29
August
2007
As I sit transcribing a very interesting piece about commercialisation of products I have the tune of a Tom Jones (or originally ‘The Sensational Alex Harvey Band’ I believe) song going round in my head … with slightly altered lyrics. ‘Why, why, WHY verbatim? ‘ Now I can fully understand the need for a truly verbatim transcription in a legal document for the courts, or in a study of the use of spoken language, but why on earth does someone need all the ums and ers, coughs, repeated words etc. in a transcription about bringing products to market? Perhaps, I thought, my client doesn’t understand the difference between verbatim and intelligent verbatim? (If you don’t understand this either, please see my article on whether you really need verbatim transcription.) Apparently, however, she does. So, considering it takes longer, costs more, and as far as I can see (as a non-expert in this field) adding nothing useful to the transcript … why is it necessary? I haven’t plucked up the courage to ask yet … but I’m working on it. I’m guessing it’s something to do with a particular theory behind interviewing, but if anyone can tell me exactly what it is I’d really love to know.
Posted: General Transcription
21
August
2007
After a number of conversations with potential clients this week I have created a new law! Hickley’s Law states that if one of your recordings for transcription is going screw up it will always be the most important recording. I could call it Hickley’s Universal Law of Transcription, I suppose, since it applies whether you are recording interviews, focus groups, conferences, oral histories or anything else for transcription!
There’s only one way to avoid Hickley’s Universal Law of Transcription – follow the advice in my article about getting the best results from audio recordings for transcription and ALWAYS test the recorder before you start each interview, in the environment in which you are going to use it. If you can’t make out what’s being said on the test recording, you can bet your bottom dollar that a transcriptionist who wasn’t there, doesn’t know your subject in depth and doesn’t know the person you’re talking to, won’t be able to either.
Now there may be times when it’s simply impossible to record in an ideal environment. A lady who contacted me today about some recordings she made for a charity, working in some of the poorest parts of the world, is a case in point. Working in small rural villages in Africa, the quiet office environment I recommend is unlikely to be practical! There are various types of noise reduction that can be run on digital recordings, but they’re designed for music and very often the noises you want to strip out are in exactly the same range as the voices, so stripping one out removes the other. So to sum up, I’m afraid miracles can’t be worked after the event; at the risk of doing us out of business, in some circumstances you might be better off just taking notes instead!
Posted: General Transcription
16
August
2007
I’m feeling lonely today. I seem to be the only person in the world that cares about the fact that till does not mean until. When I transcribe and someone says something like, ‘I worked ‘til I dropped’ then that’s how I transcribe it: ‘til, not till. Or, if I’m doing edited transcription, I would certainly change it to until.
Till means lots of things. As a geology student I came across it as unstratified glacial deposits. I discovered today that it also means a public treasury. Of course it is also what was known in my younger days as a ‘cash register’. I was already familiar with another meaning: to work the land in order to make it ready for cultivation. But what it does NOT mean is ‘up to the time of’ a.k.a. until! I feel a bit better having done a Google definition search (you just type define:word into Google and it gives you a bunch of definitions for the word. I typed in define:until and it only came up with two definitions. One was the meaning of the word in computer science. The other was not really a definition at all. It said: “in formal writing, until is preferred. Do not write ’til.” I am not alone after all!
Posted: Grammar
13
August
2007
Hurrah! I hope my previous post helped to convince a few people to go digital with their transcription recordings. If you’re one of them there are a few things you need to know. Perhaps the most important one is which recording machine to buy, from a transcription perspective. If you’ve looked at what’s available you will have found a bewildering selection, but what are the important features and which are just the ‘nice to haves’? Well of course it depends to some extent on exactly what kind of recording you’re doing. Some features that are important for focus groups, such as the ability to attach multiple external microphones, don’t matter at all if you’ll only be conducting interviews. For a list of the different features available and an explanation of what they’re for see my article on getting recording equipment that’s right for you. The different features are first listed and then explained, and this should allow you to choose a machine that’s right for you to record your transcription recordings and send them to us to be transcribed. If you’re looking for a good on-line source of transcription equipment I can thoroughly recommend Speak IT. If you get really stuck phone and ask to talk to Shaun. I’ve always found him very helpful.
And if you’re still not convinced, or not feeling brave enough for the transition to digital, don’t forget that we’ll still transcribe from all the types of tape!
Posted: Digitial audio files, General Transcription
10
August
2007
If you love the English language, with all its foibles, weird and wonderful words and even more weird and wonderful word derivations then you’ll love this site: Worldwidewords.org, which has everything you could possibly want to know about an awful lot of weird words, topical words, turns of phrase and so on, and even has a newsletter you an subscribe to. It’s put together by Michael Quinion who, via a circuitous career route almost as tortuous as mine, has ended up as an author who writes about words, and does so very well indeed.
Posted: Grammar
10
August
2007
In the words of the immortal Michael Flanders, “We’re often asked …sometimes asked … well, somebody asked me once…” why transcription costs as much as it does. Actually that is something I’m asked quite frequently, and there are a number of important things to bear in mind when considering cost. Basically, a transcriptionist is far more than just a fast typist.
When copy typing (reading words from a hand-written or printed page and typing them up) the typist already has all the spelling, grammar and punctuation laid out. A transcriptionist is only hearing the spoken word and needs to make sense of it. This is less of an issue for one-person dictation (although even then there are challenges of formatting, spelling etc.) but can be a considerable problem with interviews, meetings or focus groups.
As well as distinguishing between the different voices, work through strong accents, speck patterns etc. the transcriptionist also needs to be able to punctuate sentences so that they make sense on the written page. Homonyms are another factor that can be important. Words like their, there and they’re; or hole and whole; or manor and manner need to be correctly identified. There are other frequently muddled words that we need to keep an eye open for too: advise and advice are favourites. For some examples of medical transcription gone wrong that clearly indicate the importance of a good transcriptionist, see this blog of medical transcription bloopers.
So how can you make sure that you get a quality but affordable transcription service? Well, the obvious answer is come to Penguin Transcription , but the truly important thing is to get a clear and good quality recording. To find out how to get the best results have a look at our articles page where you can find good advice on getting the best quality recording for all sorts of recordings: interviews, focus groups, conferences and more.
Posted: General Transcription
9
August
2007
We had a phone-call yesterday from a charming gentleman at one of our top universities who had a number of standard tapes he needed transcribing. He asked if we were still prepared to transcribe from tapes as he’d spoken to a number of transcription services that were no longer prepared to do so. He was convinced that digital recording was NOT the way to go; he had complete and touching faith in his old Sony tape recorder, and there was no telling him otherwise. Fortunately we are happy to transcribe from all formats including standard tapes, micro tapes, mini tapes, VHS and all the digital possibilities.
Unfortunately I am certain he would get better results from a digital recorder and the transcription would cost him less too. Digital files can be copied without losing quality, they don’t deteriorate over time, they’re easily stored and, from a transcription point of view, they produce better quality recordings which leads to a faster and more affordable transcription service. To find out more visit the Penguin Transcription Website and see my article on digital versus analogue recording.
Posted: Digitial audio files, General Transcription
8
August
2007
The aim of this blog is to cover all sorts of issues relating to transcription, with the slant being how to help clients get the best from their recordings and transcripts. Although there is an FAQ page on our website, the blog will cover new issues as we come across them.
It is intended to be a useful resource for our clients and anyone interested in transcription.
Posted: General Transcription