Course:LIBR559A/Tripathi, M., & Shukla, A. (2014).

Citation:

Tripathi, M., & Shukla, A. (2014). Use of Assistive Technologies in Academic Libraries: A Survey. Assistive Technology, 26(2), 105-118. doi:10.1080/10400435.2013.853329

Annotation:

This article provides the results of a survey conducted by two Library Science professors Manorama Tripathi and Archana Shukla from India. Their study investigated the availability, importance, types, and usage of assistive technologies in academic libraries in India, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom (105). The first key section of the article that is key to the discussion is on national and international laws. All four nations have emphasized that visually impaired students and workers should be given equal opportunities to study, work, and live; India is just now coming on board in this respect (106).

Another section that is of major importance is that of national and international copyright laws and treaties. A major highlight of this section is the World International Property Organization treaty that was in under development at the time of authorship. This treaty would allow the member nations to make accessible copies of any work for users that need it. Also highlighted was the verdict in the Authors Guild v. HathiTrust which states that digitizing works to allow blind and print disabled users to access it is “fair and transformative in nature (107).”

The survey results showed that Indian libraries lag far behind their American, Canadian, and UK counterparts in providing facilities or assistive technologies for the visually impaired. Interestingly, the popular technology in each nation is presented as are some facts about various schools. For instance, in 2013 UBC had 100 volunteers that read to blind users. A section on technological options that are available for libraries to facilitate access to materials is offered. Among the many valuable tools is an intriguing one called Picture in a Flash Tactile Graphic Maker that allows a blind user to feel an image (108-10).

After a section on the importance of providing access to web and print information, the authors conclude the article. In their conclusion they mention the importance of India’s efforts to catch up with the other nations, the necessity nations have to ensure equality and opportunity, and that research on how visually impaired students seek information needs to be conducted (110-11).

A major drawback of the study is that only 15 academic libraries in each country were selected and the information gained was just from their websites (105-6). As such, it is likely that the authors missed a great deal of information from each school. It is also quite likely they missed finding some vital information that other schools might have due to the narrow focus. Finally, considering the fact that India has had English as a major language, the grammatical errors in the article make it seem as though it was rushed and not properly vetted. The final problem with the article is that the availability of accessible technology changes so fast that the age of the article makes it antiquated, even though it is only three years old as of 2017.

Page Author: Manfred Nissley