NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/misc/handicap/8499

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Subject: Electronic access to library systems
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Date: 30 Dec 92 15:28:08 GMT
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| Coombs, Norman.  "Electronic Access to Library Systems For Users
| with Physical Disabilities."  Public-Access Computer Systems
| Review 1, no. 1 (1990): 43-47.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------

Introduction

Electronic access to catalogs, reference materials, books
and other library holdings create a new set of problems and
possibilities for the contemporary library.  Computer retrieval
of information can enhance library efforts to increase equal
access for persons with physical disabilities.  With appropriate
hardware and software, patrons with visual limitations can be
provided with the means to use libraries as never before.  This
same technology may also assist people with some forms of
dyslexia for whom reading the printed page is a difficulty.
Others who have motor problems which prevent their using a
traditional book may be able to use other computer adaptive
devices to access library facilities.  Congress has recently
taken an interest in encouraging public institutions to provide
more equal access to computers and electronic information, and
future federal funding may become tied to its provision.

New Service Opportunities

Before looking at some of the problems, we should be aware
of the new opportunities to reach previously unserved segments of
the public.

Persons with severe visual impairments could not use
libraries or could only do so with considerable personal
difficulty and inconvenience.  Even when bringing a
reader into the library, there often was not a suitable place to
read aloud without causing a disturbance and embarrassment.
Mobility-impaired users often found getting to and getting into
the library was a hardship, when it was possible at all.  Persons
unable to handle a book had no real way to make use of library
facilities either.  In many cases, these are the very people who
can become productive citizens and lead meaningful lives through
the use of the mind rather than in physical activities.  Yet, the
library facilities which they needed to help open these doors into
a broader life were either closed to them or very difficult to use.

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The new generation of adaptive devices and the growing use of
electronically stored data is an exciting innovation for such
persons.  While libraries and service providers are still in the
early stages of developing these systems, it is vital to keep
this segment of the population in mind.  Access systems can be
designed in such a way as to continue to shut out the disabled
or, with a little care and effort in the planning stage, can take
their special needs into account without necessarily impacting
total system costs very much.  Making modifications later will
prove to be harder and more costly.

Perhaps a personal story will help to underline the
opportunities which lay open before us.  I am a blind history
professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology.  A couple of
years ago, the college library catalog became available on-line.
I phoned in with my PC and speech synthesizer.  The first thing I
searched was for my own book.  It had been in print for some
fifteen years, but I had never had the joy of "seeing" it listed
in the catalog of a real library.  I searched for my name under
the author category, and I must confess to both pride and
excitement when the computer "read" the listing to me.  Not long
after that, I carried my speech synthesizer and software to the
library, connected it to the PC, did a literature search on a
ERIC CD-ROM, and dumped the results to a file which I could
later read at my PC keyboard at home.  My story is not unique but
demonstrates what tomorrow's library can do to empower the
physically disabled.

Strategies for Providing Services to Disabled Users

There are two separate ways in which libraries may choose to
approach providing these services.  Most libraries
will want to provide both types of access.

One method is for the library to connect the necessary
adaptive hardware to some of its computers and to
have the appropriate software available to operate it.
The library would have to be sure that the adaptive
facilities interfaced with their computers and the software.
This would also require having a staff person acquainted
with the functioning of that adaptive hardware and software who
could instruct patrons on their use.

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The alternative method would be for the library to
make these electronic facilities available on-line for
any patron using a PC and modem to remotely access.
In this case, the handicapped person would be
responsible for having his or her own PC and adaptive devices.
However, as a service provider, the library would want
to provide advice to such users on what equipment would be most
useful in accessing the system and also to give guidance in the
use of the library's remote facility.  For remote access,
librarians could not be expected to be familiar with the variety
of equipment that users might happen to own, but the librarian
could be a resource person to direct the handicapped users to
find knowledgeable technical assistance.

Challenges That Libraries Face

Every computer user knows that the most persistent and
annoying problem in using computers is the whole question of
interfacing and compatibility.  There are a variety of different
systems to meet library needs.  Likewise there are many different
adaptive technologies for differing disabilities and several
hardware and software packages for each of these.  Unfortunately,
there seems to be no simple, universal prescription to offer as
the ideal choice.  As always, it is helpful to observe various
configurations in actual operation before making any purchase.
Further, when the library does provide an in-house system for a
disabled user, the user probably will not be familiar with its
functioning.  Even if that patron is accustomed to an adaptive
system, it may well be different from the one the library has
chosen.  For that reason, the library will need to have a trained
staff member to facilitate its first-time use by any patron.  As
mentioned above, this person would also need some familiarity
with the problems faced by remote-access users with disabilities
and be able to direct such individuals to technical help when
needed.

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Helpful Resources

Considering how quickly computer technology is changing,
providing a bibliography to guide the librarian in making the
relevant software and hardware decisions seems useless.
However, looking at a few books in the field would help to
alert readers to the scope of the issues involved, and I suggest
three books edited by Brandenburg and Vanderheiden (1987).
Perhaps what is more valuable is to give the name of an organization
which actively keeps abreast of changes related to computer access for
the disabled.  The Trace Research & Development Center located at the
Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison is dedicated
to this purpose, and it is an ideal resource.

Conclusion

The good news for the librarian is that providing more equal
access for the physically disabled will require more in care and
thought than it will demand in vast investments.  The
satisfaction of serving an audience whose needs have been
neglected will be well worth the effort.

+ Page 47 +

References

Sara A. Brandenburg and Gregg C. Vanderheiden, ed., Communication,
Control, and Computer Access for Disabled and Elderly Individuals.
Resource Book 1: Communication Aids (Boston: College-Hill Press,
1987).

Sara A. Brandenburg and Gregg C. Vanderheiden, ed., Communication,
Control, and Computer Access for Disabled and Elderly Individuals.
Resource Book 2: Switches and Environmental Controls
(Boston: College-Hill Press, 1987).

Sara A. Brandenburg and Gregg C. Vanderheiden, ed., Communication,
Control, and Computer Access for Disabled and Elderly Individuals.
Resource Book 3: Software and Hardware (Boston: College-Hill Press,
1987).

About the Author:

Norman Coombs, Ph.D.
Professor of History
Rochester Institute of Technology
One Lomb Memorial Dr.
Rochester NY. 14623
[e-mail]

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