Attachment J2 - SPEC 410.pdf

BACKGROUND

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) of the Library of Congress administers a free library service to eligible residents of the United States and citizens living abroad who cannot hold, handle, or read traditional print media because of visual or physical handicaps.

Using federal funds, NLS annually publishes approximately 2,000 books and 70 magazines on cassettes, on discs, and in braille. Titles are selected to appeal to a wide variety of interests, and copyright permission is obtained from authors and publishers. Books and magazines are narrated and duplicated at a high-quality professional standard. The quantity produced of any title is dependent on anticipated reader demand.

Playback machines and their accessories are designed to facilitate convenient use by handicapped people and to provide maximum reliability under environmental conditions that are sometimes harsh and handling that may be technically unsophisticated or inadvertently abusive. The equipment plays program materials at noncommercial speeds: 8-1/3 rpm for discs and 15/16 ips, 4-track for cassettes. All materials and equipment in the program can be sent to users and returned to libraries postage free.

A cooperating network of 56 regional libraries and more than 100 subregional libraries circulates recorded and braille books to some 700,000 adults and children out of a potential three million eligible population. Magazine subscriptions are provided on a direct-mail basis from the manufacturers. Users must generally deal with service centers in distant cities with communication by mail or phone and little or no personal contact. Everything comes and goes through a mail-order system. Fifty percent of the users are over sixty-four years old, and many depend on the NLS program for their major source of entertainment and connection with the world; 95 percent read recorded materials, 5 percent read braille.

Users are informed about new books, magazines, and services through bimonthly publications, annual catalogs, and subject bibliographies produced by NLS, and through various publications produced and circulated by the regional and subregional libraries.

USER MATERIALS

Contractors who consider submission of a bid to produce books, equipment, or other program products should be cognizant of the consumer-responsive nature of the program, and that the specifications for these products have been developed to meet the special reader needs in the program. Materials are produced with those reader needs foremost in mind, and improved through constant monitoring and consumer input. Contractors are expected to familiarize themselves with the equipment-handling practices of blind and physically handicapped clientele and ensure that the equipment they produce will stand up under this type of use. A high degree of quality workmanship and product reliability is mandated by the product specification.

NLS

Specification #410

October 1988i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

1. SCOPE

2. APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

3. REQUIREMENTS

3.1 Label Dimensions

3.2 Printed Information

3.3 Typeface

3.4 Label Material

3.5 Adhesive

4. PREPARATION FOR DELIVERY

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1. SCOPE

This specification establishes design layout requirements for carton labels used to identify forms, publications, accessories and other bulk packed material shipments from the National Library Service or one of its contractors to multistate centers, regional and subregional libraries, and other destinations as required.

2. APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

None

3. REQUIREMENTS

3.1 Label Dimensions

See Figure 1.

3.2 Printed Information

See Instructions for Use of NLS Carton Labels.

3.3 Typeface

Print shall be black, Times Roman Bold or equivalent. The equivalent of Times Roman Bold shall be a typeface which is identical or almost identical to Times Roman Bold but may have a different name.

3.4 Label Material

Label material shall be white paper stock.

3.5 Adhesive

Labels shall be pre-pasted, with water activated adhesive material that will guarantee adhesion to standard cardboard or corrugated board shipping containers.

4. PREPARATION FOR DELIVERY

Packaging of labels shall be at the discretion of the printer or manufacturer.

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INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE OF NLS CARTON LABELS

1. Labels are to be used on bulk packed materials shipped from NLS or its contractors to multistate centers, regional and subregional libraries, or other destinations.

2. Carton labels have areas to be marked at shipment as follows (see Figure 1):

a. Item (Description of contents)

For publications, this would be the title of the item. If a publication date exists, it is to be included, e.g., Cassette Book Catalog 1987. MSC stock number CA087.

For forms, this would be the form number and title, e.g., Transfer of Patrons 73-124.

MSC stock number FR124.

For machine operating instructions, the model number must be included, e.g., E-1 Cassette Machine Instructions. MSC stock number PN181B.

For reference circulars and bibliographies, the number must be included, e.g., Magazines in Special Media (78-3).

For braille books, this would be the book number and the number of cartons per title, e.g., BR 6142, 1 of 2 or 2 of 2.

b. NLS/MSC Stock Number

Enter the alpha-numeric NLS/MSC stock number, e.g., CR087.

c. Format

Indentification of the format of the materials in the carton is most important. Mark this:

print, large print, disc, cassette, braille or other as required.

d. LOC Purchase Order/Contract Number

List the Library of Congress purchase order or contract number.

e. Number of Boxes in Shipment

List the number of the carton. If there is more than one box in the shipment, number each box, e.g., Box 1 of 2, or 2 of 2.

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f. Date Shipped (Month/Year)

Enter the month and year the cartons were prepared for shipment.

g. Total Quantity Per Box

List the total quantity in the carton being labeled, e.g., the quantity in this carton may be 100; the quantity in all other cartons in the shipment could be 50.

h. Quantity Per Unit Pack

Fill in only if there are inner packages of the contents, e.g., list the quantity per inner package.

3. The address label for the recipient is place in the mailing label location.