No one can be everywhere at all times to look for information to put
into a written form. Other eyes and ears might be needed to extend
the range of searching. In the modern world there is no longer a
central repository, such as local library, as the only means of
finding facts and opinions. The Internet has expanded the search
frontier with digital resources. Searching for material might be a
matter of putting in the correct words to bring up the desired
results. There might be a need to gather everything together for easy
reference.
That isn’t to say that a physical library is no longer needed.
Sometimes it might seem the Internet has everything at a person’s
fingertips. That is not always the case because not everything in the
world has been digitized. We are not yet living in the matrix and
physical books are still a great source of information. What is often
forgotten is just because information is easily found, that doesn’t
make it reliable. Facts need to be checked and double checked to make
sure they are accurate and even true. That can be a daunting task
without some help.
Maybe
the information and sources are found, but they need to be correlated
for easy reading and
reference. A writer can read all the collected research and then do a
write up on the material. A synopsis, or general summary, can be
produced for later recall or reference. A long or short version of
the synopsis can be written, depending on needs and how much
information has been found.
This is a great service when lots of
people will be using the information or volumes of writing should be
readily available for retrieval.
The source of information might come from one or a handful of
places, but it needs to be extracted from them. Diaries, journals,
and notes are great places to learn about people or events. In the
electronic age hand written manuscripts are becoming more rare, but
so are those capable of reading what hasn’t been put into a
computer. Transcriptions are often associated with audio or video
captioning.
What is less realized is how much is out there that
hasn’t been typed up or words digitized. That can take time and a
careful eye to handwriting detail. Caution must be expressed that
some handwriting can be very difficult to interpret, and even the
most professional can be unsure. If you want your own handwriting
transcribed, make sure it is the clearest possible. Jotting down
notes for an extended writing assignment requires lots of
communication to avoid misunderstandings.
