Documentation

Scribing: Quality Review

Scribing Procedure: Scribing Quality Review

  1. Review the file using the Scribing QC Checklist and other project specifications.

  2. Convert the .docx to .sam in the Digital Hub and run the text checks listed in the Regular Expressions Resource. Apply corrections or note them as required.

  3. Page through the file and upload it to the Hub to review the scribing and confirm all issues have been addressed.

Scribing QC

Make a note of any pcust, ccust, and wl styles being used in the document. Also note ScML styles being used in nonstandard ways.

Review the file using the Scribing QC Checklist.

Text Checks

Convert the .docx to ePub 3 in the Digital Hub. This will produce .sam, .scml, and .epub files. Run searches from the Regular Expressions Resource on the .sam file.

  1. Some searches will result in false positives.
  2. Scribing requirements can vary based on the project scope. Attend only to the necessary changes per the project requirements. For example, a formatting error or inconsistency may best be corrected at this time, or it may need to be retained in order to match the source material permanently.
  3. Review the stats in the Digital Hub for .docx, .sam, and .scml for a list of all special characters used in the file.
    • Example: Characters should not be rendered by legacy fonts. Individual unicode characters should be used.
    • Example: If a combined equivalent exists, combining unicode characters will be resolved to individual unicode characters when converting to another file type in the Digital Hub, but they should be reviewed in the file to confirm they are not being misused.
  4. Self-closing tags can disregarded in Word scribing, with the exception of <fnref/>, <enref/>, <fnnum/>, and <ennum/>. Footnote and endnote tag counts must be resolved in order to pair notes in the Digital Hub conversions. These self-closing tags will occur if one of those styles is applied to an empty space.

Review the ePub for any potential errors. Errors may be discovered through Hub stats, conversion alerts, and reviews in Kindle Previewer and Ace by Daisy.

Procedure Notes

  1. Ellipsis standardization. Depending on the manuscript you’re working on, you may find ellipses mixed in a way that requires running more than one ellipsis cleanup option to get a standard, consistent character sequence to represent ellipses.
    1. Run Periods to Spaced Periods first, even if you’ll use the ellipsis character. Three periods in a row with no spacing are not converted to the ellipsis character by Periods to ellipses, and a regular-spaced “four-dot ellipses” will retain the space between the first period and the ellipsis.
    2. Then run either Periods to ellipses or Ellipses to spaced periods depending on the specification for the project.
  2. Making scribing corrections in a .sam file during Scribing QC. In most cases, you will use the text changes to find issues only, then make the changes at the appropriate point in the corresponding Word document. Though not recommended for beginners, more advanced users may feel comfortable making the changes directly in the .sam file and converting back to .docx. In such a case, a Hub user should be aware of the following behaviors:
    • When converting a .sam file to .docx, embedded footnotes or endnotes that were previously renumbered by chapters will now number in a single sequence throughout the entire book. This is because Microsoft Word uses section breaks to enable note renumbering. Section breaks do not travel outside of Microsoft Word, so they will need to be re-added by using the Section cleanup option.
    • Note heads in the embedded endnotes section (such as chapter indicators) will end up at the end of the document. For this reason, it’s recommended that this content be added during the client prep phase.
    • If notes need to be embedded, ensure that there are no file warnings regarding note count at any stage of the process. Embedding notes in spite of this may result in notes getting linked incorrectly.

Word Scribing Procedure