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#ACB18 Audio: Feed Your Need to Read With The Latest From BARD


We recently posted an article about some of the changes that came in the BARD App update for iOS and Android.
Don Olson, Bard Operations Officer, describes to J.J. a more in depth look at those changes and outlines some additions coming to Bard Express as well. Fans of Braille and Amazon devices won t want to miss this interview. To keep up with the latest information on Bard, and other services, visit the National Library Service website.

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Transcript

We strive to provide an accurate transcription, though errors may occur.

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Transcribed by Grecia Ramirez

Direct from St. Louis, it’s blindbargains.com coverage of ACB 2018, brought to you by Google
Our friends at Google are working hard to create great technology products for everyone. They’re inviting you to participate in Google user research studies, where you can help shape the future of accessible products and features and get rewarded for it. Check out our tweet for the sign-up link, at blind bargains, or head to google.com slash user research.
Now, here’s J.J. Meddaugh.
J.J. MEDDAUGH: ACB 2018, St. Louis. I have found Don Olson. He is an operations officer for BARD, the National Library Service. Of course, lots of new stuff, new versions of the BARD app, and much more. Don, welcome back to the podcast.
DON OLSON: Hi, JJ. Thanks for coming by.
JM: Not a problem. Many people may have noticed, we wrote about it, new versions of the BARD app for iOS and Android. What’s new?
DO: In the app, the Android app and the BARD – I’m sorry – the iOS app, they both came out roughly the same time, about three weeks ago now. Most of the information, if you will, is right on the “Get Books” screen itself. So what’s nice about that is you don’t necessarily have to dig deeper into the “Browse BARD” link itself. So the end goal here, step by step, we’re taking, well, steps, toward not having to go to the web itself. We want – eventually, to have the ability to do everything on the app itself. And that will –
JM: You talked about searching for books and being able to brows the entire collection?
DO: That’s correct.
JM: Yeah.
DO: But then in addition – and this is a little further down the line. So right now, it’s -- a person needs to change their password. Well, right now, a person needs to – once they get their temporary password, go onto BARD itself – web BARD, that is – through a browser, and then create your, what’s called the more permanent password through that browser.
JM: Right.
DO: At that point, you can use that, again, permanent password, to then log in through your BARD Mobile account.
JM: Awesome. As far as the Get Books – you’ve added some features; right? So what are the new ways– they can browse New Releases now and Bestsellers; correct, or –
DO: Well, yeah. Well, the Bestsellers as a subject, to be honest with you, has always been there.
JM: Uh-huh.
DO: But on that "Get Books” screen, you have, obviously, your Wish List, you’ve always had that.
JM: Yup.
DO: And then moving down is the Most Recently Added, and if you go into that category, you’ll have – at least on the iOS side, you’ll have braille and audio; okay?
JM: Uh-huh.
DO: And I’m talking not only books, but magazines. So to be a little more specific, you will have, again, on both – we’ll start with the iOS side – you have – once you go into Recently Added, you will have a link, if you will, for audio books, and another link for audio magazines, braille books, and braille magazines.
JM: Right.
DO: Okay? Again, that’s coming right from the “Get Books” screen itself. And then something similar on the Android side as well. Obviously, minus braille at this point.
JM: Is there a reason for that? Is that Android limitations currently or –
DO: It is still a limitation, and we’re really hoping that Google will continue to make strides toward -- whether it be BrailleBack or whether it be another interface or – not interface – but another technology that will do a better job with PDFs and so on.
JM: Sure.
DO: And not PDFs, I’m sorry. BRFs, of course.
JM: Awesome. You’ve added some other features as well to the app, some things as far as playback and things like that or –
DO: You have the sleep timer, which will then end at the end of a chapter; okay?
JM: Uh-huh.
DO: As small as that sounds, that’s actually a pretty big deal.
JM: Well, right. Because before, you wouldn’t exactly know where is 20 minutes or what is 20 minutes and how do you find – you know.
DO: Of course. Of course.
JM: That makes a lot of sense.
DO: Getting back into the Bookshelf, which we actually haven’t talked about yet, you now have the ability to swipe and delete as opposed to going to the edit settings and delete from there. So it’s kind of like one less step to delete your book.
