7 Replies Latest reply on Feb 26, 2021 9:26 AM by Lauren Algee

    transcribing etiquette

    Peter Dunbar Newbie
    Peter Dunbar Sep 9, 2020 9:40 AM

      I'm new to transcribing for history hub.  I've been searching in vain for a guide on transcription etiquette.  While transcribing for another organization I received an assignment of 10 pages.  I transcribed the content.  It was all mine to complete.   History Hub seems to be a free-for-all where anyone can add to or edit at will.  If so, that's ok with me. I'm just worried that if I start in the middle of a document that I'm stepping on someone else's toes or violating some aspect of community etiquette.

       

      I hope that there is a guide already compiled on sharing and editing work.  If so will someone send me the link?

       

      Thanks!!

       

      Pete

        • Re: transcribing etiquette
          Kim Ebers Deitloff Newbie
          Kim Ebers Deitloff Feb 14, 2021 5:26 PM (in response to Peter Dunbar)

          Hi, Pete!

           

          Your query was posted 5 months ago, and you may already have this answer, but for posterity's sake, here is the current "How to Transcribe" posted on Crowd.LOC.Gov:

           

          https://crowd.loc.gov/help-center/how-to-transcribe/

           

          I, too, had a bit of a time trying to find these instructs.

           

          I'm pretty new here, and don't fully understand the Crowd.LOC.gov vs. HistoryHub.History.gov intersection.

           

            Kim (ConkieTypes)

            • Re: transcribing etiquette
              Charles Trentelman Wayfarer
              Charles Trentelman Feb 16, 2021 8:58 PM (in response to Kim Ebers Deitloff)

              as i understand it, both crowd and history hub are under the Library of Congress.

               

              To put it colloquially a la Jack London, Crowd is the gang of hardy volunteers doing their thing in the gold fields, digging and uncovering nuggets where they lie. History Hub's crowd forum (where we are now) is the bar where they go to talk about it afterwards, swap stories, hear the old guys give sage advice (And you really need to listen to them) and generally get reassurance.

               

              As far as getting assignments of designated work, not here -- the LOC puts up masses of work to do and folks just grab and do as they can.  I"m having fun exercising my cursive skills on letters to Teddy Roosevelt. Saw one today in copperplate.

               

              Have at it and have fun and good luck figuring out that shorthand.

                • Re: transcribing etiquette
                  Peter Dunbar Newbie
                  Peter Dunbar Feb 25, 2021 8:33 PM (in response to Charles Trentelman)

                  Thanks Charles.   In past transcription work, a chunk of work was given to me and only I worked on it.   Therefore, it was a culture shock to see that someone else had already transcribed the next page.  I understand now that LOC is a free-for-all.  I may be warming to the idea that it wouldn't be so hard to work that way.

                   

                  Thanks for responding!!

                   

                  Pete

                • Re: transcribing etiquette
                  Peter Dunbar Newbie
                  Peter Dunbar Feb 25, 2021 7:51 PM (in response to Kim Ebers Deitloff)

                  Thanks very much for your reply Kim.  You were the first .  I thought I asked something ridiculous because, as you discovered, my question was out there for 5 months.  The link you sent me was the most comprehensive guide on transcribing I've seen.  And it did answer my main concern, i.e. that LOC is a free-for-all.

                   

                  I've given up on LOC.  I am spoiled on being given a chunk of work that only I worked on.  It allows me to really absorb the piece of history.   Instead of LOC I'm either going back to the Trustees of Reservations in Massachusetts or trying to get some transcription in local libraries or museums.

                   

                  Thanks again!

                   

                  Pete

                    • Re: transcribing etiquette
                      Lauren Algee Scout
                      Lauren Algee Expert Feb 26, 2021 9:26 AM (in response to Peter Dunbar)

                      So sorry that we missed responding to your original post, Peter!  It's been a whirlwind of a year in many ways for everyone, including those of use who manage our volunteer outreach. That said, we really hate to have left you hanging! But we're incredibly grateful for our volunteer community who jumped in with answers for you.

                       

                      We're glad we haven't driven you to give up on transcription volunteering altogether!  If you're ever willing to give By the People another go, we'd love to have you. Best wishes on all your future transcribing!!

                  • Re: transcribing etiquette
                    Heather Castillo Newbie
                    Heather Castillo Feb 16, 2021 8:20 PM (in response to Peter Dunbar)

                    A lot of things turn up that aren't really covered on that transcribe page. 

                    I noticed a lot of people do NOT follow the directions that are on that page, such as removing the hyphen from words that are split by lines, which they specifically ask you to fix because their search engine doesn't know what to do with hyphens.  Quite frankly, the search engine should ignore - when it searches, and that is a coding error IMHO.

                     

                    Also I noticed that people seem to glide over accents en and em spaces. —  I found this handy little special characters guide (alt codes) https://tools.oratory.com/altcodes.html  that I leave open for use.  Holding the Alt Key down and typing the numbers will result in the character you want.  I recommend using the num keypad.

                     

                    Just use your best judgement when transcribing.  I try to keep within the original formatting of the style.  For instance, the latest transcriptions, I noticed that there were extra spaces before ! and ?   Such as, "Is this an odd way to write something ?"   I decided to leave the space there, as I felt it provided a break in the text that helped guide the readers eye, and when reading, seemed to give extra emphasis to the line.  I'm not sure another person would agree with me, and they may choose to change it.  There does need to be more standard guidelines, and I think perhaps they need to run people through some sort of test transcription which would make sure they understand the set of rules that should be applied, before continuing to just transcribe and edit.  Had there not been other errors on the page, I probably would not choose to modify, the ? and ! spaces, but it really helped me keep track of where I was at.

                      • Re: transcribing etiquette
                        Peter Dunbar Newbie
                        Peter Dunbar Feb 25, 2021 8:21 PM (in response to Heather Castillo)

                        Thanks Heather.  Also thanks for the link for the special character keystrokes.  I'd agree that rules are there for a good reason and should be followed.  My work for the Trustees of Reservations was reviewed before being posted so I put in a lot of effort to know their rules.  When I had a question on how to handle a situation I could correspond directly with the reviewer for her opinion.

                         

                        Thanks again for taking the time to reply to my query.

                         

                        Pete