Attachment A2- Email Templates.docx

Table of Contents

Attachment A2 - Email Templates 1/28/2020

A purchased player must first be registered with NLS and the vendor then send a small key file that will allow the player to run NLS books.

To register a player that you have purchased,

1. Log into the bard web site.

2. Hit enter on the link, "update account settings".

3. Press Enter on the link, "add a purchased player". Most of the information such as your mailing address, will already be filled in for you. There is a drop down list that will let you select the type of player. when you have chosen your player simply move to the submit button and hit enter.

4. Type the serial number or key code into the edit field on the resulting page, and activate the "Submit Player Request" button. Nls will notify the vendor of your player who in turn will correspond with you by email.

If you already have a player approved, registering another one will have no effect on the first one. If a player is lost or stolen, the replacement will have to be registered since the authorization is tied to the specific serial number or key code unique to each player. You do not have to register digital players from NLS Solicitation 030ADV20R0049 Attachment J2 - Email Templates

Hello, Are you looking for general talking book service from a library or for download service in particular?

If you are a patron of your regional library for the blind and you want them to send audio books to you, you can order them via the telephone or find out from them how to order from their on-line catalog.

If, however, you want to download your own books, here's what you need to know:

If you have not registered with a local or regional NLS library, you must do that first. Once you've established service with a library, then you can apply for a download account.

To find your library, please visit the main NLS web page at www.loc.gov/nls and follow the link called "Find a library."

If you're already a patron of your local or regional NLS talking books library, apply for download service by visiting https://nlsbard.loc.gov

Click on the link called "BARD Application Instructions," and then follow the link called "Link to BARD application for individuals."

Complete the enrollment form, and be sure to submit your contact details precisely as your local or regional NLS library has them on file for you.

After you have applied for a BARD account, we advise you to keep an eye on your spam folder. Some email programs, or Internet Service Providers, may flag messages from NLS or your player vendor as spam.

If you have a digital NLS player from your local or regional library, then you'll be able to download and play books once your application has been accepted. Contact your local or regional NLS library for details about obtaining this free player.

If you have obtained a commercially-available player, you'll need to have it authorized to play NLS's books. You can begin this process when you apply for the first time, or you can add a player to your account later by visiting your "Update Account Settings" page on the BARD site. Once on that page, choose the link called "Add a Purchased Player," and complete the form. Please take care to choose the player you have available to you.

All the Best, The Library of Congress has been experiencing intermittent internet connectivity. This has had a direct effect on the BARD system. The problems have ranged from causing trouble when searching for a book to completely stopping patrons from being able to log in.

Technical staff is working to correct the issue.

BARD is currently down for maintenance.

We are working to correct the problem. This also means that we are unable to deal with log in and password issues until the system is up and running.

BARD will return to service as soon as the problem has been corrected. We apologize for the inconvenience.

System Administrator Solicitation 030ADV20R0049 Attachment J2 - Email Templates

Hello:

While we understand that you are eager to have specific books available for download, all collection requests should be directed to your local or regional NLS library.

NLSDownload@loc.gov is primarily for technical support questions, rather than book requests.

Once in a great while, a cartridge will go bad. I am inferring from your message that you tried to download books to an empty cartridge.

Your message, however, doesn't supply details of what steps you took, what happened, and what error messages you might have received. If you want to try and replicate the problem, and then send details, we can see if that sheds any more light on the problem you are having.

If, however, the trouble is really with the cartridge, the only thing I know to try is to reformat the cartridge as FAT or FAT32, but it isn't something we can assist you with, and I wouldn't recommend this to any but the most computer savvy patrons.

The simplest solution would be to replace it. In case you opt for this approach, here is the latest information about vendors of cartridges:

1. American Printing House for the Blind, Inc. (APH) 1839 Frankfort Avenue P.O. Box 6085 Louisville, KY 40206-0085

(502) 895-2405 800-223-1839 (Toll-free customer service in the U.S. and Canada) www.APH.org Contact: Marsha Overstreet moverstreet@aph.org

The American Printing House for the Blind is now selling 2GB digital talking-book cartridges, designed to be used with the NLS digital-talking book machine, for $12.00, and cables for connecting them to your computer for $5.00.

