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| Spoken Word Research |
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A substantial portion of Western cultural heritage in the 20th century rests in spoken-word form. Only a tiny fraction of this vast content has been transcribed, and even that is inadequate as the spoken word - and not a transcription of it -- remains the best source. While text versions may capture the words spoken, they cannot capture the emotional or ambient qualities that provide insight into events and participants. Even today, access to audio still remains limited to physical visits to archival collections or secondary sources contained in films and video played for passive learners in class. For example, vast portions of the secret recordings of American presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon are accessible to the public only through actual visits to archival collections throughout the United States. Unfortunately, such public release does not translate to public access today. The National Gallery for the Spoke Word (NGSW), Historical Voices, The Oyez Project, and BBC - Information + Archives have digitized and accessioned thousands of hours of spoken word resources into digital repositories. This project will build on this current research in digital library development, much of which was enabled through NSF or JISC support. As with any primary source, these materials do not literally "speak" for themselves and impart wisdom; they require interpretation and analysis. We will create a set of tools to enable rigorous analysis for research using this new content. Because digital audio libraries now permit fast and simple audio segmentation, researchers can now use online tools to listen and locate a precise section of audio within a larger audio file. Our project will build on this capability and offer researchers annotating tools to identify and mark sections of audio, create their own audio libraries, and then incorporate their findings and sources into electronic portfolios as publications. The personal libraries will not contain actual audio, but will have pointers to the original archive, along with digital images, notes, text excerpts, and other media clips. Much like a scholar's note cards, these personal libraries will be the basis for new creative works that bring footnotes alive with the actual audio "documents." |