The tapes of this presentation have two tracks: a voice track containing the presentation itself and a time track containing time announcements at intervals of approximately five seconds. The abstract below lists, in order of presentation, the topics covered on the tape, and indicates the time-marking at which point each particular segment begins.
Thus, the researcher by using a tape recorder's fast-forward button may find expeditiously and listen to discrete segments without listening to all of the taped presentation. For instance, the user who wishes to listen to the remarks about “SUBSEQUENT ARRESTS AND PROSECUTIONS OF H. RAP BROWN” should locate the place on the second track of side one where the voice announces the 11:50 time-marking (the voice says at this point, “eleven minutes, fifty seconds”), and at this point switch to the first track to hear the commentary. The discussion on “SUBSEQUENT ARRESTS AND PROSECUTIONS OF H. RAP BROWN”, continues until approximately 13:30 at which point the next topic (“RECENT TRIAL IN NEW ORLEANS”) begins.
Notice that in many cases sentences beneath each headline explain more about the content of the topic. For example the sentences underneath “SUBSEQUENT ARRESTS AND PROSECUTIONS OF H. RAP BROWN” give further details on what appears on the tape between 11:50 and 13:30.
Statements, questions, and answers that have been transcribed verbatim from the tape to the abstract are given in quotation marks. Other entries in the abstract are either paraphrases or condensed topical statements. At certain points the abstract may give the researcher information about the quality of the sound on the tape, the identity of a speaker, the continuity of a discussion or answer, or other aspects of the recorded presentation as they occur. Information of this kind appears in brackets.
The abstract is designed to provide a brief outline of the content of the tapes and cannot serve as a substitute for listening to them. However, the abstract will help the researcher easily locate distinct topics among the many minutes of presentation.
