What Is in It
The International Union Catalog for Alternate Format Materials is a database of records for the braille, recorded, large print and electronic collections of NLS, and other agencies. NLS collections include the nationally distributed materials, which are the braille and recorded books that NLS has produced and distributed to its network of cooperating regional libraries as well as collections that are held only at NLS or its multistate centers. Additionally the catalog contains records for titles which have been selected for the national distribution but which have not yet been produced. The catalog also includes records for books produced locally by network libraries and which are available to other libraries through interlibrary loan from the producing library.
Other agencies that list titles in the catalog include the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, the Xavier Society for the Blind, the Jewish Braille Institute, the National Council for the Blind of Ireland, the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind, the National Library of Canada. A list of agencies and holding codes is available.
Two Types of Search
There are two interfaces to the International Union Catalog, the Voyager interface (where you are now) and a text-only interface. Both interfaces are searching the same database.
The Voyager interface is a commercial tool used throughout the Library of Congress and at other research libraries. Both the forms for searching and the listing of results use graphical text and HTML tables for page layout. Presentation of information is made compact in this interface, but the use of HTML tables to hold information can make the information difficult to understand for searchers using assistive technology. The Voyager interface enables highly complicated search strategies, searches that may not be possible using the text-only interface.
The text-only interface uses a noncommercial, library method (the Z39.50 protocol) to search the NLS database. Both the forms for searching and the listings of results exclude the use of graphics or tables. It is recommended for searchers who do not require complex searches or tightly narrowed results. It can also be used to search the catalog of the National Library for the Blind in England.
Availability of Items in The Catalog
Items listed in the catalog are available only to qualified users of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped program through NLS cooperating libraries and to those libraries requesting interlibrary loan services for blind and physically handicapped individuals. To order materials found in this catalog, contact the cooperating network library from which you receive your library service. Eligible U.S. citizens living outside the United States should contact:
Overseas LibrarianNetwork Services Section
National Library Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
Library of Congress
1291 Taylor Street, NW
Washington, DC , 20542
USA
Institutions serving blind and physically handicapped persons living outside the United States may borrow books through international interlibrary loan. Here is more information on international interlibrary loan
For collections other than NLS contact the holding agency directly.
