[Nebraska-senior-blind] NLS Collection Development Advisory Group 2016 phonemeeting minutes; share at will

[Linda Mentink]

Hi All,

I got this from the NFB of Wisconsin list, and I thought that it 
might be of interest to some.

Blessings,

Linda

 Collection Development Advisory Group (CDAG) 2016
Conference Call
August 8, 2016



Meeting Minutes, Recommendations, and Commendations

Introduction
Introductions of the CDAG members and NLS collection development 
staff on the conference call were made.  Note that this is a 
historic first for CDAG, and the use of a biennial conference 
call could be made a regular occurrence if the group deems it a 
success.  We will evaluate after the call.
Updates
CDAG received updates from the head of collection development, Ed 
O'Reilly, and NLS staff on the status of several ongoing projects 
that are effecting NLS and the completion of the 2015 CDAG 
recommendations.  Several topics were discussed:

1.       BARD upgrade is still pending.  IT is in the process of 
testing the search engine SOLR.  This could be completed within a 
year, although a firm timeline does not exist.



2.       PICS (an operation support system for libraries) is in a 
multi-year development process and has at least 2 years left 
until completion.  The current PICS system was from the 1980s, 
and follows the production of books from the beginning to the 
end.  The new system is much needed and will help improve 
efficiency and transparency with book selections.



3.       Renovation to the NLS building is coming soon, currently 
scheduled for January of 2017.  Some staff will be moving off 
site to another location.  The renovation is expected to take 1 
year, although there are not currently any concrete plans.



4.       Budget concerns: During the time of renovation and 
automation upgrades mentioned above, less money is available for 
the recording and brailling of books.

a.       The dips in production will not be immediately 
noticeable by users because of production lead times.  Currently 
NLS is doing about 70 to 80 audio books a week (for the last 6 
months).  This is expected to be cut by about one-fourth for the 
time of the renovation.

b.      The amount of braille will also decrease from about 13 
books a week to 6.

c.       Likely spots for a dip in production will be very long 
books and multi-title cartridges.

d.      Commercial books cost significantly less than NLS 
produced books and currently about one-third of the books in a 
year are commercially produced.  The multi-title cartridges seem 
like they would be more cost efficient but the contracts don't 
actually address these, so the producers do have the right to say 
no.  NLS is on a 5 year contract with producers with about 3 
years left to go so any potential changes to contracts would have 
to be renegotiated at that time.  Also, Macmillan Publishers has 
come on board recently as a commercial producer.



5.       Children book selections should not be significantly 
affected by the budget cuts.



6.       An electronic braille device is being considered for 
mass distribution.  Congress has approved NLS researching this 
option and the outlook is good.  However, the evaluation of the 
product will take time.  NLS is working with Perkins on testing.



7.       Staffing changes- Deputy Director is on a temporary 
assignment to the Law Library and is no longer with NLS.  Donald 
Marcus has retired.  Currently, there is no word on replacement 
for either of these positions.



8.       A-D (analog to digital) conversions are almost complete.  
There are approximately 18,000 left.  Books are directed to BARD 
as soon as they are completed by the vendors.  The contract to 
finish this runs up to 2018, but the project could be done 
sooner.



9.       A website redesign is underway.  There is currently a 
contractor building a new website for NLS, but no specific 
information has been released..



10.   Magazine recommendations from the CDAG 2015 were taken into 
consideration.  Some new magazines were added such as Rolling 
Stone and Oprah, as well as the regionally produced magazines 
that are now available.  Publications of disabled veterans and 
blinded veterans organizations are available in audio format 
(possibly tapes), but no other veterans publication has been 
found yet to add to the NLS magazine program.



11.   RUB (rating unrated books) is an effort being made by a 
consortium of libraries to rate commercial audio books provided 
by NLS for sex, language and violence.  If a library patron wants 
that information, they should consult their network library.  
Audible profiles some narrators, so if a patron is concerned 
about an accent that might be difficult for them to understand, 
they might want to look there to see if they can get that info 
before ordering a commercially produced title.



12.   Because of copyright issues (which are different for plays 
than regular books) NLS is still exploring how to obtain and 
produce Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.  The copyright holder, 
Scholastic, may well produce an audio of the definitive edition 
when that comes out in print in 2017.  The ratification of the 
Marrakesh treaty and a package of changes to copyright including 
easing the restrictions on availability of plays to us is in 
Congress.  NFB will be providing information on accessing a huge 
cache of mainly academic books through the Hachi Trust this fall.





CDAG 2016 Recommendations:

1.       In this time of significant budget constraints, CDAG 
2016 recommends that NLS re-explore relationships with other 
providers like Jewish Braille Institute, Xavier Society for the 
Blind and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind for 
opportunities for book sharing.



2.       CDAG 2016 expresses great concern about the decreases in 
production caused by budget re-allocations and recommends that 
NLS attempt the following:
A.  Additional funds be sought out and allotted to book 
production during this time, and any unused funds from the 
projects be re-allotted to book production.
B.  Once the finite projects are completed that caused the 
reallocations, the book production budget returns to normal.


3.       CDAG 2016 recommends that NLS continue to pursue 
acquisition of commercial audiobooks, which are less expensive 
than books produced in-house and therefore could help save money 
in this time of budget constraint.



4.       CDAG 2016 recommends continuing the production of 
multi-book cartridges, and further encourages exploring 
modifications of the contracts with producers to facilitate this 
on a regular basis.



5.       CDAG 2016 recommends further exploring ways to provide 
digital only publications, like E-books, including providing them 
as text-to-speech when appropriate as supplementation to the 
human narrated collection, such as for cookbooks and reference 
materials.



CDAG 2016 Commendations:

1.       CDAG 2016 commends NLS for their efforts to adhere to 
prior recommendations and continue providing high levels of 
leadership and service as they deal with building renovations, 
automation changes and budget constraints.



2.       CDAG 2016 commends NLS for coordinating the first (and 
possibly biennial) CDAG conference call.







Katherine Schneider, Ph.D.
Senior Psychologist, Emerita
Counseling Service
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
schneiks at uwec.edu<mailto:schneiks at uwec.edu
Author of Occupying Aging: Delights, Disabilities and Daily Life, 
To the Left of Inspiration: Adventures in Living with 
Disabilities and a children's book Your Treasure Hunt: 
Disabilities and Finding Your Gold
Blog: 
http://kathiecomments.wordpress.com<http://kathiecomments.wordpre
ss.com/