1. CONTENT:
An oral history transcript should reflect as closely as possible the actual words, speech patterns, and thought patterns of the narrator. The narrator’s word choice, including their grammar and speech patterns, should be accurately represented. Oral history is not an exercise in literary composition; the transcriber should strive for an exact typed rendition of the spoken interview, minus the false starts and too many “crutch/bridge” words. The transcriber’s most important task is to render as close a replica to the actual recording as possible including the original tone and sound of the spoken word.
2. MEANINGFUL PAUSES & EMOTIONS:
A meaningful pause is a long pause that indicates deep thought or emotion. This is more important for narrators, less so for interviewers because there may be occurrences when the interviewers are pausing to search for the next question. This is another “use your best judgment” scenario. If you think the pause it noteworthy, it probably is. Along the same lines, it is sometimes difficult to decide what to do about “emotion noises,” other than laughter. The two indicators you may use most frequently (but still sparingly) are [sighs] and [voice breaks]. Unless a narrator/interviewer is audibly sobbing, it is usually inappropriate to use [crying].
3. FALSE STARTS & REPAIRED UTTERANCES:
A false start may be anything from a syllable to a sentence fragment. Repeated words, phrases, or syllables are at times indicative of a person‘s thought patterns, speech patterns, or personality traits, or of a speaker‘s effort to emphasize an element of communication. Sometimes a narrator may be deliberately ambiguous or turgid for reasons of his or her own. Where to draw the line in deleting false-start material from the transcript is a difficult decision. We strive to follow a middle course, leaving in enough to indicate individual speech patterns. If repetition is for emphasis as reflected in the voice of the narrator, the repetition is always retained. Do not try to indicate stuttering unless it is intentional.
A middle ground is best as false starts and repaired utterances that don’t convey any meaning are tedious and make the transcript difficult to read, for example:
Original: I went--we went--my brother and I went to Milwaukee to enlist.
Better: My brother and I went to Milwaukee to enlist.
However, if repetition is used for emphasis, or is reflective of the individual’s thought, speech, or personality patterns; false starts should be left in. ALWAYS leave false starts in if the narrator is talking about combat or is emotional in what they are saying. Eliminating false starts in those contexts will take away from the power of what is being said, for example:
I just--it’s hard--I can’t talk about it anymore.
4. FEEDBACK WORDS, CRUTCH WORDS, BRIDGE WORDS, AND GUGGLES:
Knowing when to include feedback sounds (um-hm and yeah) and when to omit them calls for careful judgment. Usually the interviewer‘s noises are intended to encourage the narrator to keep talking. If every other line or so of the transcript consists of feedback, go back and evaluate the merit of each instance. Do not include it if it interrupts the narrator‘s comments in midstream. Only if the feedback is a definite response to a point being made by the narrator should you include it.
Crutch words-
Crutch words are words, syllables, or phrases of interjection designating hesitation and are characteristically used instead of pauses to allow thinking time for the speaker. They also may be used to elicit supportive feedback or simple response from the listener, such as: you know, see? or, understand?
• Use of uh: The most common word used as a crutch word is uh. • When uh is used by the narrator as a stalling device or a significant pause, then type uh. But sometimes a person will repeatedly enunciate words ending with a hard consonant with an added ―uh, as in and-uh, at-uh, did-uh, that-uh, in-uh. Other examples are to-uh, of-uh, they-uh. In these instances, do not type uh. • like • you know • um • ah
You can feel free to leave in many of these, but generally you would opt for clarity and include them at the beginning or end of a sentence, excluding the ones on the middle of a sentence or thought. Other commons crutches are “like” and “you know.” It is not necessary to include these words every time they are uttered.
