naturerecordists
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: Metadata

Subject: Re: Metadata
From: "Rich Peet" <>
Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2004 18:01:45 -0000
LNS suggests using Year, Tape, Track numbering. Last I heard they
used Foxpro as a database. There has been talk about going online for
submissions and I do not know where that is in the process.

The long file names are nice and can be easily cut down for systems
that can not handle them. The name does not contain unique info that
is not in the wave metadata anyway.

Metadata will always need some maintainence. Links, Catalogs, etc.=20
Using AOU numbering for edited species documents gives me the ability
to have bird species in the same order as the major field guides.
That is until they wanted to move the Loons.  If anyone has a free
download source of the current AOU bird species numbering I would
appreciate that.  I don't know if Loons will keep the same number and
just be moved in the order or if the numbers got reassigned.

I don't use AOU for unedited archives. I agree that keeping a chrono
order is very important there.

Direct hard drive recording raises a different problem because the
name is issued at the start of the recording and multiple files are
created. I agree I probably should keep those in chrono order with
the other media. The biggest problem is that I now can easily go
through 20 gigs in a day.  I currently do not have the resources to
keep everything I capture.  I am going to hang on as long as I can
and maybe these new double density dvd's will come enough below the
price of just saving hard drives for there to be an option.

I don't save recordings from others so have not addressed that
problem.  I am still rank amateur and what I have is what there is.=20
I just want to guess right on the directions to go.

