Braille producrion in the German Democratic Republic

Abstract

I ' ll make a brief statement only. At first I like to thank the university and particularly Prof. Werner for his invitation very much. We are glad that we may participate in this conference because we share many problems with all the othe r printing houses for the blind in the world. At first I want to describe our operations to demonstrate what kind of problems we have. We produce literature i n Braille and also on recorded tape. In this way we unite both kinds of reproduction and we produce Braille not only i n print but also in single copies for our library by hand. We feel that this form is very necessary because Braille is ver y space consuming and central institutions as the Zentralbucherei fur Blinde in Leipzig are practically the best storages of knowledge for all the blind that read and hear with us. I happens that handwritten Braille books are needed in very small editions, for example, two, three, four and fiv e specimens. In particular if it is special literature, for instance, for scientists. For these reasons we have contacted a large factory and tried to develop machinery that is able to operate five machines simultaneously controlled by one unit an d which in addition produces one paper tape that may be reused later on. At the same time we have provided the ability o f this machine to be driven by punched cards or paper tape. This machine of course could be used to drive an embossing machine. We do not intend, however, to produce our own program because we feel that all people should share something that is already completed and available. The progra m developed at the University of Munster can be used by us because we have computers that are very similar to those availabl e in the Federal Republic of Germany or by IBM. Yesterday we have heard very much about international cooperation and I am really glad that Prof. Werner and I have agreed that the Zentrale Blindenbucherei of the German Democratic Republi c may use the results of the computation center of the Westf. Wilhelms-Universitcit, Munster. Just as I am more generall y of the opinion that the only means and the only way to come along is true and good international cooperation. A proo f for this cooperation of the German speaking countries is …