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The Newsletter of COTIS
The Confederation of Transcribed Information Services
To promote the provision of information in alternative formats to print
Editor - Linda Pearce, Email:
ontrack@cotis.org.uk .
Project Office, 67 High Street, Tarporley, Cheshire, CW6 ODP. Tel: 01829-733351
(Answerphone)
Reg Charity No: 299024 © Issue 39 - October 2001
WHO? WHAT DO THEY DO THEN?
THE INSIDE STORY
Monument Tape Services have been around for about 20 years, but there are still a lot of people who have never heard of them or know very little about them! So, what are their origins? Where are they, and what do they do?
Dave Inness, the main driving force behind Monument, is probably the best person to answer those questions, so we asked him to give us a few facts.
Where did it all start? I suppose the answer to that is, early one Saturday evening in November 1974. I had gone to pick up my wife from work, and we were on our way home when suddenly it happened … Well, I'm not sure exactly what did happen! The last thing I remember was seeing people at the bus stop.
It was now Sunday, and I had woken up in hospital in Taunton and couldn't see a damned thing. I was told that I had been in a rather nasty accident and that we had been hit, broadside on, by a large and powerful motorcycle. Apparently the handlebar had come in through my open side window and had dealt me a rather nasty blow in the head. The result, a severed optic nerve in my left eye and considerable retina and other damage to my right eye. It seemed that there was very little hope of regaining much, if any, useful sight. I am sure that without the expertise of the medical staff, it could have been a very different story. Perhaps no story at all. At least I was still around to tell it!
After a few weeks I was out of hospital, but where did I go from there? I was 35 at the time, married with a young family and the related financial commitments. I must admit that finding a job was not a particularly high priority at the time, but finding something to occupy my time was! Where did my interests lie, what hobbies could I take up? My main adult interests and knowledge revolved around cars, motorbikes, and other mechanical objects. Hmmm; how can I fill my time, I'd have to give that one some more thought.
What about finding a job that actually paid money? Bills don't pay themselves. At the time of my accident I had been working as a sales manager for a small horticultural engineering company. Before that, I had worked in a paper mill, been a long distance lorry driver, driven earth moving machinery on a motorway construction job and been an assistant warehouse manager in the building trade.
Obviously these were all areas of work now well and truly in the past, so what did the future hold? In the mid 1970s, rural Somerset and the South West as a whole was not exactly brimming with potential employment opportunities for someone with a major sight problem. By the middle of 1977, I was told "there might be a job" in Bridgewater, and "there could possibly be a job" in Bournemouth. From where I was living, Bridgewater was not the easiest of places to get to on a daily basis and I was not prepared to move to Bournemouth. It seemed to me that paid employment was pretty much a non-starter, but I would still need to do something to keep my mind and body in an active mode.
The idea of running some sort of recording service had first come up in 1976 when I had spent several weeks at the RNIB assessment centre in Torquay and also at the Guide Dog centre in Exeter. Personal conversations at both places seemed to point me in the direction of a much earlier fringe interest - back to my days at school in London. Then, at about 13 or 14, I would go round to a mate's house and we would play around with a couple of tape recorders.
Back at home again with a guide dog, walking the country lanes, I had plenty of time to ponder the idea. Then in 1977, along with a couple of friends and the help of a local shop dealing in secondhand hi-fi equipment, I got a few pieces of equipment together. We made one or two recordings and sent them to people I had met in Torquay or Exeter and also to some of the people I had met during 1975 on my various short stays at Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge. Soon we were recording a variety of material, including an instruction book for a new piece of equipment, even a list of insurance companies someone wanted to contact. After about 12 months, it was all getting too big to carry on. I needed more help, more equipment, and for everything to be put on a more formal basis.
I asked around and gathered a few more interested people together. After a couple of meetings, it was decided to apply for charitable status, raise more funds and get more equipment. Fortunately, by this time I had moved to much larger premises and decided that all recording operations would be conducted from what was originally a hay loft, now converted to a useful room, about 20 feet long by 14 feet wide. Maybe not ideal, but it had good solid walls and plenty of room for tables, worktops along one wall, shelving and a couple of cupboards.
This is where the 'Monument' part of our name came into the picture. I had been familiar with these premises for a number of years and knew that, from a circular landing window just outside the door to the hay loft, it was possible to look across to the Blackdown Hills and almost central in the view would be the Wellington Monument.
