IMR 604

DOCUMENTING ORAL
TRADITION

FACULTY OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY MARA
 Process of Conducting Oral History

2
Transcribing Interviews

Involves listening carefully to each

word in the interview – intense and
tiring
Possibility of making mistakes or
mishearing words or phrases increase
as the ability to concentrate
decreases
Important to take regular breaks
 INSTRUCTIONS FOR TRANSCRIBING

 An oral history transcript should reflect as closely as

possible the actual words, speech patterns, and thought
patterns of the interviewee (narrator).
 The narrator’s word choice, including his/her 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.
 The transcriber’s most important task is to render as close a
replica to the actual event as possible. Accuracy, not speed,
is the transcriber’s goal.
 Transcripts
Helpful tools in maintaining access to interviews

Improve access to physical recordings

Time code indicators on the transcripts tied to the
recorded interview helps to locate the specific quote
EDITING TRANSCRIPT
Editing is done to ensure the document is
Readable
free of errors in spelling
Punctuation
Accessible to users via keyword searches

REMEMBER:
The transcript is the words of a person who has a very
important story to tell and we want the document to preserve
the interviewee’s style of speaking and original intent.
 EDITING TRANCRIPT

RESEARCH AND
PROOFREADING ADDITION OF
DATA
The margins size for top and bottom are 2.54cm
whereas the margins size for right and left is
3.17cm.
Type the interviewee speech with 1.5 line
spacing.
Leave double line spacing between questions
and answers. That mean that there is plenty of
white space on the page for writing correction
and comments.
PROOF-READING
Check Header
Eliminate non-words sound
Stylistic Standards
Spelling
CHECK HEADER

Each transcript should have a header on the

first page at top left. The header should
include name of Interviewee, name of
Interviewer, Date of Interview, Date of
Transcript, and Tape number /Total number
of Tapes.
Check that this information is there and that
the names are spelled correctly.
ELIMINATE NON-WORDS
SOUND
'Crutch' sounds
An exception to the goal of preserving
someone's speech is that we delete 'uh', 'um',
'er', and similar meaningless vocalizations
that can be very distracting to the reader. 
HOWEVER: for words people use over and
over, such as "you know“ do not remove
them because once we get started taking out
words, where would we draw the line?
ELIMINATE NON-WORDS
SOUND
Response sounds during speaking
Also omit "mm-hm" & other sounds of
response made by an interviewer or another
person while the interviewee is talking.
Exceptions:
a. Do not omit if response follows a clear
pause for agreement.
b. Do not omit this if it is the interviewee
responding to a question.
Leave out stammering and all meaningless fill-in
sounds, including ‘um’ and ‘er’.

Spell words correctly even if they are

mispronounced by speaker (as in ‘he’ for ‘e’
and ‘nothing for ‘nothinks’) unless
mispronunciations indicates dialect (as in ‘boon’
for ‘bone’) which should be retained to show
the interviewee style of speech. Type all
contraction as spoken, such as I’ll’, ‘you are’,
and all dates.
 STYLISTIC STANDARDS
Abbreviations
The general rule is to spell out words in full, including:
names of currency: "Euros", "dollars", "yen", etc.;
"number" instead of "#" or "No."
"Okay" instead of "OK"
"and" instead of ampersand
A few abbreviations can be used: forms of address such as Mr.,
Mrs., Dr., Rev.; academic titles such as M.S., B.A., PhD., M.D.
States:
 Do NOT abbreviate when the name of the state is said during the
interview.
 DO NOT abbreviate when adding the name of a state in brackets
after the name of a city.
STYLISTIC STANDARDS
--Dashes
i. - "en dash"(short dash/single dash) use ONLY
if word is cut off in the middle -  Ex: "He built
a ra- a radio."
ii. "em dash"(long/double dash) for remark
within sentence. When a speaker adds a
supplementary or clarifying remark in the
middle of a sentence--a strong parenthetical
digression--the remark is set off by dashes as
shown in this sentence; the dashes should be
flush with (without a space between) the
preceding and following words.
  
