Transcribing Tape-Recorded Interviews

Transcribing tape-recorded interviews is an essential part of every successful oral history project but especially to Q.S.O.S. We expect many Q.S.O.S. projects will want to have their interview transcriptions archived. Transcriptions from The Alliance's Q.S.O.S. projects will be archived at The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. This is where the transcriptions will be made available through the Internet at http://www.quiltcenter.org/qsos/qsos_interviews.php. It is important that all transcribers whose work will be archived with us follow the same style and conventions in formatting their transcriptions. Other transcribers may want to follow these guidelines too.

This section details the information you need to know to format transcriptions of tape-recorded Q.S.O.S. interviews. We are writing with the assumption that you will be using Microsoft Word, computer and computer printer. However, a typewriter will work just as well, except that someone will have to type it into a word processor if it is to be made available on the Internet. While transcriptions will be accepted that have not been put into Microsoft Word, there are no resources at this time to have someone retype them so the transcriptions will be available on the Internet. If you are using a word processor other than Microsoft Word, you will need to contact us. (Information on how to contact us is provided under "Archiving the Transcription…")

We have also prepared for you a two page "Transcriber's Tip Sheet" (Appendix K) for easy and quick reference for transcribers. This should be used in conjunction with the manual.

Getting Ready

• Review one of the transcriptions that are online.
   
• Set page margins: One inch margins at left, top and bottom and at least half inch on the right side of the page. Justification to the left.
   
• No page numbers.
   
• No bold anywhere.
  
  
• Select "Times New Roman" font, size 12 point.
  
  
• Double space between each person's passages, otherwise single space.
  
  
• Save your file with tape number first then last name. Example: IL60540-001 Musgrave.doc.

TRANSCRIBING THE INTERVIEW

• There is a Basic Rule for transcribing tape-recorded interviews:
  
  Get everything down exactly as it is on the tape.

However, a Few Don'ts:

• Don't record what you think the informant meant to say.
• Don't correct grammar, usage or sentence structure. We talk in phrases.
• Don't include 'uh's," "um's," "you know's" and false starts.
• Don't represent dialect or local accents or mispronunciations by altering spelling.
• Don't use commas to signify pauses.
• Don't use exclamation points. Underscoring can be used for emphasis if needed but keep this to a minimum.
• Don't use a series of spaced periods to indicate anything on the transcription. These are standard ellipsis marks indicating that something has been left out. The only exception to this is when the beginning of the interview was not caught on the tape.
• Don't hyphenate words like hand quilted, machine quilted, wall hanging, etc. We also recognize quiltmaker and quiltmaking as words.

Follow the following format to begin:

The Alliance for American Quilts
Quilters' S.O.S.-Save Our Stories
Tape Number
Name, Interviewee
Name, Interviewer
Name, Transcriber
Event/location
Town/City, State
Date
Time interview begins

• When you transcribe each speaker's first passage regardless of when they speak in the interview, use their full name and include their initials in capital letters, enclosed in parentheses (see example below).
  
  
• After their first passage, you can use their initials to indicate who is speaking on the tape so you don't have to write out their names again and again.
  
  
• If you cannot identify a person speaking, use Unidentified Person (UP).

Example:

Mary Smith (MS): Joyce, when were you first introduced to quilting?

Joyce Gross (JG): My grandmother made quilts and I remember sleeping under them at her house.

MS: What date was this?

JG: This was in the 1930s. My grandmother pieced the quilts and sent them off to be quilted by women in the rural South.

Kate Jones (KJ): Do you know where in the South?

• " For all information on the tape that is not part of the interview itself enclose extraneous information in square brackets [], underline it, and put a period at the end. For example, if a loudspeaker announcement was made and can be heard on the interview, describe it as such:

Example:

[announcement over the loudspeaker.]

• There are other kinds of information that may be on your tape that you will want to include in your transcription. You may need to describe a gesture made by the informant:

Example:

[demonstrating: Joyce showed with her hands the size of the quilt's center medallion--about 1 foot square.]

• Or, you may need to indicate that the person being interviewed directed a comment to someone else:

[speaks to her daughter who was seated at the interview table.]

This additional information in brackets will be very helpful to your readers because it helps to explain why some passages are unintelligible if only the spoken words are considered. If you were not present for the interview, simply disregard this and transcribe what you hear.

Additionally:

• Transcripts can also indicate laughter in brackets, if important to the conversation: [laughs.]
  
  
• Brackets should elucidate any breaks in the transcript because of mechanical problems with the tape, time out for a break, tape turned off because of noise, etc. [tape turned off for quick water break.]
  
  
• Transcripts should be amended in order to provide, in brackets, the full name and any relevant title of individuals when mentioned, such as "Florence [Peto.] was an important quilt designer." Use brackets to elucidate a state if a town is mentioned, "Marcie grew up in Blytheville." [Arkansas.] Or to explain initials, "QNM." [Quilter's Newsletter Magazine.]
  
