Digital coordinator named
As the NLS digital talking book project enters its final and most crucial development phase, Jean Moss has been appointed digital projects coordinator. Ms. Moss will help ensure a smooth transition from the existing NLS analog cassette-based production and distribution system to a much improved system based in digital technology. She will work closely with the director, deputy director, and technical and managerial staff to assist in the implementation of this major transition, from which NLS's nearly 700,000 program users will begin to benefit with the introduction of digital talking book machines and media, planned for 2008.
An overview of the NLS digital talking book project can be found in the Current Strategic Business Plan for the Implementation of Digital Systems (December 2003) on the NLS web site: http://www.loc.gov/nls/businessplan2003.html.
Ms. Moss will monitor plans and projects for the provision of digitally-based services to more than 140 libraries and their patrons in the nationwide network and for the acquisition, production, distribution, storage, and preservation of digital audio materials and equipment. She will identify potential technical and logistic problems in cooperative NLS activities and devise solutions. Working closely with staff, contractors, patrons, and affiliated agencies, she will track, evaluate, and report on digital projects, tasks, schedules, and deadlines.
Jean Moss has been directly involved in digital planning since May 2003, when she was detailed from her post as assistant head of the NLS Production Control Section. In her production role, she assisted in planning, coordinating, and evaluating the annual production of more than 2,500 braille and recorded book and magazine titles. Supervising a staff of nine, she undertook statistical and contract performance analyses, prepared annual budgets of $20 million, and developed business and management plans.
Ms. Moss came to NLS well prepared by her years in the private sector, where she worked first as a financial planner and investment counselor with the Prudential Insurance Company, then as circulation manager with Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal. Supervising a staff of sixty- five, she managed payroll, billing, fulfillment, and production activities and the distribution of publications in Virginia.
A graduate of Wellesley College, where she studied political science and mathematics, Ms. Moss is currently pursuing an MBA at the University of Maryland.
With comments or queries about the digital program, write Jean M. Moss, Digital Projects Coordinator, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress, 1291 Taylor Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20542; or e-mail: jemo@loc.gov.
New NLS publications
The Reference Section has announced the availability of two new publications. The 2004 edition of Library Resources for the Blind and Physically Handicapped contains information on NLS network libraries supplied through the Network Library Database, as well as information about non-NLS network resources gathered in a separate survey. The publication is available in regular print on request from the Reference Section and is posted on the NLS web site: http://www.loc.gov/nls/reference/directories/resources2004.html
Deaf-Blindness: National Organizations and Resources
(04-01), a revised and updated reference circular, has been
issued in large print and will be available in braille in
the near future. It is posted on the NLS web site:
http://www.loc.gov/nls/reference/circulars/deafblind.html
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