Unabridged

Unabridged provides narrated downloadable digital audio books for eligible individuals living in California, Colorado, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon, Texas, and Vermont who are blind, visually impaired, or physically challenged.

We are using the WMA-based digital audio book system from OverDrive.

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"This is an awesome collection, already, and is just wonderful to peruse and then actually have immediate access!" Bryan McMurray, an Illinois user

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Unabridged Provides Narrated Digital Audio Books

Libraries for the blind and physically handicapped in nine states have teamed up to undertake Unabridged, a downloadable digital audio book service. The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (a Division of the Library of Congress) also is an Unabridged partner, using the service for in-house testing and evaluation.

The goal of Unabridged is to develop and evaluate a multi-state program that provides a downloadable library of narrated digital audio book content and services to blind, low vision, and physically challenged library users in the participating states. Unabridged is using the Windows Media Audio-based content and delivery system from OverDrive. The system works on computers capable of running the Microsoft Windows operating system. Eligible library patrons in the participating states may self-checkout and download digital audio books, then either play them back on PCs with Windows Media Player and the OverDrive Media Console, or transfer the content to WMA-enabled portable playback devices, or burn the content onto CDs.

Overview of the Unabridged Collection

Items in the Collection, Sorted by Title in HTML format, as of July 2008.

Items in the Collection, Sorted by Author's First Name in HTML format, as of July 2008.

Items in the Collection, Sorted by Genre in HTML format, as of July 2008.

Items in the Collection in Spanish in HTML format, as of July 2008.

Phases of Unabridged

Unabridged, which launched on Monday, November 29, 2004, serves as a bridge between the current demand among blind and visually impaired individuals for digital audio books and the planned launch in late 2008 of a national digital audiobook service by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), a division of the Library of Congress. The first year of operation, from December 2004 through November 2005, concentrated on orienting staff and patrons to the system, building the collection, and working with OverDrive to ensure that the accessibility and overall functionality of the system meet the needs and preferences of the Unabridged community.