Media Production
The DZB offers:
The majority of the DZB media production is available in the library. A smaller contingent can be purchased from our shop. All products are developed and manufactured by well-trained specialists. Most products are in German, but some titles – as for example the world atlas – are also available in other languages.
Braille Books
Currently there are 12,600 titles available in braille. The department for braille production is the biggest department of the DZB. The whole production process, involving the selection of literature by our lectors, transcription into braille, proofreading by a blind and a sighted colleague, printing and bookbinding is conducted in-house.
You can borrow or buy all kinds of literature:
- fiction – novels, short stories, drama, poetry
- non-fiction – biographies, travel guides, cookbooks
- popular science
- school material
- children’s books
Most books are in contracted braille, but there are titles available in non-contracted braille as well.
Talking Books
Talking books are extremely popular among people with print disabilities. The DZB has its own professional recording studio where all our talking books are produced. All the texts are read by professional narrators – often actors or radio presenters. In difference to commercial producers, the DZB does not produce abridged versions of talking books.
All in all we can offer 15,100 talking books: 8,100 of them on tape, 7,000 in the new DAISY-format. Talking books are copied successively from tape onto DAISY-discs. The acronym, DAISY, means “Digital Accessible Information System“. It is a new technological standard that was developed by libraries for the blind from all over the world, to meet the special needs of their users. Other than usual audio-CDs a DAISY-disc contains much more storage capacity. Up to 40 hours of spoken material can be recorded onto one DAISY-disc. Hierarchy levels structure the information on a DAISY-disc and enable the user to navigate freely through the talking book, to jump back and forth from chapter to chapter, to set bookmarks and to regulate the speed of reading. The number of hierarchy levels on a DAISY-disc depends on the kind of information it contains. Usually non-fiction DAISY-books – such as encyclopaedias or cookbooks – display more defined structure than fiction literature.
The international DAISY Consortium, which was founded in 1996, promotes the world wide propagation and standardised development of the DAISY-format. The vision of the consortium is “that one day all published information, at time of release to the general population, will be available in an accessible, highly functional,feature rich format and at no greater cost, to persons with print disabilities”.
To learn more about DAISY visit the website of the DAISY Consortium.
Music Books
Music is an international language that brings people together without words. The production of braille music has had a long tradition in the DZB as Leipzig is a city with a very rich musical tradition. Currently here are approximately 5,500 music braille books in the DZB inventory. We offer mainly piano music, but also music for string instruments, accordion, wind- and plucked string instruments, for chamber music and orchestra music, for vocal music and documentations on music theory.
Braille music also consists of six dots, but it differs from the Braille writing system. Braille music is written in a linear way, which means that all musical signs follow each other. That way the whole music notation can be made accessible to blind people without any limitation.
To support blind musicians and to broaden the supply of braille music, the DZB formed its DACAPO-project in 2003. Cooperation partners are the German Federation of Blind and Visually Impaired People (DBSV) and the German Association of Blind and Partially Sighted Students and Professionals (DVBS). The project aimed at establishing a high capacity transcription service of music notation into braille music and to generate a computer based procedure to produce braille music.
Now the DZB can transcribe any published sheet music quickly and at a reasonable price into braille music for you. It’s also possible the other way around: The DZB converts braille music (in form of data files) into printed sheet music – free of charge.
For more information about the transcription service please contact Matthias Leopold:
phone: +49-341-71 13 190
e-mail: matthias.leopold@dzb.de
Magazines
The DZB publishes 17 magazines for blind and partially sighted users. They are produced in different formats: DAISY, cassette-tape, braille, print and online. All magazines are in German. You can subscribe easily.
If you are interested in our magazines, please consider our German website.
Shop
You receive catalogues of all our products for sell (in German) on our German website.
For more information about our products or placing orders please contact:
phone: +49 - (0)3 41 / 71 13 - 132
e-mail: verlag@dzb.de
On Request
If you are looking for a special product that isn’t listed in our inventory you may place an individual order. The DZB will advise you about the most appropriate way to meet your wishes and demands including a calculation of the cost involved. Realising your order we put highest emphasis on quality and adherence to schedules. We are pleased to fulfil your wishes.
Among others the DZB performs the following services:
braille:
- transcription of published information (in form of data-file or printed text) in contracted or non-contracted braille
- print on paper or PVC-film
- format and cover custom-made
relief:
- transcription of graphical images (in form of data-file or printed image) in tactile relief images
- manufacture of relief films via vacuum-thermoforming process or on capsule paper as a more economic alternative
- combination of the relief with braille and/or large print
audio:
- transcription of published information (in form of data-file or printed text) in DAISY-books or other audio-formats
- recording with professional speakers or synthetic voice
- CD-copy with label, if necessary with additional braille
- copy of audio-tapes with label, if necessary with additional braille
braille music:
- transcription of sheet music into Braille music (DaCapo-project) and vice versa
- format and cover custom-made
For more information please contact Werner Nitschke.
phone: +49 - 3 41 - 71 13 132
e-mail: verlag@dzb.de