The more general 'Tape Services' was because we did not want to be tied to any particular area of production. The aim was to make the service available on a national basis and to cover as many aspects of recording as the need demanded. We would deal with anything from a one-off simple knitting pattern for an individual through to the recording of reports and minutes for small groups. We also started one or two monthly magazines and undertook the transfer of recordings from open-reel tapes to cassette. A lady was so pleased when we transferred a recording of her own wedding, made for her by a friend many years before, but which she had never been able to listen to. I'm sure it brought back many happy memories.
Monument carried on operating from the converted hay loft until 1987 when, for various practical and economic reasons, the big house in the country was sold and we moved the whole operation to premises in Wellington.
Our studio arrangements were now much improved and we again looked at the possibility of upgrading equipment. We quickly graduated from a reasonably acceptable TEAC mixing desk to a professional 12 channel broadcast quality Allen and Heath 'Studio 12'. Not cheap, but well worth the money! It wasn't long before we also upgraded our cassette Mastering machines; we had been using a couple of Marantz Superscope (models C-205 and CD330) but they were getting a bit tired, so we decided to go for a pair of Aiwa XK007s. Again excellent machines that gave good service and were only recently replaced with two Tascam 122Mk3s.
We were soon receiving requests to produce special interest magazines on topics such as amateur and CB radio, audio and hi-fi equipment, personal computers, country music magazines and a few of the original monthly magazines of a more general nature.
A year or so on, we were asked if we were interested in recording, copying and distributing in-house newsletters for another organisation. We had expanded our copying capacity considerably and were easily able to take on the extra work.
In 1996, major building work brought major disruption to studio activity for longer than anticipated. With the steadily increasing workload, extra space was needed to allow for easier working, more shelving and storage of tapes. Plans for a single storey extension, about the size of a large single garage, were submitted, but permission was refused, we appealed but were again turned down. Subsequently, this refusal turned out to have worked in our favour. Another architect - a friend of one of our readers - came up with a rather more elaborate idea but one that he was sure would be approved. It was, and we gained nearly 400 square feet of extra floor space instead of the 200 or so in the previous application. It involved complete demolition and clearing of the original single storey building and replacing it with a new one, gaining some extra width, plus a second floor with several feet being gained in the length of the upper floor.
One or two added complications were encountered during the early stages of rebuild; drains not being where the plan said they were and a couple of high voltage power cables that were not even on the plan (surprise, surprise).
However, that's all in the past and we now have a much better copying area, more storage space, and another room that can eventually be used either as a second studio or as an editing suite. The latter option will free up the main studio for other recording work. It also means that either of the studios or the copying room can be used completely independently of each other. The second studio is immediately above the main studio. If necessary, the two studios can be linked for combined audio work through a selective talkback system, which is already installed in the main studio control room, and which links the technician/sound engineer with either of two main readers/programme presenters.
Current studio production work consists of four monthly magazines with two more held on the back burner waiting for suitable readers.
The magazines are Audio & HiFi Roundup, a general collection of equipment reviews, Home and Studio Recording, an updated version of a magazine we used to produce 7 or 8 years ago, Nostalgia, a self-explanatory title, and The Somerset Magazine which is a general look around the county at current and historical events. The two titles on hold are The Country Music Magazine and Digits. Both will be of interest to those who want to know both about the music and the people behind it. Other work includes documents for Somerset County Council and other local authorities; information documents for an agency based in London; and the Newsletter of Somerset Association for the Blind. We also deal with a fairly wide range of other material from theatre programmes to annual reports; copy and distribute newsletters for other organisations and, if required, keep appropriate despatch records.
We don't do as much recording for individuals now as we used to, mainly due to the problem of finding reliable home readers with suitable equipment. It is also partly due to the lack of anyone being available to regularly administer and maintain an efficient home reader aspect to the service. I am afraid that most of my admin time is taken up with attending to studio-related work. Although we have a small number of home readers, and would like to have a few more, until the admin side can be resolved, we intend to keep a fairly low profile in that direction.
For the future? Well, nothing stands still, but I reckon tape will be around for a few years yet and, as long as it is, we shall stick with it. That's not to say that we shall remain entirely analogue. Digital technology has an ever-increasing place in the world of audio and we will be considering the various options available. I have a feeling that in another 12 months or so, maybe sooner, we will probably be running analogue and digital systems alongside each other. I see big advantages in digital editing, even if the final product is then transferred back to tape for duplication. Tape is still a very convenient and reasonably priced medium for many people, but I am sure that something as convenient, maybe even more so, will come along to replace it. So even those without computers and access to the internet, e-mail, and the wonderful world of websites, will still be able to have access to information.
