It looks like I may be able to convince the powers that be where I
work that I need to get a flash recorder. The archives wants to start
recording lectures and presentations to preserve them and to make them
available on our website. (Their initial test, which they conducted
before consulting me, was to stick a handheld consumer brand MP3
recorder on the lecturer's podium. "It sounds just fine to me!" one
person said. Sure, and while we're at it, let's take some pictures on
a camera phone to accompany this high quality web content... Hi, I'm
in snark mode...) I think I've made them see that in order to make
things suitable for web delivery, we need to start with the highest
quality possible since the quality will inevitably suffer once it's
compressed down to streaming content or MP3 or the like.
Anyway, I've never bought a flash recorder and was hoping for
recommendations, particularly brands and models to look for and to
avoid. (Ditto for dealers of the equipment, too.) What we get
doesn't have to be top of the line, and right now we're only at the
stage where my supervisor is asking me to find quotes, preferably
cheap ones. But I'm well aware that you get what you pay for, so I
don't want to get something worthless. I'd also like this recorder to
be able to interface with the archives auditorium's existing PA
system, assuming that there are the right ins and outs on both, so to
speak.
Comments and questions welcome here or off-list. Thanks!
Trey Bunn
Folklife Archivist
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Montgomery, AL