Audio Archives
Library of Congress National Jukebox
| Person Describing Archive | Deanna Fong (2012); Chelsea Obodoechina (2020) |
|---|---|
| Is this primarily a poetry audio site? | N |
| Sponsoring Person or Institution | Library of Congress |
| Site URL | |
| Site Last Updated | |
| Date Visited | 20202020/08/14 |
| General Description of Archive | The Library of Congress National Jukebox makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge. The Jukebox includes recordings from the collections of the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation and other contributing libraries and archives. Recordings in the Jukebox were issued on record labels now owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which granted the Library of Congress a gratis license to stream acoustical recordings.The Jukebox includes more than 10,000 recordings made by the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1901 and 1925. Jukebox content is increased regularly, with additional Victor recordings and acoustically recorded titles made by other Sony-owned U.S. labels, including Columbia, OKeh, and others. |
| Description of archive history or URL | |
| Contact information | The Library of Congress Jukebox@loc.gov |
| Searchable options | Material can be searched by artist, song, genre, lyricist, composer, year, place using a central search bar; the collection can be searched by category (vocal, instrumental, spoken, instrumental with refrain); advanced search options include search by specific date or date range, matrix #, language and target audience. |
| Relation from the audio to the text | No transcripts available. |
| Date/Time/Length/Context info about the audio items | Primary Performers, Recording Title, Composer, Lyricist, Genre(s), Category, Description, Language, Label Name/Number, Matrix Number/Take Number, Recording Date, Place of Recording, Size, Duration, Notes; separate tab for Rights & Access, Credits. |
| Author bios and context within literary history | No performer bios are given on site. |
| Audio file type: streaming, download, file format, audio file compression quality (WAV, MP3, bitrate) | Streaming with option to embed. |
| Multimedia integration (pictures, video, etc.) | Each recording accompanied by a photograph of the original record. |
| Audio playback setup (opens in Flash player, on new blank screen, etc.) | Audio player anchored to page, manipulable time bar with counter. |
| 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 | Browsable by artist, date, genre and category. |
| Discovery features (pre-made playlists; dynamic lists: lists of recent additions, featured items, related items, etc). | |
| Interactivity and Web 2.0 features | Interactive "Victrola Book of the Opera" section, an interactive digital facsimile of the 1919 edition of the Victrola Book of the Opera, which describes more than 110 operas. It includes plot synopses and lists of recordings the Victor Talking Machine Company offered in 1919. In addition to reading the original text, one can listen to nearly every recording listed in the book and even compare different interpretations of the most popular arias of the period. |
| Other notes |