This morning I heard one of the most inspirational library-related stories I have encountered.  It was a StoryCorps segment on NPR’s Morning Edition radio program, and I feel that everyone who works in libraries should listen to it, if only to remind us of the power we have to transform lives.  Follow the link, and then follow the “Listen to the Story” link before reading the article:

Boy Lifts Book, Librarian Changes Boy’s Life

Note that the librarian didn’t follow the rules; she understood what he was doing and why, and then went out of her way to encourage the love of reading in someone who was under tremendous peer pressure to avoid it.  Recognizing those situations where allowing something negative to happen in order for an even greater positive to occur is challenging.  I hope I don’t let too many of those slip past me in life; the opportunities are fewer than we think, but all around us if we look.

p.s. As inspiring as this story is, it is not the most inspiring StoryCorp segment I have heard.  I recommend you dig through their archive and experience the power of oral tradition.

BBC Languages is fantastic web resource provided by the British Broadcasting Corporation, and is filled with audio language resources.  These include 12-week beginning lessons, a Quick Fix section containing “essential phrases”, and teacher’s resources.

found via Librarian in Black

The State of Ohio has launched an iTunes site that is designed “to share educational resources, professional development materials, and student videos which have been produced by members of higher education, the K-12 community, and community partners free of charge with unlimited access.”

There is a wide range of material available, and it is great to see them open to everyone, with the only requirement being the iTunes software.

Launch the site within your installed iTunes, and see a model for what other states, educational institutions, and libraries can do with their media content.

discovered via the OhioLINK Digital Resources Management Committee (Drmc) list

Libology is now available in an audio version.  This is made possible through a service called Odiogo, which works with content providers to enable a streamlined means of creating downloadable audio files of web sites.  What this means for readers is that you can download and listen to posts read by a machine that sounds like Stephen Hawking’s suave younger brother.

While the voice definitely is computer generated, the inflections are quite natural, and the content very understandable.  In addition, I hold any WordPress add-on to the golden rule:  thou shalt not break validation for XHTML, CSS or RSS.

Odiogo found via a post on Catalogablog

Authors Guild:  Contracts Forced Amazon to Flip on Kindle is an article on CNet.com in which the Authors Guild asserts that Amazon turned off the Kindle’s Text-to-speech function (unless authorized by a book’s publisher) due to contractual obligations, not pressure from the Guild.

The response from Amazon’s spokesperson was simply “Kindle 2’s experimental text-to-speech feature is legal.”

previously

found via LISNews

Amazon.com has given in to the Publisher’s Guild on the issue of text-to-speech capabilities in the Kindle 2.

In their press release, Amazon states up front that “Kindle 2’s experimental text-to-speech feature is legal: no copy is made, no derivative work is created, and no performance is being given.“  In this statement, they are correct.  If I read a book to someone who is visually or otherwise impaired, it takes a stretch of the imagination to suggest that I am actually staging a performance.

In addition, as I stated when the issue was first raised:

“How would someone with a visual impairment be able to order the audio book version of a title without using a screen reader?  In addition, how would they know whether a website allows for the use, under copyright law, of their own website by someone with a screen reader?”

To state that a feature of your product is legal, and to understand the benefit that the feature would bring to users of the product, but to then allow it to be disabled arbitrarily by third parties strikes me as a company that is attempting to placate the “squeaky wheels” simply because they threaten legal action.

BookFinder.com Journal makes a comparison to the relationship between large-print books and magnifiers.  Should the ability of consumers to use magnifiers while reading be controlled by the publisher (after all, it might be costing them large-print sales).

If you still feel that publishers should have the final say, then consider whether they should have this ability to control works that are in the public domain.  It doesn’t matter whether it is the consumer’s right to use text-to-speech, according to this decision; it only matters that individual consumers cannot respond with the apparent impact that the Writer’s guild can muster.

There has been a similar theme in the bibliographical world lately – rules being put in place that attempt to ignore or even circumvent that which already exists, whether it is Public Domain, Fair Use, or the First Sale doctrine.  OCLC, Google, and now Amazon have all implemented restrictions to their various offerings.  OCLC, to their credit, has stepped back and is in the process of re-evaluating its approach towards licensing records.  Google hasn’t even blinked about restricting access to Google Book items waaay beyond even the tightest of copyright interpretations.  Amazon asserts the rights of users to use text-to-speech, but then allows those with a vested interest against it to control its use.

