Benedict,
My new programme the Code-A-Text Transcription and Note Keeping System
(CTANKS) may offer an interesting solution to this problem. CTANKS is a
budget application which contains an extended subset of the features found
in the Code-A-Text Integrated System for the Analysis of Interviews and
dialogues (CISAID) which became available from Scolari last week.
There is a brief description below. More information is on my web site.
CTANKS will be available in about 2 weeks.
Regards
Alan Cartwright
Transcription of audio and video files.
CTANKS can be used to dictate, record and copy audio files onto a computer.
It can play and provides facilities for transcribing both audio and video
files. The main Document Editor Window contains most of the features found
on a mechanical transcribing machine and these can be controlled from
either the keyboard or by use of the mouse. Like most word processors it
contains a spell checker.
Transcriptions made within CTANKS have a number of distinct features. These
include the ability to create "linked" Documents where the text and media
(sound and video) are connected by hypertext. When linked playing the media
presents the text and vice versa. This feature means that complete media
files do not have to be transcribed as you can instantly return to the
section that has not been fully transcribed.
Transcriptions made within CTANKS can then be output to other applications
as normal word processor documents. Knowing the link between the text and
the media it is therefore easy to refer back to the document within CTANKS
and to retrieve the original media.
This interchange can be taken further. Reports written in other
applications can be copied into CTANKS, and the media linked text inserted
into the report. If saved as a web document these can be distributed and
the readers will be able to hear and see any underlying media. CTANKS can
also edit sound files in WAV format. This facility means that only the
parts of the original recording that are included in a document need be
distributed. If a document contains references to more than one WAV file
CTANKS can extract the sound from each of the WAV files and combine them
into a single file.
Document Analysis.
CTANKS is an extended word processor with a range of facilities which
include the capacity to code texts using natural language, undertake
complex searches and create new documents based upon the results. These
features mean that CTANKS can be used to study both text and media based
documents.
The user can code documents by adding annotations, text in brackets, long
comments and audio comments (pieces of dictation) to the paragraphs within
a document. Boolean searches (AND, OR and NOT combinations of words) can
then be focused on the main body of the text or any combination of the text
and any of these code forms. You can, for instance, search comments
attached to audio or video files which have not been transcribed.
The output from such a search is directed into a report, which is a new
document which contains the sections which meet the search criteria These
can be selected from more than one document. If the documents were linked
to media files then the links are retained. The Report Editor contains a
wide range of batch editing facilities which can, for instance,
automatically remove all codes from a report and also add line or paragraph
numbers.
These reports can be saved as normal word processor documents or directed
to a web browser where their links with the media can be
retained. Clicking on the text of a linked document in Internet Explorer
causes the attached media to play.
Note keeping.
CTANKS has an number of features which make it ideal for keeping complex
notes. This is particularly the case when applied to clinical notes, field
notes or other forms of note keeping where the user may wish to keep a set
of notes, which are purely descriptive, separate from notes which contain
their observations.
This can be achieved by entering the descriptive note into the main text of
the document and the observations and comments into the comments section.
CTANKS can present the document either with or without the comments visible.
Note keeping is best done immediately after the event it describes but it
is often difficult to write notes then. CTANKS has a number of features
which can help with this. The append feature allows the user to type the
note and simply append it to the end of an existing document, without the
need to open the original document.
The dictating features can also be useful aids in note keeping. If you do
not have time to type a note you can use CTANKS dictating features to
either dictate a sound file which can be transcribed later or add an audio
comment which can be appended and the full note added when required.
At 17:45 05/07/2000 +0100, you wrote:
>Hi, I am a new user of NUDIST and am encountering problems of huge
>transcription from tapes. I am not sure the efficiency and necessity of full
>description to code.
>I got about 90 interview tapes, and have quite challenging time to
>transcribe fully.
>Is it really necessary to fully transcribe or take major points (notes) to
>code and run NUDIST programme?
>
>Any help in this matter will be very gratefullty recieved.
>
>Thanks
>Benedict (K.H) Lee
Alan Cartwright PhD
Code-A-Text Ltd.
Email [log in to unmask]
CISAID: Powerful Multi-Media Software for Analysing Interviews and Dialogues.
CTANKS: Word processing, Recording, Transcription, Searching and Report
Generation in a single user friendly package.
Information at
Code-A-Text Web Page <http://www.code-a-text.co.uk>
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|