Q: What if I lose my application or want to work on a different computer?

A: You can get the latest version of the "Audio Transcriber" otherwise know as "ATRA", the transcriber application by accessing the internet and typing in the following address: http://www.himalayanacademy.com/audio/transcription/ Once there, download the application to PC for use.

Q: What are some of the important features in the transcriber application?

A: The ATRA allows you to download audio files directly from inside the transcriber application along with the ability to "import" them if you have saved the files to your hard drive. It also allows you to view both your new incoming_files and Transcriptions_done directories.

Q: What do I do if I can't hear part of the audio or on-tape "events" occur such as singing?

A: It may be difficult to catch a word here and there depending on the quality and since Gurudeva's answers may not have continuity we need to inform the reader what is going on. Take the perspective that you are someone from another country who clicked and got this transcript up to read.

Please always use square braces to indicate introduction of material that is not actually on the audio tape, but which is being added by the editor for clarification purposes. The most common entries of this type are:

• [inaudible] the volume is too low or there are loud sounds an you cannot hear what Gurudeva says.
• [??] You have entered a word but you are not certain that it is in fact what Gurudeva said, because his voice was muffled or unclear, or the choice of words is unknown to you.
• [sp?] This is the traditional indication that you have entered a word you think is correct, but you are not sure the spelling is correct
• [question from audience, inaudible] In question an answer sessions, very often the person in the audience asking the question had no microphone and his or her question is not heard or so low as to be inaudible.
• [long silence, pause] indicates a blank section, or long pause.
• [There seems to be a break in the tape here and it ends abruptly, there is a pause and then a new talk begins. I'm not sure what is going on.] Observations and notes by the transcriber of anything unusual that needs to be pointed out.

We also recommend that you give context and "log" the event stream of what is taking place within the audio talk Examples:

• Audience reactions: "And then he sat on the banana peel and slide right off his chair." [audience laughs]
• Speaker's expression: "I could not believe my eyes!" [Gurudeva laughs]
• Opening events [A man with thick Indian accent introduces Gurudeva. Approx 5 minutes, not here transcribed]
• None verbal audio [Music] [monks chanting] [bhajan] [priests chanting] etc.
• Ambient sounds [The ship's bell ring and the captain makes an very loud announcement, Gurudeva stops, everyone laughs] [a loud bus drives by and drowns out Gurudevas voice for a few moments] etc.

Typical Question and answer session begins after Gurudeva's talk. Most questions are inaudible and only Gurudeva's answer is recorded. We recommend using the following notation at the beginning of each inaudible question:

Example: [Question is asked--inaudible. Gurudeva then replies:]

Q: What do I do after completing an audio transcription?

A: When you have completed a transcript, add two blank lines and then type: [End of Transcript] at the very end. This way we know that the file is complete. If we see [End of Transcript] then, obviously, the whole file was uploaded correctly. But if we do not see this, the question arises "did something go wrong?" and we have to contact you to check see if the last words of the transcript are in fact the end of the transcript.

Note: Occasionally there may be a connection problem and the transcript sent to Kauai may be incomplete or corrupt. Please be sure to always save all copies of your transcripts for an indefinite period of time until you are told that you can delete them. But, if your upload succeeds and your browser opens automatically and you see the xml file there, and you scroll down, it means it was successful. Some Windows browsers do not display XML properly... or you might see each paragraph on one line....but if you see your transcript in your browser you can be certain it was uploaded safely. And you can then start the next transcript and freely delete the text in ATRA to being the next one.

As a safety measure, our program will *never* automatically remove the text from your transcript. So, you must click the text, do cmd-A select all and then delete the talk you have just uploaded. when you start a new talk. Also, if you have filled out the headers properly (see below) then your transcript is also saved to your hard drive. In addition, the web server will automatically send an upload notice to Brahmanathaswami by email and he will respond and confirm your transcript was received. he will normally do this with 24 or 48 hours. But, even if you do not hear from him, if you saw your transcript in your browser window then you know for sure it is OK. You can also check directly on the internet by going to:

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/audio/transcription/sevaks/[your-short-name-here]/gita/ and then check your directories on line in your browser if you ever want to see what's happening with your uploads.

