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Hi Charles, I agree with the perspectives you've received on the challenges of building and sustaining something yourself with the limited resources you describe, and that includes outsourcing what might seem like a one-time project for a low rate; it just isn't likely to deliver what you're ultimately looking to achieve, for too many depressing reasons to list. I wonder if you might be able to find some additional ideas for a voice-to-text solution if you reached out to other public libraries with makerspaces/production studios. Code4Lib folks are clearly awesome in many ways, but the public sector representation isn't extensive in this community, which in library software land can translate to big differences at almost all levels when you're trying to identify the right solution for your organization. For another angle, are you connected with the folks in the Library Development Group at the Florida State Library/FLIN (https://dos.myflorida.com/library-archives/library-development/digital/resource-sharing/flin/), or your local multitype cooperative (looks like it's this one: https://swfln.org/)? They might be able to connect you to vendor discounts, other folks working on the same issues, or other resources - and at the very least, the more they understand about your needs, the better they can plan their service offerings to help improve the libraries they serve. Anne Slaughter Director of Technology Services Reaching Across Illinois Library System Burr Ridge Office Phone: 630-734-5127 Fax: 630.734.5050 [log in to unmask] https://www.railslibraries.info -----Original Message----- From: Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of charles meyer Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2022 4:29 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Hiring a programmer Thank you Jackie, Erich, Mark Jon, Deborah and all others! 2 projects I’ve got on the back burner. 1 – since I can’t find any voice-to-text software other than DNS ($500) and don’t wish to use the Windows/Word voice-to-text or Google options, which others have used (not just Googled but actually used) I was curious what kind of price range it would be to hire a programmer to create a voice-to-text program? For confidentiality purposes, I can't be on the net for the voice-to-text. I’m not a software developer so I have no idea the actual costs and time involved in creating, developing and completing such a project. Maybe I need to wait for that winning lottery ticket?! 2 – I wanted to create or have created a short animated object. I’ve read about Blender but with no experience creating animation it was a slog to watch Blender tutorials and then try to develop what I wanted. It was easier (although certainly not easy) to learn the basics of some free video editing software. I then posted a request to see to if anyone might help me or I could hire on Blender but that was met with a thud. The vison I have for the animated object really needs to be in 3D and not 2D although I do respect how 2D can work well in some projects. Perhaps, if I wasn’t teaching 3D printing, doing video recording, running AV, doing video editing, creating writing programs, and doing all the other tasks needed in a public library I might have a little left over time to play with Blender but not so far. Thank you for all your thoughts and suggestions. Charles. Charles Meyer Charlotte County Public Library