But, do include them if they have meaning:
• Mm-hmm [yes] • Uh-huh [yes] • Uh-uh [no]
Guggles-
Guggles are words or syllables used to interrupt, foreshorten, or end responses, and also as sounds of encouragement. Guggles are short sounds, often staccato, uttered by the interviewer to signal his desire to communicate. These should be included. They may be initial syllables of words or merely oh, uh, ah, or er. Spelling of specific guggles:
• Agreement or affirmation: mm-hmm, uh-huh, um-hm • Disagreement: unh-uh
5. NON-VERBAL SOUNDS & INTERRUPTIONS:
Some nonverbal sounds and interruptions that occur on the recording should be noted and enclosed in brackets. Your rule of thumb should be that if the reader would be confused, put them in. This would be the case with long pauses and anything that is referred to by either the narrator or interviewer later or that interrupts the conversation, for example:
[Coughing] [Truck passes by] [Telephone rings]
Always include laughing as humor, sarcasm, and irony are difficult to identify in a transcript, for example:
[Laughs] if at the beginning [laughs] if in the middle of conversation [Both laugh] or [both laugh] as applicable Do NOT editorialize as in [laughs, rudely]
6. ONOMATOPOEIA:
Type it as you hear it, lower case, unless at the beginning of a sentence or a sentence in itself, for example:
woo hoo phew zzzing
7. ADDED MATERIAL, BRACKETS, AND PROBLEM SPOTS:
If you are unable to understand something that is said (after several listening attempts at various speeds) there are several ways of handling the issue, for example:
A guessed spelling of a word should appear as follows:
[Eau Claire??] [Kolakowski??]
An unknown word should appear as follows:
[??] [inaudible] Do not use [unintelligible]
Do use Google.com and Dictionary.com to see if you can determine the correct spelling of proper pronouns. Research place and proper names and make sure they are spelled accurately in the transcript.
Do not use brackets for an explanation of what you think the object may be or what you think it is. Brackets are used for clarity. Do not add or put meaning into the transcript, your task is simply to represent the spoken content. No editorials or opinions within a transcript.
Do not use parentheses ( ) where [ ] brackets should be used.
8. PUNCTUATION:
One of the most challenging jobs in transcribing is providing appropriate punctuation. Since oral conversation tends to run on, it is your job to provide punctuation that will make sure the narration is clear and accurately reflects intent and context. Your best friends will be commas, semicolons, colons (less frequently), periods, and question marks. Em dashes can be rarely used, but should not replace commas, semicolons, or ending punctuation if they will do the trick. Since this is narrative English, it is appropriate to begin sentences with “And” or “But” and other words. The key is to have the narrator complete a thought before you put in ending punctuation.
9. BEGINNING AND END OF THE TRANSCRIPT:
The first line of the transcript shall be [Interview Begins] followed by a carriage return/enter, followed by the opening dialogue, for example:
[Interview Begins]
SMITH: Where were you that year?
The last line of the transcript shall be [Interview Ends] preceded by a carriage return/enter, preceded by the closing dialogue, for example:
JONES: Well, I moved to Georgia and took up scuba diving.
[Interview Ends]
10. PARAGRAPHS:
Each speaker will be designated by the speaker’s surname in ALL CAPS followed by a colon (:) and one space, and each speaker will be separated by a carriage return/enter, for example:
SMITH: Where were you that year?
JONES: Well, I moved to Georgia and took up scuba diving.
Press the [ENTER] key to start a new paragraph wherever topics change, where subtopics are introduced, where other dialogue is introduced, or the paragraph is too long, for example:
SMITH: Well, I'll give you a story. But anyway. Anyway, so then they told me that they they knew that I already knew that I was coming, that I fired expert on machine gun. And so they said, you're going. I know you're going. You'll be on a machine gun with John Noyce.
So the platoon sergeant, Joe Shine, walked me over to the foxhole with John Noyce. And he was the automatic rifleman because of what happened to the last rifleman, and were carrying an extra rounds for a machine gun.
11. SPELLING:
The purpose of a transcript is to visually represent the spoken in the written language. If something is said in slang or in a uncommon way, write it out in the transcript as such. How the narrator says the word is historically relevant and should not be altered or corrected in the transcript. The transcript represents what was said, not how the word appears in standard American English, or the Queen’s English, for example.
‘Cause remains as ‘Cause and does not become Because Mama remains as Mama and does not become Mother Can’t remains as Can’t and does not become Cannot
With that said, the transcript should be checked for typos and spelling errors. People, place, and proper pronouns should be checked for accurate spelling as this helps the future researcher locate the relevant material.
Use Dictionary.com and maps.google.com as a resource to confirm spellings.