STYLISTIC STANDARDS
--Dashes
iii. --"em dash" for cut-off sentence.
When a speaker fails to complete a sentence, indicate this by
using double dash, flush with the last word spoken. If this
comes as the end of speaker's comments about a subject
and  they then go on to a different thought, follow the em
dash by some form of end punctuation (period, question
mark, etc.)
Example:  "But in the South it wasn't--.  Now, after I had
moved up to Penang I ended up getting a job in a steel
mill."
iv. -- 'em dash' if multiple words are repeated
v.  Interviewee spelling out names (or other words)
Use dashes between upper-case letters to represent this:
Example: "A-K-B-A-R"       
A single dash is used to indicate a pause within a
sentence and three dashes are used to indicate
unfinished sentences that are a normal part of
conversational speech.

 And every Saturday – that is, every Saturday

Dad wasn’t working overtime - we’d all go
together to watch Dunhill Premier League.

 I don’t know, we didn’t - - - Well, you didn’t

know any better, if you can understand what I
mean, and - - -(Telephone rings – break in
recording)
STYLISTIC STANDARDS
, commas: between single-word repetitions
or very brief pause in flow of speech; to
separate a qualifying clause, between items
on lists; between a location, larger location
(such as city, state), etc.  
 ... Ellipses: Use only for words omitted, for
ex. a sentence cut off at beginning or end of
tape; otherwise use dashes.
STYLISTIC STANDARDS
( ) Parentheses
i. to indicate actions, expression of emotion, etc. 
Examples:use:   (nods head for yes) if there is no
spoken answer.
(tears in eyes)
(laughs) But if interviewee laughs a lot, note
sparingly.
(Pause) Only for a long, noticeable pause in speech.
(Sigh) Only if very noticeable
(Simultaneously) if 2 people speak at once
ii.  to qualify how something is said
Example: (sarcastically) I was a model child.
STYLISTIC STANDARDS
'_ ' Single quotes: for titles of books, films, songs,
TV shows, etc.      
"_" Double quotes:  When speaker quotes what
either (s)he or someone else has said. Put a space
after a comma and before quotation marks.
Example: She said, "I'll take the oldest one."         
[ ]  Square brackets: used for inserting additional
non-spoken information.
STYLISTIC STANDARDS
Capitalization
Names
i. Capitalize a person's proper name.
ii.  Govt bodies, groups, etc.
Generally capitalize federal govt. bodies. BUT:
Usually, don't capitalize unofficial /adjectival forms of
names of groups.  Capitalize the official name of a
group, institution, department, company, etc. 
iii. Names of specific historical events
STYLISTIC STANDARDS
Titles
Chi. Manual: "Civil, military, religious and professional
titles and titles of nobility are capitalized when they
immediately precede a personal name, as part of the name..
Ex: President Francois Mitterand.
BUT..."When such titles are used in apposition to a name
they are not part of the name and so are lowercased." 
Ex: The French president, Francois Mitterand.  
AND... "In text, titles following a personal name or used
alone in place of a name (other than in direct address) are,
with few exceptions, lower-cased."   
STYLISTIC STANDARDS
Geographic entities and directions: countries,
continents, states, cities; neighborhoods.
Examples: Malaysia, Asia, Louisiana, Boston,
Harlem,the South Side, the West Side, West Coast,
East Coast, etc., the South, the West - -but NOT
"southern" "the south of France", "the western
Australia.“
STYLISTIC STANDARDS
Groups of people:   
 i. Race/ethnicity/nationality:
 (A)  Capitalize words that derive from names of countries,
continents etc. that are themselves capitalized: Asian, African
American, Koreans, New Yorkers, etc.
 (B)  Capitalize certain others such as: Latino, Native American
 (C) Do not capitalize the words black or white.
 ii. Religion:Capitalize Baptist, Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist, etc.
 iii. Do not capitalize most descriptors for people,
 Example: "the poor", "disabled", "gay"
 iv.  Designators of people's job, etc.: only capitalize if it is
actually their official title.  "He is a bank executive." "He is
Executive Vice President."
STYLISTIC STANDARDS
 Seasons: use lowercase: spring, summer, etc.
 Beginning letter of a quoted sentence
Capitalize the first letter as you would if this were not
a quote.
Example: RIGHT:  She said, "Do you know anything
about this truck?"
WRONG:She said, "do you know anything about this
truck". 
 STYLISTIC STANDARDS
Numbers

