Help:Tutorial for Proofreading letter scans

• All letters to proofread can be found in Vanisource here

METHOD

1. Any notations you need to place in the transcription should be in italics and enclosed in square brackets like this, ex: ''[unreadable]'' or ''[unclear]'', ''[handwritten]'', ''[unsigned]'', ''[signed]'', ''[initialed]'', ''[text missing]'' etc.
2. New lines without a blank line between them can be made by using <br /> at the end of each line
3. SP's Address/Camp in the letterhead is missing from most transcriptions. This should be added, followed by the address of the recipient if known.
4. Throughout all the transcriptions, devotees' names may not be spelled the same as in the letters. The transcription of the names should match the spellings in the letters.
5. When you are finished checking a transcription, change the category name from unckecked to checked.

eg change:

[[Category:1970 - Letters with Scans of the Originals - unchecked]]

to

[[Category:1970 - Letters with Scans of the Originals - checked]]

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LAST STEPS

1. Each word corrected counts as one edit
2. Paste the checked letter page title into your user page like this:

[[700412 - Letter to Syamasundara written from Los Angeles]] = 3 edits

or

[[680306 - Letter to Janardana written from Los Angeles]] = 0 edits

• Please send regular reports to Visnu Murti after every 10 letters edited eg. 10 letters checked = 16 edits

• The following examples demonstrate the above points:

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• 680306 - Letter to Janardana written from Los Angeles

SP's Address/Camp is missing from the transcription.

Janardan's name is transcribed Janardana.

The handwritten P.S. at the end of the letter should be noted as [handwritten], italics and in brackets. Please make sure that it is SP's writing (usually initialled ACB by SP) and not the secretary's. Any personal message or notes from the secretary should not be transcribed.

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• Use of [sic]

If there is something incorrectly written in the letter it be indicated in the transcription by using [sic]

Do not correct the error. Leave the incorrect word and put [sic], italics and in brackets, right after the error.

An optional explanation or correction of the error (if known) can follow [sic] as in the first two examples below.

• 670819 - Letter to Janardana, Pradyumna and Sivananda written from Vrndavana

[sic] [with explanation]

In the example of this letter the transcriber has chosen to add further explanation [Incorrect Date].

• 700205 - Letter to Hanuman Prasad Poddar written from Los Angeles

[sic] [with explanation]

At the beginning of the 5th page

• 760928 - Letter to Gopiparanadhana written from Vrndavana

[sic] no explanation

Please note: In many cases there may be no explanation or suggested correction.

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• [handwritten], [unreadable] and [unclear]

• 680120 - Letter to Sri Krishna Pandit written from Los Angeles

[handwritten] and [unclear]

Example of <br /> in the address.

• 681001 - Letter to Hansadutta written from Seattle

[handwritten] and [unclear]

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