[IL-Talk] FW: [Tech-VI] From the Ohio Library for the Blind and Print Disabled: An Introduction To BARD 2

Mon Jul 28 17:03:12 UTC 2025

I am sharing this for informational purposes. I was a beta tester for the website and have been using the interface for a few months. It takes some getting used to but has many useful features. I like the fact that I can filter my reading history to see if there are recorded books I may want to read again. Some of the features are coming to the eReader. Among other things you will be able to search for Braille and audio books on the eReader. I hope the new interface comes to the iOS Android and mobile apps. The new interface is a vast improvement over the current one and I commend NLS for doing a good job.

Dan

From: tech-vi at groups.io <tech-vi at groups.io> On Behalf Of David Goldfield via groups.io
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2025 11:48 AM
To: Tech-VI Announcement List <tech-vi at groups.io>
Subject: [Tech-VI] From the Ohio Library for the Blind and Print Disabled: An Introduction To BARD 2

From: Ohio Library for the Blind and Print Disabled <olbpd at cpl.org <mailto:olbpd at cpl.org> >

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Getting Ready for BARD 2

We are pleased to announce that users accessing BARD on the web will have access to BARD 2 starting Tuesday, July 29. The Ohio Library for the Blind and Print Disabled (OLBPD) will send a follow-up email with instructions on how to log in to the new and improved BARD website.

Below, you will find detailed information about the new features in BARD 2. For your convenience, we also linked a Microsoft Word document that provides a full description of these updates.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact OLBPD at olbpd at cpl.org <mailto:olbpd at cpl.org>  or call us at 1-800-362-1262. 

 <https://cpl.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=695f2d9decd43a9542562f828&id=78fbe3632b&e=7555bad815> GO TO THE BARD 2 WORD DOCUMENT 

Introducing BARD 2

This document outlines many of the new features included with the BARD 2 experience. Features will continue to be added and refined such as adding the Spanish and French BARD interfaces.

We recommend reading this entire document before logging into the BARD 2 website. Once logged into the website, you may wish to refer to this email as you experience each of the new features of BARD 2. 

My BARD

At the top of each page is a button called My BARD. Expanding this button, you will see 4 additional links. They are wish list, Reading History, Subscriptions, and Account Settings. 

Wish List

BARD 2 can search your wish list. Use the search field from within the wish list to perform a keyword search of everything in your wish list. For example, let’s say you subscribe to People Magazine. In the search field, type “people,” and click the Search button. All books and magazines that use the word “people” anywhere in the listing will appear. 

Refining Your Wish List

Once in your wish list, click the button, “Refine your wish list” to open a dialog where you can choose to sort the titles on your wish list, choose the format you’re searching for (braille, audio, or both), view by type such as books, magazines, or Music, and by language, or a particular subject. 

Take Action

Replacing the download link normally found after book annotations is a button called Take Action. Clicking on this button to expand it, you will find previously hidden options including download, remove from your wish list, and prioritize. Choosing prioritize will move the title to the top of your wish list. 

Reading History

Included in the My BARD menu is your Reading History, formerly known as Previous Downloads. Like the Wish list, you can use the Search field to search your Reading History. If you want to refine your search, click the button “Refine your Reading History” to sort this page in multiple ways such as format, type, language or subject. 

Subscriptions

Visit this page to manage your book and magazine subscriptions. 

Account Settings

Use this page to tell BARD your preferred language, display result formats, display size, and choose the number of results you want displayed per page. Also on Account Settings, you can choose what you want BARD to do with magazines that have been on your wish list for more than a year and have BARD send you an email when new subscription items become available on BARD and are automatically placed on your wish list. 

Take Action

While is a list of book results, there has always been a download link after the annotations. The new BARD now has a button titled “Take Action.” Expanding this button by clicking on it, you will find previously hidden links. For example, if you’re in a list of search results, looking at the recently added or most popular downloads, expanding the Take Action button by clicking on it will show you the download link, and the link to add the title to your wish list. 

