ENTranscribing
Once you sign up for an account, a new Transcribe tab will appear above each page.
You can create or edit transcriptions by modifying the text entry field and saving. Each modification is stored as a separate version of the page, so that it should be easy to revert to older versions if necessary.
Registered users can also add notes to pages to comment on difficult words, suggest readings, or discuss the texts.
Those who are blind or visually impaired may use screen readers to access these documents via the transcriptions. Computer-assisted analysis, as is used in digital humanities, is also enabled by this work. Thank you for joining us in Making History! Please follow the guidelines below and feel free to contact us with any questions at makinghistory@virginiamemory.com.
Tips for Army Separation Qualification Records
- Helpful to look at section titles in CAPS to where information goes
- Serial Number with Illegible Numbers/Digits
- Please fill in as many legible digits you see and put ? as a placeholder for illegible numbers. Example 123?78?
- All other illegible numbers on the form please type [illegible] in field
- Dashes (---)
- If a field only has dashes and nothing else there is no need to transcribe the dashes
- Please leave the transcription field blank
- Military Occupational Assignments (Years, Months, Grade, Military Occupational Specialty)
- It is easier to type the number of Military Occupational Specialty than to scroll through the list
- *Please reformat the following Dates to YYYY-MM-DD
- Date of Entry
- Date of Separation
- Date of Birth
- Different Wording
- Serial Number
- Army Serial No.
- Permanent Address
- Permanent Address for Mailing Purposes
- Date of Entry
- Date of Entry into Active Service
- Degrees
- Degrees or Diplomas
- Major Courses
- Major Courses of Study
Transcription Guidelines:
- Save your work frequently. If you don’t save before you navigate away from the page, your work may be lost!
- When you have transcribed all the words on the page, click the “Done” button in the upper right corner.
- Transcribe the text as is, including punctuations, misspellings, and abbreviations. If you can’t resist correcting spelling mistakes, please enter the correctly spelled word in brackets after the misspelled word: Carlottesville [Charlottesville] or expand the abbreviation Wm [William]. See Tips for Army Separation Qualification Records above for EXCEPTIONS marked "*".
- You may come across outdated or offensive language in historical documents. Transcribe offensive language as it is written on the page.
- If you aren’t sure of a word but want to guess, indicate with square brackets and a question mark, e.g. [town?]. If you can't make out a word at all, use [illegible]. If you spot [illegible] in an already started transcription, feel free to correct it if you know what the word is.
- While you do not need to recreate the formatting of the original, we ask that you hit return at the end of the line.
- Do not transcribe hyphens or spaces in words that occur at line breaks: type the whole word then hit return. Continue transcribing the next line starting with the first whole word.
- For lines or rows of dots, you do not have to transcribe them all, since this adds little value to the searchable text. Type a single _ or . as needed, followed by the text.
- For text that has been crossed out, if you can read it, type [struck: text]. If you cannot read it, type [illegible].
- For words that are inserted above or below the line, add information in brackets within or near the line. For example: [inserted above/below:] text. When transcribing parts of the letter that were written around the edge of the paper or perhaps written cross-wise on the paper, add information in brackets to the end of the document. For example, add the transcribed information to the end of the letter and write [written at the top of page 1:] text or [written across page 1:] text.
- Consider the context. If you’re having trouble with a word or passage, read “around” it and think about what a likely word would be, or look for other letters and spellings in the document that are similar.
