I do try and provide the tools to make typing a transcript as easy and painless as possible. We have two dictaphones that the Rocky Gap Business Department has been kind enough to allow us to check out to students. These are the Cadillacs of transcribing. They allow the transcriber to stop, rewind, or fast forward the tape with their foot. The only drawback is the cost. They run around $150 to $250. We provide a case so that they may be taken home.

A cheaper alternative is a foot pedal that can be used with the regular portable tape recorder. It will only stop or start the tape, but it still frees the hands of the students to type. It can be purchased for less that $5 at Radio Shack or other electronic stores. We include this as standard equipment with our interview kits.

It is also required that the transcription be turned in on disk in a format that can be translated. This is also an absolute necessity. If you have the transcript on the computer then it can easily be used in a variety of ways.