mmccorm@d.cs.okstate.edu (05/29/91)
Part I
In the discussion of Western Electric sound recordings, the
subject of Talking Books for the blind was mentioned. Having been a
user of the service for almost 35 years and having worked at the
Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in one of my
past lives, I would like to describe the details of how the system
worked and how it works now.
The Talking Book is administered by the Library of Congress. It
began in 1939 and, even then, was quite innovative. The Talking Book
records were 12-inch platters recorded at 33-and-1/3 RPM in the
micro-groove format, just like modern albums. In the late 50's, the
Library of Congress, ever interested in data compression, switched
from 33-and-1/3 to 16-and-2/3RPM records. The voice quality of these
disks was still excellent, but it only took half as many disks for any
given Talking Book.
The 1960's were a time of great technological change for Talking
Books, just like many other things. The speed of the disks dropped to
8-and-1/3RPM where it is today, and the Library of Congress began
using the new audio cassette tape format for some Talking Book issues.
The disks, themselves, also underwent quite a slimming process
from those first 33-and-1/3 RPM albums. Some time after the
introduction of 16-and-2/3 RPM disks, the 12-inch diameter was changed
to a 10-inch size. Also, in the late 60's, the Library of Congress
introduced flexible disks. Most of you have seen these limber records
as supplements to magazines and other such freebees. The first ones
were, as I recall, terrible because the turntables of the 50's and
60's Talking Book players were covered with mats that didn't
adequately support the flexible disks. Also, both shippers and users
of the flexible disks had to get used to the fact that they weren't as
forgiving of high heat, heavy feet, etc as rigid phonograph records.
Today, the flexible disks are 8-inch black disks which at
8-and-1/3 RPM have about one hour of playing time per side. Since it
is still cheaper to press large quantities of flexible disks than to
produce a large quantity of tapes, the disks are still used for
materials such as best-seller books and widely read magazines.
Material with a more limited circulation such as specialty magazines
are recorded on audio cassettes; I'll say more on this later. Some
magazines, such as {Newsweek} are recorded on both formats.
As the flexible disk and tape formats have matured, there have
been some nifty innovations to make the materials easier to use.
There is an audible system for indexing chapter headings or the
beginnings of magazine articles which though very simple in concept,
is pure genius. A low tone of about 50 to 100HZ is recorded for a
second or two along with the reader's voice at the beginning of the
important section. It is much like the 50 HZ slide synchronization
tones used to trip the advance mechanism on 35MM film strip
projectors. Under normal conditions, you don't hear the tone but if
the disk or tape is played at several times the speed, the tone will
be heard as a beep. This system works really well on tape-recorded
material.
For special reference materials such as cookbooks and
dictionaries, there is a really neat system called Voice Indexing. It
is done by superimposing a word or two onto a prerecorded tape at a
much higher speed than the original recording. During fast-forward,
the normal speech sounds like monkey chatter. The page or chapter
index tones sound like occasional beeps, and the voice indexing
information sound like a normal human voice telling you the name of
the next section.
When a Voice Indexed recording is played at normal speed, the
Voice Index creates a sound like rolling thunder in the background.
Those who look for hidden Satanic messages in rock music would have a
field day with this technology, but I digress.
Finally, while the cassette tapes used in the Talking Book
program are the exact same tapes and cartridges used the world over
for sound recordings, these days they would not be at home in a
standard stereo or mono tape player. Just as with the disks, the
Library of Congress has tried to fit more and more information into a
smaller space. The early 70's saw a change from 1-and-7/8 ips tape
speed to 15/16 ips speed. This is half the speed used for an ordinary
cassette tape recording.
The next big increase in efficiency occurred in the mid 70's when
the four-track cassette was introduced.
Today's Library of Congress Talking Books are recorded on either
8-inch flexible disks or 15/16 ips four-track cassettes.
The Talking Book disk player, called a Talking Book Machine,
looks like an average sized classroom phonograph. The lid can be
removed so as to set the speaker somewhere else, but it usually works
fine right on the machine. The controls are very basic and
utilitarian, namely power, speed, volume and tone. They are marked in
both raised large print and Braille.
The tape players, about the dimensions of a large book, have a
speed selector so as to be able to play 15/16 ips tapes or the normal
1-and-7/8 ips speeds. Their transport mechanisms have controls which
would be familiar to anybody who has ever seen a cassette tape
recorder. The buttons are molded with large raised international
symbols such as < for rewind and > for fast-forward.
In the second part, I will talk more about the Talking Books,
themselves and what it is like to use them.
Part II
The Talking Book program of the Library of Congress is one of those
government programs which works. It has, over the past 52 years grown
and matured technologically, but it still performs it's original
function of bringing otherwise inaccessible materials to people who
are blind or otherwise physically handicapped so as not to be able to
read a printed book.
The Library of Congress distributes Talking Books and players to
a network of regional distribution libraries in all 50 states. Any
American citizen who is legally defined as blind or print handicapped
can borrow a Talking Book disk player and a special four-track tape
player free of charge. The actual Talking Book records and tapes are
also loaned free of charge. A patron of the service need only ask his
or her regional lending library for a certain title and it is sent if
available.
Every couple of months, the Talking Books Publishing division of
the Library of Congress distributes a catalog of the latest new books
they have put on disk or tape. They also give listings of recorded
materials which are produced by private organizations. While not all
of these privately produced materials are free, they provide another
source of recorded information.
Talking Book disk players and tape machines break, from time to
time and their repair is free to the user. In many parts of the
country, the Telephone Pioneers, an organization of AT&T employees,
donates their time and technical expertise to repairing these
machines. While I really know very little about the Telephone
Pioneers, their handiwork is always very impressive and should qualify
for a few articles in comp.dcom.telecom.
The quality of the production of Talking Books is purely
professional. The readers are actors, actresses, and even radio and
television announcers. They are often paid for their work, but
sometimes donate their time. Full-length books are recorded with
scrupulous adherence to accuracy. Weekly magazines such as
"Newsweek," and "U.S. News and World Report," are produced in
recording marathons in which the content of the magazine is split up
among several readers and then edited into one recording. Again,
every effort is made to insure that the readers are accurate.
A few of the books such as Alistair Cooke's book about the
founding of the United States are actually read by their authors.
Since virtually all of the books which are turned into Talking
Books are copywrited, the Library of Congress or any other
organization which wants to transcribe a book onto an audio tape must
get permission from the publisher. Such permission is usually granted
as long as the information in the book or article is not modified in
any way.
What kinds of books are on Talking Book? The selection committee
at the Library of Congress uses the "New York Times Best Seller List"
as one of the criteria for deciding which books to transcribe. The
list of recorded Talking Book titles is a cross-section of the kinds
of books that all Americans read.
The Talking Book program and the support provided by such groups
as the Telephone Pioneers is a good example of human ingenuity and
good intentions forming a truly useful service.
Martin McCormick Amateur Radio WB5AGZ Oklahoma State University
Computer Center Data Communications Group Stillwater, OKSteve Forrette <forrette@cory.berkeley.edu> (06/07/91)
In article <telecom11.410.1@eecs.nwu.edu> Martin McCormick writes: > Since virtually all of the books which are turned into Talking > Books are copywrited, the Library of Congress or any other > organization which wants to transcribe a book onto an audio tape must > get permission from the publisher. Such permission is usually granted > as long as the information in the book or article is not modified in > any way. In fact, the government promotes giving such permission. There is a check-off box right on the copyright filing form where you can give the Library of Congress permission to do the conversion. I would imagine that just about everybody does so (I did!). Steve Forrette, forrette@cory.berkeley.edu