Digital Book Library Information

This unique library is a special system to make printed books, magazines or texts accessible to visually impaired users. Digital texts, mostly in plain text format, are available for download here. Digital format is one of few options visually impaired reader has got should he or she need to access a broad variety of information, or wants to learn or just get amused.

The library was established in 1993, and starting from 2003 it had been changing dramatically so that it fully keeps up with standards of modern library. In 2010 it underwent a last sweeping improvement, when its user interface was redesigned, user options were broadened and thanks to Thinline company the whole system could have been moved to higher-performance server with 24x7 supervision.

Current library features include:

• comfortable search
• assigning each book to all of its applicable genres
• comfortable listing in newly added books and magazines
• news by email – one may set his/her own preferred book genres or magazines
• the library is capable of displaying all books of a specific series
• and much much more

Each document is assigned an “library record”, holding variety of information on the book or magazine edition. The library holds alongside to ordinary information like author, title, subtitle or publisher also information on number of pages of the printed source, name of the translator, edition name, publication date or publication serial. There are also pieces of information special to the digital form like size in kilobytes, whether or not is the text aligned, what codepage does it use, whether it is in plaintext, Word’s .doc or other format, whether the book has been scanned or gained directly from the publisher, etc. The user is also presented a number of overall downloads and thus may indirectly reveal the book popularity. Such a wide variety of stored data allows for searching according to variety of criteria and settings. Once a proper document is found, the registered user may download its associated text file and read it on his/her PC. Using designated software one may convert the document even into MP3 format and read it anywhere on a way using his/her MP3 player.

It would not be possible to put the new library in order without sponsor gift of Rotary International and its respective service clubs.

Becoming library user

To become a registered user, you have to be a citizen of the Czech Republic, have a residence address therein , be over 15 years old and have a special disability card (ZTP) issued by Czech authorities for your severe visual impairment. You also have to be a enough-skilled with your PC equipped with assistive software and last of all you have to have an Internet connection available. Once all above described conditions are met, you may ask for registration within the Digital Book Library.

The Library is accessible at http://www.kdd.cz. It fully complies with par 38 of Czech Copyright Act, i.e. Law No. 121/2000 Coll. On copyright, as amended.