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Transcribing documents

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  • 23-02-2013 12:14am
    #1
    upncmnhistori
    Registered Users Posts: 234 ✭✭


    Is there any good tips on transcribing old documents for 19th C.? I am usually good at it as I have picked up how to read it by working in genealogical office but some documents can be really hard to read from the 19th century when letters are squashed together. I am guessing during the times of great famine and civil war things were hecting enough letters to the other person were very rushed.


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    #2
    convert
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 9,338 Mod ✭✭✭✭convert


    It's just a matter of getting to grips with the handwriting and making out letters in words to get a sense of what's being written. There's no easy or instant way of reading/transcribing the letters, it just takes time. Unless, of course, you want to hire somebody to do it for you!


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    #3
    Dr.Nightdub
    Registered Users Posts: 108 ✭✭Dr.Nightdub


    Give yourself an hour with the Ernie O'Malley notebooks in the UCD Archive. After that, everything else that's ever been written down since the dawn of mankind is a doddle.


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    #4
    upncmnhistori
    Registered Users Posts: 234 ✭✭upncmnhistori


    Thanks. I am starting to read his books actually. Its good to learn how to transcribe if you are a historian.


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