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Re: Digitizing taped interviews



Steve,

A few months ago I did my own "personal" conversion of tapes to CD.  
I'd had a set of the US Army's German Headstart tapes from the early 1980's and was worried about the tapes eventually breaking.  There were 45+ audiocassettes.  I used Spin Doctor from EZ CD Creator 5.  It is included in the deluxe version.  
As far as the process, the only problem is that the recording is in real time, so it takes forever.  I would set up my little Sony portable tape player I bought back in the 1960's next to my laptop with the external CD burner hooked up and throw in a tape and a blank CD.  To connect the two I used a cable that has male plugs on both ends, the little ones like are on the plugs for computer speakers.  If you need stereo, make sure you get the plugs with the little rubber ring.  I plugged one end into the headphones outlet on the tape player and the other into the microphone outlet on the laptop.  Things got a little congested what with the tape player, the laptop, and the external CD burner all set up on the breakfast bar, with wires and power plugs going every which way, but it worked.
I managed in most cases to get two lessons on each CD;  I ended up with 25 CDs in WAV format.  While I was at it I also converted the WAV files to MP3 while they were still on the hard drive and then copied all of them to ONE CD!

I hope this explanation is clear.  If you have any questions, please call me.



+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
Debra Scarborough, MLS AHIP
History Librarian & Archivist
ACOG Resource Center/History Library & Archives
409 12th St., SW
Washington, DC 20024
202-863-2578 / 202-484-1595 (fax)
DScarborough@ACOG.org
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

>>> Steve Cox <steven-cox@UTC.EDU> 7/17/02 8:32:10 AM >>>
I have recently discovered some taped interviews with former university
professors that I think need preserving.  These are all on cassette
tapes and appear to have been recorded in the 1970s and 1980s.
 Obviously, they exhibit a little wear when listened to and need to be
transferred to a newer tape or other medium.  I'm thinking of
transfering them to CD ROM, having just acquired a CD Burner.  I'm
interested in knowing if anyone else has done something like this and
what they used- WAV files, RealPlayer, or any other program.  Plus, any
suggestions as to "cleaning up" the sound would be appreciated.  Thanks.

Steve Cox
Special Collections Librarian
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

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