Digital audio workstation
After being away for repairs, several Audograph players are back and now available for listening to Senate and House Floor debate recordings from 1957 to 1989. Gray Audograph was a machine generally used for dictation from about the mid-20th century. The Utah State Legislature recorded floor debates using Audographs until they switched to cassette tapes (now they are digital and streamed online).
Using an LSTA grant, we were able to purchase equipment and software to record these obsolete disks into a digital format. The disks themselves have held up fairly well–it is the original machines that have had difficulties, and led to using several to completely rebuild the four working ones we now how. Since they have to be recorded in real time, its going to take awhile! However, anyone needing a particular date and session can arrange through the Research Center to either listen there or obtain a copy on CD. We will need some notice to retrieve and record the target disk, but the result will be much better than making researchers deal with this long-ago technology on their own.