Prairie Trails Memorandum
South Dakota State Library
Braille and Talking Book Library
Spring 2002
Notes from the Director, Dan Boyd
The South Dakota Braille and Talking book Program continues to work towards providing the best possible library service. This is your library and we work for you with our goal being access to any print materials in a media acceptable to you.

One of the service enhancements we are looking forward to this year is the installation of the new version of our online public access catalog (OPAC). The existing OPAC allows for searching of the book collection by author, title, subject, and media. With a valid ID and password a patron can then place requests.

The new version of the OPAC really opens up a patron's access to their records. The new version of the OPAC will allow library patrons to de everything the old one does plus many new features.

A patron can search the collection using your existing reader profile. The reader profile contains authors, subjects, series, and exclusions (violence, sex, strong language, male/female narrators, and long/short books) a patron told us they were interested in reading. The new system will also advise a patron if they select a book they have already read.

The new system will also allow patrons to do an advanced search by using three separate indexes together in one search. An example of this would be to search for westerns that don't contain violence, strong language and were not written by Max Brand.

With the new system a patron will also be able to access many files in their library records. A patron can view a listing of books they have already read, books they now have on hand, books that are on their request or reserve list, change their personal identification number (PIN), and review their patron screen (name, address, telephone number) and make a request to have changes made.

The new OPAC will run in parallel with the OPAC until all our patrons now using the old system have been trained on using the new OPAC. Library staff will be calling patrons now using the OPAC and explaining how to use the new system.

If you have any questions about the OPAC or if you have a computer and would like to try it just give the library a call at 1-800-423-6665 and ask to speak with your Reader Advisor.


One Million Cassette Players!!!
Late last year, the one millionth C-1 cassette book machine was produced at the Telex factory in Blue Earth, Minnesota. The machine was developed in the late 1970s by the Library of Congress, and was first produced in large quantities in 1982. The yellow cassette player has been the mainstay of the talking books program for over 20 years. While it has been improved over the years, its basic design has not been modified.

NLS's new goal is to trade 23 million cassettes for memory cards, just as the vinyl disk players were upgraded to tape in the 1970s, With the design of new digital device needed by the 2008, over 140 industrial design students from across the country provided NLS with ideas and insight to students needs now and into the future. The first prize went to a prototype in the shape of a book. The contest was not intended to produce a design for manufacture, just a gathering of ideas for the next step in the upgrade process.


Free Eye Care
If you are an US citizen, age 65 or older, and have not seen an ophthalmologist in three years, you may be eligible for a free eye examination and a year of treatment.

There 7400 ophthalmologists participating throughout the United States in this effort through the help of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Knights Templar Eye Foundation. For further information, please call the National Eye Care Project at 1-800-222-3937.


