What is DAISY?
RNIB Talking Books are produced in a unique way using DAISY audio. This
means you can:
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Change CDs or take a break from reading without losing your place. The player will remember where you stopped in any talking book, even if you eject the CD, and will restart exactly where you left off.
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Bookmark a section or passage for future reference - perfect for study material or finding a favourite recipe, for example.
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Skip quickly and easily to the right chapter or phrase in your talking book.
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Customise the volume and speed on the player to suit you.
That was the easy explanation. Now for all the technology buffs out there, here's the much more technical explanation:
DAISY stands for Digital Accessible Information System.
DAISY is now a recognised worldwide standard for audio, developed by the DAISY Consortium. This Consortium, formed in May 1996, includes worldwide representation from a wide cross section of organisations including charities such as RNIB and commercial organisations like Microsoft.
DAISY is a digital reading format that can combine audio, text and graphical information in one production, making it accessible to a wide range of people with print disabilities.
DAISY can be played on a standalone DAISY player, or by using DAISY software player on a computer.
Benefits of DAISY
Navigation
DAISY makes it easier to move around the audio.
DAISY text can be recorded on up to six heading levels which enables the reader to navigate through the recording by section, sub-section, chapter and pages, depending on how the book has been structured.
For instance, RNIB's DAISY TV listings allows the reader to jump by day, channel, time of day and finally to each programme.
Bookmarks can also be inserted at any point, and the "resume" function means that playback continues from the point the reader left off, rather than at the beginning as with conventional CDs.
Lots onto little
Large amounts of content can be compressed onto one DAISY CD. As a general rule, around 25 hours of audio can be recorded on a DAISY CD with no noticeable deterioration in the sound quality.
Multimedia
DAISY books can incorporate text, graphics and audio into one publication, allowing the reader to view the text at the same time as listening to it, such as on a computer screen.
Listening to DAISY books
To take full advantage of a DAISY books features, you will need a DAISY player or specially designed software on your computer, both of which can be purchased from the online shop.
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A DAISY player is similar to a CD player allowing you to access tracks very quickly and flexibly. Some smaller players use memory cards rather than CDs and require DAISY books to be transferred to the memory card using a computer.
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The range of players available from RNIB cater for different needs, from portable players ideal for leisure reading to high performance players for work or study. For more information you can read our guide to choosing a DAISY player.
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Some household CD players will be able to play DAISY books if they have been designed to play the MP3 format (a common format for audio files).
Getting DAISY books
With thousands of books covering the classics to contemporary fiction, there is plenty to choose from:
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DAISY books are available for loan on disc from the Talking Book Service.
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You can browse and buy from our catalogue of over 12,000 DAISY books at the RNIB Book Site.
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You can read DAISY books immediately through your internet connection from the BookStream book club.
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Some RNIB magazines are available in DAISY, including 'DAISY TV Listings' which provides details of programmes on the main terrestrial channels and 20 popular satellite and Freeview channels.
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You can find out about the latest DAISY books in New Books, a regular update of new titles available for loan and sale from RNIB.
Watermarking on RNIB Talking Books
RNIB adds a digital watermark to all Talking Book discs for loan. This security measure enables us to identify any Talking Book that appears illegally on the internet and track it back to the person it was issued to.
We have taken this step because there is increasing evidence of the misuse of Talking Book content on the internet and this could have severe implications in terms of our relationship with publishers.
Watermarking does not interfere with the way you receive or listen to Talking Books from RNIB National Library Service.