In our blog transcription equipment we looked at the most essential transcription equipment both hardware and software. We looked at the different software that would be necessary to help you in your transcription work.  In this blog, we’re going to take it a step further and have a look at  specific software’s that I believe are helpful to have as a oral historian looking to transcribe their audios.

Now, while there are a many softwares out there that are helpful, we’re going to be looking at just three that I find most helpful to any transcriber.

Audacity

This is a software that I prefer for all my audio editing and that’s mainly because it’s a very powerful professional audio editing software. An additional advantage is that it’s also free meaning it doesn’t cost you anything, it’s easy to learn and with the right plug in it can also edit extra audio from video files. The other advantage of audacity over most other audio editing software is its compatibility with a wide variety of operating systems such as Windows, Apple macOS, and Linux operating systems.

Online Storage

This is really important for you to have some secure online storage for your audio. So, in case you lose your recording device, your computer, your laptop or anything happens to your recording you can rest knowing you have your online storage. So, this is a must have for anyone looking to record audios. Most online storage come with a desktop sync application that you can store on your desktop or computer that will allow you to easily upload and download your files with your online management. Some of the best ones that I have used are dropbox.com and box.com. Box.com is for files that require more security because there are agreements that you can sign with box.com. Most academic institutions have an enterprise account with box.com that they will allow you to use. In that case, the onus is on your institutions or academic institutions which control access to your files. But for personal use, dropbox.com is also a good option.

Remote Oral History recording software

Zoom

There are a number of cloud-based communications apps that allow you to set up virtual video and audio conferencing. The different available apps that you can sign up for are Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Skype, among others. However out of all these I constantly use Zoom, this is because it has features that make it easier to use. Such as an built-in scheduling within the app which help users set meetings up with ease as well as send out invitations to meetings/interviews.  

Now the above three are not absolute as there are other important software that assist in the recording, downloading, and storing of data collected. I prefer to look at the above three as the main that branch into other software’s that would serve the same purpose.

That’s it for this blog, I do hope it was helpful.  Feel free to contact us for any questions or comments or suggestions you may have.

. Kindly consider us for any your transcription needs and remember, always be kind, try to stay positive and learn to unwind