International Institute of Genealogical Studies

LEADERS IN ONLINE GENEALOGY EDUCATION

International Institute of Genealogical Studies - LEADERS IN ONLINE GENEALOGY EDUCATION

Tag Archives: Skill Building

Transcription Tuesday – Definitions

The National Institute for Genealogical Studies provides valuable online education for sharpening and refining the research skills used by all levels of family historians and genealogists. Our Basic Level courses cover a wide variety of topics, delivering foundational genealogical education all researchers. The basics of research extend far beyond pedigree charts and family group sheets!

Experience only comes from Practice. In last week’s post (Transcription Tuesday – Practice!), we recommended several transcription websites to explore. We also suggested a few transcription projects to try your hand at transcribing actual historic documents. Did these help you? Did they identify areas where you need to practice more? The more you read old handwriting, the easier it will become. Practice, Practice, Practice!

Definitions

As we continue to explore how to develop our Transcription Skills, we need to take a few minutes this week to look at the main definitions to learn. Understanding each description, and the process associated with it, will help us to cultivate the core expertise for the transcription tasks required for every document we discover. 

Transcription Definition:
A Transcription is a true word-for-word rendering of a document with the original punctuation and spelling (i.e., an exact copy of the original, line by line, sentence by sentence, word by word, and letter by letter). All notes and marks on any page are copied as faithfully as possible in the presented formatting. It includes all spellings, capitalizations and punctuations as it was written. No corrections are made to spelling or capitalization. It includes the whole record—front and back, with all its headings, insertions, endorsements, notations, etc.

Abstract Definition: 
An Abstraction is an abbreviation of the original content in a document. It removes all the legal jargon or “boilerplate” language, but ensures that all relevant details within the document are kept. Mary Campbell Bell in Professional Genealogy sums it up this way: “Abstracts are summaries that record all important detail from a whole document.”

Extraction Definition:
An Extract is when you pull out only parts of the information in an original document. The extracting process is normally used for listings, such as censuses, inventories, tax or voters’ lists, etc., where there could be information about one person or family amongst many others. 

These three topics are covered in-depth in our Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting  course, including exercises and assignments designed to utilize the principles being taught in each module. Each has its place in our genealogical projects; Each is a research skill to perfect. So, continue to Practice! whenever you can.

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As researchers, we have found that there are many skills we need to employ in order to achieve success in our future research projects. Transcription Tuesday will share guidelines and practical suggestions to help our readers to develop the skills for making effective transcriptions, abstracts, and extractions.

Transcription Tuesday previous blog post
Transcription Tuesday Index
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These three core courses demonstrate Transcription principles. They are offered monthly, beginning on the first Monday of every month: Register today!
Methodology-Part 2: Organizing and Skill-Building (Basic Level)
Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting (Basic Level)
Palaeography: Reading & Understanding Historical Documents (Advanced)—————————————————-
Visit our website for a complete list of online courses offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. Check our Course Calendar here. 
Follow us on Social Media: Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. 
*Note: Please be aware our social media accounts are monitored regularly, but NOT 24/7. If you have any questions, please contact the office directly.

Contact information:
1 (800) 580-0165
Email: admin@GenealogicalStudies.com 
Website: www.GenealogicalStudies.com
Blog: blog.GenealogicalStudies.com

LEADERS IN ONLINE GENEALOGY EDUCATION since 1997

Transcription Tuesday – Practice!

The National Institute for Genealogical Studies online courses provide genealogical education on a wide variety of topics for those beginning to research their family history, as well as professional genealogists, and everyone in between. It is worth repeating: all family history researchers, no matter what their level of expertise, should strive to acquire this core skill. We will use it over and over!

As we work to develop our Transcribing Skills, we soon realize there is a learning curve involved. Most of us are familiar with common handwriting styles. We can transcribe modern handwriting with relative ease, except for those who never did develop good penmanship. Before email and texting, we sent handwritten letters – yes, by snail mail! In that time period, we all read cursive and not many people sent typed correspondence – it was all handwritten.

When we began to gather family home sources, we could easily read the handwriting; but as our genealogy research reached further back in time, we had to adjust to various older scripts in documents and correspondence. These can soon become a challenge. It takes effort to decode handwriting – sometimes word by word, and sometimes letter by letter. 

