International report on library and information services for visually impaired people

Key findings of report include:

• international comparability remains limited by a lack of consistent or comparable quantitative evidence of performance and varying definitions of user groups served
• legal frameworks in Canada and Denmark allow specialist library and information services to serve a much wider range of print impaired people than visually impaired people
• copyright restrictions are the most frequently cited barriers, along with funding levels
• most respondents favour a system which is delivered as much as is possible via mainstream physical and digital channels worldwide; and with clearly defined responsibilities, whether these are fulfilled by private, voluntary or public bodies
• regular government funding is considered to produce the best outcomes for users and most respondents consider that relying mainly or purely on voluntary sector funding is inadequate to meet need
• changes in technology and in society could leave people who are unable to read conventional print worse off, if the moment is not seized.

+ Part I: Summary Report
+ Part 2: Country studies
+ Part 3: Appendices

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2007 and is filed under Access to Information, Libraries and Librarianship, Source File. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.