[nfbwatlk] Fwd: [Nfbnet-members-list] Get The Braille Monitor

[Mike Freeman]

I'm gonna read this at convention.

Mike


Begin forwarded message:

> From: David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>
> Date: October 12, 2012, 8:22:29 PDT
> To: nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] Get The Braille Monitor
> 
> The following comes from Gary Wunder, gwunder at nfb.org and concerns getting and using the Braille Monitor.
> 
> Dave
> 
> 
> As I travel around the country I encounter a number of people who tell me that they love the braille monitor but were a victim of the purge. They somehow believe that cost-cutting meant the elimination of individual subscriptions to the magazine. This could not be further from the truth.
> 
> 
> 
> Several years ago we attempted to clean up our list to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that we were making the best use of money spent on the braille monitor. We did not want to send it to people who had moved, no longer cared to receive it, or were deceased. We decided that the best way to determine who wanted to continue receiving the magazine was to ask. For this reason we ran an item in the monitor miniatures section saying we were going to clean up the list and asking that those who wished to continue receiving the monitor send us an email, write to us at the national office, or give us a call to indicate their continuing interest.
> 
> 
> 
> One can speculate about why so many people who wanted to read the braille monitor were removed, but in less the speculation can result in a systemic change for the better, there is probably little value in doing it. What is important is that we make sure those who want to receive the publication are getting it and that they know it is available in print, in braille, in audio, on the web, and through email. Subscriptions can be updated by writing to Marsha Dyer at the Jernigan Institute. Her email address is mdyer at nfb.org ; her postal address is 200 East Wells St., at Jernigan Pl., Baltimore, MD 21230. Subscription requests can also be left in our bulk voicemail box by calling (410) 659-9314, extension 2344. One can request the Monitor in their email, on an audio flash drive, in Braille, or in print.
> 
> 
> 
> A second but related issue is that a number of people who read the magazine using email admit that they seldom read all of the magazine. The problem, they say, is not that they do not find it interesting, but that they do not wish to read it in one sitting and find it hard to return to where they left off. Most do not seem to know that they can move what they receive in an email message to their favorite word processor, place a mark where they leave off, and return to it at will. Let me explain how this is done or at least the way I do it.
> 
> 
> 
> Once you have opened the magazine in your email program, select the contents of the message (the content of the magazine) by holding down the control key and pressing the letter A. Copy the selected text to the clipboard by pressing the control key and the letter C. Open your favorite word processor, start a new document, and paste the contents of the Monitor into the new document by holding down the control key and pressing the letter V. The last step is to save your newly created document. I would use a name that indicates it is the Monitor and the month of the publication. “brlmondec or BrailleMonitorDecember2011) would serve.
> 
> 
> 
> When wanting to place a bookmark into your document, try to come up with something you aren't likely to find in the text. You might use several pound signs or perhaps the text string xxx. Anything you can easily remember will work, but avoid using common words as bookmarks. The words “start here” might work, but at some point you will be caught by the sentence “We must start here to make the change we want.” I use bookmarks not only to tell me where I've stopped reading, but to bring me back to places where I want to extract an address, lookup a word I don’t know, or question a grammatical construction I haven’t seen before­I’m always on the lookout for a new turn of phrase.
> 
> 
> 
> I know it is wishful thinking to believe that every member and nonmember who is interested in affairs concerning the blind will read the braille monitor from cover to cover, but I hope that something here will make it easier for you to get the information the monitor works so hard to distribute. Your suggestions for improving our flagship publication are always welcome.
> 
> 
> 
> Gary Wunder, Editor The Braille Monitor
> 
> 
> 
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