  
• If there is a passage or word on the tape that you cannot understand, try listening to it three times, then if you still can't understand it clearly, put: [inaudible.]. It can also be helpful to invite another listener or two to listen to the passages that you cannot understand. Other ears may understand some words that you cannot make out. Also the informant will have the opportunity to fill in the passage. Please do not use "[unintelligible.]" to indicate passages you cannot understand as this can be misunderstood.
  
  
• If interviewed person pauses for significant length of time to answer a question, note this with: [pause: 10 seconds.].
  
  
• Quotes should have single quotation marks. Titles should have double quotation marks.

Example:

(JG): When my daughter saw my quilt "Piece," she said, 'Wow.'

• How to handle two people speaking at once? Separate the two speaker's passages with a space and then connect them with a brace in the margin. This indicates that two people were talking at once, and dashes at the end of one speaker's passage indicate that one person broke off while the other continued. If this is too confusing, explain in a bracketed direction:

Example:

[both Joyce and her daughter Paula were talking at the same time.]

JG: Remember the store you girls started to sell mod clothing--

Paula Gross (PG): The Mod Shop--we started that in 1969.

• Punctuation: use two dashes or hyphens to show where an informant breaks off or was interrupted.
  
  
• Titles should have quotation marks but quilt patterns like Log Cabin, Nine Patch, Trip Around the World, etc. do not.
  
  
• Magazines and newspapers should be put into italic.

• The informant should be sent a photocopy of the transcript, with a self-addressed and stamped envelope, and a request that they read the transcript over and correct errors. It is difficult for transcribers to know how every person's name or place name should be spelled, and sometimes people will realize that they made an error in the interview and want a chance to straighten the facts.
  
  
• A sample cover letter designed for use by projects that plan to archive their interviews with the Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories is located in Appendix L. This cover letter explains the reason for the final reading and reminds the person interviewed that their interview will be posted on the Internet. If your project is not planning to archive materials with the Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories, you may find this cover letter sample helpful as a template.
  
  
• Ask the informant to return the corrected transcript to you. When you receive it, note the corrections that have been made and make those corrections to your final copy. The transcript is completed only when the person interviewed has read it and checked it for errors, returned it to the interviewer, and the interviewer has made these corrections.
  
  
• Printing: Use good quality 8 ½" x 11" paper, preferably non-acidic or pH neutral. These kinds of papers are available at office supply stores like STAPLES, OfficeMax, and Office Depot as well as Mail Boxes, Etc. and places listed in Appendix N. They work fine in home computer printers.
  
  
• If you find a typographical error on the final copy that you need to correct and do not want to reprint the document, make any corrections using a pen with black ink only.

Archiving the Transcript with Quilters' S.O.S. – Save Our Stories

When you have completed the transcript and corrected any errors noted by the informant, send the following to:

Quilters' S.O.S. – Save Our Stories, c/o Karen Musgrave, 1226 Whitingham Circle, Naperville, IL 60540-6928

• a hard copy of the final transcript;
• the edited copy received from the informant;
• an electronic copy of the final transcript on a CD or floppy disk;
• a copy of the tape from which the transcription was made;
• the release forms and pictures.

PRESERVING YOUR TAPES AND STARTING AN ARCHIVE

The information here is provided for those who would like to have their own archive. IIf you send your Q.S.O.S. material to us or if your state or local historical society agrees to become your repository for your materials, then you may not have these storage concerns. Many local historical societies, however, do not have an archivist on staff so you may need to educate their staff and serve as an advocate for protecting and preserving your materials.

Immediate Considerations

• Have you labeled all cassettes?
• Have you made a copy of all interview cassettes to use as a working copy?
• Have you stored the original tapes in a safe place?
• Have you developed an index of the taped interview?
• Have you developed a transcript of the interview?
• Have you rechecked (audited) the transcript for accuracy?
• Have you sent to the informant a copy of the full transcript or a list of names for review of spelling and clarification, if needed?
• After the transcript is made, correct and finalized, have you given all materials related to the interview to the repository chosen for the project?

Recommendations for Storage

• Protect the audiotapes generated by the interviews and photographs and/or slides by storing them under relatively constant temperature and humidity.
• Play the tapes through completely at regular speed at least every five years. Contact an archivist at your state historical society for current guidelines.
• Photocopy the master of the interview transcript onto acid-neutral paper and file it in its own acid-neutral folder.
• Protect the photograph of the informant in its own acid-neutral folder or protector made of either paper or polyester and place in the master file.
• Use soft pencils for labeling photos, slides and recordings.
• Avoid paper clips, rubber bands, adhesives (e.g. tapes and self-adhesive notes) that may rust or leave sticky residue on your materials.
• Protect materials from rodents and insects.

 

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