[LIBRARYDIR] ProQuest AVON

[Mindy Coslor]

Hi all,

I found an area of concern with ProQuest AVON.  I wasn't happy with the quality of the transcripts for the first two films I looked at.  The transcripts were obviously machine generated with serious errors.  I wrote to Dana Oullette with examples of the errors and she said that when transcription errors are brought to their attention, the film is then reviewed by a human to correct errors.  Here are the films I reviewed and the errors I found:

The first video I viewed was World War II:  1942 and Hitler's Soft Underbelly-Part 2.  The narrator had a British accent.  Here is an example of what I found:


*         Minute 0:26/46:14 - Spoken:  "Why did allies fight so much of the war around the Mediterranean, thousands of miles from the real target, Nazi Germany?"  Transcript: "Why did allies fight so much of the war around the Mediterranean, thousands of miles from the real tocket, Germany?"  (what is a tocket?)

*         Minute 1:25/46:14 - Spoken:  "In reality, the soft underbelly would see some of the worst carnage in Western Europe.  Fighting akin to the great war of 1914-18, Britain and America became bogged down while the Soviet war machine ground on remorselessly to the real target Berlin."  Transcript:  "In reality, the soft underbelly would see some of the worst collage in Western Europe.  Fighting again to the great war of 1948, Britain and America became bogged down while the Soviet war ground on all the most to the real target Berlin."

Then I listened to the film Multicultural History of the United States, 1700-1849.  The narrator spoke with an American accent and I thought spoke very clearly.  I noted the following inaccuracies in the transcript:


  *   Minute 2:52/21:50 - Spoken:  "This peace did not discourage settlers from being hostile towards them."  Transcript:  "This peace did not discourage settlers from being hustled towards them."
  *   Minute:  3:43:21:50 - Spoken:  The game of North America was a prized commodity across the world."  Transcript:  "The game of North America was a priced commodity across the world."
  *   Minute 3:48/21:50 - Spoken:  "The hat makers across Europe prized the furs brought across the sea and a huge industry arose."  Transcript:  "The European hat makers priced the furs brought across the seas and a huge industry arose."

The third film I saw was called Building Climate Resilient and Food Secure Communities in Fiji. In the first few minutes I watched, I didn't see anything that was misleading or incorrect.  After that, I watched Merchant of Venice with no discernable errors in transcription.

I hope others are looking at the videos and noticing any problems with transcripts.  In some cases these errors are serious.

Mindy

Mindy Coslor, PhD
Director of Library Services
Skagit Valley College
2405 E College Way
Mount Vernon, WA  98273

360.416.7761

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