Transcription Guide

Blank pages typically appear only in diaries, journals, books, and pamphlets. Please read the entire document carefully, as the ink may have faded or there may just be a simple mark. Do not check Mark As Blank unless you are certain the page is blank.

Please do not transcribe emphasis. FromThePage does not support the use of HTML markup to indicate whether text formatting is altered to show emphasis.

Do not use parentheses to indicate something you inserted, since they are often used in original text. Brackets are the commonly accepted character to differentiate between the original text and something the transcriber may write to clarify the original text. 

Transcribe the document exactly as written. Do not alter capitalization to adhere to modern grammar and usage.

See Spreadsheets for tips on how to handle special formatting.

Use labels enclosed in brackets to indicate where content appears in a document with more than a single column. For example:

[column 1] John Smith was a soldier in the American Revolution.
[column 2] The American Revolution began in 1765.

If you are able to read words that are crossed out, you may transcribe them. If you are unable to read the crossed-out words, simply denote the presence of the phrase with a note in brackets. For example:

John Smith [begin crossed out] was a cook [end crossed out] was a soldier in the American Revolution.
John Smith [crossed out phrase] was a solder in the American Revolution.

Please transcribe dates exactly as they appear, even if they differ from how we write dates today.

Transcribe any floating text -- including headers, seals, and ink stamps. Position it in the space as closely as possible to its position in the original document. Describe any images, logos, or seals to the best of your ability. Place this description inside brackets.

For headers such as letterhead, there is no need to center or justify text.

If you cannot read a word or phrase, put "illegible" in brackets. For example:

John Smith was a [illegible] in the American Revolution.

In military correspondence, if text is obviously cut out or redacted, use "censored" in brackets.

For text inserted into a sentence by the original author, use the caret symbol on your keyboard and enclose the addition in parentheses. For example:

John Smith was a ^(French) soldier in the American Revolution.

Transcribe words exactly as they appear, even if they are spelled different ways on the same page.

Please contact archives.projects@ncdcr.gov if you see any of the following:

• Duplicates or images that were scanned improperly
• Transcriptions that appear to include deliberate errors

When contacting us, please include a link to the document in question and the username of the transcriber.

If you encounter a swear word, please transcribe the swear word. If you encounter other offensive language such as a slur, please use "slur" or "offensive language" in brackets in place of the term.

Transcribe punctuation exactly as it appears. Do not add or remove punctuation to adhere to modern grammar and usage.

Transcribe signatures to the best of your ability, using context clues as necessary to determine the signatory's name. Use brackets when a signature includes the person's mark:

William [their S mark] Smith
John Smith [their X mark]

Write out special characters and enclose them in brackets, or type them in another program such as Microsoft Word, and cut and paste it into the transcription window.

John Smith owes [pound sign]50 to William Barrow.

A spreadsheet transcription area may be available when the majority of documents in a collection are laid out as a spreadsheet or chart. Individual cells in a spreadsheet will expand as you type. There is no way to create multiple lines in a single cell; transcribe everything in a cell as a single line.

• Blanks: Do not transcribe blank areas.
• Columns: The number of columns cannot be changed. Email archives.projects@ncdcr.gov if there are not enough columns to complete the transcription.
• Dashes: Do not transcribe dashes and lines used to fill space.
• Dittos & Repeats: If text is repeated in multiple cells, transcribe it as it appears. Do not use "ditto" or hashmarks. If the original text includes "ditto" or hashmarks, do not transcribe this verbatim. Instead, transcribe the term or phrase that is being repeated.
• Names: Transcribe names exactly as they appear.
• Rows: There is an initial number of rows on every spreadsheet. You may add rows if needed.

If the document does not have a spreadsheet area set up in the transcription window, you may use the vertical bar character (located on the upper right side of your keyboard, usually under the backspace key) to create separations between columns. For example:

Grocery Lists, by week

June | Tomatoes | Corn | Beef | Milk
Week 1 | x |   | x | x |
Week 2 |   | x | x | x |
Week 3 | x | x | x | x |
Week 4 |   | x |   | x |