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Critical Digital Transmission Through the Transcription of J MASTER’S THESIS IN LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE SWEDISH SCHOOL OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE 2015:18 CRITICAL DIGITAL TRANSMISSION THROUGH THE TRANSCRIPTION OF J. A. NENSÉN’S RECORDS A REVIEW OF THE TOOLS JACQUELINE VIGILANTI Jacqueline Vigilanti This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. II Swedish title: Kritisk digital textöverföring vid transkriberingen av J. A. Nenséns uppteckningar: en verktygsanalys English title: Critical Digital Transmission through the Transcription of J. A. Nensén’s Records: A Review of the Tools Author: Jacqueline Vigilanti Completed: 2015 Abstract: This thesis aims to understand transcription as a critical transmission practice in the digital medium in order to add to the research surrounding digital library initiatives that make these research materials available and accessible. The project to transcribe the records of Lapland priest J. A. Nensén at Umeå University aims to publish the transcriptions in the cultural heritage database Alvin by Uppsala University Library. Looking at these two Swedish projects can better illustrate the issues surrounding digital tool application and integration. This thesis first explores the transcription practices of a group of scholars transcribing J. A. Nensén’s records. By understanding their model, a better picture of transcription as a scholarly practice can be achieved that can be useful when selecting a digital transcription tool. The study then identified appropriate transcription tools and reviewed the ones most applicable for the project based on the group’s paradigm. It was discovered that the main disparity in transcription practice is the balance between producing a diplomatic transcription and one that is readable. The primary consideration in transcription tool selection was found to be the goals of the project; in this case, those of the transcribers. This determined the tools to be reviewed. These were: FromThePage, Scripto, T-Pen, and Wikisource. All the tools are suitable to the editors, but they still present some obstacles in regards to diplomatic transcription. Key words: Digital library, digital scholarly editing, critical transmission, cultural heritage material, tool review, transcription Digitala bibliotek, kritisk digitalisering, kulturarv, transkribering, transkriberingsverktyg III Acknowledgements I wish especially to thank the group working on J. A. Nensén’s records at Umeå University for the opportunity to explore manuscript transcription more deeply. Most particularly, I wish to thank the transcribers, Stina Karlgren and Robert Eckeryd, for their enthusiasm and interest in my efforts before, during, and after the group interview. Kind appreciation is also expressed to Lars-Erik Edlund for his correspondence regarding information pertaining to the Nensén materials. Much gratitude is extended to Per Cullhed and Krister Östlund at Uppsala University Library for beginning the discussion on Alvin which led to this project. As well, I am thankful for their time and personal interest during my visits and in communication afterwards. I would also like to thank my supervisor Mikael Gunnarsson for his suggestions and comments, specifically, for his time and patience while I developed the project. And in a personal and professional capacity, I wish to express true gratefulness to Cecilia Falk, Luleå University of Technology Library, for corrections to the thesis, inspiration as a librarian, and for providing me with the chance to gain the practical experience working at a library in the first place. Jacqueline Vigilanti Luleå, September 2015 IV Table of Contents 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ - 2 - 1.1 “The Inquisitive Vicar”- digitization of J. A. Nensén’s records ........................................ - 3 - 1.1.1 The collection ................................................................................................................ - 3 - 1.1.2 Aim of transcribing the Nensén records ........................................................................ - 4 - 1.1.3 Practical considerations ................................................................................................. - 4 - 1.2 Aims of the research .......................................................................................................... - 5 - 1.3 Objectives of the thesis ...................................................................................................... - 5 - 1.4 Research Questions ............................................................................................................ - 6 - 1.5 Limitations ......................................................................................................................... - 6 - 2 Background and Problem Description ................................................................................ - 7 - 2.1 Uppsala University Library’s digital archive and database ............................................... - 7 - 2.2 National and international perspective ............................................................................... - 8 - 2.3 Problem Description ........................................................................................................ - 10 - 3 Conceptual Background and Critical Context .................................................................. - 11 - 3.1 Definition of transcription ................................................................................................ - 11 - 3.2 An editorial task in the digital medium ............................................................................ - 12 - 3.3 Theoretical assumptions ................................................................................................... - 12 - 3.4 Editorial practice facilitated by digital tools .................................................................... - 14 - 4 Literature Review ............................................................................................................. - 15 - 4.1 Critical transmission ........................................................................................................ - 15 - 4.2 Transcription .................................................................................................................... - 15 - 4.3 Transcription tools in research and practice ..................................................................... - 16 - 4.4 Research methodologies .................................................................................................. - 17 - 5 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... - 19 - 5.1 Research design ............................................................................................................... - 19 - 5.2 Data collection methods ................................................................................................... - 19 - 5.3 Participants ....................................................................................................................... - 20 - 5.4 Design of the group interview .......................................................................................... - 20 - 5.5 Identifying transcription tools .......................................................................................... - 21 - 5.6 Methods of data analysis .................................................................................................. - 22 - 6 Results .............................................................................................................................. - 24 - 6.1 Group interview ............................................................................................................... - 24 - 6.1.1 Goals ............................................................................................................................ - 24 - 6.1.2 The material ................................................................................................................. - 27 - 6.1.3 Practical issues ............................................................................................................. - 29 - 6.1.4 Transcription model ..................................................................................................... - 29 - 6.1.5 Key themes .................................................................................................................. - 34 - 6.2 Identification of tools ....................................................................................................... - 36 - 6.3 Selection of tools to be reviewed ..................................................................................... - 38 - 6.4 Tool Review ..................................................................................................................... - 40 - 6.4.1 FromThePage ............................................................................................................... - 40 - 6.4.2 Scripto .......................................................................................................................... - 41 - 6.4.3 Wikisource ................................................................................................................... - 41 - 6.4.4 T-Pen ..........................................................................................................................
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