ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES

Oral history projects have become increasingly popular in recent years. With the help of lottery funding, even small local history societies have been able to capture valuable 'living words and memories' from local people whose stories might have been lost forever. The advent of digital recorders has made it possible to make good quality digital recordings which can be more easily transcribed and safely archived, without the risk of deterioration inherent in audio tapes.

Transcribing oral history projects has always been a particularly fascinating aspect of this business and we welcome enquiries from historians and researchers, whatever the size of the project. We have extensive experience in oral history transcription and recognise the specialist techniques involved, particularly in capturing intonation and emotion, all of which adds another layer to the written word. Transcripts can be used to complement the audio or video recording.

Transcription of oral history interviews offers important benefits including
* assisting researchers to easily locate relevant sections without a time consuming trawl through the recording
* allowing researchers to understand parts of the interview which were perhaps difficult to decipher on the audio
* reducing wear and tear on audio and video tapes
* providing an easily accessible means to search the transcript for key words and phrases
* making available project content to the hearing impaired or those without access to the recordings
* being able to use transcripts as the basis for future documentaries or books

We pride ourselves on providing thorough, accurate transcriptions with meticulous attention to detail. We understand the importance of confidentiality and adherence to deadlines while maintaining a professional and cost effective transcription service. We recognise that budgets are tight but that a high quality transcript is essential and believe our Testimonial page speaks for itself.

We hope our Guidelines and Equipment pages will answer any specific queries you may have about setting up your recordings, and our comparison page covers digital and analogue recordings. Our prices per audio minute below are for digital or mini disc recordings, including a time-stamped option. However, we are still happy to provide an audio tape transcription service and are also equipped to convert both minidiscs and videos for subsequent transcription. If your interviews will be transmitted as podcasts or webcasts, we can provide transcription for those too.

Oral History Project Transcription Services	Price Range Per Audio Minute (digital recordings only & based on Intelligent Verbatim transcripts+)
Interview Transcription (up to three participants) Standard rate Discounted rate *	£1.50 - £1.75 £1.40 - £1.60
Group Interview Transcription Standard rate Discounted rate *	£1.75 - £2.50 £1.60 - £2.10
Digital Video / DVD Interview Transcription (up to three participants) Standard rate Discounted rate *	£2.50 - £3.00 £2.25 - £2.75
Digital Video / DVD Group Interview Transcription Standard rate Discounted rate *	£3.00 - £3.50 £2.75 - £3.00
Time-stamped interview transcription Every five minutes Standard rate Discounted rate * Every minute Standard rate Discounted rate *	£2.00 - £2.75 £1.75 - £2.25 £2.50 - £3.00 £2.25 - £2.75
Please note: these rates apply only to good quality, clearly audible digital or mini disc recordings. The price range is designed to cover issues such as background noise, strong accents and technical terms. Should the subsequent recording prove to be not as described, we will requote and discuss this with you before proceeding. For audio tape transcription or video tape transcription we charge an hourly rate. See our Transcription Times page for the factors which influence transcription. All prices are in £ Sterling and VAT is NOT applicable. + Please add 50p per audio minute (25p discounted) for a Complete Verbatim or 25p per audio minute (10p discounted) for Edited Transcript price. See our Definitions page for details of what each transcript style means.
* The discounted rate applies only to universities, charities and students. All prices assume a good quality, clearly audible digital recording.

ALL RECORDINGS are listened to a second time, Internet research is carried out where necessary, and all transcripts are proofread by the Director, Irene Boston, before being sent to clients. There is no extra charge for this service. Not all transcription companies do this, some don't even proofread, so make sure you ask the right questions before choosing a service.

For any large scale oral history project transcription, we recommend giving as much advance notice as possible. This allows us to reserve space in our schedule. Most established transcription companies have a long list of regular customers and to suddenly find a block of free space for a large project can be difficult. So book your transcription company in advance, the same way you would an interview schedule. We would be happy to provide project management as part of our service.

Our default transcript style is Intelligent Verbatim but we recognise that oral history projects have specialised requirements and that capturing a certain amount of emotion, linguistic style and rhythms of speech is as essential as the words themselves. Please see our Definitons page for a transcript style tweaked to suit oral history interviews, at no extra cost to our clients. We have a standard page layout for all transcripts but are happy to work in your house style if you wish. As with all our transcriptions, we provide a Transcript Code for each document to signify areas which are inaudible or unclear.

Free Digital Recording - we convert all audio tapes, minidiscs, micro cassettes and mini tapes to digital audio files for ease of transcription. This is only possible with a clear quality recording. As part of our service, we offer all our clients the digital version of their recording free of charge, sent to them using a secure file transfer service, provided the client has Broadband.

We provide a free File Upload service for all digital recordings via our website to ensure prompt delivery to our transcription team. We can also download your audio sound files directly from your website if you prefer, or you can post CDs. For all audio tapes, especially if they're the only originals, we advise you to send them using a traceable method, such as Registered Post or courier, but please only send us the originals. Copies will be of a much poorer quality and will increase transcription time and, therefore, costs.

We hope this provides you with a thorough overview of our oral history transcription services. Please email or contact us on 01485 543746 for further information and turnaround times based on our current schedule, or browse our Overview or FAQ pages.