LibriVox: Amateurs Ascending

Comments about LibriVox? Suggestions to improve things? News?
bobgon55
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Post by bobgon55 »

Thank you for posting this, Seepferdchen! Your perspective is most useful, even though you have not recorded yet here. Just knowing what motivates you to be a part of LibriVox - and you have given so many good details - is very enlightening. I will bet that your reasons echo the reasons many of us are here, too. I love to have an audience, too, and though you may not know who or how many are listening to all of your recordings, sometimes people are moved enough to write back to thank you. And of course you can always check the Internet Archive page of your solos to find out how many times it has been downloaded or streamed.

I think your mission to promote literacy is noble and everyone here shares your desire to help children find their way to a happier life through reading. And we all like old books or we would probably be more involved with Podiobooks than LibriVox.

And yes, we also do it because it's fun. If it weren't fun, we certainly wouldn't devote hours and hours and hours and hours and hours ... of our free time doing it!

Welcome to LibriVox.

I hope your time here will be most rewarding. :D

Bob
JohanLiebert
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Post by JohanLiebert »

I've just been a month or so here, I hope my reasons could help you too!

1. What makes all this so satisfying? - Well just finishing/accomplishing something that can contribute to mankind's progress is the most satisfying factor for me. I'm from a developing country and people in my country tends to save more money for mp3 players than books. If I could give them some form of literature free of charge which they could put in their mp3s, I would gladly do so!


2. What makes this fun for you? - I love reading. And I love reading to my sisters. Recording for LV is just an extension of my hobby :) I remember when I was 4 and I could not yet read, I always wake up my mama early in the morning to read something for me, which she finds annoying at times, because WHO wants to read in the morning? Maybe if there are other kids who have the habit the same as mine, LV is the answer to their problem. Plug in their earphone!

3. What makes it worth the effort and the striving that go into completing any recording that will be catalogued on LibriVox? - I don't know exactly, I just know I want to do it. :)

4. Can you describe the thoughts that motivate you to dedicate so many, many hours of your free time to researching, recording, editing, proof listening, book coordinating, and cataloguing public domain texts? - I only DPL, and I DPL all because I want to listen. It's a job I would love to do all the rest of my life. I learn how emotions conveyed are to many different people who read for me.

5. What hooked you here and what keeps you coming back? - The wonderful people, the choice of texts people read here and the free audiobooks is what makes me come back :)

6. What parts of the experience are mandatory for you to remain here? - Learning how things work here is a requisite for my stay I think. I'm entertained whenever I learn something new. And so I think it will take very long before I'll stop volunteering, because there's so many things to learn.

~April
April Gonzales :D
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Marie Antoinette & the Downfall of Royalty

I will not be around the forums for quite a time but I'll log-in whenever there's time. Please PM me if you need to talk with me. Thanks!

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bobgon55
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Post by bobgon55 »

April, thank you so much for answering all those questions!

Looks like you are getting quite involved already. I hope you are successful in helping the people you know with mp3 players to find some great LibriVox books to hear.

You are certainly an experienced and avid bibliophile, someone who can always make an important contribution here on LibriVox.

Now, would you explain a couple things to me?

1) Why have you chosen the forum name JohanLiebert? Is that your last name of a pseudonym? You don't need to answer if you want it to remain a secret.

2) You say you only DPL (I think you mean PL) but your LV page reports that you have completed recording 17 sections and are working on three more. What about that?

Thanks again for answering these questions. It is helping me with my research.

Bob
JohanLiebert
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Post by JohanLiebert »

bobgon55 wrote:April, thank you so much for answering all those questions!

Looks like you are getting quite involved already. I hope you are successful in helping the people you know with mp3 players to find some great LibriVox books to hear.

You are certainly an experienced and avid bibliophile, someone who can always make an important contribution here on LibriVox.

Now, would you explain a couple things to me?

1) Why have you chosen the forum name JohanLiebert? Is that your last name of a pseudonym? You don't need to answer if you want it to remain a secret.

2) You say you only DPL (I think you mean PL) but your LV page reports that you have completed recording 17 sections and are working on three more. What about that?

Thanks again for answering these questions. It is helping me with my research.

Bob

It would be my pleasure. :)

1. I chose Johan Liebert as forum name because he's my favorite literary character :). He's the primary antagonist on the manga* Monster by Naoki Urasawa. If you google his name you'll find pages that will explain why he's a perfect villain. Most of my favorite characters are antagonist and I don't know why :)

2. Yes I meant PLing. I said I only PL because I can't contribute any [lengthy] recording at the moment. There's a big construction happening right beside my yard and I can only snatch like 5 minutes' worth of silence everytime, and I use that time to record something for weekly and fortnightly poetry. And so I resorted to PLing, which doesn't require a silent environment, only good ears and loud earphones :). I just want to contribute something that's why.


*A Manga is a Japanese comics
April Gonzales :D
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Marie Antoinette & the Downfall of Royalty

I will not be around the forums for quite a time but I'll log-in whenever there's time. Please PM me if you need to talk with me. Thanks!

