Serving the elderly

[Sara Weissman/Morris Cty Library]

    I've been invited to atone for my 1:30AM gaffe by discussing services to the
  elderly...oh oh! Hot button...see, I feel that our libraries, as presently
  structured, to a large degree disenfranchise what in the States are now
  being called the extreme elderly. Now, there are basic reference room
  techniques like: have magnifying glasses! fetch their books..be prepared
  to do their xeroxing for them ..and there are human interaction issues
  like...speak slowly and carefully, look right at them, move to an area
  where you can yell if you have to, etc. But this is Web4Lib...so..what
  did I do to my father's computer? Slowed the mouseclick, enlarged screen
  font (gave him a Performa...the same design for disabled students works
  well for the elderly) ..lately asked him if a large trackball would work
  better for slighty arthritic hands. We are looking into an evaluation
  copy of WebSpeak for the library; this has already been discussed here,
  yes? Design of pages for the elderly, I would think, should follow many
  of the guidelines for low vision design (www.gti.net/mocolib1/assist.html
  ..bear with us; it's not finished yet.) We haven't, but I would love to
  see at least one machine with a menu designed for older users...this
  would be a short menu, with their high demand needs ...medical, pharmaceuti-
cal, retirement ...(be this a web page you wrote or your networked CD-ROMs).
  I also learned, the hard way, that seniors need a whole separate Internet
  instruction class...no more than three rows deep, for hearing....either
  an enormous screen or just handouts..paper they know and many cannot
  take notes in the dark. BUT! they have also over 4 yrs been my very
  best Internet students..they know learning something new takes work,
  they have time to invest in it ..and most have lived through everything from
 the  advent of cars to man walking on the moon...Internet?! Pfffft...just
  another of many marvels in their lifetime. Show them the Fox Movietone
  archives, the American Memory collection, travel planners ...want
  to *galvanize* them? Go to the local Senior Center and do a session on
  how they can put up a memory or genealogy page for their grandchildren.
  There is more, but I ramble ..in sum: our generation will be pretty
  computer saavy seniors (I want a nursing home with an Internet feed!)
  but right now: we have rendered libraries unrecognizable to most over
  the age of 60 (at least) ...we need to intrepret, translate, what we
  have done to information access for them, in type sizes, colors, and
  at speeds they can comprehend. People with arthritis have trouble typing! 

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