Q: How do I use the controller buttons within the application to navigate?

A: Use the buttons or key commands for STOP, BACK, FORWARD and RESUME. You can set the "Move Interval" feature to determine how far the tape will jump after selecting the BACK or FORWARD commands. There are keystroke short cuts for these that can be used to move back if you need to listen again.

Short Cut Key Commands:

• Stop: CMD-1
• Back Up: CMD-2
• Forward: CMD-3
• Resume: CMD-4

We recommend just listening to very small bites in the beginning. It can get frustrating if you listen to more than you remember and type. Listen, stop, type, resume; listen, stop, type, resume. Stop after hearing just enough words that you can remember and type, then continue. Once you get into a rhythm you will find it easy and enjoyable.

Q: What do I do if I experience problems with the "Pick Up from Last Session" feature within the Transcriber application?

A: Be sure to download the latest version of the Audio Transcriber.rev (2.1 as of October 2007) from:

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/audio/transcription/

After downloading decompress the file and put it in the same location, as the previous one and it will still open from the "favorites" button on the Himalayan Academy HA Stack Player.

If you ever move it, you can simply "clear" your favorites and then drop "Audio Transcribe.rev" onto that button again.

Q: How do I fill out the header and category information for an audio file that doesn't feature Gurudeva giving a talk such as music, blank, or someone else talking?

A: The lasted version of the Transcriber Application has added "Not an Upadesha" to the "Given By" pull down menu in the header and has added "Not Transcribed" to the list of categories available in the header. These are for the purpose of submitting an "empty" transcription for a "bogus" audio file since the transcriber requires all fields be filled in.

It's important to submit the empty file so that we can use this later to target non-Gurudeva audio files.

Enter Descriptor Button

Q: How does the "Enter Descriptor" function work within the application?

A: The "Enter Descriptor" button will now insert whatever you enter and the time at the place where you have your cursor inserted and not just at the end of the file.

This allows the user to listen to the tape and insert additional descriptions into the transcript during the review process. These descriptions are passed automatically to the header as "sub-topics" and can be allow to stand as the description of the talk later, or edited to help you prepare a good short description. Note that the "descriptor" is only intended to be used when there are shifts of ideas or Gurudeva changes subjects. It is not necessary to stop every few paragraphs and "describe what he is talking about. You only need to use this where there is a shift in subject matter and it will be helpful then to have these subtopics in an outline form in the description field later in the header. We can also check for subtopics later on with search engine software. So, if Gurudeva start the talk on meditation and then switches to talking about will power, you can enter a descriptor. always put a blank line, click "Enter Descriptor" and then add one. Then when he contineus on and changes subjects again, e.g. raising children.. you can enter another description-sub-topic.

It is *not* necessary to use "Enter Descriptor" to minutely detail every thing Gurudeva says on a single subject. Five to eight such entries will usually suffice for a half hour talk, and as many as twelve for a long talk, but more than that means you are probably trying to enter too many.

Note: If the tape is not playing the application will insert a description, but the time will be 0:0:0 (that is OK

Q: Do I need any special software installed on my computer in order to transcribe?

A: You must have QuickTime installed on your computer for this application to work properly.

Q: What is the best way to start using the transcribing application?

A: Start by clicking "Select Audio File" and pick any sound file from a CD, or from your hard drive. On some PC's files saved as an "Audio" disk will not work. Files should be saved as data files.

You could also enter a URL to a file on the Internet if you are connected. For example http://www.gurudeva.org/soundclip.mp3 would allow you to listen to the latest audio discourse by Bodhinatha that was posted to the web. After choosing a file, click "Play.

Q: What do I need to do if I have to stop in the middle of a transcription session?

A: Simply hit stop. Then next day you can "Pick Up from Last Session" and begin where you left off. It is important not to move the sound file to another directory in the interim.

Sending Finished Transcripts

Q: How do I "Post" the completed transcribed audio talk back to Kauai?

A: If you are connected to the Internet when you open the application the small green indicator will show that the server at the Kauai Aadheenam is on-line. If there is a red cross there, it means that either you are not connected to the Internet, or the server on Kauai is off-line.

