The NUI Maynooth Ken SaroWiwa Audio Archive Creating

The NUI Maynooth Ken Saro-Wiwa Audio Archive: Creating an Open Access Archive in Soundcloud Helen Fallon, NUI Maynooth & Dr Anne O’Brien, Kairos Communications Helen. b. fallon@nuim. ie, anneobrien@kairoscomms. ie

Background • November 2011 – Donation of 28 letters and 27 poems written by Ken Saro-Wiwa to the Library at NUI Maynooth • November 2013 – Publication of “Silence Would be Treason: Last Writings of Ken Saro-Wiwa” edited by Íde Corley, Helen Fallon & Laurence Cox – Launch of “Ken Saro-Wiwa Audio Archive” produced by NUI Maynooth Library and Kairos Communications

Creating the Ken Saro-Wiwa Audio Archive • Where did I come in? • Through the creativity of librarians • Through a separate filming project for RTE • Through an infectious curiosity for a story that really captures the imagination

What is the audio archive? • Series of recorded interviews • Recorded on location – Rossport • From the comfort (and quiet) of Majella’s home, or in a car • In a radio studio

Why an Audio Archive? • Audio takes you beyond written accounts of the era • It feels like you are part of the story because you are hearing first hand accounts in the voices of the protagonists • Audio recording played to the strength of people who are very articulate orally but couldn’t give the time to writing • It allowed the story to be told in detail but in an expedient way • Video production – Delta Force – prohibitively expensive

What do you need to create an audio archive • Good story well told (finding the story was easy) • Recording the story doesn’t have to be complicated • Read and think a little about doing interviews • Record everything and edit afterwards – better looking at it than looking for it

Home for the Audio Archive • Sound. Cloud • www. soundcloud. com • World’s leading audio cloudbased platform for creating and sharing sound files “The twitter of music”

Sound. Cloud Features • Compatible with all major browsers and mobile devices - i. OS and Android • Over 250 million users • All major audio file formats supported • 2 hours recording time available free of charge • Less than a hundred dollars a year for unlimited space Listener statistics – geographical & most frequently played • Users can post comments, like, repost and share tracks • User created tags • Images • Link from library website via “Electronic Resources” – direct embedding of sound. Cloud tracks

Libraries using Sound. Cloud • University of Washington Libraries – archival recordings from Collections – https: //souncloud/com/uwlibaries • New England Conservatory – https: //soundcloud. com/necmusic • The British Library – https: //soundcloud. com/the-british-library

Audio-Archive Details • Ken Saro-Wiwa Audio Archive http: //library. nuim. ie/electronic-resources/ken-saro-wiwa-audio-archive Click on disclaimer