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Transcribing, Editing and Processing Guidelines

Minnesota Historical Society, Oral History Office, Minnesota Historical Society, 2001

Read on October 17, 2026

What it is: The oral history office's guide to transcribing and editing interviews, which sets out a near-verbatim first draft, how false starts and unclear words are marked, and when editing is allowed.
How much weight it carries: A long-standing practice guide from a state historical society, written for oral history interviews. It is a house style rather than a legal or industry standard, and it says practice varies.

Facts taken from this source

The Minnesota Historical Society guide says to delete a false start when the narrator reorganizes their thoughts and resumes.
“False starts: If the narrator begins with several words and then reorganizes his or her thoughts and resumes, delete the false start.” (Editing guidelines)
The Minnesota Historical Society guide says each editor edits differently, so text an editor thinks is unimportant may be valuable to a researcher.
“since each person edits somewhat differently, the textual context regarded by an editor as unimportant might be seen by a researcher as extremely valuable” (Section 1, Introduction)
The Minnesota Historical Society guide says the first draft of an oral history transcript should be a nearly verbatim copy of the interview.
“One rule of thumb is that the initial draft of the transcript should be a nearly verbatim copy of the recorded interview.” (Section 1, Introduction)
The Minnesota Historical Society guide describes one view that a transcript should read as smoothly as possible, with almost cut-and-paste editing.
“Others feel that a transcript should read as smoothly as possible and advocate almost a cut-and-paste style of editing.” (Section 1, Introduction)
The Minnesota Historical Society guide says to leave a space and type [unclear] when a word or phrase cannot be made out.
“Undecipherable words: When a word or phrase is undecipherable, leave a space and type [unclear].” (Editing guidelines)

Other

Minnesota Historical Society, Oral History Office, Minnesota Historical Society, 2001

Read on October 17, 2026

What it is: The oral history office's guide to transcribing and editing interviews, which sets out a near-verbatim first draft, how false starts and unclear words are marked, and when editing is allowed.
How much weight it carries: A long-standing practice guide from a state historical society, written for oral history interviews. It is a house style rather than a legal or industry standard, and it says practice varies.

The Minnesota Historical Society guide says to delete a false start when the narrator reorganizes their thoughts and resumes.
“False starts: If the narrator begins with several words and then reorganizes his or her thoughts and resumes, delete the false start.” (Editing guidelines)
The Minnesota Historical Society guide says each editor edits differently, so text an editor thinks is unimportant may be valuable to a researcher.
“since each person edits somewhat differently, the textual context regarded by an editor as unimportant might be seen by a researcher as extremely valuable” (Section 1, Introduction)
The Minnesota Historical Society guide says the first draft of an oral history transcript should be a nearly verbatim copy of the interview.
“One rule of thumb is that the initial draft of the transcript should be a nearly verbatim copy of the recorded interview.” (Section 1, Introduction)
The Minnesota Historical Society guide describes one view that a transcript should read as smoothly as possible, with almost cut-and-paste editing.
“Others feel that a transcript should read as smoothly as possible and advocate almost a cut-and-paste style of editing.” (Section 1, Introduction)
The Minnesota Historical Society guide says to leave a space and type [unclear] when a word or phrase cannot be made out.
“Undecipherable words: When a word or phrase is undecipherable, leave a space and type [unclear].” (Editing guidelines)