Future distribution and playback options for digital talking books

Abstract

Many libraries for the blind have launched the first generation of digital talking book services. Commonly called Daisy books, these digital audio books are distributed on CDs and provide much easier access to content and a better audio quality. Libraries take advantage of free mail delivery of material for the blind. Most libraries for the blind agree that CD distribution through the mail will remain for some years but the next stage of distribution will be through electronic accessibility. In order to deliver talking books on CD, libraries for the blind are building sophisticated content management and repository systems. In addition to controlling the flow of digital content production, these systems also allow the library to better serve their clients. In the past, books on cassette tapes were allocated from a list of the client's genre preferences. The client never knew which next title they would receive. The new content management system and the reduction in the price of CD media will allow users to order specific titles over the phone or a web site and have them shipped to them overnight. Having the content stored on hard disks that are connected to automated CD burners make it possible to respond to such requests almost in real-time. Once those systems will be fully deployed, the next step that would connect these repositories to the Internet via a server and web portal is technically very simple. A library member with a PC and a broadband Internet account can then directly access and read audio books from home. The presentation will describe how a new generation of playback devices is being developed to allow users to receive audio books and manage their personal library. Such players will handle the protocols for communicating with the broadband connection set-top boxes, cellular network, and/or modems. They will have flash memory storage capacity to store the content and will be very portable (the size of a PDA). Various user interfaces will be offered to match the type of utilization by a variety of users: students, professional, and elderly. The presentation will describe how the next generation player will automate the connection to the content providers and offer choice of audio books and electronic materials in a simple format.