Transcription Guide

Get Involved

Open a Project

Navigate to the Utah State Archives and Records Service dashboard on FromThePage, and select a collection to work on. Then open a page within the collection to begin transcribing.

From The Page

Start Transcribing

Once you have opened a page, you can enter the transcription tab. For pages to be transcribed, a space to begin typing will appear to the right of the scanned page.

Additional tips for specific types of documents can be found on our website, https://archives.utah.gov/ , under the Research Guides tab.

Research Our Records

General Transcription Guidelines

Anyone may transcribe any image at any point
If you see an error in a transcription or an incomplete transcription, you can transcribe it!
If another volunteer is currently working on a transcription, a blue warning bar letting you know will appear at the top of the webpage
Please include all writing you see.
Do not make corrections in the comments section; if you see a mistake, please correct it in the transcription box
The comments section is a great way to talk to other volunteers, discuss suggestions or work out wording
Unfinished transcriptions: If you need to step away from a transcription for a short amount of time, feel free to leave a “Transcription in progress” note in the comments. If you are unable to finish a transcription, please leave a note saying the transcription is only partially finished. The system marks any text in the transcription box as the transcription being finished. The only way to tell if a transcription is unfinished is to manually compare the transcription to the original document.
When to use “Needs Review” function: If you are uncertain about your transcription, or several areas of your transcription, if you are unable to finish a transcription
When you have completed a transcription, select “Done”. Selecting “Done” will automatically save the work.
You can check “Needs Review” and then “Done” if you want a completed transcription to be reviewed.

Transcription Conventions

Stick to the text. Do not re-create document formatting such as seals, stamps, decorative dividers, or similar. Do not insert spacing for centering or indenting a line.

Spelling: Use original spelling and abbreviations if possible. However, all initials in names should include periods.

Hyphenated words: When words are hyphenated and split across lines, complete the word on the first line, hit return and continue with the remainder of the next line.

Punctuation: Add modern periods, but don't add punctuation like commas and apostrophes.

Line Breaks: Hit return once after each line ends. Two returns indicate a new paragraph, which is usually indentation following the preceding sentence in the original.

Illegible text: Indicate illegibility with the provided markup tools.

New Lines: A single newline indicates a line-break in the original document, and will not appear as a break in the text in some views or exports. Two newlines indicate a paragraph, and will appear as a paragraph break in all views.

Page Orientation: For portions of documents written in different orientations (like cover pages with headings and pre-printed forms) transcribe anything written starting at the top and add new paragraphs as you work down the page.