 Spell out whole numbers < 100  Example:  twenty-five 

 Spell out these same whole numbers followed by
hundred, thousand, hundred thousand Examples: six
hundred; fifty-two thousand 
 Use numerals followed by million, billion, etc.
Example: 3 billion 
 If spelled-out numbers cluster too thickly in the
paragraph, use numerals. Example: "My oldest sister is
56—her name is Debbie--then I have a brother, Robert,
who's 53, my sister Lisa is 51, and the youngest,
Francine, is 46 now.“
 STYLISTIC STANDARDS
Numbers

Numbers in the same category should be treated alike

within the same context; do not use numerals for some
and spell out others.  For example, a paragraph giving
several different percentages: if the rules say to use
numerals for one of the numbers, then for
consistency's sake, use numerals for all of them.         
Spell out numbers beginning a sentence even if this
creates inconsistencies.
 Numbers in addresses: Don't spell out; keep in usual
style: 1900 Kuala Lumpur
 STYLISTIC STANDARDS
Numbers
Percentages: Use numerals and spell out percent.  
Example: 96 percent
Do not spell out numbers that are part of common
phrases, brand names, etc. commonly seen in numerical
form.  Examples: "24/7", "20/20 vision"  "7-Up“
Money: If number is spelled out, so is the currency. 
Example: ten dollars
If numeral is used, then use symbol for
currency Example: $549
 Age decades: spell out. Ex.: "I was in my thirties." (For
specific ages, follow standard given above, spelling out
numbers 99 and under.)
 STYLISTIC STANDARDS
Numbers
Dates: When a month and day is given in the
interview, the month should be spelled out rather than
abbreviated numerically. Example: "April 21st, 2005"
or "the 21st of April" (depending on which is actually
stated.)
Years should be numerical, whether a four-digit year
(1965) or an abbreviated two-digit year ('65) is stated. 
Decades should be written numerically with an
apostrophe first and an 's' after:  Example: "in the
'50s."
 SPELLING

Check carefully for

misspelled words. 
Spellings of names may
require some research.
Research and Addition of Data  

This work is a combination of

checking the names and facts
actually stated in the interview and
adding additional information in
brackets that may help the end user.
Fact Checking Transcript
This is related to auditing, because
transcribers who may be ignorant of the
people, places, companies, groups, etc.
being discussed, and if they don't
understand what the interviewee says,
their guess may be wrong. 
Use whatever reliable sources are
available to you- -the Internet, Who's
Who books, atlases and other reference
books. 
Fact Checking Transcript

Check names (and spellings) for people,

locations, organizations, companies, etc.
mentioned in the interview.
Don't take things for granted.   (For example, in
one interview, the transcriber typed "Wonderful
Records" as the name of a record company-
-the actual name was "One-derful Records")
Check dates and years mentioned for important
events, legislation, etc.
Fact Checking Transcript

