Transcription Conventions
NOTE: There is some variation between forms in terms of content and formatting between individuals born in the US and those born in China. The transcription area includes fields that may be missing from one or the other style and omits some. If you wish, any additional data from the omitted fields can be entered in the Notes field, but it is not required. See these examples: #145 and #140
- Numbers: Transcribe numbers – dates, counts, street numbers – in Arabic numerals.
- Some fields (mostly name fields) contain more than one data point. In these cases, separate them with a comma.
- Notes, Miscellaneous field: Put marginalia and other notes/comments here. The main thing to look out for is the presence of “恤”.
- Spelling and Orthography: Use original spelling if possible. In general, traditional Chinese characters should be used but if the written character in a name most closely resembles a simplified character (eg. 龍 vs. 龙), use that.
- Capitalization: Retain original capitalization.
- Illegible text: Indicate illegible readings in single square brackets:
[Dr?]