Abstract
Visually impaired people have the same library and information needs as everyone else, although they may require adaptations in the form of service. Digital services offer new opportunities for blind people's needs to be satisfied by mainstream providers, if they are appropriately designed. Library services for visually impaired people in the UK are fragmented and difficult to use, with a range of services of variable quality provided by public libraries and numerous charities. The situation has recently been improved by an injection of government funding at national level. The National Library for the Blind in the UK has historically focused on braille lending, but its new objective is to provide access to a range of direct or indirect library and information services, by exploiting the benefits of new technologies and working in partnership with other organizations. Library services for visually impaired Canadians are provided by the Library of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. In recent years it has developed an innovative digital services programme and a partnership programme. In 1999, the NLB and the CNIB Library agreed to work together on a pilot project to improve services to users, covering interlending, collection development, service development, production and development of the Geac Advance library management system. The pilot project has revealed problems about working in international partnership, such as copyright and production standards, but the benefits to date have encouraged the two libraries to continue to work together to test this model of global library development.
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