Transcription

Click to hear a woman talk about her mother quilting!

A transcript is a written copy of recorded material. Transcription is the process of making that copy. Transcription has specific rules or guidelines regarding how it is done. Transcription differs from note-taking. Note-taking involves writing the essence of what the speaker says and does not necessarily quote the speaker exactly.

Your first task is to determine if you really need a transcript of the interview. Are notes enough to get the “job done” or is your oral history to be direct information from the speaker? Younger students may want to take and use notes.

If you are going to do transcription, you need to follow standards. Although I found variations when I looked at the standards for transcription, there were a few basics that were included in most of the sites at which I looked.

Try not to change what has been said.

Omit filler words that have no relevancy like “er,” “um,” etc.
If contractions are spoken, use the contraction in your transcription.
Omit comments that the interviewer said like “how interesting.” Do write the questions asked.

Make the interview easy to understand.

If a grammatical error does not hurt the understanding of the speaker, leave it in.
Delete false starts.
Use correct spelling unless the “flavor” of the words are changed.
If there is a question about the readability of the transcript, you can put a “V” in to represent verbatim and “E” to represent edited material.

Punctuation and parenthetical comments ease understanding of the transcript.

Use parentheses to put in things that explain the interview like (laughter) or (tears in his eyes)
Use square brackets [ ] for an explanation that you want to make about the interview.
Be careful not to over punctuate. Ease of reading is important

Be sure to organize your material.

If you are transcribing from a tape, be sure to label the tapes (for example, Tape 1, Side 1) and then label the transcript in the same manner.
At the end of that side of the tape, you will write End of Tape 1, Side 1.
It is good idea to keep a log using the counter on the tape recorder.

Allow the interviewee to read the transcript.

If there were things you did not understand on the transcript, for example names or spellings, ask the interviewee so that the transcript will be an accurate record.

For a complete list of editing guidelines, contact the Ohio Historical Society Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor, 1982 Velma Avenue, Columbus, OH 43211-2497. 614-297-2340 or 1-800-858-6878.