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1. Digital recordings are better quality than tape recordings Im not aware of any exceptions to this rule!
2. If you are dictating a Dictaphone style microphone (inside the recorder) is fine, but otherwise an external microphone is better, although modern machines are becoming better.
3. Whether dictation, interview or group do make sure that if at all possible you are in a quiet environment
4. Beware of air conditioning! The hum from air conditioning units can be picked up on recordings and seriously reduce the quality of your recording thus increasing background noise an increasing time taken to transcribe.
5. With analogue recorders in particular, if using an external microphone place it as far away as possible from the recorder as it can pick up on the machines fan and drastically reduce the recording quality
6. In interviews if youre worried the microphone might not pick up both interviewer and interviewees, always put it closer to the interviewee. You will be able to fill in your own voice later if its inaudible on the recording!
7. When recording over the telephone dont just hold the microphone up to the earpiece and hope that will do. It really, really wont! There are cheaply and easily available telephone recording devices that do a very good job!
8. If recording more than two or three voices e.g. a focus group, do have more than one external microphone. With just one you are likely to fail to pick up some of the voices clearly.
9. If making a digital recording do make sure you use a recorder that has a facility for transferring files to a PC. Some, called note takers do not have the facility. You will have to send the entire machine to your transcriptionist, which obviously has a number of disadvantages!
10. Check your recorder is recording before proceeding with the recording!

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This article is copyright, Anne Hickley, 2007.