You can access the Transcription Tool here.
We recommend that you open this page in a new browser tab or window so you can refer to the guidelines while you are working.
The nature of archival materials is such that some material may represent positions, norms, and values that are racist, sexist, or otherwise offensive. As part of our commitment to decolonizing, CRKN strives to provide context for these items through descriptive records. We also hope to eventually add statements attached to the digitized object that provide a warning about potentially sensitive content. If you come across an item that is offensive, please flag it for us (digitization@crkn.ca) so we can address next steps. Thank you.
The intent of this project is to enable transcription and the creation of descriptive metadata for handwritten material in the Héritage collection. Please contact us at digitization@crkn.ca if you have any questions or concerns.
Status
- Not Started: No transcription has been provided
- In progress: The transcription is unfinished
- Ready for review: Transcription is completed, but it requires reviewing
- Complete: The transcription and review are complete
Tip: Click on “Save” often, so you do not lose your work! You can continue to work in the same page as long as it has not been reviewed.
General guidelines
If you are unsure about what exactly to include, use your best judgement. Any help you can provide is appreciated. The transcription data will be used to enable full text search in the Héritage collection,
Transcribers and Reviewers are welcome to work with both French and English materials but are encouraged to be reasonably fluent in their language of choice to aid with comprehension of the materials. Handwriting, grammar, and vocabulary may vary considerably based on the period and context of the original material.
Reviewers should be comfortable with reading historical primary source materials.
Transcription guidelines
- Do not include comments about the document in the transcription.
- Do not worry about the formatting, such as text alignment, columns, line breaks, spacing, etc. Transcribe the text in the reading order you would follow on the page.
- For example, you could transcribe the text in a table by transcribing a full row with several columns from left to right, before moving to the next row. You do not need to indicate that there are different rows in your transcription
- Do not indicate stylistic formatting, such as underlining, italics, bold, etc.
- Type all textual elements of the document you are working on, including words in a table, and typewritten text. You do not need to transcribe the filming label added by Library and Archives Canada or its predecessor Public Archives Canada.
Spelling
- Do not correct spelling or capitalization errors; type exactly what you see.
- Do not transcribe hyphens or spaces in words that may be line breaks in the original text. Full words will yield better search results for future researchers.
- Where historical names are different from current names, type the text as you see it (e.g. you may see “Benwaa” for “Benoit”; write out “Benwaa”).
- Unusual or archaic spellings may occur frequently in historical documents (and you should transcribe them as-is) but be conscious of stylized forms of letters in some calligraphic styles that could lead to misinterpretations.
- For example, a stylized ‘r’ can look like a ‘z’ in some calligraphic styles.
Using square brackets
- If there are two pages in the single image, transcribe the first page, then write [[end page]]. Then write [[start page]] and continue transcribing.
- If you are unsure of the spelling, indicate this by adding [[sp]] after the word.
- If you are unsure of a word, indicate this by adding [[illegible]] or [[?]] after the word.
- If you can decipher a portion of the word, indicate this by adding the portion of the word, with a question mark, after the word, e.g. [[immediate?]], [[-ing?]], [[name?]].
- If a word has been crossed out, indicate this by transcribing the text within square brackets with two dashes either side: [[--text--]].
Margin notations
- If notes are written in the margins of a page, separate from the main text, then transcribe this text by using asterisks, and insert it in the sentence of the main text that is closest to the margin notation (e.g. “…as was natural *August 1812* from their being…”).
Revision guidelines
General Guidelines
- Only review pages that are marked “Ready for Review”. Do not review “In progress” pages.
- The goal of reviewing is to ensure no parts of the text were accidentally missed and to offer a second set of eyes for parts of the transcription that were more challenging.
- Consider the transcribed text independently of the images. Read over the transcription and double-check any sections that do not seem to be complete or coherent.
- Unusual or archaic spellings may occur frequently in historical documents (and they should be transcribed as-is) but be conscious of stylized forms of letters in some calligraphic styles that may have led to misinterpretations.
- For example, a stylized ‘r’ can look like a ‘z’ in some calligraphic styles.
Reviewing text in square brackets
- If you are reviewing a transcribed page and you see the term [[illegible]] or any square-bracketed content, try to transcribe the word or words. Please note that any notations in square brackets should be in the language of the text being transcribed, e.g. [[sp]] for English text but [[ortho]] for French text.
- It is ok to “Complete” a page that still has some [[illegible]] or [[sp]] or [[ortho]] notations. We want to minimize these as much as possible through a peer review, but we also recognize that some sections of the material may be indecipherable.