1. NIMAC UPDATE Julia Myers May 2008

2. What Is the NIMAC? NIMAC is a central repository for NIMAS file sets. NIMAS file sets are source files that can be used to produce accessible, student-ready specialized formats, such as Braille and audio, for students in K-12 with qualifying disabilities.

3. What does the NIMAC do? The NIMAC receives, reviews, and catalogs publishers' electronic files of print instructional materials in the NIMAS format. We also sign up registered users, provide the searchable web interface, provide feedback to publishers and vendors, and answer questions from NIMAC stakeholders and others. OverDrive, Inc. is the vendor who is providing the database software and off-site storage for the NIMACs file sets.

4. NIMAC Expectations Catalog 2,400 NIMAS file sets per year (Projection provided by AAP and basis for OSEP- approved NIMAC plan/grant request) Register authorized users from 50 states Provide searchable web interface Provide ability for registered users to download files Protect copyright Begin operations by December 4, 2006

5. Key NIMAC Accomplishments Opened for operations, as scheduled, on Dec. 3, 2006. Searchable web interface available for all to search from Dec. 3, 2006. Ability for registered users to download files available from Dec. 3, 2006. Began receiving and processing publisher file submissions from Dec. 3, 2006.

6. Key NIMAC Accomplishments Cataloged and made available for download 6,570 NIMAS file sets in 16 months. This is more than double the projected number of NIMAS file sets NIMAC was built to handle in that time period.

7. Key NIMAC Accomplishments Coordinated with 51 states and outlying areas. NJ, OK, PA and TX currently in process of coordinating. Registered 75 Authorized Users and 55 Accessible Media Producers.

8. Key NIMAC Accomplishments Copyright protection provided via multiple methods, including: Coordination and Limitation of Use Agreements Digital Rights Management (i.e., digital fingerprinting and watermarking of files) Secure environment Two tiered repository access (AUs and AMPs).

9. All Figures Correct as of May 1, 2008 NIMAC: Account Statistics Publishers working with NIMAC: 60 States Coordinating/Outlying Areas: 51 Authorized Users: 75 (from 40 states) Accessible Media Producers (AMPs): 57

10. All Figures Correct as of May 1, 2008 NIMAC: Download Statistics Unique Downloads by AMPs: 128 Unique Downloads by AUs: 345 Total Unique Downloads: 473

11. NIMAC: File Storage Statistics NIMAC files currently mass over 1 TB. NIMAC is receiving 35-60 GB of file sets per week. At current rate, NIMAC will add at least 2 more TB this year.

12. NIMAC: File Storage Statistics To put this in perspective: –2 Terabytes = An academic research library. –10 Terabytes = The print collections of the U.S. Library of Congress. (From "How Much Information", 2003. University of California at Berkeley: Lyman, Peter and Hal R. Varian. Retrieved from http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/how-much-info-2003 on April 15, 2008.

13. Outreach and NIMAC Outreach was an important part of NIMACs work in 2007 and continues to be a key aspect of our work in 2008. NIMAC routinely offers training webcasts and does further outreach through conference calls and participation in conferences and workshops.

14. Outreach in 2007-2008 In 2007/2008, NIMAC conducted 29 Webcast trainings and outreach conference calls with various user groups. Participants included: Authorized Users; NIMAC State Coordinators; NIMAS/NIMAC coordinators; vendors; publishers; and Accessible Media Producers. Conference calls and meetings with individual publishers, state or local educational agency staff, NIMAC Advisory Council, OSEP, OverDrive were also conducted.

15. More Outreach in 2007/2008… NIMAC staff presented at: Two webinars hosted by other organizations: EASI and the National Center on Disability & Access to Education (NCDAE)

16. More Outreach in 2007/2008… NIMAC staff also presented at: Fifteen conferences & workshops, including: NIMAS Development Committee; New York Institute of Special Education; Association of American Publishers RPAC; SLATE; IRCBVI; State Vision Consultants; APH Annual Meeting; FL AFB NIMAS Training; Getting In Touch With Literacy ; APH ESAC and EPAC; NIMAS Implementation Council; NIMAS Standard Board; CA AFB NIMAS Training ; CTEVH; PA AER

17. Challenges for NIMAC Number of files being received is 5 times greater than planned Metadata errors in the OPFs of almost 2/3 NIMAS file sets received Size of files being received versus those provided for NIMAC in development File size driven by images File size affects uploading and processing from publishers as well as downloading by NIMAC users

18. Plan versus Reality File sizes larger than plannedWhy? –Few files received in development phase and those averaged 30 MB –Largest file received in development phase was 200 MB –Reality is that files of 7 GB have been received and 10 GB to 12 GB have been forecast by publishers

19. Plan versus Reality Thousands more NIMAS file sets received than planned, per estimate by AAPWhy? –Published after effective date versus sold after: thousands of file sets are pre-2006 (about 25% of total file sets in NIMAC inventory are pre-2006.)

