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GWKB1109 : Playing NLS Digital Talking Books on the BookSense

This Knowledge Base article applies to both the standard BookSense (ruby red) and the BookSense XT (off white) using firmware version 1.1 or newer.

The BookSense supports playback of digital talking books downloadable from the BARD web site of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS).

To do this, you must:

• Register to be an active user of BARD
• Add the BookSense player to your BARD account so that it can be authorized to play NLS digital talking books
• Download a book from the BARD web site
• Unzip the book and transfer it to an SD card or directly to the BookSense

Registering for BARD Service

Go to http://nlsbard.loc.gov/. Read the "BARD Application Instructions" and follow the "Link to BARD Application" to complete the online application. If you are approved to participate, you will receive an email message from NLS with sign-on information. If there is a problem, you will receive a message from NLS which explains the problem. Neither GW Micro, its dealers, or its affiliates have any control in determining the status or your approval of your application.

Adding the BookSense Player

You must add your BookSense for use with NLS digital talking books. You can do this at the time you apply for the BARD service or you can use the "Update account settings" link on the BARD main page to do this at a later date. If you are using the "Update Account Settings," select "Add a new player" and then fill out the form on the resulting page. NLS will send notifications to GW Micro and HIMS to authorize them to enable your BookSense for use with NLS materials. Please do not contact GW Micro, its dealers, or its affiliates for an authorization as they will not be able to assist you until they receive a notification from NLS which authorizes them to proceed.

Once GW Micro and HIMS receive the authorization from NLS, you will be emailed instructions and a request for your BookSense key number. When GW Micro and HIMS receive your unit's correct key number, you will be emailed instructions along with the authorization key. This is a small file with a .kxo file extension.

To enable the BookSense to play NLS digital talking books, you will need to copy this .kxo file to the root of the BookSense flashdisk (XT model) or an SD card (Standard model). The first time you play an NLS book, the BookSense will automatically detect the authorization key and install it. There is no verbal message which confirms that the installation of the key file was successful. If the NLS book starts playing without errors, you can be sure that the authorization and installation of the key file was successful. In addition, the authorization key file will automatically be removed from the BookSense flashdisk or SD card. However you should retain the key file you received via email in case you need it again in the future.

Downloading a Book

No special software is required to download books from the BARD web site. You can find instructions on the site for various methods to search for books. Simply pressing enter on a download link will bring up your browser's save file dialog. The file you download from the web site is a single .zip file.

Unzipping the Book and Transferring it to the BookSense

Once the download is complete, you can use the software of your choice to unzip the contents of the .zip file into the \daisy\nls folder of the BookSense flashdisk or an SD card. You can also unzip to your hard drive, and then transfer the files to the BookSense flashdisk or an SD card. Since each NLS book is made up of various files, they must all be self-contained in their own folder. It's a good idea to name the folders the same name as the book to keep things easy to manage.

If you are using Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7, an unzip utility is built into the operating system. There are multiple ways of extracting the zip file and copying the book to the correct folder, so the following is a basic example.

1. Navigate to the zip file you downloaded and press the applications (context menu) key on it.
2. Press down arrow until you reach the "Extract" menu item.
3. Press enter and an edit box will come up. The default location to extract the files to is the location of where the zip file plus a newly created folder of the same name as the zip file itself.
4. Edit this as you see fit, or just leave it alone and you will see the unzipped folder at the top of the list when the extraction process is complete.
5. Continue the extraction process by tabbing through the dialog and pressing the next or extract buttons as needed.
6. When the process is complete, you will have a folder that has all of the unzipped files which have the name you chose or the exact name of the downloaded zip folder with the DB book number, title and author's name.
7. When you wish to read this unzipped book, copy the folder to the clip board with "CONTROL-C" and paste it into the \DAISY\NLS folder on either the BookSense flashdisk or SD card by pressing "CONTROL-V".

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