Tag: indexing

Story Catchers Practicum: Week 7

This week I focused on editing the stories Marsha gave me to clean-up. This has allowed me to hone my audio editing skills such as cutting and adjusting volume, so that I will be even more prepared for creating stories next year. Although many of the cds Marsha gave me where blank, which delayed the project somewhat. Hopefully we will meet this week to discuss this issue. I also emailed Nancy to check in on the indexing project. I have informed her that the indexing will probably not be finished by the end of the term and so we will have to pick it up again next year. I believe this will be fine since there was no set deadline. This will also give us time to perfect the audio of the collection.

In general, it’s pretty easy to use Audacity. I would like to eventually learn more its complicated features, but overall the program is intuitive. I’m not sure how many more stories there will be to edit, but I will hopefully finish those this term along with Alito’s story. I have not made the intro to his story yet, but I will be working on it this week. Then I can finally contact KLCC and get that conversation going for next year!

Story Catchers Practicum: Week 3

This week I listened to the stories that KLCC edited for the radio in order to get a better idea of how I should edit the stories. I was somewhat surprised to hear the interviewer in these stories. I had been imagining cutting out the interviewer in order to weave together a cohesive story. However, KLCC’s pieces were more like short interviews than complete stories. I guess using this style could make the editing process easier, especially since some of the interviewers provide context to the stories or make sounds in the background. This wouldn’t be awkward if I’m editing the stories to be a conversation. However, I still want to try to use my original idea of presenting the audio in one succinct story from the interviewee. This is the style I most appreciate when listening to podcasts and I think it better represents the mission of Story Catchers. However, if this project is to continue, it may be difficult to use this format for all stories. If we want to have a consistent style for all the stories, it may be better to use the conversation format. I will experiment with this in my audio class before coming to a conclusion.

I also officially started the indexing project this week. I got a hold of Nancy from the library who sent me some guidelines for indexing. Marsha and I met to discuss this and decided to put all the basic information in an Excel sheet and send that to the library. I have conferred with Nancy and Marsha and we have decided the basic format and categories of the index. I then spent Saturday typing up information from the written files Marsha gave me. As I’ve told Marsha, that process took longer than I expected because I had to search for information like length of interview or the appropriate keywords. Marsha and I talked about this and we’ve decided that Marsha will type up all the necessary information and send it to me digitally in order to speed up the process. I will be working more on the indexing this weekend and will better be able assess the time necessary for this project with the new system. Depending on this time commitment, I will determine how possible editing multiple stories this term will be. I may be continuing this part of the project into the summer, especially if KLCC is interested. Regardless, we will still meet our goals this term!

Story Catchers Practicum: Week 1!

This starts off my first week on the Story Catchers project! Marsha and I met before the term started and discussed the goals for this practicum. My general schedule is to start working on the indexing project next week and continue that throughout the term. I don’t know yet how long the indexing will take, but I definitely plan to have the stories indexed by the end of the term. I will be focusing more on the indexing at the beginning of the term and the editing at the second half since my audio editing class doesn’t start till May. However, I plan to work on my audio editing skills through the Audacity program over the next 4 weeks and attempt to edit one story on my own. This way I will be able to perfect that story with the knowledge I gain from class and use it as an example for KLCC. This will also allow me the time to edit at least 2 stories this term. The schedule for these projects will develop overtime, but for now that is my general timeline.

This week I listened to most of the stories Marsha gave me. I still have to listen to Ibraham Hamide and Scott Barkhurst, which I will be doing this week. So far, my favorite stories are from Alito Alessi and Minalee Saks. Alito’s interview has so many amazing stories in it that it’s going to be hard to edit down, but I think that may be the story I start off with. I was originally excited about Nikos Ridge’s story because I am a fan of Ninkasi, but I found that most of the interview was centered around the beer making and felt very promotional for Ninkaski. I think it would be difficult to create a good personal story out of that interview. On the other hand, Minalee talked a lot about her Birth to Three organization, but in a way that discussed the Eugene community and the importance of building support systems for parents with young children. I also liked Fern Jacobson story, especially her experiences as a woman in the military, but I didn’t find any stories in her interview that could provide a good 5 minute story arc. Her interview was more of an overview of her life than an in-depth discussion. But perhaps I can edit together a 5 minute story focused on the theme of women in the military, although that part isn’t based in Eugene. I don’t know if the stories should represent Eugene or the people of Eugene. Can I share a story about Fern’s experience in Washington DC and still call it “The Face of Eugene?” This will have to be something I discuss with Marsha and KLCC (when the time comes). Now to start working on the indexing project!