Mary's Desk
Our South Dakota collection contains books written by South Dakota authors, books about South Dakota, or books requested by our readers. The following titles are the latest books added to the collection.
  • SD003460 "Scouting for the US Army, 1876 to 1879", Michael Tate, Editor
    The later half of the 1870's constituted an important era in the history of the northern plains as white settlers, railroad construction crews, and buffalo hunters expanded into lands formerly guaranteed to American Indian people. The discovery of gold in the Black Hills further exacerbated the problem by attracting thousands of miners to the sacred lands of the Western Sioux and Northern Cheyenne. One young fifteen-year-old man, Fred M Hans journeyed to Ft. Robinson during September 1876. During the following three years Hans served as a scout for Colonel Randald Slidell Mackenzie and General George Cook, who had primary responsibility for containing the Sioux and Cheyenne.
  • SD003492 "Devil's Claw" By J.A. Jance
    Pete and Scott excitedly plan a camping trip to a deserted island, only to arrive and discover that two girls with zany senses of humor are already in residence.
  • SD003494 "The Lonely Strangers" By Charity Blackstock
    Set in the back streets of pre-Revolutionary Paris, this is a poignant romance of unlikely lovers. The lonely strangers are political exiles from Scotland seeking refuge in an alien land. All are missing their families and struggling with daily existence. Here is a story of a realistic love struggling for growth in a welter of intrigue.
  • SD003495 "The Missionary Position The first Delphine, South Dakota Mystery" By Kathleen Taylor
    They're having a heat wave in Delphi, South Dakota, a small farming community whose citizens find plenty to discuss in Aphrodite Ferguson's Delphi Cage, even though it's usually just the weather. The story includes characters in the town and their daily lives, including Tory Bauer, a new widow. When a missionary comes to town and is found bludgeoned to death, evidence is uncovered and the novel ends with the murder being solved.
  • SD003466 "The Golden Compass" By Phillip Pullman
    It was no ordinary life for a young girl, living among scholars in the hallowed halls of Jordan College and tearing unsupervised through Oxford's motley streets on mad quests for adventure. But Lyra's greatest adventure would begin close to home the day she heard hushed talk to extraordinary particles - found only in the vast Arctic expanse of the North - was rumored to possess properties that could unite the whole universe. But there were those who feared the particles and would stop at nothing to destroy it.
  • SD003467 "When the Dead Speak" By S.D. Toole
    A man's body is found encased in a cement pillar in Chasen Heights, a suburb of Chicago. Clasped in his hand is a gold pin he carried to his grave and why is someone hell-bent on keeping that secret buried? Detective Sergeant Samantha Casey has an advantage over other cops, the dead speak to her. Sam's gift is inherited from her mother; a Sioux medicine woman who helps her piece together the puzzles. The puzzle pieces pile up, as the deceased a U.S. soldier reported AWOL during the Korean War. Sam slowly realizes the deceased holds the truth to her own past and when all the truths collide, it can cause disastrous results.
  • SD003468 "Mahatma Gandhi and His Apostles" By Vied Mahta
    It long seemed that mahatma Gandhi could not be comprehended by the Western mind. Millions of words were written about Gandhi, millions of his own words were recorded by his disciples, some hour hundred biographies of him were published; yet he eluded us. Ved Mehta, born in India, educated in England and America, an author equally at home with Eastern and Western thought, whose intellectual and moral interests span the two cultures. Mt. Mehta has fashioned a biographical portrait unlike any other.
  • SD003469 "It Takes a Village and Other Lessons" By Hilary Rodham Clinton
    The President's spouse writes on child development, child welfare, parenting, families, family relationships, and case studies in the United States.
  • SD003470 "The Life and Death of Crazy Horse" By Russell Fredman
    Born on the Great Plains during the mid-1880's Crazy Horse was a shy, sensitive youth who rose to fame as the greatest of all Teton Sioux warriors. He grew up at a time of fierce struggle, when the Sioux, pressed on all sides by growing numbers of invading whites, fought desperately to save their hunting grounds and their way of life.
  • SD003472 "Bush Justice" By Mike Current
    This is a high charged and fast paced novel of murder, government, corruption, and manipulation of the legal system. A South Dakotan author.
  • SD003475 "West of the River" By Bruce Hodson
    A lifetime of small town activities condensed into short stories for quick reading, reflecting on humorous and unusual daily events encountered by a country banker including chorse as mayor, volunteer fireman, soldier, commissioner, and service on civic boards. Short sotries typical of small town life, concentrating on the more pleasant events rather than grimness we might rather forget. A South Dakota author.
  • SD003476 "Raised on the Rez: Views, Visions, and Wisdom of the West" By Jean Van Balen Ankrum
    The author recounts stories told by her mother and also her life as she grew up close to where "Dances with Wolves" was filmed. The chapter starts with stories related in 1913. A South Dakota author.
Magazine of the Month
Have you been curious about the list of magazines that appears in the front of your January/February issue of Talking Book Topic? These are monthly selections which will be sent under the title Magazine of the Month or Young Adult Magazine of the Month.

Many patrons might wish to have ongoing subscriptions to the titles offered as Magazines of the Month. However the National Library Service is not able to produce all the magazines patrons might wish to listen to. Therefore, the Magazines of the Month and Young Adult Magazine of the Month are offered as a "sampler" of various popular magazines. A different magazine is sent each month to subscribers. If you would like to hear various magazines and are interested in subscribing to Magazine of the Month or Young Adult Magazine of the Month, please call your Reader Advisor.


Miss the action in the Movies?
Do you no longer go to the movies because you cannot see what's happening on the screen? Are your friends and family tired of describing the action when you watch video at home? There is a solution available for you! Descriptive Videos are complete movies, just as you see in the theater or on your home video machine, but the narrator describes any action that you might miss because you are unable to see the screen. For example, in a suspense movie when the music gets tense and there is no dialog, but action is happening on the screen, a voice unobtrusively comes on and would say something like this:

An individual enters a darken room and approaches the desk. He opens the drawer on the right and rifles through it, then opens the drawer on the left and the center drawers and rifles through those. He is not careful, leaves papers disheveled and does not close the drawers. Suddenly the light comes on in the room and the figure stiffens...

Descriptive Videos are offered by the library at no charge, if you would like more information or a current catalog contact your Reader Advisor at 1-8000-423-6665.


Questions from our Readers
Why am I not getting my Readers Digest? I used to get it then it just stopped coming.
If you have a subscription to the Reader's Digest or Newsweek you may have recently received a letter regarding these magazines. The letter is from American Printing House for the Blind (APH), the producer of these magazines.

You are not required to pay for your subscriptions to these magazines, you are required to mail the letter you received back to American Printing House to continue to receive your subscription for another year.

This wonderful service is provided to you at no charge, but APH would happily accept donations for these publications. If you are no longer receiving your subscriptions but wish to, please call us at 1-800-423-6665.
Cassette Tips and Suggestions
It can be very frustrating to get a book and then discover the cassette begins in the middle of the tape. Pelase, if you daon't care for the title after you have started to read it be sure to reqind it so the next reader gets to start at the beginning of the book. While we rewind all books that are sent out the stacks, we rely on you to lend a hand witht the most popular materials!

If you receive a book with a damaged or missing tape, call the Library for a replacement book.

