Don't Miss Out On Online Service

In 2008, the Talking Times newsletters included instructions for basic searching by book number and author and how to order books online. The 2009 Spring issue is dedicated to a wider view of the Talking Books Plus online service. If you haven’t visited Talking Books Plus website, read below for what you are missing.

The main web page for Talking Books Plus has links to its book catalog as well as the Talking Times newsletters. The Catalog offers basic and advanced searching to find book numbers for online ordering. Selected titles can be added to the Book Basket until a member is ready to checkout books. Member information and online book ordering is accessed by entering a User ID and Password. If unknown, ask a Talking Book Plus staff member for the User ID and Password. Member information lists what books a member has now, has had, and what is on reserve. Searches can be limited by subject, author or what you don’t like.

On the main web page, there are Quick Links to the BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) Pilot Project, RFB&D (Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic), Bookshare, and the Ocean State Libraries (OSL) E-Zone sites. Below is an introduction to these individual services that are accessible through the Talking Books Plus webpage.

BARD, a project of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) began to offer free Internet downloads of digital magazines to up to sixty members in late 2003. This pilot was replaced in late 2006 by a larger initiative that included more magazines as well as a larger selection of books to a limited number of members. By FY2009, NLS expects to have an initial inventory of 50,000 digital talking book machines available for qualifying members. Free loan of the digital collection is scheduled to become the primary delivery channel for reading materials in the NLS program by the second half of 2013. Presently, free loan of recorded cassettes and cassette book machines are and continue to be the backbone of the NLS system.

TBPlus provides a link to the RFB&D (Recordings for the Blind & Dyslexic) website. RFB&D titles are available in every subject area and grade level. Formats include digitally recorded audio textbooks on CD and downloadable audio textbooks. RFB&D Audio Access membership is free for one year for all qualified students and allows a student to download a digital book to a computer and transfer it to a MP3 player. The RFB&D full membership allows both digital downloads and CD ordering for students. This membership costs $100 for the first year and $35 for each succeeding year. Special digital playback equipment must be purchased to utilize the service with the CD format. Visit the RFB&D website for additional membership information.

Bookshare.com offers accessible books and periodicals for all U.S. students with qualifying disabilities. Student membership is free for K-12, home schooled, post-secondary and adult education. All other U.S. individuals pay a nominal annual fee. Resources include digital books, textbooks, teacher-recommended reading, periodicals and assistive technology tools.

The OSL (Ocean State Libraries) catalog lists the entire collection of Rhode Island’s free public libraries which includes audio books, CDs, DVDs, large print and E-Books. E-Zone is the name given to the Rhode Island version of Overdrive on the OSL website. Overdrive is a national leader in providing downloadable media. The digital media offerings include Overdrive MP3 audio, Overdrive WMA audio, Overdrive music, Adobe eBooks, and Mobipocket eBooks. This service is free to OSL cardholders. Get your free library card at any Rhode Island public library.

The newest addition to the Talking Books Plus webpage is the Talking Books blog. Quick and short postings cover a variety of topics of interest to members of Talking Books Plus. The articles can range from short holiday reading lists to the latest on accessible technology. The blog is accessible from the OLIS homepage and the Talking Books Plus webpage. For a limited time, new postings are also available in audio format, using a free tool provided by Odiogo. Besides the blog, the Talking Books Plus webpage currently includes links to bibliographies and cassette player troubleshooting tips. The Talking Books webpage recently posted Books and Authors to Read: Mystery Writers. This webpage lists 71 mystery authors who have over 1,500 titles in the Talking Books Plus library catalog. There is also a link to the pamphlet Accessible Rhode Island. This publication lists the names of libraries accessible to people with disabilities. This is just some of the information on the Talking Books Plus webpage. Visit our website regularly to discover all that Talking Books Plus has to offer. And if you have an email address, send us your comments about Talking Books Plus service. If your latest email address is not in our database, we will add it. The Talking Books blog is also available via RSS, so you can subscribe to our news feed through your news reader.