Interview Transcribing

After you have conducted an oral history interview and downloaded the recording to a secure server, the next step is to create a written record that will document the recording’s content. You may want a full transcription of the interview, or a narrative index or a short abstract may serve your purposes. Taking the time to produce a written record of subjects and people discussed during the interview will make it far easier for future users to access information rather than having to replay the entire interview recording.

Transcription philosophies and styles vary, but a transcript is usually a very lightly edited written version of the interview recording. Whether completed by a professional transcriber or a staff member, intern, or volunteer, transcribing is skilled labor. It requires training. The transcriber needs to be an accurate typist—and much, much more. Good transcribers have a keen ear for and grasp of language, good research skills, and subject matter expertise. They can sit and focus for a long time and are adept with technology. They approach the work with professionalism and keep the information in the interviews confidential.

Advantages of Transcribing

• The transcriber clarifies the hard parts of a recording, so the researcher doesn’t have to.

• The narrator has usually had a chance to review and correct the transcript. A transcript provides correct spellings of proper names.

• Many researchers prefer working with a transcript than with audio because it’s faster and easier to scan visually than to listen to a recording. Electronic versions of documents can be searched by keyword.

• At this point, paper is the most reliable preservation format.

Drawbacks of Transcribing

• Transcripts are time-consuming and expensive produce.

• On average, it takes 6 - 8 hours to transcribe one hour of recorded interview.

• Professional transcribing services charge $150 - $200 per hour of recording.

• Even the best transcript cannot capture every nuance of speech and tone.

• The existence of a transcript often discourages researchers from listening to the primary source, the audio.

To Transcribe, or Not Transcribe?

• How will the interview be used?

• What guidance has the archive where you are depositing the interview given you? Does the repository expect a transcript?

• What are your resources of time, money, and staff? What is your timeline?

• Is the content of this interview worth the cost of transcribing? For any number of reasons, every interview may not merit full transcription.

• How will researchers access these interviews?

Alternatives to Transcription

There are less time-consuming and expensive ways to provide access to interview content. Consider these methods when time, money, and staff are short, or if the quality of the interview doesn’t merit a full transcription.

• Timed indexing using word processing programs

• Timed indexing with spreadsheets

• Voice recognition software

Voice Recognition Software

• Voice recognition software is improving all the time, and it costs less than human transcription. The quality of the transcripts it produces can vary widely, however. Always review transcripts generated by voice recognition software for accuracy. Trint is a voice recognition software that some university oral history programs have tested and adopted.

Preparing for the Transcriptionist

You can help a hired transcriptionist do a better job if you provide:

• A detailed contract that outlines expectations. Be sure to include a confidentiality statement that ensures that a transcriptionist will not discuss the content of interviews.

• A sample transcript that illustrates formatting such cover page, margins, font size, and so on.

• Style guide that illustrates rules of punctuation, capitalization, and other elements that provide consistency in transcripts. See, for example, the style guide created by Baylor University’s Institute for Oral History. You might need to tailor it for your project.

• A proper noun list.

Transcription Details

• Transcript format requires numerous decisions: do you want headers? Do you want the interviewer and narrator identified by initials or full name? What margin do you want? Line spacing?

• Do you want a verbatim transcript that mimics every sound, or a lightly edited transcript that eliminates false starts and frequently repeated crutch words?

• Do you want the transcriber to indicate sounds other than speech—laughter, sighs, long pauses?

• Will the transcriber insert time codes?

• How will the transcriber note a part of the audio recording that they cannot understand?

• If these decisions seem overwhelming, ask the professional transcriptionist for help, or seek the advice of the archivist with whom you are collaborating.

After the Transcription

• Check the spelling of proper names and all words

• Review and correct the transcript

• Send the transcription to the narrator for final review and corrections; transfer changes to the final draft of the transcript

• Add explanatory notes if needed

Transcription Aides

• Transcription software eases the task of transcribing audio on your computer. Foot pedals with USB connections allow you to control the audio playback speed while transcribing. Express Scribe is an open-source, downloadable software.

Transcription Services

• Not all professional transcription services are created equal. Be sure to hire transcriptionists who have experience working with oral history interviews. Transcriptionists who specialize in legal and medical subjects, for example, may not have the range of expertise necessary.

• Start by identifying the types of services or characteristics you require and locating a transcription service that matches those needs. Contact the Park History Program with questions.

Final Thoughts

Before you post transcripts online, make sure that narrators have reviewed and corrected them, and that legal release forms are signed.  

More Transcription Tools

Sample Review Letter

When sending transcripts to narrators for review, provide guidance about how to assess spoken language turned into written form and how to mark corrections. Here is a sample letter. 

Dear [name of narrator]: 

It's a pleasure to share with you the transcript of our interview earlier this year. Thank you for sharing your National Park Service story.    

