LINGUIST List 13.926

Wed Apr 3 2002

Qs: Recording Devices, Reversed Spelling Dictionary

Editor for this issue: Karen Milligan <karenlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Suzanne K. Hilgendorf, recording telephone conversations
2. Jim Long, reversed spelling dictionaries

Has anyone had any experience in recording telephone conversations, or
would anyone know what technology is available to do so?

I've travelled to Germany to conduct research on English use within
the country. At the moment I'm trying to arrange interviews with
business managers, and am discovering that many would rather discuss
the subject over the phone than in person (I assume because it's more
convenient and flexible). A government official made the same request
earlier this week, and it was frustrating to be left with only
skeletal notes after our 45 minute telephone call.

I had planned on using a small dictating recorder, but now wonder if
there isn't some other means of doing this. A visit to a major
electronics store here in Berlin also was disappointing; the employees
knew of no software for example for doing this via a telephone hook-up
on the computer, and the one dictating recorder with a telephone
adapter gave a rather poor quality of recording. In the end, the best
they could suggest was purchasing a better quality recorder and taping
the conversation "open air" via speaker phone.

I've reviewed the archive of LINGUIST postings, but was unable to find
any good alternatives.

Should you have any ideas or suggestions from personal experiences,
please reply to me personally. If there is interest, I'll be happy to
post a summary of replies to the list.

Many thanks!

Suzanne
Suzanne K. Hilgendorf
German and Slavic Studies
Wayne State University

Can anyone suggest where I cam download (or purchase) a reversed
spelling dictionary of English (a dictionary that list words spelled
in reverse order)? As an alternative, I could use a list of English
words (minus the definitions), especially in a computer manipulable
form. I could then write some code to reverse them.

Thanks for any assistance.

Jim Long
<jimlongworldpassage.net>