Jun 11, 2009

Introducing ReadSpeaker

Do you ever wish you could listen to articles online, as well as read them? ReadSpeaker (www.readspeaker.com), a text-to-speech web service from VoiceCorp lets you do just that. And now it's available on our Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) and Kids InfoBits databases.

Kids InfoBits

Gale Virtual Reference Library

There's no need to download any plugin or extra software. You will see a link to the ReadSpeaker player at the top of every article. Just click "Play" or "Download MP3" to hear the full text of the article read aloud. There's also a link to ReadSpeaker Help if you want to find out more about how to use ReadSpeaker or if yu have problems getting it to work. All of the text-to-speech audio is generated mechanically by ReadSpeaker - not prerecorded - and is read back to you by an automated electronic voice. The fluency and clarity of today’s text-to-speech technology sounds much more human, compared with earlier techniques that sounded more robotic.

Don’t forget to have your library card handy when you use the Gale Virtual Reference Library and Kids InfoBits databases from work, home, or school. If you have any questions about any of our online databases or library services, please e-mail ask@pamunkeylibrary.org.

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