Our biggest advantage is PRACTICE. The more we read old handwriting; the more we will become familiar with the letters and grammar used in that time period. The more we transcribe entries from a church register or civil registrations for a specific district; the easier it will become. Repetition helps us to memorize the variations in the letters. But how can we gain this experience? 

There are several courses with The Institute where transcription skills are taught and reenforced by assignments. Three highly recommended courses are listed below. Because most of the records we access are handwritten, it is imperative that we develop excellent transcription skills. Transcribing requires patience, perseverance and precision. 

Remember our Transcription Definition:
A transcription is a true word-for-word rendering of a document with the original punctuation and spelling (i.e., an exact copy of the original, line by line, sentence by sentence, word by word, and letter by letter). All notes and marks on any page are copied as faithfully as possible in the presented formatting. It includes all spellings, capitalizations and punctuations as it was written. No corrections are made to spelling or capitalization. It includes the whole record—front and back, with all its headings, insertions, endorsements, notations, etc.

Transcription Websites

How can we practice? First, we need to familiarize ourselves with reading old handwriting. 
Transcribing Historic Documents (National Institute) – FamilySearch 

The following websites are extremely helpful and provide examples and tutorials.
Colonial American Handwriting – Indian Converts Collection
Script Tutorial – BYU 
Palaeography: reading old handwriting 1500-1800 – TNA 
Palaeography of Scottish Documents – Scottish Handwriting  

Transcription Practice

Want to dig deeper? Look for transcription projects, especially in the location of your research, or dealing with the handwriting used in that time period. Reviewing familiar records will make it easier to recognize place names and possibly surnames, as well as words relevant to your research. Here are a few projects that may be of interest.

To get your feet wet, the Nova Scotia Archives needs transcribers for the NS Deaths 1970 Registrations. The handwriting should be easy to read and some are typed. The Causes of Death may challenge you. Hint: Google it!

For older handwriting, sign in to the Nova Scotia Archives Transcribe page. The current transcription project: Feature Collection: Easson family 1734-1894. 

Another wonderful website to explore is the Smithsonian Digital Volunteers:  Transcription Center. Check out their current projects. Be sure to read the section on General Instructions for Transcription.

Happy Transcribing!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
As researchers, we have found that there are many skills we need to employ in order to achieve success in our future research projects. Transcription Tuesday will share guidelines and practical suggestions to help our readers to develop the skills for making effective transcriptions, abstracts, and extractions.
Transcription Tuesday previous blog post:
Finding George
Transcription Tuesday Index
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
These three core courses demonstrate Transcription principles. They are offered monthly, beginning on the first Monday of every month: Register today!
Methodology-Part 2: Organizing and Skill-Building (Basic Level)
Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting (Basic Level)
Palaeography: Reading & Understanding Historical Documents (Advanced)—————————————————-
Visit our website for a complete list of online courses offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. Check our Course Calendar here. 
Follow us on Social Media: Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. 
*Note: Please be aware our social media accounts are monitored regularly, but NOT 24/7. If you have any questions, please contact the office directly.

Contact information:
1 (800) 580-0165
Email: admin@GenealogicalStudies.com 
Website: www.GenealogicalStudies.com
Blog: blog.GenealogicalStudies.com

LEADERS IN ONLINE GENEALOGY EDUCATION since 1997

Transcription Tip: Finding George

Our students at The National Institute for Genealogical Studies are encouraged to access original documents whenever possible. These are usually either fully handwritten, or have handwritten entries on forms. It is advised to transcribe all of documents we gather for our research projects. 

As we continue to explore developing our Transcribing Skills, we will discover the value of spending the time necessary to transcribe our original documents, especially those that are hard to decipher. All family history researchers, no matter what their level of expertise, should strive to acquire these core research skills. See below for links to our courses designed to equip our students with this vital ability. 

When we search original records, we will encounter many different styles of handwriting, even when they are using the same script of a certain time period. Just as today, we all have our own handwriting styles. We tend to always make certain letters in the same way, but for other letters it may vary, even depending on the word we are writing, or where the letter is positioned in that word. In the same way that other people become accustom to reading our handwriting, we begin to recognize the handwriting styles of those clerks and census enumerators in the documents we are accessing. Specific characteristics show up on the same page or for the entries for a district, like in civil registrations or church records. We can easily tell when the entries are made by a different person. 

