All Good Things Must Come to an End...Or At Least be Put on Pause

I cannot believe that my internship is technically over! While I have accomplished more that I expected to with regard to completing my project of writing an audio tour for the New Castle Historical Society, there is still a lot to do before the tour is ready for the public.

In my last post I talked about the process of recording the test version of my tour. While I was rather hoarse by the end of the week, I managed to get all of the tracks recorded, edited, and exported in an MP3 format. My last few days at work consisted of getting the tour ready for testing over the next couple weeks and tying up loose ends.

Our test group of individuals is going to include a number of people familiar with both the history of the town and its layout, in addition to a group of people who are not familiar with any of these things. Having a varied audience is important because while those familiar with the layout and history will be able to both fact check the tour, they will have a harder time evaluating the directions because they are already familiar with the different stops and their names. Have a group of people who do not know their way around will give a better sense of how the average visitor will be able to maneuver their way through town. Directions have to be specific enough for them to find their way, but not too complicated that they are confusing.

Each visitor will be given an MP3 player with the tour pre-loaded onto the device. They will also be given a handout that consists of a map of the town on one side with the stops numbered, with directions for how to use the MP3 player and a list of the stops on the other side.

Right now the tour is 2.5 hours long, and consists of 49 Tracks or Stops, which encompass 60+ buildings. It is a lot of information and a long tour. So part of what we want the test group to pay attention to is where the tour is the most interesting and if anything is repetitive. While the tour is long, it is designed so that individuals can skip through tracks if they desire. In addition, the idea is that someone can check out the tour and have it for the day. So a person can take breaks, go on museum tours, grab a bite to eat, etc. As such, we will have to wait and see what the test group say.

While I am technically done with my internship, I will probably help with getting the final version ready once fall begins. The next steps include:

1. Testing the tour with the test group.
2. Processing their comments and critiques.
3. Editing the script for the final recording.
4. Final Recording.

This has been a great project, particularly with my interests in digital media and how to use technology to reach new audiences, and I look forward to seeing the final product.