2. Adaptive Technology Perkins Products P.O. Box 778 Amesbury, MA 01913 (978) 462-3817

(978) 462-3928 Fax www.perkinsproducts.org, Talking Book Accessories section adaptivetech@perkins.org

Blank 1GB cartridges are $10.99, and blank 2GB cartridges are $11.99. Blank 1GB cartridges bundled with a compatible 36-inch USB cable are $15.99, while blank 2GB cartridges bundled with a cable cost $16.99. The USB cable may also be purchased separately for $5.00. Free Shipping

3. Howell Mobility Products 717 Louis Avenue Royal Oak, MI 48067-4603 (248) 548-1788

(248) 548-1788 Fax (call first) www.howellmobility.com canes@howellmobility.com

A 2 GB cartridge costs $11.00. A 36-inch USB CABLE costs $3.00. SHIPPING, HANDLING, AND SALES TAX CHARGES Howell MObility Products says: "Shipping and handling rates for small cable and cartridge orders are less than our normal rates. For shipping and handling within the U.S. add $3.00 for up to 10 items. For over 10 items, use the regular rates, which total %5 of your order with a $7.00 minimum. For shipping outside the U.S. please call us. MICHIGAN RESIDENTS please ADD 6% SALES TAX."

4. Vistas Braille Institute 741 North Vermont Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90029 (323) 663-1111, Ext. 1245

(323) 663-0867 Fax www.brailleinstitute.org

Cable order #2141 for $7.95 Cartridge (2 gig) order #21601 $15.95 Shipping charge of $8 per order. Customers outside California pay no state tax. I hope this is helpful.

Here are the steps to correct this. It has to do with your browser's security settings being to restrictive. First, go to the tools menu with alt plus t.

Use your arrow keys to move up to internet options. Press the enter key. Now shift tab once or twice until you hear general.

Now with the right arrow key, move several steps to the right until you here "advanced Hit the tab key once.

Now go down arrow a long way until you are in security settings. You will find a large number of things that can be checked or unchecked with the space bar.

There are three or four items dealing with publisher certificates and server certificates.

Also theere is one that says warn about certificate address mismatch. The exact wording depends on the version of IE running on your system. You'll need to uncheck all three or four items. Then tab to OK and press enter. Close IE and reopen it. If that doesn't solve it let us know, but it should.

Good Luck Solicitation 030ADV20R0049 Attachment J2 - Email Templates

To clear your browsing history. To do this, choose Internet Options from the bottom of the Tools menu, choose the General tab, and choose Delete Browsing History or something similar. The dialog box includes many options for what information to delete. If you make sure that the Passwords and Form Data options are unchecked, which is the default, that information won't be deleted. I would suggest deleting everything else. Sometimes this solves the problem, if the cookie setting is on low or medium.

Many people set their computers to remember their passwords. Also, some computers try to automatically fill in email addresses. You can run into trouble if you type over the information the computer has already written into the email address and password fields, or if the remembered data has gotten corrupted.

If you feel fairly certain that you are remembering your password correctly, try this:

Before entering any information in the log in fields, make absolutely sure that the email address and password fields are totally empty. To accomplish this, in each field, type the key combination of Control and A to highlight any possible data in the field. Then hit your delete key. This should clear out any remembered information in these fields.

If this doesn't resolve the issue, or if you have forgotten your password, write back, and we will reset your password to a temporary password.

I have tested your login information and it is working. Here is what may be happening.

Often when you first log in, your browser remembers the password you used. In this case it remembered the temporary one.

When you changed to your own password, and received the message your password change was successful there shouldn't be any reason to go back and try a new one. Let's start with the most likely cause of your problem.

After you enter your email address, your computer has associated the temporary password with the address. You need to get rid of any symbols in the password field before entering the new one you created.

Hopefully, after that the browser will remember your new password. But please write it down, don't rely on the computers memory.

Good luck and if this doesn't solve the problem, let us know.

Here is a pretty comprehensive list of vendors who produce or sell Commercial Digital Book Players Authorized to play NLS digital books American Printing House for the Blind (https://shop.aph.org) 502-895-2405, 800-223-1839

HumanWare Inc. (http://www.humanware.com)

Plextor (http://www.plextalk.com/in/ptp1/index.html) 310-693-7600

Bones, Inc. (http://www.bones.ch) 800-537-2118 (USA distributor)

HIMS Inc.

