Attachment J2 - Specification 1201.pdf

Version 1.0 August 2017

Specification 1201:2017 Narration

NLS Spec No. 1201 August 2017

Revision History Revision Issue Date Change Description

1.0 06/30/2017 Initial release

Final Approval

Release Approval:

Head, Production Control Section

(Andrew Skinner)

Head, Quality Assurance Section

(Margaret Goergen-Rood)

Head, Engineering Section

(John Brown)

Chief, Materials Development

Division (Michael Katzmann)

Director

(Karen Keninger)

Karen Keninger

Digitally signed by Karen Keninger Date: 2017.11.20 09:07:23 -05'00'

Digitally signed by Michael G. Katzmann Date: 2017.08.03 12:43:03 -04'00'

Digitally signed by Andrew Skinner Date: 2017.08.03 11:43:18 -04'00'

Digitally signed by Margaret Goergen-Rood Date: 2017.11.14 15:47:35 -05'00'

Digitally signed by John Brown Date: 2017.08.03 12:19:36 -04'00'

Table of Contents

1. Scope

2. Suggested Reference Sources

3. Requirements

3.1 Narrator Criteria

3.1.1 Characteristics

3.1.2 Aesthetic/Interpretative Requirements

3.1.3 Casting

3.1.4 Multiple Narrators

3.1.5 Narration Accuracy

3.1.6 Pronunciation

3.2 Speaking the Written Text

3.2.1 Omitted Text

3.2.2 Relocated Text

3.2.3 Reading Notes

3.2.4 Location of Notes

3.2.5 Explanatory Notes

3.2.6 When Source Notes Are Omitted

3.2.7 When Footnote Numbers Are Omitted

3.2.8 Special Instructions

4. Quality Assurance

4.1 Contractor Inspection

4.1.1 Quality Assurance Procedures (QAP)

4.1.2 Responsibility for Compliance

4.1.3 Monitor (Recording Technician)

4.1.4 Reviewer

1. Scope

This document specifies the narration requirements for audio materials produced for the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Library of Congress.

2. Suggested Reference Sources

Random House

The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, current edition

Columbia University Press

Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World, current edition The New Columbia Encyclopedia, current edition

Merriam-Webster Inc.

Webster’s New International Dictionary, current edition Webster’s Biographical Dictionary, current edition Webster’s Geographical Dictionary, current edition A Pronouncing Dictionary of American English, current edition Encyclopedia of Literature, current edition

Pearson Education Inc.

The New Century Cyclopedia of Names, current edition

J.P. Lippincott Company

Universal Pronouncing Dictionary of Biography and Mythology, current edition

Omnigraphics Inc.

Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names, current edition

Oxford University Press

BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names, current edition

Online Guides

Say How: A Pronunciation Guide to Names of Public Figures available at:

www.loc.gov/nls/other/sayhow.html

The ABC Book: Acronyms, Brand Names, and Corporations available at:

www.loc.gov/nls/other/ABC.html

Creating an Annotation available at:

www.loc.gov/nls/other/annotation/revised/index.html

Forvo available at:

www.forvo.com

How J Say available at:

www.howjsay.com

3. Requirements

3.1 Narrator Criteria

Each narrator who reads for the NLS program must audition and receive approval from the NLS Quality Assurance Section (QAS). Auditions shall consist of five minutes of nonfiction and five minutes of fiction reading.

The fiction selection shall contain a minimum of two distinctive characters and narrative. The studio director shall contact QAS to determine the best delivery method for an audition.

The NLS director must be sent written notification and must approve in advance any solicitation of authors, agency administrators, or well-known individuals for narration of NLS materials.

The narrator shall meet the requirements stated below. Conformance to these requirements may be subjective. Final authority for judging the acceptability of a narration shall rest with the NLS Quality Assurance Section.

