aserl-accessibilityig Mailing List: FW: Request for Volunteer

[John Burger (jburger]

ASERL-Accessibility colleagues:

Happy Friday:

As you'll see below, we have been contacted by folks from Library of Congress 
seeking a volunteer (or two or three volunteers) who regularly use (or is 
comfortable using) a screen reader to help LC test out some new documentation 
for LC cataloging data. Ideally, this person would be a cataloger or have a 
basic knowledge of cataloging because they want to test how screen readers 
interpret MARC coding.

Anyone know anyone with this combination of skills/experiences?  Please send 
them my way, and I'll connect them to our LC colleagues.

Thanks!



Kind regards,

--j.e.b.

John Burger, Executive Director
Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL)
540 Asbury Circle, #316
Atlanta, Georgia  30322

404-218-4207 -- cellular


From: Kurtz, Dorie <dkurtz [at] loc.gov>
Sent: Thursday, August 3, 2023 2:32 PM
To: John Burger <jburger [at] aserl.org>; Phillips, Amy <amphillips [at] 
loc.gov>; maurice.york [at] btaa.org; robert.vanrennes [at] btaa.org; joni [at] 
gwla.org; beck [at] wrlc.org; galadriel.chilton [at] yale.edu
Subject: RE: Request for Volunteer

I would say no longer than one hour per volunteer. This is a situation where 
more volunteers will lighten the load and take less time.

From: John Burger <jburger [at] aserl.org<mailto:jburger [at] aserl.org>>
Sent: Thursday, August 3, 2023 1:57 PM
To: Kurtz, Dorie <dkurtz [at] loc.gov<mailto:dkurtz [at] loc.gov>>; Phillips, 
Amy <amphillips [at] loc.gov<mailto:amphillips [at] loc.gov>>; maurice.york 
[at] btaa.org<mailto:maurice.york [at] btaa.org>; robert.vanrennes [at] 
btaa.org<mailto:robert.vanrennes [at] btaa.org>; joni [at] gwla.org<mailto:joni 
[at] gwla.org>; beck [at] wrlc.org<mailto:beck [at] wrlc.org>; 
galadriel.chilton [at] yale.edu<mailto:galadriel.chilton [at] yale.edu>
Subject: RE: Request for Volunteer


CAUTION: This email message has been received from an external source. Please 
use caution when opening attachments, or clicking on links.
OK, great.  We may encounter the same issue - it's definitely a niche skillset, 
I would imagine - but let's be optimistic and see who puts their hand(s) up.

One other question:  Time commitment.  Any idea as to how many hours / length 
of time this testing will require?


Kind regards,

--j.e.b.

John Burger, Executive Director
Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL)
540 Asbury Circle, #316
Atlanta, Georgia  30322

404-218-4207 -- cellular


From: Kurtz, Dorie <dkurtz [at] loc.gov<mailto:dkurtz [at] loc.gov>>
Sent: Thursday, August 3, 2023 1:51 PM
To: John Burger <jburger [at] aserl.org<mailto:jburger [at] aserl.org>>; 
Phillips, Amy <amphillips [at] loc.gov<mailto:amphillips [at] loc.gov>>; 
maurice.york [at] btaa.org<mailto:maurice.york [at] btaa.org>; robert.vanrennes 
[at] btaa.org<mailto:robert.vanrennes [at] btaa.org>; joni [at] 
gwla.org<mailto:joni [at] gwla.org>; beck [at] wrlc.org<mailto:beck [at] 
wrlc.org>; galadriel.chilton [at] yale.edu<mailto:galadriel.chilton [at] 
yale.edu>
Subject: RE: Request for Volunteer

Thank you John for your prompt reply. We were having issues finding one person, 
but any number of people who are willing to work on the project and provide 
feedback are more than welcome.

Kind regards,

Dorie Kurtz
she/her
Cataloging Policy Specialist
Policy, Training, and Cooperative Programs Division
Library of Congress



From: John Burger <jburger [at] aserl.org<mailto:jburger [at] aserl.org>>
Sent: Thursday, August 3, 2023 1:43 PM
To: Phillips, Amy <amphillips [at] loc.gov<mailto:amphillips [at] loc.gov>>; 
maurice.york [at] btaa.org<mailto:maurice.york [at] btaa.org>; robert.vanrennes 
[at] btaa.org<mailto:robert.vanrennes [at] btaa.org>; joni [at] 
gwla.org<mailto:joni [at] gwla.org>; beck [at] wrlc.org<mailto:beck [at] 
wrlc.org>; galadriel.chilton [at] yale.edu<mailto:galadriel.chilton [at] 
yale.edu>
Cc: Kurtz, Dorie <dkurtz [at] loc.gov<mailto:dkurtz [at] loc.gov>>
Subject: RE: Request for Volunteer


CAUTION: This email message has been received from an external source. Please 
use caution when opening attachments, or clicking on links.
Thanks for reaching out.  We can put out some feelers for this within our 
communities.  Do you need just 1 volunteer for this?  (That is, If we get more 
volunteers, would more be helpful?)


Kind regards,

--j.e.b.

John Burger, Executive Director
Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL)
540 Asbury Circle, #316
Atlanta, Georgia  30322

404-218-4207 -- cellular


From: Phillips, Amy <amphillips [at] loc.gov<mailto:amphillips [at] loc.gov>>
Sent: Thursday, August 3, 2023 1:23 PM
To: maurice.york [at] btaa.org<mailto:maurice.york [at] btaa.org>; 
robert.vanrennes [at] btaa.org<mailto:robert.vanrennes [at] btaa.org>; John 
Burger <jburger [at] aserl.org<mailto:jburger [at] aserl.org>>; joni [at] 
gwla.org<mailto:joni [at] gwla.org>; beck [at] wrlc.org<mailto:beck [at] 
wrlc.org>; galadriel.chilton [at] yale.edu<mailto:galadriel.chilton [at] 
yale.edu>
Cc: Kurtz, Dorie <dkurtz [at] loc.gov<mailto:dkurtz [at] loc.gov>>
Subject: Request for Volunteer

Dear Members of the Library Accessibility Alliance,

We are writing because the Library of Congress is creating more accessible 
documentation for librarians in need of cataloging information. In order to do 
this, the library will be re-releasing manual instruction sheets in a format 
that is deemed acceptable by the government's accessibility office. We want to 
make sure that those who use screen readers will be comfortable with the 
documentation as well.

We are in need of a volunteer who regularly uses (or is comfortable using) a 
screen reader to help us test out our new documentation. Ideally, this person 
would be a cataloger or have a basic knowledge of cataloging because we want to 
test out how screen readers interpret MARC coding. However, we are willing to 
work with someone who has no experience cataloging as well. We were hoping that 
you might be able to put us in touch with someone who could help us optimize 
the our work and make it accessible for current and future cataloging 
librarians.



All the best,
Amy Phillips + Dorie Kurtz




Amy Phillips (she/her)
Cataloging Policy Specialist
Policy, Training, and Cooperative Programs
Library of Congress