Using BookStream book club
About the BookStream book club
You can choose to listen to DAISY books via your PC, through your internet connection using the streaming facility. Or you can order
DAISY books to receive on CD, which you can then play through either your DAISY player or your PC. You can read any of the DAISY audio
books in our catalogue.
Subscribing to BookStream book club
For an annual subscription of just £50.00 (payment by credit or debit card only) you can read as many books as you like in the space
of a year. You will need to register and subscribe before you can start streaming or receiving books.
Getting started
Streamed audio books are played on your computer, while you are logged onto the Book Site, using a software version of the
NetPLEXTALK DAISY player. This software player is provided as part of your subscription. After you have paid for your subscription,
you will receive an email with instructions on how to install the player. You must install it before you can read books over the
internet.
NetPLEXTALK has all the functionality of a hardware player so you can skip through the book, set bookmarks, use the navigation
options or simply listen from start to finish. With the software player installed, you are immediately ready to read any of our DAISY
audio books through your internet connection using the streaming facility. A help manual and a quick start guide for NetPLEXTALK are
also available through your "My account" menu and you can read these online or
download them as Word documents.
Recommended internet connectivity
For the streaming option we recommend you use a broadband connection. Please note that reading books over the internet may quickly
use up your broadband bandwidth if you are on a restricted package. For example, if your allowance is 2 gigabytes per month, you will
be able to get around 60 hours reading time for this. Alternatively, you could consider upgrading your broadband package. We do not
recommend streaming books via a dial-up connection as they may sound choppy and variable.
Adding books to the bookshelf
Find the book you want to read. Select the link from the results page to add it to your bookshelf. You will reach a confirmation
page giving the book title and details of how many books you have on your bookshelf. The page also contains a link back to your search
results.
You can put up to five books on your bookshelf at any one time and you can keep a book on your shelf for as long as you want. When
you have finished reading it, use the "remove" button on your bookshelf. If you have chosen to have your book on CD you will
need to return it. Once we have received it, the "remove" option will appear on your bookshelf. If you have five books on
the bookshelf you will need to remove one before you can add another.
Playing streamed audio books
To stream a book simply choose a title, add it to your personal bookshelf, select the "stream" button and in just a few
seconds you will be reading the book of your choice via your PC. You don't need to listen to it all in one go either. A book mark will
be stored when you stop reading so you can continue with the book at a later date.
To start reading a streamed audio book, go to your bookshelf page (from the bookshelf link in the navigation bar). All the books on
the bookshelf will be listed. There are up to three buttons for each book - play, remove and get CD. To listen to a book, select the
play button for that book (visually on the same line and the book title is contained in the alt text). You will start to read the book
from where you left off last time. You can also use the navigation buttons within NetPLEXTALK to move to another chapter or to
fast-forward through the book. So if you've read some of the book on a hardware DAISY player you can move to the correct chapter on
your PC and continue listening from there.
Important information
If you are a Windows 7 user, or are considering upgrading to Windows 7, please note the following: in order to use the NetPLEXTALK
DAISY player you will need Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit as a minimum. If you are an Apple Mac user, or are considering switching
from PC to Apple Mac, please nore the following: whilst the NetPLEXTALK DAISY player is not specifically designed to work directly in
the Apple Mac environment, it will play in a "Virtualised Windows" or "Windows Emulation" environment on the Apple Mac.
Ordering CDs
To receive a book on CD simply choose the title you want, select the "get CD" button to place your order and in a few days
your book will arrive in the post.
Removing books from the bookshelf
If you have read a book in streamed audio and not requested a CD copy then you can remove the book from the shelf yourself at any
time. Go to the bookshelf and find the title you have finished with. Select the remove button associated with the book (on the same
line visually and all buttons have the book title in the alt text). Select the button and the book will be removed from the bookshelf.
If you have a CD copy of the book you will need to send this back before you can remove the book. Once you have asked for the CD
copy to be sent, the remove button is no longer available for the book. Once we receive the CD back at RNIB the system will
automatically record this and the remove button for that book will return to the bookshelf.
Renewing your subscription
Subscribers to the BookStream book club will be contacted by email four weeks before their current subscription is due to run out.
At this point, you will be provided with instructions on how to renew and what the cost will be. Payment must be made by adding the
subscription renewal to your basket and then proceeding to the checkout (payment by credit or debit card only). If you do not wish to
renew, you must return any outstanding DAISY CDs (if applicable) within two weeks of your subscription terminating otherwise you will
be charged for them.
Cancelling your subscription
If you wish to cancel your subscription at any time, please email us at booksite@rnib.org.uk
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