3.1.1 Characteristics

Important characteristics of narration include but are not restricted to:

a. Delivering the narration in a conversational manner

b. Conveying the sense of the text

c. Conveying the appropriate emotional levels of the text

d. Using emphasis, inflection, phrasing, stress, timing, and other appropriate speech art skills to distinguish narrative from dialogue and characters from each other without calling undue attention to the manner of delivery

e. Ensuring that, if character voices are used, the voice of each character possesses the same ease, flow, and vocal range as the normal narrative voice and is appropriate to the text

f. Avoiding a delivery that is stilted, mechanical, or monotonous, unless one or more of these characteristics is an artistic necessity for specific sections of the text

g. Avoiding strained, unclear, inconsistent, or overplayed character interpretations, dialects, and accents

h. Avoiding narration characteristics that might become a distraction during extended periods of listening

i. Using appropriate conventions for speaking written language

j. Accomplishing the narration at a pace that enables the narrator to most naturally convey the energy, mood, sense, and style of the text

3.1.2 Aesthetic/Interpretative Requirements

The narrator must be attentive to the sense of the text, skillful in securing proper emphasis, and must avoid a stilted, mechanical, and monotonous delivery. The emotional content of the voice shall at all times be appropriate to the emotional level of the source material. The narrator, by proper use of timing and inflection, must clearly differentiate between narrative and dialogue, and between various characters depicted. If character voices are utilized, each separate vocal characterization must possess the same ease, flow, and vocal range as the normal narrative voice. Character interpretations, dialects, and accents that are strained, unclear, inconsistent, or overplayed are not acceptable.

3.1.3 Casting

The narrator selected for the source material must possess, as much as possible, the vocal personality, vocal qualities, and vocal style that are most suited to the content of the source material, and most suited to speaking the written text in a way that is as consistent as possible with the intent of the author.

3.1.4 Multiple Narrators

The use of multiple narrators for production of individual source material is prohibited except for the production types defined below:

Multi-title Digital Talking Books (DTBs) Different narrators may be used for the different titles but no change of narrator shall occur during an individual title.

Magazines Different narrators may be used for the different articles but no change of narrator shall occur during an individual article.

3.1.5 Narration Accuracy

Narration shall conform to the source material text in its entirety and include bibliographies, references, appendixes, and notes, etc. (See Section 3.2 regarding the handling of notes). Errors in the sources material text identified during the recording process shall be corrected, after consultation with the studio recording director.

Quotations from works such as the sacred text of any religion (e.g., the Bible, the Torah, the Koran, etc.), historical documents, poems, and direct quotations shall be word perfect. Final authority for judging accuracy of the narration shall rest with the NLS Quality Assurance Section.

The following points will be cause for immediate rejection:

a. Mispronunciations

b. Changing the original meaning of the text by improper inflection or interpretation

c. Failure to accurately follow the text of the print edition

3.1.6 Pronunciation

Pronunciation shall be appropriate to the style and period of the print text and the nature of the characters. Proper names and foreign words and phrases shall be pronounced in a natural and accurate manner. For general vocabulary usage, any of the sources listed in Section 2 of this specification shall be considered an authoritative source. Specialized reference works (music, law, medicine, British speech, etc.) may be used for specialized requirements. Additional research is required if published sources do not give the needed pronunciations. In case of dispute, final authority rests with the NLS Quality Assurance Section Head.

3.2 Speaking the Written Text

3.2.1 Omitted Text

Unless otherwise instructed in writing by NLS, studios may omit:

a. Elements that label, credit, or list visual materials without giving additional information

b. Index and index references

c. Items that upsell other products Any omission of material must be accompanied by the following reader’s note to be placed at the end of the table of contents. (If there is no table of contents, read the note before chapter one or its equivalent.):

“Reader’s note: (name of material) located throughout the (source material) have been omitted. End of reader’s note.”

3.2.2 Relocated Text

When it is appropriate to the specific title, captions, charts, graphs, illustrations, and other typographical elements may be relocated from where they occur in the print edition, provided they are not necessary for clarity at the point where they occur. These elements may be relocated individually or read as a group at the end of the source material division (i.e. chapter, part, article, etc.) or at the end of the source material, whichever is most appropriate to the style of the specific title. Relocation of elements shall be consistent throughout the audio recording.

Any relocation of material must be accompanied by the following reader’s note to be placed at the end of the table of contents. (If there is no table of contents, read the note before chapter one or its equivalent.):

“Reader’s note: (name of element or elements) located throughout the (source material) have been gathered at (identify the new location). End of reader’s note.”

3.2.3 Reading Notes

The generic term “note” shall be used in the spoken text for end notes, explanatory notes, etc. The term “footnote” shall be used for footnotes. Notes shall be set off from the text by saying “Note . . . end of note” or “Footnote . . . end of footnote.”

When notes are read in the spoken text, they shall be read as near as is practical to the point in the written text where they occur. Notes shall normally be read at the end of a sentence, provided the nature of the written text makes it practical, but always in a manner that least interrupts the flow of the spoken text.

