Talking Books
Books have been made since time immemorial and they were created for us to read and learn and know things from the past and things that we can use in the future. Scrolls and manuscripts were written to record men’s view of what is happening during that time and one of the greatest discoveries of our era is a set of written manuscript called the Dead Sea Scrolls. Books have always been the medium of passing on information from one generation to another and the finest example of such a book that has with stood time and has been translated into so many languages is the Bible.
Education was and still is mainly based on things that are written and up to now, books are still the very foundation of the source of everything that needs to be learned. Everything that needs to be learned, even cooking, is converted into ink and printed on paper.
Talking books in the private domain are also distributed online by companies who want to make profit out of it. Talking audio books on cassette or CD are generally more expensive than hardback copies of the actual books because of the added expense of recording and the lack of the economy of scale in high “print” runs that are available in the publishing of printed books. Preloaded digital formats are quite similar in price to their CD counterparts. The audio content is preloaded on a small and simple player, which removes the need for a separate piece of technology such as an MP3 player.
Downloadable talking books tend to cost slightly less than hardbacks but more than their paperback equivalents and there are also free audio books available. For this reason, market penetration of talking books is significantly lower than for their printed counterparts despite the high market penetration of the hardware (MP3 and WMA players) and despite the massive market penetration achieved by audio music products.
Talking books have been utilized to teach children to read and to boost reading comprehension as well as being very accommodating for the blind. The National Library of Congress in the U.S. and the CNIB Library in Canada provide free talking book library services to the visually impaired; requested books are mailed out (at no cost) to clients.
A good percentage of the use of these talking books is done in public libraries and the rest of the percentage is bought on retail book stores. Libraries would also be a good source of talking books in the compact disc format.
Ray Hagen talks about his books-on-”tape” job
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Vital arts, vital libraries: Cultural life and tradition in developing countries and the role of libraries : papers from the IFLA Congress at Nairobi, August 1984 … |
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Guides to audiovisual materials and their use … |
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The art and science of audio book production (SuDoc LC 19.2:AR 7) … |
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Library of Congress Series on the Digital Future: Collection $14.95 Digital Future, a series of eight lectures hosted by the Library of Congress’ John W. Kluge Center…. |
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Nightmares on Congress Street, Part IV $7.67 Nightmares on Congress Street is a chilling compilation of classic and original tales presented in audio theatre format, complete with music and sound effects…. |
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The Library Fairy? Books & Stories, Bundle 4 $3.79 In this Funcast, The Library Fairy? performs dynamic, interactive children’s books and stories from around the world…. |
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The Library Policeman: Three Past Midnight $25.87 The Library Policeman is the story of Sam Peebles, a middle-aged businessman who happens to have some overdue books…. |