12. CAPITALIZATION:
Proper names of institutions, organizations, persons, places, and things follow rules of standard English. When in doubt, consult the dictionary. Branches of military service (i.e. Army, Marines, Navy, etc.) are always capitalized. Military units are also capitalized, for example:
HHC, 1/72nd Armor Battalion 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) USS Saratoga 4th Marine Regiment 1st Marine Division 128th Infantry Regiment
So there is no confusion (or rank) over battalion or regiment, they can be left without capitalization unless included within a full proper name (i.e. 128th Infantry Regiment).
Ranks are capitalized only if used as a title in front of a proper name (i.e. Lieutenant Robert Jones; I was a sergeant. For example:
Major General Marcia Anderson Captain Sprague
13. ACRONYMS:
If the narrator uses initials or an acronym, transcribe them exactly. If initials or an acronym is used that is not commonly known, spell out the intended organization or phrase in brackets, for example:
IED [Improvised Explosive Device] ROTC [Reserve Officers Training Corps] BNCOC [Basic Noncommissioned Office Course]
14. ABBREVIATIONS AND INITIALS:
Avoid abbreviations in oral history transcripts. Do not abbreviate locations (including states), directions, addresses (including street, avenue, etc.), military camps or forts, companies, or formal names. Do not abbreviate military ranks such as Lt. for lieutenant or Sgt. for sergeant. It is acceptable to abbreviate titles such as Mr. And Mrs.; as well as time designations such as “a.m.” and “p.m.”
15. SPELLED-OUT WORDS:
When a narrator or interviewer spells out a word during the interview, capitalize appropriately and separate letters with hyphens, for example:
W-I-S-C-O-N-S-I-N H-A-M-P-T-O-N M-I-F-F-L-I-N
16. PERSONAL INFORMATION:
Please omit any personal information such as narrator’s address or social security number. You can indicate that you have deleted this information by using brackets and using Xes for example:
SMITH: And we are conducting the interview at Mr. Nelson’s home, the address here is 123 W. Main Street, Madison WI.
Should be-
SMITH: And we are conducting the interview at Mr. Nelson’s home, the address here is [XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX].
17. ELLIPSES:
Do not use ellipses … that implies something is missing from the text, use two dashes – instead.
18. PARAGRAPH FORMATTING, MARGINS, AND SPACING:
Do not use paragraph indentations, paragraph formatting, special formatting, section breaks, page breaks, page margins, or tab spacing in the transcript.
Remember to put a carriage return/enter between each piece of dialogue between the narrator and interviewer.
19. BREAKS, PAUSES AND SEGEMENTS IN RECORDING:
If there is a pause in the recording between two sections of an interview simply label as follows:
Pause-
[Break in recording]
Segments-
ROWELL: This ends segment one with John Smith.
[End of segment one] [Beginning of segment two]
ROWELL: This begins segment two with John Smith. So John tell me about where you grew up?
SMITH: I grew up in Clark County, Wisconsin ...
[End of segment two]
20. PAGE NUMBERS;
Do not use page numbers.
21. BOLD:
Do not use bold.
22. ITALICS:
Do not use italics.
23. TIME STAMPS:
Do not insert time stamps, this done elsewhere.
24. SPECIAL CHARACTERS:
Special characters should be changed to UTF-8 format. Do the following with these characters:
Replace em dash — with two dashes like this: – Replace en dash – with two dashes like this: – Replace ’ with ' Replace “ and ” with “
25. FONT:
Not relevant as the transcript will be converted to UTF-8 plain text format.
26. TEXT SIZE:
Not relevant as the transcript will be converted to UTF-8 plain text format.
27. DATES:
Dates with the “th” are now acceptable within the transcript, for example:
July 18th, 1970
Instead of requiring: July 18, 1970
28. NUMBERS:
Numbers are now acceptable written in their numerical form within the transcript, for example:
There were 37 B-17s over head.
Instead of requiring: There were thirty-seven B-17s over head.
REFERENCES:
Transcription Guide: WVM specific-Appendix (deprecated) Baylor University Institute for Oral History, “Style Guide: A Quick Reference for Editing Oral History Transcripts” Center for Military History Style Guide
Chicago Manual of Style
Wisconsin Veterans Museum 30 W. Mifflin Street Madison, Wisconsin 53703 (608) 261-0537