Yes, there is a pattern to all of this, and we need to figure out how to prevent it from continuing.

The impending release of the Kindle 2 wireless reading device has been all over the news this week, accompanied by many reviews and commentaries.  One response to a new feature strikes me as extreme, however:

“Some publishers and agents expressed concern over a new, experimental feature that reads text aloud with a computer-generated voice.

“They don’t have the right to read a book out loud,” said Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild. “That’s an audio right, which is derivative under copyright law.”

An Amazon spokesman noted the text-reading feature depends on text-to-speech technology, and that listeners won’t confuse it with the audiobook experience. Amazon owns Audible, a leading audiobook provider.

Source:  Wall Street Journal

On one level he is correct:  the audio rights, like movies and other adaptations, are derivative and subject to negotiation.  However, text reading features are considered an assistive technology, and to attempt to make the output a derivative under copyright law opens a nasty can of worms.

Imagine if reading Goodnight Moon to your two-year-old was considered a “performance” and required permission… that’s how nasty and worm-ridden this can is.

One example of a negative effect of this viewpoint basically involves any website that would sell audio books, including Amazon.  How would someone with a visual impairment be able to order the audio book version of a title without using a screen reader?  In addition, how would they know whether a website allows for the use, under copyright law, of their own website by someone with a screen reader?

Note that we aren’t discussing audio books, which are derivative works, and are mostly very professionally produced and are meant to enhance the experience of the book, not simply to allow the person to experience it at all.

The argument by the Author’s Guild representative is a nasty legal mess that we should not consider reasonable under copyright law.

found at Open Access News

Free Online Courses from Great Universities is a collection of lecture podcasts organized by topic; organized by Open Culture.

found via Open Access News

I wasn’t going to post this because you need an account to access the article, but the Chronicle of Higher Education has an article titled “Young Librarians, Talkin’ ‘Bout Their Generation” which is quite an interesting read.  I recommend you track it down.

What gets this posted, however, is that one of the librarians, Jessamyn West, is featured on a five-minute podcast, available to all.  It is an interesting listen, if you will.

link found on librariansrock

A couple music-related web sites of interest:

• LyricWiki is run using MediaWiki, the same software that runs Wikipedia. They describe themselves as “a free site which is a source where anyone can go to get reliable lyrics for any song from any artist without being hammered by invasive ads.” The site is in need of content for the less-mainstream musicians, but you can help out (which is what wikis are for).
• Second Hand Songs is a site devoted to song covers (when a musician or band does a song by another musician or band). If you want to find out who did the original version of Louie, Louie, or scan the variety of covers for the Beatles’ Yesterday, this is definitely the site you want.

LyricWiki found via ResourceShelf

Sophie is a brand new piece of software from The Institute for the Future of the Book (blog) that may signal one possible direction for written media.  When finished (it is Alpha software at the moment, meaning that you should use it only to try it out), this software should allow the user to integrate text, hypertext, audio, video, and images seamlessly into one experience.

Imagine a how-to manual that could play a demonstration video for any part of a project you wanted to create.  How about a mystery story that had clues located in pictures, audio, and video, as well as within the text?  Now think about what could be done to create an entirely new media experience using these elements.  There are a lot of possibilities.

from Free Range Librarian

NetLibrary has launched what it is calling eAudiobook Subject Sets, which are bundles of downloadable audio books grouped by subject, so that libraries can tailor their purchases to their particular needs.

from ResourceShelf

Podiobooks.com offers quite a few free, downloadable audiobooks, most with cc licenses.

Add this to your list of free audiobook sites.

from MetaFilter

LoutLit.org is a site with a collection of downloadable, CreativeCommons licensed audiobooks from the Gutenberg Project.

Don’t forget these other sites as well!

from MetaFilter

The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University has a couple of pages containing downloadable classical music.

Peabody Symphony Orchestra; Peabody Concert Orchestra.

from MetaFilter