Today’s Transcription Tip is the use of Transcription Cheat Sheets. As you find letter variations written in documents, cut and paste them to a document. Create an Alphabet Checklist and use it to “break the code” and transcribe the words, even those with unfamiliar letters. Here is an example on FamilySearch that you can print out for future reference. If you are looking for help with transcribing documents from a different language, check out FamilySearch resources here. They also have lists of common words used in documents. You will begin to recognize these as you become more familiar with the records. 

Finding George

When searching census records, civil registrations or church registers, you will be looking for specific names and surnames. In the same way, you can make a Name Cheat Sheet with all of the variations you have discovered. 

Be sure to check for spelling variations and take note of misspellings of the names and surnames. Entries may have been written phonetically, or just as it “sounded” when spoken with a heavy accent to someone who spoke a totally different language. Keep a typed list of variations, but a cheat sheet with the images may prove to be useful when transcribing. Look for signatures as well.

Fully transcribe all of your documents. The more familiar you become with the letters, the easier it will be to decipher the words. Then the next time you pull it out, it will be written out clearly for quick reference or further analysis. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
As researchers, we have found that there are many skills we need to employ in order to achieve success in our future research projects. Transcription Tuesday shares guidelines and practical suggestions to help our readers to develop the skills for making effective transcriptions, abstracts, and extractions.

Transcription Tuesday previous blog post
Transcription Tuesday Index
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
These three core courses demonstrate Transcription principles. They are offered monthly, beginning on the first Monday of every month: Register today!
Methodology-Part 2: Organizing and Skill-Building (Basic Level)
Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting (Basic Level)
Palaeography: Reading & Understanding Historical Documents (Advanced)

—————————————————-
Visit our website for a complete list of online courses offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. Check our Course Calendar here. 
Follow us on Social Media: Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. 
*Note: Please be aware our social media accounts are monitored regularly, but NOT 24/7. If you have any questions, please contact the office directly.

Contact information:
1 (800) 580-0165
Email: admin@GenealogicalStudies.com 
Website: www.GenealogicalStudies.com
Blog: blog.GenealogicalStudies.com

LEADERS IN ONLINE GENEALOGY EDUCATION since 1997

Transcription Tip: Line Numbering

As The National Institute for Genealogical Studies students begin the October rotation of courses, we continue to explore the foundational research practise of developing Transcribing Skills. See below for links to our courses designed to equip our students with this vital ability. All family history researchers, no matter what their level of expertise, should strive to acquire these core research skills. 

When preparing to make a transcription, it is good practice to make a digital scan of the original document and then put the physical document away. This keeps your original safe with as little handling as possible. Once you have the copy, you can make a print out and mark on it as you wish. Viewing the digital image on your computer allows you to enlarge difficult-to-read sections.

Today’s Transcription Tip is the use of Line Numbering. On your printed working copy (never the original!), number the lines on the page. This will keep you on track as you start transcribing. It is so easy to lose your place and skip to the line before or after the line you are working on, especially in a document with repetitive wording. If the lines are written unevenly, you may also want to draw lines between each numbered line to keep them separated to work on each individually. 

Remember our Transcription Definition:
A transcription is a true word-for-word rendering of a document with the original punctuation and spelling (i.e., an exact copy of the original, line by line, sentence by sentence, word by word, and letter by letter). All notes and marks on any page are copied as faithfully as possible in the presented formatting. It includes all spellings, capitalizations and punctuations as it was written. No corrections are made to spelling or capitalization. It includes the whole record—front and back, with all its headings, insertions, endorsements, notations, etc.

Transcribe each line word for word – EXACTLY as it is appears on your document. Keep all of the words together on their own line. Line 7 on your transcription should only have what is written on line 7 of your document. This makes it so much easier to go back later to work on the difficult-to-read letters of words on that line. Be sure to keep all of the original spelling, capitalization and punctuation. 

When all of the words on a line have been fully transcribed, mark it as completed on your working copy. When you step away and come back to the project, you will easily see where you still have work to do. 

