[Nfb-history] Digitizing More Literature

Mon Dec 16 14:26:57 UTC 2013

Good morning everyone,

Robert Jaquiss is correct. Thanks to the work of Harold Snider, we do have quite a bit of material already in a digital format in the A/V collection that is not currently available on the website. If you have suggestions for potential materials to be added to the website, you may send them to me and I will see if they are already digitized. If they are, then they may be easier to deal with than other items.

However, what Mike and Robert say is true. We have very limited resources right now, time and personnel being the biggest constraints. Both of these things cost money, as does the NFB's web hosting bills. There is a very large amount of NFB literature and other audio recordings that we could potentially put online. But some materials are simply more important than others. This means that we need to set priorities on which projects should be worked on when and by whom. And I am more than willing to have that discussion with this group. To start that discussion, here are the priorities that I currently have:

1.) The Kernel Books: We have made a great start on them and everyone concerned here in Baltimore (myself, Mark Riccobono, John Berggren [in charge of IT and the website], Ellen Ringlein, and Will Schwatka [in charge of the recording studio]) are in agreement that these important resources should be available in all formats. Right now we have seven of the audio books online and I hope to have a couple more shortly after the New Year. I would love to get all of these finished before national convention, but I am restricted by Will's schedule. If he has to choose between recording the new issue of the Monitor and digitizing a legacy recording, he is going to choose the new Monitor, as he should.

2.) The Man and the Movement: I have taken Tina's suggestion to Ellen Ringlein (in the Market) and we both agree that this is an important resource that would benefit from being available both on CD in the Market and on the NFB website. I have checked the archives and surprisingly we do not have a digital version right now, but I do have 2 different cassette versions (the original and the 50th anniversary). I will need to listen to them both to decide which version should be digitized. I hope to work on this after the bulk of the Kernel books have been completed.

3.) NFB Songs: I have received a lot of encouragement to get digital versions of old NFB songs online and I hope to start untangling some of that area of recordings in late winter or early spring. But there are a lot of variations and versions, so that work will probably take some time.

Beyond these three areas, 2 of which are labor intensive, I would be happy to hear what you are interested in. If you have something in mind and a case to make, please share it. If you think something is a higher priority than something else, please share that as well. We must remain realistic, because we can't do everything at once and we may not be able to post everything on the website. But it is true that there is value in the work. What do you see as essential and what do you see as a low priority?

And most importantly, if you have the ambition and capabilities to do some of this work yourself (either in your own towns or here at the library), please speak up! I would be happy to work with you. Together we can certainly get more done than I can alone. In some cases I have many cassette copies of a given recording. Perhaps I can send you a cassette and you can send me back a CD or a digital file through Dropbox? We need to be creative.

And lastly, I want to thank you all for your continued patience on this and other matters. There is always a lot of work to be done and unfortunately, I am one woman wearing a lot of hats these days (all of which are NFB related, although not all of them are library or archives related). I am thrilled that you all are so passionate about NFB history and the amazing resources that the Federation has created over the years. I share your enthusiasm. Thank you for your understanding.

Cordially,
Anna

Anna K. Kresmer, MSLIS
Archivist
Jacobus tenBroek Library
National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute
(410) 659-9314, ext. 2310
akresmer at nfb.org

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From: Robert Jaquiss [mailto:rjaquiss at earthlink.net]
Sent: Monday, December 16, 2013 3:40 AM
To: 'NFB History Support List'
Cc: Kresmer, Anna
Subject: RE: [Nfb-history] Digitizing More Literature

Hello:

     I am copying Anna Kresmer on this note in case she has any comments. It is always good to have more of our literature and recordings digitized. If our literature was generated with a computer, and the files still exist on some sort of computer readable media, then there is a good chance it can be converted to a modern format without much problem. Of course scanning paper has the usual problems we all know about. As for digitizing analog recordings, the late Dr. Snider digitized enough recordings to fill six thousand CDs which are at the Jernigan Institute.

     As for staffing, perhaps another way to do this would be to find volunteers to stay at the center for two weeks and scan documents etc.

Merry Christmas,

Robert

From: Nfb-history [mailto:nfb-history-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tina Hansen
Sent: Sunday, December 15, 2013 4:55 PM
To: NFB History Support List
Subject: [Nfb-history] Digitizing More Literature

I'm pleased to see that we're finally getting some of our Kernel books on the web site in audio. I do notice, though, that there are a good number of pieces of literature that have not been digitized. I'm thinking of Jacobus tenBroek, the Man and the Movement, as well as some others. I'm not sure if the Christmas programs have been digitized. I do know that they're on the latest NFB Library Card, but some of them are not complet.

I am aware that National has been slow to digitize some of this literature, and I, for one, would hate to lose it just because many of our members no longer have a cassette player.

Bottom line: Is anyone willing to take this on? I know National wants to do it, but there has got to be a way to really get this stuff done so we don't lose it. Thanks.
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