Animo La Salle!
Cori
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Post by Cori »

JohanLiebert wrote:1. I chose Johan Liebert as forum name because he's my favorite literary character :). He's the primary antagonist on the manga* Monster by Naoki Urasawa. If you google his name you'll find pages that will explain why he's a perfect villain. Most of my favorite characters are antagonist and I don't know why :)
Hee hee, I recorded an essay about that some time ago (A Defence of Villains by Agnes Repplier. The main argument being, as I remember, that heroes couldn't be heroic without some kind of badness and that villains were therefore quite essential.
There's honestly no such thing as a stupid question -- but I'm afraid I can't rule out giving a stupid answer : : To Posterity and Beyond!
neckertb
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Post by neckertb »

It's very confusing though, in my head you are a young German guy :D
Nadine

Les enfants du capitaine Grant

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RuthieG
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Post by RuthieG »

Which actually raises a rather interesting question which may or may not be germane to Bob's research. With most forums and online communities, the only clue one has to the contributors' real selves and characters is from their written word. One is unlikely even to see their photo, so one doesn't know their appearance, age, ethnic background - or even gender, sometimes.

But here at LibriVox, at least among the readers, one also has the additional cue of their spoken voice. How does one's perception of someone's personality here differ from one's perceptions in other online communities?

Ruth
My LV catalogue page | RuthieG's CataBlog of recordings | Tweet: @RuthGolding
JohanLiebert
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Post by JohanLiebert »

neckertb wrote:It's very confusing though, in my head you are a young German guy :D
I know many will be confused, that's why I put my name in my signature. I usually look at signatures and not in usernames, and I thought everyone does it too :)
RuthieG wrote:With most forums and online communities, the only clue one has to the contributors' real selves and characters is from their written word. One is unlikely even to see their photo, so one doesn't know their appearance, age, ethnic background - or even gender, sometimes.
Prior to being active here I have been always at Anime-forums, and they have a thread there that's called "Lifting the Veils". There you can post your own picture so that everyone can see how you look. But I doubt that it can be done here, as I have observed that LV volunteers are the most identity conservative kind of netizens, [if not all]. :D
Last edited by JohanLiebert on March 28th, 2012, 3:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
April Gonzales :D
blog

Marie Antoinette & the Downfall of Royalty

I will not be around the forums for quite a time but I'll log-in whenever there's time. Please PM me if you need to talk with me. Thanks!

Animo La Salle!
neckertb
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Post by neckertb »

I think plenty of people are happy with being anonymous. Then you always have the possibility of googling people. Some have a very unique name and are easy to find :D
Nadine

Les enfants du capitaine Grant

Live in a death + 70 country? Have a look at Legamus
philchenevert
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Post by philchenevert »

I know this is off topic and I DO intend to respond to your questions Bob, but truth be known, old 'Phil' is just a pseudo name. I am actually a 17 year old apprentice concubine in Syria with lots of time on my hands. <sigh>. I was failing Math and Science in school and the counselor finally suggested this career move after reviewing all my vocational test scores.

The life's not bad here in the seraglio just boooooooring and then there's all those damn grapes to peel.! But I get to tell lots of stories and have internet access which is how I ended up on LibriVox. Well, time for my zither lesson.

The veil has been lifted Image
:roll:
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Piotrek81
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Post by Piotrek81 »

Wait... do you actually mean you bribed this guy into appearing in all those videos? :mrgreen:

By the way:
JohanLiebert wrote:But I doubt that it can be done here, as I have observed that LV volunteers are the most identity conservative kind of netizens, [if not all]
Phil is probably the only librivoxer whose face most of the forum members knows. Oh, wait... No, they don't :roll: So, the real Philchenevert remains anonymous too...

:mrgreen:
Want to hear some PREPARATION TIPS before you press "record"? Listen to THIS and THIS
philchenevert
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Post by philchenevert »

Piotrek81 wrote:Wait... do you actually mean you bribed this guy into appearing in all those videos? :mrgreen:

By the way:
JohanLiebert wrote:But I doubt that it can be done here, as I have observed that LV volunteers are the most identity conservative kind of netizens, [if not all]
Phil is probably the only librivoxer whose face most of the forum members knows. Oh, wait... No, they don't :roll: So, the real Philchenevert remains anonymous too...

:mrgreen:
Uh ... you all misunderstand. That IS me in those videos, and I AM 17 years old. Are you implying that I look funny? or sound funny? surely not. Sure, my beard is a bit better than the other girls but ..

OK. I will end this silliness here so the thread doesn't become completely corrupted. 'nuff said and sorry for the interruption.
Peruvian owls always hunt in pairs because they are inca hoots.
89 Decibels? Easy Peasy ! https://youtu.be/aSKR55RDVpk
Cori
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Post by Cori »

phillie wrote:Sure, my beard is a bit better than the other girls but ..
As every lady knows, it's not a "beard", it's REALLY stray eyelashes. :D

[And I like silly. I don't have a face like a po myself.]
There's honestly no such thing as a stupid question -- but I'm afraid I can't rule out giving a stupid answer : : To Posterity and Beyond!
bobgon55
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Post by bobgon55 »

Cori wrote: [And I like silly. I don't have a face like a po myself.]
Po?
bobgon55
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Post by bobgon55 »

Very interesting topics raised by Ruth and April. Besides the Anime online community that April mentioned, what other online communities have others been a part of? I have not been involved in an online community other than LibriVox, unless you count Facebook. But LV is a "community of practice," as Etienne Wenger terms it, whereas Facebook and Twitter are social networks with no common interest/practice to bind members.

Have others been on other communities of practice or special interest and what is the climate of anonymity? I don't feel I have to hide behind a pseudonym here (too late now, anyway) and I want credit and to be clearly recognized for the work I do here. Might as well have recognition if you are giving away your time and effort for free.

Thanks for all the activity here - silly or not. :D

Bob
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