Online Parish Clerks, Cornwall

2 September 2006

Transcribing Tips & Tricks No 1

Viewing

If you don't have image-viewing software already, there are many free image viewers available for download, such as Irfanview from http://www.irfanview.com. These allow the transcriber to change the colour depth, sharpen the image and magnify the difficult-to-decipher pages.

Some viewers have a magnifier which allows a block of text to be enlarged.


Where to start?

We all develop our favourite methods but, for newcomers to transcribing, it's often best to start with easier records (e.g. from 1837 onwards), then go back to do 1813 - 1837 and finally tackle the pre-1813 records. By this time, the transcriber is used to the place names and surnames in a parish, which makes deciphering the handwriting slightly easier.

Burials are often the easiest type of record to start on, followed by baptisms, banns and marriages, in that order.

What to record?

There are sample forms on the OPC website.
(http://www.cornwall-opc.org/Resc/sample_database.htm)
These can be downloaded and opened in an application such as Excel. The sample entries can be deleted, leaving the headings as a guide. If in doubt, then the golden rule is to transcribe 'as is'.


N.B.

1. For marriages, it's been found to be better to keep all the data in one row, despite the temptation to follow the pattern of the registers, with groom and bride details on separate lines. This makes a very wide worksheet, but columns widths can be altered to narrow it down.

2. Post-1837 marriage records are no longer available on fiche from the CRO, because of copyright laws. So it's vitally important that as many as possible are transcribed, whilst they're still available from other sources.


What about the hard to read entries?

Experienced transcribers advise not to spend too long agonising over one entry. Go back to it at a later date, as fresh eyes and easier-to-read, later entries for the same person/family often provide the answer.

If part of a record is decipherable, then a ? could be used for the character(s) which is (are) indistinct. If an entry is blank (e.g. the abode column for any of the record types), then something like 'not stated' could be used. This indicates that the original was blank and that the omission was not on the part of the transcriber. Care is needed with the use of the / symbol, as this can be interpreted incorrectly by spreadsheet programs.

Other helpful hints include

1. Using a sheet of tinted photographic film to cover the entry. Yellow is considered the best, but some people prefer pink or red. (As an alternative, and if possible, the image background can be changed to a pale yellow/pink etc.)

2. Print the page and try writing over the entry in a similar script.

3. Try finding the person in another transcription, such as a census, or in a different type of parish record.



Where to stop?

For publishing data (such as on websites) many transcribers follow the 100 year convention, in order to protect the privacy of people who might still be alive. However, the same doesn't apply to transcribing, so there is really no cut-off date.

If you have any tips or tricks of your own, please add them to this blog.

Myra

OPC Coordinator, Cornwall