Research Guides: Say My Name Transcription Project: Student Resource Guide: Transcription Guidelines

General Guidelines

Save your work frequently. If you don’t save before you navigate away from the page, your work may be lost! Click "Save" as you work on a page.
When you have transcribed all the words on the page, click the "Done" button in the upper right corner.
Transcribe the text as is, including capitalizations, punctuations, misspellings, and abbreviations.
Any text not in the original document should go within square brackets. They can be used to correct a misspelled word, such as Carlottesville [Charlottesville], or expand an abbreviation, such as Wm [William].
While you do not need to recreate the formatting of the original document, we ask that you hit "Enter" once after each line ends. Hit "Enter" twice to indicate a new paragraph, whether indicated by a blank line or by indentation in the original.
You may come across outdated or offensive language in historical documents. Transcribe offensive language as it is written on the page.
If you think the document includes names of enslaved people, double bracket the name, e.g. [[Jane]], then scroll down and make a note. Don't forget to save the note.

If you aren’t sure of a word but want to guess, indicate with square brackets and a question mark, e.g. [town?].
If you can’t make out a word at all, use [illegible]. If you spot [illegible] in an already started transcription, feel free to correct it if you know what the word is.
For text that has been crossed out, if you can read it, type [struck: text]. If you cannot read it, type [illegible].
Consider the context. If you’re having trouble with a word or passage, read "around" it and think about what a likely word would be, or look for other letters and spellings in the document that are similar.
Do your best, but don’t spend too much time on any one word. Use [illegible] and return to it when you have finished the page or document. You might be surprised that you can now read the word after transcribing the rest of the page.

Do not transcribe hyphens or spaces in words that occur at line breaks: type the whole word then hit "Enter". Continue transcribing the next line starting with the first whole word.
For words that are underlined, indicate with square brackets and the word underline, e.g. [underline: text].
For lines or rows of dots, you do not have to transcribe them all, since this adds little value to the searchable text. Type a single _ or . as needed, followed by the text.
For content in tables, use a | as a column divider. (above the \)
For words that are inserted above or below the line, add information in brackets within or near the line. For example: [inserted above/below: text].
When transcribing parts of the letter that were written around the edge of the paper or perhaps written cross-wise on the paper, add information in brackets to the end of the document. For example, add the transcribed information to the end of the letter and write [written at the top of page 1: text] or [written on edge of page 1: text] or [written across page 1: text].

Transcribers must be in the "Transcribe" tab to be able to work. While you can see the document and any transcribed text in the "Overview" tab, you can't make any changes to the text.
The icons in the document window allow transcribers to manipulate the document by zooming in or out, fitting the width, opening in a new browser window or full screen, rotating right or left, and enhancing brightness and contrast. As soon as you save your work, the brightness and contrast settings revert back to the original.
"Save" and "Done" buttons are on the right. Save work frequently and hit "Done" when the transcription is complete.