U.S. office in Austin TX Phone: 888-520-446

It is hard to say just what is happening. But here is an area that you should check. If you still have negative results let me know.

The problem could be caused by very small computer files called cookies. These files allow your computer and a server on the internet to recognize each other. If there is something blocking this two-way communication annoying problems will almost certainly occur.

When you sign into your BARD account, your computer and the BARD server have a short conversation by sending these cookies back and forth. When the exchange of cookies is successful at the initial login, the BARD server remembers the user's computer as it transmitts one page after another as requested by the user.

In some cases, a User may be allowed into the system without a cookie because the Bard server recognizes the username and password. But when that user tries to change to a new page, or has to accept the pledge, and there is a problem with the exchange of cookies, the Server tries again to ask the user's computer to identify itself. If the user's computer can't respond correctly, then the Server tells the user to log in again.

How to fix the problem

There is a setting in "internet options" that controls how an individual computer will handle the cookie-based conversation that is initiated by a server on the Internet. If your computer is set to accept no cookies, or if it is set to put severe restrictions on these communications, you will receive repeated prompts to log onto the system. To correct this please follow these steps.

In all versions of Internet Explorer, first run the program, then press alt+t to open the tools menu. Using cursor keys, navigate up or down until you reach "Internet Options". Press the enter key at that point.

What appears now is a rather complicated screen composed of 7 tabs. Under each tab is a list of options that can be changed.

When this screen first comes up, you will be under the first tab.

You will need to navigate to the tab called privacy. to do this press the control and tab keys together two times. This should place you on a slider bar for adjusting the handling of cookies.

The bar can be set from 0 to 5. this is accomplished by moving the left and right cursor keys. If the bar is set to 5, the computer will block all cookies. We find that setting the bar to 2 will give some security in this area but won't be so strict that the computer can't communicate with any Server. Once the slider is set, press the tab key until you reach OK where you can press the enter key. Now close and then reopen Internet Explorer and try accessing the bard web site again.

If you're using a different browser, you should be able to find settings that are similar to those found in Internet Explorer.

Please let us know the results.

Solicitation 030ADV20R0049 Attachment J2 - Email Templates

I'm sorry you are having such a hard time with getting books downloaded from BARD. From your download records, I can see that your download speeds are on the slow side. Here are some suggestions that we routinely send to patrons with download problems:

1. Try locating the book again quickly by putting the five-digit number into the keyword edit box.

2. When downloading, please be sure that you choose to save the file to your hard drive. You should not choose "open" in the browser. Saving to and unzipping on an external device, such as a cartridge, can sometimes contribute to download failures, especially if the connection is slow. Connection speeds can vary, as I'm sure you know, and the time of day, for example, may have an impact.

3. When saving the book to the hard drive, take note of where it will be saved.

4. If the book is large, you should be sure that you have enough room on the cartridge when moving the folder of files over to it. I tend to move over a folder of files, for each book, rather than selecting files from within the zipped archive. This is a matter of personal preference, however.

5. If you have a slow connection, it's conceivable that the download could time out. To help alleviate this possibility, Try downloading the book late in the evening, or at some other somewhat unusual time, in case that will help the ISP with its load.

I hope these suggestions prove helpful.

If they don't, then we should probably ask a few questions: When did this problem begin?

Can you think of anything that has changed or been added to your computer since it last worked to download from BARD?

Are you using any kind of download accellerator or aggregator? What operating system are you using?

What internet browser are you using? What version of it?

You might also talk to your internet service provider to see if they have added or changed software on their server. Some times, for instance, certain virus protection programs can vastly slow down an ISP's speed. This will also happen if they have taken on a lot more customers without improving their capacity.

We look forward to hearing back from you.

Please note that your local or regional NLS-affiliated library is available to answer any further questions you may have about your free NLS player and downloading content to it using a cartridge. This information is designed to get you started.

At one time, NLS would not recommend using flash drives with its digital talking book player. While some patrons found flash drives that worked with the player, others had poor results. Their performance can be unpredictable, and we have no control over the specifications used in the manufacturing of these drives drives.

