Focusing on the role of Talking Books and Their Influence on the Demand of Braille Literature.
of social and cultural services for the blind.
Scientific and technical progress has presented the blind with the tape recorder and talking books. The availability of talking books meant that for the first time after the creation of the marvellous system of Louis Braille, blind people had received a second means offering them the possibility of working independently with a book. This has given birth to a whole series of new and rather complex tasks. In this paper we will deal with the mutual dependence of two types of books. « All the discussions on the supposed opposition between braille and talking books should be considered as mere sophistics. Both types of books exist and develop in a parallel way.
The book in braille or in talking book form is one « of the most important means of getting information about I reality, of obtaining and exchanging vocational skills - as well as scientific and cultural values. Books, besides ; being a mass medium of information, offer to society an immense possibility considering their variety and power " to influence both the individual and the community as a
Whole. We are going to study some development trends of the « two types of books for the blind. Each kind has its own I specific features. Both are defined above all by the (US nature of the perception involved and by their efficiency and comfort of manipulation.
The application to vocational and study purposes becomes one of the most important trends in the development of embossed books. Today it is undeniable that not all books can be perceived by listening. In order to carry out a serious scientific study, it is necessary to know how to work independently with a book. Blind people can acquire this skill thanks to the braille book. There has been an increasing availability of books for blind people engaged in different fields of intellectual work.
There is a growing number of publications relating to Sociology and Politics and scientific books designed for the general public as well as reference books and dictionaries. The publication of periodicals is braille does not decrease either.
Libraries for the blind have an excellent stock of
Russian and world classics as well as of contemporary
foreignand Soviet authors. In 1977 the stock of books
in the libraries for the blind, in the Russian Federal
Socialist Soviet Republic only, amounted to 1,350,000,
including records. (All the figures mentioned in this
report refer exclusively to the above-mentioned republic.)
More than half of this stock consists, as above, of
books in braille. However, the proportion of braille
books in the total stock is decreasing considerably.
The
proportion of talking books is increasing.
In the following table we show a comparison of the
distribution of book stocks according to the type of book
and the proportion of each type in relation to the total
stock of 1974-1977.
We can make the following remarks concerning these
figures: in two years the number of books in braille has
increased 6.5% and that of talking books 7.5%. The in
crease in the number of books in ordinary print of 21%
is due not only to the presence of a certain number of
sighted readers but also to the increasing demand from
the blind themselves.
This same pattern can be observed in the analysis of
the data concerning the loaning of books in libraries.
In spite of the increase of the absolute indexes
relating to stocks and loaning of braille books, it is
possible to see a clear trend towards a decrease in the
demand of such books. This undoubtedly influences the
number of copies printed in each edition. If we take the
1971 editions of braille books as a basis for comparison,
in 1977 they represented 90% and this year they do not
exceed 78%.
Our experience shows that the period of initial
accumulation is rather quick. The basic stock of talking
books has been completed for almost all the branches of
knowledge. Its development has started a stage of regular
increase of book stocks on the basis of more specific
topics within the general subjects. We must point out
that the subject trends will be constantly corrected as
methods and quality of recording are improved and with
further development of duplication techniques.
In 1977 the total stock of talking book libraries
amounted to 2,200 titles, of which 80% corresponded to
fiction, and approximately 20% to literature on Sociology
and Politics, text books and scientific books designed
for the general public.
If the recording of talking books amounted to 3,200
hours in 19 70, in 1977 it equalled 3,650. These figures
show that there is an increase in the production of
recorded literature. In terms of edition sheets, the figures just mentioned amount to 4,000 and 4,562.2.
Talking books according to the demand from readers
are produced in two quantities of copies. The small
quantity is equal to 150-170 copies of each title and the
large one 250-270. All the books are distributed to
libraries for the blind.
The tape-recorder, despite its degree of perfection,
enslaves man and transforms him into a MdumbTT worshipper.
pn Technical whims do not disturb man but rather annoy him
when there is a forced interruption of reading. All the
same, the demand of talking books is rapidly increasing.
Their mean circulation is eight times larger than that
of braille books.
The recording of books on tape undoubtedly has some
P advantages. The broadcasting of talking books in special
L factories for the blind, and the listening of talking
p books at home which generally becomes a collective reading
session of all members of the family, are factors which
have an enormous educative value. The advantage of the IP!
talking books is that they are read by great artists, and
qualified radio announcers. This produces a great moral
and esthetic satisfaction, and increases the emotional
and educative effects on man.
f- Moreover, recorded books have some advantages in
pm comparison to braille with regard to their weight and size
L Talking books can be easily carried and stored.
I The facts are clear. The talking book has had for
a long time a leading position. What are the prospects
of these two types of books in the world of literature
for the blind? Does this imply that a progressive
abandonment of braille is taking place?
In the Soviet Union the talking book has had a great
impulse for the last twenty years. Blind people receive
tape-recorders at reduced prices or free of charge. The talking book does not require any of the physical or
intellectual efforts necessary for the assimilation of
braille.
The talking book has rapidly attracted a great number
of visually handicapped persons to reading. The over
whelming majority of these people are invalids of the
second group (partially sighted), who do not know braille.
Statistics show that the increase in the number of
blind people is only due to the inclusion of adults who
have lost their sight as a consequence of disease or
injury, and whose sense of touch is very poor because of
their age.
In the Russian Federal Soviet Socialist Republic out
of the 205,000 registered blind people, 43,000 know braille,
i.e., 1,900 people less than in 1974.
Blindness among children has reached in our country
its lowest record. From 0 to 7 years, it represents 0.2%
and from 7 to 16, 2.1%. On the other hand, the number of
blind people sixty years and older represents a 46.5% of
the total population of registered blind people.
Most of the schools for the blind have practically
become schools for partially sighted.
All this has directly influenced the readers1 demands
as far as libraries for the blind are concerned. In 1977,
out of the 143,000 readers (of these 21,000 were sighted),
28,300 people read books in braille, i.e., 65% of those
who know the system. 80,000 people have listened to
talking books. In relation to 1974 the number of listeners
of talking books has increased almost by 12,000.
That is the evolution of braille and talking books
with the background of the social processes that influence
it
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