Audio Archives

Slought Foundation

Person Describing Archive

Deanna Fong (2012); Chelsea Obodoechina (2020)

Is this primarily a poetry audio site?

N

Sponsoring Person or Institution

Slought Foundation

Site URL

http://slought.org

Site Last Updated
Date Visited

20202020/08/21

General Description of Archive

Slought Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Philadelphia that engages the public in dialogue about cultural and socio-political change. From Kwame Anthony Appiah to Helene Cixous, Werner Herzog to Kazuyo Sejima, the foundation's programs feature today's visionaries in conversation about the role of the artist in society, and the potential transformation of social and political structures. In 2010, 450+ hours of recordings from these programs were made available online, and were downloaded over 125,000 times by visitors from 100 countries.

Description of archive history or URL

http://slought.org/info/history.php

Contact information

Aaron Levy, Executive Director. alevy@sloughtfoundation.org

Searchable options

A search bar allows the user to search the foundation's programs. The archives' "interface" for browsing is displayed as an interactive circle, where programs are divided into year, then into title.

Relation from the audio to the text

No transcripts; player only

Date/Time/Length/Context info about the audio items

Each audio file has its own page that gives the recording date, author, runtime, and city. The site also generates an MLA style citation at the bottom of the page.

Author bios and context within literary history

The amount of biographical and contextual information varies from recording to recording. In most cases, some contextualizing information is given about the project and the production of the recording. In the case of the 1963 Vancouver Poetry Conference Readings, however, a general overview of the event is given, but there is no biographical information about the individual readers.

Audio file type: streaming, download, file format, audio file compression quality (WAV, MP3, bitrate)

Streaming or downloadable (mp3).

Multimedia integration (pictures, video, etc.)

Each page has a thumbnail photograph relating to the recording (i.e. tape cases, event photos or thematically relevant pictures)

Audio playback setup (opens in Flash player, on new blank screen, etc.)

Each audio file opens on its own page with contextualizing information. The audio player itself is very minimal - volume control, play/pause and timer only.

Mobile access (i.e. accessible on smart phones, tablets, etc.)

UPDATE (Chelsea Obodoechina): Mobile access is possible, but the website does not cater to mobile devices. Functionality may vary depending on the device.

Browsing
Discovery features (pre-made playlists; dynamic lists: lists of recent additions, featured items, related items, etc).
Interactivity and Web 2.0 features
Other notes