[Nfbk] [BARD-Support] Major BARD Update

[Joey Couch]

I just got this this morning and thought I wood pass it along for
those who use the Bard service.
Joey
From: NLSDownload <NLSDownload at loc.gov>
Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2012 10:49:38 -0500
Subject: [BARD-Support] Major BARD Update

Hello, List Members,

We are excited to tell you that a major update to BARD will be
released next Tuesday, November 27. Here is what will happen before
the update and what to expect once the update is complete.

As you may have noticed, there's a BARD alert up to remind everyone
that The Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) will be down for at
least twenty-four hours beginning at midnight on Sunday, November 25,
while we migrate to the new system. On Tuesday, November 27, the new
BARD—featuring Web-Braille materials, the wish list, and other
additions—will be available at https//nlsbard.loc.gov.

BARD users will receive a message summarizing the new materials and
features the first five times they log in to BARD after Tuesday,
November 27.

Once BARD has been updated, you will be able to log in with the same
email address and password you use now. You'll notice the following
differences:

Web-Braille is now part of BARD. On every page containing books or
magazines, you'll find links to both audio and braille titles. These
links are always at heading 1, so you can easily find the book format
you want. Audiobooks are always listed first. Also, if you only want
to see one type of book, you can set this up by choosing the Account
Settings link on the BARD main page and then making your choice in the
Display Results combo box. This page also gives you the option to
display the site in color or black and white, which may help some of
you to see it better.

Braille books are in zip files. Each zip file contains all the volumes
of that book. So to read a braille book, unzip the book to a folder,
copy that unzipped folder’s contents to a braille-aware notetaker or
computer with a braille display, open the volume you want, and start
reading.

Braille music scores and audio music instruction courses are now on
BARD. So are books, both braille and audio, that are produced by NLS
network libraries.

BARD book listings are formatted as they always were, except that each
book title is now a link. If you choose that link, you go to a page
with several new features. These include:

•	The author’s name is a link that takes you to a page displaying all
the books on BARD by that author.
•	If the book is part of a series, there is a Series link that will
take you to a page listing all the books on BARD in the series. Note
that this section is still under development, so not all books in the
series may be listed.
•	If the book is listed under more than one subject, all the subjects
are listed, and each is a link to all the books on BARD with that
subject. This also means that if you browse by subject on BARD,
Bestseller will now include all books with the subject Bestseller.
•	The narrator's name is a link that will take you to a page listing
other books read by that narrator.
•	There is a link that will add the book to a wish list. This is handy
if you don't want to download the book now but would like to be able
to locate it later.
•	There are additional details, such as the book's ISBN.

You can now see a list of all the books and magazines you have
downloaded. To do this, follow the My Previous Downloads link on the
main page. The My Wish List link is there, too. Both are level 3
headings, making it easy to find them.

For a more detailed description of the changes, visit

https://nlsbard.loc.gov/NLS/NewBARDOverview.html

Since these are major changes, you may experience some problems with
the site at first. If so, please be patient and know that NLS is
working to fix problems as quickly as possible. If a problem doesn't
go away after a day or two, however, feel free to contact your
library.

We hope you enjoy this new version of BARD.

Sincerely,
The BARD Technical Support Team
NLS BARD Technical Support
e-mail: NLSDownload at loc.gov
Read the BARD FAQ at: https://nlsbard.loc.gov/NLS/FAQ.html

Joey Couch
phone 606-216-8033.
email ki4vjd at gmail.com
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