How to: Recording and Transcribing an Academic Lecture?

Transcribing Academic Lecture
Introducing you to the importance of recording and transcribing an academic lecture
Recording and transcribing an academic lecture is helpful, especially for students and researchers. It helps better understand the information by making it more accessible for everyone, especially those with hearing or other impairments.

The most crucial advantage of recording and transcribing an academic lecture is that it improves accessibility. From a layperson to an individual who is hard of hearing or has any other similar disability can comprehend academic lectures well. It is also helpful when studying for exams or preparing for a paper, particularly for people who need to read along with what is being said verbally to comprehend it fully.

Moreover, having a transcript can be a helpful study tool when working on a research paper, as it allows us to find and review specific information quickly. It also forces us to slow down and process the information, aiding comprehension.

Here is how to record and transcribe an academic lecture:

Get a suitable recording device

You will need a hand-held recording device or an external microphone for your smartphone to record an academic lecture. Many smartphones come with built-in microphones, but they may be unable to pick up the speaker’s voice. A hand-held recording device will give you the best sound quality. If you purchase an external microphone, get one compatible with your devices with a background noise cancellation feature.

Placement of the recording device

While recording an academic lecture, place the recorder near the speaker. It will help to ensure that the recording is of high quality and is in its entirety. Also, don’t forget to save the audio once the recording is complete; it’s a silly yet important reminder.

Don't share the recordings or transcripts online without permissions

Lectures are intellectual property, and copyright infringement occurs when recordings or transcripts of academic lectures are shared online without their owner’s permission. Ensure you have followed the two-party consent rules while recording and sharing the lecture. Also, make sure that everyone being recorded in the lecture also knows about it. You must also follow all the university regulations about recording lectures so that you won’t land in any trouble.

Transcribing the academic lecture
Now that you know how to record an academic lecture, let’s look at how to transcribe them correctly:
  • The first step to transcribing an academic lecture is to listen carefully to the audio recording.
  • The second step to transcribing an academic lecture is taking notes while listening. This way, you can focus on understanding what is being said rather than trying to write down everything at once.
  • The third step is to prepare a verbatim record by writing everything. It will ensure you have captured everything correctly during your initial recording session. You can do it in Microsoft Word or another similar program.
  • Next, edit the transcript, as it will help you avoid errors in your transcriptions later on down the line.
So, this was the manual or traditional approach; you can also go with automated transcription. For example, platforms such as Ant Datagain can prepare an automated transcript which you can later clean and edit.

Or Hire a transcription service

Hiring a transcription service for transcribing a recorded academic lecture is a good idea. Why? Because it can be challenging and painstaking to transcribe a lecture yourself. A transcription service brings speedy, accurate, and error-free transcription. You can rely on services such as Ant Datagain, Scribie, & TranscribeMe.

Connect with us

Recording and transcribing an academic lecture can be a task. But we can help you fight half of this war by transcribing academic lectures. At Ant Datagain, we have professional transcriptionists, so one thing that is guaranteed is quality services. So, without further ado, connect with us and get your free custom quote today!