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transcribing handwritten materials



Thanks to all who answered my questions.
Here's a summary of what was suggested:

Everyone agrees the editorial policy should be outlined in a
prominent place, possibly in conjunction with preferred citation
information. Square brackets should be used around words that were
hard to decipher.

Other suggestions:
*Use a mylar sleeve that is larger than the document so you can clip
the mylar to the document stand, thus stabilizing the document
without subjecting it to the clip.

*Transcribe a small group of documents as a test batch to get
accustomed to the handwriting. Go back and edit the first group later.

*Use two people: one to read and spell aloud, the other to type. Two
pairs of eyes can also do a better job deciphering tough words.

*Transcribe from printed copies of scanned documents to protect the originals.


Resources:

Michael E. Stevens and Steven B. Burg, Editing Historical Documents:
A Handbook of Practice (AltaMira Press, 1997).

Association of Document Editing Committee on Electronic Standards
http://www.nyu.edu/projects/sanger/minstand.htm

U of Virginia's Digital Imaging center:
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/scdc/info/images.html

RBS digital imaging course
http://www.virginia.edu/oldbooks/
--


Claire McGuire
Digital Archives Fellow
Quaker and Special Collections
Haverford College
Phone: 610-896-1283

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