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My Rules for Transcriptions
- Semantic preservation: I always preserve the semantics of what is written/typed. If the text is factually incorrect, I nevertheless remain faithful to the author's words.
- Brackets (i.e., [ … ]): I use brackets to denote anything that is not in the original text. I have very rarely found brackets in use in older handwritten text; should .
- [sic]: I will use sic to denote when an error is the author's, not mine. Sometimes, I will include the correction (e.g., “… pson [sic: person] …”).
- Dates: Dates are written in a variety of ways, to include numbers written as words. I strive to always type the date in a standardized Gregorian Calendar format of [dd Mmm yyyy] immediately after the text date (e.g., “the Tenth Day of aprill 1684 [10 Apr 1684]”). This makes the date more easily recognized by search engines.
- No new content: I never introduce new content into the transcribed text (except when contained within brackets, as described above).
- Typeset “long” s (i.e., the ſ character): Some early printing typesets used the long s character, which is an archaic form of the lower case letter s. I simply replace it with a lowercase s. Some transcribers use the lowercase f, but that is grammatically and syntactically incorrect.
- Existing line breaks: As a general rule, I do not honor line breaks in the original text when it is due solely to the text encountering the edge of the paper. This rule is driven primarily by two factors:
- Intentionally entering a line break does nothing to enhance the transcription (nor does it detract from it).
- My transcriptions will be hosted online and, as such, the text needs to “flow” based on screen size. Some line breaks make perfect sense, such as when it is obvious a new line is appropriate (lists, enumerations, etc.).
- Inserted line breaks: I may insert a line break when it makes the transcription more readable or more comprehensible. An example would be to begin a new line for each “Item” in a will.