ELVIS Has a New Home at the Library

The Tompkins County Public Library will unveil ELVIS on January 29, 2004 at 3 p.m. ELVIS (or L-VIS), a workstation for people with low vision, is a computer that talks, a screen that you can see, and a PC which transforms the printed word. People with little or no vision will be able to search the Internet, use Microsoft Word and search the Library catalog and online databases from the workstation.

"ELVIS will open up a world of information and resources to a population which has been denied access," said Janet Steiner, Library Director. "Our partnership with Cornell University will provide many people with the ability to do things which most of us take for granted."

The workstation is equipped with headphones, JAWS screen reading software, MAGIC screen magnification software, and OpenBook optical character recognition. OpenBook converts paper documents into electronic text to be read aloud by the machine to the user.

The technology was made possible through the Cornell University Engineers Without Frontiers program, who researched, designed and purchased the hardware and software. Other partners with the library include the Finger Lakes Independence Center and the Cornell University Program of Computer Graphics. Jennifer Schlossberg, a professional librarian at the library, was instrumental in making all of the pieces fit together, obtained training for the staff, and will be conducting the demonstration.

Following the grand opening reception and demonstration, interested users may register for an ELVIS class by calling the Adult Services Reference Desk at 607 2727 4556.

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