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1993-04-06
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(20) Sat 6 Mar 93 6:53p
By: Anthony Seebeck
To: All
Re: Senses Beyond Sight
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--> Note:
Copied (from: BLINKTALK) by Anthony Seebeck using timEd.
Hello Everyone!
I received this in the mail the other day and thought I would pass it
on to those of you that did not receive it. I typed it word for word
from the pamplet.
Senses Beyond Sight is an art exhibition organized by D-Art Visual Art
Center in cooperation with the American Foundation for the Blind for
two purposes: 1. To give people who have serious visual impairments an
opportunity to experience the visual arts. 2. To heighten awareness
of visual impairment in our community.
You are cordially invited to SENSE BEYOND SIGHT
D-Art Visual Art Center
2917 Swiss Avenue
Dallas, Texas
Exhibition Dates: April 2 - May 21,1993
We suggest that you enter the exhibit through the ramped double doors
on the left side (parking lot side) of the D-Art building. Gallery
Hours: Monday through Friday 10:00 - 4:00pm Saturday noon until 4:00
214-821-2522 Special tours available by advance request
73's Anthony AA7KV
* Origin: ??? (1:124/5118.5207)
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(82) Sat 20 Mar 93 12:01p
By: Gordon Gillesby
To: All
Re: STAR - BLIND/VI LIBRAOURC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Minnesota STAR Program
Rachel Wobschall, Executive Director
LIBRARY ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE PRINT IMPAIRMENTS
Deborah Churchill, Coordinator
Services for Students with Vision Impairments
St. Mary's Campus, The College of St. Catherine,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
You may have noticed that today's libraries look different than in the
past. Remember those tall wooden cabinets full of drawers of index
cards? Those little cards that were tough or even impossible to use if
you were blind, had a learning disability, or used a wheelchair?
Today's library offers a powerful alternative to printed catalog cards
and other information traditionally held only in print format.
The library's "card catalog" is now probably contained in a computer
database which can be searched by patrons who use assistive technology
devices with a computer. For example, a blind patron might look for a
particular book using a speech synthesizer, a braille display, or a
screen enlarging program. Or, she might look up a subject in
reference materials not owned by the library, but available throught
interlibrary loan. Information previously stored only in print
indices (e.g., Psychological Abstracts or The Reader's Guide to
Periodical Literature) is now available in a machine-readable or
computerized format as well.
The two most frequently available formats are on-line databases which
use telecommunications software and a modem, and CD-ROM diskettes,
which are used through CD-ROM players and special searching software.
A library patron with a disability can use a variety of assistive
technology devices to access information contained in these resources.
Once you've located and borrowed material on a particular subject, how
can you read it? Traditionally, you would have hired a reader or
persuaded a friend to read, tape-record, or enlarge the material on a
copy machine for you. Today you can convert print material into a
machine-readable form using a scanner. Scanners or optical character
recognition devices take a picture of a print image and then interpret
the letters as ASCII characters which can be sent to a computer. You
can then choose a format which best suits your needs: a large print
format on a computer screen, a refreshable braille display, or spoken
by a speech synthesizer. You can save information for later use by
storing it on diskette, or printing it out in large print format or on
a braille printer
Library access for people with disabilities is being explored during a
one-year, STAR-funded project currently underway at St. Mary's Campus
of The College of St. Catherine in Minneapolis, Minnesota. An
accessible computer workstation equipped with a speech synthesizer and
large print output has been purchased and installed in the library.
The computer interfaces with a CD-ROM drive and changer, a scanner,
and telecommunications equipment. Library staff were extensively
involved in planning the project, and in training students to use the
equipment.
During an intensive two-week summer course at St. Mary's, blind
students from six colleges and universities in Minnesota explored ways
to use assistive technology devices with a computer to access
information, both in the library and in the greater information
network. Students gathered data and quotes from CD-ROM encyclopedias
and magazine collections to use in a term paper. They searched for a
particular book in the Minneapolis Public Library and the University
of Minnesota's on- line catalogs. They practiced their newly learned
skills searching a variety of databases, including the Index Medicus
on CD-ROM, and the BLND database on-line.
The students were particularly interested in BLND, a database held by
the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
at the Library of Congress, because materials in this database are
available in alternate formats (tape, braille, large print, diskette).
The students also learned how to use and order electronic text books
on their computers, including dictionairies and novels. They read
daily Minneapolis and St. Paul newspapers via a telephone connecting
them to a computer at the Minnesota Communications Center which has
stored human voice recordings. And they scanned print information
from the library's journal and book collection to see how they could
use this exciting new technology as well.
The STAR project at St. Mary's Campus demonstrates a powerful
application of readily available technology in a new setting. Many of
the blind students participating in the program expressed surprise at
how accessible a library could become, and how independent they could
be in using it. As one student said, "I never throught that a library
was a place where I belonged -- it was only for people who could read
books in the usual way. Now I know that I belong there too, and
they're going to see a lot of me!"
STAR, 300 Centennial Building, 658 Cedar Street, St. Paul, Minnesota
55155; (612) 296-2771