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The training for Dragon should not run more than about twenty minutes.
The software gets "smarter" as it goes, but having a comparison from a
known text is extremely beneficial in gaining accuracy.
The latest software allows you to highlight text passages in the
script and it will replay that part of the matching voice, making
corrections a snap.
Regarding DAT: Yes, this is now a common format for broadcast
recording. It is also fairly fragile, according to all reports.
I like minidisc, as it allows you to retain all the original material
on disc and also to copy it onto computer. However, with the more
compact solid state units that have removable media, you can also copy
to the computer and store on CD.
The most frustrating part is likely to be the microphone setup. Given
a preference, I'd still go with a decent wireless lapel mic for the
subject and a small mixer such as http://www.lashen.com/vendors/CSISpeco/Microphones/MicMixers.asp. For
you, a wired lapel mic that would plug directly into the mixer would
be fine--since you're not likely to be moving away from the equipment.
I suppose I should mention that 'way back before the flood, I worked
in broadcasting and was an audio production manager for a radio/TV
operation. I learned about voice audio well before the present-day
equipment was around. Doing the same thing today would be *much*
easier!
Remember that while you won't need broadcast-grade audio, you will do
well to have the best voice quality possible for both questions and
answers. Especially if you use Dragon for transcription (which I would
strongly suggest, having used it) you will have a much simpler time
collecting all the material for the book.
I would also look at the various text search and retrieval
applications that go beyond the relatively limited stuff available in
word processors. As you gather a large amount of material, indexing it
and retrieving the various parts will save you a great deal of time.
One example that seems to be ideal is dtsearch, http://www.dtsearch.com. Their desktop application is $199.
Using a decent recorder with Dragon and such a search tool, I believe
you will save a huge amount of the time and effort it will take to do
the job.
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