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LibriVox

About

LibriVox is a hope, an experiment, and a question: can the net harness a bunch of volunteers to help bring books in the public domain to life through podcasting?

LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain, and then we release the audio files back onto the net. We are a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project.

• LibriVox
• How LibriVox Works
• Donate
• How to Volunteer

Policies

• Language Policy
• Forum Policies
• Recording & Text Policies
• Music & Sound Effects Rules
• Community service / volunteering for credit

Copyright

• Copyright and Public Domain
• Why Public Domain and not a Creative Commons license?
• LibriVox and Ebay Resellers

Listen

Listening to the files

• Librivox Catalog
• The LibriVox Free Audiobook Collection (Internet Archive)

See also: How To Get LibriVox Audio Files

Finding Audiobooks

Recommendations

• Recommended Listening List
• Staff Picks
• Personal selections/websites of LV material

Lists & Indexes

• LibriVox Ghost and Horror Story Index
• LibriVox Short Science Fiction Index
• Index of short works in German - Index kurzer deutscher Aufnahmen
• 52 Books
• Great Books of the Western World
• Recordings of Books on the Ambleside List
• Recordings of Books on the Ambleside List 2
• Penguin's Great Ideas Series
• Boy Scout Novels

Searching

• Catalog Page
• How to find a reader
• Readers' Accents Table

Other resources for listeners

• LibriVox Community Podcasts
• Thank a Reader
• Beginner's Guide to Cutting Audio
• How To Split With Mp3Splt
• Slowing Down a Recording

Volunteer

(In another language: Français: Comment devenir benevole)

LibriVox volunteers narrate, proof listen, and upload chapters of books and other textual works in the public domain. These projects are then made available on the Internet for everyone to enjoy, for free.

There are many, many things you can do to help, so please feel free to jump into the Forum and ask what you can do to help!

Where to Start

Most of what you need to know about LibriVox can be found on the LibriVox Forum and the FAQ. LibriVox volunteers are helpful and friendly, and if you post a question anywhere on the forum you are likely to get an answer from someone, somewhere within an hour or so. So don't be shy! Many of our volunteers have never recorded anything before LibriVox.

The roles involved in making a LibriVox recording

Types of Projects

We have three main types of projects:

• Collaborative projects: Many volunteers contribute by reading individual chapters of a longer text.

We recommend contributing to collaborative projects before venturing out to solo projects.

• Dramatic Readings and Plays: contributors voice the individual characters. When complete, the editor compiles them into a single recording
• Solo projects: One experienced volunteer contributes all chapters of the project.

Listeners & Editors

Not all volunteers read for LibriVox. If you would prefer not to lend your voice to LibriVox, you could lend us your ears. Some volunteers will post in the Listeners and Editors Wanted section and ask others to "proof listen" to their recordings. This helps us to catch mistakes we may have missed the first time around. Some volunteers choose to only record the content and ask others to edit out their mistakes.

Proof-Listening

• ProofListening Template

(In another language: (Português)

• Guide for Proof-listeners

(In another language: (Español, Português)

• ProofListening tips and quiz

Narrator (Reader)

Phil Chenevert and Daniel (Great Plains) have made excellent instructional videos: see Instructional Videos page for full details of videos available.

One Minute Test

• 1-Minute Test

(In another language: Deutsch, Español, Francais, Italiano, Portugues)

Record

For an outline of the recording process, please see this section. Full Guide: Newbie Guide to Recording

(In another language: Deutsch, Español, Francais, Nederlands, Português, Tagalog, 中文)

Hardware

• User-Recommended Equipment

Software

• Audacity 1-2-3

(In another language: Deutsch, Español, Francais)

• Adobe Audition

Edit

• Editing Audio

(In another language: (Montage Audio en français)

• Recording and Editing With Word Processor

(In another language: (Effacer les erreurs dans Audacity en français).

Check

• Checker tool, for checking your audio volume
• ReplayGain, for checking volume and amplifying within Audacity

Export

• How to Export Files

Upload

• How to Send Your Recording

Dramatic Readings and Plays

• Dramatic Readings and Plays
• Editing a Dramatic Work
• Creating a Dramatic Reading Script
• Proof-listening a Dramatic Work
• Dramatic Work Resources

Recording Resources

• LibriVox disclaimer in many languages
• Recording Troubleshooter
• Help! What if I Suck
• English Pronunciation Guides
• Foreign Words Pronunciation
• Improve Your Recording
• Make a Portable Vocal Booth
• Voice Character Performance
• Storyteller's Recording Guide
• Improving Computer Performance
• Setting Recording Input Level
• Tech Specs
• What is ID3
• Podcasting and Streaming Audio
• Guides from a Sound Engineer
• Basic Principles of Audio Recording
• Basic Principles of Audio Processing
• Removing Mains Hum
• Questions and Answers

Book Coordinator (BC)

A book coordinator (commonly abbreviated BC in the forum) is a volunteer who manages all the other volunteers who will record chapters for a LibriVox recording.

• How To Become A Book Coordinator

Metadata Coordinator (MC)

Metadata coordinators (MCs), help and advise Book Coordinators, and take over the files with the completed recordings (soloists are also Book Coordinators in this sense, as they prepare their own files for the Meta coordinators). The files are then prepared and uploaded to the LibriVox catalogue, in a lengthy and cumbersome process.

More info:

• How LibriVox Works
• Bible Book MC Guide
• MC Drama Cataloging Notes

Graphic Artist

• CD Covers
• Volunteer CD Covers! Working Thread

Translator

• Homepage Translation

Resources and Miscellaneous

Resources

• LibriVox in the News
• Promotional Material
• Banners and Buttons
• Book Resources
• Poetry FAQ
• Misc Q&As
• Glossary
• Archives

How to Edit the Librivox Wiki

NOTE: Anyone may read this Wiki, but if you wish to edit the pages, please log in, as this Wiki has been locked to avoid spam. Apologies for the inconvenience.

If you need to edit the Wiki, please request a user account, with a private mail (PM) to one of the admins: dlolso21, triciag, or knotyouraveragejo.

You will be given a username (same as your forum name) and a temporary password. Please include your email address in your PM.