CSU Center for Public History

CSU Center for Public History Streamlines 20-Year Oral History Project with Alice

Overview

Cleveland State University's Center for Public History + Digital Humanities has revolutionized its transcription process using Alice, bringing 20 years of spoken history to life. The Cleveland Voices project, which houses over 1,200 interviews, is one of the largest geographically-specific oral history collections in the U.S., capturing stories that span across generations and shaping the narrative of a region.

Why it matters

The Cleveland Voices project has preserved the voices of those who lived and shaped the history of the region since 2002. But for years, these interviews remained locked in a bottleneck of transcription challenges, limiting their accessibility to researchers, educators, and the public. Bringing these voices out of the archives and into the hands of those who need them most was a priority for CSU. That vision became a reality with the power of Alice.

The challenge

CSU originally relied on a combination of abstracts and audio logs—methods that, while useful, offered only limited searchability and discoverability. Manual transcription proved too slow and expensive, leaving the archive’s potential untapped. Even AI transcription tools previously tested fell short of expectations, requiring extensive editing and adding more time to an already cumbersome process.

How Alice rose to the challenge

In 2024, CSU discovered Alice, a breakthrough solution that transformed how they worked with spoken data. With lightning-fast processing, unmatched accuracy, and zero setup time, Alice dramatically accelerated their transcription workflow, opening the door for seamless preservation and sharing of historical voices.

  • Speed: Alice transcribes interviews in a fraction of the time, allowing CSU to publish transcripts quickly and without delay.
  • Accuracy: The transcript quality is so high that staff can follow along at 2x audio speed with minimal corrections, drastically reducing manual input.
  • Efficiency: Even without a built-in editor, Alice’s near-perfect transcription quality has simplified CSU’s entire process, ensuring that the most valuable historical data is captured precisely.
  • Usability: Alice’s lightweight, user-friendly interface allows anyone with an internet connection to transcribe and access spoken words effortlessly.

Quote

“The quality of Alice’s transcripts is so good we read along while playing the audio at 2x speed,” says Erin Bell, Project Manager at CSU Center for Public History. “It’s been a game-changer for making these historical interviews more accessible.”

Impact

Since adopting Alice, CSU has unlocked new possibilities for making their Cleveland Voices archive accessible to a wider audience:

  • Faster publishing: Interviews that were once stuck in a backlog are now processed and published at an accelerated rate, offering real-time access to essential historical knowledge.
  • Improved access: With high-quality, accurate transcripts, researchers can now navigate, search, and analyze these interviews with ease, turning spoken words into actionable insights.
  • Sustained growth: Alice enables the Cleveland Voices archive to continue expanding without being hindered by the limitations of traditional transcription methods.

Looking ahead

As CSU continues to expand its oral history collection, Alice will remain an essential tool in ensuring that every voice, every story, and every moment is preserved and accessible for future generations. Alice stands at the intersection of history and innovation, helping to make sure the voices of the past are heard, understood, and shared for years to come.

Learn more

Explore how Alice is helping organizations like CSU Center for Public History + Digital Humanities streamline their transcription projects at aliceapp.ai or contact alice@aliceapp.ai for more information.