Part
of my job over the last six years has been to transcribe audiotapes from oral
history projects at each of the institutions where I am a consultant. I’ve blogged about this before, but
recently as I have been finishing a project for one of the institutions I was
reminded of some considerations I haven’t yet mentioned. As I noted before I do verbatim
transcriptions, which can be tedious, but are worth the effort. That does require that the tape be of at
least decent quality.
Unfortunately not all tapes are salvageable. We have access to a machine that can be tuned to reduce
background noise and enhance the voice recordings, but it’s not a miracle
worker. Sometimes you have to
admit defeat. Now I know there are
companies that can take damaged recordings and salvage them, but some
recordings are just not worth the cost.
It’s hard to admit defeat, but I have three that I just can’t
transcribe. What I will do is
recommend that the institution keep the tapes in case there is a way to enhance
them later. Of course, the best
way to increase the longevity of tapes is to store them vertically in a cool
(about 68 degrees F, but not below 40 degrees), dry place in an acid free
box. The following pdf has good
suggestions for care. http://www.iowaconserveandpreserve.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/AudioTipSheet.pdf
Digitization of your special tapes is a good idea. I have had the impossible to transcribe tapes burned to a CD so
at least there is a copy should the original audiotape completely crater.
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