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Funding and governance of library and information services for visually impaired people: international case studies

Part2:Country studies

Canada

Materials provision

CNIB

Original materials supplied

CNIB purchases the print or e-text for conversion. It is beginning to receive a small portion of commercial audio files for formatting to the DAISY standard. CNIB also receives some DAISY masters from agencies outside of Canada (for example, RNIB).

Conversion

CNIB builds the collection according to a collection policy and with a collection selection team. Demand from readers is a factor in selecting titles.

CNIB has 130 volunteer Braille transcribers who produce Braille from a text e-file.

CNIB also has more than 400 volunteer narrators who narrate books from the original text. All conversion from print to e-text, or file prep, is conducted by staff.

Targets

Range:

CNIB has collection targets that are limited by its annual budget. Targets will vary each year depending on existing sources of content that can be adapted for the collection, compared with those originally produced in an alternative format. Current targets are approximately as follows:

Audio (DAISY): 2,000 titles are added to the collection each year.

Braille:320

CNIB has a priority system that targets popular, timely, and indemand titles for production within approximately six months of publication.

Depth:

20% in French, 80% in English, and 20% (across both English and French) children’s titles

Fiction:55%

Non-Fiction:45%, including reading for a wide variety of recreational interests such as cooking, crafts and do-it-yourself, gardening, humour, music, sports and recreation and travel. Other non-fiction includes general works on topics such as business, fine arts, history, politics, psychology, social sciences and science.

Supplied in alternative formats

CNIB produces most of the collection itself but does purchase some master files or other formats to include. Examples include:

• Digital audio file from publisher. CNIB creates a DAISY version
• Audio file from another alternative format producer, for example Public Library InterLINK in British Columbia.
• Master DAISY file from another library for the blind, for example, RNIB in the UK. CNIB will make copies for circulation.

CNIB also purchases Descriptive Videos/DVDs from external producers and tactile-print Braille books.

The same collection development criteria apply to both converted and acquired material. All titles are chosen by a committee of collections librarians:

Winners of literary prizes/reviews: 75% of titles

On demand by the clients: 15% of titles

Other (10%) made up equally of titles that complete portions of the collection, for example, books in a series, or replacement of missing titles; and titles that are of specific interest to those with vision loss. For example, a novel that features a character with vision loss or specific eye health related books.