HAWAII STATE Public Library System

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Locations > Oahu > Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LBPH)
LBPH Newsletter September 2002

NEWS IS GETTING
AROUND THE PACIFIC

September 2002

Hawaii State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
402 Kapahulu Avenue
Honolulu HI 96815

Phone 733-8444
Neighbor Islands call 1-800-559-4096


LBPH's Saturday hours will be 9:30 a.m to 1:00 p.m. The staff will be involved in outreach and they are needed in the library during the weekday, when it is busiest. This was discussed and approved at the Consumer Advisory Meeting earlier in the year. The message machine will take your orders during the times the library is closed, as it does currently. Remember, on Saturdays, please come before 1:00 p.m.

OOPS!

LBPH has acquired a computer with Jaws, Zoomtext, and a refreshable braille device. We need volunteers who want to help others to use this computer. If you have computer knowledge, love to teach, and have 2 hours a week to share your knowledge with others, please call and leave your name and number to set up a time for an interview and orientation.

ACCESSIBLE COMPUTER

If you want to use the accessible computer, you may call to reserve its use for a two hour period. There are policies that need be reviewed before you start. The policies are in cassette and braille. Let us know if you need help and someone will be ready to assist you. The computer has assistive devices for speech, large print and braille.

C-1 CASSETTE BOOK MACHINE BATTERY CARE

To plug or not to plug. That is the question.

Previously, the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) recommended a charge-discharge cycle for the C-1 Cassette Book Machine (yellow) that consisted of charging, unplugging the unit and running the unit on battery power until the battery was low. Because of improvements in battery technology, you no longer have to do this.

You may now leave the unit plugged in as long as you like and use it either plugged in or battery-operated at any time.


NEWS FORMAT

This newsletter is available in large print, cassette, braille and disk. It is also on the web at:

http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/hspls/

Please contact the Library if you want to receive this newsletter in a specific format. Call us at 733-8444. Neighbor Islands call 1-800-559-4096. You can also send an E-mail message to:

olbcirc@lib.state.hi.us

FREE INFORMATION

Two copies each in braille and cassette of the 2002 GUIDE TO HEALTH INSURANCE FOR PEOPLE WITH MEDICARE: CHOOSING A MEDIGAP POLICY FOR PEOPLE IN THE ORIGINAL MEDICARE PLAN, are available to the first ones who call. Call us and leave your name and number, and tell us if you want the cassette or braille copy.


NLS REMINDER

NLS would like to remind patrons that program materials are the property of the United States Government and may not be sold. Such materials include not only playback machines, cassettes, containers, hardcopy braille books, but Web-Braille products as well. As stated in the "limitation of use" document on the main Web-Braille page, "output from these files may not be sold under any circumstances." Violation of these limitations may result in suspension of Web-Braille privileges.


TALK STORY FESTIVAL

The Department of Parks & Recreation presents the TALK STORY FESTIVAL on October 18, 19 & 20 at 7 - 9:30 p.m. at the McCoy Pavilion at Ala Moana Park.

The themes are SPOOKY STORIES on Friday; KID KIND TALES on Saturday and LEGENDS (OLD AND NEW) on Sunday. Storytellers include Bruddah Joe, Ed Chevy, Adela Chu, Brenda Freitas-Obregon, Nyla Fujii-Babb, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Dan Kelin, Christy Lipps, Makia Malo, James McCarthy, Joe Miller, Milky Way, Elly Tepper, Emil Wolfgramm, Hawaii Screenwriters and Jeff Gere.

On Sunday afternoon from 1 - 4, Jeff Gere will present a free stortytelling boot camp, a learn by doing workshop, guaranteed to give participants tools to tell stories in a dynamic, creative way.

Everyone is invited to these free activities.


CHILDREN AND YOUTH MONTH

Talk Story will present storytellers at the State Capitol on Sunday, October 6, from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. to kick off Children and Youth month.


VORTAL

There is a free telephone-based Internet service called Vortal. To try it yourself, call 800-555-TELL, listen to the ad, and then type 186782. Surf the Net, send e-mail, and more, all through the telephone.


Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.

<-Mark Twain


Assistive Technology User Group:
A Consumer Driven Forum for the Techie in You!

