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Press Release
READER'S DIGEST SOCIAL SCIENCE COLLECTION CELEBRATES
SECOND ANNIVERSARY
Digital conversion of textbooks nearly completed
September 17, 2004 (Pleasantville, NY and Princeton, NJ)
— Thousands of students with print disabilities will
have access this academic year to a growing collection of digitally
recorded social science textbooks through a major grant from the
Readers Digest Partners for Sight Foundation to Recording for
the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D.)
Funded by a $400,000 grant made in 2002, The Reader's Digest
Partners for Sight Foundation Social Science University collection
at RFB&D currently contains 121 titles and will grow to 190
by 2005, helping students prepare for careers in a wide range
of professions. The collection's books on CD-ROM include core
texts recommended by the National Association of College Stores.
Covering subjects from Immigration Studies to Social Science Methodology
and Research, access to these texts will ensure full academic
exposure to the next generation of Americans who are blind or
visually impaired, a population estimated at 39,000 students.
Some titles in the collection include The Social Organization
of Work, Environment, Energy, and Society; The Essential Galbraith
and Exploring Child Welfare.
The grant is part of a $1.6 million award program administered
by the Foundation and furthers RFB&D's transition from analog
to digital technology. In addition to providing students with
a far more compact and portable medium, digitally recorded textbooks
offer students the ability to navigate through a textbook by page
and chapter, and to bookmark sections for later reference. This
represents a dramatic improvement in functionality for students
used to receiving textbooks in the traditional four-track analog
cassette format, which limits navigation to fast-forward and rewind,
and often requires that students manage up to a dozen cassettes
per textbook.
Reader's Digest Partners for Sight Foundation is a Pleasantville,
New York, nonprofit foundation dedicated to increasing independence,
self-reliance and dignity for people who are blind or visually
impaired. "We have witnessed the enormous power of digital
technology for students with visual impairments and are happy
to contribute to the tools and resources that allow them to pursue
all of their academic goals," said Susan Olivo, Partners
for Sight vice president and general manager.
Based in Princeton, NJ, RFB&D is the nation's educational
library for students of all ages who cannot read effectively because
of a disability, such as a visual impairment. "Digital technology
levels the playing field for students who are blind or visually
impaired. It is especially important to convey the complexity
and sophistication of college textbooks without the time and space-consuming
qualities of analog tapes," said Richard Scribner, RFB&D's
president and CEO. "We are pleased with the swift progress
of the Reader's Digest Partners for Sight Foundation's Social
Science University Collection. It is a great benefit to our current
and future members, all of whom will be more equipped to pursue
a career in the social sciences."
RFB&D, a nonprofit organization, serves 127,000 students
of all ages with a one-of-a-kind library of 100,000 recorded textbooks
and other educational materials. Students rely on RFB&D's
unique accommodation to access the printed page and to achieve
educational success.
All of RFB&D's accessible titles are recorded by volunteers
working in 28 RFB&D recording studios nationwide.
additional
media inquiries:
RFB&D News Desk 1-800-803-7201, press
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