I believe I have come to the end of my time transcribing interviews for the Association of Virtual Worlds. I have learned a lot from what I have heard in five-word segments. There is a lot going on right now and I'm not sure how much I can discuss here out of consideration for the book that they are putting together but I can say for a fact that I did have to take some breaks from transcribing to go and look up some of the things that were discussed in the interviews. I learned a lot about marketing in the new virtual environment these last few weeks and it seems that there are several common themes that interviewees (if they can be called such) described independently of each other. While all this new social media in the virtual web environment (or however you choose to call it) can be daunting, with the right tools, knowledge and assistance, any company (even a fairly wealthy individual) can market a product or a brand. While there was no specific talk (in the interviews I'd transcribed) about product placement, the subtle ways in which companies now advertise their products to us and manage to keep their names at the 'front' of our minds is amazing.
In regards to the actual work, I have realized the value of Elluminate/Blackboard Collaborate's one-person-talking-at-a-time function. In the end, transcription times generally stayed a consistent 1.5 hours per 15 minutes of interview though naturally times seemed to elevate for places in the interview when the people were talking faster or excitedly interjecting over each other with comments.
This week's challenge was a surprise deadline. While I had set myself a deadline for Friday, my supervisor wanted the interviews done by this morning so I fit a whole interview transcription into my schedule. Though this was not ideal, knowing how long it would take me to finish the interview helped me plan out my time to better arrange meals and breaks and sleep.
Perhaps it would be better to have mutually-agreed-upon dates (specific dates, not general time frames) for our deliverables.
Awaiting further instructions from our supervisor as to specifics on our next project.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Working and the Internship
This week, the challenge has been to juggle changes in my work schedule with making time for my internship. While online classes are more forgiving in terms of due dates and deadlines, an internship is essentially a job and has people on the other end waiting for results. With a coworker out on sick leave and another on vacation, the work load at work has increased significantly. Also, with midterms looming I'm struggling to fit everything in and there are no days off. This was more or less what I'd expected so I fit in study and internship project time where I can so my timesheet reflects the odd hours and sometimes full days dedicated to completing tasks for my internship.
Nothing else to report this week. Although, I wish I could work on my transcriptions during my commute but that's just not practical since I'm convinced it would take too much concentration and the bus would be too loud and I would surely have all my technology stolen. Sometimes I really value all the technology we have and sometimes I wish people would value it less.
On a slightly unrelated note, I watched a program on Braille typewriters. They remind me of those stenographers' machines. It seems like a useful skill to have to be able to type in shorthand like that.
Nothing else to report this week. Although, I wish I could work on my transcriptions during my commute but that's just not practical since I'm convinced it would take too much concentration and the bus would be too loud and I would surely have all my technology stolen. Sometimes I really value all the technology we have and sometimes I wish people would value it less.
On a slightly unrelated note, I watched a program on Braille typewriters. They remind me of those stenographers' machines. It seems like a useful skill to have to be able to type in shorthand like that.
Friday, February 10, 2012
A Technological Aside (And Some Personal Statistics)
As I wrap up this set of transcriptions, I've encountered a new challenge: making the technology work. I've been closely monitoring my time spent on each interview and noting where the delays occur. My poor computer, while up to standard for SLIS/MLIS, seems to be having some difficulty with these longer interviews. While I work, I have two windows open: MS Word (where the transcription happens) and iTunes (where the interview gets played back). What I found was that there was significant lag between hitting pause in iTunes and then switching to MS Word to type in the three to five words.
In order to alleviate this, I conducted part of the transcriptions snuggled down on the cough (in a very unprofessional and yet very comfortable position) with my iPod balanced on my chest and my netbook on my lap (my mother would have been ashamed of my posture). While typing in a less than upright position can be tricky while balancing a computer on your knees, there was significantly less time spent on waiting for my computer to catch up, no matter how little time was actually spent.
Also, taking breaks have become essential, not just for me but also for my computer. A few hours after switching back to my computer for both listening and typing (the constant pause/play required to successfully transcribe significantly reduces the battery life of your MP3 player) my computer seemed to have had enough. I would hit pause on iTunes and nothing would happen. The people would keep talking and I would have to hit pause several times before the player stopped leaving me to scroll back to where I'd originally intended to stop. I found that letting the computer restart seemed to alleviate this problem.
