Hi Jim and Debbie   I agree with you both - quality is an important factor in any form of transcribing. Without some form of quality control (checking by a second person, for instance) a transcription is likely to be worthless. I also agree totally about local knowledge as a factor in quality. I have never understood why Ancestry and others feel they can get away with charging a commercial fee for their material but without necessarily providing a product of merchantable quality. The facility for submitting corrections is one thing, but if I take something back to a shop because it isn't what I asked for, I expect my money back, and Ancestry don't offer this. In other words, they expect the enthusiastic amateur family historian to both pay for the product and do the  supplier's job for them. This is why we feel entitled to grumble even though we use the sites.   Kathleen --- On Sat, 8/9/08, Jim Halsey <jehalsey@gmail.com> wrote: From: Jim Halsey <jehalsey@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [SFHG] Ancestry To: "Deborah Montgomerie" <ifm@whidbey.net> Cc: SFHG-L@rootsweb.com Date: Saturday, August 9, 2008, 9:39 AM 2008/8/8 Deborah Montgomerie <ifm@whidbey.net wrote >Some of the translations are just ridiculous and obviously the transcribers >are not even bothering to think about what they are typing in. I don't see why you should feel it necessary to back-track let alone apologis for your remarks about the quality of transcriptions. Your few words on the subject are spot-on ! Transcribing takes time,,patience,and local knowledge,of names, places and occupations or a readiness to enquire and study old forms of .script I am not suggesting that transcribers should not transcribe what is in front of them on the page- just that ignorant guesses.are worthless. Carry on saying what you think Debbie! Jim Halsey . ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SFHG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message