If anyone would like to know more about Monument Tape Services or maybe are looking for somewhere to get some recording, copying and/or distribution work done, drop a line to:
MTS LABSOUND, PO Box 19, Wellington, Somerset TA21 8HB or give them a call on 01823 662104. (Sorry - no e-mail.)
[If you would like to tell the story of your service please get in touch. Ed]
Subscriptions are now due for the year 1 September 2001 to 31 August 2002. The rates remain at £6 for an individual and £12 for an organisation for a further year. If you have not yet paid for this current year, the invoice is enclosed with this issue of On Track or has been sent directly to your treasurer. Please continue to support the work of COTIS through your membership and with your expertise.
This year our AGM is taking place at RNIB in Peterborough. We are holding a business session only, which should last about an hour. Come and meet us and put your views forward.
Return the completed form enclosed with this issue, so that we know to expect you. We may be able to help with transport from the station if you are travelling by train.
We are using a teleconference system (called Scottie!) and it will allow six
people to join in by telephone. There are two spaces available. Please contact
the COTIS office to book one of the spaces. Telephone: 01829 733351 or
email: administrator@cotis.org.uk
First come, first served!
Would you like to join the committee? We hold two or three face to face meetings a year, otherwise we conduct our business by teleconference. This reduces not only the time needed for meetings and travel, but also the 'hassle factor' of delays, and it cuts costs too. Do complete and return the Nomination Form. You may nominate yourself.
Saturday 10 November 2001
RNIB, Bakewell Road
Orton Southgate
Peterborough PE2 6XU
AGM: 11.30 am - 12.30 pm
Welcome tea/coffee from 11 am.
11.30 am.
Ruth Frampton, Winnie Morrell and Deane Houston retire by rotation. They have all declared their willingness to stand for re-election.
The Accreditation Scheme - Colin Antwis
Close
(NB Minutes of the last AGM were in the May 2001 issue of On Track. Please
let us know if you need another copy.)
Charity: COTIS - Confederation of Transcribed Information Services Charity Commission Reference Number: 299024 |
|||
| £ | £ | £ | |
| Opening balances: | |||
| Bank accounts | 2,732.74 | ||
| Building Society account | 18,847.42 | ||
| Petty cash | 51.49 | ||
| 21,631.65 | |||
| Income: | |||
| Subscriptions | 854.00 | ||
| Sale of Guidelines | 485.36 | ||
| Sale of Self-help tapes | 146.60 | ||
| Donations | 1,715.21 | ||
| Bank interest | 18.78 | ||
| Building Society interest | 683.15 | ||
| 3,903.10 | |||
| Expenditure: | |||
| Committee members travel/ Subsistence/room bookings | 1,457.61 | ||
| Telephone conferences | 190.74 | ||
| Guidelines | 65.34 | ||
| Miscellaneous | 127.18 | ||
| Contract work | 8,340.60 | ||
| 10,181.47 | |||
| Deficit | (6,278.37) | ||
| Closing balances: | |||
| Bank accounts | 1,771.22 | ||
| Building Society account | 13,530.57 | ||
| Petty cash | 51.49 | ||
| 15,353.28 | |||
| Prepared by Linda Pearce Treasurer | |||
| Checked by L J Plumb ACCA | |||
by Colin Anwtis, committee member.
Access to information is a basic human right. Why is it then, that the process of producing material that conveys information is not governed by a set of standards or a Code of Practice?
Those for whom print is not the preferred method of communication, have a right to expect their braille, Moon, large print and audio presentation to be of an acceptable and like standard from whatever source it originates.
That's why COTIS, in liaison with user groups has recently established a set of checklists, against which the suitability of produced material can be measured. Material taken from the market place will be assessed by individuals on our User Panels, whose daily use of braille, audio, Moon or large print will bring the essentials of their experience in applying the checklist to the process.
Action takes more than legislation (eg the Disability Discrimination Act); gaining people's hearts and minds through understanding and awareness is the key to making progress.
COTIS needs your help to change the way people think, behave and provide information. Becoming a member of one of our User Panels will ensure we get a truly representative view of material to be accredited.
If you wish to become a Panellist, ring Colin or Sheila, informing us of the Panel you wish to join, either braille, audio tape, large print or Moon. When the Accreditation begins in earnest early in 2002, you will then receive the relevant Questionnaire Checklist, together with a sample of material.
Contact: The COTIS Project Office, 67 High Street, Tarporley, Cheshire CW6 0DP or telephone 01829 733351 or Email: administrator@cotis.org.uk .
by Marilyn Oldershaw, Copyright Officer, RNIB.