Staff at our book inspection station note that quite a few books are turning up missing or mixed up cassettes. Please ensure that you replace all the tapes in the correct mailing container before sending them back. We suggest you keep the titles separate and have no more than one container open at a time to reduce the chance of a mix-up. When a book comes back incomplete it can't be recirculated and must be sent to repair. That's bad enough, but when the tapes get mixed, it effectively removes TWO books from circulation! We ask for you careful help in protecting and preserving our book collection. Thank you.


Low Vision Aides
You don't need to be confused about what medication is in a bottle when you prescription bottle can tell you what the contents are along with any important directions and warnings!

Created by a pharmacist and a physician, Talking Rx™ is a revolutionary tool to assist you and your loved ones in taking any prescribed medication. AN easy -to -use device, Talking Rx™ can tell you exactly how many pills to take, when, and what for. Your doctor or pharmacist records the prescription information right into the Talking Rx™. All you have to do is push the red button and the Talking Rx™ will play the recorded message back to you. Easy and safe! Talking Rx™is ideal for people with low vision or hearing impairments. If is also excellent for people for whom English is a second language or people who have trouble reading.

Talking Caller ID will announce who is calling before you pick up the phone. When the phone rings (or when you get a call waiting call), the Talking Caller ID announces the telephone number of the caller or a preprogrammed name. Telephone marketers and anonymous callers are announces as "Number Unknown" and "Number Blocked". Calls are announced over the built-in speaker or through a telephone handset.

For information contact Dynamic Living. Telephone: (toll free) 1-888-940-0605 E-mail: product-finder@dynamic-living.com Website address: www.dynamic-living.com.


Jerry's Desk
Read and Return

Please return each talking book as soon as you are finished reading it. This allows other patrons who are waiting for these titles a chance to receive them as quickly as possible. Returning books as you read them is sourteous to other readers and it also helps your mail carrier so they only have to handle a few books at a time.

Please do not include handwritten notes in the talking book containers because this is unacceptable under free matter postal regulations. If you have a problem or a question call the Braille and Talking Book Library at 1-800-423-6665.

Remember Read and Return.


Summer Travel Web Sites
  • Access-Able Travel Source
    Travel information for the physically challenged adventures. Website: www.access-able.com
  • Accessible Journeys
    A great source for trips designed for the handicapped. Website: www.disabilitytravel.com
  • Gimp on the Go
    One of the first sites to offer trips for the handicapped. Website: www.gimponthego.com

BTBL Website
Don't forget to check out the South Dakota Braille and Talking Book Library website www.sdstatelibrary.com/talkbook. New service enhancements are being added on a regular basis. The existing OPAC allows for searching of the book collection by author, title, subject, and media. With a valid ID and password a patron can then place requests.


Sweet 'N Low "Taking Charge"
Cumberland Packing Corp. is committed to promoting healthier living and through its Taking Charge series of health education tapes, provides you with some of the latest information regarding breast cancer risk, heart health, and diabetes. These tapes now available upon request, also provide dietary recommendations you can incorporate into your own healthier lifestyle.

The following list is available from Sweet N Low and will be distributed by the Braille and Talking Book Library:
  • "Savor the Flavor" Cookbook -- features low-calorie, low-fat recipes.
  • Naturally Simple but Elegant -- includes dessert recipes from pastry chef Claudia Fleming
  • Sweet 'N Low Cakes for all Occasions -- provides cake recipes made with Sweet 'N Low sugar substitute
  • Taking Charge -- Diabetes and the African American Woman
  • Taking Charge -- Lowering your Risk of Breast Cancer
  • Taking Charge -- Lowering your Risk of Heart Disease
  • Taking Charge -- A Guide for Children and Parents (about diabetes)
  • Taking Charge -- Diabetes and Hispanic Americans (English and Spanish versions available)
Please call you Reader Advisor and request a copy of needed titles at 1-800-423-6665.


Holiday Closings
Braille and Talking Book Library will be closed the following holidays, please plan your book orders to allow for closures.
Thursday, July 4th
Monday September 2
Monday October 14

Music to Your Ears
Music by Mail - Recordings for Recovery is a library of music that is available for loan to patrons of any library for the blind and physically handicapped. For information concerning the program call 1-800-798-1192 or check their web site at wwwr4r.org.

Over 1200 selections of music in 28 categories from classical to country are available. Tapes can be kept for 60 days and returned postage free. Although there is a $10 membership fee per year, the fee can be waived for those unable to pay. The address of the non-profit company is Recordings for Recovery, 5103 Eastman Place, Suite 101 Midlan, MI 49640-6723.



Prairie Trails Memorandum The Prairie Trails Memorandum, is published quarterly, it is our means of communication with our patrons. The Prairie Trails Memorandum is available in Braille, Cassette or on a diskette upon request and is also posted on our website.

If you wish to request this newsletter in an alternative format, please contact the Braille and Talking Book Library at 1-800-423-6665.

If you have any questions or comments that you would like to share with us about the library program, please contact us.

Write to: South Dakota Braille & Talking Book Library
800 Governors Drive,Pierre, SD 57501

E-mail: talkbkreq@state.sd.us

Call: 1-800-423-6665

The Braille & Talking Book Library does not endorse any product or service listed in this newsletter.