Author: Claudia Leung@LIBR

It is time to wrap up this blog as an assignment of library technology under Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. This is our first time experience blogging, first time to connect public, first time to publish our work. It is a very excited and interesting opportunity. We are assigned to work on the blogging assignment in group of two. Due to the time constraints of each post, my partner and myself work and post our blog rotatably to save time in meeting and meeting. We just ensure not writing the same topic of other and follow the blogging outline. The progress is smooth and efficient as we expected.

It is always good have blogging in class. Blogging can create an efficient digital learning platform for enhance teachers’ and students’ communicative potential and widen learning opportunities. Classmates can freely blog about not only the discussion on subjects and homework, but also the discussion on field trips and class matters. The class blog can bring lot of fun and interaction not limiting face-to-face in class. It should be widely promoted in classroom.

This blog is coming to an end, but the learning of library technology will not end. Through the study of Library Information Technology, we have lot of chances to learn the updated library technology and apply the knowledge of technology in our future career. For example, we can use blogging platform to share the hi-tech library system with other professionals and library users. If some of you have not started blogging, have a try! We highly recommend you to get it started. It is very interesting and efficient way to learn and share. For those who are interesting in our diploma program on Library Information Technology, please go to http://www.sait.ca for more information.

Nowadays, libraries are not only a place to borrow books, it is a place to learn. Assistive devices and technologies are the hardware while library staff are the software. Without the professional staff, patrons with disabilities could not locate and use the service of assistive devices and technologies. Therefore, it is important that library staff have to be obtained appropriate on-job training and regular briefing for the updated library assistive technologies.

First, all assistive devices are kept locked for security reasons. But they should be well stocked and easily to be found. Library staff are required to stock-take the inventory of all assistive devices in regular basis. ASAP Systems is a prominent provider of stock inventory and fixed asset tracking solutions for tracking the status of assistive technology loaned to patrons with disabilities. It enhances MCES’s asset tracking and recording procedures. For more information, visit www.asapsystems.com.

The profession and attitudes of staff are significant for a satisfactory library experience. Librarians are working at the front line therefore they should ensure they can provide general assistance in the use of assistive equipment and technologies. Meanwhile, librarians should enable to help patrons in recommending and selecting the appropriate resources for specific disabilities. When those library users (particularly first-time users) who do not know how to operate independently the assistive technology, librarian could offer a scheduled appointment to go through the technology more in details.

In order to provide a balanced and all-rounded services for a wide range of patrons, most libraries have a great networking to let staff to discuss and share some library hi-tech information and hot topics. Networking opportunities also bring librarian with professional conferences, on-job training courses, meetings, blogs and task forces. Some of these networking opportunities team up with NGO, international organisations, local communities and disabilities associations. These valuable networking enables staff working with people having disabilities to get together to improve library services.

Reference:

Mates, B. T., & Reed, W. R. (2011). Staff Make It All Work. Assistive Technologies in the library. Chicago: American Library Association.

Marcotte A. (2017) Bringing Assistive Technology to Patrons. American Libraries. Retrieved from : https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2017/01/03/bringing-assistive-technology-to-patrons/

Equal accessibility for different groups of patrons has recently brought a concern to all libraries in the world. Regular reviews and evaluations on the
assistive technologies and resources for the accessibility of disabilities are held in the most committees of libraries to improve their services. The focus of this post is on the assistive technologies for patrons with mobility, learning and cognitive disabilities in libraries.

Here are the technology solutions for following disabilities:

Mobility or Dexterity Issues
People who have physical disabilities are required different levels of assistance with mobility. In addition to the sufficient room and special workstation for the accessibility of wheelchair, some mobility devices are asset to assist those people who cannot motor their fingers, for example, joysticks, touch pads, trackballs and oversize-keyboards. Mouth sticks can be controlled by users’ mouth to direct the input. Head wand and Madentec tracker are similar to the mouth stick that users can do the input through their head. A on-screen keyboard software utility named SofType (http://www.orin.com/access/softype/)  which can be accessed through a mouse or mouse emulator for a standard keyboarding input. Foot mouse is a remote hand-free device that the normal mouse is functioned by the foot instead of hand.

