Alternative Formats

Section 32 of the Copyright Act allows for an exception which makes the producing of alternate formats possible.

The Copyright Act, Section 32 reads as follows:

32(1) It is not an infringement of copyright for a person, at the request of a person with a perceptual disability, or for a non-profit organization acting for his or her benefit, to

(a) make a copy or sound recording of a literary, musical, artistic or dramatic work, other than a cinematographic work, in a format specially designed for persons with a perceptual disability;

[...]

Limitation
(2) Subsection (1) does not authorize the making of a large print book.

According to the Copyright Act, Sec. 32, material can be scanned and converted to a format specially designed for persons with perceptual disabilities, as long as the book is not commercially available electronically.

The Library produces in-house or acquires textbooks, course packs, and other class materials in Braille, Large Print, digital audio (MP3 or DAISY: Digital Accessible Information Systems), electronic text or analogue audio. This service is available to students with a print disability who are registered with the Disability Services Office. Students who are blind or have low vision; students, who, because of a physical disability, are unable to hold or manipulate a book; and students with specific types of learning disabilities use this service.

Requests for textbooks or course materials in alternate formats (e-text, digital audio, audio tape, Braille, Large Print) can be made through the Library by contacting Carol Tennant at tennantc@queensu.ca or visit Carol in her office, room 120c, the Adaptive Technology Centre. This service is available to students who have a print disability and have been approved for a material in alternate format accommodation.

Course material will be scanned onto disk using optical character recognition technology. To facilitate this process, students are responsible for providing the material they need to have scanned, as well as other necessary information, such as, course outlines and reading lists.

Students interested in this service are urged to contact Carol as soon as possible.

CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) now offers its Partners Program to all public libraries in Ontario at no cost. This service is for individuals with a print or visual disability. Access to CNIB Library collections - both physical formats (DAISY, braille, etc.) and online service (CNIB Digital Library) - are available through public library referral or self-registration.

Research Assistance

The Coordinator, a reference librarian, is available by appointment to assess your information needs and to assist you to develop a research strategy using the Library's resources. These resources may include the Library catalogue, journal indexes, government documents, electronic resources and the Internet.

Book and Article Retrieval

Students unable to access the Library's book and journal stacks can arrange to have material retrieved for them. Students must supply a list of titles with call numbers.

Loan Periods

Students may arrange extended loan periods for reserve items and books by making a request to the Coordinator, subject to demand on the material.