ATUG (Assistive Technology User Group) was founded by Art Cabanilla of Six Sense Solutions and Island Skill Gathering Technology Specialist Mel Nakahara in July 2000. The pair created a group forum for the Honolulu disabled community focusing on high and low-tech devices such as computers with screen readers and voice navigation capabilities, magnification equipment such as CCTVs and lighted magnifiers, and assistive listening and alerting devices like a pocket-sized amplifier and vibrating alarm clocks. Mr. Nakahara has handed the baton to Mr. Cabanilla to run the well-established group, and Mr. Cabanilla has done so, maintaining a lively group of technology enthusiasts through which many friendships have been born.

ATUG has been meeting on a monthly basis for the past 2 years at the home office of Island Skill Gathering - on the open-air deck in Kapahulu. Meetings are held from 7 - 9pm, usually on Friday evenings. The group continues to flourish and evolve through its members from various backgrounds. About a dozen or more members gather each month to exchange ideas and information on technology and community services that offer tech support and training. The forum helps members utilize current technology and keeps members up-to-date on new and future products and services.

In recent months, the ATUG group has had a number of presentations by various members sharing and showing their own technology used in their daily lives. Such "show and tell" presentations included computer notebook and Braille display set ups for blind people accessing the internet, video magnification devices like the EVS Flipper and Jordy II for low vision folks in classroom situations, and comparisons of similar software applications.

ATUG welcomes all folks to its monthly meetings who may have an interest in assistive technology. There seems to be a current focus on technology for people who are blind or have low vision; the majority of ATUG's membership are blind. However, anyone interested in computer tips and tricks would enjoy the group for its friendship, fellowship, and any other ship that might come up for discussion. Members range from the novice to the experienced, so there is a good chance help with your technology challenge can be found within ATUG.

ATUG had a booth at LBPH's Seventieth Anniversary Fair last summer. The table display with an array of technology seemed to be the most popular attraction. There was standing room only around the table for most of the day.

If you can't make a monthly meeting, perhaps you can get on the ATUG e-mail list. The list serves as a forum for member questions and the posting of technical questions and notices for new products and services. Group announcements and the Minutes of ATUG Meetings are also posted there. Most recently, there have been notices regarding ATM access and a surgical procedure that is designed to improve the sight of those who are losing vision due to macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa. In the past, there have been articles regarding software that makes the Nokia Communicator speak, accessible music composition software, and accessible computer games. If you are interested in joining ATUG, the mailing list can be found at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ATUGHI/.

Another option is to join ATUG virtually for its monthly meetings in our chatroom. All you need is a microphone and an Internet connection. Just point your browser to http://for-the-people.com/ and sign up for a username and password. More information can be obtained through ATUG's mailing list or by contacting Art Cabanilla at:

sixsense@hawaii.rr.com.


HOLIDAYS WHEN  THE LIBRARY IS CLOSED

Election Day: November 5, Tuesday
Veterans Day: November 9-11, Saturday-Monday
Thanksgiving Day: November 28-Thursday


NEW MATERIALS AT THE LIBRARY


CASSETTES

HIC-1194 Yellowfin: A Ben McMillen Hawaiian Mystery by Mark Brown. Adult Fiction.

HIC-1195 More Kaua'i Tales by Frederick B. Wichman. Adult non-fiction. Hawaiiana. Folklore.

HIC-1196 The Hilo Massacre: Hawaii's Bloody Monday, August 1st, 1938 by William J. Puette. Adult non-fiction. Hawaiiana. Trade unions.

HIC-1197 Surfing and Health by Dorian Paskowitz. Adult non-fiction. Hawaiiana. Biography/Health.

HIC-1198 Gardening in Hawaii: Handbook for the Home Gardener by Peggy Hickok Hodge. Adult non-fiction. Hawaiiana. Gardening and tropical plants.

HIC-1199 Name Me Nobody by Lois-Ann Yamanaka. Young adult fiction. Hawaiiana. Coming-of-age.

HIC-1250HIC Growing Up Local: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose from Hawaii by Eric Chock, etal. Adult non-fiction. Hawaiiana. Poetry and short stories.


Information supplied by the staff of the Library for the Blind & Physically Handicapped.

 
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