Network Bulletin No. 02-22
Date: July 12, 2002
Subject: Collection development
Index term: Collection Development Advisory Group--2002
recommendations and NLS responses
Enclosed is a copy of the responses made by the Collection
Development Advisory Group at the meeting May 22-24, 2002.
Enclosure
For further information contact:
James Herndon
Head
Collection Development Section
____________________________________________________________
Collection Development Advisory Group, May 22-24, 2002
Recommendations:
1. The Committee recommends that NLS expand its
print/braille selection from 30 to 40 titles a year, with
the ten additional titles being equally divided between
grades K-3 and 2-4.
Response: Increasing the print/braille selection by ten
titles will produce a corresponding decrease of ten or more
titles in the regular braille collection. In order to
lessen the impact of losing too many titles at once in the
regular braille collection, we believe it appropriate to
increase the number of print/braille titles more gradually.
Initially, NLS will increase this selection to 35.
2. The Committee recommends NLS post and maintain a list of
narrators for the use of network librarians and that the
gender of the narrators be indicated on that list.
Response: NLS plans to post and maintain its narrators list
on the network web page where it will be accessible by
password to network librarians for official use.
3. The Committee recommends that NLS provide author and
title indexes in the braille version of Braille Book Review
and the cassette version of Talking Book Topics.
Response: At the present time, author and title indexes for
the cassette format would be cumbersome to use. However, as
digital technology becomes increasingly available and
familiar, NLS will study with great interest the feasibility
of an indexed and cross-linked DTB version of Talking Book
Topics. The NLS research and development officer is
optimistic about the realization of such an improvement.
Readers should understand, however, that this prospect is
some years away. As for Braille Book Review, the indexes
would be technically feasible but economically prohibitive.
4. The Committee recommends that NLS select more popular
books (such as bestsellers) for braille production and that
NLS increase the number of popular titles produced in both
braille and audio.
Response: Approximately 2 percent of titles selected by NLS
are done in both braille and recorded formats. The current
practice of NLS is to avoid producing many titles in both
formats, since a book done in two formats counts as two
titles, thereby reducing the total number of titles that can
be done for the overall collection. NLS will select "more
popular" books for production in both formats as long as the
percentage of format duplication does not rise too sharply.
5. The Committee recommends that NLS continue to provide
background and statistical information to committee members
prior to the annual meetings.
Response: This will continue.
6. The Committee recommends that NLS select high-interest,
short (one-volume) books for grade 2 braille production that
are suitable for adults learning to read braille.
Response: This will be done.
7. The Committee recommends that NLS continue to monitor
the mechanisms and seek to improve the management of
magazine subscriptions by librarians and patrons.
Response: This will continue.
8. The Committee recommends that NLS continue to select
clean, religious, spiritual, and inspirational fiction
titles and that the annotations of these titles reflect
their clean, religious, spiritual, and inspirational nature.
Response: This will continue.
9. The Committee recommends that NLS continue developing
the middle-school-age collection, grades 6-9.
Response: This will continue.
10. The Committee recommends that NLS produce grade 1
braille titles for young adults and teenagers similar to
those that have been done for adults.
Response: NLS has produced a few titles in grade 1 braille
for adults. We will do the same for young adults.
11. The Committee recommends that NLS continue updating its
nonfiction collection of books on science, countries,
medicine, and movie stars.
Response: This will continue.
12. The Committee recommends that NLS produce books for
young adults with themes of self-esteem and disability
coping skills that do not promote the philosophy of a
specific organization.
Response: NLS will continue to search for such titles and
produce them as they are identified.
13. The Committee recommends that NLS continue producing
books on the military and veterans.
Response: This will continue.
14. The Committee recommends that NLS produce more home-
repair books in braille that are written with good verbal
descriptions, not relying on pictures or diagrams, that
would be useable by blind persons.
Response: NLS constantly searches for home-repair, craft,
and how-to books that are not reliant on visual information
and that are appropriate for the NLS collection. NLS will
search for and produce such books as they can be identified.
15. The Committee requests that NLS provide committee
members with a list of reissued braille and audio titles.
Response: This will be done.
16. The Committee requests that NLS update its
minibibliographies of titles on self-help, mental health,
disabilities, and self-employment.
Response: This will be done.
17. The Committee requests that NLS provide members with
the annual listings of the analog titles selected for
digital conversion.
Response: This will be done.
18. In view of the shortcomings in using the NLS union
catalog via WEB-BLND, the Committee urges NLS and the
Library of Congress to implement the new Voyager OPAC for
access to the union catalog as soon as it can be assured
that the interface is accessible and useable by those using
screen readers and that everyone will have a reasonable
chance of reaching the system in a timely manner.
Response: NLS has pursued migration to the Voyager system
since 1998, while also investigating solutions to the
problems of accessibility and availability of the system.
As soon as we are assured that these issues have been
resolved, we plan on implementing Voyager.
19. The Committee recommends that NLS produce more titles
on dog behavior by such authors as Mordecai Siegel.
Response: This will be done.
20. The Committee recommends that NLS produce more
biographies of "unsung" heroes that contribute to community
development and welfare.
Response: NLS will produce books of this nature as they are
published and identified.
21. The Committee requests that NLS review the technical
specifications with a view to describing schematics in
magazines such as QST.
Response: The narrative for QST schematics is written by a
professional technical writer for a multinational camera and
electronics firm. He has been a "ham" for over thirty years
and uses other "ham" operators for assistance. The
descriptions are accurate to the text.
Commendations
1. The Committee commends NLS for continuing to provide
well-written annotations of titles in the NLS collection.
Response: Thank you.
2. The Committee commends NLS for including the spelling of
the authors' names at the end of audio books.
Response: Thank you.
3. The Committee commends NLS for extending the
print/braille collection to include titles for older
juvenile braille readers.
Response: Thank you.
4. The Committee thanks NLS for providing the basic NLS
information, facts and statistics to the members in
preparation for this meeting.
Response: Thank you.
5. The committee thanks the NLS Collection Development
Section--Jim Herndon and staff--for the outstanding
facilitation of this meeting.
Response: Thank you.
6. The committee commends the NLS director, Frank Kurt
Cylke, for furthering the NLS mission by promoting interest
in and financial support for the NLS program.
Response: Thank you.
7 . The committee thanks Chairman Randy French and Secretary
Renee Snowten for their excellent work on the Committee.
Response: NLS also thanks the members for their work on the
2002 Collection Development Advisory Group.
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