Hi, all!

I want to echo what Emma said:  we need to see access and technology training as a natural part of library customer service in the 21st Century.  I know that Cleveland Public Library and some others have very proactively trained staff in helping users with available technology, including (very specifically, as an expectation) assistive technology.  With assistive technology converging with productivity technology, e.g. voice input and voice output software, this isn't just about people with disabilities.  It's about optimal service for everyone.

Some other points:
All library courses and programs should be minimally accessible AND all publicity should offer accommodations to those who need them.  In some libraries, that's going to be people who speak little English and people who are not print literate, as well as people with disabilities.  Technology that's readily available and not that expensive can provide overlapping solutions if done thoughtfully.

Neither people with disabilities nor those who have historically specialized in serving them should be second class citizens in a library setting.  Please don't segregate!  Include! (This means that people who have expertise in this and other areas of diversity also need to actively get themselves included.  Don't accept segregation.)

Some people with disabilities (and other people with differences in the way they go about things) don't want to self-identify.  This is a privacy issue.  It is a reaction to negative attitudes in society.  This is because people with disabilities (and others) are tired of not being seen as fully human once someone has a label to slap on them. This is a challenge to library staff, all library staff. Learn new ways to serve even if you don't know details about a person's life or circumstances, including specifics of disability.  Help each other shed the nineteenth-century, uncomfortable, "can I catch it?" kinds of reactions engendered by ignorance.  Or the pitying, "oh poor things" attitudes of some well-meaning souls.  Attitudes are the real disabilities!

Please refer to the ALA policy "Library Services for People with Disabilities" at http://www.ala.org/ascla/access_policy.html
and to my piece on Accessible Library Workstations at http://www.ala.org/ascla/pdf/access_libr_workstation.doc (also available in PDF format).  If you'll be in San Francisco for Annual Conference,  please consider this a personal invitation to come to the new "Accessibility Pavilion" in the exhibits.

Cheers!
Audrey


Audrey J. Gorman
Director
Roads To Learning
ASCLA/The American Library Association
50 East Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611
1-800-545-2433 Ext. 4027
Fax:  312-944-8085
E-mail:  [log in to unmask]

Web page: www.ala.org/roads 

>>> [log in to unmask] 04/14/01 12:01PM >>>
Hello John,
I love your question, it is exactly what we at Calgary Public Library
struggle with daily.  We are in the process of installing Adaptive
technology workstations at branches throughout the city.  I can assure you
that our department Special Needs Services is FULLY devoted and will be
fully trained on the use of this equipment.  We have an understanding of the
NEEDS of our "print disabled" community and know that it is the RIGHT of
every citizen to have access to information--I would dare to say we are
PASSIONATE about the cause.  We also realize, not everyone shares in our
PASSION, it is "one more thing to learn".  I however, believe that with
proper training, encouragement and support, staff will be able to assist the
public.  I strongly believe it is VERY REASONABLE to expect the PUBLIC
LIBRARIES to have this technology readily available for ALL customers as
well as to have the knowledge to "help" the customer achieve independence
using it. (We would have no resistance to a NEW reference book if it opened
backwards, would we? We would have to adapt to it and I assure you in time
it would get used!).
ALL technology is difficult to adapt to (no pun intended), it is through use
and commitment that we learn utilize it to it's capacity.  I believe it is
the role of public libraries to "mainstream" and expose the general public
and the "print disabled" public to such technologies.  I also believe that
one can not be an advocate without the proper tools (training), therefore ,
aside from personal attitude of the staff members, TRAINING is key.
(by the way, when I speak of Special Needs Services, I speak of 5 staff
members, sometimes 3, if the snow gets too deep!!)
I can't wait to read everyone else's thoughts on this matter.  Have a
wonderful week and PLEASEEE send some of that wonderful Texas heat up this
way!!!

Emma




 Message -----
From: John Moore <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2001 10:14 AM
Subject: Access scenario


> This is a situation, based on a call I received, that I would like to put
> out to the list for some discussion.
>
> A public library offers a beginning class in the use of Microsoft Word. An
> individual who is blind signs up for the class. The library does not know
> that the individual is blind until she shows up for the class. They do
> however have a computer with screen reading software and make it available
> to her for the class.
>
> There is a problem however, the individual is not familiar with this
> particular screen reading software and there is no one available in the
> library that an really teach her how to use it. After some discussion, the
> library offers to provide training in the use of the screen reading
software
> at a local organization that serves persons who are blind. The problem
here
> is that this location is in another part of town and transportation to the
> location is a problem.
>
> There may be an additional problem that has yet to come up. When the
patron
> learns to use the screen reading software will the library staff teaching
> this beginning class know how to access Word using all the keyboard
> commands?
>
> My question...what is reasonable for the library to provide? It has been
my
> experience that many libraries that offer assistive technology do not have
> staff trained to support the patrons who need to use it. This situation
> pushes that concern a bit further.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> John
> --
> John Moore, MLIS
> Information Resources Coordinator
> Texas Technology Access Project
> Texas Center for Disability Studies
> The University of Texas, at Austin
> SZB 252e D5100
> Austin, TX 78712
>
> (800) 828-7839
> local (512) 471-7621
> fax (512) 471-7549
>



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