WELCOME TO THE IVT
a new way of viewing text and video
Welcome to the Interactive Video / Transcript Viewer (IVT), an application developed by professor Linc Kesler at the First Nations Studies Program at the University of British Columbia to provide a more functional way to view video archives, especially for academic purposes.
Features and Capabilities
The IVT is designed with the following features and capabilities in mind:
Please note that the IVT depends on Apple's Quicktime Video plug-in and your browser's ability to process Javascript. Sometimes browser updates affect the IVT's operation. Please check our Browser Update page for compatibility information.
Search Functions
The IVT includes a built-in search function. Users may select the search function from a button on the lower menu bar of the standard interface. A pop-up search screen appears. If a session has already been selected, the search screen shows a scrollable transcript of the current session. If no session has been selected, the transcript is of the whole series, and this "series view" may be selected at any time by a button provided.
The standard "Find" feature of the user's browser may be used to search the full session or series transcript by word or phrase. When a section of interest is located, the user may load it and return immediately to the viewer by clicking on the index mark preceding each page in the search transcript. Users may return to this search function at any time by clicking on the search button again.
The provision of this search function was the motivating concept behind the development of the IVT. It is one thing to have hours of video in an archive made available to users, on disk or on line, and quite another to provide ways for users to find sections of video that they would like to see and get to them quickly. That is what the IVT is designed to do.
Reference and Citation
The IVT has also been designed to provide users with a stable way to refer to specific locations in video sessions and return to them easily. Each page of each session is marked with an index, e.g., "5.13" for the 13th page of the 5th session, and that index appears on-screen in the standard implementation at all times. Users may enter a reference in the index box on-screen and press the "ENTER" key on their keyboard to update the viewer to the session and page requested.
This feature makes standard academic citation of materials placed in the IVT possible, even in an internet implementation, as long as a stable address is provided. A pop-up guide to academic citation is included on the main screen in the standard implementation. This indexing feature also allows users to refer other users (or teachers to refer students) to specific passages that they may then go and view at their convenience, or for people using the IVT in classrooms or other public venues to go quickly to specific passages for reference or display as the occasion demands.
An additional feature of the IVT now allows for instant linking to the viewer from embedded references (i.e., "hot citations") in other documents on the same server. This allows for the formation of an interactive document (an article, for instance) with "live" video references that users may access by going back and forth between the document and the viewer. It is better than a video clip, since the viewer allows users to see the reference in context, and to explore the surrounding context at will as they might in a book an author referred to, with the difference that the video is available instantly without having to find the source or search for the passage or page.
Play Lists
Versions of the IVT released after 8 April 2008 also include a "Play List" function (if you have an older version, see the update page below). The "Play List" function allows you to compile a list of selected passages and turn them into a menu that allows you to go to them very quickly, if, for instance, you are using the IVT in a class or lecture presentation. The "Play List" function is accessible from a button on the left side of the IVT main screen. Clicking on this button pops up a narrow window that you can keep on the side of your screen. At the top is an entry box in which you can type or copy a list of session and page references that you would like available as hot links. When you complete your entries and press the ENTER button, your entries appear as a set of hot links in the lower part of the window. You can add to this list at any time by entering more coordinates in the entry box. You can then click on any one of hot links at any time to go directly to that session and page. If you change your mind, or have a new list you'd like to use, just close the window and reopen it to start over. The "Play List" pop-up window includes a HELP button that provides additional information. After you are familiar with the basic operation of the IVT, give the "Play List" function a try to see what it can do for you.
In these respects, the IVT gives users a new way to explore and to think about video as a usable structure of information. For us in the First Nations Studies Program, exploration of these possibilities for working with oral information is critical to working effectively in our field and with the communities with whom we work, but we think the implications are there for everyone to explore.
Developing Your Own Implementation
Developing your own implementation of the IVT can be relatively straightforward if you are keeping customization to a minimum. The downloadable IVT files include everything you need for a standard implementation. You will, of course, need to process your own video and make transcripts, but once that is done, much of the remaining work is automated. The IVT is provided to you without fee under the terms of the GNU public license: be sure to read the licensing information before you begin. The IVT editors and documentation can help you establish a relatively smooth workflow. Once you have set up your title and colors (a 15 min. job for a capable HTML editor), compressed your video, and secured reliable transcripts (ones that don't require further content editing), it takes about 1-2 hrs of processing for each hour of source to index and enter your materials in the viewer. Documentation files on preparing the viewer, preparing your video, and processing your text, are included in the DOCUMENTS directory. You will find it advisable to have access to at least one person who is knowledgeable about video and has a working knowledge of HTML and Javascript as you proceed to assist in resolving any problems, but many of the routine tasks may be done by others without formal programming skills, as long as they are systematic, methodical, and careful about what they do. Please let us know how it goes, and be sure to tell us when your project is on line!
Downloading and VIewing
To download a copy of the most recent IVT Template, please click on the link below. The IVT downloadable template includes full documentation, licensing information, and source code. Implementation has been made easier with many automated features: the document will explain it all.
We are constantly working to improve the IVT and its documentation, and to correct problems as they are identified. Each archive you download is identified with a date stamp in the form yymmdd, and you will find a brief description of what has changed in each release on our Update History page (link below). Minor updates can usually be done just by replacing a file or two, but sometimes more extensive work is necessary. The information there will explain it all.
Download Latest IVT Template (version 4.0, 130807)
To see some functioning versions of the IVT, please have a look at our Klamath Oral History Project or our Land Claims Speakers Series.
Found a bug? Let us know! click here.