Although the Joint Industry Guidelines on Copyright and Visually Impaired People have already been distributed and hopefully, are being used, the Publishers' Licensing Society is hosting the official launch of the guidelines and the Publishers' Brochure on October 31 at the British Library. All organisations represented on the Copyright Round Table have been invited to attend and meet publishers and authors' agents who are interested in our work, so this will be a great opportunity to discuss problems and possible solutions in a relaxed and informal setting.
Amongst other things, we will be telling them that although the guidelines have made life easier for some teachers and librarians who only need one copy of a book, they unfortunately do nothing to alleviate delays caused by copyright clearance procedures
Those of you who have seen the guidelines will probably agree that the language and literary style is not very helpful and can cause confusion. However, this was the language insisted upon by the rights holders and their lawyers! If anyone has any comments or queries, I would be very interested to hear from them, not only to clarify any uncertainties but also because it will help in the composition of a planned RNIB Fact Sheet, which will aim to present the guidelines in plain English.
The guidelines and brochure are of course very welcome, and already there is evidence that some schools and libraries are finding the guidelines useful. However, the need for new copyright legislation is as urgent as ever and so the campaign continues. The Government's consultation is now closed and we have taken the opportunity to begin plans to put forward a private members' bill which would allow the transformatting and production of multiple copies without the permission of rights holders. If this fails, there are other routes open to us and so this is a very busy and exciting time.
by Linda Pearce, committee member.
Winnie Morrell and I, both committee members, represented COTIS at the conference. This year it was held in Edinburgh. (A bus tour, as the final event, showed what a beautiful city it is.)
As delegates to the conference, we found much of relevance and interest, from recruiting volunteers to help with reading, and even a made to measure database to speed up the administration for Talking Newspaper groups. The speakers were entertaining and kept their audience involved. A very important aspect was the free time, when we had the opportunity to meet and chat with others
Congratulations to the winners of the tape competitions. The winner of the TNAUK Award for Excellence was West Shropshire Talking Newspaper, and of the TNAUK Talking Newspaper of the Year was Havant Borough Talking Newspaper.
A great deal of interest was expressed in the COTIS guidance notes and self-help tapes, with most queries being about reading skills. Both Winnie and I found the weekend not only enjoyable but also worthwhile. Thank you to all those involved.
by Linda Pearce, Editor
On Track brings to your attention details about equipment, materials and services that COTIS feels will be of interest to you. Please note that this is for your information only. COTIS is not endorsing them or making any recommendations. Equally, reviews are personal comments by the writers of the articles.
Please remember - if you would like to submit an article or send details of
any forthcoming events which may be of interest to COTIS members, the latest
dates by which material should reach the editor are:
18 September for October's issue,
6 January for January's issue and
1 May for May's issue.
© Written permission to use any On Track article or other COTIS
material to be obtained from
The COTIS Secretary, Project Office, 67 High Street, Tarporley,
Cheshire, CW6 0DP, tel: 01829-733351 (answerphone), or Email:
ontrack@cotis.org.uk .
or from the On Track editor.
Saturday 10 November 2001
RNIB, Bakewell Road, Orton Southgate
Peterborough PE2 6XU
Please complete this slip if you wish to nominate someone for election to the Committee and return it by Friday 2 November 2001 to The COTIS Project Office, 67 High Street, Tarporley, Cheshire, CW6 0DP.
Name of person nominated:
Name of organisation represented, if applicable:
Name of proposer:
Name of seconder:
I confirm that the nominee as named above has given his/her verbal/written agreement to be nominated
Signed:
Date:
To give us an idea of numbers, please complete and return this page to COTIS Project Office, 67 High Street, Tarporley, Cheshire CW6 0DP by Monday 5 November 2001 only if you will be attending the AGM.
Name(s):
Organisation:
will be attending the AGM on Saturday 10 November.
*I (we) will be arriving by car:
*I (we) will be arriving by train from:
arriving at:
Please arrange a shared taxi if possible.
Contact telephone number to confirm details:
*Delete as appropriate.
If arriving by train, it is simplest to take a taxi. However, the fare is about £10 each way, so we will help people to share, if possible. Please complete and return the form enclosed with this issue to let us know your time of arrival. There should be no problems about arranging a shared taxi for the return trip.
Orton Southgate is very close to the A1, so it helps to approach from this road.
COTIS, Project Office, 67 High Street, Tarporley, Cheshire, CW6 0DP, United Kingdom.
Telephone: +44 (0)1829 733351
Email: administrator@cotis.org.uk
COTIS President: Sir John A. Wall - Charity Number 299024
COTIS Web Site last updated 24th June 2005