JM: In addition to the app, now, there’s a lot of different ways to access BARD. The app is one, and another one is called BARD Express, which you’ve also been updating, or you’re working on that.
DO: That’s correct. So the first version of BARD Express came out, oh gosh, was it about a year and a half ago perhaps? I kind of lose track, to be honest with you, at this time.
JM: I hear you.
DO: But we’re working on an update to that. It’ll be 2.0, which means this is a major upgrade, lot of new features including previous downloads; reminders of books that you have downloaded in the past but didn’t realize. So once you click on a book, it’ll say, oh. You’ve downloaded this book. Are you sure you want to download it again? So then, you have the ability to say yes or no. A lot of people don’t want to download a book or take the time to download a book and then realize on down the line that says, well, gosh. I’ve already read this book. I just wasted my time.
JM: And for those who might not be familiar, BARD express is pretty much software to interface between a computer and another player? Or how would you describe it?
DO: I would describe it as another interface that simplifies a number of actions, BARD-related actions, from browsing different types of ways, if you will to browse a catalog; number two, a much simpler, if that’s a proper word –
JM: Yeah.
DO: -- to get to your books so you don’t have to remember where they are; and then number three – and the big one is – that not everybody is comfortable with unzipping your books and transferring them to a cartridge, so BARD express will take care of that for you.
JM: Sure. And you can get those little adapters or whatever to plug a cartridge into a computer.
DO: That’s correct. That’s correct. And of course, they work through cartridges or thumb drives as well.
JM: Makes a lot of sense. Now, there’s been some talk of NLS, I know it’s still in the early stages, of either perhaps providing low-cost braille displays or loaner braille displays to read some of the collection. Where is that at currently?
DO: Well, up front, I’ll say that I’m not directly involved with this program. But with that said, I will say that at this point, I believe the next step is going to be a pilot project – and I don’t have numbers for you as far as how many people – or how many patrons are going to be involved.
JM: Right.
DO: But it pilots of patrons to use braille displays with BARD materials, and the general target date is the summer of 2019. So obviously, it’s about –
JM: A little ways, yeah.
DO: It’s a year away.
JM: Next year’s convention interview, maybe we’ll be –
DO: That’s right.
JM: -- we’ll be talking about that. Are they still determining, or maybe you don’t know, which braille display’s going to be used for this? Is that part of what still needs to be figured out?
DO: Well, that’s part of it. The other part is to – really, the big part is to decide – and that’s part of what this pilot is about – is to decide what types of features, or specifically which features of a braille display are patrons going to be most interested in and saying this is really how to get the best experience out of BARD, whether you have feature number one or feature number two. The pilot will weed all of those things out.
JM: Would it be ideal for NLS to do a custom braille display like you did for the original players as opposed to use, say, something off the shelf or –
DO: It has certainly been looked into. As I say, I’m really not –
JM: Sure.
DO: -- fully involved with that project at all, so I don’t know which direction they’re going to go. But that has definitely been looked into.
JM: Awesome. Well, if people want to get – keep up to date with what’s going on with BARD and everything else around NLS, what’s the best way to do that?
DO: Probably at our website, which is www.loc.gov/nls, and through that website there, there’ll be many different links for resources, for news, many different things that will let you, number one, interface with NLS itself; and number two, the ability to keep up to date with what’s going on at NLS.
JM: And of course, you can get the updated apps now for free on the iTunes app store and GooglePlay.
DO: And the Amazon store will be coming soon.
JM: Oh. There you go. So people with the Kindles and things like that –
DO: That’s correct.
JM: -- you can do them as well. Great. Thank you so much, Don.
DO: Thank you. Have a great day.
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Joe Steinkamp is no stranger to the world of technology, having been a user of video magnification and blindness related electronic devices since 1979. Joe has worked in radio, retail management and Vocational Rehabilitation for blind and low vision individuals in Texas. He has been writing about the A.T. Industry for 15 years and podcasting about it for almost a decade.


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