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Thank you for helping bring this collection to life!

How do I edit a talk's information?

• If you are a Curator, Manager or Owner of the collection, open the talk you'd like to edit and click the Edit button.
• Each field on the edit page has a "?" icon beside it. Click it for tips about that field.

What if I don't see an Edit button?

• Editing is open to the Curators, Managers and Owners of the collection that owns the talk. You need to be logged in.
• Your My Account page lists your collections under My Collections, with your role in each.
• If you are a Member and would like to help edit, ask the collection's Managers whether they can make you a Curator.
• Some talks are shared into this collection from another collection. A shared talk can be edited only by the Curators, Managers and Owners of the collection that owns it. If you would like to help edit it, ask that collection's Managers whether they can make you a Curator.

What are Keywords?

• Keywords are one of the most helpful ways to make the collection searchable and to connect related talks.
• A keyword can be any descriptive word or term that people are likely to search for.
• Keep keywords short and distinct, usually one or two words rather than phrases.
• Please write keywords in Title Case, so they're easy to read.
• Whenever you can, choose an existing keyword from the suggestions that appear as you type, so talks connect to each other.

How do we use the Suggested Keywords?

• Suggested Keywords are written automatically from the talk's transcript and summary.
• On the edit page, click a Suggested Keyword if it fits, and it moves into the Keywords field.

What are Descriptions?

• A description can be a short abstract of the talk, an outline of its main themes, or a simple description such as "Sunday lecture" or "Koan class".
• It's also the place to add context, if you know when and where the talk was given.

What are Notes?

• Notes hold any other technical or historical information about the talk: the source of the transcript, the sound quality, restoration work done during digitization, and so on.
• Markings visible in a photo of the tape that don't fit another field can go in Notes. You're welcome to copy them word for word, or to clarify or correct them where you can.
• Notes are a good place to mention that a talk was published in a book or newsletter, with a link if you have one.

Can we edit the AI Summary?

• Not directly, but it can be improved.
• Rate it with the buttons below the AI Summary on the talk's page (not the edit page). Your ratings help train the summarizer, so please rate any talk you've listened to, in part or in full.

How (and when) to edit the Transcript:

• Our AI transcription engine is always improving, and transcripts are automatically upgraded as its vocabulary and capabilities expand.
• The goal of these transcripts is to closely match the audio so that no sentences are missing, and yet be a bit smoother than the audio, where appropriate, so that they are worded in a readable way that is easy to visually skim and understand.  
• Leave out repeated phrases where the speaker is finding their words, ums, uhs, you knows, etc. except as they add to the flavor of their expression.

• Put any comments in brackets [like this]. Comments include:

  • Questions on content
  • Any sections you can’t hear, please leave a placeholder:
    • Every day when [Inaudible] spoke in the hall …
  • Notes on any spelling you aren’t sure of:

    • you can mark your best guess for others to confirm: Every day when Baizan [sp?] spoke in the hall …

    • or include alternate possibilities to help with searchability: Every day when Baizan [Baizhang?] spoke in the hall …

• Also put in brackets:

  • Laughter or interjections, indicating it s the person speaking [laughs] or the group [laughter]

  • Any other audible information, such as [laughter] or something in the environment that becomes part of what is talked about, such as [music], [something drops and hits the floor], [dog barking], etc.

• Use an ellipsis (...) for a sentence that isn’t finished or starts late.

• For questions, if there are multiple questioners, identify them by letter.

  • [Student A:] Why is there karma?
  • [Student B:] He doesn’t answer why questions.
  • [Student C:] Why not?
• Use one space between sentences, not two. Use one space after colons also.
• When in doubt about length, start a new sentence, avoiding run-ons.
• Do not use tabs or spaces to indent new paragraphs, please leave them flush left.
• If you apply spell-check, watch out for incorrect auto-suggestions, especially on foreign language words.

Can I paste in a complete transcript I already have?

• Yes! full transcripts are very helpful and welcome. 
• Please comb through it and be sure it aligns with the guidelines above, so that it stays aligned with the audio. 
• If you have a partial transcript, please leave the rest of the existing AI transcript in place, and paste in your text to replace just the part that it covers. 
• If it's from MS Word or another app, we strongly recommend converting it to plain text or Rich Text first, to avoid weird formatting.  

Pro Tip: Use keyboard shortcuts to control the audio player!

• Our audio player supports the following keyboard shortcuts:
  • Play/Pause:  Shift + Spacebar
  • Skip Forward 5 Seconds: Shift + Right Arrow
  • Skip Back 5 Seconds: Shift + Left Arrow
• This works when you're viewing a Talk page as well as on the Edit page, so you can control the player while you're editing the transcript, without touching your mouse. 
• And when you hover your mouse over these buttons and it will show you a quick reminder of each shortcut.
• Clicking anywhere on the waveform while audio is playing will also let you jump to that spot in the talk.

Still have questions?

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If you are stuck, please email us at help@engagewisdom.com with the address of the page, what you tried, and any error message you saw. We do not have full-time support staff, so a reply may take a few days. Thank you for your patience.