Composing a text for an audio guide

Students are learning to:

• use research data from print and digital sources
• compose, edit and present a multimedia informative text

Students will be successful when they can:

• identify and use a range of reliable sources to gather information
• plan, compose and edit a multimedia informative text

Background

Paintings collection at the State Library of NSW

The State Library of NSW has over 100,000 paintings in its collection and over 300 of these are on permanent display in the exhibition galleries. The selected works range from the 1790s to today and feature portraits of the extraordinary and the everyday, rare and recent views of Sydney and the harbour, suburban streetscapes and burgeoning rural townscapes.

Kids’ audio guide 

In museums across the world, audio guides allow visitors to access further information about the items on display. At the State Library of NSW the Paintings from the Collection exhibition offers an audio guide made ‘by kids for kids’, developed by a group of 10 children from Summer Hill Public School. The students first visited the Library to see the many paintings on display in our galleries and chose the one artwork they found most interesting. They researched their chosen work and its creator over several weeks before writing a script and recording themselves reading their scripts aloud. Visitors to the exhibition can listen to the final recordings of the 10 children as they each respond to the painting they selected.

Recording equipment and software

This learning activity can be completed using any device capable of recording audio. Without any additional equipment, an iPad or phone can easily be used to record sound using the Voice Memos app, which is usually pre-installed on your device. Your IT team can help find the best equipment available at your school, such as external microphones or standalone recording equipment including Rodecaster Pro or Zoom. Before asking students to complete their final recording, make sure you are familiar with how to start, stop and save a recording. Instructions for a variety of programs can be found below:

• iPads/ iPhones with Voice Memos
• Rodecaster Pro
• Zoom

After you have made the recording, you can use software to edit the audio file. Ask your school’s IT team for any paid software the school may already own or use the free software Audacity. Instructions for a variety of programs can be found below:

• Audacity (free)
• Adobe Audition CC
• Apple GarageBand