Lecture Transcription
Submitted by aeth on Thu, 07/20/2006 - 18:02.
Hi,
I am a college student who would benefit greatly from lecture transcriptions. Is it at all possible to transcribe lectures with currently available technology? If so, what would you recommend to me so I can do this? (I would prefer using an internal laptop microphone if possible as I don't really want to lug one around)
Thank you
You almost certainly won't
You almost certainly won't be able to transcribe lectures directly, as the available programs need to be trained for a speaker's voice. You might be able to do that if the lecturers agreed to train it, though even then there'd be issues of lecture hall acoustics, of the lecturers' diction (rarely, however apparently clear, good enough for your purposes), etc.. And even if it were possible, an internal laptop mike would not be satisfactory.
Still, you can record the lectures in a conventional manner (I am assuming the lecturers will agree!) and redictate into NaturallySpeaking (the program I would recommend) or ViaVoice. I'd say you'd need an external mike -- sorry can't recommend a specific one -- it needn't though be of massively high quality. Students do do this.
If you have a disability then you may be able to get help from your college.
Details about NaturallySpeaking and ViaVoice (with computer system requirements, NB, they are minimum ones) at www.nuance.com
Judy
Judy Evans wrote: If you
If you have a disability then you may be able to get help from your college.
I would agree with this. I work for a company in Australia that provides this service, but I guess it would be up to the individual schools (and even lecturers we find) about whether they'll supply this.
David
This enquiry is from a
This enquiry is from a college student. Generally students would not have money to expend on transcription.
Judy's suggestion is the best and cheapest.
I have done this with court judgments (the Irish judges will not agree to the use of unauthorised transcribers in courtrooms) but as solicitors, we sit with our backs to the judges behind a high desk, and I have put a microphone under the neck of my jacket, with a small transcriber in an inside pocket, have been made sure I have turned off all beeps and other noises that transcribers make when they're coming to the end of the tape, carefully monitored the time so that I could switch off the transcriber before it comes to the end of a tape.
I have then returned to my office, and using one of my secretary's transcribers, listened back with headphones, and dictated the judgment into ViaVoice with a Phillips SpeechMike.
It can be quite time-consuming, particularly where judges mutter and are hard to make out, but it is better than waiting four or five weeks for the official transcribed judgment.
The cheapest SR programme is ViaVoice, with full macro creating facilities in the Pro USB Edition. Even though it has not been developed since 2004, it is effective up to Win XP and Microsoft Office 2003.
Quentin