The transcript allows you to review your words in a detailed way and to correct any misspellings and obvious misspeaking of dates, names, and places. There are several names whose spelling is uncertain, and the transcriber has noted them.  

While reviewing the transcript, please keep in mind that a transcription of spoken words will not read like a written document. There may be pauses, interrupted thoughts, repetition, and other natural characteristics of speech. They should not necessarily be “corrected,” but included as a representation of the authentic interview. 

Please make corrections on the electronic version of the transcript by making edits using "track changes" or in bold face type. I will incorporate your changes and send a final copy of the transcript to you.  

Please return the transcript via e-mail attachment. It would be great if you could correct and return the transcript within 45 days of receipt (or sooner), but I understand if you need more time. Once your changes have been incorporated, the Park History Program will deposit transcripts and recordings at the NPS History Collection in Charles Towne, WVA.  

If you have any questions about the transcript review process, please contact me via email or phone. This interview is your story, and we are committed to obtaining as accurate a representation of your words – and history – as possible.  

Thank you for your help as we complete the oral history process.  
 

Kind regards,  

Resources

• Baylor Institute for Oral History, “Introduction of Oral History Manual,” https://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/43912.pdf, p. 16 

• Teresa Bergen, Transcribing Oral History (New York: Routledge, 2020). 

• Oral History Association, Archiving Oral History: Manual of Best Practices, “Access,” https://oralhistory.org/archives-principles-and-best-practices-complete-manual/#Access 

Sample Transcript

This transcript (link to interview with Diane Moses) illustrates a variety of formatting decisions made for the cover page, for how names of the interviewer and narrator would be indicated throughout, the frequency of recording time stamps, and so on.

Oral History Interview with Diane Moses, October 24, 2014

NPS Oral History Collection, Association of National Park Rangers Oral History Project, 2012-2016
Interview conducted by Lilli Tichinin, transcribed by Thea Garrett

Alternative to Transcription: Sample Timed Index

This is an example of a timed index to an oral history transcription.

Timed Index with Word Processing

National Park Service Oral History Project  

Doe, Jane   

Interviewed: 25 February 2023 

Interviewer: Lu Ann Jones  

Length: 1 hour, 35 minutes 
 

00:00:20 JD grew up in a farming family in rural North Carolina. She had two older sisters. JD helped with farm chores from the time she was a child. She loved being outdoors in the summer. JD describes the crop and livestock mix and what the farm looked like. The demands of farming kept the family tied to home, but JD remembers one special trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with her parents when she was in eighth grade.   

00:04:50 JD was a good student. She attended public schools in the 1960s and 1970s, when NC schools desegregated. Movements for civil rights and social justice made a big impression on her as a youth and shaped her values, beliefs, and choices for the rest of her life. She describes two teachers who influenced her. One of JD’s seventh-grade teachers inspired an interest in civics and current affairs. In high school an English teacher encouraged her writing talents and inspired a love of literature. She suggested that JD pursue journalism as a college major, which she did.  

00:08:40 In 1972, when JD arrived at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she feared that her rural high school education had not prepared her to share classrooms with peers who came from city schools with rich curricula. But once she got her bearings and learned to manage her time well, she thrived. She found a niche among fellow student journalists. In the early 1970s social movements shaped campus life; the modern women’s movement was in its heyday. JD took a women’s history course in 1975, and its content and the professor who taught it changed her life.    
 

Timed index of oral history transcription

Name	Session Date	Time Start	Time Stop	Summary
Jane Doe	2/25/2023	0:00:00	0:00:20	Interview Introduction & Sound Check; interviewer is Lu Ann Jones.
	2/25/2023	0:00:20	0:04:50	JD grew up on a farm in North Carolina. She helped with farm and garden chores from the time she was a child. She loved being outdoors in the summer. Although farming kept the family close to home, JD remembers one special trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park when she was in eighth grade.
	2/25/2023	0:04:50	0:08:40	NC public schools desegregated when JD attended in the 1960s and 1970s. Movements for civil rights and social justice made a big impression on her as a youth and shaped her values, beliefs, and choices for the rest of her life. She describes two teachers who influenced her—a seventh-grade teacher inspired an interest in civics and current affairs and a high school English teacher encouraged her writing talents and suggested that JD pursue journalism as a college major, which she did.
	2/25/2023	0:08:40	0:15:29	JD describes her first year at UNC Chapel Hill, 1972, and her fears that she was not prepared for classrooms filled with students who came from city schools with rich curricula. Once she got her bearings and learned to manage her time well, she thrived. She found a niche among fellow student journalists. JD describes gaining experience by working for the student newspaper. In the early 1970s social movements shaped campus life; the women’s movement was in its heyday. JD took a women’s history course in 1975, and its content and the professor who taught it changed her life.