Recently Added

This page now includes the ability to refine results by format such as audio or braille, by language, and by subject. Note: you can choose more than one subject if you wish to see titles in more than one subject. After making your choices, Choose the “Refine results” button to view the titles that match your refinements. If you wish to reset the Recently Added results to their defaults, choose the “Refine Recently Added results” button and then the “Reset all fields” button on the following page. Note: simply leaving the Recently Added page will reset all fields back to their default settings. 

Most Popular Books

This page defaults to displaying fiction only. To choose nonfiction, select the link, Go to most popular nonfiction. To refine your results, select the button, Refine Most Popular Results to see various ways to refine what you see on this page. Options include choosing a format such as audio or braille, choosing a language if you want to see results in a language other than the preferred language you have selected in Account Settings, and by subject. Note: you can choose more than one subject if you wish to see titles in more than one subject on this page. If you wish to reset this page to its default settings, choose the “Refine Most Popular results” button and then the “Reset all fields” button on the following page. Note: simply leaving the Most Popular page will reset all fields back to their default settings.

Searching BARD

Once you have performed a keyword search, you can refine the results by choosing the button, “Refine your search results.” Options include by format such as audio or braille, How you wish to view the search terms such as, in the author, title, narrator, or in the annotation, by language, and by subject.

If you wish to reset this page to its default settings, choose the “Refine your search results” button and then the “Reset all fields” button on the following page. Note: simply leaving the Most Popular page will reset all fields back to their default settings. 

Advanced search for books

Perform advanced searches by keyword, title, author, narrator, and more. 

Browse by Subject

To browse all available books on BARD by subject, open the drop-down menu on the BARD main page, highlight the subject, and choose the Go button. To refine your results, expand the button, “Refine your search results.” Refine the results by format or language. If you wish to include any additional subjects in your search, choose the subjects, then select the “Refine Results” button to search BARD with your updated refinements. To clear your refinements and return to the search results page, choose the “Reset all fields” button.

Music

The music collection main page has search and browse functions identical to those on the BARD main page, but they return results from the music collection only. Entering a term in the field labeled “Search music” and then selecting the “Search” button will search for the term in author/composer, narrator, subject, annotation, and book number of all the materials in the music collection available on BARD.

Once you have performed a keyword search, you can refine the results by choosing the button, “Refine your search results.” Options include by format such as audio or braille, How you wish to view the search terms such as, in the author, title, narrator, or in the annotation, by language, and by subject.

If you wish to reset this page to its default settings, choose the “Refine your search results” button, and then the “Reset all fields” button on the following page. Note: simply leaving the Music page will reset all fields back to their default settings. 

Advanced Search for Music Scores and Books

Choosing the link “Advanced Search for Music Scores and Books,” you will be presented with a list of these ways to search: 

*	Keyword Search (You can search all fields such as Author/Composer, narrator, subject, and annotation)
*	Title (You can have BARD search titles throughout the Music collection)
*	Book number (You can type the book number of the title you’re looking, such as “DBM04411”)
*	Author/Composer
*	Original Publisher
*	Format, such as braille or audio
*	Language
*	Subject

Note: there are some titles in the collection in a foreign language, so you will not get all relevant results if searching in English terms only. 

Browsing the Music Collection

The “Browse by subject” option lists all available materials in the music collection by subject. Choose the subject from the list and then select the “Go” button. 

Browse and Search Magazines

To search for magazines, choose Magazines from the BARD main page. On the resulting page, you can find the most recent issues posted for each magazine by choosing the link for the Most recently added magazine issues. To see the list of issues for a specific magazine, highlight the magazine in the drop-down menu, and select the Go button. You will be taken to a list of the available issues for that magazine. Note: that each magazine in the drop-down list is followed by its format (braille or audio) in parenthesis. 

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Our mailing address is:

Ohio Library for the Blind and Print Disabled at Cleveland Public Library

17121 Lake Shore Blvd.

Cleveland, OH 44110-4006

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