Sound and Touch December 2010
In this issue:
- Digital Talking Book project
- DAISY Player tips
- Faulty CDs
- Exclusions in talking books
- Mr O.E. (Ted) Middleton
- Celebrating library week 16th – 23rd August 2010
- Nettie Memorial and Jack Shortt Trust
- Many thanks to our generous sponsors
- 2011 Census in Te Reo
- Readhowyouwant
- Christmas closedown
Digital Talking Book project
The rollout of the new players is progressing well and as we approach Christmas we will have distributed over 700 new players to borrowers.
The new CD service has generally been running very well, but we have had a few minor technical problems that we have had to fix. We have made good progress with fixing these minor problems and the new service is continuing to settle down. To any borrowers affected by these problems, thank you for your patience and understanding during this period.
As more borrowers are moving on to this new service we would like to remind members that the books and magazines on these CDs are still protected by copyright and each CD is for that borrower only. These CDs should not be lent to anyone else and should always be returned to the Library after you have listened to them.
Thank you for helping to make this move to the new digital library service as smooth as possible.
DAISY Player tips
Ordering books to listen to on your new player has never been easier. Each week on the Telephone Information Service (TIS) option 1 9 1 you will find six new DAISY CD books recently added to the Library. When ordering DAISY CD books please use the number with the prefix "CD".
When you are listening to a book and your machine is in either simple or advanced mode, pressing and holding down the play/stop key will tell you how much longer the book has to go as well as how much battery charge is left. In advanced mode the Information key, which is the angled key to the right of number six on the key pad, also provides this information.
To ensure a trouble-free long life for your player, once a week wipe dust and dirt from the player using a soft damp cloth, and then wipe it with a clean dry cloth.
Faulty CDs
If you receive a faulty CD please contact the Library either by phone or email, and let us know the title of the book the fault has occurred in. We will then re-issue you another copy as soon as we can.
Exclusions in talking books
The Library is now purchasing a number of DAISY audio titles from a commercial book producer. Unlike audio books obtained from blindness agencies these do not have our standard violence, bad language and explicit descriptions of sex warnings. If you receive a book which does not contain a warning, please contact the Library and we will be able to add it to the book. We apologise for any offence this may cause and appreciate your assistance with this matter.
Mr O.E. (Ted) Middleton
We were sad to learn of the passing of Mr O.E. (Ted) Middleton, author and RNZFB member. Mr Middleton, brother of the late noted New Zealand novelist Ian Middleton, was a New Zealand short story writer. Mentored by Frank Sargeson in Auckland in the late 1950s, he moved to Dunedin to take up the Robert Burns Fellowship (1970) at the University of Otago. Prominent New Zealand author Janet Frame once said of Middleton, "O. E. Middleton is a fine writer... He's the only NZ writer who has made me weep over a story -one called The Stone". Middleton was the recipient of several awards, including the Hubert Church Award and the 2006 Janet Frame Literary Award. His anthology, Selected Stories, shared first prize for Fiction in the New Zealand Book Awards in 1976.
Celebrating library week 16th -23rd August 2010
This week-long celebration of libraries and librarianship in New Zealand took place all across the country. The Parnell Library celebrated by gathering members' memories of what books, reading and libraries have meant to them. You can listen to these on the Telephone Information Service (TIS) on menu 1 7 8.
Netta Memorial and Jack Shortt Trust
The Library is very pleased to receive a generous donation from the Netta Memorial and Jack Shortt Trust. This ongoing donation has assisted with the narration and production of the following books:
Lunch with the stationmaster by Derek Hansen
Lunch with Mussolini by Derek Hansen
The pohutukawa tree: a play in three acts by Bruce Mason
Beside the dark pool by Fiona Kidman
Lost in translation: New Zealand stories edited by Marco Sonzogni
Many thanks to our generous sponsors
We would like to express our appreciation to the people and organisations who have kindly sponsored books and magazines for the Library since the previous issue of Sound and Touch. These funds have helped to make print material accessible to blind and vision-impaired people and without their generous support it would not be possible to add new titles into our Library.
Many thanks to the following sponsors for:
Audio
Christian Healing Trust for She'll be right: country women battling the odds by Rachel Goodchild
Shampoo Plus Ltd – Palmerston North for Recipe for life by Nicky Pellegrino
Nelson City Council for Inheritance by Jenny Patrick
Manchester Unity Friendly Society and Shirley Batchelor for Slow: mouth-watering recipes for the slow cooker & crock pot by Allyson Gofton
Grace Rushton for Poenamo: sketches of the early days in New Zealand by John Logan Campbell
The Estate of Betty Claire Agnes Carton for A voice for mothers: the Plunket Society and infant welfare, 1907-2000 by Linda Bryder; Scented gardens for the blind by Janet Frame; John Tamihere: black & white by John Tamihere and Helen Bain; Time out for tots, teens and everyone in between: how to get your children to do as they're told by Diane Levy; The dog whisperer: the essential guide to understanding and raising a happy dog by John Richardson & Leslye Sharon Cole and Rocking Horse Road by Carl Nixon
2011 Census in Te Reo
The RNZFB has been working closely with Statistics New Zealand to have the 2011 Census transcribed into accessible formats.
RNZFB members (who have an alternative format to print as their preferred way of receiving information) will receive their Census information form in braille, audio or electronic format. Please note that all responses will need to be returned on an official Statistics New Zealand Census form in print or online.
You can also request the Census information in Te Reo. If you wish to receive your Census information in Te Reo, please contact the RNZFB's Information and Advice team on 0800 24 33 33, option 1, or via email on general@rnzfb.org.nz by 17 December 2010.
Readhowyouwant
ReadHowYouWant, an Australian company, has launched its customised large print publishing in New Zealand. Working with foundation NZ publishers Allen & Unwin, Exisle Publishing, Hachette New Zealand and HarperCollins New Zealand, they are helping to make New Zealand content available in large print for the first time.
ReadHowYouWant converts and republishes titles in large print on a 'print on demand' basis using the innovative Wellington-based digital printer Astra Group, so freight and greenhouse emissions are kept to a minimum. Their customised system allows them to print every book in font sizes from 16 point right up to 24 point. The books are perfect-bound (the same as most paperbacks) in a standard 254mm(h) x 197mm(w) paperback edition, generally reproducing the original artwork within the cover template. Production and printing usually takes place within seven days always ensuring that a freshly-printed book with no shop-soiling arrives to the customer.
As part of a special promotion for RNZFB members Readhowyouwant is offering a 10% discount for all orders via their website http://www.readhowyouwant.com/. You just need to enter the code bf1cd5b0 in the 'Special Promotion Code' field as part of the checkout process to receive the discount. It is valid until 31 January 2011.
Christmas closedown
The magazine studio will be closed from 20 December 2010 till 21 January 2011. So the last magazine recorded will be on Friday 17 December 2010 and recording will start again on Monday 24 January 2011.
The Library will be closed from 23 December 2010, with normal service resuming on 6 January 2011.
If you'd like extra reading over the Christmas period, please let us know now, so we can send it to you before the Christmas rush begins!
So on behalf of the Library staff, as well as the studio producers and narrators, we wish you a very happy Christmas, and look forward to providing you with great reading material in 2011.