20. Plan versus Reality –Unanticipated materials: receiving flash cards, black line masters, sections of Teacher editions, etc. (Only about 20% of certified file sets to date are textbooks.) –State editions –Supplementary Readers: 4,473 of the 6,570 accepted files are readers

21. Files, Files, Files Number of file sets is a capacity issue –NIMAC funded and staffed to handle 2,400 a year. –NIMAC certified 6,570 NIMAS file sets in only 16 months. –OverDrive was contracted to handle 2,400 NIMAS file sets a year, with an anticipated NIMAS file set size much less than what we actually are receiving.

22. Files, Files, Files For full 5-year grant, NIMAC was prepared to handle 12,000 NIMAS file sets. In less than 16 months, NIMAC has received 12,000 NIMAS file sets. In first third of 2008, NIMAC certified 2,590 NIMAS file sets. NIMAC received 4,000 file sets in March and April 2008.

23. Errors in OPF Files NIMAS file sets deposited typically pass validation of XML. NIMAS file sets (64%) frequently have errors in OPFthe packing slip that describes the NIMAS file set. The impact on NIMAC workload is substantial.

24. Errors in OPF Files High file resubmission rate increases NIMAC workload by about 2/3 as files must be reviewed a second time after correction. Publishers/vendors often take weeks or even months to correct and resubmit file sets. Ultimately, this delays the availability of NIMAS files as files must be corrected and resubmitted by publisher/vendor.

25. Images and File Size Images--their number and size--drive NIMAS File size. NIMAS File sets received can be 7 GB and may reach 12 GB in size--or more. NIMAS Textbook Files contain thousands of images. File size can mean slow downloading, even for those with fast connections. (T-1 is dial-up slow at these sizes.)

26. Images and File Size PNGs are 5-10 times larger than JPEG. NIMAS File size in context: typically a 90-minute movie is less than 1 GB. (This is due to compression method used for MPEG.) Impact: Huge file sizes are a considerable obstacle for end users attempting to download files as well as for publishers submitting files for batch load.

27. NIMAC Seeking Solutions: File Sizes Decrease file sizes, retain image quality –Best practices for compression and creation of images (e.g. not from layout, not cropped, techniques for recurring images) –Consultant will be engaged to develop these best practices –Share best practices with publishers

28. NIMAC Seeking Solutions: Number of Files Currently, NIMAC is expanding capacity by using overtime, contract staff and staff loaned from other APH depts. OverDrive has added staff, servers, multiple times to handle volume. OverDrive is loading files continuously--24/7.

29. NIMAC Seeking Solutions: Number of Files Short term, NIMAC will ask publishers to label voluntary submissions as such so that file submissions required by a contract or purchase agreement may receive priority processing. Long term, the solution is to increase capacity to match reality. Increasing capacity will be discussed with OSEP.

30. NIMAC Seeking Solutions: Errors in OPF Reconsider value of metadata in OPF; consider not requiring corrections for metadata in OPF or corrections only for select fields. Metadata in searchable database, XML data, and PDF would still be required to be correct.

31. NIMAC Seeking Solutions: Errors in OPF Expand OPF pilot project NIMAC corrects OPF and sends corrected version to publisher. Publishers may take weeks or even months to correct and reload NIMAS file sets rejected for OPF errors, even though NIMAC provides a detailed report of how to correct the errors. Pilot project goal is to speed this process.

32. NIMAC Seeking Solutions: Errors in OPF Continue and expand publisher/vendor training, conference calls, and pre-review of sample OPFs. Meet with publishers in first AAP/NIMAC conference in June to provide training and focus on improvements.

33. NIMAC System Development: Key Remaining Issues System development on hold due to need to shift all OverDrive resources to handle processing of high volume of NIMAS file submissions. Louis/NIMAC federated search is on development list. APH is pleased to announce that we have contracted with Firebrand Technologies to move Louis to a new system that will support federated search via OAI.

34. Upcoming and Continuing NIMAC Outreach Webcast Trainings for AUs and AMPs Quarterly Conference Calls for Publishers NIMAC Advisory Council (Quarterly) NIMAC User Group (Bimonthly)

35. NIMAC Team Julia Myers, Project Director Nicole Gaines, NIMAC Manager Anne Ledford, NIMAC Support Specialist Tiffany Bradford, NIMAC Support Specialist OverDrive NIMAC Team

36. How to Reach Us http://www.nimac.us 502-899-2230 1-877-526-4622 (1-877-52-NIMAC) NIMAC@aph.org