Some readers who try to use Flash drives have experienced errors such as "no book available," "cartridge error," or they hear introductory material and then "end of book."

Recently, however, NLS updated the firmware for their talking book players. This firmware can handle most flash drives now, but not all. Thus, you can choose one of two paths: you can update the firmware in your machine, if necessary, (see below for instructions) and try a flash drive or, for surest success, you can purchase blank cartridges and a special cable to use instead of a flash drive.

To see a list of vendors of these special cartridges and their accompanying cables, please go to https://www.loc.gov/nls/enrollment-equipment/equipment-needed-for-nls-materials/cartridges-cables-for-bard/

Downloading BARD Content to a Cartridge or Flash Drive

All downloaded books from the BARD site are prepared in a zip format. This means that many individual files are compressed and then combined into one big file.

The first thing to do just before the download starts is to check in your browser to see into which directory the book will be placed.

The directions below are for Windows XP and above. These operating systems have built-in unzip capabilities.

Once the download of a book is complete, you will need to go into the directory/folder where it has been saved, such as "Downloads" or "my documents."

I recommend that you always download and unzip your books on your computer's hard drive, and then, move the resulting book files to your cartridge or flash drive.

If you are using a cartridge, make sure it is connected to the computer via the special USB cable before you start.

When you click on the link to download your book, you will be given the option to Open the file or to Save it. Choose the Save option.

When you have downloaded the zipped file onto your computer, and you have located the book with the .zip extension on your computer, open the files menu with alt+f. Near the top of the menu list, you will find "extract all. Press enter to start the process. You can now hit the next button. By tabbing around this dialog box, you will find a prompt that says, "files will be extracted to:" followed by a rather long path.

Keep pressing the tab key until you hear next or unzip. Then hit Enter.

You may see a prompt for a password, ignore this, these zip files are not password protected.

Once the extraction is complete, you will see, "show extracted files?" I recommend keeping that box unchecked.

After the book is unzipped, you will see a folder with the same name as the zipped folder you downloaded, except that it won't have the .zip extension at the end. Highlight that folder and copy it to your computer's clipboard by pressing Control + C.

Finally, navigate to your flash drive or cartridge, which should be seen as a drive, and press control+v to paste the unzipped folder onto it.

Once your book(s) are on your cartridge or flash drive, detach it from your computer, and while the NLS player is turned off, insert it into your machine.

I hope you find this information useful. I am sure your library will be glad to answer any additional questions you may have about using your free NLS player.

If you use the free player provided by your talking book library, it's important to check that it's running the most recent firmware. This ensures that the cartridge you use to play books will work smoothly with both your Mac and your player. Here are instructions so that you can check and update the machine if necessary.

To check which firmware version your player is currently running, remove any cartridges or flash drives. Then, press the Sleep button ten times within a 30-second period. You'll hear your player's serial number and then the software version. If it's 2.1.3 or higher, then you've already got the most important features, including the ability to put multiple books on a cartridge and use it with a Mac successfully. If you'd like to use a commercial flash drive with your player, however, we recommend that you install version 2.1.7 or later.

If the version is lower, then use the following URL to obtain the latest firmware and read the instructions for upgrading the machine. Go to:

http://www.loc.gov/nls/DTBM/ Please note that the last 4 letters in the URL, DTBM, are uppercase. You can also find this page by logging into BARD and following the "Latest DTBM firmware and installation instructions" link.

Next, I'll outline the process of downloading a book and copying it to your cartridge. Note that the process works exactly the same way for magazines. Each book file you download is actually a collection of files, all packed into a single file. Before you can play the book, it must be unpacked, which is called unzipping the file. The file must be unzipped to a folder, and that folder must be copied to your cartridge. Here's how to do it:

1. Open Safari and go to https://nlsbard.loc.gov

2. Log into your account on BARD.

3. Select a book, and press Return on its Download link. Generally, Macs put downloaded material into a folder within your Home folder called Downloads.

4. When the download is complete, press Command+Tab until you reach Finder, and press Command+Shift+H to go to your Home folder. If the items in that folder or any other that you visit aren't displayed in a list, press Command+2 to choose List view.

