Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic--Now More Convenient

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

I have been volunteering for Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic for more than five years now. It is a fantastic organization, with really great people, and you get to spend two hours at a time reading a chunk of a textbook on some random subject that you'd never have reason to think about otherwise. Or you can join one of the specialist groups and have the chance to review and deepen your knowledge in that area. It's interesting and fun and a great opportunity to hone your basic speaking skills for acting, public speaking, etc. And, oh yeah, it is a huge help for people who need this service in order to pursue their education.

The Boston Unit has moved to 2067 Mass Ave in Cambridge--the building with Elephant Walk on the ground floor. This puts them within walking distance of Davis Square! The training is pretty easy and you can be up and reading fast. Call them at 617 577 1111 to make an appointment.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Comments

[haptotrope.livejournal.com]

This is really great! added to memories for when I have a few time-cycles to spare.

[balsamicdragon.livejournal.com]

Thanks for pointing this out! I left a message with them, so hopefully I can do some volunteering :)

[etana.livejournal.com]

I didn't know they have a Boston division! They aren't my favorite text source but they were mildly helpful during undergrad. If more people volunteer/read more texts maybe we'll get more access to crappy science books :)

[swingchickie.livejournal.com]

they're a great group to volunteer with, i did a few years back and had a lot of fun. :)

[fappyheet.livejournal.com]

Sweet jimn'y, that's great news. Just a jog down the block!

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Good to know. I was thinking about doing it, but put off by the schlep. Now I have no excuse!

[peregrinehill.livejournal.com]

I'm interested - what are some better sources? Do you know of any local ones?

[gem225.livejournal.com]

I've been wanting to volunteer, and this sounds great. Thank you so much for posting!

[etana.livejournal.com]

There generally aren't going to be "local" outlets for accessible text for non-print readers. Bookshare.org is a member-only service that is run by volunteers who OCR-scan books & materials and has an extremely large catalogue. Audible.com offers newstand-style books (pop fic) at relatively decent prices (for standard cd-style book) and offers immediate download. I recently signed up for the NLS Pilot program through the Library of Congress project to convert NLS talking books to Daisy-format (DBS) books online. They have a growing library and a decent (for me) magazine spread; I have been able to access The Nation as it hits newstands through this. You need an NLS-authorized player and an authorization key; I purchased a Human Ware Victor Reader Stream and got the free user key so I've been downloading plenty. There's also the Guttenberg Project (online - guttenberg.com I think) that offers free downloads of text, html, and possibly brf format books that have been or are out of print or otherwise have been released to the open market. Lots of "classics" including old theory - Freud, Marx, Engels, etc. There are some underground-ish places to get what other (mostly blind) users have scanned themselves with OCR-software but haven't submitted to say, Bookshare. Ie. I have lots of theory texts that aren't online but I have on a flash disc that I've shared with other (mostly blind) (mostly graduate student) folk.

It all comes down to how you access print. If you use primarily cassette tape players or cd players RFB&D, bookstores, and NLS talking book tapes are the best bet. If you invest in Daisy-accessible mp3/opf/html/txt/doc/brf players then you have a wider audience to pull from.

Tonight

[spaz-i-mota.livejournal.com]

I'm going to the training session tonight at 6. If anyone is interested, I can update with how it went?

Thanks for the post. I've been looking to volunteer around here!