When encountering a difficult letter, refer to similar letters elsewhere in the document. On your working copy, you can make notes. Example: deb[t?] [Note: fourth letter looks the same as “t” in title on line 5] or [Is this “y” or “g”? See “apply” on line 9] These notes are for your own reference on your working copy, noting areas yet to be resolved. They would not be included in your final transcription. 

Be patient! Transcriptions are NOT quick projects. They are thorough, well-honed, exact copies, especially for documents with difficult handwriting. Initially, this may seem to be unnecessarily time-consuming; however, the transcription will provide a clear and easy-to-read copy for future reference. It will save so much time when reviewing this document for your research project. Time will not be spent trying to figure out that word again, because you didn’t record your previous findings or conclusions. Quickly skimming an original document is never acceptable. Important details are overlooked and your concluding interpretation may be completely incorrect. Take the time to create accurate Transcriptions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
As researchers, we have found that there are many skills we need to employ in order to achieve success in our future research projects. Transcription Tuesday shares guidelines and practical suggestions to help our readers to develop the skills for making effective transcriptions, abstracts, and extractions.
Transcription Tuesday previous blog post
Transcription Tuesday Index
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
These three core courses demonstrate Transcription principles. They are offered monthly, beginning on the first Monday of every month: Register today!
Methodology-Part 2: Organizing and Skill-Building (Basic Level)
Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting (Basic Level)
Palaeography: Reading & Understanding Historical Documents (Advanced)

—————————————————-
Visit our website for a complete list of online courses offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. Check our Course Calendar here. 
Follow us on Social Media: Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. 
*Note: Please be aware our social media accounts are monitored regularly, but NOT 24/7. If you have any questions, please contact the office directly.

Contact information:
1 (800) 580-0165
Email: admin@GenealogicalStudies.com 
Website: www.GenealogicalStudies.com
Blog: blog.GenealogicalStudies.com

LEADERS IN ONLINE GENEALOGY EDUCATION since 1997

Transcription Tuesday: Handwriting

One of the very first basic skills to develop as a Transcriber is learning to read various handwriting scripts. Start with modern day cursive handwriting. If you cannot master every day current handwriting styles, you will really struggle with older scripts. Practice reading whenever you can. Read handwriting from different people. Everyone develops their own style. Learn to write in cursive yourself. It is a skill that will help you as you are trying to decipher handwritten documents. Soon you will be tackling more difficult handwriting on older documents.

These are a few quick examples. The top one is an address from 1891. The first word “Davenport” is not too difficult. Knowing it was an address, helps us to figure out that the second word is “Road.” For this word, the “a” is clear and the “d” will become familiar with its upward curl. The “Ro” is more difficult. The word directly below it is “Richard” and has the same “R” at the beginning. The other two names beside it are both “Wm” – the abbreviation for William. They can look different, depending on who is writing it. These names are from Ontario Birth Registrations in 1880. 

The third example is a record from the Drouin Collection in 1791. The handwriting can be quite challenging, especially if the record is in French or Latin! Deciphering the text is compounded when having to translate from an unfamiliar language. If you are researching records in a language you do not understand, the Family Search Genealogical Word Lists will be very helpful to you.

Another useful website is the Brigham Young University (BYU) Tutorial – Making Sense of Old Handwriting. You should bookmark it and explore the resources as you begin to develop your Transcription Skills. We will explore more aspects of reading old handwriting in next week’s Transcription Tuesday.
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Remember: Transcribing takes practice and patience. 
Check back next week for more skill-building tips.
Previous Transcription Tuesday blog posts:
Census Names
Transcription Definition
Transcription Tuesday Index
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~           
These three core courses demonstrate Transcription principles. They are offered monthly, beginning on the first Monday of every month: Register today!
Methodology-Part 2: Organizing and Skill-Building (Basic Level)
Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting (Basic Level)
Palaeography: Reading & Understanding Historical Documents (Advanced)
—————————————————-
Visit our website for a complete list of online courses offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. Check our Course Calendar here. 
Follow us on Social Media: Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. 
*Note: Please be aware our social media accounts are monitored regularly, but NOT 24/7. If you have any questions, please contact the office directly.

Contact information:
1 (800) 580-0165
Email: admin@GenealogicalStudies.com 
Website: www.GenealogicalStudies.com
Blog: blog.GenealogicalStudies.com

LEADERS IN ONLINE GENEALOGY EDUCATION since 1997