It would be nice if you were to acknowledge the source, giving the author the due credit, though. Regards, Ravi Paul
On 2/11/10, Sanjay <ilovec...@gmail.com> wrote: > The Internet Archive: An Untapped Resource for the Blind > by Daniel B. Frye > ********** > Today blind people can and do access record amounts of written > information through the emergence of scanning and digitization and > assistive technology. We read newspaper articles, books, and other written > materials using NFB NEWSLINE for the Blind®, the National Library Service > for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Recording for the Blind and > Dyslexic, Bookshare, and Audible.com among other resources. Even when > something is not available in an accessible format, current technology > allows relatively easy access to printed texts. Because of the rapid > evolution of access to information, some may even feel overwhelmed by the > array of accessible reading options now available. > The Braille Monitor has recently learned of another Internet-based > resource that makes more than 1.8 million digital books and other material > freely available to everyone with access to the Internet. Founded by > Brewster Kahle in 1996, the Internet Archive, a nonprofit digital library > based in San Francisco, California, promotes universal access to knowledge. > Although the Internet Archive management team did not have the needs of > blind people in mind originally, they have been receptive to suggestions > for making their vast content accessible to blind computer users. Toward > this end the Internet Archive is exploring a partnership with the National > Federation of the Blind to digitize and preserve our audio and video files > through a grant application to the Institute for Museum and Library > Services, a federal agency. The Archive is also negotiating with the NLS to > use its disability-verification system so they can provide accessible > formats of copyrighted materials to eligible blind and print-disabled > people in the United States. Moreover the Internet Archive has already been > producing its downloadable collection of books (most older and in the > public domain) in the internationally recognized DAISY format. > According to Linda Frueh, the Internet Archive's regional director > for Washington, D.C., Kahle and his wife established a foundation and > launched the Internet Archive with the goal of recording the entire > Internet. Frueh said that Kahle reasoned, "Here's an enormous, new > technology changing from day to day, and nobody's recording it." Using Web- > harvesting technology, a specially designed computer program that copies > and saves Web pages, the organization has been preserving the evolving > Internet. Kahle began by conducting a bimonthly Internet crawl. "We have > one hundred and fifty billion Web pages archived since 1996," Frueh said. > She explained further, "The way people access old Web pages is through the > Wayback Machine, a search engine for all of the old Web pages archived at > <www.archive.org>. On the results page you'll get a timeline of the various > versions of the Web pages for which you are looking." Historians interested > in the NFB, for instance, could use the Wayback Machine to review the > evolution of our Internet site for the last fourteen years. > Having launched the Internet archiving project, the organization > expanded its goals to digitize other media. Its online library now posts > digital books, music, audio recordings, films, software collections, and > more from its Website. Everything is made available free of charge. "We > never have charged and never will charge for any of our content. Our goal > is to make as much information as possible available to everyone who wants > it; we're not invested in whether we provide information under our own name > or as the behind-the-scenes resource for other Internet services," Frueh > said. > Though much of this additional content may be of interest to blind > people, the greatest benefit to the blind will be the large digital book > > collection it has already assembled. The most effective way to access these > digital books from the Internet Archive is to visit its dedicated digital > book Website <www.openlibrary.org>. Though visitors can reach the > collection through the main Internet Archive Website, Frueh advises that > both blind and sighted users who are interested only in downloading books > will find it easier to go directly to the dedicated digital Website. The > NFB is working with the Internet Archive to help evaluate and maximize the > accessibility of its several Websites. These are clearly growing in > popularity with a reported three million people a day visiting > <www.archive.org> and two hundred and fifty thousand visiting > <www.openlibrary.org>. > The Internet Archive's book collection reflects its history of > working with academic institutions, libraries, and government agencies. It > has 3,324 books in its children's collection at > <http://www.archive.org/detail/iacl>. For examples of scientific literature > scanned by the Archive from the Biodiversity Heritage Library, visit > <http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org>. The Archive has scanned over thirty- > three thousand items in this collection. Frueh says that the Internet > Archive also has the largest Arabic collection outside of the Middle East > and the Library of Congress. The Internet Archive digital library dwarfs > the NLS digital collection, but Frueh reports that her organization would > be delighted to explore expanding its partnership with NLS, allowing the > national library to make all of these titles available through its > frontline resources. > Readers should know that the Internet Archive, a member of the Open > Book Alliance, opposes the currently proposed Google Books settlement. The > Internet Archive and its supporters believe that the settlement as > currently drafted creates an uneven playing field in out-of-print book > publishing, an obscure area of debate among legal and academic scholars > about one aspect of copyright law. Its objections, however, have nothing to > do with the accessibility provisions and promise of rapid access to many > digital books that the Google Book agreement would generate. > Blind readers now have another significant resource at our disposal > that will enrich our lives. We can visit the Internet Archive and its > related Websites for study, work, and recreation. The NFB looks forward to > an ongoing and fruitful partnership with the Internet Archive. > > > > > > > To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with > the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