Some small recommendations (mostly for myself, but also for anyone who happens across this and is transcribing things):
- Beware the forward/backward/fast-forward/rewind buttons on your MP3 player. I had to click VERY carefully to get my MP3 player to move back a few seconds in the recording. There were a lot of times where I'd accidentally not hold the button down long enough and end up at the previous track or the next track. Returning to your spot, especially mid-track of an hour-long interview can be tedious on a small device where you have to hold the fast-forward button until you get to where you want to go.
- My USB-to-wall charger for my cellphone (HTC) also works for my iPod. It may no be recommended, but hey, Apple doesn't give you the little brick any more and to save money, you improvise. (Plugging in to the computer just ends up with it locking you out and trying to sync.)
- Unlike other homework, this isn't something that you (me) can do at Starbucks. It's just near impossible with my set-up to hear what's being said. People tend to speak quickly and sometimes their words run together or they speak over each other (interviews are conversations after all) and then your recorded interview voices run together with those two girls sitting at the next table gossiping about their friend and you lose too many important words.
Time Totals:
In order to alleviate this, I conducted part of the transcriptions snuggled down on the cough (in a very unprofessional and yet very comfortable position) with my iPod balanced on my chest and my netbook on my lap (my mother would have been ashamed of my posture). While typing in a less than upright position can be tricky while balancing a computer on your knees, there was significantly less time spent on waiting for my computer to catch up, no matter how little time was actually spent.
Also, taking breaks have become essential, not just for me but also for my computer. A few hours after switching back to my computer for both listening and typing (the constant pause/play required to successfully transcribe significantly reduces the battery life of your MP3 player) my computer seemed to have had enough. I would hit pause on iTunes and nothing would happen. The people would keep talking and I would have to hit pause several times before the player stopped leaving me to scroll back to where I'd originally intended to stop. I found that letting the computer restart seemed to alleviate this problem.
Some small recommendations (mostly for myself, but also for anyone who happens across this and is transcribing things):
- Beware the forward/backward/fast-forward/rewind buttons on your MP3 player. I had to click VERY carefully to get my MP3 player to move back a few seconds in the recording. There were a lot of times where I'd accidentally not hold the button down long enough and end up at the previous track or the next track. Returning to your spot, especially mid-track of an hour-long interview can be tedious on a small device where you have to hold the fast-forward button until you get to where you want to go.
- My USB-to-wall charger for my cellphone (HTC) also works for my iPod. It may no be recommended, but hey, Apple doesn't give you the little brick any more and to save money, you improvise. (Plugging in to the computer just ends up with it locking you out and trying to sync.)
- Unlike other homework, this isn't something that you (me) can do at Starbucks. It's just near impossible with my set-up to hear what's being said. People tend to speak quickly and sometimes their words run together or they speak over each other (interviews are conversations after all) and then your recorded interview voices run together with those two girls sitting at the next table gossiping about their friend and you lose too many important words.
Time Totals:
- Interview 1:
- Recorded time: 16 mins.
- Transcription time: 2h 40m
- Interview 2:
- Recorded time: 1 hour.
- Transcription time: 7 hours.
- Interview 3:
- Recorded time: 50 mins.
- Transcription time: 4h 40m
I found the significant variations in transcribing Interviews 2 and 3 were based on the speech patterns of the people being interviewed. While the subject in Interview 3 spoke slowly (most of the time) with minimal 'you know's and 'um's and other speech tics, the subject in Interview 2 spoke quickly, sometimes running words together and there was significantly more talking over each other between interviewer and interviewee. There were also many more words said in the second interview which left me going back and forth a lot trying to pick up first what one person said then the other.
Internship Time
In the third week I've discovered a challenge that isn't necessarily unique to the virtual internship but has become something of a challenge in light of the tasks assigned for this particular virtual internship: finding quiet time in a shared house to work on my transcriptions. Having been tasked with transcribing two hour-long interviews, I'm finding that there are a lot of interruptions from family members walking by and wanting to talk or ask questions. While in the past, I've been able to get study time in at night when everyone else is sleeping or on the bus to and from work, the level of concentration needed to accurately transcribe what has been said feels a lot higher than, say, studying for exams or writing a paper as much of that information has either been seen before in a lecture or reading, or is already written down.