5. Press D or Down Arrow as needed to locate the Downloads folder.

6. Press Command+Down Arrow or Command+O to open the Downloads folder.

7. Press Down Arrow or the letter D as needed to find your book (all book files start with the letters DB).

8. By default, the Mac unzips book files into folders automatically and deletes the original zip file. If yours has done that, you will find a folder with the name of your book or magazine. If it hasn't, you will find a file; press Command+Down Arrow or Command+O to open it. The Mac will unzip the file into a folder with the same name. When it's done, you can delete the original zip file if you like.

9. Focus on the folder containing your book or magazine, and press Command+C to copy it to the clipboard.

10. Connect your cartridge to your Mac.

11. Press Command+Shift+C; you'll be focused in a list of all the drives on your computer.

12. Press Down Arrow as needed to locate your cartridge.

13. Press Command+Down Arrow to open it.

14. Press Command+V to paste your book folder onto the cartridge. It may take a while for the book to be copied.

15. When the copy is complete, press Command+Up Arrow. You should be focused on your drive's name.

16. Press Command+E to eject your cartridge. This ensures that all information has finished copying. The disk name will disappear from your list of drives.

17. Several Finder windows are now open; press Command+W as needed to close them. There's always at least one Finder window open when a Mac is running, so don't worry about closing all of them.

You can now disconnect your cartridge from your computer and insert it into your player for listening.

When you no longer want a book or magazine on your cartridge, connect the cartridge to your computer, and locate it as you did when transferring books. Find the folder containing the book you want to delete, and press Command+Delete. This moves the folder to the trash, but does not remove it from your cartridge. The Mac does this in case you change your mind. To remove the folder completely, press Command+Shift+Delete to empty the trash. You'll be asked if you're sure; press Return to confirm that's what you want to do. Note that this empties the trash on your Mac's hard drive as well.

Happy reading, Anna

Updating the firmware of a player.

1. Obtain the latest software from the NLS web site:

https://www.loc.gov/nls/enrollment-equipment/technical-help-with-bard-nls-equipment/nls-dtbm-firmware/

(please note the letters DTBM are in uppercase.)

2. Extract (unzip) this file onto a cartridge or USB drive so that the directory “upgrade” appears in the “root” directory of the drive.

3. Turn on the player.

4. Insert the cartridge or USB drive containing the software.

5. The player will announce “Upgrading your player’s software.”

6. Wait until the upgrade is complete and the player restarts (about 10 seconds), then remove the cartridge.

7. The upgrade will only occur if the player’s version is older than the version of the software on the cartridge; reinserting the cartridge will not repeat the upgrade.

Issue: NLSDownload has received a series of messages from users who receive a cartridge error from the NLS DTBM after formatting their cartridge using a Macintosh computer.

The users have correctly specified the FAT filesystem when formatting but are still not able to use the formatted cartridge.

Note: In almost all cases it is not necessary to reformat a cartridge in order to erase it. It is safer (and therefore preferable) to simply delete all the files on the cartridge and then empty the trash to free up space on the cartridge. Users should be discouraged from reformatting cartridges unless it is absolutely necessary.

Background: The NLS DTBM can only read cartridges formatted with the File Allocation Table (FAT) filesystem. This is the filesystem most commonly used on flash drives and was the default file system used under MS-DOS and early versions of Windows.

NLS cartridges purchased by libraries and patrons come preformatted using this system.

The Macintosh operating system, OS X, can read and write to volumes formatted this way but does not, by default, use this format. It is possible to format a volume as FAT using OS X's Disk Utility by simply selecting this option from a list when formatting the cartridge.

There's another major difference between the Mac and Windows, however. On both systems, every storage device (disk or flash) must be partitioned first, after which volumes are created within those partitions. The Mac, by default, uses a disk partitioning scheme called GUID while Windows uses a scheme called Master Boot Record (MBR).

The NLS DTBM can only understand the MBR scheme and gives a cartridge error if the GUID partition scheme is used. It is not possible to partition a flash cartridge with MBR using Mac OS X's Disk Utility.

The problem: Using OS X's Disk Utility, it's possible to erase a flash cartridge two different methods, but only one will result in a usable cartridge. The two methods are at the Disk level and at the Volume level. Both methods are called "Erase" in Disk Utility.

