Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in Braille

The new Harry Potter book is now available in braille for patrons who subscribe to Web-Braille. The links to each volume are available on the National Library Service's website, in the catalog entry for the book. You must be registered for talking book and/or braille service and have a Web-Braille subscription to read this book online. The edition is the same one produced by the National Braille Press and does not strictly conform to National Library Service standards. Hardcopy Braille will be available in a few weeks.

Harry Potter Available from National Braille Press

The National Braille Press (NBP), thanks to the hard work of its staff and volunteers, donations, and help from Scholastic Books, publisher of the Harry Potter series, is offering the new Harry Potter title, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, in braille for $29.99. This braille edition will be available only three days after the official publication date of July 16th.

In addition, NBP is also offering the earlier Harry Potter books in braille for the price each of the regular print paperback. For more information, check their website.

If you want to read the books, but don't want to buy your own copies, the Andrew Heiskell Library will soon be getting its braille and cassette editions of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Contact us if you want to reserve a copy or if you want to read any of the earlier titles in the series.

Computer Center at Baruch College

The Computer Center for Visually Impaired People (CCVIP) at Baruch College has been piloting its new accessible curriculum for the teaching of Introductory Applied Statistics on the Talking Tactile Tablet (TTT). The TTT is a computer peripheral device that makes graphical interactive computer applications accessible to people with visual impairments. Students can learn a variety of subjects by pressing sections of the specially designed tactile and large print overlays, and hearing audio feedback to enhance their understanding of the graphically presented information. In Spring 2005, students with visual impairments took the Introductory Applied Statistics Course at Baruch College and used the TTT to learn modules on statistics, create graphs and compute the answers to questions.

In the second phase of the project in Fall 2005, CCVIP will be placing the curriculum with TTTs in appropriate labs in colleges and universities in which there is at least one blind or low vision student who will be taking that all-important first statistics course this Fall. CCVIP is in the process of identifying qualifying schools with instructors who are willing to use the Tablet, curriculum, and supplementary support materials, and where there is a professional staff person who will take responsibility for the placement and use of the materials. Each coordinator receives a stipend of $1,500. Students who use the TTT and the related materials, take the course in its entirety and participate in the evaluation of the course will receive a stipend of $250. For more information, prospective coordinators/students should contact our Project Coordinator Bir Ganguly at 646.312.1428 or bir_ganguly@yahoo.com.