MarineLives Transcription & Editorial Policy: Version 6 Current Policy
MarineLives Transcription & Editorial Policy: Version 6 Current Policy
This is current policy and should be applied to all transcriptions from June 1st, 2014
The aim of the transcribers is to create a semi-diplomatic edition of the HCA documents. As such, transcribers will, for the most part, transcribe exactly what they see using the following conventions.
Contents
Punctuation
Punctuation is different from what we are used to. Transcribe the marks as you see them. The only exception to this will be the dash used to fill the ends of lines; ignore these marks. Do not try to impose modern punctuation conventions.
EXAMPLES:
"./."
":/:"
":-"
Transcribe any dots surrounding numerals.
EXAMPLE:
".1.", ".6th."
Preserve the page layout as much as possible when you transcribe, including the placement of signatures and line breaks within paragraphs.
EXAMPLE:
William ffowkes SIGNATURE ON BOTTOM RH SIDE
The above text is produced using the NOTE function:
William ffowkes <note>SIGNATURE ON BOTTOM RH SIDE </note>
Where there is a marginal item and a main body text item within the same line in the original manuscript, transcribe the main body text line first, then add a space, transcribe the marginal item, preserving the lineation of the marginal item, and add a further space
EXAMPLE:
The code would be as follows:
31. did together with this deponent and others sayle and depart in and with
32. the sayd shipp from Gravesend about the ˹eleventh˺ eighth day of december 1654
33. XXXXXXXXX day And they entred into whole pay in the sayd shipp # ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT INSERTION MARK, DIRECTING ATTENTION TO TEXT IN LH MARGIN and the
34.
35. <margin value="Left"># upon the eighth day
36. of the sayd moneth,
37. William dixon</margin>
38.
39. sayd shipp arrived afterwards att ffalmouth and from thence
Follow the foliation of the original documentsm and enter the folio number, together with added recto or verso, in the HEADER information
EXAMPLE:
<folio>f.169r</folio>
Capitalization
Do not capitalize letters that are not written in capitals. Transcribe what you see.
Be particularly careful that you do not capitalise the names of people, places, and ships if they are not capitalised in the original.
Be particularly observant of the differences between lower and upper case "c/C" and "h/H"
An index will be created with standardized forms of names, places, ships, etc., and all spelling variants will be indexed accordingly.
Abbreviations
& The ampersand represents the word ‘and’. Transcribe it as ‘and’ without putting it in italics. If it is part of a Latin phrase, transcribe it as ‘et’.
Some words are commonly abbreviated, e.g. ‘arle’ for ‘article’. Put supplied letters in italics. Below is a list of commonly abbreviated and contracted words.
Letters supplied by transcriber
Letters lost due to manuscript staining or damage
Tildas (horizonal lines over a letter)
Tildas represent single or double ‘m’ or ‘n’. Be mindful of the different ways of representing ‘per’, ‘pro’, ‘par’, ‘pre’, etc. along with ‘-con’.
EXAMPLES:
"comonly" (with a tilda over the m) should be transcribed as "commonly" (with the second m inserted by the transcriber and italicised)
