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Transcription 101

TYPE WHAT YOU SEE (even if it seems wrong to you)

     Keep words in their original spelling
     Keep abbreviations
     Preserve punctuation of the document
     Include questions and prompts from forms
     Include handwritten notes on type written documents (See how to make notes section below)

 

Transcribe as much as you can

     You do not have to finish an entire document
     Every page helps

 

Don’t worry about formatting.

     The text is the most important part of this
     You don’t have to indicate bolded or italicized text. Don’t worry about accent marks or special characters
     Leave a formatting note if you want (See how to make notes section below)

 

Save frequently

     Saving can take a little bit of time, be patient

 

How to make notes and what if I can't read something or there is an unusual formatting.

     Notes are made in brackets [ ]
     For formatting put the note after the word.  For example: A word in bold type, e.g.: Best, it would be transcribed as: Best[bold]
     If you cannot decipher something make a best guess and add a note [illegible] or [?]
     For tables do you best to describe how the table is set up. See example here

 

For images or drawing

     Notes are made in brackets [ ]
     Add a short description, use full sentence, not single words 
     Start it with "image-"
     For more information of writing accessible description: See here
     For examples of wll written image descriptions: See here

 

The page said that it needed to be transcribe but the transcription field has stuff in it or the transcription field is full of strange characters and nonsense.

     Documents with text have undergone a process called OCR where the computer tries to determine the text on the page
     Sometimes the computer is wrong
     Please correct the text following the above rules

 

Still confused or unsure? Leave a note for the editors in the "Discussion" tab for the document you are transcribing.