John Muir Transcription Project Style Guide and Steps

Please follow these guidelines:

Illegible words: use empty brackets [    ]. If you are not sure of the word, use brackets around your guess. Use question marks only when Muir does. [tip: use the letters that you have and put them in a search on the internet and see what results you get.] 

Crossed out words: If the word(s) are legible add them in brackets without the line through them. The correct order of the words is not necessary.

Abbreviations: put exactly what Muir has written. You may add what you think the word is an abbreviation for in brackets.  "Mtns. [Mountains]."

Sketches or drawings: transcribe any captions. If there are no captions, *briefly* describe sketch. "[sketch: lake with trees]." 

Do not include Muir's original line breaks. You may include paragraph and page breaks if you choose, but it is not necessary. 

Transcribe one page at a time.  Transcribing an entire journal at once might be rather tedious and others may be transcribing the same journal. 

Muir Abbreviations