[gdui-announce] PawTracks Now Available to All and in More Formats

[Becky Barnes]

Dear GDUI Members,
We are writing to tell you about some changes that will be coming to our
magazine, "PawTracks," beginning with the Summer 2010 issue. We are sure
that many long-time members can recall a time when the magazine was
available only on audiocassette. Through the years, talented volunteer
editors and emerging technologies have allowed us to improve sound quality
and offer more format choices for "PawTracks." Despite our best efforts,
however, there were still some members who could not access any of our
available audio formats, and we found production to be increasingly labor
intensive and more expensive. This has made recruiting and retaining editors
a challenge.
Recently, for personal reasons, Mike Moran found it necessary to resign as
"PawTracks" editor. We sincerely thank Mike for all of his efforts; we
appreciated the professional standards he insisted upon for our audio
magazine, and we will miss hearing Mike's unique delivery and style.
We're pleased to welcome Penny Reeder as the new interim editor. She will be
working with the "PawTracks" team to institute several changes designed to
maintain the magazine's high standards for quality and content, and to
provide "PawTracks" in more user friendly formats which will make it
accessible to all GDUI members including those who are deaf and blind and
those who have no computer access.
With consideration for accessibility and cost containment in mind, the GDUI
board has unanimously voted to incorporate the format changes described
below for the summer 2010 issue. The new format choices will provide greater
flexibility in reading/listening choices, accessibility for all members and
more efficient production for less money.
This is how the summer issue of Pawtracks will be distributed:
The cassette and audio compact disc formats will continue to be available,
with the only difference being that "PawTracks" will be narrated by
high-quality synthetic speech instead of human voices. This option is much
less labor intensive and less expensive to produce, and the "PawTracks" team
tested this option with favorable results.
If you have been receiving the MP3 CD version or the computer download, your
formats will change the most. The CD you will receive in the mail, or the
file which may be downloaded, will contain a text and a Microsoft Word copy
of the summer "PawTracks" file, with each article separated by a line of
stars to facilitate moving between articles, as well as a DAISY-text
version, and MP3 files for each separate article. The download will be
faster, and multiple format choices will give readers more flexibility. The
DAISY and text versions can be played on a note-taker such as the
BrailleNote, BrailleSense, or Pac-Mate, or on a Victor Reader Stream,
BookSense, etc. The text and the .doc (Microsoft Word) versions can be
printed out in large or standard size font, read on a computer, a
note-taker, or Brailed, if you have a Braille embosser.
With so many other accessible options available, the production of audio
compact discs at four CD's per issue has become an unnecessary expense, and
GDUI is proposing to discontinue the audio CD version of Pawtracks beginning
with the spring 2011 issue. Those of you currently receiving the audio CD
version may contact Jane Sheehan about switching to another format. If you
do nothing, you will automatically be switched to the multi-format one-CD
version in 2011.
If these new options for receiving the summer issue of Pawtracks are as
successful as the board hopes they will be, "PawTracks" will continue to be
produced in these formats. The board believes these changes will provide
more consumer choice and access to Pawtracks for everybody, and we sincerely
hope members will be pleased with GDUI's more user friendly publication.
Please address any format questions or comments to Jane Sheehan, and as
always, GDUI welcomes your input.
Sincerely,
The GDUI "PawTracks" Team
Penny Reeder, Interim Editor
Penny.Reeder at gmail.com
866.799.8436
Jane Sheehan, Office Manager
Jcsheehan1 at verizon.net
301.598. 5771
866.799.8436 ext. 1
Sheila Styron
sheilastyron at everestkc.net
Donna C. Permar
Perma001 at mc.duke.edu
Becky Barnes, GDUI President
beckyjimb at optonline.net