Question

If you have a transcribe Will should you also post the original?

Answer 1

Only if you think your transcription might be full of errors.  Otherwise, why?  You have already been kind to others by transcribing the Will in the first place.

Comments

I found a transcribed Will online that everyone was using that mentioned my 2nd great grandmother as a slave. Years later I found the original Will and found that things were added to the transcribed Will that wasn't on the original.

Thanks rgat was a great answer.

David Anthony Taylor

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This is a good answer, transcriber could be in error and someone else can correct it. Don't know that unless you can see the original

Answer 2

I'd say you should at least add a citation and link (if applicable) to the original so others can find it. Even if the transcription is perfect, others can't know that for themselves unless they compare it to the original. If it's not easily accessible online and you have an image of it, I'd go ahead and add the image to the profile. Then people have the option of looking at the easier-to-read transcript but can also check the original to verify it.

Comments

Great answer Christy...Thanks, I'm also sure will be helpful other researchers asking the same question.

David Anthony Taylor

Answer 3

Yes. When you say "original" I presume you mean the digitized clerk's recordation? Bear in mind that a clerk's recordation is not an original. It's his handwritten copy of what he saw. We hope he copied things faithfully, but that was not always the case. We see interlinings and misspellings often. And a scan of that recordation is not an original either; it's a photo of it. Thus, other researchers need to be able to verify your transcription for themselves, or perhaps render their own transcription. Also, being able to view a scanned original offers opportunities to analyze the document for other kinds of evidence and elements transcriptions do not, such as an opportunity to examine the clerk's hand. (Was he using Secretary Hand or another type? What was the paper like? Are their stains? Did it age well, etc., etc. ) If you are in possession of the original (lucky you,) I hope you've taken careful steps to preserve it correctly by first scanning it then having it stabilized and placed in an acid free folder. Hope that helps.

Answer 4

I would, simply for completeness. Providing the original document along with the transcription allows people to see it and also maybe understand how much work goes into our work. JMHO.