Overview
As a Custom scribe, you will have access to the Internet in order to research Special Content.
If the Reference Sheets do not give you the information you need, the Internet is your best available resource. This guide is designed to help give you the tools and skills needed to conduct this research as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Index
Basic Process
There's so much more to Googling than, well, Googling. Knowing how to utilize key search terms, phonetic guesses, and search tools is going to ensure that our transcripts are as accurate as possible.
First Step: Get to Google
In order to save time and keep your hands off, the mouse, use keyboard shortcuts to your advantage!
If you're in VFMZ, hit Ctrl Tab to click through to your active Google Chrome window.
When you get into Chrome, use Ctrl E to send your cursor to the search function in the URL bar. Hit Enter and voila. Internet magic.
Finding Stuff
Use the Graphics
Finding names of speakers/characters can start in the file or RS. Whenever you notice a graphic come up onscreen, you can make a quick note of the name just in case it comes up later in the text. Do this by:
- Ctrl R, C, tab, type name, hit Enter. (This creates a comment in the file. Just be sure to delete these comments later to clean it up a bit for the QA.)
- Keep a blank Psi message to yourself. (Be aware that if you log out, you will lose this file.)
However, DO NOT depend fully on these in-show graphics. Trust but verify as we always need to make sure that names, brands, etc are formatted and spelled correctly.
Phonetic Guesses
To Google's credit, they're pretty solid when it comes to guessing at spellings and coming up with what you need. For example, if you were looking for Manitowoc, Wisconsin, searching "manitawalk" will get you there.
Increase your chances of accuracy by including relevant terms about the name you're trying to find. For example, when doing a history of dance interview job, take a phonetic guess and add "dance" or a given style like "ballet" or "hip-hop" to the search to help narrow it down.
Some shows, especially the game shows, have speakers wear a name tag with their first name, but they are introduced by first and last name. For these, take a phonetic guess and go with the most popular spelling of the last name, as it's going to be nearly impossible to verify a spelling of a contestant's name on a decades-old game show.
Example:
And here we have Erin "Dowerty." Tell us about yourself, Erin.
Search: Dowerty last name
Return: "Including results for Doherty last name."
And then go with Doherty.
Search Tools
Exact Search
Wrap the exact search term in quotation marks.
This is helpful if you only want to get search results with "an entire phrase" appearing in order next to each other.
For example, if you can only hear one or two lines of a song, this helps a LOT.
"you're stronger than ever" vs you're stronger than ever returns two very different sets of results.
Exclude From Search
Since "The Circle" is now a popular Netflix show, but you need a reference to a studio movie or a book, using the - is helpful. It essentially sets a filter.
ie: the circle -netflix
NOTE: the construct here is: search term (space) (dash)(excluded term) with NO SPACE between the dash and the exclusion.
Combined Search
You may combine search terms and fields using AND, OR, and NOT (Boolean logic).
AND: When you combine search terms with AND in a full-text search, your results contain everything in which both terms appear. Combining search terms makes your search results more precise. You can explicitly denote AND in the following ways: cat AND dog, cat && dog, +cat +dog, (cat dog)
OR: Using OR between search terms allows to you find all items that contain either term. Using OR will search for items that contain either the word "cat", the word "dog", or both. For example: cat OR dog
NOT: Searches using NOT will only find items that do not contain the search term following it. NOT must be capitalized. To find all items with the word cat that do not contain the word dog, search for: cat NOT dog, cat -dog (Be sure to include a space before the dash, but not after).
Social Media Search / Hashtag Search
Range Search.
This is a great if you're not quite sure about your entire search term but you have an idea.
For example, if you're searching Anne Hathaway in the context of the woman married to Shakespeare, using a date range will help clear the field from all of the more modern Anne Hathaway references.
Anne Hathaway 1600:1800 (assuming you're not exactly sure when she lived but have a general idea)
Site Search
If want to search something within a particular site, this is very especially helpful. Many times, the internal search function on a webpage isn't the best.
For example, if you wanted to search for a specific AT&T town hall, typing site:att.com town hall will bring up all of the references on AT&T's website that include town hall.
Similarly, if you had the first name of a journalist but not the surname, you could try site:bostonglobe.com marcy
See the video below for more: