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

Part I: Summary Report

Barriers

The major barriers to providing a good service for visually impaired people that were consistently cited were the level of funding and problems with copyright, which both occurred across the board. Copyright restrictions were cited in different forms, for example, barriers to international resource sharing of materials in alternative formats (Canada, Sweden and others).

There were some variations, however.

• Lack of co-ordination between organisations (UK)
• Lack of understanding of the full potential of digitisation (Denmark)
• Inability to obtain a workable digital file in a timely manner so that the appropriate format can be produced simultaneously with print (Canada)
• The legal position on the availability of DAISY players for printimpaired people needs to be clarified (Netherlands)
• Making potential patrons aware of the service (USA)
• Lack of training for staff in schools (Australia)
• Lack of awareness by academic staff in universities leading to problems in providing course materials in alternative formats in a timely manner (UK, Australia)
• Current data protection, ICT procedures in each local authority across the country often precludes making material available. A national policy or indicator would circumvent the often difficult relationships that libraries have with their own local ICT departments or providers (UK public libraries).