Modes of Working in TIM - cartograforce/tim GitHub Wiki

Building timecode linkage

  • Users have the option to rely primarily on listening to map out A/V content. Simply start typing and add timecodes from scratch.
  • Users can copy/paste any and all text and timecode assets that may exist to help build the index.
  • Timecode-linked transcripts can be brought into a neighboring pane and used for navigation through the media.
  • Portions of available timecode-linked transcripts (with or without timecodes) can be copy/pasted as part of building an index.

Markdown

To mark up the different fields for recognition as OHMS.xml, CSV or VTT files, TIM indexers use Markdown language to establish the eventual metadata fields. As is generally the case with markdown, TIM’s markdown syntax is simple and does not require any significant programming knowledge or training to use. The specific syntax for marking down OHMS’ fields in TIM can be found in the Markdown for OHMS.xml Fields section.

Workflow for an OHMS/Aviary index

TIM allows for an entire interview to be indexed in non-linear ways, including a “rough pass,” or iterative, approach. The equivalent tools in OHMS and Aviary have individual dialogues for each index point/timecode that make it cumbersome to build, rearrange, or edit across points in an index. In TIM, an indexer can comfortably establish timecodes/segments for an entire interview before refining the text and defining all the other metadata files through markdown (titles, synopses, keywords, notes/partial transcript). The TIM Editor concept allows for quick scrolling for easy access to all in-progress metadata.

An exported “XML (OHMS)” file from TIM can be viewed on a custom web page or in a content management system (CMS) that incorporates an OHMS Viewer. It can be viewed and edited in the OHMS Studio (formerly the "OHMS Application"), a freely available repository environment for managing OHMS-style indexes. An OHMS.xml index can also be displayed in Aviary, a CMS that uses the same data structure used in OHMS, but displays the fields associated with each timecode in a different way.

An index developed in TIM can also be viewed in a spreadsheet environment, via a .csv file.

TIM beyond oral history

TIM has capabilities for indexing media beside oral history interviews.

  • TIM can function as a free-form personal note taking tool. Type freely and add/remove timecodes in the Tim Editor and save/retrieve work as JSON files, as with any TIM project.
  • TIM can be used to create timecoded transcripts or subtitle/closed caption files by saving as VTT files. (Note that when used for indexing, VTT files only have 3-4 fields: timecode, title, description).
  • VTT files are text-based and can be generated from scratch or imported as text in TIM. Simply copy/paste timecodes in the Tim Editor for use elsewhere.
  • Aviary has capabilities to display VTT indexes as a two-tiered hierarchy. Douglas Lambert gave an example of this when he created 5 different indexes for the same Zoom-recorded conference session: the Oral History Association annual meeting, 2021.
  • See the various OHA conference session indexes and timecoded transcripts in Aviary.