Date of Meeting: February 9, 2002

The meeting was called to order at 1:00 p.m. by President Amy Ruell. The minutes were read and accepted as written.

Jim Roberts reminded people that they could pay their dues by check, in cash, or by credit card on line.

Amy made the following announcements:
A cart has been found which will meet VIBUG's needs. It will cost approximately $400.00 plus shipping and handling charges. Once she has spoken with Sarah Rambo arrangements will be made to have it ordered and delivered it to NBP. She also told us that it looks like the renovations at NBP will begin in late spring. Once she has a definite date she will make arrangements to meet elsewhere. She will give as much notice to people as possible. The room we use may be smaller, but she has been told that given the design changes we may actually have more space for meeting.

The demonstration topic for the next meeting has not yet been firmly established and will be announced ASAP.

There is a new public beta of Window-eyes. She advised people that if they were planning to download it, that if they had another screen reader they should be sure to load that screen reader first, and then download Window-eyes. The order of installation of screen readers applies to XP or Windows 2000 users only.

Bookshare.org is now in public beta and subscribers are now being accepted. People will be charged an entrance fee, and a yearly fee. People were encouraged to check out the details at bookshare.org.

When ACB Radio Interactive is not broadcasting, it is now possible to request songs to be played in the order requests are received. More information is available at www.acbradio.org.

Brian Hartgen now has a new subscription service and list for his JFW scripts, Window-eyes set files, and Hal Map files. All available files can be obtained individually or for an annual fee of $45.00 U.S. For more information check out his website at www.hartgen.org/config.html.

beyondSight.com has some free seminars which can be heard live or via archive. People can go to their website, download the chat client, plug in a microphone, and ask questions during live presentations.

AFB is conducting a study on telephone and telecommunications access. To participate, call Jackie Packer for more information at (800) 212-5463, or e-mail her at jpacker@AFB.net.

VIBUG's website is currently being revised to update links and increase the organization of the initial page. Check it out next week.

Amy has sent out a survey to get feedback from people so that she could better plan for VIBUG's future. She requested that people return the survey as soon as possible.

Ginny reported that to date four people had borrowed tutorials from the library. She reminded people that they could contact her via the link on the VIBUG page or call her at (617) 776-9706.

Valerie Haven announced that UMB is offering a distance learning curriculum and has hired her to ensure that the site is accessible. for people with disabilities. VIBUG members are requested to log onto the website for the courses and evaluate the site for accessibility. For more information call her at (617) 859-1704 or email her at ashara@RCN.com.

Jeanette Kutash informed people that Quincy Library now has some accessible equipment. She will be visiting the library some time this month and will provide a more detailed report at next month's meeting.

During the question period, we discussed the issue of the potentially unreliability of computer clocks and told people how to reset them. Don Breda also told people that programs could be downloaded that would automatically adjust clocks. Don told us that there is a company from which we can order batteries for notetakers at a price that is cheaper than would be paid if these items were sent back to their manufacturers. More information can be obtained by going to http://www.computerassistivetech.com

Following a demonstration of WebBraille and the new Web Online Public Access Catalog (opac) by Kim Charlson and Kristen Leigh, the meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted
Jeanette Kutash
VIBUG Clerk