Rich


--- In  Lang Elliott <>
wrote:
> Rich:
>
> Wow, so you are going for really long file names which include the
basic
> descriptive info. By the way, what are you calling the "LNS
convention?".
>
> I know that some software doesn't allow for saving of filenames
that long.
> This is true of PEAK on the Mac. PEAK limits file names to 28
characters.
>
> Isn't it dangerous to use AOU species numbers because they change
when a
> species is split?
>
> I'm tending toward naming by naming everything in a simple way by
using date
> and the recording number for that date, and possibly an identifier
for the
> recordist since I have a number of recordings in my collection by
other
> recordists. Then I will put all relevant descriptive information in
a
> database and perhaps also embed it in the file itself, depending.
>
> I like putting the year first so that recordings on a disc
organized by file
> name will be a sequential chronicle of my recording career.  Thus,
I might
> ID the 5th recording made on April 9, 1997 as follows:
>
> 19970409_5_LE   (I might also add an extension like .aif, to ID the
file
> format)
>
> Using this system, all the recordings on a disc would line up by
date if
> they were arranged by file name, which would be a nice sequential
chronicle
> of my recording career.
>
> Does anyone see anything terribly wrong with doing it this way? If
the year
> is put last in the lineup, then recordings can't be grouped by
date, at
> least using file names.
>
> Lang
>
> I am not the person to follow here as my Hard Drive has been a mess
> since the last one crashed. But,
>
> 1. If the recording is a minidisc.  I archive using the LNS
> convention plus add text of location at the end that can be striped
> when posted to another source.
> 041222 Crex Meadows WI ambience of waterfowl at night.wav
> Translated Minidisc recorded in 2004. It is the 12th disc of the
> year. This is the 22nd track and then the description.
> Initially the entire disc is downloaded without track info which is
> broken down and added with time.
>
> 2. If recorded direct to Hard drive I currently am using:
> 03272004A Crex Meadows WI ambience of waterfowl at night.wav
> Translated it was recorded on March 27th, 2004 and is track A of
from
> mono to 8 tracks currently possible.
>
> 3. If it is an edited species sound then I am using:
> 0452A Snipe full flight display.wav
> Translated it is AOU species 452 and is a Grade A recording which
> means no major defect and S/N usually over 45db. Grade A is also
> measured against if it will likely beat common published CD
examples.
> Grade B is of value with some defect and it is what is often seen on
> commercial CD's. Grade C is a poor example but its all I got.
> I also would like to find species numbering for frogs and bugs but
> don't have it.
>
> 4. If it is an edited Ambience it just is saved with a descriptive
> name.
>
> Ok, help me here and give me some advise as to how to make this
> better more workable system.
>
> Rich Peet
>
>
>
> --- In  Lang Elliott <>
> wrote:
> > Let's talk about file naming conventions.
> >
> > There are so many different options. The big collections such as
> MLNS (Lab
> > or Ornithology) and BLB (Borror Lab of Bioacoutics) simply give
each
> > recording a number based on when the recording was archived. That
> number is
> > tied to a relational database. Numbers can generally reflect when
a
> > recording was made (=3D low numbers were made in the beginning of
> one's
> > recording  career, while the highest numbers are more recent
> recordings).
> > The advantage of using a simple numerical system is that filenames
> will
> > always be quite short. Who among us would ever exceed 99999
> recordings in
> > their collection?
> >
> > One can also name recordings by date. For instance, "950612_1"
> could mean
> > this is the first recording made in 1995 on May 12. The reason to
> place the
> > 95 first is that if all recordings were stored in one place,
they'd
> all line
> > up by date, which could be useful.
> >
> > Another technique might be to use species codes, such as the
> accepted four
> > letter codes for birds. SCTA_1 would be recording number 1 for
> Scarlet
> > Tanager. The problem with using codes like this is that things get
> > complicated when one adds frogs, insects, and mammals. One can run
> into code
> > conflicts very easily.
> >
> > In cases where one's recordings may end up in another collection,
> it might
> > be important to add a recordist identifier at the end, such as the
> following
> > for Lang Elliott: "950612_1_LE". But now we're running well beyond
> the
> > 8-digit limit mentioned by Marty. But is the 8-digit limit
> important these
> > days?
> >
> > Not worrying about the length of a file's name allows for an
animals
> > complete common name to be used: "scarlet tanager_1". But this
gets
> a little
> > unweildy at times: "Greater Angle-winged Katydid_1". The nice
thing
> about
> > using a common name (or a scientific name) is that content is
> immediately
> > apparent from the file name itself.
> >
> > But then what does one do with soundscapes, or mixed choruses?
> Maybe "mixed
> > chorus_1" or "soundscape_1".
> >
> > What obvious options am I missing here?
> >
> > Lang
> >
> > I will try to get up to speed and then do a comparison and comment
> > back.
> > I have Cooledit Pro LE, Cooledit Pro, and Audition all running and
> > active within the house.  Yet I don't actually use them for
initial
> > record in the field for laptop recording anymore because of the
lack
> > of direct 24bit support, no ASIO drivers, 2.1 gig record limit,
and
> > inefficient cpu use.  It is still very easy to use for stereo edit
> > and I like that.
> >
> > The different versions of Cooledit don't all appear the same for
> > metadata but it could be that the functions all remain and are
just
> > located in different places.  My hope is that Adobe will catchup
and
> > continue the work on Audition.  They sent me a update question
> survey
> > last week that took about 15 mins to complete.
> >
> > For me the fields are nice but not so important.  I feel that text
> > search engines are now good enough that if I can type paragraphs
and
> > attach images that it would be good enough for a long term archive
> > and easy to search for.
> >
> > I am using three+ file name conventions that should be rolled into
> > one.  So I am reviewing this with interest and find it very
> important
> > to understand the options well. Metadata at least is growing in
> scope
> > and not being ignored or discontinued.
> >
> > Rich
> >
> >
> >
> > --- In  Doug Von Gausig
<>
> > wrote:
> > > At 10:15 AM 3/28/2004, you wrote:
> > >
> > > >Doug:
> > > >
> > > >I wonder if Adobe has dropped any of these useful functions in
> > their
> > > >Audition Software? For those who are confused about this,
perhaps
> > I should
> > > >reiterate that Adobe bought out Syntrillium, so CoolEdit is no
> > longer
> > > >available. Now it is Adobe Audition.
> > >
> > > Yes, and I don't know if Audition retains the useful features.
It
> > can be
> > > downloaded as a trial, but my trial version has expired, or I'd
> > check that out.
> > >
> > > Doug
> > >
> > > Doug Von Gausig
> > > Clarkdale, Arizona, USA
> > > Moderator
> > > Nature Recordists e-mail group
> > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturerecordists
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
> >
> > "Microphones are not ears,
> > Loudspeakers are not birds,
> > A listening room is not nature."
> > Klas Strandberg
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> > To visit your group on the web, go to:
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturerecordists/
> >=20
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> > 
> > <
> subject=3DUnsubscribe>
> >=20
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
Service
> > <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> .
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> "Microphones are not ears,
> Loudspeakers are not birds,
> A listening room is not nature."
> Klas Strandberg
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturerecordists/
>=20
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> 
> <
subject=3DUnsubscribe>
>=20
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service
> <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> .
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the naturerecordists mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU