A Model Experiment to Improve Document Delivery for Blind and Visually Handicapped Students
Rudolf Frankenberger · Resource Sharing & Information Networks · 1993
Dr. Dirk Barth, Chief Librarian, Marburg University Library, initiated a model experiment to help visually handicapped students. The proper medium for transforming the book is an important consideration. Text can be recorded on audio cassettes; but graphic representations, such as tactile graphics, large print, or magnified images on a video display, are often more useable. The experiment set up special cataloging rules based upon German cataloging standards. The cataloging information appears within the new medium (cassette, braille, etc.), in the union catalog, and in a special catalog on a personal computer equipped with a braille line. These materials are available for interlibrary loan to other German universities. According to German copyright law, permission is necessary to make sound cassettes. Marburg University has a general agreement with the German Association of Booksellers. The cost of transforming documents has been high and requires coordinating available resources.