If the uses choose to erase the Disk, then Disk Utility will departition and then repartition the flash cartridge before reformatting. If the user chooses to erase the Volume, then Disk Utility will reformat the cartridge only without repartitioning.

If Disk Utility repartitions the cartridge then it will use the GUID partition scheme, because it is not capable of using the MBR scheme (or, at least, doesn't offer that as an option). That will result in a cartridge that is formatted with FAT but cannot be used in the DTBM because the partition scheme is wrong. If Disk Utility only reformats the cartridge then it will NOT change the partition scheme from MBR to GUID and will yield a usable cartridge. (It is assumed in both cases that the user has selected "MS-DOS (FAT)" as the desired format.)

The solution: It is possible to use a Macintosh to format a cartridge for use with the DTBM, but it must be done carefully.

Note: You must start with a working cartridge. If you are already receiving a cartridge error from the DTBM then do not follow these steps. A Windows machine must be used to reformat the cartridge.

1) Attach the cartridge to your Mac and open Disk Utility.

2) Navigate to the Selected Disks table. (This is the VoiceOver name; there is no visible title on the table. It is the column down the left side of the main Disk Utility window listing all storage devices).

3) Make sure to select the Volume, not the Disk, that represents your cartridge. This is the critical step.

4) Select the Erase tab (with VoiceOver, press tab and then use the left and right arrows to select the tab).

5) Make sure that “MS-DOS (FAT)” is selected in the Format: drop-down list.

6) Optionally, enter a new volume name in the Name: entry field

7) Select the Erase button, and then confirm the action by selecting the Erase button in the resulting dialog box.

8) Your cartridge will then be erased and formatted. This should only take a few seconds.

9) To confirm you've done this correctly, eject the cartridge (command-E from within Disk Utility) and put it in a DTBM. If you hear "No book available," you've done this correctly. If you hear "cartridge error" then you do not have a usable cartridge and a Windows machine must be used to reformat the cartridge.

Alternate method of checking: Before ejecting the cartridge from your Mac, return to the Selected Disks table and choose the Disk (not the volume) that represents your cartridge (this is the opposite of what you did before). Press command-I (or the Info button) to bring up an information panel. The third line of information will read "Partition Map Scheme: Master Boot Record." If it reads "GUID Partition Table" then you do not have a usable cartridge and a Windows machine must be used to reformat the cartridge.

Here are fairly detailed directions on how to troubleshoot this problem so you can log in and create your permanent password. Please read each step carefully before executing it.

We'll begin by going to https://nlsbard.loc.gov and moving to the first edit field where you'll enter your email address. Before entering any information in the log in fields, make absolutely sure that the email and password fields are totally empty. To accomplish this, in each field, type the key combination of Control and A to highlight any possible data in the field. Then hit your delete key. This should clear out any remembered information in these fields.

Now, enter email, tab once, enter password, tab just once to log in. Press enter on log in.

Don't be confused if you receive a message saying "the password does not match the one stored on your computer for this site" or something similar. This is a windows prompt not a BARD prompt. You should hit no since this is a temporary password, you don't want Windows to remember it.

This should bring up a page that lets you create a permanent password. The rules for creating your permanent password are as follows:

The password must contain-- at least eight characters at least one letter at least one number no repeated characters In addition your new password-- cannot contain a common word cannot be your previous password cannot be your first or last name Cannot contain the following special characters: !#$^&*()`+[{}]|/?><” Type the password in twice. then tab to change password and hit enter.

Now you can hit enter on I accept and that should put you on the BARD home page. If these directions don't work, Then its time to do some troubleshooting.

The first thing to try is to clear your browsing history. Of prime importance is the clearing out of "cookies". These files allow your computer and a server on the internet to recognize each other.

If there is something blocking this two-way communication annoying problems will almost certainly occur.

When you sign into your BARD account, your computer and the BARD server have a short conversation by sending these cookies back and forth. When the exchange of cookies is successful at the initial login, the BARD server remembers the user's computer as it transmitts one page after another as requested by the user.

