Liz,
A few weeks ago we started transcription using the Transcriber software
mentioned by Susanne. The transcriptionist was used to the standard tape-
player-and-pedal method but adapted quickly to using this software. She
estimated it was a little slower using this method after the first
interview she transcribed but she has picked up speed since.
In our case, interviews are recorded on tape or Minidisc and then played
back through a soundcard or USB sound pod and recorded in MP3 format using
CoolEdit 2000 (http://www.syntrillium.com/). I use CoolEdit's preset 11:1
compression for voice recordings and that seems to work fine (i.e. 8Hz
bandwidth, 32kbps bitrate and 22050 HZ sample rate). A one hour interview
at this setting takes up about 14MB. CoolEdit will also allow you to remove
background noise, raise the recording level, etc., maybe more important for
tape recordings than those made with Minidisc. CoolEdit can also be used to
blank out identifying information such as real names from the sound files
if required. It may be relevant that we are using fairly new PCs, 800+MHz
Pentium IIIs. I'm not sure all this would work well on an old PC.
Eventually, we will use another program, such as Nero Burning ROM, to store
all the interviews on CD-ROM. A single CD-ROM will hold 45+ hours of MP3
recordings assuming the compression ratio above. We will probably store the
MP3 files and Transcriber's XML data files together, as a big advantage,
as Suzanne mentioned, is that the sound and text are synchronized. At some
point in the future, although maybe not any time soon, Atlas-ti, the
analysis package we are using and which has some support for XML, may be
able to exploit this synchronization so that one can access both text and
audio data at the same time when doing analysis.
The biggest weakness in this approach at the moment, as far as I am
concerned, is the need to record the files back in real time. Recorders are
starting to appear on the market that allow direct recording to MP3 format
and then rapid transfer of recordings to PC over a USB connection. I'll
probably switch to this approach at some point. There is a Germany company
called Dialog4 that specializes in providing field recording equipment to
journalists and the radio industry that has a MP3 recording device that
looks very promising and should be much cheaper than existing flash memory
recorders made by Denon and Marantz. The American distributor has told me
it will be a few months before it is sold in the USA. It may already be
available in Europe. Check it out at
http://www.dialog4.com/sountainer/feat_stn.html.
Alan.
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