Standards of Accuracy

Introduction

This page sets out the standards we aim to achieve in documents transcribed for and directly held within GENUKI. Such material is copyright and the basis on which it can be used is set out here

Historic documents

 Ancient records which most genealogists research broadly means any hand-written document, produced  before approximately 1900CE.  They are at best physically degraded and at worst totally illegible. This is the nature of ancient documents. There are various reasons why this is so:-

• the very age of the documents
• the manner of creation of the documents, and
• the physical nature of the materials used to create them

Honest transcribers spend many long and arduous hours poring over these documents in order to provide you, the reader, with an account - as accurate as humanly possible - of exactly what those documents contain.

Transcription process and error correction

With the best will in the world, at any stage in the process from the time they are created (perhaps by people with limited literacy skills) to the final display on your screen, there are liable to be mistakes. These can fall into three main categories:

• Mistakes in the original source - errors of data capture
• Misapprehensions/ omissions by the transcriber
• Typographical errors by the transcriber

There is little that can be done about the first unless more documents, other than the one in doubt, can be found delineating the same data in an unequivocal manner.  It is for you, the user of the transcription to seek those out. We will not research them for you. If, however you provide us with sufficient evidence (for example a photograph, or photocopy) that the original source is indeed incorrect, then we may add a brief note to that effect. We will NOT change the original in any way or the transcription, if it is faithful to the original.

The only way to minimise (not eliminate) the second issue of misapprehensions is to have a second transcriber to verify partially legible sources or dubious entries. However, given the number of documents out there, and the number of people able to donate their time to such projects, this is rarely possible. Generally speaking we do not have time for "double-keying" - there are usually far more exciting things to be getting on with than going over old ground! However if any such errors can be drawn to our attention, and appropriate evidence produced, they will be corrected.

We will be more than happy to correct typographical error and other such mistakes as we ourselves make. If you have seen the original source yourself, and can demonstrate to us that our transcription is incorrect, we will change it. But we will not change it if it is an accurate representation of the original recording, even if that has been shown to be incorrect.

Thus a website author may be willing to note your "corrections" as ERRATA, but they are not obligated to modify the source. The source or extraction must stand inviolate. Nor can you reasonably ask the parish council or other agency to correct their original records or a monument inscription in order to suit your wishes.

Changing practice is not an error

Finally, please note spelling and word usage have changed over the centuries; quibbles over spelling are - almost without exception - a waste of time. Surnames were often recorded phonetically prior to the introduction of more universal schooling in the mid-1800s, and a more general use of dictionaries. Even now, in the 21st century, mistakes occur; and as we all know, correcting them - in the phone book, for example - is often not worth the effort! At the other extreme, even the names of early saints, and of towns and villages have morphed over time to fit the prevailing usage. St. Wolfrim in one village may be St. Walfram in the next. If it's good enough for the saints, why not us; so generally speaking, a difference in spelling should NOT be reported as an error.