About this Site
The Western Soundscape Archive (WSA) recognizes the vital connection between places and their soundscapes and features audio recordings of animals and environments throughout the western United States. The website is under development by the University of Utah's J. Willard Marriott Library in collaboration with numerous volunteers, government agencies and conservation groups (please see a list of informal project partners on this page). In September of 2007, the archive was the recipient of a three-year National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Geographic Focus
The project's geographic focus includes 11 contiguous western states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming — as well as baseline sound monitoring in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. These geographic boundaries were chosen to coincide with existing maps and data gathered by state and federal organizations. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is included to incorporate 60 hours of recordings made on the refuge in June of 2006 by an expedition funded in part by the University of Utah.

Types of Recordings
The WSA typically features three types of recordings: those of individual species, ambient soundscapes and interviews.

Individual "species cuts" are often relatively short recordings that are commonly used for species identification and call analysis. In most cases, the WSA focuses on terrestrial vertebrates, including amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles.

Ambient soundscapes are usually longer recordings — up to an hour or more — that feature all of an area's sonic components together in concert. The National Park Service defines soundscape as "the total acoustic environment of an area."

Interviews with scientists and other experts are included to give added context to the sounds, and will occasionally be heard on radio broadcasts and podcasts.

Project Supporters and Collaborators

Special thanks to:
The Utah Museum of Natural History
The Nature Conservancy of Utah
National Public Radio
Online Computer Library Center
Western Waters Digital Library
Kevin J. Colver

Contact us:
e-mail: digitalfeedback@library.utah.edu

mailing address:
Digital Technologies
J. Willard Marriott Library
295 South 1500 East
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT 84112