya)

Taken from http://www.hadley.edu/seminar/:

Seminars@Hadley Presents: Sawdust 101- Adaptive Techniques for Blind Woodworkers

Ever considered working with wood? Have you previously enjoyed woodworking as a hobby but feel your current level of vision is not adequate for safe power tool use? Would you like to keep up with the latest information on woodworking tools, periodicals, projects and safety techniques? Join us Wednesday, May 14, at 2 p.m. Central Time, 19:00 GMT, for Seminars@Hadley as we explore safe woodworking skills.

Larry Martin of www.woodworkingfortheblind.org will join Hadley instructor Don Golembiewski to discuss woodworking resources and what every woodworker with a visual impairment needs to know to safely start or resume working with wood. Time for questions and answers will be provided.

To register for the seminar, follow the "Registration" link below.

If you are already registered, we encourage you to verify that you are able to access the room at least 24 hours prior to the start of the event to allow time for troubleshooting. If you require technical assistance, please contact The Hadley School for the Blind helpdesk at helpdesk@hadley.edu or by calling (847)446-8111 ext. 6690.

Please plan to enter the room at least 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the seminar, as it will start promptly at 2:00 p.m. CST, 19:00 GMT on May 14, 2008.

Technology requirements:

The Hadley School for the Blind is now using a new version of Talking Communities tcConference software for its popular Seminars@Hadley, interactive seminars on a variety of topics. If you wish to participate in this and all future Seminars@Hadley, you must install a new plug-in prior to the first login. To install the plug-in, follow the "Download and install the new plug-in" link on the "Registered Participants Login" page.

Are silent vehicles/electric cars dangerous?

A blog post at NFB (National Federation of the Blind) talks about the dangers of silent vehicles/electric cars for the visually impaired.... check it out at http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=323

So what do you think? Are silent vehicles dangerous?

Free books for kids!

Free books anyone??? Yes, there is such a thing as a free book, at least for kids!

Thanks to a blog post on Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs blog (see http://tinyurl.com/4pnsvp for the blog post....)
I learned about the Barnes and Noble summer reading program ("Summer Reading with Andrew Clements"), where children can get a free book after they've read 8 books. So, after your kids sign up for the summer reading program at your local library, as soon as they've read 8 books, head to the local Barnes and Noble to get them a free book!

Who doesn't love a free book!

Do you want your blog listed here, on my blogroll?

Would you like to have your blog listed here, on my blogroll? I'm wanting to add more blogs to my blogroll, so if you are interested in having your blog appear here, please leave a comment to this post or send an email to talkingbookslibrarian AT gmail.com - please be sure to leave a way I can contact you, in case I have questions or need additional information about your blog. Thanks for your help!

-Talking Books Librarian

Congratulations to the Byington's and Kansas Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Congratulations to Michael & Ann Byington and the Kansas Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired... Have you heard?

The Kansas Library Association Presidential Award Winner for Library Advocate is Michael Byington! For more information, please see the Kansas Talking Books Library Services blog post at http://kstalkingbooks.blogspot.com/2008/04/recognition-for-advocacy-efforts.html

We are so excited to have such wonderful advocates for Talking Books here in Kansas!!!

Can you survive for 24 hours without your computer? Shutdown Day is coming...

As a librarian, I rely heavily on my computer! So when I recently learned about Shutdown Day, I wondered if I could live for 24 hours without my computer? What exactly am I talking about? I'm talking about Shutdown Day, which is May 3...

Check out http://www.shutdownday.org for more info.... The website says, "It is obvious that without computers we would find our life extremely difficult, maybe even impossible. If they disappeared for just one day, would we be able to cope?

Be part of one of the biggest global experiments ever to take place on the Internet. The idea behind Shutdown Day is to find out how many people can go without a computer for one whole day, and what will happen if we all participate!

Shutdown your computer on 03 May 2008 and find out!"

So now the real question comes... will YOU be turning off your computer for 24 hours, on May 3?

The 10 Best Sites for Baby Boomers

PC Magazine recommends the 10 Best Websites for Baby Boomers. You can see them here: http://tinyurl.com/4a6jgp

Check out the full article at http://tinyurl.com/2mz9fd