3.2.4 Location of Notes

When it is appropriate to the specific title, notes may be relocated from where they occur in the print edition. They may be read as a group at the end of each source material division (i.e. chapter, part, article, etc.) or read as a group at the end of the source material, whichever is most appropriate to the specific title. The appropriate announcement shall be used for the following situations.

a. When notes are relocated to the end of a division:

i. The following announcement shall follow the table of contents or, if there is no table of contents, precede the main text of the source material: “Reader’s note: All notes will be found at the end of the (name of the division) in which they appear. End of reader’s note.”

ii. If there is a heading for other notes that appear at the end of a division, that heading is used for reading those notes and the relocated notes. If there is no heading, the following announcement shall be used to introduce the relocated notes:

“Notes for (division name or number).”

b. When notes are relocated to the end of the source material:

i. The following announcement shall follow the table of contents or, if there is no table of contents, shall precede the main text of the source material: “Reader’s note: All notes will be found at the end of the (source material). End of reader’s note.”

ii. If there is a heading for other notes that appear at the end of the source material, that heading is used for reading those notes and the relocated notes. If there is no heading, the following announcement shall be used to introduce the relocated notes:

“Notes for (source material title).”

iii. Unless otherwise directed by written instructions from NLS, notes read as a group at the end of the source material shall be read after the body of the main text and before any back matter.

3.2.5 Explanatory Notes

Each explanatory note shall be read in its entirety.. It shall be read with a note number, if present in the source material text, and as near as is practical to where it occurs in the source material.

The exception to reading an explanatory note in its entirety is when other material, such as source notes (citations) or repetition of information from the main text, is part of the explanatory note. Such material may be omitted when the explanatory note is read.

3.2.6 When Source Notes (Citations) Are Omitted

When it is appropriate to the specific title, source notes (citations) may be omitted. This announcement shall be used:

“Reader’s note: The source notes found in the publication are not included in this recording. End of reader’s note.” If appropriate, add the following statement: “… Explanatory notes have been retained. …” within the reader’s note.

This announcement shall follow the table of contents or precede the start of the print text if no table of contents is present.

3.2.7 When Footnote Numbers Are Omitted

Footnote numbers shall not be read when footnote numbering begins anew on each page.

3.2.8 Special Instructions

NLS will provide any special instructions to the recording contractor when there are requirements for a specific source material that are not covered in this document. The contractor may ask the NLS contract monitor for changes to special instructions that will improve clarity of narration or usefulness of the source material. All such changes must be approved in writing by NLS.

4. Quality Assurance

4.1 Contractor Inspection

The contractor is responsible for the performance of all inspection requirements specified herein.

4.1.1 Quality Assurance Procedures (QAP)

The contractor shall create a quality assurance plan to document the processes and procedures that ensure products delivered comply with the requirements of this specification. Quality assurance procedures shall include, but are not limited to, those pertaining to narration, monitoring, and reviewing. The quality assurance plan shall be augmented and modified when rejections demonstrate existing procedures are inadequate. The contractor shall submit the QA plan to the NLS Quality Assurance Section at the beginning of each new contract or at any time required by NLS. Modification of the contractor’s QA plan shall be made if, in the opinion of the NLS QA section, it does not adequately ensure delivery of conforming products.

4.1.2 Responsibility for Compliance

The requirements set forth in this specification shall become a part of the contractor’s overall inspection system or quality program. The absence of any inspection requirements in the specification shall not relieve the contractor of the responsibility for assuring that all products submitted to NLS for acceptance comply with all requirements of the contract. Sampling methodology in quality monitoring does not authorize the submission of known defective material, nor does it commit NLS to the acceptance of defective material. Should NLS determine, within the warranty period, that a product does not conform to this specification, the contractor shall correct the product and if necessary submit a corrective action report and modify its QA procedures to prevent similar failures. The correction of the non-conforming product shall be performed without additional charge to NLS.

4.1.3 Monitor (Recording Technician)

The narrator shall be continuously monitored by a second person using another copy of the source material to detect errors and control the recording process. The monitor shall be fluent in reading and speaking the language in which the text is printed.

4.1.4 Reviewer

The audio recording shall be reviewed against the source material to ensure compliance with this specification. The reviewer shall not have been the narrator or the monitor of the source material being reviewed. The reviewer shall be fluent in reading and speaking the language in which the text is printed.