To address this challenge (late night transcribing, while effective, is exhausting), I will have to speak to my family members about giving me a quiet hour every evening I am home to work on my transcriptions. They were capable and understanding of my need for quiet space during National Novel Writing Month so I'm certain they will be capable of this as well.
The transcription I am working on in interesting but I don't know if all of this information is relevant to the interview or the research. People to talk over each other a lot in conversations and there is a great deal of stuttering and 'you know'ing. Translating from the conversational tone to a 'proper' sentence is also tricky. While I know to drop the 'um's and the repeated words, I am never quite sure whether to change a 'gonna' to a 'going to'.
My rate of transcription remains at a constant 1.5 hours per 15 minutes of interview. For the next set of interviews, I resolve to spend an hour a day rather than trying to do 'half the interview' in one sitting. I budget my study/school time based on CA labor laws (that sounds terrible, but it's effective). For every three hours worked, I give myself a ten minute break. For every five or more hours worked, I give myself half an hour. I have yet to hit the five hour mark in one day but should I get there, I know how to handle it.
To address this challenge (late night transcribing, while effective, is exhausting), I will have to speak to my family members about giving me a quiet hour every evening I am home to work on my transcriptions. They were capable and understanding of my need for quiet space during National Novel Writing Month so I'm certain they will be capable of this as well.
The transcription I am working on in interesting but I don't know if all of this information is relevant to the interview or the research. People to talk over each other a lot in conversations and there is a great deal of stuttering and 'you know'ing. Translating from the conversational tone to a 'proper' sentence is also tricky. While I know to drop the 'um's and the repeated words, I am never quite sure whether to change a 'gonna' to a 'going to'.
My rate of transcription remains at a constant 1.5 hours per 15 minutes of interview. For the next set of interviews, I resolve to spend an hour a day rather than trying to do 'half the interview' in one sitting. I budget my study/school time based on CA labor laws (that sounds terrible, but it's effective). For every three hours worked, I give myself a ten minute break. For every five or more hours worked, I give myself half an hour. I have yet to hit the five hour mark in one day but should I get there, I know how to handle it.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
The Second Week
Week Two (Or 'Week One' who call the first week of school 'Week Zero') has given me the opportunity to take a step back and organize myself. This week's challenge lies in organizing just what needs to be done when. While I have, in past semesters, been fortunate enough to have professors whose due dates correspond, this semester every class has a different date for items to be due. I've found that adjusting from one semester to another can take about a week and this semester is no different, except for the internship.
Our site supervisor provided us with a rough estimate of when she wanted us to complete our transcriptions so there is no predetermined schedule and as a result, I have to make one on my own. In line with the internship class, I've decided to set Sunday as my personal completion (or at least landmark) date. The two interviews I've been assigned are just under an hour each. The first, fifteen minute long interview took a final total of two and a half hours including the time it took for me to review my word choices and check for errors and remove my own personal markings in the document for final submission.
While my current system of noting my start and end times on my planner is effective in logging my time spent on internship tasks, if we're supposed to be submitting our time logs I will have to consolidate this information into some sort of document. I'd discussed this briefly with my supervisor at our first interview in December, but it hasn't come up since. However, I will have to remember to ask her the next time we meet.
Our site supervisor provided us with a rough estimate of when she wanted us to complete our transcriptions so there is no predetermined schedule and as a result, I have to make one on my own. In line with the internship class, I've decided to set Sunday as my personal completion (or at least landmark) date. The two interviews I've been assigned are just under an hour each. The first, fifteen minute long interview took a final total of two and a half hours including the time it took for me to review my word choices and check for errors and remove my own personal markings in the document for final submission.
While my current system of noting my start and end times on my planner is effective in logging my time spent on internship tasks, if we're supposed to be submitting our time logs I will have to consolidate this information into some sort of document. I'd discussed this briefly with my supervisor at our first interview in December, but it hasn't come up since. However, I will have to remember to ask her the next time we meet.
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