Basics of Academic Transcription

Academic Transcription is the conversion into written or printed form of a spoken language source like group discussion and lecture. It can also means the conversion of a written source into another medium, such as making digital version of thesis and dissertation. It refers to the transcription of lectures, seminars, discussions held in schools, colleges and Universities and this kind of transcription is used for academic purposes.

All academic institutions such as schools, colleges, Universities and individuals associated with them (teachers, Professors, students) require academic transcription in their related fields. Universities and research institutes record their educational and research materials for further study and analysis.
Audio recording has bought enormous opportunity for today’s learners. Recorded classroom lectures and focus group discussions are invaluable assets to students. Transcribing these recorded lectures can help hearing impaired students as well as those with learning difficulties. Transcription helps to concentrate on study rather than spending time in taking notes.
Academic transcription includes
1. Focus Group Transcription-This can be possible from audio tapes as well as video tapes. In fact, from a video source, it is easy to make out who is speaking what and correctly identify them in the transcript.

2. Seminar Transcription- Mainly there are two types of seminars being held-single speaker and multi-speaker seminars. Recorded audio and video tapes on seminar are transcribed to distribute among fellow colleagues for further analysis.

3. Thesis/Dissertation Transcription-It is the transcription of dissertation/thesis materials given by students into a text form. The submission of a dissertation is a pre-requisite for students pursuing PhD programs. Therefore, dissertation transcription is needed by the Universities to certify the student in a particular subject.

4. Lecture Transcription- An audio is considered lecture or speech, if one or more people address an audience sequentially. There can be multiple speakers such as roundtables or panel discussions. Transcribed lectures are very useful for those who are absent to give their judgements.