At 7:03 PM -0400 4/21/10, Marc Myers wrote:
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>Would be a wonderful application for many on this list.
>My experience is most tools I've used were poor at helping me put
>the data into the application. Ease of use is very important. We can
>all put everything in an Excel spread sheet. We don't because it's a
>huge bore.
>Utilities might include:
>a.. A method to import from the metadata from the files
>b.. A number of pick lists the user could populate themselves to
>pass values to the main table for a specific field
>c.. Some way to establish a hierarchical taxonomy so users could
>sort multiple fields to find results. (i.e. just the bird calls from
>around Lake Walenpaupack on the Northeastern PA trip).
>d.. Also a method so that, once a set of items from the pick lists
>are chosen, one could add batch tags to a group of files. (i.e. I
>get back from Lake Walenpaupack and sort just my bird calls. I
>should then be able to batch import the metadata to new records in
>the application with those attributes).
Hi Marc--
The best solution will arise from many many ideas but only if we
agree on some key principles and think big. See if this need meets
what you need:
So you run through recordings from a day's jaunt to see what you got
for an immediate project. When you come to a bird you want to be use
now, you make a region, label it including the Audabon abbreviation
or whatever and use the same text string to name and export as b-wav
(with time stamp if you need that).
In the process of scrolling through, you find some nicely recorded
birds you don't need now but you might want later. You make a
region, label it including the Audabon abbreviation or whatever and
save the region.
Later, you you find some birds you can't ID. You make a region, label
it "unknown" with some Audabon abbreviation guesses and save that
region.
For any quality or factor you notice-- wind changes, a machine drone
that starts up, a storm brewing in the background or pattern you
notice for the first time, you pull up a marker and leave a note
while the file plays. All of the regions and markers are locked to
the timeline.
All of the above plus arcane things like minute by minute weather
infro from nearby MESOW site, photos of your took, links to studies
of interest you find that you don't have time to read-- all of these
can be added to the pot when it occurs to as you log and make sound
file excerpts you presently need. No boring steps added, only ones
you find interesting.
All of the above gets exported as an senseless looking document that
you instantly import into your database. The DB automatically cranks
out a beautiful layout for the recording foray you and have run
through once. Next time you go through the material, you access your
old records and the new additions and old info gets merged.
The database's search engine allows you sort all the stuff you've put
into it the database by very sophisticated criteria. The results of
the searches can are produced in a query window with links to play
files you have exported and links to launch the consolidation app and
"point" to regions you're interested in but have not yet exported as
a separate file.
You can still do batch editing of constant info like location, basic
weather conditions and gear used prior to the import stage, but you
can also do this in the consolidation app during spare listening time.
The real strength of the consolidation app is allowing you to do
necessary, unique things faster, when they occur to you and when its
expedient. There's no repetitious cutting and pasting into spread
sheets. The data base does that.
>e.. I'd also like to be able to turn on and off a prefill. If I have
>a pick list of values, I'd like to be able to choose if the
>application uses that same value in the next record. If I have a
>list of birds, for example, and I know the next thirty files are
>going to be jays, then I'd like to not have to choose jay every
>time. If I then start working on a group of files where the bird in
>each recording will be different, then I'd like to turn that off so
>I won't make mistakes
No problem. People who program databases dream of "entry" and
"output" shortcuts as they fall sleep. Rob D.
>Love to see something like this.
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