Thread by @plaidsicle

happy Thursday, all. this here is my first-ever twitter-thread-conference-presentation: “Giving Voice to the Public Domain in a Crowdsourced Creation/Curation Community.” I'll be sharing some history and thoughts on the awesome global community that is @librivox. #HCTwitterConf19

@librivox I joined @librivox partly because I love reading aloud + so I could study the instructional and community-building writing happening among volunteers there. I'm interested in digitization, circulation, the commons, and how we negotiate rules for these things. #HCTwitterConf19 2/

LibriVox (LV for short) is an all-volunteer project that helps people record free audiobooks. LVers build and support their project collaboratively by adopting/adapting digital tools like podcasting, wikis, forums, blogs, databases--and recently, even Twitch! #HCTwitterConf19 3/

LV began as a blog and a podcast w/ a catalog coded *by hand* (check it out via the waybackmachine: web.archive.org/web/2005092409…). volunteers then gradually added forums, a wiki, custom workflow tools, databases, + an API that fuels many third-party audiobook apps. #HCTwitterConf19 4/

importantly, LV relies on and builds its catalog from texts in the public domain. LV also relies on a few key repositories of (mostly or often public domain) digital texts: @gutenberg_org, @internetarchive, and @hathitrust #HCTwitterConf19 5/

@gutenberg_org @internetarchive @hathitrust all LV contributions are also donated back to the public domain, so anyone can do anything with them. some neat examples = LV radio wmfh-lp.org, a Youtube channel youtube.com/channel/UCsHiF… and @delphicwrstwtch thedelphicwristwatch.org/episodes/ #HCTwitterConf19 6/

@gutenberg_org @internetarchive @hathitrust @delphicwrstwtch (you can even purchase LibriVox recordings on CD via ebay: ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr…)
#HCTwitterConf19

@gutenberg_org @internetarchive @hathitrust @delphicwrstwtch the way LVers take material from the commons & digitize it in new ways to make the commons richer perfectly illustrates Dan Bricklin’s concept of a “cornucopia of the commons” (bricklin.com/cornucopia.htm). even small contributions add up, benefiting everyone.
#HCTwitterConf19 7/

@gutenberg_org @internetarchive @hathitrust @delphicwrstwtch LV invites any & all willing volunteers to join, and we want it to be accessible and easy to do so. in that spirit, LV doesn’t care what hardware, software, sound booth (or lack thereof) you use to record, as long as recordings meet a few tech specifications. #HCTwitterConf19 8/

in some ways, LV espouses “anarchy with an iron fist” (h/t @hughmcguire for that excellent phrase): at LV, there are core values that define the project, but all potential issues outside of those values are for volunteers to navigate & decide however we like. #HCTwitterConf19 9/

@hughmcguire my first LV work was done in GarageBand w/ a default macbook mic. when I switched laptops & started using @getaudacity, I had much to learn (and still do)! thankfully, LVers are generous, helpful collaborators, eager to share their expertise with each other. #HCTwitterConf19 10/

@hughmcguire @getaudacity LVers coordinate their work & answer most questions in their forums, but LV tips + tutorials are scattered all over the internet-- from blogs & wikis to a facebook group facebook.com/groups/4608885… and live-streamed Twitch sessions twitch.tv/videos/3175404… too. #HCTwitterConf19 11/

volunteer work at LV creates a “meshwork” (Ingold _Lines_ 2007) of interwoven activities marked by movement with/among people, places, hardware, software, platforms, + words (spoken & written). anyone is welcome to contribute, in any language, on any project #HCTwitterConf19 12/

because everything at LV has been built & decided ad hoc, by volunteers, its collaborative audiobook-production processes can sometimes feel idiosyncratic, but that’s part of what makes this creative-curation project so abundant, sustainable, and meaningful. #HCTwitterConf19 13/

LV is abundant. our total # of published audio projects just crossed the 13,000 mark this month! librivox.org/2019/07/03/130…. as of July 1, 9000+ readers have shared their time and their voices and published audiobooks in 96 different languages. #HCTwitterConf19 14/

LV is sustainable. together, LVers typically complete + publish 3-4 audio projects daily. the modularity of LV means we can do as much/as little as we like, so (hopefully) nobody gets burned out. LV's home-grown crowdsourcing system has worked well for 14 yrs #HCTwitterConf19 15/

LV is meaningful. readers often express how beautiful it is to preserve their voices and their favorite stories for posterity. we are grateful to have a place to support each other in reading aloud for fun and making something lasting for the internet. #HCTwitterConf19 16/

LV preserves/extends the public domain in new ways, while promoting & safeguarding crucial modes of ethical, resilient openness. the LV model could inspire other crowdsourced media work & will hopefully continue prompting important shifts in open publishing. #HCTwitterConf19 17/

for more information about LV (including info on how *you* can volunteer!) go to librivox.org. you can also check out their full catalog via @internetarchive here: archive.org/details/libriv… or at librivox.org/search or #HCTwitterConf19 /fin

that 10 minutes went by fast!
thank you @humcommons for putting this on and bringing together all the fun ideas we’ve been able to see and share today!

@humcommons in case anyone wants more from me about LibriVox--
full dissertation: dx.doi.org/10.17613/p5my-…
a brief history of LV: wac.colostate.edu/docs/proceedin…
"Users as Makers" from @SIGDOC 2017 dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?i…
and my most recent @CcccPgh conference talk slides: drive.google.com/file/d/1T4gzkK…

@internetarchive almost forgot to mention, for those outside the US, there's also Legamus-- legamus.eu/blog/?page_id=… for recording books in Europe's differently-defined public domain. inspired by @librivox, with a similar approach, just different legality.