Transcribing data

To start transcribing data, go from the project through the dataset to the Items Browse for the dataset. The heading for the page should display the name of the dataset and the word “Items”.

Find the item to which you want to add records, and click on the title of that item. This should take you to a page for that item.

Adding a record

You transcribe data by adding records to an item. Each record functions as a row in a spreadsheet might.

If this is an item which is “new” you should see a message “No records found”

On the right side of the window is a collapsible drawer with a series of actions:

• Lock action: a dropdown which limits which transcribers can edit a record. Options are:
  • No Change
  • Lock to me
  • Lock to a transcriber, with a list of transcriber users for this project
  • Lock to a reviewer, with a list of reviewers for this project
  • Lock to admin, with a list of admins for the Omeka S installation
• Submit action: a dropdown which allows a transcriber to indicate that the records for an item are ready for review. The only options are “No change” and “Submit for review”. This only becomes an action once you have created a record or somehow modified the item.
• Review action (reviewers and admins only): a dropdown where reviewers can mark the item as approved or not approved.
• Priority action (reviewers and admins only): a dropdown where reviewers can mark the item as prioritized.
• Transcriber notes: a place where transcribers can add notes on the item for the reviewers
• Reviewer notes: a place where reviewers can add notes on the items, for transcribers or other reviewers.

To add a record as a transcriber, you must first lock the item to you:

1. In the drawer on the right, use the Lock Action dropdown to select “Lock to me”
2. Click the Save button in the upper right corner of the window.
3. The page will reload and you should see a button to Add new record next to the Save button.

To add a record as a reviewer or admin, simply click the “Add new record” button in the upper right corner of the window.

This takes you to a page with the form for that dataset, the page(s) for the item, and a Record actions drawer on the right with options for item flags and notes.

Transcribing

The central area of the window will contain the data form, the media to be transcribed, and (if there are already records for this item) a table with existing records for this item.

If the item has more than one piece of media (images), there will be two ways to navigate the media, located just above the media display. Use the page dropdown to select which page you want (displayed by media title), or use the pagination buttons to click through one by one.

Above the work area are buttons for the following functions:

• Focus Mode: toggles between standard view and a full-window view which hides the Omeka S navigation and the right-hand drawer. This gives more room for the media viewer and the form editor.
• Layout buttons: toggle the media viewer and the form editor from side to side or top and bottom layout.
• Guidelines button opens the dataset guidelines briefly as a pop up over the window, as an easily accessible quick reference.

The media viewer has five buttons which you can use to manipulate the image. You can zoom in and out, rotate left or right, and reset to the original view. If the viewer is small, try collapsing the Record actions drawer to increase the space available for the form and media.

The form will display with fields as set by the project reviewers and admins. Possible form inputs include:

• Checkbox: either check or uncheck as appropriate
• Date: three dropdowns, one each for year, month (text not numeric), and day.
• DateTime: a series of dropdowns, which allow you to enter a date and time. Dropdown menus exist for year, month, day, hour, minute, and second. The hours are given in 24 hour time.
• Time: three dropdowns, for hour, minute, and second. The hours are given in 24 hours time.
• Number: a field in which you can only enter numbers. When the field is active, there is an up-down toggle on the right side which you can use to step the number up or down in predetermined increments.
• Select: dropdown with options set by the form builder.
• Text: either a single line of text, or a large area for longer text.

Required fields are marked with a red asterisk. If you do not enter information in a required field, DataScribe will mark the field - and the record - as invlaid.

Every field type for the form offers the following checkbox options, in addition to the field input:

• Is missing: use when there is no data available for this property, as directed by the project guidelines.
  • If there are no guidelines, contact your project administrator before using this setting.
  • Note that leaving a field blank results in a “null” value (see below)
  • Examples of how you might use this include damage to the original document causing that part of the page to be physically missing, or this field left blank by whoever originally filled out the paperwork.
• Is illegible: use to indicate illegible entries in the original form or data.

A note on null values: Null values will be flagged by DataScribe as invalid unless they are also marked as illegible or missing. Illegible or missing values are always valid

If you have already created records for this item, they will show up in expandable tables in the main work area. Previous records show up above the media viewer and form editor; next records show up below. These records display with all of their information, including record id number.

Record actions

The record actions drawer has status checkboxes for record, as well as space for transcribers and reviewers to communicate with each other about the record.

The “Needs review” checkbox is available to transcribers and reviewers. This box should be checked when the record is ready to review, or as indicated by your project’s workflow.

The “Needs work” checkbox is for reviewers only, and allows them to flag a record as needing revision and further work before it is approved.

If this is at least the second record for this item, you can adjust the record position using the position dropdown. By default, a record is added immediately following the previous created record. Record position allows you to insert a missed row if needed. The initial position dropdown offers three options:

• Default position
• Insert before
• Insert after.

If you choose “insert before” or “insert after”, a second dropdown will appear with all the records in this item, giving their record number and primary field. NB: record numbers are assigned by DataScribe across all projects and datasets. Therefore it is entirely possible for an item to have non-sequential record numbers (for example: 1,2 ,3, 5, 16, 17, 20). Select the appropriate record from the dropdown, changes will be applied when you save.

There are two open text boxes, one for transcriber notes and one for reviewer notes. These are visible in the record metadata.

When you have completed transcribing the record, use the save button in the upper right corner. You have three options:

• Save and add another: saves this record and takes you to a new record page for the same item.
• Save and return to records: saves this record and takes you back to the record page for this item.
• Save and stay on this record: saves your progress so far and keeps you on this record.