In some cases, a User may be allowed into the system without a cookie because the Bard server recognizes the username and password. But when that user tries to change to a new page, or has to accept the pledge, and there is a problem with the exchange of cookies, the Server tries again to ask the user's computer to identify itself. If the user's computer can't respond correctly, then the Server tells the user to log in again.

How to fix the problem

There is a setting in "internet options" that controls how an individual computer will handle the cookie-based conversation that is initiated by a server on the Internet. If your computer is set to accept no cookies, or if it is set to put severe restrictions on these communications, you will receive repeated prompts to log onto the system. To correct this please follow these steps.

In all versions of Internet Explorer, first run the program, then press alt+t to open the tools menu. Using cursor keys, navigate up or down until you reach "Internet Options". Press the enter key at that point.

What appears now is a rather complicated screen composed of 7 tabs. Under each tab is a list of options that can be changed.

When this screen first comes up, you will be under the first tab.

You will need to navigate to the tab called privacy. to do this press the control and tab keys together two times. This should place you on a slider bar for adjusting the handling of cookies.

The bar can be set from 0 to 5. this is accomplished by moving the left and right cursor keys. If the bar is set to 5, the computer will block all cookies. We find that setting the bar to 2 will give some security in this area but won't be so strict that the computer can't communicate with any Server. Once the slider is set, press the tab key until you reach OK where you can press the enter key. Now close and then reopen Internet Explorer and try accessing the bard web site again.

Now if you are still having trouble, please let us know the following: What browser, including version number, are you using?

Are you running a PC or a Mac?

What operating system are you running?

Do you have other internet sites where you have had success in logging in. These answers may help us point you in the right direction.

When you download a book with Internet Explorer 9 or above, the prompt to download or save appears in the Information bar. You have two options for handling this. One is to press Alt-N, which brings focus to the Information bar where you can choose whether to open or save the file. The other is to press Alt-S, which bypasses the Information bar and chooses to save the file.

Once you press Alt-N and choose to save, or press Alt-S, the file begins to download. To see the progress of the download, press Control-J to open the download manager. Within the Download Manager dialog box is an Options button that takes you to a dialog where you can choose whether to be notified when downloads are complete.

The NLS player can play files in MP3 format. In order to play MP3s on NLS's player, please do the following:

1. Make sure you have the latest firmware version for the player. This could be version 2.1.8 or 2.1.9. To see which version of the firmware your machine has installed in it, remove the cartridge (or Flash drive if you have one that works), turn on the player, and press the sleep button ten times in succession.

2. You may contact your local or regional NLS-affiliated library to obtain the latest firmware on a cartridge. Alternatively, if you're comfortable with computers, you may obtain the firmware upgrade from here:

NLS DTBM Firmware:

https://www.loc.gov/nls/enrollment-equipment/technical-help-with-bard-nls-equipment/nls-dtbm-firmware/ Please be sure to read and follow the instructions.

3. Once you're sure you have the latest firmware on the player, create a folder on your cartridge called: Audio+Podcasts Please take care to create the folder name precisely as I've written it i.e. capitalize the A and the P, and put a plus sign (+) between the two words.

You may put MP3 files into this folder and/or you may put folders of files into it.

Hello:

Here is some information that may help you enjoy searching the site, as it currently exists.

Much of it is also contained in the FAQ; there's a handy link to the FAQ in my signature block, below.

To maximize the feature of browsing by author's last name or title, you may wish to set your user preferences so that you show something like 500 results. Then, you can use the find feature in your browser and search for a string of text.

To change your display preferences, go to the link called: Update Account Settings.

If you put an exact title in quotation marks in the keyword edit box, and the book has been put into the digital format, it should come up rather quickly on the Download site.

To search for a specific author, you can use the edit box for keyword. In that box, you might type something like: "Shakespeare, William" You may put the search string in quotation marks, and you may want to write the author's name as last name, comma, first name, as I have done above.

If you wanted to search for the narrator, Pam Ward, you could put her name in quotation marks in the edit box, like this: "Pam Ward" Notice that authors are listed as last name, comma, first name; whereas, narrators are listed as firstname lastname, without any punctuation.

The system currently allows more flexible searching by keywords, without quotation marks, but my examples may yield the most consistent results.

You can use the keyword edit box as you would expect to by putting a keyword or two in that box. If you put two words in the keyword edit box, and the system will search for items that have both of those words in any of the relevant data for the book.