If you log onto the Internet after booting the program, click on the "Connection Status" button to check your connection. Assuming the server in Hawaii is on-line and your Internet connection is open, then click the button "Post to Kauai & Save." The file will be sent to Hawaii to the "new_incoming" directory and a copy saved to your hard drive.

Q: What do I do if I experience errors in transcribing the audio talks?

A: Please take a screen shot and email this along with a short description of the error to Sannyasin Brahmanathaswami.

Q: How should I upgrade to a new version of Audio_Transcriber.rev?

A: Go to: http://www.himalayanacademy.com/audio/transcription/ and under "Tools" click the second link: "Download the Revolution Audio Transcriber Application and download the latest version. It is a ZIP file and for some users (Mac users) this will automatically be decompressed and saved to your local machine. If you happen to be in the middle of working on a transcription, first complete the work in progress and upload it to Kauai. Once the upload has been completed just delete the old Audio_transcriber.rev file which is currently in your working transcription directory. Then decompress the new version and put the new file by the same name into your working transcription directory where the previous one was. You will need to enter your user name and in the preferences again and don't forget that this your "short handle" and not your complete first and last name. Also be sure and choose your working directory as well. Note, the name of the button has been changed from "Browser" to "Choose Working Folder". We also recommend that everyone create a separate folder inside this directory for "Final-Sent to Kauai" or some similiar name. This is for your use only. This secondary folder can actually be any name and is just a "housekeeping" folder for you to move completed transcription XML files into for safe keeping.

Q: What is the purpose of the Description Field in the header and how should I fill this in?

A: The purpose of the header is to serve as an "aid" to someone browsing a catalog and, in the future, a web page listing of the talks. The "aid" the user wants is to answer the question in his or her mind which is often vaguely formed, but is no different than a person using Google or another search engine with short entries in a long list. The recommeded way to fill in the header information is somewhat flexible and all of the following examples apply: i. paraphrasing ii. an ungrammatical list of key words or phrases for diverse subjects covered in the audio talk, separated by commas iii. just the short entries in the subtopics with each one on it's own line

Q: How do I edit the Header Description?

A: If your subtopic entries are rather long and contain a lot of words then they made need to be shorten to make them more understandable. Don't be overly concerned with perfect grammar when composing this.

Q: How long can the Header Description be?

A: The Header Description should be 50-100 words maximum and shorter is better. Just spend enough time on the Header Description to make it complete but do not spend a lot of time to make it grammatically perfect as they will be reviewed in further detail before they are posted to the web site in the future.

Q: What the recommended use of commas and general grammar?

A: Historically, the use of punctuation has changed from "Old English", to poetry and to modern Journalistic use. A new mode of punctuation has developed that is in use in most journalism today. Hindusim Today uses the guidelines set forth in the Chicago Manual of Style, some of which can be found online. For instance, a comma is not used after a coordinate conjunction ("or" "and") if the second clause is not a complete sentence. A good link to grammatical guidlines set forth in the Chicago Manual of Style can be found at: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq/cmosfaq.html or www.chicagomanualofstyle.org

Q: What if I do not understand a word and how to spell it?

A: There will be certain spiritual words that are mentioned during th audio talks that are not found within the current gloassary framework. There is a search engine available today that is quite useful in looking up various words and there corresponding meanings. This link can be found at: http://www.himalayanacademy.com/info/advanced_search.shtml Some additional resources you may want to keep on hand for reference while working on audio transcriptions include the Trilogy along with "How to Become a Hindu". The Saiva Dharma Shastras are also quite useful to refer to as well as the search engine located at the bottom of the TAKA main web site page. The search engine will often provide alternate spellings which sometimes gives the correct spelling of the word in question. Several of Gurudeva's written Materpieces are available online and here is a useful link to these: http://gurudeva.org/resources/

Q: What do I do if I do not understand a particular word or phrase?

A: A recommended approach to words or phrases that are not easily understood by the transcriber is to utilize brackets such as [???] to put a placeholder within the working transcription for later investigation or to indicate to the reader that this may be a somewhat obscure term.