Using The Index

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How do I use the index?

   

    The index points you to the podcasts by topic. Unfortunately, having the files listed in the index as links would be incredibly expensive because of the way the files are stored. (It would be much easier to use that way I know) Instead, the index is just a list. You can't click on the individual files and go to them. You have to jot down the files names that you want to hear or download, then click on the Podcasts/Files tab in the grey menu box at the top of the page. Once there you can find the files you want by the file names you wrote down.

    Here's how the files are organized in the index:

  • Older files are listed first within each topic. The newest file or files are listed last.
  • Each line is a different meeting.
  • When more than one file appears on the same line it means that they came from the same meeting. They'll appear in chronological order.

    The file names are arranged to make it easier to organize. They refer to the type of meeting and the date of the meeting. For meetings that are broken down into separate files, there will also be the individual file number.

    Here's an example: You see in the index three files that you want.

  1. SB02050901
  2. TC09120905
  3. CW091009

   In the Podcasts/Files section you'll see several folders. After each folder name you'll see an abbreviation in parentheses. In the MSAD 35 folder you'll see School Board Meetings (SB). In our first file example notice how it begins with "SB". That refers to this School Board Meetings folder. The next series of numbers are the date and file number. 020509 - is 02/05/09 or February 5, 2009. The last two numbers are the file name, in this case "01". If you click on the School Board Meetings folder you'll see several folders listed by date. Click on the folder named SB020509 and you'll see several files. Click on the file named 01.mp3 to listen to it right then. You can also download it to your computer and listen to it at your convenience. To do this, click on the little blue box with the white arrow in it on the far right of each file. It will appear when you hold your mouse pointer over the file.

    The same thing goes for the second example. In this case "TC" refers to regular town council meetings, 091209 is the date - September 12, 2009, and 05 is file number 05.mp3.

    Notice how the file name is shorter in the third example. "CW" refers to a council workshop meeting. 091009 again is the date - September 10, 2009, and there's no file number. This was a meeting where splitting it up into different files didn't make sense, so the whole meeting is one file.

    While you're browsing around the podcasts and files you'll notice that a balloon will pop up when you hold your mouse over any folder or file. Inside this balloon you'll see a description of what the folder or file contains. This is another way to browse the podcasts. You can see what each file is to help you decide whether you want to listen to it or not.

    I hope this helps you become more comfortable with using the index and the podcasts. Democracy is not a spectator sport. It requires participation from an educated electorate. The first step in participation is to know what's happening and why. It's my intention for South Berwick Update to be a useful tool in that process.