You can search for the five-digit book number, as you might find it on the NLS main site, but put only the numbers in the keyword edit box; leave off the letters DB or RC. No quotation marks are necessary around the numbers.

Of course, please do remember that you will be searching a portion of the NLS collection when you search on the Digital Download site, so as more content is posted to the site, you will have ever more content from which to choose.

NLS has incorporated the digitally produced content into the main NLS site for searching and downloading, too, so please experiment with this additional search approach. To search on and download from the main NLS site, go to: http://www.loc.gov/nls and choose the link called "search the catalog."

If you find DB titles, with their interactive links, on the main NLS site that interest you, please use your BARDE site login credentials to download them.

If you need help conducting specific searches, you may contact your local or regional NLS library for assistance.

I hope these ideas prove helpful and will enable you to successfully and rapidly find the books that interest you. Happy searching, downloading, and reading.

It may be that the problem you are encountering has to do with a flash drive that is incompatible with the player. NLS cannot advise you on the use of thumb/flash drives as we have no control over the specifications used in the manufacturing of these drives. Many of our readers have experienced errors such as "no book available" "cartridge error" or they hear introductory material and then "end of book". We urge anyone with an NLS digital player who intends to download books from the BARD site to purchase blank cartridges designed specifically to be used with the NLS player. If you plan only to use NLS books supplied on cartridge through the Postal Mail, there is no need to purchase blank cartridges.

Obtaining Blank Cartridges and a Special USB Cable We encourage you to purchase both a cartridge and the special USB cable used to attach it to your computer. Below are four sources for blank cartridges and compatible USB cables.

1. American Printing House for the Blind, Inc. (APH) 1839 Frankfort Avenue P.O. Box 6085 Louisville, KY 40206-0085

(502) 895-2405 800-223-1839 (Toll-free customer service in the U.S. and Canada) www.APH.org Contact: Marsha Overstreet moverstreet@aph.org

The American Printing House for the Blind is now selling 2GB digital talking-book cartridges, designed to be used with the NLS digital-talking book machine, for $12.00, and cables for connecting them to your computer for $5.00.

2. Adaptive Technology Perkins Products P.O. Box 778 Amesbury, MA 01913 (978) 462-3817

(978) 462-3928 Fax www.perkinsproducts.org, Talking Book Accessories section adaptivetech@perkins.org

Blank 1GB cartridges are $10.99, and blank 2GB cartridges are $11.99. Blank 1GB cartridges bundled with a compatible 36-inch USB cable are $15.99, while blank 2GB cartridges bundled with a cable cost $16.99. The USB cable may also be purchased separately for $5.00. Free Shipping

3. Howell Mobility Products 717 Louis Avenue Royal Oak, MI 48067-4603 (248) 548-1788

(248) 548-1788 Fax (call first) www.howellmobility.com canes@howellmobility.com

A 2 GB cartridge costs $11.00. A 36-inch USB CABLE costs $3.00. SHIPPING, HANDLING, AND SALES TAX CHARGES Howell MObility Products says: "Shipping and handling rates for small cable and cartridge orders are less than our normal rates. For shipping and handling within the U.S. add $3.00 for up to 10 items. For over 10 items, use the regular rates, which total %5 of your order with a $7.00 minimum. For shipping outside the U.S. please call us. MICHIGAN RESIDENTS please ADD 6% SALES TAX."

4. Vistas Braille Institute 741 North Vermont Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90029 (323) 663-1111, Ext. 1245

(323) 663-0867 Fax www.brailleinstitute.org

Cable order #2141 for $7.95 Cartridge (2 gig) order #21601 $15.95 Shipping charge of $8 per order. Customers outside California pay no state tax. Enjoy, You can have more than one book on a cartridge or flash drive, although we do recommend the use of the cartridges. If you have more than one book on a cartridge, Please follow these steps.

1. hold down the play key for about two seconds, you will hear the player go into bookshelf mode. (If there is only one book on the cartridge, the NLS player will bring up the user manual instead.) In this case, release the play button.

2. When using the Bookshelf mode, use the arrows at each end of the play button to move to the books that are available. When you hear the title you wish to read, simply hit the play button.