Good Morning, I am new to this list and have been lurking this week. Being newly "transitional," it is obvious there is much to learn. I do appreciate the expertise of those on the list and the wonderful questions, many of which I also might ask. So here is my first one. In doing a transcription, what do you do with those words the author could not fit on the line and hyphenated? Older documents also have a hyphen on the next line before the end of the word like this: "A great document of our nation is the con- -stitution." I have heretofore simply transcribed line by line to avoid the question. However, if the margins are large, it takes up a lot of space. So should the word be: a.) con--stitution This seems not to be the intention of the author and makes one pause, but is "accurate." b.) con-stitution This is also not the intention but is less intrusive. c.) constitution ? This is author's intention, but is not accurate. The rule seems to be that all punctuation must be as written, but is a hyphen in this case punctuation? Thanks in advance. Genially, Cynthia Turk ____________________________________________________________ How to Stay Asleep Researchers have discovered a revolutionary secret to stay asleep http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/510bf27f62c79727f3434st01vuc

I always transcribe documents EXACTLY as they are written on the page. Michele -----Original Message----- From: transitional-genealogists-forum-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:transitional-genealogists-forum-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of cynthia.turk@juno.com Sent: Friday, February 01, 2013 11:07 AM To: Transitional-Genealogists-Forum@rootsweb.com Subject: [TGF] Hyphenated words in transcriptions Good Morning, I am new to this list and have been lurking this week. Being newly "transitional," it is obvious there is much to learn. I do appreciate the expertise of those on the list and the wonderful questions, many of which I also might ask. So here is my first one. In doing a transcription, what do you do with those words the author could not fit on the line and hyphenated? Older documents also have a hyphen on the next line before the end of the word like this: "A great document of our nation is the con- -stitution." I have heretofore simply transcribed line by line to avoid the question. However, if the margins are large, it takes up a lot of space. So should the word be: a.) con--stitution This seems not to be the intention of the author and makes one pause, but is "accurate." b.) con-stitution This is also not the intention but is less intrusive. c.) constitution ? This is author's intention, but is not accurate. The rule seems to be that all punctuation must be as written, but is a hyphen in this case punctuation? Thanks in advance. Genially, Cynthia Turk ____________________________________________________________ How to Stay Asleep Researchers have discovered a revolutionary secret to stay asleep http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/510bf27f62c79727f3434st01vuc The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi, Cynthia, Welcome to the list. Below, some resources resources for you on transcribing: Elizabeth Shown Mills, on the BCG website, "Skillbuilding: Transcribing Source Material" http://www.bcgcertification.org/skillbuilders/skbld961.html If you are a member of NGS, you might think about taking their course on transcription: http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/transcribing Kimberly Powell has a good article on transcription on About.com, "Abstracting & Transcribing Original Documents" http://genealogy.about.com/od/basics/a/abstracting.htm Also, if you have a copy of Professional Genealogy, edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills, there is some great help with transcribing and abstracting. Having said all of this, I do transcribe line by line, moving to the next line just as the original document does it, and that includes hyphenations. Including the double-line (equal sign) hyphenation mark, if they use it, or no hyphenation if it is omitted. It does require more space but it suits my sense of order. Janis Walker Gilmore Pawleys Island, SC On Feb 1, 2013, at 11:06 AM, cynthia.turk@juno.com wrote: > Good Morning, > > I am new to this list and have been lurking this week. Being > newly "transitional," it is obvious there is much to learn. I do > appreciate the expertise of those on the list and the wonderful > questions, many of which I also might ask. > So here is my first one. In doing a transcription, what do you > do with those words the author could not fit on the line and hyphenated? > Older documents also have a hyphen on the next line before the end of the > word like this: > "A great document of our nation is the con- > -stitution." > I have heretofore simply transcribed line by line to avoid the > question. However, if the margins are large, it takes up a lot of space. > So should the word be: > a.) con--stitution This seems not to be the intention of the author and > makes one pause, but is "accurate." > b.) con-stitution This is also not the intention but is less intrusive. > c.) constitution ? This is author's intention, but is not accurate. > The rule seems to be that all punctuation must be as written, but > is a hyphen in this case punctuation? > Thanks in advance. > Genially, > Cynthia Turk > ____________________________________________________________ > How to Stay Asleep > Researchers have discovered a revolutionary secret to stay asleep > http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/510bf27f62c79727f3434st01vuc > The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list. > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

On 2/1/2013 11:06 AM, cynthia.turk@juno.com wrote: > Good Morning, Welcome aboard. > "A great document of our nation is the con- > -stitution." > I have heretofore simply transcribed line by line to avoid the > question. However, if the margins are large, it takes up a lot of space. > So should the word be: > a.) con--stitution This seems not to be the intention of the author and > makes one pause, but is "accurate." Thomas Jefferson was one of those who took the "belt and suspenders" approach to hyphenation, using one at the end of the one line and at the beginning of the next, in a divided word. When you're doing a transcription, your aim is to reproduce the document with complete fidelity. That would include using both hyphens. Hyphens to indicate divided words were fairly new at the end of the 18th century. Also used, not too long before that, was a colon at the end of the line where the word was divided. That never caught on. I deal often with 16th century Spanish documents, and in those days they divided words willy-nilly, without hyphens and without regard for syllables. That really gets wild! That's where you really have to know the vocabulary to even begin to figure out that it IS a divided word! Karen Packard Rhodes Currently residing in Pinellas Park, Pinellas County, Florida