Hello again listers,

        I am pleased to report that we are making considerable progress in
building a colection of books for the new on-line Braille book depositorry
being constructed by the International Braille Research Center but we still
have a ways to go before we begin constructing the site and again we are
asking for your help.  Further information about this project appears below.
We need folks who can translate books in to Grade ii Braille and we need as
mmany of you  as possible.  If you want to become involved in this project
but are unable to translate materials in to Braille we also need folks who
could scan books for us and prepare them for translation.  If you can help
us in either of those capacities please contact me and we'll put you to
work.  those of you seeing this announcement on the blind-x or the blindfam
list please contact me privately as I do not receive mail from those lists.
also if you all ready have books in electronic grade ii format and would
like us to post em on the site please feel free to send them to us.  In your
message please include the book title and author as we mark our storage
diskets by author and put as many titles as we can on to a single disket.
for example we have disks containing nothing but books by Charles dickens,
the brothers Grim, Aristotle, etc.  supplying us with that information will
go a long way to helping us catalog the titles awaiting placement in the
depositorry.

        Let me conclude by swishing you all a happy holliday season and we
are looking forward to your participating in this project.

The International Braille Research Center, (Ibrc),  an organization with
offices in the United States and Canada,  announces  its plans
to construct an exciting new Internet Resource for Braille
users.  During the coming year the IBRC plans to build an
on-line Braille Book Depository.  The depository will contain
material in grate Ii Braille. These materials can be read on-line
or can be downloaded and produced in Hard Copy Braille or read
with a Braille-aware device such as a paperless Braille Display
or a Braille notetaker such as the Braille-n Speak. This resource will
supplement
other collections of on-line Braille materials such as that being
established by the National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped, (NLS.)  The NLS beta tested this concept
earlier this near and plans to expand its offerings.  For the first year or
so many of the selections
will be literary titles but we also plan to add specialty
materials as time and resources permits.  To assist in the
development of this depository we would like the following
types of assistance:

1. Translators:

Books, magazines, and  other types of information will be
gathered from Internet sites such as Project Gutenberg, and from
other sources  and translated in to electronic Grade ii Braille.  Those wishing
to help with translation will be sent titles via either snail
mail or e-mail: and will be expected to return them when translation is
completed.  These title will then be placed in the depository.  To volunteer
to translate materials please contact Peter Donahue, the Project
Coordinator, and Webmaster for the Braille Book Depository  at
the address, phone number, and e-mail address  given below:

Peter Donahue
100 Lorenz Road APT. 1205
San Antonio, Texas 78209
Phone: (210) 826-9579
e-mail: [log in to unmask]

  If you want to volunteer to help translate books in to Braille
please let us know what types of material you like to read so we can send
you books that will be of interest to you.  In
addition this will also help us develop a cross section of
materials that will be of interest to many blind people the
World over.  This should be a fun and enjoyable project to carry
out and we want to help make it so for those who will help
with the translation of materials in to Braille.
 Also please let us know if you want to receive material for translation via
E-mail or snail mail.
2. Sources of
Material in Grade II format:
It is our belief that a certain amount of material already
exists in Grade II Format and we would like to include it in the
depository.  If you know of any sources of materials available
in electronic Grade II Format please let us know where it can be
found so we can download it for placement in the depository or

you can send us the URLS  where this information is located so
we can link to it.  If you have any materials in electronic
Grade II Format and would like them to be added to the
depository please send them to us via snail mail or via e-mail
at the addresses given above.     Electronic Grade II Braille
files usually can be identified by their extensions.  The most
commonly used Braille file extensions are .brf, .bfm and brl.  These
materials can include, but are not limited to literary titles, appliance
manuals, computer and software  manuals, Crafts books, how-to titles, cook
books, maps, Braille graphics, text books, music scores just about anything
you can imagine and would like to contribute to this resource.  We will
accept contributions from anywhere in the World thus giving this
project an international scope.

3.
Financial Assistance:
Since there are many types of materials that could be included
in a resource such as this we would like to be able to pay for
translation of materials as well as for the general maintenance
of the BRAILLE Book Depository.  Any and all contributions
to this project are welcomed and should be sent to the following
address:

Dr. T.V.  Cranmer
President, International Braille Research Center Office
4424 Brookhaven Avenue
Louisville, Kentuckey 40220

        Your contributions are tax deductable and should be made payable to The
International Braille Research Center and must be marked for deposit only.



WHEN will it be on-line:
We plan to launch the site and make it available to the blind
community as soon as we have a minimum of at least 100 titles in
Grade II, Braille but an enthusiastic response, and
contributions of materials already in  Grade Ii Format will
boost this number significantly.  You can learn more about the
activities of the International Braille Research Center
by visiting: http://www.braille.org.  This new and exciting
resource promises to revolutionize the availability of Braille
to the blind World-wide in the next millennium and represents a
cutting-edge solution to access to material in Braille.  With
this new venture we're headed for the future and the future is
now!










ay

The power of the dream
The faith in things unseen
The courage to embrace your fear
No matter where you are
To reach for your own star
        To realize the power of the dream

"The Power of the Dream"
"Celine Dion"

Peter donahue


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