Time Marking collections

Peter Why · Post by **Peter Why** » January 22nd, 2006, 8:53 am

When we have collections of pieces, like poetry, short stories, or even chapters and sections within a longer work, would it be worthwhile at the beginning of the work giving the times at which each piece starts?

I haven't had enough experience of the technology to know whether a given mp3 file runs at the same speed on different players.

Peter

GordMackenzie · Post by **GordMackenzie** » January 22nd, 2006, 8:59 am

Yes... time codes should remain consistent.

Might be worth considering, in some cases...

ChipDoc · Post by **ChipDoc** » January 22nd, 2006, 9:05 am

The real question is how to present that information. After all, most people will only experience LibriVox through the MP3 downloads.

And from a technical perspective, with the possible exception of some Chinese knockoffs, yep they all run at the same speed on every player.

Peter Why · Post by **Peter Why** » January 22nd, 2006, 9:36 am

I was just thinking of it in the initial table of contents, so, in the Parenticide Club, which is a collection of four short stories, it could have started with something like "The Parenticide Club, by Ambrose Bierce. Contents: My Favorite Murder (starting at one minute ten seconds); Oil of Dog (starting at three minutes thirty five seconds) .." and so on.

As I don't yet listen to these recordings myself, I don't know whether it would be useful. Do people who read collections break off after one section and want to restart at the same point? Is anyone likely to want to jump to a particular piece?

In a written book the equivalent is useful; I just haven't the experience to know whether it would be in an mp3 file.

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » January 22nd, 2006, 9:39 am

Yes, Peter, I have also been thinking about this. (and Indexing the Poetry and Short Stories).. also since I'm recording the Glossary for Origin of Species...

I'll start a new project for this in the volunteer section... I think it is valuable information that will make our recordings more accesible to the listener... and can be included as a table of contents on each applicable catalog page.

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » January 22nd, 2006, 9:51 am

Actually, it looks like Parenticide Club is the only full collection in a single recording so far... Peter if you want to send me the times, I will happily update the catalog page for it....

There are several books that have multiple chapters included in a single recordings, but at this time, I don't think I'll worry about indexing those.

pberinstein · Post by **pberinstein** » January 22nd, 2006, 10:19 am

Peter Why wrote:When we have collections of pieces, like poetry, short stories, or even chapters and sections within a longer work, would it be worthwhile at the beginning of the work giving the times at which each piece starts?

I haven't had enough experience of the technology to know whether a given mp3 file runs at the same speed on different players.

Peter

You mean like marking chapters or stopping points within a work? Wow. That's a lotta work.

Stephan · Post by **Stephan** » January 22nd, 2006, 12:28 pm

Compare use against effort.

Please excuse my bluntness, but what was the use again? I can hardly think of a good reason.
Maybe blind people screenreaders have difficulties with mp3players data-displays and can?t find out a books length. but i am sure they find themselfs a player where the screenreader can.
Else - no idea.

Post by **hugh** » January 22nd, 2006, 12:40 pm

i believe the idea was when several chapters or stories are collected all in one file. eg. stephans_novel_ch_04-5.mp3 ... where does chapter 4 end and ch 5 begin?

kri · Post by **kri** » January 22nd, 2006, 12:49 pm

hugh wrote:i believe the idea was when several chapters or stories are collected all in one file. eg. stephans_novel_ch_04-5.mp3 ... where does chapter 4 end and ch 5 begin?

Err....don't recorders read the chapter and its title if there is one? I have done that with multiple chapters in one recording (example, The Prince).

Are you talking about something rather than stating it in the recording?

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » January 22nd, 2006, 12:55 pm

It really isn't that much work to provide better accessibility to our listeners. If you don't feel it is worthwhile, please go find something to do in which you find value.... I'm sure there is plenty of reading to do.

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » January 22nd, 2006, 1:01 pm

Yes, we are talking about something other than just stating it in the recording.

Example: The Parenticide Club consists of four short stories. However, they are all recorded in one tidy file. But if a user comes along and is only intrested in the third story, instead of having to hunt around for it, they would be able to consult the printed table of contents on the book's catalog page to know which time mark to seek.

If a user obtains the file from a source outside of the Librivox website, that's their tough luck.

Books with multiple chapters/sections recorded in the same file are not going to be addressed right now... perhaps when we have a better layout and automated system. With Chapters, it is presumed that a listener would play the files in order anyway.

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » January 22nd, 2006, 1:15 pm

As for a recorded table of contents with spoken time marks... that certainly could be done... if one were so inclined.

In audiocassettes for the visually impaired provided via the Library of Congress, there is an audible beep that sounds while the player (a special cassette player) is in fast forward that alerts the listener to the beginning of a section... as a listener I don't bother fast forwarding to the particular section since I am listening to the books in order... but if I choose to I certainly could. However, this exact technique would not work for electronic files such as MP3s.

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » January 22nd, 2006, 1:32 pm

http://librivox.org/the-parenticide-club-by-ambrose-bierce/

Done.

Peter Why · Post by **Peter Why** » January 22nd, 2006, 6:23 pm

Wow, lovely work; thanks. I had originally meant mentioning the time marks on the recordings themselves, but this is much more accessible.

Sorry not to have caught this discussion earlier, but I've been recording and editing my chapter of Wind in the Willows.

Peter