Check other facts stated in the interview

Factual mistakes stated in the interview  
If the interviewee or interviewer makes a factual
error that is not immediately corrected, (for
example gives the wrong location for an
institution or the wrong name of an
organization), follow it with 'sic' , comma, and
then the correct information, all in brackets.
 Example:Mr. Bryant called his brother-in-law
[sic, half brother], J.W. Milam.
Adding Data
Why add extra data to transcript?  
 to easily find the specific parts of the interviews they need
 to provide people with some additional information that
might clarify what is actually said on the tape.
For example, an interviewee might mention another
person only by their first or last name or a nickname. If,
talking about Dr. King, the interviewee says just "Martin"
we add [Luther King, Jr.] This will help someone doing a
keyword search to distinguish him from other Martins.
 for the purposes of clarification and to assist in searches
by supplying more possible keywords that will enable
them to retrieve Segments.
 The additional information should be placed inside square
brackets [  ] to clearly distinguish it from the actual words
spoken.    
Types of information to add:
Names of persons or entities
 i. Persons mentioned only by a shortened name, nickname or as "Daddy", "my mother",
etc.
Example:  "That's where Daddy [Robert Booker Flake] lived."
"As [William] Bill Clay says...."
 ii. Nicknames /common names of institutions, places etc. that have or had at the time
discussed a different official name.
Examples: Ole Miss [University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.]
The Sorbonne [University of Paris, Paris, France]
 iii. Partial names of persons, institutions etc:
Examples:
Martin [Luther King, Jr.] 
[Adam Clayton] Powell
Harriet [Beecher] Stowe
"I went to Columbia [University]."
NOTE: When adding part of a title, think in terms of "retrievability" via a phrase
search.  Example:
Wrong: "Florida A and M [Agricultural and Mechanical] University"
(Nobody would do a search for that exact phrase.)
Right: "Florida A and M University [Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University]" 
Types of information to add:
Former/later names of persons or entities:
 This may be helpful when there is a reference to someone or something more
commonly known under another name.
 Examples:
Universiti Pertanian Malaysia [now the Universiti Putra Malaysia]
Univesiti Teknologi MARA [formerly Institut Teknologi MARA]

Acronyms or abbreviations:
 When an acronym is given, follow it with the complete words spelled out in
brackets.  This need only be done for the first time it appears within each
Segment.  
Example: SNCC [Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]
 For an entity often known by its acronym, if the full name only is given, add
the acronym in brackets.
Example: Employee Provident Funds [EPF]

Exception: Academic titles such as M.B.A., PhD, M.A., M.D.

Types of information to add:
Dates:
For search purposes, if interviewee mentions:
i. a year in abbreviated form, follow this with a
bracketed  insertion of the entire year.
Example: "... in '65" [1965]...".
ii. ...a decade in abbreviated form, follow with entire
decade.
Example: "...the seventies [1970s]..."
iii. ...a famous event or law without mentioning date 
Example:"Brown v. Board of Education [1954]"
Types of information to add:
Locations
i. If a city is named, put the state (or foreign country) in
brackets following it.
 Examples: Paris [Texas] 
Paris [France]
Ferndale [Alabama]
Chicago [Illinois]
Do this even if it seems obvious that Chicago is in
Illinois or that the Paris being discussed is in France.
Remember, this is not just for informing people but also
for aiding in searches. If a user is looking for absolutely
every time anyone mentions anything at all about France,
our addition of [France] after Paris (or Marseilles or
Lyon or Chateauneuf-du-Pâpe) will enable them to find
all of these by doing a keyword search for "France" 
Types of information to add:
Locations
 
ii. If an institution is named, follow with location (city,
state or city, foreign country).
Example:  Howard University [Washington, D.C.]
Universiti Teknologi MARA [Malaysia]
iii. Unnamed location of described events : if a subject
discusses an event or situation at a specific place but
does not identify the location by name--for example,
(s)he may refer to it as "here" or "there"--follow with the
location information in brackets.
Example:"I had fights with professors here [Harvard
University, Cambridge, Massachussets], I still do, about
things that I think are not right..."
Types of information to add:
Examples of other explanatory information

i. Verses from Qu’ran

If someone mentions a specific verse from Qu'ran but
does not
give the reference, follow with Sura:verse. 

ii. Foreign money

 Example: I wasn't making enough pounds [currency].