Learning and Cognitive Disabilities
People with learning disabilities are not obviously observed, they cannot interpret visual symbols (including letters, words and numbers etc) clearly and correctly. They are easily distracted while reading and cannot process and organize their thoughts normally. People with cognitive disabilities have greater mental task challenges than the average people. Except the need of assistive technologies to support their learning, more patience, more effort and time are needed for guidance and instructing them the usage of the library service. How can the assistive technologies help these groups of people? There are some software solutions to assist them enjoying the reading and learning process, such as, screen reading, word prediction and speech / voice recognition software.

• Screen reading software is a screen reading software that can read the text on a computer screen. This software is particularly useful for people who are dyslexia and auditory learners.
• Word prediction software is a smart software that can predict the next possible words for the user to pick from a list of provided words. The technology is useful for individuals with difficulties on typing and spelling.
• Speech/Voice recognition software, also known as speech-to-text software, is a software that can convert a speech into text on the computer screen through a  microphone. Nowadays, speech recognition software can be tailored to recognize the individual voice patterns to work on some confidential applications on the computer.

References:

Mates, B. T., & Reed, W. R. (2011). The Library’s Mission: To Serve All Patrons. Assistive Technologies in the library. Chicago: American Library Association.

(2018). Physical and Mobility Disability: Common Assistive Technology.
University of Illinois. Retrieved from https://guides.library.illinois.edu/c.php?g=533633&p=3651132

Seagull, Y. (2015). What is Assistive Technology? The Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario.Retrieved from http://www.ldao.ca/introduction-to-ldsadhd/what-helps/assistive-technology/

How would the assistive technology be benefit to patrons with disabilities in libraries? In order to meet the mission of the library and serve diverse populations equally, includes patrons with disabilities, each library has its own assessment standard to equip necessary assistive technologies to meet the requirements of the act and patrons’ needs.

Here are the technology solutions for following disabilities:

Visual Impairment and Blindness
People has a myriad of vision problems, including nearsighted or farsighted or macular degeneration or color blindness etc. They cannot read standard print, therefore, enlarging or manipulating the text display is helpful for their needs. While color blindness may require the different background changed on the displays to help them reading. People with blindness can access information by touch and sound only. Braille system of raised dots is commonly used for this group of people reading and writing with the fingers. Also, there are many books and internet provided audio version to support them.

Hearing Impairment and Deafness
People with hearing loss are reduced ability to hear sounds, they are usually assisted with hearing aids and visual cues. Nowadays, with well-developed technologies, this group of people is not facing huge troubles with access of the computer and internet as there are many solutions can support them. Captioning text are common used in TV, YouTube, and films etc. However, for people who are deaf, they can only rely on visual cues, lipreading or through sign language. Currently, most libraries use virtual reference through instant web-messaging replacing of traditional teletypewriter (TTY). The device was set to connect from the patron’s home phone to the library’s specific phone for answering inquiries.

References:

Mates, B. T., & Reed, W. R. (2011). The Library’s Mission: To Serve All Patrons. Assistive Technologies in the library. Chicago: American Library Association.

Technology makes impossible to possible! Nowadays, in the library field, in order to fulfill the different needs of patrons, public and school libraries provide different from basic devices to high-technologies to assist people who require special assistance.

What is “Assistive Technology”? According to The Final Proposed Accessible Information and Communications Standard states, assistive technology is equipment or software that assists people with disabilities; examples include screen readers and voice input software. In libraries, screen reader, screen-magnification, speech input and special input devices are commonly used for disabilities, i.e. patrons with blindness, deafness, visual or hearing impairment and learning differences etc.

The purpose of this blog is to provide the detailed and updated information about the assistive technology in libraries. How would the assistive technology be benefit to disabilities in libraries? What kinds of hardware and software are using in libraries? How are librarians required to have a well-training and knowledge with library-supported assistive devices and technology? Many further topics are yet to discuss.

Without the assistive technology, those patrons with disabilities cannot efficiently access the service provided by the library. Therefore, under this fast-paced ongoing reality, assistive technology is significant in the library industry.

We are grateful to share our findings and information for each visitors of our blog. Wishing you find the information useful and helpful!