Encoding Guide. Handwriting

Record: HANDWRITING
Many records will have handwritten material on them. Unless the handwriting is illegible, the vendor is asked to transcribe handwriting to the best of their ability, and to tag it with the <h> tag. For example, a slip that has “Dec. 1780” typewritten and is followed by “[5 Feb. 1781]” in legible handwriting should be rendered thus:

<d>Dec. 1780 <h>[5 Feb. 1781]</h></d>

Further, if there is illegible handwriting anywhere on the slip, the vendor is asked to insert three asterisks <h>***</h> wherever the handwriting occurs. For example, a slip that has “to John [illegible handwriting] Adams” should be rendered thus:

<to>to John<h>***</h>Adams</d>