Organisations
involved in production of Braille, Talking or Large print Books for persons who
cannot read normal print created a forum called the DAISY Forum of India (DFI).
This forum was constituted in April 2007.
There
are various organizations in India, which are involved in the production of
Braille Books, Talking Books and E-text Books. There are several issues that
these organizations have to confront which can be solved only if we all work
together. More over, transition from analogue to digital technology in
production and reading of accessible books needs technical support and sharing
of best practices. Thus the DAISY Forum of India has been constituted to work
together on these issues and to provide support to each other.
· Members can get a copy of a book
produced by any other member of the forum.
· All members join a mailing list
where problems and solutions are shared which works as a very effective way of
trouble shooting and technical support any time any where.
· Systematic approach of production of
reading materials covering all parts of the country
· Training and Technical support
· Participation in combine projects
for production and distribution of accessible books.
· Becoming a part of world wide
network of libraries and organizations.
Primarily,
NGOs or Non Profit Organizations can become the member of this Forum. These
members would fall in following categories:
a. Primary Members: Non Profit Charitable Organizations
who produce at least 1000 pages in DAISY format annually could become the
primary members of the Consortium by paying one time fee of Rs. 1,000/-. These
1000 pages can include any format out of Braille, Talking Book or E-text
produced in accordance to DAISY Standards. The clause of 1000 pages of
production will be valid from 2nd year of the inception of the
forum. Thus, if any organization doesn’t have any production at the time of
inception can still become a primary member but will have to produce at least
1000 pages of accessible materials with in this first year. Organisations with
multiple production centres could apply for multiple membership (one per
production centre).
b. Associate Members: Non Profit Charitable Organization
involved in distribution of accessible materials can become the associate
members of the Consortium by paying one time fee of Rs. 1,000/-.
c. Development Partners: Such organization who
wishes to contribute by research and development activities in support of the
above proposed Forum may be termed as Development Partners.
d. Government
Departments/Agencies concerned with the issue.
e. Friends
of the Consortium: A category of members who will be called Friends which
will primarily be commercial companies or enterprises involved in producing and
distribution of products for accessible material production and reading. These
companies could become friends of the proposed Consortium by paying one time fee
of Rs. 1,000/-.
Designated
representative from Primary and Associate Members, Development Partners and
Government Department member organization would constitute the General Body of
the Consortium
One
representative each from Primary Members and Government Departments would
constitute the Board. The Board Members would amongst themselves select the
following officers: President, 2 Vice Presidents, General Secretary and Joint
secretary. President of the consortium would nominate treasurer for the forum.
The treasurer has to be a member of the organization which is represented by
the President.
The
voting rights will be entirely rest with primary members of the Forum.
The
Consortium would also appoint Committee for specific tasks/issues.
§ General Body of the Consortium would
meet once in a year.
§ The Board of the Consortium would
meet four times in a year.
§ A technical conference would be
organized once in a year.
§ The Consortium would establish information
exchange mechanism through e-mail discussions, forums and websites besides
traditional means of correspondence.
§ The Consortium would represent the
country in international forums such as DAISY Consortium which are constituted
for similar goals.
§ The Consortium would develop an
action plan for constructive cooperation and collaboration amongst members of
the organizations to ensure effective services to end users in all parts of the
country.
§ The Consortium would also adopt
standards based on good practices for production and distribution system to
ensure quality, content and services.
§ The Consortium would collaborate
with technology development institutions, organizations for appropriate
technology development in related fields.
§ Any other actions identified by the
Forum Members for furthering the cause of accessible materials production and
distribution for persons with print disability.