Hi Hugh,
I am writing this mail just to say thank you for the wonderful project you have started.
I have been introducing Audio Books form LibriVox to learners of English in Japan in the past year, and I have had a great time.
The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, The Winds in the Willows…those are the wonderful audio books I truly enjoyed to listen and to introduce in my blog.Since last month, I have started “Audio Book Club” where I introduce a particular audio book form LibriVox and exchange comments about the story with readers of my blog. This month, I picked up the Great Big Treasury of Beatrix Potter, and my first choice was The Tale of Two Bad Mice, without knowing that it was read by the founder of LibriVox.
When I found that you are the founder, I thought it is time to say thank you.Lots of people are learning English in Japan, and in other countries, and we have paid awfully lots of money to listen English. Audio Books are, although very interesting, prohibitively expensive to buy. But with LibriVox, we can enjoy wonderful books at free and also can share the pleasure with friends on internet.
It is indeed marvellous.
Thank you again and best regards,
MT
News
Emaildesk: Letter from Japan
LibriVox on O’Reilly
O’Reilly TOC blog has an interview with … me! …. about LibriVox:
LibriVox is a volunteer effort with a big goal: record audiobook editions for every title in the public domain. In the following Q&A, LibriVox founder Hugh McGuire discusses the project’s beginnings, the organic development of the LibriVox community, and the distinctions (or lack thereof) between “professional” and “amateur” efforts. [more…]
Proof-Listening
Many people who are not comfortable recording for LibriVox help out in other ways. You might consider helping as a Proof-Listener, making sure that there are no technical problems with an audio file before it goes into the catalog. This includes repeats, badly edited sections, major stumbles, long silences and the like.
Because of the quirky nature of LibriVox (all readers are welcome, and we don’t judge style or accent) PLers are not there to evaluate the more subjective quality of a recording, so:
What types of errors should I NOT be listening?
Text content, reading style, speed, pronunciation, or accents. The LibriVox community values a wide variety of reading styles; what one person finds difficult to hear, another person may really enjoy. The interpretation of the reader is not for our proof-listeners to judge. If you are uncomfortable listening to a particular voice, feel free to return the section to the pool for another proof-listener to claim.
Would you like to help out proof-listening? Read up on it here, and look for the Listeners & Editors Wanted thread in the Forum.
iPod & Philosophy
Dylan Wittkower, LibriVox’s resident philosopher and reader of such gems as Schopenhauer’s Studies in Pessimism, and JS Mill’s Utilitarianism, has edited a new academic/popular text, The iPod and Philosophy, which includes some contributions from the LibriVox community.